Faces of Sustainability

Martin “Marty” Werts
Physical Plant Division - Grounds Superintendent, Organic Citrus Vendor

Martin “Marty” Werts has been a dedicated employee to the University of Florida for the past 30 years, incorporating sustainability into his every day routine as naturally as waking up in the morning.

On campus, Werts supervises our Grounds Division, working hard to maintain the beauty and ecological integrity of campus. Marty oversees campus landscaping, ensuring that native and low-impact plants are used to reduce resource and chemical use - helping to curtail associated impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity on campus. Thanks to Marty campus-goers can now also see vegetation and foliage that attract butterflies, as well as edibles, scattered across the landscape.

Marty’s commitment doesn’t stop when the work week does. His dedication to protect our grounds and keep campus clean is evident even on home football Saturdays.

“Marty is a tremendous asset to the game day recycling program. He wholeheartedly supports it week after week, and actively seeks opportunities to best serve the initiative’s needs,” says Jordan Weinstein, intern program coordinator for the Office of Sustainability’s TailGator Game Day Recycling Program. “He is an essential component, and a fierce ally that we are lucky to have at our disposal.”

In addition to these efforts, Werts has also been an organic citrus farmer for the past 5 years. His oranges, grapefruits and other fruits can be found in campus dining halls, a part of the sustainability legacy taking shape here on campus that UF students, staff and faculty can experience.

Not only does he utilize more environmentally friendly methods to grow his products, but his Melrose-located farm means these fruits help reduce shipping related emissions (only a 22 mile footprint) and keep dollars within the local economy. His produce can also be found at Fresh Market in Gainesville.

Student Agricultural Gardens reopen at UF; plots now available

The Student Agricultural Gardens on Museum Road at the University of Florida are back in operation after nearby construction disrupted normal activities. After nearly a year of renovation efforts, a revitalized area is now open for a new generation of exploratory gardeners.

The UF Agronomy and Soils Club manages the gardens and provides information to new gardeners. Garden plots are available in two sizes on a yearly basis: 26 by 21 feet for $35; and 13 by 21 feet for $20.

For more than 30 years, the gardens have provided students, faculty and staff with space in which to pursue and experiment with food production, gardening and sustainability.

“Agriculture is yet another area where each of us can reconnect with something so essential, yet often underappreciated in our culture,” said Anna Prizzia, director of the Office of Sustainability. “With something as intimate as food, the gardens provide a hands-on opportunity for people to explore the origin of what they are eating and recognize the importance of self-sufficiency and being an informed consumer.”

The communal nature of the gardens also provides fulfillment to gardeners of all experience levels.

“There is nothing quite like hands-on experience, especially with something like agriculture,” said student intern Zach Tucker. “The gardens allow people to see a wide variety of crops and methods for growing those crops in a small area, and to connect with each on something so elemental.”

Plots are rented for a period of one year on a first-come first-served basis. It is garden policy that no synthetic pesticides or herbicides be used, and organic practices are preferred. Winter crops are getting under way, so sign up is recommended now.

For information on how to obtain a plot, contact Zach Tucker at tucker@ufl.edu.

Source: University of Florida News

Faces of Sustainability - Facilities, Planning and Construction

When it comes to the long-term vision for the physical space of the University of Florida, Linda Dixon, Assistant Director in Facilities, Planning and Construction, plays an enormous part in incorporating sustainability into each step of the planning process. The UF Campus Master Plan puts sustainable practices at the forefront of planning and managing the campus’ built and natural environments including buildings, transportation, utilities, and environmental protection. The current plan was adopted in 2005 following extensive input from faculty, staff, students and the community. An update for 2010 is underway, but most of the overhaul to incorporate sustainability was included in the 2005 plan according to Dixon. “The plan is based on a land use pattern that seeks to make it easy to walk, bicycle and use transit while protecting the significant habitats and open spaces that we have on campus.”

The plan’s transportation policies are very progressive, and Ms. Dixon works with many stakeholders including UF’s Transportation & Parking Services, Office of Sustainability, Physical Plant Division, and Gainesville Regional Transit System to make those policies a reality. She advocates for funding to construct new bicycle and pedestrian facilities, such as the new bike paths through Bartram-Carr Woods and near the Cancer-Genetics building. She also serves on the Parking and Transportation Committee, and facilitates an ad-hoc Sustainable Transportation Work Group that meets regularly to improve conditions such as bicycle parking, carpooling, bicycle safety, and employee transportation options. She herself enjoys using the FPC department bike to get around campus.

On environmental issues, Ms. Dixon relies heavily on the Lakes, Vegetation and Landscaping Committee as well as Erik Lewis, Senior Planner in Facilities Planning and Construction. Mr. Lewis maintains Conservation Area Land Management (CALM) Plans that prescribe environmental protection measures to be taken in natural areas on campus. Many of these recommendations were recently implemented with student funding from the Capital Improvement Trust Fund and grants from the Department of Environmental Protection.

To round out sustainable measures, Ms. Dixon also devotes significant time to issues such as energy efficient lighting, green building, and historic preservation, but adds that all of these efforts rely on a network of students, faculty and staff that are knowledgeable and willing to learn and contribute – all of which are in abundant supply at UF! Campus Master Plan and CALM Plans can be viewed at University of Florida FP&C Campus Planning .

NASA awards University of Florida $870,000 grant to study land use cover change

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers have received an $870,000 grant to study how to better adapt to climate change.

The NASA Land Use Land Cover Change Program grant will fund an interdisciplinary project that will analyze relationships among climate variability, climate change, land use and land cover change. Using remote sensing applications and socio-economic surveys, the project aims to create models that could enhance planning for sustainable resource use and help the people in these areas adapt to climate change.

“We hope the grant allows us to better understand the social-ecological systems response to climate variability and so to allow us to develop understanding for future climate scenarios,” said geography professor Jane Southworth, the principal investigator. “Ideally, it will allow for better adaptation strategies for local communities under changing environmental conditions.”

The grant will support graduate students and allow the project to conduct summer fieldwork in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.

To better illustrate the human suffering in this area, six doctoral students created a video documentary called “Living With Thirst,” which looked at the Vende people in the Limpopo Province of South Africa and their troubles related to climate variability. The video was funded by an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship grant, pertaining to Adaptive Management, Water, Wetlands and Watersheds.

“We hope this video provides an introduction to the uncertainty and trade-offs faced in a region with high variability in rainfall,” said Andrea Gaughan, one of the students who worked on the video, “and how that will affect conservation initiatives balanced with sustainable livelihood decisions toward water allocation/resources.”

Video

Living with Thirst Part One
Living with Thirst Part Two

Author: Aubrey Siegel, University Relations