Earth Fest Kickoff: Celebrating sustainability progress

UW–Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin speaks to attendees at the Earth Fest Kickoff Celebration and discussion panel. Photo by: Bryce Richter

A panelist speaks to attendees at the Earth Fest Kickoff Celebration and discussion panel held in the Discovery Building. Photo by: Bryce Richter

Attendees look at information booths at the Earth Fest Kickoff Celebration. Photo by: Bryce Richter

Gathering to celebrate the Earth Fest Kickoff, left to right, are graduate student Marek Makowski; Green Fund manager Ian Aley; Business Professor and sustainability advisor Ann Terlaak; Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin; Associate Director of Sustainability Nathan Jandl; ASM Sustainability Chair Christina Treacy former student and sustainability intern Katie Piel; Director of Sustainability Education and Research Andrea Hicks; Chief Sustainability Officer Missy Nergard, and former student and ASM chair Sanauz Alaei. Photo by: Bryce Richter

Participants in UW–Madison’s first-ever Earth Fest Kickoff Celebration on Friday, April 19, praised the momentum boost for the institution’s sustainability and environmental efforts.

Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin announced the new RISE-EARTH initiative to strengthen the university’s ability to address environmental problems and opportunities; business and government officials discussed new opportunities that come with sustainable approaches; and students, faculty and staff all spoke about their excitement at the progress being made.

“Our goal is to unite UW–Madison communities of all kinds — external to the university, internal to the university, students, faculty, staff, people who work the night shift, people who keep the land, all of us — together, to celebrate all things environmental and sustainability,” said Paul Robbins, dean of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

This week, more than 50 Earth Fest events — including lectures, outdoor excursions, hands-on projects and panels — are being held to “educate, inspire and motivate you to do stuff,” Robbins said. The activities were planned in partnership with more than two dozen student organizations and campus units.

Missy Nergard, UW’s director of sustainability, said it’s important to look at the whole system of sustainability efforts at UW– Madison, from graduate and undergraduate certificates in sustainability to sustainability-focused internships to the Green Fund, which supports student ideas for environmental projects.

“Especially in higher education, it’s really important that we have applied research, that students get to work on real-world problems, that our researchers get to do real-world things,” Nergard said. “One of the priorities for the programming is really to develop interdisciplinary opportunities.”

Students have been “a beacon” in leading the way toward sustainability efforts, said Ann Terlaak, a business professor and faculty advisor for the Sustainability Certificate.

“When we follow the students, and follow their lead, and respond to their calls, good things happen,” Terlaak said.

Current and former students said they were pleased with the progress after their efforts in pushing for more sustainability course offerings.

“Your fears as a student when you’re leaving are: I really hope that those four years that I put in were doing something and were meant for something, and trusting your community and the faculty and staff here at UW–Madison to continue that momentum,” said Katie Piel, a 2019 graduate who was an intern in the Office of Sustainability when she was a student. “They really did, and it means so much to me that that’s happening, and it makes me so proud to be a Badger.”

Jacob Breit, a former chair of the ASM sustainability committee, said he was pleased with the Environmental Sustainability Goals the chancellor announced in February.

“We are already doing these things that are in the goals, but the goals give us more institutional support, they give the students more credibility when talking to administrators about the campaigns that they’re working on, and they give us more drive moving forward,” he said.

“These goals are the culmination of years and years and years’ worth of student activism, emotional labor, organizing, meetings, projects, research — all of those things,” said UW graduate student Marek Makowski. “And the first thing we should do is celebrate that.”

“This is a big moment … a win on the way toward a more beautiful world,” said Ian Aley, Green Fund program manager.