Students are encouraged to participate in the annual Ideas to Serve Competition. If you are a student working on projects (class related or personal) that address social or environmental problems in the community or around the globe this is a great opportunity to get mentoring, feedback, and prize money to move your idea to the next phase. It is also a great differentiator for your resume and a great way to expand your networks.

Nominations Sought for Campus Environmental Awards

The School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences is offering a new course - EAS 2803 Climate Change.  It is open to all but especially designed for non-science majors.  Students will learn the ins and outs of climate change - the science, the observations, and apply it to what is discussed in the media.  Note that this does not fulfill one of the two required lab science classes.

Internship and Cooperative Education Opportunities with the Tennessee Valley Authority:

TVA offers opportunities for fall, spring and summer work terms and winter holiday breaks. These programs as great ways to select future full-time employees.

Not only will you gain meaningful experience, you'll receive the following benefits:

• Competitive hourly rate: We pay you a competitive hourly rate based on your class standing (e.g. grad student, senior, junior, etc.).
• Free parking: We offer discounted parking, even reimbursing you in metro areas such as Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis and Washington, D.C.
• Reimbursement for travel: We reimburse you for work-related travel expenses.
• Housing assistance: If you work with us full-time and your official TVA work station is more than 50 miles from your permanent home address and temporary school address, you may be eligible for our housing assistance.

Interns may work for one or more terms based on our business needs and on performance. Co-op students generally commit to work more than one term. You'll alternate school and work terms based on a schedule determined by TVA working in conjunction with your school.

General Motors is looking for one student from Georgia Tech to serve (unpaid) on its new Student Sustainability Advisory Council. GM is particularly interested in receiving applications from Master’s level students in their FIRST year, or strong undergraduate students in their LAST year with plans to continue in graduate school. There is no preference for degree program, but the student should have a strong interest and some familiarity with the concepts of sustainability.

The timeline is very tight for application, due November 20 and selection onDecember 7.

We are requesting that students send a one-page resume and a 500-word essay on their background and why they would like to serve on the council. The deadline for submission of these items is November 20th, 2015 and we will begin notifying on December 7th, 2015. Please have them send these items to zineb.bouzoubaa@gm.com with their last name and “GM SSAC” in the subject line.

HSOC PhD Student: Examining Campus Sustainability and Food Sourcing

During her time as a 2015 Georgia Innovation Intern, Rebecca Watts Hull explored how sustainability initiatives are influencing food purchasing on Georgia’s college campuses.

Hull, a doctoral student in the School of History and Sociology, investigated the impacts of the growing emphasis on “buy local” campaigns, and she used national and state data on campus food purchasing to predict the economic development benefits for Georgia of more aggressive local and sustainable food procurement goals. In addition, she investigated ways that universities, state government agencies, county and municipal governments, and nonprofit organizations can expand these benefits for Georgia farmers.

“Growing student demand for and institutional commitment to sustainability practices on college campuses in Georgia has created pressure for increased transparency in food sourcing,” Hull said. “That pressure already has led to student education about the sources of foods served in the dining halls at some institutions and has prompted several produce distributors to identify and market products from regional farms.”

According to her report, entitled “Campus Commitments to Local and Sustainable Food Procurement: Trends, Benefits, Challenges and Opportunities,” campus local, sustainable food initiatives in Georgia have, to date, resulted in greater procurement from commercial, conventional Georgia farms than smaller farms and ones with sustainability certifications.

Hull concludes the report by recommending that Georgia’s public colleges and universities, state governmental departments, and other stakeholders — including nonprofit organizations — extend regional economic benefits of campus local and sustainable food initiatives by implementing local buying commitments at all public institutions. She also recommends supporting infrastructure, such as food hubs, that can connect smaller and mid-sized farmers, including organic producers, with colleges and universities.

TreeZero Paper company www.treezero.com is a manufacturer and distributor of a 100% tree-free paper made from sugarcane waste fibre. Our paper is considered the most sustainable paper on earth. We are currently selling to the College and University market as well as the Fortune 1000 companies that have sustainability initiatives.

TreeZero is currently seeking interns to work at their office at 4401 Northside Parkway, about 7 miles north of GT.

Georgia Tech Earth Day Planning Committee

Georgia Tech's Earth Day celebration is one of the largest in the southeast!

The Earth Day Planning Committee is seeking new members to help plan the 19th annual Earth Day Festival, which will be held on April 22, 2016, at Tech Walk and Tech Green. All Georgia Tech students, faculty and staff are welcome to join. The planning committee meets every other week during fall semester and weekly during spring semester.

All are welcome to join! The first meeting will be Thursday September 17 from 11:00AM-12:00PM in Clough 325. 

HSOC will host its second Speaker Series of the semester on Monday, September 14th. Alexandra Hui from Mississippi State University will be presenting on "Listening to Nature: Representing Bird Song, 1885-1945." It will be at 4:00PM in the Old CE Building, room 104. All are welcome.

For this year’s Project One common reading, Georgia Tech has selected Edward Humes’s Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash. The book, which chronicles the production of trash in America and examines our cultural relationship with this waste, was chosen in part because of its strong connection to the them of Tech’s new Quality Enhancement Plan, Serve.Learn.Sustain.

There will be sustainability-focused events in both the fall and spring semesters related to Garbology, including a visit from the author, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes (October 1st).

Want to be involved?  Any students who would like to participate in the sustainability-focused Project One events, should contact Dr. Lacy Hodges at lacy.hodges@gatech.edu.

Join Generation Green, the Georgia Conservancy, members of Atlanta's sustainability movement, urban farmers and friends of Liam for the annual Liam Rattray Day of Service on June 13 at the Wheat Street Gardens at the Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture in Atlanta.

Liam grew up in Atlanta and was one of the city's most promising young environmental leaders. In his sophomore year at Georgia Tech, Liam founded Students Organizing for Sustainability (SOS) and laid the groundwork for Tech's campus garden, community supported agriculture program and sustainable dining committee. His reach extended well beyond the campus setting to community organizations that include Georgia Organics, Atlanta Local Food Initiative, East Atlanta Farmers Market, Truly Living Well Farms, Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance and many more. On Memorial Day 2011, just weeks after graduating from Georgia Tech's Honors Program with his bachelor’s degree in public policy, Liam was killed by a drunk driver in Little Five Points while on his moped. This loss was a stunning blow to Atlanta's sustainability community and all the people whose lives Liam touched.

Join us in honoring his memory. Participation is free and we encourage you to invite friends and family.

U.S. Department of Justice
Environment and Natural Resources Division
Law and Policy Section
The Law and Policy Section (LPS) advises and assists the Assistant Attorney General on legal and policy issues. Working with the Office of Legislative Affairs, LPS coordinates the Environment and Natural Resources Division's legislative program. LPS also represents the Department of Justice on interagency groups of a variety of issues that relate to the mission of the Division. LPS also litigates amicus cases and undertakes other specially assigned litigation projects at the trial and appellate levels. Other duties include monitoring citizen suits; responding to citizen mail, congressional, and FOIA requests; and serving as the Division's ethics officers. LPS attorneys also coordinate the Division's activities on international environmental matters and environmental justice matters.

Duties of the unpaid undergraduate intern position include: attending congressional hearings and reporting on environmental legislation; researching legal and policy issues; and providing support for the section's amicus litigation.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, and have maintained residency in the United States for 3 of the past 5 years, with exceptions for U.S. military or government service. If the applicant is a dual citizen, they should be prepared to fill out additional paperwork regarding the dual citizenship. Applicants must pass a mandatory background check. The screening will specifically inquire into an applicant’s police record, payment of taxes, issues of indebtedness, and drug use, specifically within the last year. Applicants should be either enrolled as undergraduates during the internship, or planning on returning to their school in the time period following the conclusion of the internship. They should be willing to commit for about 30 hours per week.

The internship will run roughly from early September to mid December 2015 (dates flexible). Please specify in your cover letter what dates and what hours you are available.

To apply, please email a cover letter, resume, unofficial transcript, and 3-5 page writing sample (may be an excerpt from a longer paper on any topic) to sarah.lu@usdoj.gov by Monday, June 29, 2015.

Tech Beautification Day Volunteer Sign Up:

The Georgia Tech Earth Day Committee is now accepting submissions for its annual Leadership and Sustainable Initiatives awards.

Nominations are sought for individuals or groups who are making a positive environmental impact both on campus and beyond, either through a new initiative or a body of work. The deadline for nominations is Monday, March 2.

Nominees must be students, faculty, staff, alumni, or retirees of Georgia Tech and should demonstrate a positive environmental impact, a commitment to restoring and enhancing the environment, and an ongoing commitment to environmental leadership. Self-nominations are welcome. Individuals or groups are eligible.

Last year’s recipients were the Student Government Association's Sustainability Committee; Carson Meredith, professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; and the Georgia Tech Urban Honeybee Project.

The person or group selected for this year’s awards will be honored at Tech’s annual Earth Day Celebration on Friday, April 17.

To nominate a person or group, download the nomination form and submit via email to gtgreenawards@gmail.com.

This is a perfect opportunity for HTS majors!

Do you want to find the perfect internship, co-op, full-time or part-time position that fits the skills you want to build? Do you want to interact with recruiters who are just as passionate about doing good as you, and get on the path towards making real-world social or environmental impact?

Join Enterprise to Empower for our annual Social Enterprise Career Fair on Thursday, February 5th in Klaus Atrium for the unique opportunity to get hired at ethical, socially-minded and eco-friendly companies and non-profit organizations. It's one of a kind in Atlanta, and open to students of all majors, interests, and ages. To register and view the list of participants, visit our website at www.en2em.org. Join the movement to work for what matters!

Participate in the 2015 Ideas to Serve Competition with projects that address social/environmental issues - locally or around the globe. The Competition provides student mentor-matching, workshops, access to a large network of local social entrepreneurs, and cash prizes to help launch their projects. More details can be found on the I2S website.
Kick-off Info Session is this Thursday (1/29) at 11AM in CoB 101 – RSVP here to secure lunch.

In the last year Georgia Tech has seen steady growth in the number of electric vehicles (EV), with approximately 150 EVs parking on campus regularly. A recent grant of $39,675 from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) to Tech’s Parking and Transportation Services will help the Institute expand its EV charging program by installing nine dual-port Level II chargers in visitor-accessible locations including near the Student Center, Howey Physics Building, and Bobby Dodd Stadium.

“We’re very pleased to have been selected from a quality pool of candidates throughout the state to receive this grant funding, which will allow us to best leverage our limited transportation dollars to meet the growing need on campus for charging,” said Lance Lunsway, director of Parking and Transportation Services. The GEFA Charge Georgia grant was available to Georgia colleges, universities, and technical colleges; state agencies and authorities; and cities and counties.

To read more, click here.

Did you know that Georgia is a leader in solar energy jobs (www.gpb.org/news/2014/11/19/when-it-comes-solar-industry-jobs-georgia-adds-the-most)? Are you interested in the solar industry and its implications for Georgia? Maybe interested in non-profits? If so, HERE'S A PROJECT FOR YOU! This project is *perfectly suited* to the skills of an HTS major!

The Georgia Solar Energy Association (GSEA), a non-profit, is looking to build outreach throughout the state. GSEA is the "go-to organization" to ask questions and get answers about the solar industry. The solar industry is growing around the nation and GSEA hopes to put some basic information in front of policy people (county commissioners, mayors, city councils of major GA cities, etc.) so they can be better informed about the solar industry and how it is developing in Georgia and around the country.

In pursuit of this, GSEA is working on developing a database. The database project is simple:

1) to research, using public information portals, the names, titles, emails and titles (city, county, region) for elected officials across all 159 Georgia counties,

2) establish a GSEA database using this information for educational use (Enews), and

3) to use these same students to focus group test information we will compile (and students are invited to help with this if they like!) to develop an orderly "flow" to how we roll out a basic primer on the solar industry in Georgia and how this information compares with national industry data.

GSEA will either send out 4 E-newsletters (one each quarter) or 6 E-newsletters (one each two months) for a total or 4 or 6 over the entirety of 2015. The information compiled will determine the proper number of E-newsletters. For 2015, six would be the maximum. If the project is successful, we would either keep the same number for 2016 (4 or 6) or grow the E-news to one each month (12) if the information and enthusiasm warranted an expansion.

The time-line for this project would be beginning January or February 2015 so 2-3 months.

Information about the Georgia Solar Energy Association (GSEA) can be found at www.gasolar.org. Under the "Mission" tab is a listing of staff, Board Members along with our backgrounds, and sponsors. Many Board members and "members" are owners of solar companies in Georgia and throughout the southeast.

Interested? Contact Dr. D'Unger ASAP to learn more! Remember that unpaid internships can receive pass/fail academic credit and paid internships can receive audit credit. Registration is January 2 - 9, so you must be registered by then to get credit!

Title: Student Assistants for Outreach / Analysis
Contact Name: JulieAnne Williamson
Hours: 10-15 per week, per student.
Job Description:
The Office of Sustainability (formerly Environmental Stewardship) is seeking student assistants at the undergraduate or graduate level to assist in the core missions of outreach, engagement, data analysis, and reporting. The positions will include a variety of tasks and will begin in January at the start of Spring Semester.

Core Functions:
The Office of Sustainability reports within the Division of Administration and Finance, and partners with units throughout the division and the campus in all aspects of sustainability. Our role is to facilitate the planful management and development of finances, time, and natural resources within sustainable management and operations, in a way that contributes to our institutional effectiveness and to the achievement of the Institute's strategic goals.

The student assistants will play key roles in:

• Helping to build networks with student organizations, academic areas, and administrative units with responsibilities for various aspects of sustainability at Georgia Tech.
• Researching trends and best practices in various aspects of sustainability, and preparing communications to share the results with student and employee audiences
• Developing programming for sustainability education and engagement
• Gathering, analyzing, and reporting data for key sustainability reports, such as the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) system from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE); or the Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
• Assisting with the development of communications regarding sustainability activities at Georgia Tech.

Compensation and Hours:
The 3-4 student assistant positions will require approximately 10-15 hours per week between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, with a small amount of possible after-hours participation in special events or functions. Exact hours and schedule are flexible based on class schedule. Compensation is $10-$15/hour based on qualifications and experience. Please note that this is an hourly position, and does not come with a tuition waiver.

Qualifications:

• Experience and interest in sustainability practice or engagement activities
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong organizational skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Experience in communications, social media, program design, or data analysis and reporting are a plus

To Apply:
Please send an email providing a brief summary of your qualifications to JulieAnne Williamson, interim director for sustainable management and operations, by Tuesday, December 2nd. Contact information:

JulieAnne Williamsonjulieanne@gatech.edu
404.894.7529

Georgia Tech Earth Day 2015: Design Contest

Design this year's Earth Day T-Shirt for a chance to win $500!This is your chance to design the artwork for the 18th Annual Earth Day Celebration! The winning design will be featured on the Earth Day 2015 T-shirts and marketing materials leading up to the event.