Climate Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

The Green Teams Program is a unique model that pairs transdisciplinary teams of students with municipalities and private organizations to support their carbon emissions benchmarking, emissions reduction goal setting and climate action planning through a rigorous, science-based process that can be scaled and disseminated. In addition to providing actionable sustainability solutions, the Green Teams program advances STEM education and divorce workforce development. To date, Green Teams projects have helped communities with climate-related projects to reduce municipal waste and food waste; improve food security; reduce greenhouse gas emissions and identify and quantify mitigating factors; and support community sustainability.

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Since its inception in 2016, the Green Teams program has built an inclusive application and placement process resulting in a diverse group of participants. The program is open to all undergraduates from all colleges/universities and all majors. Over five years, students have come from 34 universities and over 70 majors. Further, the Green Teams program has always held at its core the goal of building a more diverse and inclusive STEM workforce through novel URG student supports and opportunities to expand their networks and develop professional strengths that ensure successful career pathways. To lower barriers to participation and equalize access to internships, the program pays students, makes housing available, and bases selections on a variety of criteria. In addition, the team-centric aspect of the Green Teams Program reduces social isolation and provides academic and professional supportive networks, elements that often contribute to the seepage of URGs from academic and professional pathways. 

To maximize diversity, we recruit from a wide range of public and private institutions of higher education throughout the United States. Out of 210 students across all years, participants have included 134 females (64 percent) and one person identifying their gender as other. Additionally, in the three most recent years since we began asking applicants to share their race and ethnicity, of those responding out of 130 students, we have included 28 Hispanic students (22 percent) and 43 students from underrepresented races (33 percent). For the Summer 2020 program, we received 260 applications from across the country -- including from students in California, Indiana, Maine, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida and Puerto Rico -- and conducted over 120 interviews. 

We continue to build on and expand demographic and geographic diversity through both new and existing partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), HSIs, and other MSIs, as well as engaging other new partner institutions. 

We have successfully recruited and trained STEM and non-STEM majors each year; many applicants are not majoring in STEM but are drawn to apply through their interest in sustainability and the environment. 
Importantly, by offering a stipend, the Program is able to incentivize students to apply because it alleviates concerns about the need to work other jobs during the summer. Montclair State University, the program‚ home, is a majority-minority, federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution. The majority of its students are first in their family to attend college, and more than 80% receive some form of financial assistance. Many work full time in order to afford higher education. The ability to provide financial support is critical to ensuring this population is able to participate in an experiential STEM learning opportunity.