Appalachian State University
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Every year, the Appalachian Energy Summit hosts a Student Poster Competition. Students can submit their energy-related research, community, or campus oriented project to be considered for the Student Poster Competition. This is an excellent opportunity for students to showcase their work, develop business skills, and network with students and professionals. In 2019, $1,700 in cash prizes was awarded. Additionally, one-third of the abstract and poster needed to highlight how the research or project:
- Informed about ways to reduce climate impacts?
- Positively benefited society and the environment?
- Advanced clean energy technologies or behaviors?

Topics included: efficiency, emissions, renewables, storage, transportation, and behavior change.
The 2019 prizes were distributed as follows:
- Grand Prize: $500 (1 undergraduate and 1 graduate/PhD)
- Honorable Mention: $200 (1 undergraduate and 1 graduate/PhD)
- People's Choice: $300

College and University students were invited to complete and submit the Student Poster Submission Form by May 15, 2019. Students whose posters were accepted received free access to the Summit, which includes lodging and meals. Poster setup took place the afternoon of July 29. Students were required to be at their posters in the morning and at lunch time on July 30.

The Appalachian State University Renewable Energy Initiative also has rolled out Student Engagement Grants. These "mini grants" give up to $1,500 to student sustainability projects. For more information, follow this link: https://rei.appstate.edu/

For a project to proceed forward, prospective grantees must demonstrate how the project strives to reduce the environmental impact of Appalachian State University in at least one of the following ways:

1. By implementing renewable energy technologies
2. Investing in energy efficiency projects
3. Promoting campus engagement

** Projects must incorporate direct student involvement and/or professional development for student participants and are required to take place on ASU property. Careful consideration should be paid to how the students of Appalachian benefit from this project. **

All applicants are strongly encouraged to review Appalachian State’s sustainability mission and/or strategic plan to align their project goals and outcomes.

Applicants are also encouraged to demonstrate how their project or focus area has a local connection to Watauga County, Western NC, Appalachian Region. Any projects that are able to make a “Local to Global” sustainability connection will be given special consideration in awarding grants.

Appalachian’s Research Institute for Environment, Energy and Economics (RIEEE) offers the CONducting ComplEx Research Together (CONCERT) Grant program.

The Research Institute for Environment, Energy and Economics (RIEEE) at Appalachian State University facilitates opportunities for multidisciplinary research and scholarship to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for how the sustainable use of our social, cultural, economic and natural capital positively impacts society. To facilitate the highest quality research and application in the areas of environment, energy and economics, the Institute will assist faculty, students, academic departments, related centers and other university units through financial administration for research projects, funding development, logistics, and promotion and dissemination of research results. Our goals are to:
- Facilitate collaborative efforts to support research across departmental and collegial structures.
- Facilitate extramural funding for faculty and student research as well as to support future research facilities and equipment.
- Provide a point of contact for outside agencies to inquire about research associated with the environment, energy and economics.
- Disseminate knowledge and information from research initiatives associated with the environment, energy and economics.
-Assist Appalachian State University in efforts to improve energy efficiency and to utilize renewable energy technologies.
- Support community and regional outreach and education initiatives related to the environmental, energy and economics

The CONCERT Grant Program supports new and existing research projects that involve one or more of the RIEEE core research areas, and align with any research priorities described in the call for proposals. While collaborative, multidisciplinary or ”convergent” research is preferred, it is not required. Research teams may be composed of faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students,staff, and others such as research professors and external collaborators. Proposals should correspond to the RIEEE mission and/or its affiliated centers, the Southern Appalachian Environmental Research and Education Center (SAEREC), the Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis (CERPA), and the Appalachian Energy Center (AEC).

Awards range from $1,000 to $5,000, and competitions are held at least annually.

Representative research clusters and topics supported by the CONCERT Grant Program include:
- Documenting Environmental Change in Appalachia
- Economic Impacts of Coastal Groundwater Issues from Sea-Level Rise
- Establishing the Climate-Mental Health Relationship in North Carolina
- World Bee Census Planning Grant
- Combatting Global Climate Change and the Pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based Soil Erosion Monitoring and Assessment
- Using Remote Sensing and Survey Techniques to Test Alternative Methodologies and Scenarios to Enable Scaling of Forest Carbon Offset Projects
- Research and Demonstration of Root Zone Heating System and Lighting System for Sustainable Greenhouse Operations

Librarians provide library instruction for classes in sustainability as well as one-on-one research consultations with students conducting sustainability projects. The library offers a number of article indexes with full-text article databases that directly support research in Sustainability.

The library also provides a number of online library guides to assist researchers in sustainability. Subject Guides include, to name a few, Appropriate Technology, Environmental Science, Environment & Conservation, Green Design and Construction, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, and Sustainable Technology. These guides can be found through the library's main webpage. An overview of the library guides offered can be found at http://guides.library.appstate.edu/index

Librarians also actively acquire materials in support of sustainability with a substantial budget line dedicated to acquiring new books and videos in the area. More than 13,000 titles were retrieved when searching for keywords of “sustainable” and “sustainability” covering a number of different areas from sustainable technology to sustainable development. In the past couple of years the library has purchased more than 100 titles under the sustainability fund line.