In addition to coalition-wide endeavors, YSEC has special focus Project Groups covering a wide range of issues shown below. These change over time and reflect the changing areas of local and global concern. If you have an idea for a new project group, we’d love to hear about it from you!
- EnviroAdvocates
- Environmental Education
- Food Action
- Project Bright
- Fossil Free Yale
- Y3PO
EnviroAdvocates
Environmental Advocates is the political advocacy arm of YSEC. Currently, its focus is on supporting green energy candidates in the upcoming elections, planning a campaign for divestment from fossil fuels in Yale’s endowment, and shutting down the Bridgeport coal plant (the last one in Connecticut). Past projects have included petitions and protests dealing with the Keystone XL pipeline, as well as researching and advocating for more sustainable travel in New Haven, state energy policy, and allocation of state and federal money for aggressive environmental projects.
To get involved, contact Hodiah Nemes.
Environmental Education
Environmental Education is a fun way for Yale students to help make tomorrow a greener, more environmentally conscious world. Through Environmental Education, Yale students teach students at local elementary schools about today’s environmental issues while incorporating broader scientific principles. Once every two weeks, student pairs go into fourth-grade classrooms to present an hour-long lesson plan. Topics covered include water and air pollution, waste, global warming, etc. Generally, lessons will cover the basics of one such topic and end with a fun project for the kids. Additionally, we hope to go on a field trip with the elementary school students this year to explore an environmental issue in a more hands-on way.
Anyone interested in participating as a teacher should contact Kathleen Wu or Justine Appel.
Food Action
Food Action seeks to move the Yale and New Haven community to advocate for better food. We believe that good food–that is, accessible, healthy, sustainably and responsibly produced food–is a vital component of healthy communities. We recognize the vast number of socioeconomic, political, and ethical issues that stem from poor food, and we believe that all food issues are important and interwoven. Food Action seeks out partnerships with other Yale (undergraduate or otherwise) and New Haven organizations to create meaningful projects that provide people with better food, educate communities about food issues, and call for food policy change.
To get involved, contact Connor Bell.
Here’s a Food Action Website
http://foodaction.commons.yale.edu/
Project Bright
This project group advocates the use of solar panels on Yale’s campus. They train students to install solar panels, as well a creating a dialogue with Yale about investing in solar power.
To learn more, contact Maddy Yozwiak.
Fossil Free Yale
YSEC proudly supports Fossil Free Yale, the divestment campaign at Yale University. Visit fossilfreeyale.org for more information and to sign the petition.
To get involved, contact Pat Reed or Kat Culhane.
Y3PO
The Yale Undergraduate 3D Printing Organization (Y3PO) is an engineering club dedicated to educating Yale students about 3D printing through 3D modeling and hands-on projects. We are currently working on several projects, including an open-source RepRap 3D printer, a 3D printed quadcopter, and a YSEC-funded 3D printer filament extruder that will be able to convert scrap plastic into usable 3D printer filament. We plan on collecting scrap plastic from the CEID and milk jugs from the dining hall and turning them into filament to be printed into useful and artistic objects, as well as parts that will be incorporated into our other club projects.
To get involved, contact Brandon Araki or Andrew Crouch.
