Breakout Sessions on Sustainability Education

March 24th, 2025
2-3:30 pm
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship

The following breakout sessions will be offered at 2 pm to allow participants to delve more deeply into several relevant sustainability education topics. Choose which one you would like to attend by registering here.

Session 1: Working with the University-wide Environmental and Sustainability Studies Certificate Program (ESS)
Lead: Bob Marzec (ENGL)
Location: MRGN 206
Description: The ESS program was established by a multi-college team of expert faculty from the Colleges of Science, Engineering, Agriculture, Health and Human Sciences, and Liberal Arts in 2017. This session is devoted to engaging faculty to both become involved in teaching and expanding the ESS program, specifically in terms of leadership, team-teaching, graduate involvement, expansion of the advisory board, and inclusion of new faculty and new courses into the Plan of Study. The session will concentrate on expanding participation in the ESS program, in terms of broadening participation in the areas of: 1) team teaching the Keystone ESS course, 2) becoming an ESS advisor, 3) Building Interdisciplinary efforts among undergraduates, graduates, and faculty at Purdue. 

Session 2:  Building Sustainable Communities through Service-Learning and Community Engagement
Lead: Lindsey Payne (EEE)
Location: MRGN Café
Description: Explore ways to build sustainable communities through service-learning and community engagement. Tips and tricks will be shared for working with communities and local community partners/organizations as we strive for reciprocal benefits for both students and partners. Participants will leave with a plan for taking the next step to either enhancing an existing course or developing a new course. 

Session 3: From Vision to Reality: Faculty Partnership in the Online Environmental Science & Sustainability Master of Science
Leads: Carrie Berger (Purdue Online) and Holly Fiock Brown (Instructional Designer)
Location: MRGN 129
Description: Join Carrie Berger and Holly Brown for a quick introduction to Purdue University Online (PUO), to learn what it is like to work with PUO and teach an online course in Purdue's first pan-university program, the online Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence.  The bulk of the time will be spent discussing the draft curriculum for an online Master of Science in Environmental Science and Sustainability. The team looks forward to receiving feedback in order to move this vision to reality in partnership with faculty.

Session 4: Brainstorming for a Purdue Community of Practice in Sustainability Education
Lead: Lynne Dahmen
Location: MRGN 121
Description: Interested in developing a community of practice in sustainability teaching? In this short session we will build on what we've learned throughout the day and see how we might build a long-term vision of what our own COP might look like.

Session 5: 5 Easy Ways to Integrate Sustainability Education into Your Classroom
Lead: Lisa Bosman (Polytechnic)
Location: Virtual
Description: This webinar, Low-Hanging Fruit: 5 Easy Ways to Integrate Sustainability into Classrooms Across the University, will provide faculty with simple, high-impact strategies that require minimal class time. Attendees will explore how to use online discussions, critical reflections, data analytics, social media content creation, and generative AI to engage students in sustainability topics across disciplines. These practical approaches will help educators foster meaningful conversations, enhance digital literacy, and encourage real-world application of sustainability concepts—all while seamlessly fitting into existing course structures.