Office of Sustainability

Guest Posts SDG3

Employee Health Resources at Auburn University

By Patrick JohnstonAuburn University offers multiple resources to employees and their dependents to help sustain and enhance their physical, psychological, and emotional health. The website, thrive!, features many of these resources. A couple of examples are featured below. Uprise Employees are encouraged to check out the content from Uprise, our…

ContributorSeptember 6, 2023

SDG11 SDG2 SDG4 Sustainability in Action

Campus Changemaker: Charlie Gordon

By Bella Wright Charlie Gordon As the Service Program Coordinator for the Office of Involvement and Student Affairs at Auburn University, Charlie Gordon dedicates his time to serving students and the Auburn/Opelika community. Through the Beat Bama Food Drive, AU Dance Marathon, and the Student Impact program, Charlie promotes community,…

ContributorSeptember 6, 2023

Director's Corner SDG11 SDG3

Director’s Corner: Sustainability Reflects “The Progress of the Human Mind”

“Sustainability is a non-negotiable yardstick against which all our actions, goals, and plans have to be measured.” Robert Costanza My favorite memorial or monument in Washington, D.C. is the Jefferson Memorial. It is a beautiful structure in a gorgeous setting, especially when cherry blossoms bloom in the spring. Photo Credit: Neal…

Mike KenslerSeptember 6, 2023

Guest Posts SDG SDG11 SDG3 SDG6

Building Community in Switzerland

By Becki Retzlaff I am writing this blog from the beautiful city of Bern, Switzerland, where I am attending an academic conference on environmental history. It is poetic that I am tasked with writing a blog about the society point of the sustainability compass from Bern, a city with a…

ContributorSeptember 1, 2023

Guest Posts SDG4

Museums as Spaces for Building Connections

By Randi Evans A shift has been taking place among museums in the United States since the racial reckoning of 2020 and the onset of Covid-19. The number of articles written between 2020 and the present chronicle the way museums – often considered stodgy, slow-moving institutions – have worked to…

ContributorAugust 30, 2023

SDG1 SDG3 SDG8 STARS

Employee Wellness Assessment: Auburn University’s STARS Report

Human behavior is influenced by the environment in which it resides. The average worker spends the most amount of time every day at work. That accumulates to 90,000 hours in the workplace over the course of their life. Therefore, the workplace environment is a significant factor in the lifetime well-being…

ContributorJune 5, 2023

Guest Posts Professional Development SDG11 SDG12 Updates

Energy Efficiency is in the Air

By Betsy Farrell Garcia* Extending the applied research in housing access and affordability conducted by faculty and students at Auburn University Rural Studio, the faculty-led Front Porch Initiative works with not-for-profit builder partners across the southeast offering housing products and technical assistance to build houses to beyond-code standards. As of…

ContributorApril 28, 2023

SDG11 SDG3 Updates

LEED Buildings on Campus

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a rating system used for green buildings and is overseen by the United States Green Building Council. LEED certification provides third-party verification that human health, environmental responsibility, and other performance goals of building projects have been achieved. LEED certified buildings make a…

ContributorApril 17, 2023

Guest Posts SDG16 SDG17

I Care About the Environment but My Policticians Don’t

By Randy Martin The national and local conversation around climate change is ridiculous, and that's why I’m doing something about it. If you’ve followed this issue at all, you probably know it feels as if the entire thing is just people talking past one another. It feels like we’re so…

ContributorApril 6, 2023

SDG11 SDG13 SDG3 SDG7 STARS Updates

Emissions Assessment: Auburn University’s STARS Report

By Randy Martin, Office of Sustainability The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released its latest report assessing the current status and trends of climate change, future risks and the long- and near-term responses. This report contained a sentence that has stuck with me since I first read it: …