Fall Mini-Grants

These projects were part of our mini-grant program, which involves a shorter application, shorter project timelines, and a total funding limit of $5,000 per project. 

Genomic Screening for Mold-Resistance Genes in Oyster Mushrooms

Project Description

Vertical Farming at Berkeley is seeking funds to support research on oyster mushrooms, which are alternative food sources that can reduce food inequity. They will be researching how to create a mushroom resistant to the Trichoderma mold, and hope that their strain can eventually be used in campus dining halls as a meat alternative.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster (coming soon!)

Fannie Lou Hamer Farm Project

Project Description

The Fannie Lou Hamer Farm Project is a Black, student-led initiative organizing around Black wellness and land-based learning and healing on and around campus. We are exploring the intersections of Black liberation and ecological justice through agroecological and Afro-Indigenous land-stewardship practices. Our goals are to (1) increase access to land and food, especially for Black students (2) provide land-based education in topics such as regenerative agriculture, food systems, agroecology, and Black agrarian histories (3) promote connection between people...

Oxford Tract Farm Logistics

Project Description

BSF's primary goals with this funding are to continue farming at the Oxford Tract, and other gardening spaces, which require space in the greenhouse and water, and continue being able to pay students for teaching the agroecology in action decal. Their work aims to reconnect UC Berkeley students with the land through anti-oppression and decolonial frameworks. They also donate food from the farms to the Basic Needs Center as a way to support food-insecure students on campus.

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Environmental Platicas From School to Our Homes, De La Escuela a Nuestro Hogar

Project Description

The Latinxs & the Environment Initiative, in collaboration with other UC Berkeley Latinx/POC organizations, will host bilingual workshops, Environmental Pláticas, that will educate students about current environmental justice issues and sustainability practices. Environmental Pláticas, a new campaign kicking off in Spring 2021, will focus both passing down knowledge about the environment, and celebrating the sustainable practices that Latinx/POC families have been doing for generations.

Project Links...

Facilities/Landscape Services Work-Study Sustainability Program

Project Description

This grant offers the opportunity for students to earn a paid position to care for our campus greenspaces, remove litter, and remove invasive plants under the guidance and supervision of Campus Operations manager, and the core team of groundskeepers who care for specific zones of campus.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster

Greening the Berkeley Science Review

Project Description

This grant will cover the difference in costs for the BSR to print on 55% recycled-content paper, purchase carbon offsets to cover delivery costs of the BSR, and fund a workshop to share green printing practices with the other 40+ ASUC publications.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster

Social Impacts of Development on Treasure Island/Below the Bridge Documentary

Project Description

We want to make a documentary on the transformation of Treasure Island from a historical sacrifice zone to a site of intense development and gentrification. We are interested in the impacts that the development plan will have on current residents of the island, as well as businesses and organizations located there. We recognize that this case is likely one of environmental injustice, as the low-income, underserved, predominantly African-American and Latinx communities are going to be the first to face the repercussions of this gentrification. Our documentary will...

#OurEnvironmentalism

Project Description

The #OurEnvironmentalism campaign seeks to reclaim the legacies of environmentalism and sustainability for communities of color and challenge the white-dominated, inaccessible narrative of modern environmentalism by sharing personal stories of sustainability, highlighting EJ-focused students and activists of color on Cal’s campus

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Project Application...

Campus Sustainability Photos and Video for UC Berkeley's Public Affairs Digital Gallery

Project Description

The primary objective of this project is to create and make available photographs and video clips of campus sustainability initiatives, actions, and features that can be publicly accessed through UC Berkeley's Digital Gallery, launched by the Office of Public Affairs.

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Project Application

Project Poster

Free Little Library

Project Description

The Free Little Library which will be installed at Clark Kerr Campus where adults and children alike come to walk their dogs or sit and enjoy the sun, hopes to bridge the gap left behind by the closing of public libraries.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster