Inaugural Campus and Living Lab grant sustainability aid to 10 projects

He Climate and Sustainability Office and the Sustainability Leadership Council recipients of the inaugural award have been announced The campus as a living laboratory sustainability grants, which will provide recipients with up to $50,000 in funding for sustainability research and teaching projects that use JHU campuses to test scalable innovations. This year’s winners represent five of the university’s nine academic divisions and include researchers, instructors and students.

The winners were recognized in a celebration event on October 11 along with the launch of the new JHU Climate Action and Sustainability Plan. After presenting the winning proposals, the co-chair of the Sustainability Leadership Council and professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health Peter Winch He highlighted the importance of subsidies.

“This program will serve as a cornerstone to identify and improve our university’s potential in terms of sustainability,” he said. Center. “The program will work synergistically toward our Climate Action and Sustainability Plan goals. Hopefully, it will generate ideas and innovations that can be integrated and scaled up.”

Following implementation of the projects, grant recipients will share their results with university leaders to demonstrate opportunities for JHU campuses to be used as learning tools and contribute to the university’s Climate Action and Sustainability Plan solutions.

The Campus as Living Lab program was developed by a multidisciplinary working group comprised of faculty, staff, and students from the Sustainability Leadership Council along with staff from the Office of Climate and Sustainability. Information about the program and future grant opportunities is available at JHU Sustainability Website.

Image title: Scholarship winner Ciaran Harman with university student Joey Stanley

Image credit: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University

Scholarships for researchers

Olin Pond: Water Quality, Hydrodynamics, and Stormwater Management Performance

Awardee: Ciaran HarmanAssociate Professor, Engineering and Environmental Health and Planetary Earth Sciences, Whiting School of Engineering

Engineering researchers will install sensors in the wetland next to Olin Hall to collect data and monitor its effectiveness in reducing stormwater runoff and capturing pollutants. The project will result in student research to inform possible improvements.

Quantification of methane emissions in the JHU sewer system with exoelectrogenic methanotrophs

Awarded: Ruggero RossiAssistant Professor, Engineering and Environmental Health, Whiting School of Engineering; Sara PreheimAssociate Professor, Engineering and Environmental Health, Whiting School of Engineering

Researchers will develop and install biosensors in JHU sewer lines to quantify methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, to accurately estimate the impact on the university’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Scholarships for course instructors

Prepare future educators to teach environmental justice and sustainable development

Awardee: hunter gehlbachProfessor, School of Education

The course will train environmental educators on the educational features of teaching about climate change, sustainability, planetary health, and environmental justice, as well as strategies to help students prioritize environmental issues.

An automated way to measure and identify student food waste to inform responsible consumption initiatives

Awardee: Alissa Burkholder MurphySenior Lecturer, Whiting School of Engineering

As part of a Multidisciplinary Engineering Design course, a team of students will design an automated system to weigh and identify food waste in JHU dining halls. The project will inform Hopkins Dining about the relationship between recipe selection, menus, and the effectiveness of food waste reduction initiatives.

Image title: Debi Denney, assistant director of sustainability, with two grant recipients, Alissa Burkholder Murphy and Nusaybah Abu-Mulaweh

Image credit: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University

Collect and store rainwater to reduce water consumption for campus irrigation

Awardee: Nusaybah Abu-MulawehSenior Lecturer, Whiting School of Engineering

In this multidisciplinary Engineering Design course, students will design a modular rainwater collection, storage and distribution solution for landscape irrigation at JHU’s Homewood campus and a Baltimore K-8 school, teaching students on design approaches to stormwater management.

Course on Forest Ecosystems and Sustainability

Awardee: Jerry BurgessTeaching Associate Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

Students in this course will explore the resilience and ecological benefits of urban forests on campus through hands-on fieldwork and develop recommendations to improve campus green spaces and protect local water resources.

Engaging students in climate action on campus through arts-based communication

Awardee: Saraniya Tharmarajah, Health, Behavior and Society Instructor, Bloomberg School of Public Health

In this course, students will identify climate action behaviors on the JHU campus and apply behavior change theory to create climate communication campaigns that will be showcased on campus through lectures, seminars, screenings, and workshops.

Scholarships for students

JHU Travel Panel: Tracking and encouraging sustainable travel

Awardee: weeks of rosesDr. PhD Student, Bloomberg School of Public Health

A public health student researcher will create a dashboard that visualizes emissions from university business travel to raise awareness, inform strategies, and suggest strategies to mitigate associated greenhouse gas emissions.

Zero-carbon electricity plan to support AI research campus

Awardee: Ziting Huang, PhD student, Whiting School of Engineering

An engineering student researcher will develop a feasibility plan to forecast the growing energy demands of the new Data Sciences and Artificial Intelligence Institute by exploring approaches including on-site renewable energy, energy storage and power purchase agreements from local energy sites clean.

Airway Equipment Recycling Program in Operating Rooms

Awarded: Melanie Alfonzo Horowitz, medical student, Faculty of Medicine

A medical student researcher will develop a pilot laryngoscope recycling initiative, educate and survey operating room staff, and measure the amount of reduced hospital waste and cost savings.