Some examples of Sustainability Grant Award winners in past competitions:
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2023 Winner:
UA Little Rock Professor Builds Trash Boom to Keep Coleman Creek Clean with Sustainability Grant
Rain water pushes debris from streets, lots, and backyards into Coleman Creek, a tributary of Fourche Creek. This trash and debris can end up in parks, wetlands, forests, and eventually the Arkansas River. A trash boom can help stop the spread of trash and debris by catching and holding debris, branches, leaves, and other trash materials. Volunteers clear out what’s collected once a month and after heavy rains.
Garden Sensor Network
A team proposed to design and install a wireless Internet of Things (IoT) based environmental monitoring system at the UA Little Rock Campus Garden for sustainable water and soil management. Their proposed system aimed to demonstrate how low-cost, eco-friendly technologies could advance climate-smart agriculture. They explained that once implemented, the system would enable the creation of learning modules and laboratory activities for courses in Biology, Earth Sciences, and Information Sciences, as well as for community education workshops through UALR Extended Education.
Art in the Garden
Art in the Garden was a series of workshops proposed for a future spring semester that would bring UALR students into the Campus Garden to learn art and craft activities utilizing the garden as a learning resource. The workshops were to be taught by instructors from UALR and a neighboring college. The proposal outlined workshops on Botanical Inclusion Papermaking, Shibori Dyeing, and Mindful Sketching with Botanical Inks. This proposal built on an earlier Sustainability Grant Project, utilizing the Pigment Garden (built with a previous Sustainability Grant) as an artistic resource. The team sought funds for workshop materials, while noting that the UALR School of Art and Design would provide matching funds for visiting artist honoraria.
Bowen Law School Pollinator Garden
A group of UA Little Rock Bowen School of Law students (members of the Law School Environmental Law Society), faculty, and staff partnered with Arkansas master naturalists for a proposed project. The collaborative group sought funds to replace Bermuda grass lawn and plant both a pollinator garden and a “soft landing space” on the east side of the Law School, adjacent to MacArthur Park in downtown Little Rock. They requested funds for plants, hardscaping (benches, an arbor, and paths), and educational signage to create this environmental and educational space.
