2019 Grant Awards

Earth Action Initiative

Our vision is to foster a community of people on and around campus to take direct climate action, and help reduce the barrier to action for others. The goal is to demonstrate meaningful climate action is possible, especially for students and community members, and provide a roadmap of how that can happen. To execute the Earth Action Initiative vision, EAI will organize a variety of events and actions that build community, leverage existing efforts, inspire new plans, and find innovative ways to communicate with each other.

TGIF Award: $16,000.00

The Team Editorial Program at the Leaflet

The Team Editorial Program at The Leaflet was founded to increase environmental discourse on the UC Berkeley campus. By expanding the content reach, operational capacity, and professional development efforts of The Leaflet, one of the only environmental publications in the UC system, the Team Editorial Program allows the publication to increase environmental education, storytelling, and conversation at UC Berkeley.

TGIF Award: $10,960.00

Land Use Working Group Year II

The goal of this project is to maintain the energy and engagement of the Land Use Working Group (LUWG) as a representative campus and community body, effectively incorporate LUWG recommendations into the Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) process, improve the process of LRDP outreach and review to be more transparent and inclusive, and institutionalize the LUWG recommendations so that they will be implemented in future LRDP processes as well.

TGIF Award: $12,700.00

Decade II

Over the past decade, the Berkeley Student Food Collective (BSFC) has served as a consistent and accessible source of affordable, healthy, and sustainably-sourced food for the Berkeley community. The BSFC is ready and eager to move into its second decade of operations: but its ability to further serve students will hinge upon critical updates to its retail storefront and staffing model. With the help of TGIF, the BSFC will be able to move forward with these key changes, allowing the organization to both scale and expand its work and impact across all corners of campus.

TGIF Award: $35,000.00

Campus Water Sustainability Research and Opportunities Map

The Berkeley Water Center (BWC) proposes to create, maintain and disseminate a campus water sustainability research and opportunities map. Student interns, in collaboration with the Berkeley Water Center staff, will identify existing water-related classes, research-projects, faculty, and opportunities on campus by searching course catalogs, interviewing faculty with related interests about research opportunities in their labs, and outreaching to student groups to develop a visually-appealing, user-friendly map of water sustainability research and opportunities on campus.

TGIF Award: $22,830.00

Solar Thermal Heating Systems in the Berkeley Student Cooperative

The Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) intends to install solar thermal heating systems in Oscar Wilde, its LGBTQIA & Queer Theme House. In Oscar Wilde, solar thermal heating systems will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas by 10,473 lbs annually, or 40.6% of their annual use last year. Ongoing sustainability education in conjunction with these energy efficiency infrastructure installations will further reduce the BSC’s collective carbon footprint, and can provide an example for other campus housing. This project is a long term investment in green energy and community well-being for generations of co-op students.

TGIF Award: $35,000.00

Standardization of Waste Sorting Signage within UC Berkeley Residence Halls

Housing and Dining Sustainability Advocates aims to provide adequate signage for all four waste streams within the residence halls. Standardized, clear, and consistent messaging will reinforce the effectiveness of infrastructural changes taking place at the end of this year. The signage will be designed based on information from spot audits of commonly missorted items in April of 2019. In summer of 2019, the signage will be installed, and in fall of 2019, educational programs will be implemented to further assist residents in sorting their waste.

TGIF Award: $6,018.00

Electric Gem for ADA Loop Service

The Disabled Students Program approached the Parking & Transportation Department in 2007 to assume primary role of operating the Loop service. The Loop service currently provides 120 rides per day. The program recently transitioned from two of three gas-powered golf carts to all electric, street legal Gem carts. Over the past few years, efforts have been made to implement new technologies to improve workflow, increase efficiency, safety and sustainability efforts. The TGIF funds will help cover the cost for the purchase of a new electric Gem vehicle to support the ADA Loop service.

TGIF Award: $20,000.00

Reducing UC Berkeley’s Environmental Impact through Stormwater Management

Designed to address lacking stormwater infrastructure and the pollution of Strawberry Creek during rain events, this project implements a stormwater infiltration basin on the north side of the A&E parking lot (directly east of Sather Gate) to reduce the volume of stormwater and pollutants entering Strawberry Creek. This project employs the use of a slot drain system to divert that polluted stormwater into a constructed biophysical treatment system to reduce, detain, filter, and slowly re-release filtered stormwater into Strawberry Creek.

TGIF Award: $35,211.14

Environmental Education for Students of Color

This grant application primarily aims for a renewal of this grant to launch SCECon 2020. The secondary aspect of this application is a proposal to fund an outdoor retreat for students of color. The first objective is necessary to diversifying environmental education that students of color receive on this campus at a level that is immediately feasible, inspiring, and desperately needed.  This project will be aiming to foster an intersectional environmental movement by hosting a conference that inspires and empowers underrepresented folx in the environmental movement. Creating a POC space for environmental education reshapes the current dominant environmental narrative.

TGIF Award: $28,647

Phase II: Decolonize the Environment: A Series of Workshops on Environmental Intersectionality

A Series of Workshops on Environmental Intersectionality is an educational project created to introduce and explore systems of oppression that creates both environmental racism as well as social injustices.

TGIF Award: $16,400

Valley Life Sciences Building (VLSB) Native Plant Restoration

The Essig Museum and UCB Entomology Club propose to revitalize areas around the Valley Life Science Building with native vegetation. Currently many areas are covered by wood chip mulch where grass lawn was removed during the prolonged drought. As high visibility areas along major walkways, these revitalized landscapes will improve the aesthetic appearance of campus with flowering plants, minimize water usage by choosing locally adapted species, provide forage and habitat for native insects and birds, and provide educational spaces to reinforce principles taught in conservation biology, botany, and entomology courses.

TGIF Award: $7,076

Carbon Crew: A Diversified Approach to Carbon Neutrality

Carbon Crew was established in Fall 2018 to redefine the role of carbon neutrality in campus engagement through the work of three teams: Food Team, Campus Engagement Team, and CO2RE (CO2 Reduction and Education Team). Food Team hosts regular plant-based sampling events geared towards redefining Cal Dining’s menu cycle by incorporating student interest, chef experience, and Cal Dining leadership to lower our carbon emissions. The CO2RE team is working to create K-12 curriculum in an effort to engage and educate the next generation on carbon impacts. Lastly, Campus Engagement uses a combination of digital outreach and on-campus events.

TGIF Award: $9,250

Increasing Diversity in the Environmental Workforce Through Education and Training

This project aims to increase diversity in the environmental sector and STEM fields by providing first generation and underrepresented students technical environmental training often needed for jobs in environmental fields. Through partnerships with community organizations, environmental professionals, graduate students and faculty, students will participate in trainings such as: soil sampling, air quality, and water testing.

TGIF Award: $25,000