2022 SLICE Awards

Thank you to all who submitted nominations highlighting the outstanding work of students, faculty and staff for this year's SLICE awards. The nominations were thoughtful, inspiring and spanned many departments and offices across campuses, further demonstrating the breadth and depth of work by many to integrate sustainability into our daily work and long-term thinking. 

About the UB SLICE awards

Exemplary efforts by University Community members express UB’s continuing efforts to become a sustainable institution. The University at Buffalo wishes to recognize outstanding individuals and departments who exhibit a sincere commitment to transforming our campuses into a holistically sustainable community through the kinds of leadership, innovation, and collaboration that demonstrates environmental stewardship, enhances social progress, or promotes responsible economic systems and growth.

Each nomination was evaluated based on how well the nominee’s actions reflect these sustainability criteria:

• Going above and beyond routine or assigned responsibilities
• Innovation
• Overall impact
• Ability to serve as a catalyst or model
• Engages multiple campus stakeholders (students, faculty, staff, community, etc)
• Incorporates multiple aspects of sustainability

Nominees must be faculty or staff members, students, or a department or cross functional team at the University at Buffalo. Candidates can be nominated for different categories, either as individuals, departments or partnerships. The categories are:

•  Award for Sustainability Excellence by a Department or Cross Functional Team
•  Student Leadership Award for Sustainable Action
•  Staff Award for Sustainable Operations Initiative
•  Faculty Award for Sustainability in Higher Education

The awards program is selective. Not every nomination is selected for an award. The number of awards in each category is not restricted nor is each award category filled each year. 

Dr. Susan Clark was nominated by Timothy Chevral, professor of Anthropology for her mentorship of Sustainability graduate students and her leadership as Chair for Erie County's Community Climate Change Task Force (C3TF).  Dr. Clark teaches classes on the topics of sustainability and resilience, and leads externally funded projects on topics related to community resilience and climate change that has been funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, New York State, and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Clark is also heavily involved in community outreach and takes a leadership role in OUTSTEPS Lower Great Lakes, which is a regional network of scholars, practitioners, and other stakeholders working together to increase the sustainability and resilience across the region in a collaborative, holistic, and inclusive manner.

Netra placed sustainability and environmental action squarely in her sights while she was here at UB. She is a math and economics major, which is unique from the typical student that wants to be involved in sustainability work. Netra reinvigorated the SA Environmental clubs after two years of virtual engagement during COVID. She coordinated many events including the sustainability bazaar held during Sustainability Month. One of her biggest achievements was her work with a collaboration of universities set on mapping networks on climate action. She represented UB at the University Global Coalition conference where she presented her work on assessing the role and focus institutions of higher education play in responding to climate action.

Christina has been a champion of advancing climate action work through facilitating action and engagement of key players in the food sector here at UB. It was her work that led to last year’s success of including our food purchases into our carbon foot printing work for the first time. This has established a baseline of the greenhouse gas impact of the university’s food system. Christiana also continued to advocate across CDS about the need to move towards zero waste with 1WC now actively piloting out that strategy with their Recycle-Organics-Trash stations. 

The Climate Action Plan's Putting a Price on Carbon Committee received the SLICE award for their research and work to implement a centralized system which will allow UB to quantify the emissions footprint created as a resut of university-required travel.  By phasing in carbon pricing at UB, we make ourselves accountable, operationally and financially, for the adverse impact we have every day to our climate.