Campus Sustainability Award nominations open
Do you have a friend, co-worker or professor who shows leadership, creativity and dedication to a sustainability on campus? If so, nominate them for a 2022 UM Sustainability Award.
The UM Sustainability Awards recognize and celebrate the collaborative efforts of students, staff and faculty to advance our campus commitment to excellence and leadership in sustainability.
The 4th Annual UM Sustainability Awards offer the opportunity to be recognized in the following categories:
- Undergraduate Student Sustainability Award
- Graduate Student Sustainability Award
- Student Group Sustainability Award
- Staff Sustainability Award
- Faculty Sustainability Award
Nominations will be reviewed, and the award recipients will be selected by the UM Sustainability Committee. The winners for the 2022 UM Sustainability Awards will be announced at Sustainability Day on March 10, 2022.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, Feb. 18.
Past winners include:
Trina Semenchuck – Undergraduate Sustainability Award Winner
Trina is in her 5th year of studies at UM and currently is the President of UMEARTH: University of Manitoba Efficiency and Renewable Technology Hub. Trina oversaw the implementation of the Greenwall in the new Stanley Pauley Building, and she also founded the Student Energy: U of M Chapter. Here, she led the team to build a solar cooker for the people in the Ivory coast of Africa to replace the use of fire and kerosene. This project helped some of the most impoverished people in the world by reducing costs for fuel, preventing deforestation, and reducing the use of toxic kerosene. Furthermore, she helped organize the Sustainability Town Hall two years in a row, even during a pandemic, which brought in speakers from industry to discuss their roles in climate change and how students can get involved.
Wouter Deconinck – Faculty Sustainability Awards Winner
Wouter has been at the UM since 2019, and hit the ground running as he was the lead organizer of the first ever sustainability innovation jam, Invent for the Planet, hosted on campus in February of 2020. To further these ideas, Wouter now teaches and helped develop two courses: Living Lab: Design for Sustainability and Design, Prototyping and Fabrication for the 21st Century Scientist. Wouter continually changes his teaching to improve the learning ability for students by having short quizzes and live demonstrations. Not only does he teach sustainability, but he allows students to learn more sustainably.
Indigenous Design and Planning Student Association – Student Group Sustainability Award Winner
The Indigenous Design and Planning Student Association was formed to further implement Indigenous initiatives into the Faculty of Architecture and is the first Indigenous student-led organization within the Faculty. Their work also highlights the role that design/architecture can play in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action and aligns with Taking Our Place: University of Manitoba Strategic Plan 2015 – 2020 through the outlined framework of the Indigenous Planning and Design Principles. The mission of the IDPSA ties directly to the Sustainability Strategy by weaving Indigenous perspectives and cultures into our campuses and integrating Indigenous knowledges and perspectives into campus planning and development.