A new sustainability director, a campuswide STARS assessment and two programs launching in Fall 2027 signal Adelphi鈥檚 growing commitment to a greener campus.
茄子视频 has a long history of sustainability鈥攆rom a community garden to a geothermal heating and cooling system to the recent construction of a solar panel roof on the Center for Recreation and Sports, adding to the existing solar panels on Swirbul Library. Now Adelphi is expanding its commitment to improving energy efficiency and creating an environment-friendly campus.
It begins with Kyungmin Lee, PhD, the inaugural director of sustainability in the Office of Sustainability and assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 鈥淢y role is to bring students, faculty and staff together to advance sustainability initiatives across the campus at 茄子视频,鈥� Dr. Lee said.
At the heart of Adelphi鈥檚 push for sustainability is (STARS). Managed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), STARS is a framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance.
鈥淧articipating in STARS is an opportunity to bring our existing efforts together and establish a sustainability direction for future work,鈥� Dr. Lee said. 鈥淲e want to recognize what our campus community has already accomplished and make it more visible.鈥�
Measuring What Matters: The STARS Initiative
As a STARS participant, Adelphi will gather data on various aspects of campus life, including academics, food and dining, buildings and grounds, and more, and earn points toward a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum rating.
The STARS initiative will involve the entire campus. “Students can help collect and analyze the data, and brainstorm and propose possible sustainability projects,鈥� Dr. Lee said. 鈥淔aculty can support these projects with students so they can be implemented on campus, and staff can bring knowledge about how the University operates and what is feasible to implement on campus.”
STARS data collection and sustainability projects will be coordinated and reported by the Sustainability Task Force, while Sustainability Fellows will brainstorm and carry out the actual projects.
Adelphi junior Laurel Owen and first-year student Mahan Nanandhan have already signed on to assist with data collection.
鈥淔or now, we鈥檙e learning how to collect data for the STARS reporting system,鈥� said Nanandhan, an environmental studies major. 鈥淭hey updated it recently from version 2.0 to 3.0, so it鈥檚 a whole process, but we鈥檙e getting there.鈥�
For Owen, also an environmental studies major, the work is personal. 鈥淚鈥檓 a huge nature lover,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was raised to respect the natural world, and I wanted to channel that into action.鈥�
Beyond the rating itself, Dr. Lee sees STARS as a way to connect to efforts already happening across campus. “People may already be doing sustainability work in different departments, but without knowing who is doing what,鈥� Dr. Lee said. 鈥淭his process will give us a reason to connect with each other across departments, share information and identify opportunities to work on sustainability initiatives together.”
New Ways to Live and Learn Green
To integrate sustainability into campus life and the academic curriculum, Adelphi is developing a new Living and Learning Community and a first-year seminar focused on sustainability.
The Living and Learning Community will bring together a group of students to live on campus in the same dorm hallway. “The idea is to have a group of students with shared interests and cohort them so they feel a sense of community,鈥� said Aaren Freeman, PhD, professor of biology and chair of environmental studies and sciences.
Students will decide what sustainability practices and activities they want to undertake, and Adelphi will provide support. 鈥淚f they want to compost, we鈥檒l provide the materials,鈥� Dr. Freeman said. Students can also participate in cleanups, invasive species removal and other projects that interest them.
Meanwhile, the first-year seminar, themed Into the Wild and taught by two environmental studies faculty members, will emphasize campus sustainability through field trips and classroom learning. Students have the opportunity to shape the course. 鈥淭he professors have academic freedom to teach the class how they want, but we’re all working together on this,鈥� Dr. Freeman said. 鈥淭here’s a lot of room for modification and feedback along the way.”
Both initiatives are set to begin in Fall 2027.
Students Leading the Charge
In addition to assisting with STARS data collection, Adelphi students are shaping the campus sustainability efforts.
Owen, president of the (EAC), a student club that coordinates volunteer sustainability opportunities in the community, attended the first STARS workshop with other members of the EAC. There, they presented their list of demands to improve sustainability on campus. Many of those demands will form the foundation of future STARS projects.
Nanandhan, who also attended the workshop, plans to go to law school so he can help draft and implement environmental policy. “I want to make an impact,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don’t want to just sit by and watch people run things and leave some of us out. I want everyone to feel heard.鈥�
For Owen, the stakes reach well beyond Adelphi鈥檚 campus. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about thinking about the future of the planet and of humanity, and doing our part so generations after us will have an earth to live on that鈥檚 sustainable,鈥� she said.
Interested in becoming involved with STARS? Contact us at sustainability@adelphi.edu.