Campus Resources

Campus Food Pantry provides free non-perishable foods and toiletry items to food-insecure members of the student body.

Campus Kitchens Projects is a student-run food recovery network that packages and distributes free, fresh meals from food recovered from on-campus dining facilities.

Community Garden is an educational and community resource where individuals can rent plots to grow food, ornamental plants or anything else. Community gardens are a key strategy for reducing food insecurity nationwide. Contact: Marley Halter

Donald E. Davis Arboretum: former pig farm that has been converted to a conservatory and showcase for native flora, including rare plants and trees. Multiple stormwater management features. Contact: L. Morgan Pendergrass.

Kreher Preserve and Nature Center

The Little Food Library provides students quick access to non-perishable foods in a convenient location (the parking deck entrance of RBD Library).

Old Rotation is one of the first experimental plots for crop rotation in the United States, under continuous (rotated) cultivation since 1896. Has been widely used for data on sustainable agriculture, soil and environmental quality and productivity. Contact: Audrey Gamble.

Parkerson Mill Creek is a creek that runs beneath much of the campus and has been “daylighted” and restored next to the Wellness Kitchen. Outdoor classroom, information on landscape transformation on Auburn’s campus, native plants, stormwater management. Contact: Ben Burmester.

Office of the University Architect: multiple features on campus dealing with sustainability and accessibility. Field trips are available on topics including energy, green infrastructure, water, stormwater management, LEED buildings and design, etc.

• Transportation, especially efforts to promote biking and walking on campus and to create green infrastructure that facilitates multi-use, environmentally friendly transportation. Contact: Ben Burmester.

Rural Studio is an off-campus sustainable and community-based design studio in Hale County, AL.

EW Shell Fisheries Center: speakers and field trips on fisheries management, aquaculture and aquatic sciences.

Alabama Cooperative Extension System: the principal outreach organization at Auburn. Multiple programs dealing with all facets of sustainability. Emphases include resources, food security and hunger, community and family programs, financial literacy, urban development and environmental stewardship.

AuburnServes: support and coordination for service-learning classes (see also Information resources). Contact: Joyce Thomas-Vinson

Auburn Students & Community for Change: local organization dealing with racial justice, particularly surrounding the Black Lives matter movement. Click “get involved” and enter your information to enquire about service learning opportunities, ongoing campaigns and projects and upcoming events.

Campus Dining: provides tours and speakers on food sourcing, waste management, food insecurity, sustainable supply chains and business operations, wellness and health on campus and more. Contact: Gwen Ward

Campus Environmental Health and Safety: Onsite tours are not generally available, but staff can provide outstanding information on the generation and management of environmental hazards on campus, particularly hazardous waste. Contact: Steve Nelson.

Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities: housed in “Pebble Hill,” a former plantation house owned by the university, programming focuses on issues of racial and social justice. Coordinates the Living Democracy program and the Auburn chapter of the Appalachian Teaching Project, among other outreach programs and colloquia. Contact: Mark Wilson

Center for Educational Outreach and Engagement: coordinates and designs service programs in local K-12 education. Contact: Venus Hewing

Office of Sustainability: deals with sustainable management, planning, programming, student groups and other day-to-day operations on campus. Contact: Mike Kensler.

Organizations listed on Office of Sustainability website

Auburn University Guide for Faculty Engagement (pdf)

AuburnServes: searchable database of community partners for service-learning opportunities. Includes tools and support to help you design, coordinate and register a service-learning class, or volunteer your students for upcoming service opportunities. Operated by the Student Engagement and Service Learning office in the Office of Public Service. Contact: Joyce Thomas-Vinson

Library databases and resources

Office of University Outreach maintains a directory of more than 140 community partners and campus engagement projects.

Campus Compact: sample syllabi and other resources for service learning.

College of Engineering guest lecturers on sustainability

Hunger Solutions Institute: outstanding resource on issues of food security, food deserts, health, human and community sustainability. Experts in forging “knowledge coalitions” between researchers, students and partners from the private and public sector. Contact: Alicia Powers

Office of Inclusion and Diversity: works on diversity, inclusion, recruitment and retention on Auburn’s campus. Contact: Garry Morgan

Greg Schmidt: library subject matter specialist for sustainability

Sustainability faculty directory: a searchable database of four hundred researchers at Auburn University who are engaged in sustainability-related work. Search by name, department, college or area of expertise (e.g. race, poverty, hunger, energy, etc.).

Scholars@Auburn: searchable database of more than two thousand Auburn researchers (use with caution, as the search function is not always accurate).

Alabama Cooperative Extension Services: more than seven hundred experts working across the state on issues of rural development, poverty, sustainable agriculture, watershed management and other topics. They lack a searchable database, but the website contains a vast trove of information. For assistance identifying subject-matter experts and programs, contact Director J. Mike Phillips.