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Student Groups
The following student groups engage and support the Northwestern community with the topics discussed in The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go From Here.
Associated Student Government Sustainability Committee
The Associated Student Government Sustainability Committee (ASG SusCom) works to research, facilitate, and implement sustainability activities on campus. They aim to provide a unified, legitimate, and consistent voice from the students to the administration. They work closely with other campus groups to promote sustainability through academics, awareness campaigns,and tangible, impactful projects. Contact: asg-sustainability@u.northwestern.edu
Association of Undergraduate Women in Science
Athletics Sustainability Committee
To decrease the environmental footprint of the Northwestern University Department of Athletics and Recreation by increasing awareness among students, athletes, staff, and fans and reducing waste within practices, games, and facilities.
Engineers for a Sustainable Environment
Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW-NU) is an action-based group, mobilizing students through education, training, and hands-on projects related to environmental sustainability. Membership is not limited to engineers, but rather includes students from all schools at Northwestern, and entails working in student teams with faculty and professional advisers to further sustainability both locally and internationally. Our projects range in focus from renewable energy to clean drinking water, green infrastructure, and much more.
Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW)
ESW is a national nonprofit organization, with the Northwestern chapter run through the McCormick School of Engineering. The group channels the skills of engineers into sustainability projects on domestic and international levels through education, volunteer opportunities, and design projects.
Engineers Without Borders
Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Society
The mission of EnvEUS is to bring the community to the environmental engineering department, promote collaboration, assist in networking, and provide knowledge of potential career paths. Also by participating in competitions and projects focused on environmental sustainability we aim to give students the opportunity to put classroom skills to practical use.
Fossil Free Northwestern
Fossil Free Northwestern is a group of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members calling on Northwestern University to remove its investments in coal and move toward divestment fromall fossil fuels. We aim to build a sustainable endowment that refuses to fund climate change, pollution, or injustice. We're part of an international Fossil Free movement made up of colleges, cities, religious institutions, and more all taking action against climate change through socially responsible investing.
Global Engagement Summit
The Global Engagement Summit brings together students interested in global affairs, entrepreneurship, current events, and social justice to plan a week-long innovation conference. The conference hosts 30 international entrepreneurs—from Nigeria, to Indonesia, to the Northwestern community itself— to work on their change-based projects that can tackle any social changefrom education to healthcare to sustainability. Previous projects include a solution to deforestation in Sudan and a mental health initiative for Armenian veterans. This org is a fun way to meet like-minded people who are passionate about making a difference in the world through entrepreneurship and creative problem-solving.
GREEN House
GREEN House (Group Residence for Environmental Engagement at Northwestern) is an environmentally-themed residence hall at Northwestern University. Its mission is to extend classroom-learning to living-learning in a way that will engender exploration, discovery, and critical thinking about environmental problems so as to inspire future leaders to act in ways that will protect and sustain our planet. GREEN House’s mission rests upon three pillars: Examined Lifestyle, Education, and Service.
Helicon
In Our Nature
In Our Nature aims to bring the environment to everyone. Whether you’re a granola guru, environmental justice advocate, a casual recycler or anything inbetween, our stories, tips and entertainment will bring out your inner treehugger. We look to express love for nature, highlight its importance, bring attention to environmental injustices, and help readers learn more about environmental issues in the Chicagoland area and beyond.
Kellogg Energy and Sustainability Club (KESC)
By cultivating and leveraging Kellogg’s relationships, the Kellogg Energy & Sustainability Club (KESC) prepares students to become global leaders in energy and sustainability. KESC promotes and represents energy and sustainability within the Kellogg and Northwestern communities by providing critical and timely resources to support careers in energy and sustainability, bringing industry thought-leaders to speak, leading sustainability initiatives on campus, and building relationships with a broad range of energy companies to support on and off-campus recruiting.
Learn moreKellogg School of Management Net Impact
Kellogg Net Impact Club’s mission is to inspire and prepare emerging leaders to use the power of business to create a more socially responsible and sustainable world.
Muskwa Club
National Society of Black Engineers
Northwestern Undergraduate Energy Club
The Northwestern Undergraduate Energy Club (NUEC) seeks to develop and foster a community of NU undergrads who are passionate about the energy industry through educational, professional and discussion-based activities. By providing opportunities to learn about clean energy research, network with energy professionals and companies, or engage with energy initiatives both locally and globally, NUEC hopes to develop leaders in energy policy, business, and technology.
Northwestern Energy Technology Group (NETG)
Northwestern Geoclub
Northwestern Geoclub is a coalition of students passionate about the outdoors, science, and inclusion. We strive to make our club accessible to members both inside and outside the field of geology, creating a diverse and like-minded community!
Northwestern Global Brigade
Northwestern Global Brigades aims to bring aid to the under-served regions of Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, Ghana, and other countries serviced by the international Global Brigades effort. We work to provide aid through holistic development while creating unique opportunities for Northwestern students interested in leadership, networking, and international travel and service. Global Brigades empowers over 130,000 community members annually with the aim of ultimately helping them to reach their health, economic, and infrastructure goals. The Global Brigades holistic model functions by collectively developing a community’s infrastructure as well as its health, economic, and infrastructure systems so that it can ultimately become self-sustaining.
Northwestern University Outdoors Club
Northwestern University Solar Car Team (NUsolar)
NUsolar is a student-run team that designs, builds, and races completely solar-powered vehicles. Their goals are to promote a greater understanding of sustainable transportation technologies and to provide an opportunity for students to gain real-world engineering project experience. NUsolar has built six solar racers throughout it's history and travels across the nation each summer to compete with other university teams in the American Solar Challenge and Formula Sun Grand Prix solar car "rayces."
Northwestern University Outdoors Club
Plant-it Purple Graduate Gardens
Plant-it Purple Graduate Gardens is a community garden located next to the courtyard behind the Technological Institute. The garden includes a vegetable garden, flower garden, and shade garden. Plant-it Purple's goal is to create a space where students, staff, and other members of the NU community can work together outside of classrooms and offices to cultivate and enjoy a living project.
Pura Playa
Pura Playa is Northwestern University's plastic waste reduction team. We are an Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) project (though students from all disciplines are welcome to join) that aims to address plastic use in our community and its effect on the environment. Our method is to educate ourselves and our community about plastic pollution and reduce plastic usage at Northwestern University. We are currently working on the Northwestern Thinks Outside the Bottle campaign, encouraging the University to go bottled water-free. We are also working on a recycling project and a microplastic filtration project.
Real Food at Northwestern
Real Food at NU is a student-led campaign at Northwestern University looking to shift the university's food system to one that is more socially just and environmentally sustainable.
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1974 by a group of engineers employed by the city of Los Angeles. Their objective is to form a national organization of professional engineers to serve as role models in the Hispanic community.
Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
The Society of Women Engineers is a nationally recognized professional, educational, and service organization dedicated to supporting women in science and engineering. We aim not only to empower our members to fulfill their full potential as engineers and leaders, but also to inspire the next generation of engineers through STEM outreach programs
Learn moreStudents for Ecological and Environmental Development
Students for Ecological and Environmental Development, SEED, one of the largest ASG recognized environmental groups on campus, promotes concern for the environment in community decisions and in daily life, through both education and action. SEED’s mission is to pioneer, teach, and model environmental stewardship so as to inspire our future leaders to act in ways that protect and sustain our planet. We seek to engage and educate the Northwestern community on environmental issues by making them relevant and relatable. In doing so, we espouse not only the challenges we face, but make clear the opportunities to improve the welfare of people and the planet together in an effort to produce a healthier, just, and sustainable world.
Student Physicians for Social Responsibility (SPSR)
Student Physicians for Social Responsibility is dedicated towards supporting community service, advocacy, and education for environmental sustainability and anti-nuclear efforts in the context of improving health. They seek to fight for social justice by mitigating the effects of climate change, toxins, and other environmental threats to human health. SPSR promotes this by engaging students and community members through lunch talks and programs to improve sustainability practices at the Chicago Northwestern campus. They also collaborate with Physicians for Social Responsibility chapters at other Chicago medical schools.
The Northwestern Energy and Sustainability Consortium (NESC)
NESC works to encourage and facilitate communication and collaboration at Northwestern University between sustainability and energy students at the undergraduate and graduate level. They seek to increase awareness and collaboration, and encourage support among students, student groups, and the campus at large.
Wildlife Club
The Wildlife Club's purpose is to create an inclusive community on campus comprised of future scientists, environmental activists, animal lovers, and students who have a passion for wildlife and are concerned about the global biodiversity crisis. The Wildlife Club's goals are to be an advocate on campus for wildlife conservation through activism, to provide career-building opportunities in the field of conservation, to engage with the Northwestern, Evanston, and Chicago communities through discussions and citizen science projects, and build relationships between Northwestern and Chicago-based zoological research institutions. Long-term goals include on-campus wildlife surveys, regular club-sponsored trips to zoos, aquariums, and museums, outreach and research partnerships with these institutions, hosting professional speakers and career fairs on-campus, and petitioning the university for more wildlife-related academic opportunities.
Wild Roots Community Garden
Wild Roots Garden was founded at Northwestern University in the fall of 2009 through a collaboration between the One Book One Northwestern project, three undergraduate environmental student organizations (SEED, ECO, and ESW), Facilities Management, the graduate student garden, and Norris University Center. Today, Wild Roots is managed by undergraduate students in (grateful) collaboration with Facilities Management. Our fresh produce is harvested and donated to the chefs in our dining halls or sold to students. During the school year, we work with other environmental student groups to host fun and educational events on campus.