Veganuary

Join the New Years Revolution by participating in Veganuary!

What is Veganuary? It's an international movement that began in 2014 calling on people across the world to commit to eating vegan the entire month of January. You can create your own kind of Veganuary based on what you can commit to, like only eating vegan food for the whole month, having Meatless Mondays, or trying vegan recipes on the weekend!

Check out our Veganuary page for more resources.

Office of Sustainability FY24 Annual Report

The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has come a long way since its commitment to reach carbon neutrality in 2008. UMB’s Office of Sustainability is tracking the University’s progress toward its Second Nature Climate Commitment and the UMB Sustainability Strategic Plan that was established in February 2022. The new Fiscal Year 2024 Sustainability Impact Report is now live on our website.

Read the report here.

Join the Core Values Conversation: Well-Being and Sustainability Question 3

From now through the end of January 2025, UMB’s core values set of Well-Being and Sustainability will be highlighted. This is an opportunity to engage with this core value in an intentional way and share your insights with the UMB community. Question: How do you define sustainability, and what does it mean to you in your daily life?

Join the conversation here.

New Employee Wellness Survey

The Benefits, Compensation, and Well-Being Team in HR are excited to announce that Launch Your Life, UMB’s Employee Well-Being Program, will be back in action in 2025! As they move forward, they are committed to continuing to build a value-added program that truly reflects the well-being priorities of the UMB community. Please take a few moments to complete the well-being survey here. For any questions, please reach out to Caitlyn Gregor, new senior wellness specialist, at cgregor@umaryland.edu.

Benjamin Eglash's Environmental Justice Report

Ben was a SEI Climate Corps Fellow sponsored by HASI, a leading climate positive investment firm. He worked in the Office of Sustainability as a Waste and Data Fellow and just finished his 10-month fellowship in December. Part of his work was to create an analysis, report and presentation on UMB’s impact on environmental justice. You can read more about Ben's great work in an upcoming Sustainability Champion article coming out in January.

To read Ben's full report and view his presentation, visit this link.

Sustainability Director, Elizabeth Main, Receives December Employee of the Month

We are excited to share that our Director, Elizabeth Main, was selected as the Employee of the Month for December! Keep an eye out for a full article in the Elm about this incredible accomplishment.

Climate Change, Health, and Society: A Solutions-Oriented Interprofessional Course

"Climate Change, Health, and Society" (CIPP650) is an interprofessional course being offered in Spring 2025 to professional and graduate students across UMB. The innovative course features a broad range of topics, focusing on the causes and impacts of climate change, with an emphasis on human health and society in Baltimore and around Maryland, including environmental justice, health equity and laws and policies. Case studies are highlighted, and students work in teams to develop real-world solutions to climate change-driven challenges. The course takes place in HSHSL Room 331 or online, Wednesday, January 22 to May 7, 2025, from 2 - 4 p.m.

To learn more, visit the course website or contact the Course Director, Prof. Shiladitya DasSarma at sdassarma@som.umaryland.edu.

Agnes Denes: Wheatfield - A Confrontation

Agnes Denes, a Hungarian-American artist, planted and harvested two acres of wheat on the Batter Park landfill in Manhattan in the summer of 1982. The wheatfield was created in the shadow of the Twin Towers and Wall Street. It was art as an act of protest against climate change and economic inequality. You can read more here.

Enoch Pratt Free Library Events

Weather Station at HSRF3

The HSRF3 weather station takes measurements including temperature, humidity, solar radiation, UV, wind direction, and wind speed, among other data points. Readings taken from the weather station will aid the work of other departments at UMB, including the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and Environmental Services (EVS) in responding to extreme weather events. Finally, the station is being used to ensure worker safety on campus construction projects. The PM2.5 sensor, which measures particles that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter, was added to the weather station to provide localized information about air pollution. 

Check out the weather station dashboard here.