In Progress Projects

These projects are still ongoing and are utilizing funds provided by TGIF

BSC Garden Revitalization Plan

Project Description

The Berkeley Student Cooperatives (BSC) Garden Revitalization Plan seeks to materially support and educationally empower BSC’s student Garden Managers in stewarding over two acres of urban forest, vegetable gardens and backyard spaces enjoyed by 1,200+ BSC student residents. In order to cultivate native biodiversity, food sovereignty and build community, a "Garden Manager Hub'' including a greenhouse, seed library, and landscape materials center will be collectively constructed. Agency over plant procurement methods will remove major barriers to achieving Garden...

SERC NEWT Peaks of the Bay

Project Description

The Peaks of the Bay program’s goal is to introduce and connect the UC Berkeley community to the beautiful mountains of the Bay Area. Within an academic year, SERC NEWT would provide a free and accessible experience to four iconic mountains in the Bay Area, including one overnight trip. Our trips focus on merging fun outdoor movement with environmental justice education and healing, and will be especially catered to those with limited outdoor experiences. Through skilled facilitation, we want to provide students with a safe, enjoyable, and memorable outdoor...

SCEC Retention Events

Project Description

The SCEC Retention Events will provide direct resources related to self-care and professional development for our members through student-led workshops and guest presentations. Examples of potential projects include BIPOC Environmental Mixers where BIPOC students and faculty have space to form a community with people of shared interests, while also focusing on intersectionality and resource sharing. Other potential retention events include professional development workshops on graduate school applications, networking events, and professional...

THIMBY: Richmond Backyard Home

Project Description

Tiny House in My Backyard (THIMBY) is an interdisciplinary team of 27 UC Berkeley graduate and undergraduate students designing and constructing affordable, ecologically sustainable, tiny homes. THIMBY 3.0, the third home constructed by the THIMBY organization, will be piloting Richmond’s “Tiny House on Wheels Pilot Project” ordinance, which the team recently helped renew, by constructing and leasing an affordable, net-zero-energy 240 sq ft. house in the backyard of a predetermined single-family residence in Richmond. In collaboration with the City...

Hispanic Engineers and Scientists Educational and Technological Rooftop Garden

The Hispanic Engineers and Scientists organization requests funds to pay for garden managers, supplies, and workshops, as well as a mini-fund to support internal projects, within their rooftop garden.

Optimization and Integration of Anionic Surfactant-Degrading Bacteria into Aeroponic Lettuce Systems

Project Description

Vertical Farming at Berkeley is requesting funds in order to research detergent-degrading bacteria to purify water for their farm. Their future goal is to supply fresh produce to eateries like Cal Dining.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster (coming soon!)

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!)

Cultivation of Vertically-Farmed Microalgae for Biofuel Production

Project Description

VFB is seeking funds to create a sustainable biofuel from microalgae. Their goal is to create a model for growing renewable fuels with low carbon impacts and to eventually generate algae for Berkeley research labs and support future research into sustainably grown algae.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster (coming soon!)

BIPOC Earth Day Festival: Celebrating 10 Years of SCEC

Project Description

In Spring 2025, it will have been 10 years since the founding of the Students of Color Environmental Collective (SCEC), a campus student organization that has helped pave the way for environmental justice conversations on UC Berkeley’s campus. In celebration of this anniversary and in an effort to honor BIPOC voices and labor in the environmental movement, we intend to host a BIPOC Earth Day Festival. It will take place in Spring 2025 just a few days before Earth Day (likely August 19th, 2025) and will be a half-day outdoor event featuring guest speakers, eco-...

Island Justice Fellows Program at the Critical Pacific Island Studies Collective

Project Description

The Island Justice Fellows Program at the Critical Pacific Island Studies Collective (CPISC) enables UC Berkeley students to contribute to environmental justice practice, research, and campus community engagement opportunities concerning issues facing Pacific Islander (PI) communities, both residing in the Pacific Island region and in the diaspora in California. This year-long fellowship programs supports a team of graduate and undergraduate students to address multiple gaps on the UC Berkeley campus: (1) the lack of institutional support for...