2023-24 Green Fund Awards

A printable list of 2023-24 Green Fund Awards

Pollinator Garden Awarded to staff at the Texas Memorial Museum for Science and Natural History, College of Natural Sciences to install a pollinator garden on the grounds of the museum in collaboration with Landscape Services and the Lady Bird Wildflower Center. $39,900
Virtual Tour of Sustainable Systems in and around Campus: an Augmented Reality Experience Awarded to faculty in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering to utilize augmented reality technology to highlight the sustainable systems of the Engineering Education and Research Center (EER) building. $40,700
TRecs Depot: Sustainable IT in Action Awarded to staff in the Department of Technology Resources to create a TRecs Depot intended to divert fully functional computers from the landfill, develop sustainable purchasing practices and implement sustainability training and education for staff and student workers. $25,000
The UT Turtle Pond as a Living Lab for Biodiversity Research Awarded to faculty and a student organization in the Department of Integrative Biology, College of Natural Sciences to utilize the UT Turtle Pond as a “Living Lab” for undergraduate student research. Students will characterize the microbial communities living in and on turtles in the UT Turtle Pond and select Austin ponds and will communicate findings to the campus community through outreach events. $31,750
Plastic Recycling, Reuse, and the Promotion of a Circular Economy for Plastics for a Sustainable Future  Awarded to faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering to develop a four-stage study with the objective of developing methods to recycle and reuse plastics produced by select campus laboratories. The project is in collaboration with the UT Austin Green Labs program and will create both graduate and undergraduate research opportunities. $43,000
Hook’em Building Materials Before the Landfill Does: Diverting Demolition Waste from the Frank Erwin Center Awarded to faculty in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering to develop and test a framework to increase materials reuse and waste diversion associated with the demolition of the Frank Erwin Center. The “Living Lab” project will create graduate and undergraduate student research opportunities in managing existing built infrastructure in a sustainable manner. $61,876
Compressed earth blocks (CEBs) as a pathway towards developing healthier building materials

Awarded to a graduate student in the department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering to continue their research on the potential of using compressed earth blocks as a building material to regulate indoor air quality.

$5,000
Schulle Creek Restoration at Brackenridge Field Laboratory Awarded to staff at the Brackenridge Field Laboratory in the Department of Integrative Biology, College of Natural Sciences in support of a two-year restoration project of Schulle Creek. Students, faculty and staff will work collaboratively to remove invasive species and restore the area with native plants while providing undergraduate student research opportunities on ecological restoration techniques. $165,700
Evaluation of Air Quality in UT Classrooms and Laboratories via Novel Spatiotemporal Measurements of Volatile Organic Compounds II Awarded to faculty in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering to continue researching sources of volatile organic compounds within UT buildings with the goal of suggesting improvements to current standards for source control. The project creates undergraduate and graduate research opportunities and researchers will share data with Utilities, Energy Management and Environmental Health and Safety staff. $49,520
Combining 3D printing and electrospinning to fabricate cellulose based biodegradable membranes for desalination of water using electrodialysis Awarded to a graduate student in the Department of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, College of Pharmacy to research the utilization of an environmentally-friendly procedure in the creation of cellulose based biodegradable membranes in the water desalination process using electrodialysis. $5,000

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