Sustainable California

UC Merced Student Sustainability Proposal Writing Contest

The UC Merced Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Sustainability holds an annual proposal writing contest, and in 2018, the theme was transportation. Proposals relied on modern technologies, social surveys of students, and the instituting infrastructure for the basic bicycle.

UCTV Sustainable California partnered with the Merritt Writing Program, Merced Bicycle Collective, Office of Sustainability and UC Water to produce a “sustainability slam” on solutions for the Merced community. Here are the winners for 2018, who all received a bicycle, helmet and lock courtesy of the Merced Bicycle Coalition. All videos were produced by UC Water.

UC Merced Arboretum

8/9/2018

Eva Cisneros is a fourth-year student at UC Merced and seeks to improve campus life by offering the community a space to access nature and by providing a site for academic education and research through a UC Merced arboretum. Modeled on the UC Davis arboretum, Merced's site would follow the existing canal, cover five acres, and be focused on the unique climate, drought-tolerant plants and sustainable landscaping.

The UC Merced Student Sustainability Proposal Writing Contest: Yolanda Medrano - Sustainable Flooring

8/9/2018

Yolanda Medrano is a third-year student at UC Merced and is looking to make every step we take count for energy production. She proposes adding energy-producing floor panels to entrances to the library and other high-traffic areas to power doors, increasing building efficiency for the University's triple zero commitment. Though a costly investment, UC Merced would be the first university to invest in this technology, producing clean energy through walking, and effectively reduce...

Prioritizing Bike Lanes - William Fernandez - The UC Merced Student Sustainability Proposal Writing Contest

8/8/2018

William Fernandez is a third-year student at UC Merced who is an avid bike rider. He develops bike-friendly improvements to the two main roads to campus, Bellevue and Lake Roads. With his research, he details simple solutions while indicating that the alternatives are more taxing on the environment. His call to action to improve transit for many of the 8,000 students is titled BUSC: Balance, Update, Solar and Core. William hopes that the repairs to the bike lanes will help...

The UC Merced Student Sustainability Proposal Writing Contest: Eva Fernanda Ordonez - Improved Fleetmatic Mobile System

8/6/2018

Eva Fernanda Ordonez is a third-year student at UC Merced and wants to help students plan their daily commute to campus or the community. She used online surveys to study the barriers to sustainable solutions for travel and why students are not using the current system. By remodeling the Fleetmatic mobile app, Ordonez says that more people will commute together by bus, reducing individual vehicle emissions, improving air quality and student life, if the app and bus schedule is...

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