UVA makes eleven sustainability awards for activities in 2023

As the University of Virginia seeks to meet the greenhouse gas reduction goals envisioned in its 2030 Sustainability Plan, the department tasked with overseeing progress celebrates accomplishments along the way. 

Earlier this month, the Office of Sustainability announced their annual awards to groups and individuals who have demonstrated their commitment to the mission. 

“These winners exemplify innovation and passion in work related to civic engagement, stewardship of the built and natural environment, discovery through teaching and/or research, and governance and collaboration,” reads an April 2, 2024 press release. 

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The awards have been handed out since 2017. 

For 2023, there are four student awards. 

• A trio who are part of the UVA Decarbonization Academy designed five “forest patches” and organized an effort to plant 100 trees. They are Leah Germain, Madeline Morphis, and Olivia Vargo.
• The president of Food Assist, Garreth Bartholomew, organized an effort through the UVA Community Food Pantry that repurposed over 20,000 pounds of unused food waste from UVA and local restaurants for those in need.
• London Tuma obtained a grant from the Sustainable Food Collaborative to cover the cost of improvements to the composting system in first-year dorms to address accessibility issues. 
• The entire Graduate Biomedical Engineering Society completed a process to get Green Lab Gold certification for 11 of their labs. This program was created in 2016 to get students to think about how to make research practices more sustainable. Learn more about the program here. 

There was one faculty award which went to civil and environmental engineering professor Lisa Colosi Peterson. She helped design the UVA Decarbonization Academy which immerses students in sustainability-related projects at UVA. 

There were four staff awards:

• Rebecca Duff was a co-leader in efforts to create 2030 sustainability goals for the Darden School of Business which included creating and co-chairing a new Sustainability Advisory Council. Duff also directed the Sustainability Research Initiative at Darden
• Michael Duffy is the fleet manager for Facilities Management office and oversaw conversion of 13% of vehicles to electrics. That led to UVA being ranked 28th on the 2023 list of fleet management association NAFA’s Green Fleet Awards. 
• Linda Hanson launched a medical education conference at the School of Nursing called Protecting Health in a Changing Climate. The last one was held on April 13 with the topic Rising Heat and Health in Virginia and itself would make a good story. 
• Ryan McCarthy in the Facilities Management office is helping to reduce food waste. One initiative under his watch is the creation of the FM Snack Pantry designed to help UVA staff members mitigate food insecurity. 

There were two community awards, one of which went to the Community Climate Collaborative for their advocacy work related to approval of the Woodridge Solar project in Albemarle County. Loaves and Fishes was honored for distributing 2.5 million pounds of food in 2023 including some captured from area grocery stores. 

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