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. 

Cultivating Equity for a Just Future (CEJF): Empowering Latinx Students Through Sustainable Research

Project Description

The Latinxs and the Environment Initiative (LEI) is launching the CEJF Project, a year-long program intended to promote sustainability and environmental justice research to BIPOC students on campus through educational workshops and presentations and provide a paid summer research opportunity for undergraduate Latinx/BIPOC students at UC Berkeley to receive hands-on experience with faculty and graduate student researchers conducting research about sustainability and environmental justice. This project will relieve students of financial burdens for summer housing,...

SMART for Campus Construction

Project Description

The SMART (Sustainable Monitoring with Advanced Remote Techniques for Campus Construction) project is dedicated to addressing environmental challenges resulting from intensive construction on the Berkeley campus. Through the utilization of cutting-edge additive manufacturing and intelligent sensing techniques, the project aims to markedly mitigate issues like dust pollution and noise impact, empowering the construction team with effective management and mitigation strategies. This initiative will ultimately advance sustainability efforts on campus by developing a...

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...

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...

Incorporation of Waste Streams into Algal Bioethanol for Sustainable Energy on Campus

Project Description

For the past decade, the Biofuels Technology Club has been collecting waste cooking oil from campus dining halls to convert it into biodiesel. This process has significant pitfalls such as waste glycerol production and variable diesel quality. This project aims to solve these issues by using algal biomass as a secondary source for both biodiesel and bioethanol. The waste glycerol serves as nutrient-rich feedstock for the algae boosting intracellular lipid content that can be converted into diesel. The leftover algal biomass after lipid extraction can be further...

Circularity

Project Description

Circularity fills this void by providing environmental justice learning materials for free -- centering accessibility and actionable steps towards incorporating EJ fundamentals into everyone’s work. In this way, campus organizations have access to readily available tools that move past basic education and engage all students on campus with concrete environmental justice organizing and action, allowing for collaboration that leads to impactful projects. We will provide this access through a free social app, recurring guides available for purchase, and a website,...

The Role of the Underground to Realize a Zero-Carbon UC Campus Energy System

Project Description

The overall goal of this project is to determine whether geothermal is a viable decarbonization energy solution for UC Berkeley and to engage graduate and undergraduate students in the research and the subsequent decision-making and the real application of this technology on campus if it proves feasible. The project will assess the role of the UC campus underground to meet the zero-carbon target.

Project Links

Project...

Cal Sustainable Solutions Competition

Project Description

The team develops leaders with primary focus in the Architecture Engineering Construction (AEC) industry to serve the public good. Cal Sustainable Solutions fosters sustainable projects and knowledge individuals on renewable energy intertwined in the built environment.

Project Links

Project Application (coming soon!)

Project Poster (coming soon!)

CLAS Carbon Smart and LEED-EB Certification Project

Project Description

Help CLAS achieve LEED-EB Certification.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster