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The IE's Work with the Town of Chapel Hill

UNC Institute for the Environment's work with the Town of Chapel Hill

  • Stormwater Management Project: IE has been in partnership with the Town of Chapel Hill's Stormwater Management Division since 2009 to develop materials and outreach strategies to improve stormwater management in the food service industry. IE's Director for Outreach and Public Service Kathleen Gray teamed up with Wendy Smith, the Town of Chapel Hill's Environmental Education Coordinator to create visually engaging and easy to use materials for industry employees detailing the impacts of improper stormwater management practices. For more information and to view the educational materials, please visit our commercial stormwater page.
  • Capstone Projects: IE Capstone Coordinator, Research Associate and Lecturer Dr. Elizabeth Shay leads UNC environmental students on team research Capstone projects (ENST 698 Capstone: Analysis and Solution of Environmental Problems). Two projects this year work directly with the Town of Chapel Hill: one will inventory greenhouse gas emissions of employee travel and several other town-related activities, and the other will explore environmentally preferable purchasing. Past Capstone projects that served the Town of Chapel Hill include greenhouse gas emissions inventories for Chapel Hill Transit and for street lights and the municipal fleet, and a transit rider survey.
  • Mayor's Youth for a Sustainable Future Initiative (2008-2010): ERP staff assisted with student recruitment and contributed to programming for this initiative that provided selected 9th-12th graders with hands-on sustainability and civic engagement experiences.
  • Climate LEAP: From 2009-2013, ERP led UNC's Climate Leadership and Energy Awareness Program (Climate LEAP) for area high school students. Climate LEAP students participated in a one-week, non-residential Summer Institute on the UNC-CH campus and at least three out of four half-day Saturday Academies during the academic year. In addition, students conduct a climate change community outreach project. In addition to serving local youth through this program, local community groups and organizations were recipients of these outreach projects. This endeavor was funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund�s Student Science Enrichment Program.