University of St. Thomas
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

The St. Thomas uGrid is a multimillion dollar, ~ 500 kW, research microgrid. The 50 kW solar PV array, 50 kW biodiesel generator, and Switchgear are up and running. The weather station is ready. Installation of the 25 kW, 50 kWh battery storage system, Control room, Load bank, and Grid connect substation are slated to be done by August 2018. Energy Management System (EMS) is ready to be installed in September. The complete grid connection is expected by year's end, 2018. The vision for this research microgrid is to eventually transform into a campus microgrid which might help us realize a 100% energy sustainable campus. This project has already resulted in several MS thesis projects and serves as a vital link between the university at large and the MSEE power program. A recent example is the uGrid weather station, designed and built by Zach Emond, that was featured for several weeks on the main St. Thomas web page. In Zach words, "The weather station provides real time data collection of weather conditions like wind speed, temperature, and solar irradiance. This data provides a baseline for expected energy generation on the uGrid. Essentially, it allows for the comparison between expected results and actual results. It provides a low power, wirelessly accessible system that, in combination with solar panels and batteries, can run without direct intervention for years."

The University of St. Thomas has a Stewardship Garden and Pollinator Path, both through the Department of Biology, that serve as living laboratory resources for students. The University of St. Thomas' Sustainable Communities Partnership has partnered with the Pollinator Path to develop course-based projects in other disciplines that add community and educational value to the Pollinator Path, while at the same time providing students from other disciplines the opportunity to engage with the Pollinator Path on campus.

The St. Thomas Stewardship Garden integrates research, teaching, and community service. Founded in 2011, the garden currently covers 3/4 acre of land on the St. Paul campus. The garden serves as a research site for undergraduate-faculty collaborations, engaging around 10 undergraduate researchers per year. Approximately 15 classes from eight different disciplines have engaged with the Stewardship Garden. Research conducted at the garden has produced over 10 presentations at national conferences and one publication with undergraduate student co-authors. The garden is also the basis for a $700,000 CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation awarded to Dr. Chip Small.

Facilities Management at the University of St. Thomas and the University of St. Thomas Sustainable Communiites Partnership (SCP) are collaborating to integrate projects related to encouraging bicycling to campus into courses. Facilities Management at the University of St. Thomas would like to develop a strategy to create a campus environment more conducive to biking, including physical resources/infrastructure (e.g., bike racks) and programs. The goal of this collaboration is to increase the number of students, faculty, and staff who bike to the St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses year-round, especially members of the St. Thomas community who live within a mile or two of campus. St. Thomas seeks to encourage biking to campus to reduce pressure on parking, improve neighborhood relations, and reduce the University’s carbon footprint, while also improving the overall student, faculty, and staff experience at St. Thomas. Four courses across four different programs/disciplines (undergraduate Engineering, Geography, and Marketing, and the MBA program) are participating in this project between the fall of 2017 and spring of 2018, bringing campus as a living laboratory into their coursework. Facilities and SCP plan to continue this partnership next year as well.

Each year the Justice and Peace Studies department hosts a series of World Café events. During the spring semester, each participating faculty member teaches in another colleague’s class about how their discipline approaches questions such as Climate Change and then also hosts a colleague in his/her class. All participating faculty (9-12 each year) and students (several hundred) attend a joint-plenary followed by three rounds of interdisciplinary conversations that explore: the roots of the problem, current issues, and action steps on campus and in the world.

As a final step, the events issue a “Call to Action.” Those in attendance can follow along as faculty read aloud the Call to Action. Attendees are encouraged to take out their phones or laptops to register for this Call to Action. A link takes them to a website where they sign the call, and register to receive emails about action steps on campus and in our communities.

In March 2017, the World Cafe was on the topic of climate change.“Climate Call to Action” cards were placed on each table and all participants were invited to read and sign the card, checking off or adding a particular action they will commit to doing. Participants were encouraged to take the cards to remind them of their commitment(s). A follow up event in April 2017 with the Executive Director of Fresh Energy highlighted actions in markets, public policy, and community engagement that support a renewable energy economy.

The St. Thomas Center for College Sleep has developed and disseminated several key measurement tools to facilitate better sleep on college campuses. Students are regularly encouraged to assess their sleep hygiene using their tools and are given feedback and tips about improving their health through sleep. The Center for College Sleep tools and databases are the basis for some of the pre-eminent scholarly work on college sleep.
More information about the activities of the Center for College Sleep: https://www.stthomas.edu/collegesleep/