Campus Sustainability Updates - Sustainability Hub for Innovation & Environment

SHINE and EcoReps have hosted a couple of sustainability-focused Halloween events in the last couple of weeks! There's nothing quite as spooky as forgetting sustainability practices around Halloween! SHINE hosted a Sustainable Halloween Tabling event to initiate conversations about including sustainability practices in Halloween activities. EcoReps hosted a Costume Swap to encourage students to share costumes over the years to practice sustainable practices, such as sharing, and reusing. There are several pictures from these events posted in this article. 

Vote! - November 5 

Exercise your civic duty at the polls on Tuesday, November 5 to contribute your voice to the presidential election! 

Marquette 2049 Learning Circle Event - November 6 

The next Marquette 2049 discussion will be Wednesday, November 6th at 10 am in the Northern Center. We will be discussing what we want the Marquette community to look like in regards to Energy & Power in the year 2049. You will not want to miss out on this discussion; RSVP here! Check out the summaries from the past discussions here! 

LAST Climate@Noon for Fall 2024 Semester with Dr. Alex Stoner - November 8 

The NCN team cannot believe that it is already the LAST climate at noon seminar for the season! We will be discussing climate anxiety, disavowal, and the illusion of economic growth with Dr. Alex Stoner. Join us Friday, November 8th at noon in Jamrich 1311. 

Dr. Stoner is an associate professor of sociology and department head at Northern Michigan University. He is an environmental sociologist who studies the social divers of and societal responses to climate change. His most recent research examines the political-economic and ideological barriers to more effective and meaningful responses to the climate emergency. During this discussion he will identify the socio-structural causes of climate anxiety and explore the phenomenon of climate disavowal. Policy implications for confronting the reality of our current ecological predicament will be discussed as well. 

University of Michigan Library - Free Access to Community Reading

The University of Michigan Library is offering free access to a community reading through Dec. 13. Everyone in the state of Michigan is invited to read or listen to Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility. The book brings strong climate voices from around the world to address the political, scientific, social, and emotional dimensions of the most urgent issue human beings have ever faced. Accessible, encouraging, and engaging, it's an invitation to everyone to understand the issue more deeply, participate more boldly, and imagine the future more creatively. The audio and ebook is available at Read Michigan. If you want to learn more about this project, click here. 

How to Reduce Costume Waste - SHINE 

See the poster attached to this article to learn how you can be more sustainable during the Halloween season. Written and designed by Isabelle Honkomp. 

NMU Food Pantry 

The fall semester hours for the NMU Food Pantry are: 

101D Jacobetti - Mondays from 1-3 pm & Thursdays 1-4 pm

101B Gries Hall - Mondays from 8 am - 1:30 pm, Tuesdays from 9 am - 4 pm, Wednesdays from 12 pm - 5 pm, and Fridays from 12 pm - 4 pm 

NMU Sustainability Group Project - Take This Survey! 

Emma Bentley and group members are working on a project in Professor Adebiyi’s Intro to Sustainability course. Help them out with their group project by filling out this quick (3-minutes or less) survey about the Outdoor Learning Areas (OLA) on NMU's campus. The group working on this project thanks you in advance! Take the survey here! 

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS 

EcoReps 

Weekly meetings are on Mondays at 4 p.m. in Jamrich 1311. To become more involved in the organization, join GroupMe. 

Upcoming Events: 

• Zero-Waste Volleyball Game, November 1, 3:30 to 6:30 pm

• Zero-Waste Diwali Celebration, November 2, 5:30 to 9 pm, Northern Center. Sign up to volunteer here!

• Green Fund Tabling, November 5, 11 to 1 pm, Jamrich Atrium

• Green Friday, November 15, 10 - 3 pm, Jamrich Atrium (Clothing Swap, Coat Supplies, Career Closet, and More!)

Green Athletics 

Become part of Green Athletics on The Hub. If you have questions, reach out to Makaylee Kuhn (makuhn@nmu.edu). 

Upcoming Events: 

November 1 -  Zero-Waste Volleyball Game 3:30-6:30 pm

November 10 - Team Apparel Swap 

Conservation Crew 

The NMU Conservation Crew is reopening the co-leader application. They are looking for 1-2 leaders to apply. The application is open from November 1-December 14, 2024, and the co-leaders will be selected over winter break. Apply here! 

Upcoming Events: 

• Saturday, November 2 at 11 am - senior Adam Basten is hosting a Habitat Restoration Event for their Capstone

• Saturday, November 9 at 11 am - Wetmore Pond Hike. Meet at the OLA to carpool. Bring a drink and snack!

• Sunday, November 10 at 2 pm - Songbird Trail Hike. Meet at the OLA to carpool. Bring a drink and snack!

• Thursday, November 14 at 12:30 pm - Presque Isle Bog Walk. This is a shorter walk. Meet at the OLA to carpool. 

• Saturday, November 16 at 11 am - Hogback Mountain Hike. This one will be more difficult, so make sure to bring a drink and snack!
• November 20-22 - Conservation Crew Plant and Craft Sale. The sale will take place from 2 pm-4 pm on November 20, and from 11 am-1 pm on November 21-22. There will be plants, crochet items, earrings, and bookmarks for sale.

INTERNSHIPS, STUDY ABROAD, AND JOB OPPORTUNITIES 

• The U.S. Department of Energy - (DOE) Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF) Program
  • A 10-week summer research internship for undergraduate and graduate students in STEM majors. Participants complete a cutting-edge research project at one of the Department’s National Laboratories or DOE Headquarters in support of the Department’s mission of minimizing the environmental and climate impacts of fossil fuels and industrial processes while working to achieve net-zero emissions.
• Study Abroad - Sustainable Business in France
  • Learn about Sustainable Business in France this Summer! This is a full, 4-credit course (meets the University’s General Education requirement for Social Responsibility in a Diverse World) and it will contain all of the same content and assignments that a student would complete in a regular semester, except we will spend 9 days of our summer session learning about the course concepts in practice in France. Applications are due to the International Programs Office by December 2 by 5 p.m. Apply here. 
• Compost Crew at Northern Lights Dining (NLD) starting at $12.25/hr. Apply Here (No Resume or Cover Letter Needed) 
• A FREE Climate Advocacy Certificate Program! It is a 15-week remote course on advocacy, climate science, and communication. Students interested in the spring program should register by January 12, 2025. You can email any questions you may have to highered@citizensclimatelobby.org.

Two weeks ago students who are a part of the Earth, Environmental, and Geographical
Sciences Department at Northern Michigan University had the opportunity to attend the
American Association of Geographers conference hosted in Kalamazoo. Students and faculty
were able to learn about different projects that Geographers in the East Lakes/West Lakes AAG
divisions were working on. This gave students and staff great ideas about what Northern
Michigan University can implement regarding sustainability. Some topics that participants
learned about include how climate action is important within research, water waste regarding AI
(which is generated to cool the supercomputers), and gentrification in Puerto Rico, to name a few
examples. NMU attendee Jenna Garwood felt that seeing all of these examples of different
research topics “gave [them] a newfound confidence and inspiration for [their] own capstone
project next semester.”

A lot of graduate students attended this conference, however NMU’s group mainly
consisted of undergraduate students. This gave them the opportunity to think about what they
would like to pursue in the future. EEGS student Lani Moleski commented on how they “have
been toying with the idea of graduate school and seeing so many successful people in that
position helped motivate me to start applying to schools.” Isabelle Honkomp felt similarly since
she “learned what other schools were like, specifically grad school opportunities.” This
conference helped students see research examples, narrow down their focus topic, and think if
they want to continue their education in the future.

The conference also provided an important opportunity for a lot of these students to gain
experience presenting what sustainable projects and research that they are working on in
Marquette. Some faculty and student research projects that were presented include:
Avery Case & Julia Janssen: University Campus Food Waste Reduction Strategy: Perceived
Effectiveness of Different Messaging & Framing Campaigns
Ryan Tallmadge: Superior Hiawatha Transportation
Lola Rigano: Stakeholders’ Engagement on Sustainable School Garden Implementation: What it
Means and What it Needs
Isabelle Honkomp: Marquette 2049: Preparing the Community for the Future
Jelili Adebiyi: Growers’ Adoption of USDA GAP, Other Harmonized GAP & Group Produce
Audits: Drivers, Constraints, and Fostering Improved Implementation and Exploratory
Investigation of the Plastic Consumption Habits of Marquette County Residents, Upper
Peninsula Michigan
Justine Nakintu: Agro-Climatic Suitability Mapping for Underutilized Crops: A Case of Jackfruit
in Uganda
Katelyn Younglove: Wet & Dry Spell Variability in Southwestern Ohio

Congratulations to the undergraduates who won awards for their projects: Isabelle Honkomp,
Katelyn Younglove, Avery Case, and Julia Janssen.

The ability to go to the conference to learn new ideas, share what the Marquette community is
doing, and gain experience as geographers was extremely beneficial.

If you want to learn more about AAG and this conference then check out their website here:
https://aageastlakes.wpengine.com/?page_id=447

Written by: Isabelle Honkomp

Partridge Creek Compost is a nonprofit which aims to reduce food waste going to the landfill, improve soil health in our county, and educate our community about the environmental and social benefits of composting. From curbside compost collections to creating a high quality finished compost product, we’re here to change the course of food waste diversion for our region.

Partridge Creek Compost offers 20% off their compost pick-up program for NMU students, faculty, and staff. Learn more or sign up HERE! 

Here are 5 reasons why you should begin composting: (sourced from PCC's 'Compost Blog' webpage)

1. Reduces Waste and Landfill Use: Did you know that 51% of landfilled waste is comprised of organic materials? Composting reuses valuable resources while extending the life of our local landfill. 
    
2. Combats Climate Change: Food waste that breaks down in landfills anaerobically (without oxygen) produces large quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas 80x more potent than carbon dioxide. Composting food waste is one of the easiest ways to tackle climate change in your daily life. 
    
3. Creates Healthy Soils: Finished compost contains a variety of micronutrients, a diverse array of microorganisms, and is created from otherwise wasted materials. Unlike industrial fertilizers, it helps build topsoil, repairs delicate soil ecosystems, and supports the growth of nutrient dense and resilient food crops. 
    
4. Recycles Organic Materials: When food waste is thrown into the trash, it ends up in the landfill indefinitely and without purpose. Composting is like recycling for your organics, and instead creates a finished soil amendment used to grow new food. 
    
5. Improves Water Quality: When food waste comes into contact with inorganic materials in our landfill it creates leachate, a liquid pollutant that can contaminate groundwater. Leachate contains all sorts of harmful chemicals, many of which are known carcinogens and are harmful to human health.

Partridge Creek Compost is an industrial composter meaning you can throw in the meats, dairy, and food-soiled paper products that you wouldn't want to put in your home compost. Partridge Creek Compost needs 250 subscribers to be able to continue the amazing work they do! They want to make their goal by May, so let's help them now.