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Seven projects have been awarded funding from the Sustainability Innovation and Engagement Fund (SIEF), which provides students, faculty and staff with the financial support to make their sustainability project a reality.

The 2018 round of grants, totaling $23,500, funded these projects:

• SGA iClicker loaner program: Nancy Symmes (student), startup funds for iClicker program that will reduce waste and provide loaner iClickers to students.
• Carbon farming: Lisa DePiano (faculty), funding to cover start-up costs for establishing a 2-acre forested plot at the Agriculture Learning Center for studying the use of integrated sheep grazing in a chestnut tree grove that provides both a nut crop and carbon sequestration.
• Shalia water filter: Marzia Maliha and Megha Shah (students), funding for prototyping of a low-cost bioplastic water filter that can be mass produced and used in developing countries to increase access to clean water.
• Paperbark: Lauren de la Parra (graduate student), funds to support the printing of the first issue of Paperbark literary magazine.
• CSA share subsidy project: Kayleigh Boucher (student) and Amanda Brown (faculty), funding to provide 25 discounted UMass CSA Farmshares for low-income community members.
• Food donation initiative: Alex White (student), funding for an initiative to recover and donate unwanted/almost expired food to homeless shelter/soup kitchens.
• Sewing project: Yulia Suvorova (student), funds to purchase sewing equipment and materials to help train students on how to reuse or repair damaged or used clothing.