Sara Fleming: Students are shaping (and leading) CU’s climate response

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Fri, 30 May 2025 17:39:01 +0000

Sara Fleming: Students are shaping (and leading) CU’s climate response Gabriela Rocha Sales Fri, 05/30/2025 - 11:39

Cody DeBos

As the ��Ƶ continues to advance its Climate Action Plan (CAP), an interdisciplinary group of graduate students has championed a new way to involve students in shaping a more sustainable future.

Initially, the CU steering committee creating the CAP did not involve students. In response to the exclusion of student voices, a group of graduate students began work to give students a seat at the table and engage the undergraduate community in CU’s climate-planning work. First, the group launched a petition calling for student participation in the drafting of the CAP. Then the group helped pass a resolution through student government to grant student seats on the committee implementing the CAP in the future.

“Students have always been key drivers of sustainability and climate action on campuses across the U.S., including at CU Boulder,” the team says. “As young people, our futures are jeopardized by the climate crisis, so we have a collective stake in rapidly reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”

But the group didn’t stop there. Fueled by a shared passion for climate mitigation and the belief that students should help shape the university’s future, the group of five graduate students from four different departments spent hundreds of hours co-designing and now teaching an undergraduate course on climate-action planning.

The course gives undergrads hands-on experience with CU’s campus emissions data, collaboration opportunities with university stakeholders and a chance to develop sustainability strategies that could be implemented campuswide.

Their efforts recently earned the group CU Boulder’s 2025 Campus Sustainability Award for Student Leadership. The group also won a $5,000 scholarship from the women-led nonprofit Zonta Foothills Foundation, in recognition for their groundbreaking work in climate education and advocacy. The CU School of Engineering, following advocacy from generous faculty members David Paradis and Carol Cogswell, was also gracious enough to provide funding for their work.

A more engaging climate classroom

The group of graduate instructors brings an interdisciplinary approach and myriad perspectives to the classroom.

The teaching team includes Mariah Bowman (law), Sara Fleming (geography), Sean Benjamin (mechanical engineering), Brigid Mark (sociology) and Jonah Shaw (atmospheric and oceanic sciences). Each has worked to tackle climate-related issues through the lens of their expertise, from Indigenous environmental justice to climate-change modeling.

The team’s diverse makeup is reflected in the design of their course and has fueled their success. But the road to this point hasn’t been easy.

“This is a labor of love,” the team says. “We are doing this because we care. Funding and the time required have been challenges.”

Before the course launched, each graduate instructor spent many unpaid hours creating the syllabus, listing the course and building campus partnerships to access emissions data. During the semester, they spend many hours a week on teaching responsibilities that come in addition to their regular duties.

Financial support from the School of Engineering and the Zonta Foothills award has helped, but long term, the team hopes to see the course institutionalized and funded.

The team says, “Institutionalizing the course so that it runs each year and guaranteeing funding for instructors and teaching assistants would ensure the longevity and sustainability of this course. It would ensure continued involvement of students in the Climate Action Plan, and a more robust, actionable plan.”

Hands-on climate action

From the start, the group has viewed student involvement as essential, not symbolic.

At the start of the semester, students gain foundational knowledge on topics like climate justice, global carbon budgets and emissions accounting. From there, they split into teams to tackle different emissions categories on campus: commuting, waste, business travel and student/parent flights.

“Students work in four teams, each focused on a different category of campus emissions. They’re developing strategies to reduce emissions for their category, adding depth and student perspective to the high-level strategy suggestions in the CAP,” the instructors say.

Guest speakers, including administrators and national experts, round out the curriculum. Students have heard from Stanford University’s sustainability team and CU Boulder faculty like Professor Karen Bailey (environmental studies) and Professor Nadav Orian Peer (law). They also meet with stakeholders across campus to refine their proposals.

The team believes this approach is the best way to facilitate opportunities to create actionable, equity-centered climate strategies grounded in real data.

“Involving students in climate initiatives enables them to apply knowledge about climate change to their own institution, experience they will carry to become leaders in climate action in their future workplaces and communities,” says Mark.

The results are already visible on campus.

One student team is working with CU’s transportation specialist to revise the campus commuting survey. Another is working on a survey for better tracking of student and parent air travel. Others are collaborating with dining services and facilities to reduce waste and consulting with faculty to provide more accurate emissions calculations of flights taken by faculty and staff.

“Students often learn about the gravity of climate change without learning about solutions, which can be quite depressing,” says Mark.

“Involving students in climate-action planning and implementation can combat feelings of hopelessness and enable participation in creating real change.”

Impact on both sides

This student-led course has already sparked engagement on both sides of the classroom. One undergraduate took the initiative to launch a campus club to raise awareness about the CAP. Others hope to join implementation committees or pursue careers in sustainability.

“To me, this demonstrates that students are hungry for interdisciplinary courses that enable them to apply their skills and creativity to issues on campus and engage with solutions to the climate crisis,” Fleming says.

For Bowman, the most rewarding part of the experience is the students themselves. “They are passionate, knowledgeable, interested, hardworking and fun to be around! It has been deeply meaningful to get to train them on something I care so much about, and have them care about it in return,” she says.

And for Fleming, designing and teaching the course has also given her much. She adds, “Team teaching is so much fun, and I’ve learned so much from each of my teammates on both content and pedagogical skills.”

As for the future, the graduate instructors each plan to continue fighting for climate action in their respective fields, using their knowledge and experience to make a difference on campus, in state government and in the community.

They also hope CU continues what they started so future students can participate in a course that gives them a voice in the climate conversation through data, creativity and real-world collaboration.

“Involving students in climate-action planning and implementation can combat feelings of hopelessness and enable participation in creating real change.”

Impact on both sides

They also hope CU continues what they started so future students can participate in a course that gives them a voice in the climate conversation through data, creativity and real-world collaboration.

“Involving students in climate-action planning and implementation can combat feelings of hopelessness and enable participation in creating real change.”

Impact on both sides

They also hope CU continues what they started so future students can participate in a course that gives them a voice in the climate conversation through data, creativity and real-world collaboration.

As the ��Ƶ continues to advance its Climate Action Plan (CAP), an interdisciplinary group of graduate students has championed a new way to involve students in shaping a more sustainable future.

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Sara Fleming: New Course Engages Students in CU Boulder's Climate Action Plan

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 19:42:49 +0000

Sara Fleming: New Course Engages Students in CU Boulder's Climate Action Plan Gabriela Rocha Sales Mon, 04/28/2025 - 13:42

Members of the Co-teaching team (Pictured from left to right: Mariah Bowman, Brigid Mark, Sara Fleming, and Sean Benjamin)

The Geography Department is offering a new Special Topics course this semester, GEOG4002: Climate Action Planning. This unique interdisciplinary course was co-designed and is being co-taught by five graduate students from across departments: Sara Fleming (Geography), Sean Benjamin (Mechanical Engineering), Jonah Shaw (Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences), Brigid Mark (Sociology), and Mariah Bowman (Law). The 24 undergraduate students in the course are learning the fundamental skills of climate action planning and are now working on group research projects to better understand and reduce emissions from different areas of CU Boulder's campus, including waste, business travel, commuting, and student/parent travel.

Students have been incredibly engaged in the class and excited about the hands-on opportunity to influence climate action at CU. They will present their ideas to administrators and stakeholders at the Sustainability Summit on April 22. The graduate students received financial support from the College of Engineering and Zonta Foothills Club to teach this class and hope to continue the course next academic year. If you are interested in supporting or being a part of future iterations of the course, please reach out to sara.fleming@colorado.edu.

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Sara Fleming received a PACES Tier 2 Grant

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 19:44:43 +0000

Sara Fleming received a PACES Tier 2 Grant Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/07/2024 - 13:44

Sara Fleming received the CU Boulder Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES) Tier 2 Grant. The proposal is titled, Colorado Mobile Home Park Preservation & Community Ownership Website.

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Welcome to Our Fall 2023 Graduate Students

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 19:18:33 +0000

Welcome to Our Fall 2023 Graduate Students Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/23/2023 - 13:18

Please join us in welcoming our incoming graduates for Fall 2023!

Fall 2023 Graduate Student Group Photo - Back Row: Sepedieh Jalayer, Alek Berg, Sara Flemming, Chris Picard, Theo Kuhn, Kate Little, Michela Savignano, John Dzwonczyk. Front Row: Annika Hirmke, Jennifer Morse, Tenzin Yangkey, Zaria Cast, Mallory Sagehorn, Rahila Yilangai, Chris McNabb, Josie Welsh, and Zhou Yu

Back Row: Sepideh Jalayer, Alek Berg, Sara Fleming, Chris Picard, Theo Kuhn, Kate Little, Michela Savignano, John Dzwonczyk. Front Row: Annika Hirmke, Jennifer Morse, Tenzin Yangkey, Zaria Cast, Mallory Sagehorn, Rahila Yilangai, Chris McNabb, Josie Welsh, and Zhou Yu

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