UNH Sustainability Awards

UNH Sustainability Awards
UNH campus arial

UNH

recognizing the innovative work of faculty, staff, students and alumni


Champions

of our collective commitment to human dignity for all people and ecological integrity in all places


 

Impact

driven and informed by the needs and challenges in the community/world


Congratulations 2023 Sustainability Awardees & Nominees

Learn more about the awardees and nominees in each category below.

solid blue background
Alumni Awards
solid blue background
Faculty Awards
solid blue background
Staff Awards
solid blue background
Student Awards

What are the UNH Sustainability Awards?

Sustainability at UNH is a university-wide endeavor. Sustainability Awards celebrate and spotlight individuals and teams doing important sustainability research, curriculum development and teaching, campus initiatives and culture development, and external engagement work across and beyond the university. The program raises the visibility of these activities and achievements to help build a deep culture of sustainability that permeates all facets of our institution and community and how we work. 

The Sustainability Awards embrace the framework of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals to advance human dignity for all people and ecological integrity in all places, and to emphasize the inextricable links between human dignity, ecological health, participatory democracy, and intergenerational equity. 

Important Dates & Reminders

The Sustainability Awards program will be paused in 2024. We look forward to resuming this program in 2025.

UNH Sustainability Awards Details

UNH, UNH Manchester, and UNH Law School faculty, staff, graduate students, undergraduate students, and alumni are eligible for a Sustainability Award.* This includes faculty and staff with research, clinical, or adjunct appointments. Individuals or organizations/teams may be nominated. Previous sustainability award winners are eligible for nomination for activities that are new since the time of the previous award. 

* Work or projects undertaken in paid roles at the Sustainability Institute are not eligible for awards. This includes Sustainability Institute staff, interns, coaches, and peer mentors. Members of the Sustainability Awards selection committees, Sustainability Institute Advisory Board or other UNH advisory boards are also ineligible during the term of their service. 

The program seeks to celebrate, spotlight and incentivize research and scholarship, curriculum development and teaching, campus initiatives and culture development, and external engagement activities and achievements that best embody the principles and practices of sustainability.

While a small number of awards are presented each year, this program intentionally celebrates all nominees for their contributions. This reflects our commitment to a sustainable learning community, in which many members of the UNH community are integral to the achievements of the university.

More questions? We have answers. 

What if I know someone making a difference, but it’s not a “green” or environmental issue? 
Please nominate them!
And check out the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – at UNH, we use this as a framework to define sustainability broadly and recognize work that advances the SDGs.  

As one example of many, in 2022, UNH’s Institute on Disability was nominated for their inclusivity work and new UNH-4U program, which fundamentally changes the trajectory of the lives of young people with intellectual disabilities.  

Who can nominate? 
Anyone in our UNH community
– faculty, staff, students, and alumni! You can nominate an individual or a group of people working toward a common goal*. 
 

In 2022, Felix DeVito, was nominated for teaching Green Building Design and initiating the Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Design Challenge for the Capstone Project for senior engineering students. As another example, an interdisciplinary team – the UNH Empathy Project – was nominated for their implementation of module-based learning to help library and museum workers consider their biases and take a more empathetic approach to community learning spaces. 

* Work or projects undertaken in paid roles at the Sustainability Institute are not eligible for awards. This includes Sustainability Institute staff, interns, coaches, and peer mentors. Members of the Sustainability Awards selection committees, Sustainability Institute Advisory Board or other UNH advisory boards are also ineligible during the term of their service. 

Why nominate? 
Recognizing people
doing work to build a more sustainable future helps make a stronger, more resilient and collaborative community, so we can all thrive! People across campus are making a difference through their work, teaching, research, volunteering, and everyday actions and we want to celebrate them! 
 

And by being nominated, they’re eligible to apply for funds to continue their efforts. In 2021, the UNH Food Repurposing Project, a collaborative endeavor, was awarded funds to extend their work addressing food insecurity, food waste, and advancing service-learning opportunities.  

How do I nominate? 
Fill out
the
NEW 5-minute nomination form in the Nomination Form dropdown with information about the nominee (any UNH faculty, staff, or student from UNH Durham, UNH Manchester or UNH Law, or UNH alumni)

Award Criteria Overview

These criteria are reflective of the complexity and reality of sustainability challenges and the kinds of skills and approaches that sustainability requires. Sustainability Awards recognize work that embodies the ethical commitment inherent in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has or has the potential to have significant impact on sustainability, and fulfills some or all the following criteria: Please see specific category information below for further criteria descriptions. 

  • Engaged: driven and informed by actual needs and challenges in the community/world, and inclusive of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and lived experiences 
  • Creative: harnesses novel or unique approaches to sustainability practices 
  • Impactful: has or has the potential to have significant impact on sustainability

Award Categories

Faculty

Research
Up to four (4) awards total: 2 for established research and 2 for emerging research 

Established research: Recognizes research and scholarship that explicitly addresses the concept of sustainability, furthers our understanding of the interdependence of ecological and social/economic systems, or has a primary or explicit focus on a major sustainability challenge. Mature stream of research that has had impact through publication, presentation, and other kinds of impacts 

Emerging research: Recognizes early-stage research projects that are in-development. Emerging stream of research, pre-publication, data analysis, grant application/recently awarded a grant 

Curriculum 
Up to four (4) awards total: 2 for existing curriculum and 2 for new curriculum 

Existing Curriculum: Recognizes existing curriculum that contains a primary and explicit focus or an innovative module or unit on sustainability or a sustainability-related challenge or issue. Curriculum must have been approved and taught at least once. 

New Curriculum: Recognizes new curriculum that contains a primary and explicit focus or an innovative module or unit on sustainability or a sustainability-related challenge or issue. Curriculum must be in the development stage. 

Campus & Community Engagement
Up to four (4) awards total

Recognizes efforts to integrate sustainability into campus culture and community, and/or to extend sustainability knowledge and practice at the community, state, regional, national, and/or international level. 

Lifetime Achievement
Up to three (3) awards annually

Recognizes significant multi-year body of work in any one or more of the four categories or across categories. 

Sustainability Champions
Unlimited

Recognizes all nominees for their work.

Staff

Campus Culture & Operations
Up to four (4) awards total

Recognizes efforts to integrate sustainability into campus operations, including campus culture and initiatives, buildings, transportation, dining, and more.

Engagement
Up to four (4) awards total

Recognizes efforts to extend sustainability knowledge and practice at the community, state, regional, national, and/or international level. 

Lifetime Achievement
Up to three (3) awards annually 

Recognizes significant multi-year body of work in any one or more of the four categories or across categories. 

Sustainability Champions
Unlimited

Recognizes all nominees for their work.

Students

Research
Awards will be presented at the Sustainability Awards Recognition Celebration on May 9, 2023 

PLEASE NOTE: Student research should not be nominated here. All student research awards will be presented within the structure of the Undergraduate Research Conference (select event: Undergraduate Research Sustainability Symposium) and the Graduate Research Conference. Please encourage students to register for these events in order to be considered. 

Campus Culture, Operations & Engagement
Up to eight (8) awards total:
Four (4) for undergraduates
Four (4) for graduate students

Recognizes efforts to integrate sustainability into campus culture and operations and/or extend sustainability knowledge and practice at the community, state, regional, national, and/or international level.

Student Organization of the Year
One (1) award annually in this category

Recognizes exemplary efforts by a student organization to advance sustainability principles and practices on and beyond campus. 

Sustainability Champions
Unlimited

Recognizes everyone who was nominated and those who presented at the Undergraduate Research Conference Sustainability Symposium or the Graduate Research Conference Sustainability Track.  

Alumni

Lifetime Achievement
Up to (3) annually

Recognizes significant multi-year body of work in their professional or civic lives.

Graduates of the Last Decade
Up to three (3) undergraduate and up to three (3) graduate alumni

Recognizes significant multi-year body of work in the professional or civic lives of graduates of the last decade. 

Awardees and nominees will be eligible to apply for funding between $500 and $2,500 that can be used to support approved expenses that enable the awardee to continue, expand, or enhance their project, research, or curriculum development. A total of $20,000 will be awarded in 2023, divided by the judging committee based on merit. Funds may pay for any qualified expense e.g., research assistance, travel, supplemental pay, project costs etc.) for a pre-determined period.

This funding is made possible by the generous support of the Responsible Governance and Sustainable Citizenship Program and the Sustainability Institute.  

The nomination period for the 2023 UNH Sustainability Awards has closed. 

Please consider nominating colleagues, alumni, and students next year.

 

2023 Sustainability Awards Selection Committees

  • Leslie Couse, Committee Co-Chair, Executive Director, Engagement & Faculty Development 
  • Catherine Peebles, Committee Co-Chair, Director of the University Honors Program 
  • Catherine Ashcraft, Assistant Professor, Natural Resources and the Environment 
  • Stephanie Brockmann, Assistant Professor, Economics 
  • Dan Bromberg, Associate Professor, Political Science 
  • Gibran Mancus, Assistant Professor, Nursing 
  • Nathan Maybach, Undergraduate Student, B Corp Assessment Consultant at the Sustainability Institute 
  • Weiwei Mo, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering 
  • Shannon Rogers, Associate State Specialist and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Economics 
  • Cameron Wake, Research Professor, Earth Sciences, and Program Chair of Sustainability Dual Major 
  • Nan Yi, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering 
  • Elisabeth Farrell, Project Director, Sustainability Institute, ex officio 

  • Dawna Perez, Committee Chair, Executive Director, Institute for Student Success 
  • Chloe Gross, Undergraduate Student, Zero Waste Intern at the Sustainability Institute 
  • Matt L’Heureux, Campus Energy Manager 
  • Rochelle L’Italien, Nutritionist, Dining Administration 
  • Kelly Nye, Director, Insitute on Disability 
  • Olivia Saunders, Associate Field Specialist of Food and Agriculture 
  • Deb Della Selva, Information Technologist III, AT Application Administration and Management 
  • Karen Spiller, Thomas W. Haas Professor in Sustainable Food Systems 
  • Ken Weston, Executive Director, Campus Stewardship 
  • Ciara Wright, Educational Program Coordinator, Art and Art History 
  • Jennifer Andrews, Project Director, Sustainability Institute, ex officio 

  • Kenneth Holmes, Committee Chair, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Students 
  • Ruth Abelman, Director, Residential Life 
  • Melissa Beecher, Director, Memorial Union & Student Activities 
  • Colleen Kelty, Student Activities Officer 
  • Molly Kent, Undergraduate Student, Sustainability Fellow 
  • Dovev Levine, Assistant Dean, Graduate School 
  • Mikayla Townsend, Project Director, Carsey School of Public Policy 
  • Christa Ricker, Director, New Student Programs 
  • Joanne Maldari, Educational Program Coordinator 
  • Kally Riddinger, Assistant Director, Memorial Union & Student Activities 
  • Faina Bukher, Director, Changemaker Collaborative, Sustainability Institute, ex officio 

  • Kelly Calhoun, Committee Chair, Managing Director of Alumni Engagement
  • Andre Beaupre, Founder, Soulful Advantage LLC 
  • Ned Dane, Chief Strategy Officer, Aidentified LLC  
  • Sue McDonough, Managing Director, UNH Foundation 
  • Faith Thompson, Assistant Director of Annual Giving (COLSA, SMSOE, UNHSI), UNH Foundation 
  • Joseph Skehan, Undergraduate Student, Peer Mentor , UNH Changemaker Collaborative 
  • Fiona Wilson, Director, Sustainability Institute, ex officio 

Congratulations 2022 Sustainability Awardees & Nominees

Learn more about the awardees and nominees in each category below.

solid blue background
Alumni Awards
solid blue background
Faculty Awards
solid blue background
Staff Awards
solid blue background
Student Awards