The back-to-back spread of posters and display boards across the Honors Residence Hall Learning Center Tuesday night was a testament to USC students' passion for sustainability.
The Sustainability Showcase, hosted by Sustainable Carolina, exhibited student and faculty-directed research projects addressing sustainability topics.
The featured projects addressed many facets of the issue, from the science of developing and applying alternative energy solutions to the exploration of simple changes associated with embracing an environmentally-conscious lifestyle.
Other projects examined the marketing strategies and business applications of eco-friendly products. Some researchers had taken their passion for finding environmental solutions abroad to implement projects such as waste management solutions in underdeveloped communities.
In addition to providing the opportunity for researchers to present their work and initiate discussions about sustainability, the event served as a reminder to attendees that they could make a difference through university-sponsored research.
According to Michael Koman, Director of the Office of Sustainability, many of the university's most impactful sustainability initiatives began as student ideas and research. Projects ranging from composting initiatives to conservation programs to the installation of solar panels on the baseball field have contributed to the university's reputation for groundbreaking sustainability efforts.
"The university is committed to converting one hundred percent of our campus fleet to alternative fuel vehicles by the year 2015. We'll be one of the first large-scale universities in the country to do that. That came out of a student project originally," Koman said.
Sustainable Carolina and the Office of Undergraduate Research aim to support the next generation of student-led innovation.
One notable research project conducted by business students Caitlin Mahoney and Jason Thomas analyzed the cost effectiveness of placing solar panels on the roofs of all university buildings and paying for an alternative source of power.
Another environmentally-impactful initiative, which was the result of a sustainable projects class, has enabled university trucks to be fueled in part by biofuel made at the university.
"We take the waste grease from chicken finger Wednesday ... We remove all the french fries and chicken pieces, and they give us waste vegetable oil. And then we mix the waste vegetable oil with lye and methanol and it makes a biodiesel mixture," said Thomas Syfert, the Associate Vice President for Environmental Health and Safety.
The process also produces glycerin, which his students refine and make into soap.
All of our diesel trucks on campus run on five percent biodiesel right now," Syfert said. "We can make biodiesel for less than two dollars a gallon, so the university saves money by making the product."
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