Future Projects

We are always looking for new and exciting projects to improve life on-campus, increase student awareness of environmental issues, and solve problems related to sustainability elsewhere in the world. Given the small size of the college and the strong motivation for interdisciplinary, project-based learning, we see Harvey Mudd as the perfect environment to create the first truly sustainable campus by combining existing solutions with student innovation. Our projects try to meet these goals through increased campus awareness or by advancing the college's sustainability through reduced impact on our environment or on our resource use. The club has a long list of projects it would like to accomplish and certain changes it would like to see on the HMC campus. Below are some of the ideas that have been discussed as potential new projects for ESW/MOSS to undertake. If you have any suggestions on how to make these projects happen or any ideas for other projects, please contact us by e-mailing Mudd.Sustainability@gmail.com.

Speakers and Conferences

ESWMOSS feels that one of the best ways to spread knowledge and awareness is through lectures and conferences held by experts in the field. Because of this philosophy, we are always looking for speakers to come and give talks at HMC on sustainability and environmental topics. These have the potential to reach a wide student audience and spread awareness in a way that members of the club cannot. In addition, the club is also looking for ways to sponsor students to attend conferences on sustainability that are applicable either in their field or to the HMC campus.

Currently, the leaders of ESWMOSS attend the annual Engineers for a Sustainable World Conference, at which the network with other chapter leaders and listen to presentations from other campuses and industry leaders. In addition, ESWMOSS sends students to local SoCalCAN conferences. SoCalCAN is a network of 15 schools in the Southern California area devoted to networking and sharing ideas about sustainability and solving campus environmental problems. Along with these, we are always looking for ways to support students and send them to relevant conferences in the hope that they will bring back good ideas to the club and the college community.

Endowment of Environmental Clinic

The Clinic Program at Harvey Mudd is one of the features that makes the school so unique. Junior and senior students embark on a year-long project to solve a real-world project and present their findings to an industrial liaison. The solutions derived from these projects are often applied by the company that sponsors them. We feel that this presents a valuable opportunity for students both within and outside of ESWMOSS to get real-world experience creating sustainable solutions for real problems. Thus, we would like to see the college establish an Environmental Clinic Program, similar to the Global Clinic Program, where one project per year is devoted to an environmental problem either at home or abroad. Students on this clinic team would then devise a solution, offering them a chance to learn about how sustainability is applied in practice.

Office Space for the Center for Environmental Studies

A project out of the control of the club, but one that we strongly advocate, is finding office space for the Center for Environmental Studies. Currently, the center is more of an idea than an actual place as there is no room on campus devoted to it. All materials relevant to the center reside in Professor Steinberg's office. ESW/MOSS supports efforts to find a home for the Center for Environmental Studies on-campus either in an existing building or in proposed new structures. We would hope that such a space would encourage the college to also hire a staff member to take charge of the Center and keep it as a resource for all students interested in applying their studies at Mudd in an environmental or sustainability-related field. Such a staff member, similar to the sustainability coordinator at Pomona College, could also help organize projects with ESW/MOSS and the HMC Sustainability Committee. It is also our hope that office space for the Center would provide conference and storage space for ESW/MOSS, which is desperately needed. Currently our prototypes and project supplies reside in student dorm rooms as no space is available on-campus. Thus, to meet our own needs and the needs of the college, we strongly support an office for the Center for Environmental Studies.

Environmental Studies Professors

Another project for which ESW/MOSS advocates but does not control is the hiring of either new professors in environmentally-related fields or the endowment of a visiting professorship in environmental studies. We feel that there is a lack of knowledge among the current professors in some of the fastest growing environmental sectors, including life cycle analysis and environmental economics. To promote sustainability on campus, we believe it is necessary to bring in professors with experience in these areas, and others, either through research or prior industry work. Therefore, we would encourage the hiring of new professors with specialties related to these fields or a visiting professorship to bring an expert to the college each year to offer courses in sustainability-related fields.