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UMD Sustainability Mini-Grant

Up to $2,000 per award

Sustainability Mini Grants are intended to provide small grants (up to $2,000) to encourage the development or maintenance of projects or programs that improve the sustainability of the UMD campus and/or enhance opportunities for students to learn about sustainability issues. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to apply. The SGA Sustainability Committee will review applications as they are received and applicants will receive a funding decision within 30 days of submitting a complete application. A total of $10,000 is available each semester. Projects requesting more than $2,000 must apply through the University Sustainability Fund.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis from September 1 to April 30 each year. Please contact the SGA Sustainability Committee- Mini Grant Coordinator (sustainability-mini-grant@umd.edu) with questions. 

Mini-Grant Application Proposal Guidelines

Mini-Grant FAQs

The faculty/staff advisor that is helping with your project should be able to provide you with the contact information of their business manager. They may also provide you with a KFS account number they have access to but always ensure the business manager responsible for that KFS account is aware of your project. 

The funds allocated for your project will be transferred to the KFS account number you provide. You will have to work directly with the business manager responsible for the KFS accounts of their department/unit or a faculty/staff advisor to help pay for the items/services you wish to purchase with your funds. Some purchases are not able to be covered by KFS accounts. We suggest you speak with your business manager or advisor about what is or isn’t approved before making any commitments or purchases. 

The Mini-grant application typically opens September 1st and closes at the end of April, or, once the allocated budget for the year is spent.

Allow one to two weeks after your proposal has been approved to receive funding. 

You will receive an email from sustainability-mini-grant@umd.edu once confirmation of the transfer of funds has been received. 

Previously Funded Projects

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Students tabling and holding ecobrick bottles
EarthFest 2023
Mini-Grant funding for EarthFest allowed the Student Government Association, Office of Sustainability, ResLife, RHA, and sustainability-focused student groups to bring the campus community together to celebrate Earth Day and spread sustainability awareness at UMD. Through a fun outdoor festival, students can participate in sustainable crafts, enjoy various demonstrations and events throughout the day, and learn about the array of sustainability efforts on campus.
Plant a Tree Plant a Future
International Climate Dialogue
The Fall 2023 Global Climate Change and Education class taught by Dr. Jing Lin planted three trees in the Center for Young Children on April 25. The class applied and got $2,000 from the campus Sustainability Mini-Grant. $1,500 was sent to Bangladesh for schools to plant trees, and $500 was used to plant trees on UMD's campus.
Sensors
Smart Green Stormwater Management Monitoring
Maintenance and monitoring are important for Green Infrastructure (GI) performance. Water quality and groundwater elevation sensors help to prevent issues with stormwater management, including poor drainage, ponding, mosquito breeding, or collapsed structures. At eleven sites recommended by Facilities Management, water sensors were deployed by students in American Ecological engineering Society (AEES) who configured the dashboard to receive time maintenance performance reports.
Weed warriors
Weed Warriors at UMD
Weed Warriors on Campus is a volunteer event for UMD students, faculty, staff, and community members that hosts educational invasive species removal events. Each event includes an explanation of invasive species in Maryland, a demonstration of which invasive species we will be targeting, and group removal of target plants. The Mini-Grant award provided funding for gardening supplies and native plants to replace the invasives. Removing these invasive species will improve the health of our native trees and plants, as well as the insects, birds, and animals that our native plants support.
Bee Wall
Dwelling: Paint Branch Creek, Bee Wall
The solitary bee wall, an art installation titled Dwelling: Paint Branch Creek, and its adjoining pollinator garden located next to the Arboretum Outreach Center was originally built in 2016 to research pollinators’ interactions with certain plants. The garden was then expanded in 2017 after receiving a UMD sustainability grant allowing the garden to grow in size and get a small green roof added. The also has an important educational component where students can observe or listen to the bees by plugging in headphones to the audio cabinet.
oriole
Lights Out UMD
Lights Out University of Maryland (LOUMD) is a local initiative based on a national program to monitor the birds that collide with UMD campus buildings, provide education about the ecosystem services provided by birds, and encourage the use of management techniques that prevent bird-building collisions. Over the course of 4 weeks, Dr. Shannon Pederson and students from the UMD Wildlife Society convened at about 5 a.m. before the janitorial staff arrived to walk beside buildings in search of dead or injured birds. The goal of Lights Out UMD is to collect data from the collisions and discern patterns, which can then be used to advocate for modifications to those buildings. Funds from the Mini-grant were used for advertising the program as well as protective handling and storage equipment.
shut the sash
Shut the Sash Campaign
A competition to “Shut the Sash" was re-implemented throughout UMD labs in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The goal of the campaign was to encourage behavior change in order to curb the high energy consumption of variable air volume (VAV) fume hoods that are left open when not in use. As part of the project, a monthly competition was established in which labs compete to reduce their fume hood energy consumption as much as possible, since single fume hood can use as much energy as three to four American homes, and in some UMD laboratories there are as many as ten fume hoods per room. Mini-grant funding was used for monthly competition incentives, educational events, and software/mechanical development.
battery recycling
Battery Recycling Program
Common alkaline batteries are not considered hazardous or universal waste, and can be legally disposed of in the trash. However, a Sustainability Fund Mini-Grant has been utilized to finance the responsible recycling of alkaline batteries. through this program, over the last two years UMD has safely recycled 2,715 pounds of alkaline batteries, diverting them from the landfill and thereby reducing our waste stream.
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