Emory Healthcare Inc.
01/10/2025 | Press release | Archived content
Meet the newest sustainability Incentive Fund awardees
From drip irrigation in Emory's Educational Gardens to green chemistry for the extraction of plant natural products, projects funded by the latest round of grants from Emory's Office of Sustainability Initiatives (OSI) support research projects, campus-based activities and the development of new rituals to promote sustainability and social justice on Emory's campuses.
In May 2024, OSI opened applications for its annual Incentives Funds programs, which welcome creative proposals that seek new knowledge, support new behavior patterns and foster cultural change. Three funding categories are available.
The General Sustainability and Social Justice Incentives Fund allows all Emory and Emory Healthcare students, faculty and staff to request up to $3,000 for any project or research related to sustainability at Emory and the intersections of sustainability and social justice.
The Green Offices Incentives Fund and Green Labs Incentives Fund support sustainability in Emory's work and research spaces by funding sustainable processes and procedures in Emory University and Healthcare offices and labs certified through the respective programs. Up to $5,000 is available for proposals encouraging changes in behavior, practices and equipment utilized in these spaces in areas such as energy, water, waste, safety, health, engagement and purchasing.
The newly funded project proposals for the 2024-25 cycle include:
General Sustainability and Social Justice Incentives Fund
- Zero Waste Hygiene Equity Program: Anisha Johnson
- Sustainable Making Workshop Series: Colleen Jordan
- Educational Gardens Drip Irrigation: Benjamin Kasavan
- Oxford College Tree Trail: Michael Martin
- Library Landscape Pollinator and Native Species Project Phase II: Julie Newton
- Health Library Small Landscape Pilot: Ryan Nock
- Hillandale Garden: Keaton Kramer
- Electrifying the Farm: Daniel Parson
- Reduction of Waste Related to Emory Outdoor Recreation Trips and Rentals: Wil Donohue
- Pallet to Patches: Ian Yoon
Green Labs
- Cyclopropanols: Jacob Hellmig, Dai Lab
- Safe, Sustainable Reductions of Biohazard Waste: Christopher LaRock, LaRock Lab
- Green Chemistry for the Extraction of Plant Natural Products: Cassandra Quave, Quave Lab
- Sustainable Heating and Cooling Methods for Greener Initiative: Feng Zhai, Zhai Lab
Green Offices
- Reduce and Reuse: Lakishia Hines, Office of Spiritual and Religious Life
The Incentives Fund program remains a beloved initiative that allows members of the Emory community to contribute to creating a more sustainable campus.
"This project is one of the things I am most proud of in my time at Emory," says Lizzy Clements, the prior academic department administrator for Emory's Theater Studies and one of the 2023-24 Incentives Fund awardees.
Clements received funding to create a more sustainable and inclusive space in the Rich Memorial Building by changing light switches to automatic lights to conserve energy, converting all restrooms to all gender restrooms and providing reusable menstrual products such as reusable menstrual cups in the student pantry and restrooms to reduce landfill waste and period poverty on campus.
The newest funding awards were determined by a committee of Emory students, faculty and staff from across campus that reviewed and discussed 20 applications. The group evaluates projects for feasibility, clarity, sustained impact, innovation and relevance to Emory's Sustainability Vision and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Each year, OSI receives project proposals spanning the Emory enterprise, including from Emory Healthcare and Oxford College. Michael Martin, associate teaching professor of biology at Oxford College, notes how the Incentives Fund positively impacts the Oxford College Tree Trail, which he oversees.
"Emory and Oxford earn Tree Campus awards each year from the Arbor Day Foundation. The Incentives Fund will help Oxford's campus become a registered arboretum with ArbNet, further demonstrating our university's commitment to trees and natural spaces on campus," says Martin. "It's great to have programs like OSI's Incentive Fund because it empowers each member of the Emory community to contribute to sustainability in their own way."
Incentives Fund applications reopen May 1, 2025. Please email [email protected] with questions. To learn about previous Incentives Fund projects and gain inspiration, visit the Incentives Fund website page.