The expertise is already here.
Welcome back. This page is where the fall starts: what is happening, and how to plug your own work into it.
No university, lab, agency, or town solves climate, water, food, or energy on its own. The expertise our region needs is already here at UMass. What has been missing is the connective tissue, and that is what the School of Earth & Sustainability is built to support. The School reaches every college at UMass, so whatever you are here to work on, there are people already working on it.
Start here
The Welcome Back Event. Wednesday, September 9, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., Orchard Hill Pavilion. Meet people from across the School, tour the Orchard Hill Pollinator Habitat restoration, and sample locally sourced snacks. No registration, no agenda, all are welcome. [See the event details.]
SES students in community. Photo taken by Magdalene Marcus.
Part one: for students
Find the people working on what you care about
There is a version of this year where you go to class, do the work, and go home. There is another version where you find the people at UMass working on what you actually care about and build something with them you are proud of. The School of Earth & Sustainability exists for the second version, and it reaches every college at UMass.
Find your next course
The SES Highlighted Course List is live for fall: a curated list of courses across almost every college, built around the sustainability learning outcomes. Accessing the list requires your UMass login. To browse courses more widely, SPIRE carries a sustainability attribute across the catalog. Check out SES fall courses.
Get paid to build something
The Student Sustainability Innovation Fund pays students to build sustainable solutions at UMass. This year it backs 14 students across six teams, from carbon farming to a campus building-temperature dashboard, with one team adding a student member this fall. Awards run from $2,000 to $7,500 and the next call opens in the spring, so an idea is worth shaping now. Check out the SSIF program and learn more about this year's teams.
Do the actual work
Our team supports the SES Student Experiences Program, which puts you into field, farm, and lab placements, each one set up with a learning contract so you and your supervisor agree up front on scope and expectations. The people who host these placements are also leading experts, regional advisors, possible committee members, collaborators, and data sources. Undergraduate placements finalize Monday, September 14, and graduate placements Monday, September 21. Check out our Experiences Hub and learn more about workforce training opportunities here.
Get trained in October
In celebration of Sustainability Month, the Climate Literacy workshop series runs three consecutive Wednesdays, October 14, 21, and 28, designed and tested by the School's own team. Space is limited and full attendance is required. It goes to student leaders first, so early interest matters. Learn more about the special training opportunity and how to sign up here.
Join the Coalition
The Student Sustainability Coalition is a space for students to discuss and collaborate on sustainability projects. The group is forming now and will meet monthly. It is also how students take seats on the SES Pan-campus Advisory Council this year. Learn more here.
If you are a graduate student
Our graduate network includes thirteen graduate programs, students and faculty across SES departments and well beyond them, and a growing network of regional partners working on problems that are not solved yet. The UN Global Sustainable Solutions Winter School, for which the School serves as institutional home, connects graduate students to the UN system, the World Bank, and partner universities. Dates and application details are coming. Learn more about the special Winter School programming here. A call for graduate presenters at the December 2 showcase opens next month. Check out our next newsletter for details.
Part two: For faculty and partners
It is an important year to network together
Last year this network placed students into real work across campus and the region, ran an engagement series that put people in rooms they would not otherwise share, convened an annual regional forum on solutions, and built a Climate Literacy program that our community and students now ask to join. None of it came from a central office. It came from people across campus saying yes to each other, one collaboration at a time.
Here are ways to plug in, none of which requires waiting for an invitation.
Host a student
This fall, our network is placing students into more than 35 new training experiences, supported by a deeply engaged living lab partners across campus and the region. Within SES, we connect more than 70 living lab partners. Every placement includes a learning contract, so the student and supervisor agree up front on scope and expectations. Calls go out each fall, spring, and summer, with systems to support opportunities that arise off cycle. If you have hosted a student already, thank you. Learn more here.
Renew your affiliation
An annual renewal circulates this fall so your courses, research, and student opportunities stay current. It puts your work in front of students and partners looking for it. Your input directly supports university reporting, including the Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability application UMass is preparing. If you are not yet affiliated, Be on the lookout for our 26-27 affiliation update, learn more or complete your short update here.
Pan-campus leadership
Sustainability at UMass does not sit in one department or college, and it needs a governance structure that reflects our inter- and transdisciplinary network. This fall, SES launches its new pan-campus advisory council with representatives from member departments, the colleges, campus operations, and students. SES is working with student sustainability leaders on representation. To learn more about the network and PAC here.
Put your own event on the calendar
The SES Connects calendar features events hosted by SES-affiliated departments, academic programs, faculty groups or student organizations within the network. Subscribe and the semester stays on your own calendar without you tracking it. Learn more here.
Send us your student leaders
The Climate Literacy workshop series runs three consecutive Wednesdays in October, designed and tested by the School's own team. Space is limited, students can learn more and apply to participate in this leadership workshop series here.
Two things we ask this fall
Stay committed to our shared land-grant mission and the power of our network. Renew your affiliation when the annual renewal reaches you, so your courses, research, and student opportunities stay current.
Join us. At the Welcome Back Event on September 9, or at any event this semester.