Funding Opportunities
Get funding for your sustainability project.
We offer a variety of grants and awards for student, faculty, and staff projects.
ISU Sustainability Fund
The ISU Sustainability Fund supports creative projects that contribute broadly across the university and support Illinois State's commitments and goals outlined in the Sustainability Strategic Plan.
We accept applications on a rolling basis through April 30, 2024 or until the funds are depleted.
Learn more about the ISU Sustainability Fund including selection criteria, logistics, and restrictions.
Environmental Stewardship Award
This award recognizes individuals, campus groups, or departments that are helping further the University's sustainability mission. Research projects, education programs, individual efforts, and innovative programs are all eligible for recognition.
Recipients receive a $500 grant that can be used toward future environmental initiatives at Illinois State University. They also get public recognition and a plaque at both the Founding Celebration and the annual Earth Day Breakfast.
Nominate a person or group on campus that is doing great work in sustainability. Applications are due November 15, 2024..
Complete an Environmental Stewardship Award Application
Past Stewardship Awards
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2023-24: Redbird Village Planning Team
As the largest zero-waste event in Illinois State University history, Redbird Village seamlessly integrated sustainability into a prominent university tradition. From reusable tablecloths to compostable tableware, the event showcased many sustainable practices, strong leadership and collaborative efforts from Alumni Engagement, Redbird Athletics, each academic college, and Event Management, Dining, and Hospitality. Redbird Village fostered awareness among alumni, faculty, staff, students, and community members, and serves as a blueprint for future university gatherings.
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2022-2023: Dr. Noha Shawki
Through teaching, research, and service, Dr. Noha Shawki has a longstanding commitment to sustainability at ISU. Since 2012, Dr. Shawki has been a co-director of the Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies minor, which has an environmental justice track. She has been a co-director of the Center for a Sustainable Water Future since 2018, and was most recently a member of the Task Force that drafted ISU’s first Sustainability Strategic Plan. Dr. Shawki integrates sustainability-related topics, such as climate change and human rights to water and food into each of her courses, and has designed independent study courses outside of her regular teaching load to provide unique global opportunities for students to learn about sustainability.
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2021-2022: Dr. Keith Pluymers
As a researcher, Dr. Pluymers’ keen focus on environmental and ecological issues has been demonstrated through numerous publications and scholarly presentations centered around historical and contemporary issues related to ecological sustainability from an antiracist and anticolonial standpoint.
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2020-2021: Jesse Smith
Biology graduate student Jesse Smith organized volunteers to restore the Sugar Creek Savanna. The space was abandoned in the 1990's and became overgrown with invasive species. Thanks to his efforts, native species have returned and the savanna is becoming a space everyone can enjoy for years to come.
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2019-2020: The Pass It On Team
School of Social Work professor emerita Mary Campbell was frustrated by how much was thrown away when students moved out each year. She and her class started Pass It On. Rather than heading to a landfill, items students no longer need get donated to local charities. Pass It On was continued through the partnership of CeCe Brookins in University Housing and David Sanford in ROTC. Pass It On remains in operation today through a partnership with University Housing, the Office of Sustainability and numerous groups across campus and within out community.
Thanks to this initiative and these individuals, thousands of items have been saved from the landfill.
Ask us anything. Send your grant questions to Sustainability@IllinoisState.edu.