The Sustainability Challenge Grant Program is designed to engage transdisciplinary teams from the university community to foster scholarly, creative and research projects that promote sustainability and advance fields of study. Sustainability, in this context, is intended to convey the need to seek to balance between environmental, social and economic impacts. 

Applications for the University of Kentucky Sustainability Challenge Grant Program are being accepted now through Sept. 15. Total project funds available are expected to be $200,000 with individual projects eligible to receive up to $50,000. Application materials can be found here.

“This program has been such an important component of our sustainability efforts over the past nine years. We are very excited about the proven potential it has to engage and support our students, faculty and staff who are interested in using sustainability as a framework for exploring critical issues,” said Shane Tedder, UK’s sustainability officer and co-coordinator for the program.

In the nine years of the program to date, 61 projects have been awarded a total of $1.75 million to pursue a wide range sustainability-driven projects on campus and beyond.

The 2023 Sustainability Challenge Grant recipients were:

Canopy Con: An Urban & Community Forestry Conference

• Lynne Rieske-Kinney; professor, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

• Lynn Phillips; associate professor, College of Arts and Sciences

• Chris Sass; chair and associate professor, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

• Grace Coy; Urban Forest Initiative coordinator, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

• Shelby Grow; Urban Forest Initiative outreach coordinator, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

Documenting Change: Creating an Educational Experience Documenting the Adaptive Reuse of the Gray Design Building Phase II 

• SK O’Brien; assistant professor, College of Design

• Joe Brewer; director of technology and facilities, College of Design

• Carolina Segura Bell; senior lecturer, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

• Ryan Hargrove; associate professor, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

• Jordan S. Hines; senior lecturer, College of Design

• Daniel Livingston; principal graphic designer and part-time instructor, College of Design

• Jordan Phemister; lecturer, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

Increasing Organizational Capacity of the Kentucky Climate Consortium to Support Transdisciplinary Approaches to Climate Research and Teaching

• Lauren E. Cagle; associate professor, College of Arts and Sciences

• Mary Arthur; professor emeritus, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

• Yoko Kusunose; associate professor, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

• Alice Turkington; associate professor, College of Arts and Sciences

• Ryan McCoy; Ph.D. candidate, College of Arts and Sciences

Kentucky Equity Mapping 1.0 

• Marilyn Clark; economic Inclusion manager for UK; chair, Equitable Economic Development Subcommittee of the UK Economic Development Collaborative

• Melody Flowers; assistant vice president, UK Economic Development & Real Estate, and co-chair, UK Economic Development Collaborative

• George Ward; associate vice president, UK Economic Development & Real Estate, and chair, UK Economic Development Collaborative

• Matthew Wilson; professor and interim chair, UK College of Arts and Sciences

Next Steps in Campus Wood Utilization

• Bruce Swetnam; College of Design

• Chad Niman; Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

UK-DiPP: Development of UK Digital iPad Product Passport for iPad Initiative Sustainability Improvement

• Fazleena Badurdeen; professor, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering

• Edward Wang; assistant professor, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering

• Junwon Ko; Ph.D. student, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering

The program is a collaborative effort of the President’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment and the Office of Sustainability. Funding support for the program is provided by the offices of the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Provost and the Vice President for Research as well as the Student Sustainability Council. 

For more information visit https://sustainability.uky.edu/sustainability-grants/sustainability-challenge-grants