Decarbonization Academy
The Decarbonization Academy provides an immersive sustainability learning experience for students who are interested in working towards UVA’s goals of being carbon-neutral by 2030 and fossil fuel free by 2050.
UVA’s summer Decarbonization Academy is a paid, summer hands-on learning experience drawing together students, faculty, and staff to work towards UVA’s sustainability goals, most notably, achieving carbon-neutrality by 2030; as well as becoming fossil fuel-free by 2050. The program is open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in any UVA program. Student decarbonization fellows will be expected to commit to 40 hours of work per week over the 8-week summer academy and will receive a $5000 stipend, paid bi-weekly.
UVA’s Decarbonization Academy is designed as a grounds engaged learning experience. This includes engagement with faculty and staff through two signature components. First, student fellows will participate in multidisciplinary, group-based learning activities such as faculty lectures, site visits, and field work. Second, students will co-create and complete a hands-on decarbonization project with a faculty or staff mentor that directly addresses UVA’s impact. Fellows are expected to work in-person at UVA.
Important dates
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Applications open: March 19, 2025
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Applications close: April 7, 2025
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Participants are notified: April 25, 2025
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Program begins: June 16, 2025
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Program ends: August 8, 2025
For questions, please contact Ethan Heil with UVA’s Office for Sustainability ([email protected]).
Project descriptions
- A. Forest Patches and Nature-Based Strategies
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Led by Tim Beatley, Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning (up to 3 students).
The 2025 decarbonization fellows will continue the work of last summer’s forest patches team with a special focus on developing and implementing plans to care for and monitor the six forest patches that have been planted so far. This will include measuring plant growth, assessing overall forest health, identifying where infill and replacement tree planting is needed, as well as where invasives need controlling. The team will explore the possibility of installing a comprehensive set of sensors that will facilitate monitoring.
The 2025 team will also work to explore and identify future potential sites for new patches, beyond the initial six, as well as exploring other nature-based strategies that could be applied on UVA Grounds. The team will also identify opportunities on Grounds for passive rewilding (natural regeneration)--sites and locations where native trees will be allowed to regenerate. The team’s work could also include identifying sites where conversion of some turfgrass spaces to native meadows could occur which would complement the forest patches and also sequester carbon (this could happen through active planting or passive regeneration). The team will also begin to research and plan for ways to ensure the ecological connectivity of these forest patches. The team will also continue the work to document and calculate the carbon sequestration and other benefits of the forest patches, as well as developing new ideas for educating and engaging students, faculty and staff (including creative ways to activate these patches as public spaces). If time permits we will also explore assessing the ecological and other conditions of several larger UVA forest patches (including Observatory Hill) and developing an application for possible acceptance into the Old Growth Forest Network.
- B. Land Use and Carbon Storage at Morven Farm
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Co-led by Justin Richardson, Professor of Environmental Sciences, and Manuel Lerdau, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Biology (up to 6 students).
This project is a combined effort by a Biogeochemist and an Ecologist, Professors Justin Richardson and Manuel Lerdau of Environmental Sciences, to understand, quantify, and predict the impacts of previous, current, and future land use practices on carbon storage and ecosystem function at Morven Farm. The summer project involves extensive field work in fields and forests and some indoor effort using archival and computer resources to understand the patterns of land use at Morven and the impacts of different practices on carbon storage and loss from both soils and plants. In particular, students will examine the impacts of different forest and crop management strategies on carbon storage in plants and soils and on biodiversity. There will also be spot(s) for 1-2 students to work on species, e.g., birds, that are known to indicators of ecosystem function and integrity. For the vegetation and soil work, no previous experience is required but relevant coursework is preferred. For the bird work, good identification skills are a prerequisite.
- C. Visible Social Norms
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Led by Leidy Klotz, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (up to 3 students).
This decarbonization academy team will identify and attempt to influence social norms which are 1) visible on Grounds and 2) which enable or inhibit progress towards UVA’s Sustainability Goals. Such norms are powerful levers because they create feedback loops that lead to rapid change. For this virtuous cycle to kick in, there needs to be a behavior (e.g., installing solar panels on one’s home), and the behavior needs to be visible (e.g., neighbors can see that you have installed solar panels, and become more likely to do so themselves, and so on…). Analogous opportunities on Grounds will be identified by fellows, considering their interests and skillsets. Projects undertaken will likely complement other decarbonization academy projects.
- D. Advancing Carbon Reductions in UVA’s Construction
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Led by Mohamed Ismail, Professor of Architecture (up to 3 students).
Over the next 30 years, embodied carbon will constitute 50% of our built environment’s total carbon emissions. These are the greenhouse gas emissions related to the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of our buildings and construction materials. While novel structural optimization methods can enable major reductions in a building’s embodied carbon, these methods are difficult and inaccessible to designers and builders at scale. This project will evaluate the embodied carbon emissions of UVA’s new construction, informing a baseline for low-carbon construction, and propose design solutions that reduce future buildings’ embodied carbon emissions. Working with data and insight from stakeholders in UVA’s construction, and building on previous Decarbonization Academy research efforts, we will learn what it takes to enable low-carbon construction and make UVA a leader in scalable sustainable construction.
- E. Plastic Recycling and Reuse
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Led by JT Bachman, Professor of Architecture (up to 3 students).
This decarbonization academy team will work in a hands-on learning environment to recycle plastic waste and process it into formats suitable for new design applications. This group will learn about the global plastic waste problem and, in turn, engage with the issue directly on a local level. In collaboration with JunkLabz, students will frequently work at the Milton Airfield workshop learning how to shred, melt, and press recycled #5 polypropylene plastic waste into large sheets suitable for new design applications. Students will test and calibrate settings for pressing sheets of various thicknesses, establishing best practices for efficient workflows, cooling and storage processes. Ultimately, students in this group will design and build a small project for use within the larger UVA community, while reporting out the amount of plastic recycled and researching the amount of energy expended and carbon offset through the process. Note: Milton Airfield gets hot during the summertime and much of the work will be done in unconditioned space. That said, there are air-conditioned spaces nearby on site that are accessible for break taking and we will put together a 'heat plan' to facilitate safe and cool working conditions.
- F. Geothermal Energy at UVA
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Led by Leo Liu, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (up to 4 students).
This project aims to understand and promote environmental benefits of geothermal energy applications for carbon neutralization. This project will be performed based on a large-scale geothermal application (demo) on the UVA campus, which is a main effort to support UVA’s climate action for being carbon neutral by 2030 and fossil fuel free by 2050. This unique UVA geothermal innovation utilizes over 100 closed-loop geoexchange wells drilled to 850 feet depth to first power the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology building and ultimately provide thermal utilities for the maximum expected buildout of 1.4 M gross square feet in the Fontaine Research Park. The team will be working on the the following items over 8 weeks: 1) conduct a literature review on the assessment of geothermal energy for carbon neutralization and other environmental benefits, 2) investigate the contribution of this campus demo and possible future work to carbon neutralization via site visits, analysis, interviews, and discussions, 3) develop a framework for assessing the sustainability benefits and other environment impacts, 4) distribute the research products on campus, in social media, at technical events, and through publications to broaden the impacts, and 5) compile a list of possible external collaboration and/or funding opportunities to further broadening the impacts of the project.
- G. Sustainable IT and Computing
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Led by Lisa Colosi Peterson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (up to 3 students).
This project will assess the climate impacts of computing at UVA – including high-performance research computing related to or making use of artificial intelligence (AI), University-wide IT tools (Canvas, Workday, etc.), and day-to-day computing behaviors of students, faculty, and staff (e.g., use of generative AI for teaching, learning, etc.) We will seek to quantify the impact of such activities on the University’s overall energy demand and carbon footprint, with focus on assessing: WHO undertakes specific activities, WHERE they take place (on or off Grounds), HOW MUCH energy use and emissions they create, and HOW various initiatives including engagement/education and implementation of emerging best practices could reduce overall impact. Related topics could include: the rise of data centers in Virginia (including at UVA), assessment of University-wide policies and individual decision-making about electronic devices, and others. The work will build upon past successes of the Green IT Working Group, Green Labs initiatives, and others. The team will be co-mentored by representatives from UVA ITS, Office for Sustainability, and the School of Engineering.
- H. Electric Vehicle Charging
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Co-led by Kendall Howell, Assistant Director of UVA Transportation and Patrick Clark, UVA Alternative Transportation & Micromobility Manager (up to 3 students).
Fellows will collaborate to assess and expand opportunities for the Department of Parking and Transportation to enhance electric vehicle (EV) charging on Grounds. This project aims to unify Parking and Transportation, Facilities Management, Housing and Residence Life, UVA Health, the President’s Office, and the broader University community in supporting EV charging access for students, staff, and visitors. To achieve this, fellows will focus on documentation, data tracking and sharing, and facilitating communication among stakeholders. They will also evaluate and quantify the carbon reduction and other benefits of EV charging on Grounds. Additionally, the team will identify and communicate specific EV charging needs — both for public and departmental use — and explore potential sites for new EV charging infrastructure.
2024 Decarb Academy Visual Story
