Students tackle climate issues through Montclair State's 'Green Teams' program

President Jonathan Koppell | Official website of Montclair State University

By Passaic Today

May 31, 2024

College students from 30 universities are addressing environmental and climate challenges at Montclair State University this summer as part of the PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies’ annual “Green Teams” program. These challenges include food insecurity in Paterson, flood mitigation in Washington Township, and the impact of replacing natural sports fields with artificial turf in Verona.

“We’re thinking big, we’re thinking long term, we’re thinking locally,” said Amy Tuininga, the institute’s director during the program’s launch on May 30. “We’re thinking through an environmental justice and a social justice lens.”

Since 2016, the Green Teams program has served as a platform for launching students into internships, green jobs, and graduate programs. Community partners sponsor teams of undergraduates who provide research, analysis, and marketing to shift corporate culture. To date, that has included 290 real-world projects, with 370 students assisting 50 local communities, nonprofits, and national and global companies advance their sustainability projects.

For corporate and nonprofit partners, this summer’s projects will include creating a plan to influence land-use laws in Northern Jersey as part of an environmental justice initiative; evaluating the effects of greenhouse gases on aviation; and detailing how a hospital could reduce emissions by introducing a fleet of electric vehicles.

A newly funded program will send students to Kansas State University to study agricultural technology to mitigate the food security crisis.

“This is a program about solutions,” said Montclair President Jonathan Koppell during his opening remarks to the students selected for Green Teams. “By generating solutions, you’re showing that all these problems that seem intractable... can all be solved.”

Over the next 11 weeks, the program will introduce the 50 undergraduates to subject-matter experts addressing health conditions, environmental risks, economic risks, and climate change impacts.

“Environmental justice has to be at the center of all of the work we do when it comes to environmental topics,” said keynote speaker Marccus Hendricks from the University of Maryland. “If it’s not... we’ll never get to where we need to be in terms of curbing global climate change.”

The undergraduates come from various academic programs across colleges nationwide including historic Black and Hispanic-serving institutions. Final presentations will take place on August 7.

Christiana Zenner from Fordham University encouraged students to think about their goals both for their assigned project and broader societal impact. “What kind of civic and corporate responsibility do you want to encourage?” she asked.

The Green Teams are supported by corporate foundations and federal sources such as the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and NASA. For more information about Green Teams visit PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies.

The program is part of Montclair State University's comprehensive summer schedule which includes experiences like Hispanic Student College Institute and Pre-College Summer Programs offering courses such as animation, acting, cybersecurity among others. Incoming freshmen also have opportunities through Summer Bridge Scholars Program and Educational Opportunity Fund’s Summer Academy.

Story by Staff Writer Marilyn Joyce Lehren. Photo by University Photographer Mike Peters.