Our entire campus community has the opportunity to get involved with sustainability work. You'll find something for everyone's interests!
Lead. Empower. Inspire.
UB Sustainability is looking for students that would like to get experience in sustainable practices and programs, but might not have the availability to commit to a full internship. This opportunity is perfect for those that have a busy schedule, but can dedicate an hour or two a week to high impact, visible sustainable projects on campus. The Student Sustainability Impact Team fits well into the gig economy where tasks will be sent out to the participants, and they can pick up shifts if they are available. Student Sustainability Impact Team members would be paid $15 an hour for their work, and can work up to 25 hours a semester.
This work will have a huge impact on our university.
The application period has closed. Please check back in Fall 2024!
Educate fellow students on the importance of recycling, composting, waste reduction, energy and water conservation, local food options and reduced impact choices.
This is a highly competitive position open only to UB students. Submission of a cover letter and resume are required. Qualified applicants will then be contacted for an in-person interview.
An immersive course experience which uses campus as a living lab. Students will earn three credits while learning how to develop and implement educational programming to their peers.
Students participating in this course will receive an introduction to a variety of topics associated with creating a sustainable culture on campus. In this course, students will be responsible for developing and implementing educational programs to student peers. This will be a valuable practical experience for those interested in pursuing a professional career focused on delivering sustainable education programming.
Working in conjunction with Campus Living staff, students will work to create positive change and implement sustainable transformations in the residence halls and on-campus apartments. Students will partner with student clubs and recruit fellow residents to partake in campus sustainability events. Students will have the opportunity to identify ways to infuse sustainability into campus living, while developing and implementing solutions everyday.
Interested students are required to commit between 3 and 5 hours per week to participating in, and developing programming.
Rethink consumption and disposal, while helping to transform UB-sponsored events. Students will work alongside UB Sustainability, Facilities, Athletics and Campus Dining and Shops to ensure materials consumed and sold can be reused, composted or recycled.
Interested students may participate as a team member or team leader. Team leader positions are 3 credit internships open to UB students. Internships require 120 hours of strategic, practical and evaluative work. Team leaders work closely with UB Sustainability to manage and implement on-the-ground programming to transform events. Team member positions are less formal and only require a commitment of a few hours. After participating in a brief orientation training session, team members will be ready to volunteer for events under the supervision of team leaders. Participating as a Zero Waste team member is a quick and easy way to fulfill service requirements and volunteer on campus.
Educate fellow students on the importance of recycling, composting, waste reduction, energy and water conservation, local food options and reduced impact choices.
This is a highly competitive position open only to UB students. Submission of a cover letter and resume are required. Qualified applicants will then be contacted for an in-person interview.
The UB Chapter of Food Recovery Network is a student-led organization, which receives financial support and mentorship from UB Sustainability. FRN has a strong partnership with UB Campus Dining and Shops and together they work to capture edible food, that would otherwise be composted, and redistribute it to community-based organizations, and Feed More WNY.
Since, it's inception in 2021 this group has relied on student volunteers to perform food recoveries. To date UB students have captured over 5 tons of food and provided it to people in need.
Looking to make friends with other sustainable-minded people? Clubs and extracurriculars are an amazing way to do that!
Alpha Kappa Chi is a co-educational professional environmental fraternity whose mission is to promote the self-confidence, professionalism, and Brotherhood among member individuals in preparation for and commitment to practicing environmental sustainability.
ESW is a club that works to directly improve the quality of life on Earth through active example and by proactively working to lessen the harmful impact of humanity on the environment.
UB Environmental Network is the preeminent association of environmentally-minded students on campus. We are a passionate and inclusive group of students interested in advocating for, and creating positive change for the environment.
We participate in a host of events and activities including working on campus sustainability initiatives, advocating for environmental change through petitioning and protesting, coordinate and participate in UB's Earth Week Activities, host guest speakers, and many more!
UB Environmental Students of Color seeks to create experiences of joy and love for nature, along with providing connections to a network of Environmental professionals. Their intention is to welcome and support marginalized peoples in all scopes, with an emphasis on BIPOC, by fostering opportunities to communicate with each other and nature through arts and crafts, outdoor recreation, sustainability, workshops, guest speakers, and collaborations. They strive for comfort in the Environmental, Life, and Earth sciences by aiming to establish a strong community presence at UB and within the broader field.
We are proud to stand with students across the country who have initiated a call for fossil fuel divestment. We, students of “Fossil Free UB” are calling upon the University at Buffalo Foundation to:
Would people describe you as outdoorsy? Well, this is a club for you. Join other students camping, hiking and kayaking all over our beautiful area in Outdoor Pursuits.
Blackstone LaunchPad is an experiential campus program designed to introduce entrepreneurship as a viable career path and develop entrepreneurial skills and mindsets through individualized coaching, ideation and venture creation support.
An engineering intramural is any problem-based extracurricular engineering activity that provides an authentic (i.e., “real-world”) learning experience for students.
The source of the problem can be industry, the community or can be defined internally by students and/or faculty. These experiences are considered "resume builders" and are a direct response to industry feedback reflecting a desire to see relevant engineering experiences, outside the classroom, on student resumes. Participation in engineering intramurals may also lead to internship offers in some cases.
In 2017, the Experiential Learning Network (ELN) emerged as a dynamic space for high-impact experiential learning at the University at Buffalo. Situated centrally, within Academic Affairs and Undergraduate Education, the ELN works with students and faculty from across the University to incubate new offerings while supporting student access and engagement. In an effort to deepen our commitment to high-impact experiential learning that is both accessible for our students and equitable for our partners, we are pleased to introduce our new Project Portal and digital badge series. By inviting students from all backgrounds and areas of study to engage in mentored projects with tangible outcomes, we look forward to extending our reach while supporting students’ academic and professional goals.
The Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) program at UB provides support and extracurricular opportunities for female students in STEM fields with the goal of increasing the recruitment, retention and success of women in the sciences, math and engineering.
UB maintains institutional memberships to a number of sustainability organizations including the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and the Post Landfill Action Network (PLAN). Both of these organizations offer free sustainability-related professional development and training opportunities to their members. Members of the UB community must first create personal accounts using your buffalo.edu email to gain access.
Both the Faculty and Professional Staff Senates have sustaianbility focused committees for the UB community's participation. Each year, the PSS Sustainable Living Committee hosts a Sustainable Living Fair that brings in vendors from around the area to share their knowledge to our campus.
Are you interesting in volunteering, whether it be to earn community service hours, build your resume, or otherwise? UB Sustainability has a number of opportunities for you to get involved in our campus’s sustainability initiatives.
If you would like to volunteer or learn more about our opportunities, contact the UB Sustainability team by calling us at 716-829-3535 or sending us a message here.
If you want to contribute to UB’s sustainability initiatives in another way… let us know!
Looking for more? The Student Engagement office at UB hosts many volunteer opportunities on and off campus. Check out their website below for all of their offerings!
All members of the UB community have access to participate in free sustainability training opportunities through The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and the Post Landfill Action Network (PLAN), as a result of our institutional membership to these organizations. To access AASHE’s Campus Sustainability Hub, including toolkits, click here. To access PLAN’s resources and trainings, click here.