PAST INITIATIVES & CAMPAIGNS

Campus Climate Exchange

Campus Climate Exchange is a University initiative designed to raise awareness about the breadth of climate change and its many dimensions. The initiative builds on last year's inaugural "Focus the Nation" climate change awareness project.

This year, February 18-19, faculty from across campus incorporated climate change into their curriculum, resulting in more than 1,100 students from various disciplines being exposed to climate change education. Campus Climate Exchange will continue again next year, and we hope to increase involvement.

Departments Involved:
College of Forestry & Conservation
English Department
Environmental Studies
Geography
Ecosystem & Conservation Sciences
Society and Conservation
Political Science
School of Business Administration
Math Department
Center for Environmental Health Sciences - BMED
Building Maintenance & Engineering
Arabic Language & Linguistics
Economics
Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences (BMED)
Communication Studies
Political Science

Sample classes:

• GEOGRAPHY: "We will be reviewing quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigating the potential impacts (positive and negative) of climate change, with an emphasis on studies that attempt to capture local perceptions of risk and hazard associated with climate change."
• ECONOMICS: "We will be reading four different papers on policies to control carbon emissions and discussing them in relation to climate change policy."
• MATH: "We are just finished talking about time series - a great topic for climate change! I will likely be discussing more issues with time plots and possibly try to find an example to use while introducing correlation."
• SOCIETY & CONSERVATION: "We are going to continue a discussion of how climate change makes it challenging to manage protected areas like parks both for historic fidelity/biodiversity conservation and for wildness/untrammeled/hands-off values. We will also talk about how to craft policy that both enable flexibility while also providing for public accountability, in the context of climate change."
• BIOMEDICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE: "We will be talking about how climate change may be altering world occurrences and distribution of infectious diseases."

If you would like to be involved please contact: ASUM Sustainability

GREEN GRIZZLY BASKETBALL GAME

On Saturday, February 21, 2009, the theme of men's basketball game at UM was “green.” The "Go Green" game was an effort by UM to bring the University's commitment to sustainability initiatives and environmental stewardship to Griz fans.

During the game, Griz fans could purchase a variety of Farm to College food items, including MT-made hot dogs and buns. Student volunteers provided fans with information about the efforts of UM Recycling on campus. Waste was recycled and composted. Finally, students helped to raise enough money to purchase enough carbon offsets to offset half of the emissions associated with the game!

The game was a collaborative effort of ASUM Sustainability Center, UM Dining Services, UM Athletics, UM Recyling, and UM student group volunteers (UM CAN and Students for Real Food!)

FOCUS THE NATION

In January 2008, UM hosted a national Focus the Nation event-a nation-wide, global warming educational initiative. Over 35 faculty members from a variety of disciplines-Environmental Studies, English, Chemistry, Business, Modern Classical Language, etc.-participated in a global warming "teach-in" incorporating climate change into their classes. Nobel Laureate and climate change expert, Steve Running, as well as US Senator and member of the Environment and Public Works committee, Max Baucus, participated in the event.

UM also hosted a climate change panel comprised of national, state, city, and campus representatives. The panel discussed the challenges of global warming and the efforts being made to address the issue. Over 1,500 Focus the Nation events took place in January, and the University of Montana's is considered to have been one of the top 100 most successful.

STEP IT UP

In Fall 2007, UM hosted a "Step It Up" event-a part of a national effort to draw attention to the issue of global warming. The event was a tailgate at a University football game, and it served as a unique opportunity to reach out to all members of the UM community. President Dennison, as well as Nobel Laureate, Steve Running, joined in the festivities.

ASUM DUMPSTER DIVE

UM had two dumpster dives in 2008. The first was April, 2008 and the second was September, 2008. Both events were aimed at educating the campus community about wasted recyclables on campus.

During both events volunteer students gathered to dig through trash and pull out recyclables, which were then displayed on the oval.