Earth Month @ U-M

March 2–April 14  | 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. | Matthaei Botanical Gardens

This free interactive exhibit on carbon capture and conversion and its role in addressing climate change opened in March. Developed through a collaboration between the Global CO2 Initiative and MBGNA, the exhibit is driven by student contributions and tailored for public education. It includes a video game designed by a recent U-M graduate specifically for the exhibit as well as sample items made from captured (recycled) CO2. There will also be a reception  (2–4 p.m.) on Sunday, April 7, 2024, featuring a talk from Kit McDonnell from Lanzatech, a leader in carbon conversion, at 3 p.m.

Open to the public; no registration required.

March 25 | 3–6 p.m. | Rackham Ampitheatre & Assembly Hall

Climate change is already having dramatic effects on human health and well-being. How are we adapting to these new realities and mitigating health risks for the world’s most vulnerable communities? And, what is the role of universities in addressing this crisis?

The Center for Global Health Equity invites you to our first-ever Climate Vulnerability and Health Symposium, an all-campus event showcasing the university's diverse and talented researchers who are forging the path toward global health equity. Whether you’re a student, faculty, health professional, or community member with an interest in the intersection of climate and global health, your presence is valued in shaping the discourse on health equity. This event is hosted in collaboration with the Schools of Nursing, Public Health, and Environment and Sustainability.

Please RSVP to ensure your spot at this stimulating exchange of knowledge and ideas that promises to influence the actions we all take in addressing global health challenges. The event is free and open to the public.

As the life-threatening impacts of the climate crisis grow more aggressive each year, the Biden-Harris administration is implementing an all-of-government approach at the scale and speed this urgent situation demands. Vital to this mission is the U.S. Department of the Interior’s collaborative, on-the-ground efforts that bring local communities, Indigenous Knowledge and young people to the decision-making table. Through Secretary Haaland’s leadership, the Department is centering environmental justice and empowering communities with the tools and resources they need to protect our shared planet for current and future generations.

This ticketed event is free and open to the public. Tickets will be available from the Michigan Union Ticket Office (MUTO) beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Friday, March 8, 2024.

Entry requirements and rules:

• A digital or paper copy of your ticket
• Photo identification
• No bags or purses allowed

Questions can be directed to seas-communications@umich.edu.

March 28 | 6–8 p.m. | U-M Museum of Art Auditorium
March 29 | 11 a.m.–1 p.m. | Michigan League (Koessler; 3rd Floor)
March 30 | 11 a.m.–4 p.m. | Michigan Union

The U-M Sustainable Food Program invites you to attend Rooting for Change: Student Food Summit! This free three-day event will feature Tiny Talks about food justice, a lunchtime panel, and student-led learnshops. U-M students from any campus are welcome to attend some or all of the three days. Faculty, staff, and community members are also invited to join the first two days.

Summit registration.

March 30 | 2–6 p.m. | Dana Building, Ford Commons

This in-person and virtual event will focus on Indigenous-led movements to secure Indigenous land rights and stewardship in the United States. In 2023, Indigenous leaders invited School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) master’s students to support land return and co-stewardship initiatives, leading to innovative strategies for land recovery and conservation. This event will highlight initiatives from leading Tribes in the United States and student and faculty projects to support those efforts.

This event is convened by SEAS’ Pathways Alliance for Change and Transformation, in collaboration with the school’s Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment and its Sustainability and Development and Environmental Justice specializations.

Attend virtually via Zoom.

Event link

April 3, 2024 | 12–1 p.m. | LSA Building, Multipurpose Room

LSA Year of Sustainability and the Office of Campus Sustainability are co-hosting an engaging lunch-and-learn on how we can reduce waste here at U-M, including updates to recycling and composting guidelines. There will be plenty of Q&A time for your waste questions.

Free; registration required.

Contact: zerowaste@umich.edu

April 5, 2024 | 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. | Michigan League

Join the U-M Water Center, the School for Environment and Sustainability and School of Information for the 2024 Water@Michigan Symposium on water justice, access, and affordability across Michigan. From ensuring safe drinking water to tackling emerging contaminants and securing equitable access for under-resourced communities, the challenges are significant and the need for change—and action-based research—is urgent. Let’s come together, share learnings, and make progress towards a future with safe and affordable water access for all. Keynote speaker: State Senator Stephanie Chang.

Free and open to the public; registration required.

April 5 | 1-2p.m. | Maizie’s Cafe

Navigating the variety of avenues to engage in sustainability work on campus can be daunting and confusing! Come join the Student Sustainability Coalition (SSC) to learn more about sustainability initiatives on campus and get a free drink!

Free and open to the public; registration encouraged.

Contact: sustainability.coalition.core@umich.edu

April 7

Are you a student at the University of Michigan passionate about sustainability? Apply now for the Excellence in Sustainability Honors Cord program! This program recognizes students who went above and beyond to advance their knowledge, skills, and practice of sustainability ethics while studying at U-M. To be accepted, students must earn at least 10 points from a list of qualifying activities, activities include attending events, volunteering, and completing sustainability-themed courses.

Students planning to take part in Spring Commencement must apply by April 7.

April 8 | 2:45–3:30 p.m. | The Diag

Join Mighty Earth to watch the solar eclipse on April 8th.

Open to the public; safety glasses provided.

April 9 | 10 a.m.–12.p.m. | LSA Multipurpose Room

This pop-up event is your one-stop shop to tell the LSA Sustainability team what sustainability means to you!  Share what sustainability means to you by answering a few given prompts by speaking to staff, writing, or typing your answer.  You'll get a sweet treat by participating!

Free and no registration required.

April 10–11 | Michigan Union, Rogel Ballroom

Join a transformative discussion about turning our climate anxiety into action. During this two-day event, participants will learn how to leverage their climate emotions to motivate, empower, and engage in lifelong individual and collective actions toward creating a sustainable and just future.

Along with a keynote address from Dr. Sarah Jaquette Ray, co-author of “The Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators: How to Teach in a Burning World” (2024) and author of “A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet” (2020), there will be opportunities for small-group discussions and breakout sessions.

Free and open to all U-M faculty, students, and staff.

Register by April 5.

April 10 | 10–11 a.m. | LSA Room 2001

Join for an enriching conversation around indigeneity, ecology, stewardship, and connectedness with our upcoming book club session centered around "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This event hosted by LSA Sustainability Staff, invites all students, faculty, and staff members to explore its themes, narratives, thought-provoking insights, and implications for future planning efforts in LSA.

Free and open to the public, registration required.

Contact: sustainable-lsa@umich.edu

April 11 | 6–8 p.m. | Ballroom, Michigan League

Borrowing the words of Octavia E. Butler for theoretical inspiration, this talk engages in a thought experiment. What if we were to take Harriet Tubman, one of the most famous historical figures in the US, and center her in an environmental story? What would we learn about Tubman herself? What would we notice about Black women in the nineteenth century and the role of place and ecology in their survival? And what connections might we draw between Black women’s environmental thinking in the multi-temporal past and the greatest challenges facing our species in the murky present and future?

Presented by the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies; made possible in part by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg. Additional support from the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies.

April 12 | 11:45 a.m.–1 p.m. | Mcity Test Facility

Mcity operates the world’s first purpose-built proving ground for testing the performance and safety of connected and automated vehicles and technologies under controlled and realistic conditions. Join the Planet Blue Ambassador program for a tour of the 32-acre site on North Campus to learn more about the facility and the concept of using our campus as a living-learning-laboratory for sustainability innovation. The event will take place outside on Friday, April 12 from noon to 1 p.m. Please arrive by 11:45 a.m. for sign-in.

Free and open to the public with limited availability; registration required.

Contact: Kelly Jones (ecokelly@umich.edu).

April 12–13 | 8 a.m.–11 p.m. | Palmer Commons

Join Noon at Night for an experiment in radical hospitality at Palmer Commons at UM Ann Arbor.

Noon at Night is a culinary and campus tour of historical and contemporary University of Michigan student movements. On Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13, Noon at Night will offer student-led tours, departing at noon and 6pm, traveling back in time throughout campus to significant locations of student organizing and resistance. Hour-long tours will end at Palmer Commons where participants can order food from a menu curated from archived recipes from UM's history that correspond with the time periods and movements shared on the tour. Each evening will culminate in a teach-in of current student-led movement work beginning at 7:30pm. The pay-what-you-can cafe will be open to the public 8am-11pm both days. Coffee, tea, and breakfast items will be available beginning at 8am. The full menu will be available beginning at noon. Visit noonatnight.org or follow @noonatnight on Instagram for more information and tour registration.

sign up here.

Contact: info@noonatnight.org

April 16 | 10:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. | Haven Hall

Did you end up gathering a bunch of t-shirts, stress balls, tote bags, water bottles, keychains, etc. from various events this school year? Attend the Earth Month Swag Swap to trade in any of that swag you no longer want! You’ll ease your stress at move-out, reduce your landfill waste, and maybe find a new swag item you really would benefit from having. Stop by Tuesday, April 16 in Haven Hall at the posting tables from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Have an item you’d like to donate to the swap in advance? Bring it to the Shapiro Library lobby where you’ll find a donation box from April 1–15.

Free and open to the public; registration not required.

Organizer: Planet Blue Ambassador program

Co-sponsors: LSA, Student Sustainability Coalition, Erb Undergraduate Fellows

Contact: Kelly Jones (ecokelly@umich.edu).

April 16 | 6:30–8 p.m. | Lorch Hall, Room 140

Join Food Literacy for All's third annual "Fast Food for Thought" where 10 interdisciplinary U-M faculty and staff each give a 5-minute talk related to food and/or agriculture.

Featured speakers: Dr. Alyssa Paredes (LSA Anthropology), Dr. Benjamin Goldstein (School for Environment and Sustainability), Lunia Evodie Oriol (Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning), Dr. Parijat Chakrabarti (Erb Institute), Dr. Jennifer Garner (School of Public Health), Dr. Lisa Young (LSA Anthropology), Juli McLoone (Library Special Collections), Keith Soster (MDining and Maize & Blue Cupboard), Dr. Benédicte Boisseron (LSA Afroamerican & African Studies), dawn weleski (Student Life Sustainability)

April 17, 2024  |  Noon–1 p.m.  |  Virtual

Join the Office of Campus Sustainability for a fun, interactive training to learn “Where to Throw” items on the Ann Arbor campus to help reduce waste to landfill. You’ll leave confident knowing what can be placed in the recycling and compost bins and familiar with special-items recycling programs.

Free and open to all Ann Arbor campus community members; register.

April 19 | 12–3 p.m. | State St. outside of U-M Museum of Art

Stop by and stock up on fresh, locally grown herbs, veggies, and edible plants at the Farm Stand’s Spring Plant Sale! Plus, students can enjoy 30% off.

Open to the public.

Contact: umsfp.core@umich.edu.

April 20–21 | 12–7 p.m. | Nichols Arboretum

Refugia Festival-Ann Arbor (RF-A2) is a two-day event advocating for environmental conservation and preservation through the sense of sound. RF-A2 highlights the sonic beauty of our natural surroundings through music performances, educational programming, and community service to create meaningful environmental change on a local level. RF-A2 includes four performances and three educational workshops each day, in addition to community service offerings, food vendors, and ongoing activities such as sound installations and interactive games.

Open to the public; ticketed.

Organized by Refugia Festival and hosted/sponsored by Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum.

Contact: Kerry Sprague (kerrylb@umich.edu).

April 22 | 4–6 p.m. | Stephen S. Clark Commons (3rd Floor), Shapiro Undergraduate Library

Check out seeds, create cyanotype prints, make a seed dumpling and connect with student sustainability groups at U-M's Ann Arbor Seed Library Kickoff Event, taking place on Monday, April 22 — Earth Day 2024.

Open to the public.

April 23 | 3–4:30 p.m. | Marsal Family School of Education Courtyard

Interested in getting out on your bike for commuting, utility, or recreation? Join for a hands-on demonstration of basic maintenance and upkeep to keep you rolling into spring and summer. We’ll go over the “ABC-Quick Check,” chain lubrication, and fixing a flat tire.

We’ll also be debuting a new set of basic bike tools available to the Marsal and central campus community that were acquired with a grant from the Office of Campus Sustainability. These tools, a bike pump, and a bike work stand will be available for checkout by members of the U-M community.

RSVP for event and location details.

April 24

During this annual event, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe will present a solutions-oriented talk about what people can do to have the biggest impact within their communities. In a critical election year, when every decision is a climate decision, Hayhoe will discuss what’s new in climate action and climate science—and offer viable solutions that everyone across the political spectrum can support and adopt at the local and national levels.

Open to the public.

April 25 | 3–4 p.m. | LSA Room 2001

Join for a refreshing conversation around equity, activism, environmental justice, and intersectionality with our upcoming book club centered around “The Intersectional Environmentalist” by Leah Thomas.  This event hosted by LSA Sustainability Staff, invites all students, staff, and faculty members to explore its themes, narratives, thought-provoking insights, and implications for future planning efforts in LSA.

Free and open to the public, registration required.

Contact: sustainable-lsa@umich.edu

May 8

Faculty are invited to apply to the Embed Climate Change in Courses (EC3) Retreat on Friday, May 31 and Tuesday June 4, 2024. Sponsored by LSA Undergraduate Education, the LSA Year of Sustainability, PitE and CRLT, the Embed Climate Change in Courses (EC3) Retreat will bring together faculty from the U-M Ann Arbor campus who would be excited to spend time working and learning with others as they develop course materials (syllabi, content units, assignments, activities) focused on climate change for their undergraduate courses. Participants will be eligible to apply for a $1000 undergraduate course development grant at the conclusion of the retreat.