News Archive

UMass Dining Exceeds Real Food Challenge Commitment Focused on Building Just and Sustainable Food Systems
Monday, March 1, 2021

AMHERST, Mass. – The award-winning UMass Dining has done it again – not only did it meet, but it exceeded, the 2020 Real Food Challenge (RFC) with a 29% commitment to budgeting dining on “Real Food.” The UMass RFC is a student-led initiative, in partnership with UMass Dining, that aimed to bring 20% Real Food to campus by the year 2020. In 2013, UMass was the largest institution in the nation to join with other campuses across the country to build a just and sustainable food system, but it wasn’t the first. Real Food is defined as food that comes from “local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound and humane food sources.”

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Waste Not: Update on Campus Guidelines for Recycling and Food Waste at UMass
Friday, January 22, 2021

With more staff and students returning to campus for the spring semester, sustainability leaders at UMass Amherst are spreading the word about new guidelines for handling waste.

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UMass Amherst Highlighted in 2020 Sustainable Campus Index
Tuesday, November 24, 2020

UMass Amherst is recognized as a top-performing educational institution in the 2020 Sustainable Campus Index (SCI), a publication of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). It received the 7th highest score among large, public, doctoral-granting universities, based on a UMass analysis of the data.

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ResLife Sustainability Waste Quiz Winners Announced
Friday, October 30, 2020

Winners of the ResLife Sustainability Waste Quiz were announced Oct. 26. The quiz was launched on Oct. 6 to all 1,100 students living on campus and ran through Oct. 20.

Sustainability quiz prize package
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UMass Amherst Makes ‘Green College’ List for Sixth Consecutive Year
Wednesday, October 21, 2020

UMass Amherst has once again been recognized to be among the nation’s most environmentally responsible higher educational institutions, according to The Princeton Review’s 2021 Guide to Green Colleges.

ValleyShare bikes at Southwest Residential Area station
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PERI Releases Pair of New Studies Detailing Clean Energy Job Growth Programs for Ohio and Pennsylvania
Wednesday, October 21, 2020

The reports detail clean energy investment projects through which each state can reduce CO2 emissions by 45% as of 2030 to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

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Carbon Mitigation Taskforce Hosting Interactive Webinars
Monday, October 5, 2020

The Carbon Mitigation Taskforce will host three one-hour interactive webinars on UMass Amherst’s ongoing carbon mitigation planning. 

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NSF Funded ELEVATE Program Seeks to Recruit Graduate Students to Pursue Research on Energy Systems, Social Equity and Climate Change
Monday, October 5, 2020

A new program at UMass Amherst has been awarded two grants totaling $6.3 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to ensure that the transformation of the electric grid is both sustainable and benefits all members of society equitably. The program is now seeking fellowship applications from graduate students with a strong interest in energy and climate justice. 

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Being Green: UMass Amherst Among Sierra Magazine’s ‘Top 20 Coolest Schools’
Monday, September 28, 2020

The University of Massachusetts Amherst was named among Sierra magazine’s “Top 20 Coolest Schools 2020,” a list of the greenest colleges and universities in North America. For its strong environmental ethos and wide-ranging sustainability efforts, UMass Amherst jumped to No. 15 on the 14th annual list from the Sierra Club’s national publication, up from No. 27 in 2019. Sierra received a record 312 submissions for this year’s survey.

The Olver Design Building
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UMass Amherst Researchers Receive $6.3 Million to Ensure Energy Transition is Sustainable and Equitable
Wednesday, September 2, 2020

A new program at UMass Amherst has been awarded two grants totaling $6.3 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to ensure that the transformation of the electric grid is both sustainable and benefits all members of society equitably, an aspect of energy transition not often considered in policymaking or public discourse.

Matthew Lackner
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