Spring Grants

These projects were funded during our Spring grant cycle, where projects receive more than $5,000 for projects that take between one to three years to complete. 

Kingman Hall Creek Restoration

Kingman Hall and the Berkeley Student Cooperatives are seeking funding to restore the riparian cooridor within their house footprint. The upper portion of Strawberry Creek flows through Kingman Hall and there is a current creek bed failure that needs to be addressed. Funding would be used to hire two student leads, cover supplies of new plants and equipment, and the removal of trees to open up the canopy.

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.

VLSB Pollinator Garden

The Department of Integrative Biology and Herbicide-Free Berkeley seeks to restore previously established pollinator gardens near VLSB. This project will allow for the study of anthropod presence within two distinct plots throughout the restoration process, and will expend most of its funds on the hiring of work-study interns to restore and monitor the garden.

Haas Hives Part 2

Haas School of Business is seeking funds to expand their current Hives at Haas mini-grant to build beehives at a new site, after using mini-grant funds to assess feasibility, conduct risk assessments, and obtain necessary campus approvals. The hives would be an educational hub for food and ecology groups on campus, would inlude an educational component, and create signage to connect the new hive location with the existing Haas pollinator garden.

Electric Cargo Bike for ReUse Stations

ReUSE and Cal Zero Waste are requesting funds to purchase an electric cargo bicycle to transport materials from the Cal Zero Waste office to each ReUSE station, rather than moving items on foot.

Vertical Farming at Berkeley Engineering and Organic Research and Development

Vertical Farming at Berkeley, a student nonprofit group, seeks funding to support their research into vertical farming setups. Part of their work involves outreach and education to local schools, as well as donation or sale of produce to the Berkeley Food Pantry and/or Cal Dining

Fellowship for Emerging Sustainability Professionals

The Office of Sustainability sought funds to employ student sustainability leaders to support its efforts to address changes to the UC Sustainable Practices Policy and inform the evolution and implementation of the UC Berkeley Sustainability Plan. OS employed five undergraduate fellows to work within the realms of Communications, Climate Action, and Zero Waste.

Inclusive Excellence Hub Sustainability and Environmental Justice Initiative

Office of Graduate Diversity seeks to create a sustainable, healthy, and equitable space for underrepresented students on campus. The Inclusive Excellence Hub recently opened, and serves as a community space for climate and diverstiy justice programming on Channing Way. They are seeking funds to make the building and outdoor hub space more sustainable through energy efficiency building improvements, the creation of an outdoor green space, and the creation of environmental justice programming to be implemented by their Diversity and Community fellows

UC Gill Tract Community Farm Student Compost Internship and Research

This project seeks to support the expansion of an ongoing SPUR program to facilitate the implementation of a municipal composting system within the Gill Tract. Funds would go to the hiring of graduate student coordinators, travel stipends for interns, and compensation for interviews conducted in the evaluation of the composting system. The Gill Tract hopes that the establishment of this composting system will support student education and the propogation of systems through the SOGA community and beyond.

Deployment of Reusables on Campus

Project Description

Cal Zero Waste plans to launch a partnership with FoodWare, a TGIF funded project, to implement a new dishwasher on campus and increase the amount of reusable takeout ware on campus and restaurants. Through FoodWare, the UC Berkeley community will be able to purchase their meals in reusable materials, track CO2 emissions avoided, and the amount of single-use containers saved, which will improve the overall impact of the campus community.

Project Links

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