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  1. The spring SDA webinar event

    Below is an email exhange regarding a spring 2023 SDA Webinar:

    Dear Wanjhen,

     

    Thanks for Yu-Feng's arrangement. It seems that all invited speaker have agreed that our first SDA webinar will be hold on 8:30am-10:30am, 4/11 in Taiwan (7:30pm-9:30pm CDT, 4/10 in U.S.). Can you help us in announcing the Webinar to our colleagues in the Future Earth Taipei, and also arrange the on-line virtual meeting affairs(invitation letters, lecture fees, links, softwares, login.....) for our international speakers?

    The title for the spring SDA webinar in Future Earth Taipei is "Campus Sustainability Actions as a Living Laboratory"

     

     Here is our invited speakers and agenda:

     

    0. Introduction: Dr. Ping-Yu Chang, (5min.) Professor, National Central University ,Taiwan; Secretary, SDA in Future Earth Taipei

     

    1. Dr. Yu-Feng Forrrest Lin (15 min.), Director of   Illinois Water Resources Center; Principal Research Hydrogeologist in Illinois State Geological Survey; Clinical Professor in the Civil and Environmental EngineeringUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

     

     

    2. Dr. Andrew Stumpf (15 min.), Principal Research Scientist, Prairie Research Institute in Illinois State Geological Survey; Co-founder of Illinois Geothermal Coalition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

     

     

    3. Ms. Morgan White (15 min.), F&S Associate Director for Sustainability, Interim Director of Capital Programs. 

     

     

    4. Mr. Jack Reicherts(15min.), Chair of the Student Board, Illinois Green Fund and Student Sustainibility Committee

     

     

    5. Dr. Jui-Pin (Rubin) Tsai (15 min.), Assistant Professor, National Taiwan University

     

    6. Q&A time (15 min.).......(I saved 25 min. if we have delayed or further discussion)

     

    Thanks for your great helps. Let us anicipate the webinar then!

     

    Best regards,

     

    Ping-Yu Chang

    Secretary, SDA Group in Future Earth Taipei

    --------------------------------

    Hi Ping-Yu,

    I think it might be better to yield my time to Andy, Morgan and Jack for them to talk 20 minutes each.  If you really want me to speak, I can give a quick introduction to on campus as a living lab concept for 3 minutes.

     

    Yu-Feng

    -----------------------------

     

    Hi Team,

    I would like to initiate our discussion by suggest the workflow of this webinar:

    1. Introduction: Ping-Yu (5 min.) – End with our previous and current collaboration as the transition to Yu-Feng
    2. Definition of Campus Living Lab: Yu-Feng  (5 min.) – End with UIUC is a perfect testbed as the transition to Morgan
    3. UIUC Campus Administration on Sustainability as a Living Lab: Morgan (15-20 min.) – End with the student partnership as the transition to Jack.
    4. UIUC Student Actions on Sustainability as a Living Lab: Jack (15-20 min.) – End with geothermal projects as an example for the transition to Andy.
    5. Geothermal research development at UIUC: Andy (15-20 min.) – End with current international collaborations with Europe (Powell Center and Groundwater Special Issue), South America (Columbia and Brazil), Japan and Taiwan (as Ping-Yu mentioned in the beginning) as the transition to Jui-Pin.
    6. Progress and opportunities in Taiwan, and conclusion: Jui-Pin (15 min.)

     

    Please feel free to share your ideas on the workflow, time, contents, and anything else.

     

    Yu-Feng F. Lin

  2. TED Talk: Eco Edition Series - February 2023

    Associated Project(s): 

    February's TED Talk: Eco-Edition discussion was hosted by Professor Megan Matthews. Matthews led the group in an insightful discussion on renewable energy and what really needs to be done in order to achieve a greener future. 

    If you missed the discussion or would like to reference any materials Matthews presented, see the attached file.

    Attached Files: 
  3. Weekly capstone meetings: Meeting from 2/23 and 2/24

    Sarthak and Ethan met with Stacey DeLorenzo to discuss their development of the planning process for the 2024 Campus Master Bicycle Plan which will occur this semester. Stacey approved of a bicycle audit happening in the fall as well as gave some suggestions for some other stakeholders to include such as Ride Illinois. They also discussed more readings to refer to such as the TDM Plan and Urbana bike plan. This semester will culminate with the meeting with CTAC discussing the working structure and plan for the next two semesters. They also talked about other potential ideas to include in the plan such as scooter parking, more bike share programs, and more bicycle education programs. Stacey agreed to meet with Sarthak and Ethan once a month to get updates on their progress. 

  4. Update on drilling

    Associated Project(s): 

    From: Stumpf, Andrew J 
    Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2023 7:37 PM
    To: Rubin, Joshua ; Mies, Tim ; Lamb, Jeremy ; Klein, Bradley Dean 
    Cc: Lin, Yu-Feng ; Weckle, Amy Lorraine; White, Morgan 
    Subject: UTB at the Energy Farm

     

    Hi folks,

     

    Here is an update. Dom and Todd worked to get half of the hole grouted today and now wait until tomorrow morning to see if the battery floats, or not. Theoretically it should not, but we will see. They will start up again at 8 am if anyone is over that way. Xiaobing and Tony have gone back to Tennessee.

     

    Best,

    Andy

  5. Clean vehicle tax credits

    Following is Pete Varney's response to the question from Morgan, "In addition to the Ford Lightning EVs, could we potentially get EV versions of the turtle-top 15-person vans?  Also, is there any discussion about getting Hybrid buses for UI Ride?"

    When discussing EV we have to look at manufacturer availability and operational needs. Car Pool vehicles, 15-pass vans, need to be able to operate both locally and on extended trips ruling out EV due to range restrictions.

    We won’t be looking to replace the first UI Ride bus until FY24/25. We can explore hybrid, but this class of vehicle is different from MTD hybrid buses. Electric may be an option. When the time comes, we’ll discuss with the System office as they put the $$ into UI Ride.

    Thank you,

    Pete

  6. Update from Brent regarding milkweed recommendation

    Associated Project(s): 

    Jen asked Brent on March 1 about the status of LW004 Monarchs Need Milkweed and ALUFS006 Increased Agroforestry. Brent responded on March 1 with the following message:

    Hi Jennifer,

    On this one, Morgan has our response.  We want to do the work with F&S Grounds, but would like to have the SSC pay for seeds.  I think I have a cost of $2200, which would allow for us to seed a fairly large amount of the low mow spaces on campus.  F&S wouldn’t charge for our time as we would be broadcasting, which isn’t difficult.  The benefit of having us do the seeding is that we would know where it was.  We would also focus on the higher visibility areas to greatest impact.

    If we can get funding soon, we can get the seeds ordered for this year. 

    Thanks!

  7. ALUFS006 update

    Hi Jennifer,

    So on this one, Allen Parrish and I didn’t see eye to eye on this and came to an impasse.  In suggesting more trees, he was concerned about the turning movements of the tractors and having trees eventually growing into the swale area.  I didn’t agree as the aerials looked like there was plenty of room for the tractors to maneuver and still be able to plant.  The swale issue too seemed thin.  Ownership and maintenance of the plantings also didn’t seem like something he wanted to take on.  Like I said, we just came to an impasse and I dropped it.  With Allen being gone, we might have a different conversation with ACES.   I will look talk to Doug Wolters and see if he and I can’t sit down and discuss this again.

    Thank you,

    Brent.  

     

    From: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M
    Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2023 4:22 PM
    To: Lewis, Brent
    Cc: White, Morgan
    Subject: ALUFS006 update?

     

    Hi Brent,

     

    Hope you are doing well.

     

    It came to my attention recently that the ALUFS006 recommendation to increase agroforestry was approved and transmitted, but there is no further information about implementation. I would appreciate a progress update. Thanks much!

     

    Jen

     

    Read more about the ALUFS006 Increased Agroforestry recommendation here.

  8. Sustainability Internship Program Independent Study Documents

    Attached documents were generated as part of an independent study on a sustainability internship program. It highlights similar programs, both at UIUC and elsewhere, as well as some identification of local opportunities.

  9. Waste Transfer Station Tours

    Associated Project(s): 

    Molly Black, lab manager at Bevier

    Student group coordinated by Laney Nielsen

    Civil & Environmental Engineering 538: Water Control Process II class, led by research scientist Yalin Li

    Student Sustainability Committee group, led by Hongxu Lu

  10. Sarthak & I (Alec) met to discuss the 2023 Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) Application

    Sarthak & I met for an hour on 2/27/2023 to discuss the 2023 BFU application. I checked some answers with him. We determined who we need to ask for some questions and answered other questions.

     

    The current version of the 2023 BFU Application Log is attached below.

  11. Weekly Update: Close to M-F hours

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, Another abbreviated week for me, but the staff held down the fort. We’re working up bikes and our staff is peer-to-peer training during slow times to get the new folks up to speed.

    This week I’ll schedule some off-hours staff trainings and a staff meeting to help bring folks along. We’re close to being able to open back up M – F, still have a few more things to iron out. I even found the same open hours poster we used to have for our M-F hours, so we don’t have to order a new sign. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 17
    Sales: $299.30
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $160
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Tires/tubes: 3 for $45

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

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