Scholarships, Fellowships, Extension, Internships and Funding
Climate Momentum Seed Funds
The USC Office of Sustainability will provide one or more $5,000 internal seed funds geared toward driving climate action through the intersection of the Arts/Mass Communication/Storytelling and Behavioral Sciences.
EH Matters
EH MATTERS offers USC undergraduate students from under-represented groups a paid, two-year, three-semester per year internship to engage in environmental health sciences and community health disparities research.
Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) hosts the annual conference, and USC Office of Sustainability provides funding for students to attend.
President’s Sustainability Internship Program (PSIP)
PSIP is a paid internship that connects students with co-curricular learning opportunities and equips them to become advocates for sustainability at USC and beyond.
Presidential Sustainability Solutions Fellowship
The Presidential Sustainability Solutions Fellowship program plays a central role in USC’s Assignment: Earth framework.
Student Scholarships, Fellowships & Internships
Explore the variety of sustainability-related scholarships, fellowships, internships, and project funding for students across disciplines provided by USC and external grantors.
Sustainability Research and Extension Experience for Undergraduates
USC offers year-round training and research and development engagement in the science and practice of aquaculture and blue economy at the Algal Lab at the Port of Los Angeles.
Udall Undergraduate Scholarship
The Udall Foundation awards scholarships to sophomores and juniors for leadership, public service and commitment to Native American nations or to the environment.
Undergraduate Sustainability Grand Challenge Fellowship Program (USGCF)
The Center for Sustainability Solutions sponsors a fellowship for USC students to pursue multidisciplinary research on sustainability.
USC Viterbi Min Family Social Entrepreneurship Challenge
Inspired by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, teams of students meet with local organizations working on solutions to support vulnerable populations and compete for a $50K grand prize.
Research Center or Study
Annenberg Innovation Lab
We are a curious, creative and committed Think & Do Tank that practices innovation as a collaborative exploration involving artists, scientists, humanists and industry professionals.
Center for Sustainability Solutions
The Center for Sustainability Solutions develops policy, technological and behavioral solutions to the most pressing sustainability problems of the region and the world.
Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life
The Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life serves as a platform for collaborative research, graduate training, and public engagement on problems at the intersection of science, technology, and society.
Equity Research Institute (ERI)
ERI uses data analysis to power social change with an emphasis on the impacts of climate change, air pollution, and urban heat zones on communities of color.
Institute on Inequalities in Global Health
The Institute fosters inclusive approaches to sustainability that engage a range of disciplines, including medicine, public health, law, social science, human rights, sustainability, economics, policy, communications and social work.
Landscape Justice Initiative
The Landscape Justice Initiative (LJI) provides a chance for students to participate in service-learning and long-term projects that depend on sustained engagement with local and regional communities.
Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute
The Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute is at the forefront of carbon dioxide capture and conversion technologies. The Institute is also active in energy storage technologies.
Norman Lear Center
The Center’s Media Impact Project conducts research on the content, audiences, and impact of media narratives to inform and inspire storylines on health, sustainability and social justice.
Office of Research
USC offers faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and research administrators a wide range of internal and external funding sources for sustainability research, guides through the proposal and award lifecycle, grants management tools.
Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (SCEHSC)
SCEHSC develops the scientific knowledge base, investigator teams, and community engagement needed to reduce diseases and disability caused by environmental impacts.
USC Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication
USC Annenberg’s Center for Climate Journalism and Communication trains journalists, professionals and students to tackle climate change stories with expertise from the school’s renowned journalism and communication faculty.
University of Southern California Sea Grant
The Sea Grant Program at the University of Southern California is a federal-state-university partnership that integrates research, education, and outreach with a specific focus on the ‘Urban Ocean’ and solving issues arising out of managing people and natural resources in an intensely urban and developed coastline.
Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies
The Wrigley Institute offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, research opportunities, and signature events to train the next generation of environmental leaders.
School or Program
Chan Division of Occupational Science & Therapy
Chan faculty and students coordinate the USC Peace Garden Project, transforming a little-used plot of land into a flourishing garden space to host educational programs for the community.
Department of Middle East Studies
The department focuses on the role of the environment on social change in the Middle East. Faculty and students have a distinctive framework through which they explore more traditional topics such as politics, ethnicity and religion.
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Faculty and students in the USC Dornsife Department of Physics are making sustainability breakthroughs in biological charge transfer and biological fuel cells, water quality and safety, and generating electricity from waste.
Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences
Dornsife is the home to many of USC’s environmental degree programs, academic studies, research institutes, and student and faculty-led projects on sustainability, climate change, and green living.
Dornsife Office of Overseas Studies
Students participate in virtual summer internships that focus on UN Sustainable Development Goals, and can also spend a semester abroad focused on environmental sustainability in Australia, Ecuador (Galapagos Islands), or Tanzania.
Environmental Studies Program
The Environmental Studies Program at USC Dornsife offers majors, minors, and masters programs in environment and sustainability with the goal of educating the next generation of leaders.
Keck School of Medicine
Keck School of Medicine of USC is conducting vital research on the impacts of environmental change to health in our local community and across the globe. The Keck School is working on solutions to make the health care industry more sustainable.
LA Green Business Program
Businesses enroll in this free program to save money on utilities and be part of the solution to the climate crisis. Businesses are given access to free consulting, referrals to City rebate programs, networking opportunities, and marketing perks.
Marshall School of Business
Marshall offers a Certificate in Sustainability in Business that prepares students to shape solutions to social and environmental sustainability challenges.
School of Architecture
The School of Architecture’s degree and certification programs, innovation labs, and environmental justice initiatives are at the forefront of research and education on sustainability and the built environment.
School of Cinematic Arts
Programs and media labs instruct filmmaking through a sustainability lens. The Green Film School helps develop environment-related productions and administers the “Green Seal” approval of student films.
Sol Price School of Public Policy
Through path-breaking research and scholarship, and a Certificate in Sustainable Policy and Planning, faculty and students help improve the quality of life for our global community.
Viterbi School of Engineering
Viterbi’s green technologies programs, research institutes, and faculty/student projects are designing innovative products and systems to promote environmental sustainability in the global community.
USC Operations or Department
Athletics
The USC Athletics Department is committed to sustainability in sports venues and operations and has joined the U.N. Sports for Climate Action initiative to raise awareness of climate change.
Auxiliary Services
Auxiliary Services manages a wide range for services — from dinning to housing to bookstores to transportation — and maintains a overall sustainability mission and practice in delivering services to the USC community.
Bookstore
The USC Bookstore has a goal to implement green infrastructure and operations. We focus on waste diversion/aversion, water/energy conservation and “Scope 3” (indirect carbon emissions) supply chain assessment.
Business Services / Sustainable Purchasing
USC Business Services supports sustainability by buying green products and services, applying best environmental practices in procurement, and using a green certification process for purchases.
Facilities Planning and Management
Facilities Planning and Management (FPM) is responsible for USC’s built environment, including the design of new buildings, managing facilities and grounds, and water and energy usage reduction.
Hospitality
USC Hospitality meets the needs of the campus without compromising the environment. We reduce our impact by eliminating excess waste, purchasing sustainable products and educating our customers.
Hotel
The USC Hotel is Green Seal certified with a silver ranking (recognizing our environmental sustainability). We focus on waste management, energy/water conservation and plastic reduction/elimination.
Housing
We are committed to the needs of our residents, while preserving the environment in everything we do. We focus on upgrading energy systems, improving water and waste management, recycling and purchasing.
Human Resource Equity and Compliance
HREC participates in sustainability efforts, including recycling, transitioning to digital systems, and implementing a standard equipment turnover and e-waste program.
LA Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ranks as one of the most sustainable sports venues in the country. For a stadium with a capacity of more than 75,000, that’s no small feat. Trojan fans cheer for victories in a Zero Waste facility.
Transportation
USC Transportation’s sustainability initiatives include campus electrification of the bus fleet and campus vehicles. We also support alternate modes of transportation to campus.
Student Organizations
American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists
AAEES is a professional organization for students that brings professional resources and opportunities to USC students and fosters community between environmental engineers and scientists.
American Lung Association Collegiate Council (ALA)
ALACC strives to improve two core aspects within our community: health and the environment. Members of ALACC take on exciting projects from tobacco control to making change with government legislators.
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
The ASCE Chapter at USC is a student-run organization that enriches the lives of civil and environmental engineering students through events, community service, industry interaction and competitions.
Bloom Boutique
Bloom Boutique is a funky, thrifty resale boutique run by USC students united by love for fashion and the planet, born out of a desire to bring sustainable fashion to our community and cut down on waste caused by the fast fashion industry.
Associated Students of Planning and Development (ASPD)
ASPD is dedicated to promoting academic and professional development, fostering social relationships among planning students and advancing social equity in the planning profession.
Annenberg Media Earth Desk
The Annenberg Media Earth Desk is a student-led multiplatform news media focused on climate and sustainability. Get the latest updates delivered to your inbox! Sign up for the newsletter.
Blueprints for Pangea
Blueprints For Pangaea is a student-run nonprofit organization that reallocates excess, unused medical supplies from U.S. hospitals to areas of need both locally and overseas.
China Entrepreneur Network (CEN at USC)
CEN at USC aims to develop leadership, facilitate innovation and encourage entrepreneurship for a better, environmentally sustainable future.
CLOVER
CLOVER (Conscientious Living Organization – Veganism, Environmentalism, Reduce-tarianism) has a goal to lessen our negative impact on the Earth, animals, and our own health.
DivestSC
DivestSC is a coalition of students, alumni, faculty and staff that seeks to reduce USC’s ties to the fossil fuel industry. We believe that USC must become a leader in helping shift to a carbon-neutral economy.
ECO JEDIS
ECO JEDIS (Environmental Community Organization for Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Sustainability) focuses on local environmental and social justice issues.
Contact: Tonalli Gallegos-Solorzano
Energy & Environmental Law Society
EELS brings together students interested in environmental and energy law, green energy policies and social justice. We explore real estate, land use, water and construction law.
Contact: Brandon Kerns
Environmental Justice Student Interest Group
We raise awareness about the link between non-sustainable systems and their inequitable public health impact and partner with our local community.
Contact: environmentaljustice.keck@gmail.com
Environmental Student Assembly
ESA encourages and facilitates the academic, pre-professional, cultural, social and political self-realization of USC’s environmental student groups. ESA advances and develops the campus green culture.
Food Recovery Network (FRN)
Food Recovery Network unites college and university students in fighting food waste and hunger by recovering and redistributing surplus perishable food from their campuses and surrounding communities.
Graduate Student Government – Sustainability Committee
The Sustainability Committee allows students a more direct medium for voicing sustainability-related concerns at USC.
Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
ITE is a group of student engineers, planners, and thinkers who work with industry experts to reimagine the streetscape and engage in a dialogue with other ITE teams all over the country.
Los Angeles Community Impact (LACI)
LACI strives to provide pro-bono consulting services to local socially-minded organizations in order to enhance their ability to create a sustainable, tangible impact.
Marshall Energy Club (MEC)
The Marshall Energy & Sustainability Club (MESC) is a professional club focused on business roles in energy, clean-tech, and sustainability.
Contact: mba.merc.club@marshall.usc.edu
Marshall Outdoor Club
The Marshall Outdoor Club serves as a catalyst to get MBA students active in the environment, educate them on outdoor skills and etiquette, and connect them with other students outside of the urban setting.
MASH Magazine
The MASH Magazine is a fashion publication that dissects fashion through the lens of market performance, sustainability, ethics, and design, covering large companies as well as small and local businesses and designers.
Nemirovsky & Bohnett Residential Colleges
Students seek innovative solutions for a broad range of social issues such as homelessness, gun violence, diversity & inclusion, college access, and sustainability.
Contact: resed@usc.edu
Ostrow Sustainability Group
OSG raises environmental and sustainability awareness among the School of Dentistry and USC community. OSG creates opportunities for personal, academic, and professional development.
Contact: Natalie Black
Peaks and Professors
We are an organization dedicated to bringing USC students and professors together in the great outdoors. Join us on a wide variety of hikes and you’ll get to meet students and professors from all over USC’s departments with nature as the backdrop.
SC Garden Club / Parkside Garden
The SC Garden Club manages the Parkside Garden, a community garden featuring raised beds, aquaponics and composting facilities that is always accepting kitchen scraps. We are open for visitors and welcome volunteers.
SC Outfitters
SC Outfitters is a student-run outdoor adventure organization. Our mission is to foster a diverse and inclusive outdoor community while connecting as many students as possible with the wilderness of Southern California, the West and beyond.
SC Solar Car Team
The SC Solar Car Team was founded in 2014. Our team’s goal is to design, build, fund, and race a full-size solar-powered vehicle in the Formula Sun Grand Prix and American Solar Challenge races.
Science Policy Group
The Science Policy Group examines how policy affects science, how science can be translated into policy, and how to improve your own science communication skills. Everyone from any discipline is welcome. We host seminars, workshops and events.
Society for Earth Science Students/Sigma Gamma Epsilon
The Society for Earth Science Students builds community in and out of the earth science department for people passionate understanding and taking care of our natural environment.
Contact: usc.sess@gmail.com
Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
A subcommittee of the USC Presidential Working Group on Sustainability (PWG), the SCC provides recommendations on how USC can become a model for sustainability in its education, research, and campus operations.
Students for Environmental Action (SEA)
SEA is a student-led organization geared towards advocating for environmental change and encouraging everyone to engage in sustainable practices.
Surfrider Foundation – USC Chapter
The Surfrider Foundation is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and appreciation of the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches through a powerful activist network.
The Sustainability Project
The Sustainability Project educates others on the importance of sustainability in business, advocates for greener policies and projects in our community and connects people who are passionate about the cause.
Undergraduate Student Government
The USG Sustainability Committee serves as the liaison between the administration and students, and ensures students are aware of important sustainability changes and available resources.
USC Global Policy Institute
USC GPI is a student-run think tank and community education institute dedicated to the study of foreign affairs. We bring together faculty, students, policymakers and intellectuals to discuss pressing global and climate change issues.
University-wide Initiative or Program
Arts & Climate Collective
The Arts & Climate Collective (ACC) centers arts, culture and storytelling to address sustainability and environmental justice. The ACC supports USC students’ work and engagement with funding, guidance, communications and community support.
Academic Senate
The Academic Senate’s Committee on Sustainability researches and advocates ways that USC can make all of its policies and operations more consistent with environmental sustainability on a university-wide and school-by-school level.
Dornsife Public Exchange
Public Exchange connects a wide range of academic researchers with policy, industry and non-profit partners that need their expertise to tackle complex challenges and amplify the social impact of academic research.
Eco-Alarm: A USC Podcast
USC students with a passion for our planet interview environmental change makers and share stories of environmental progress and success to sound the alarm for practical change.
MASTS (Media As SocioTechnical Systems)
MASTS is an interdisciplinary community that aims to rigorously and playfully build better media infrastructures, strengthen public life, advance social justice and address the worsening climate crisis.
Presidential Working Group on Sustainability in Education, Research, and Operations (PWG)
The PWG provides recommendations on how USC can become a model for sustainability in its education, research and campus operations.
Skill Up
Skill Up by USC Online is an online, lifelong-learning platform offering short professional advancement courses designed to address career skills gaps in informal learning alongside a community of peers.
Sustainability Across the Curriculum Initiative
The Sustainability Across the Curriculum Initiative (SACI) supports the development of new courses, programs, and curricular approaches that focus on sustainability through grants, producing symposia, and providing resources.
Trojan Family Magazine
USC Trojan Family Magazine is the official publication for alumni, parents and friends of USC. We share stories about the faculty, staff, student, and alumni efforts to advance sustainability and innovative solutions.
USC Center for Work and WorkWell Center
Center for Work and Family Life is the hub for Faculty and Staff work/life wellness and resources that empower employees to be engaged, productive and happy.
USC Communities
USC is committed to spreading sustainability solutions to the community surrounding our Los Angeles campuses through civic engagement projects and the Good Neighbors grants program.
USC Online
USC is committed to providing greater access to cutting-edge technology and a 21st century approach to learning. USC Online offers graduate degrees, certificates, seminars and upskilling.
USC Staff Assembly
Staff Assembly exists to promote the growth and welfare of staff employees. We research and provide recommendations on any and all matters related to staff work environment, benefits and policies.
USC Urban Trees Initiative
The USC Urban Trees Initiative partners USC experts and students with the City of Los Angeles to guide the growth of an urban forest of shade trees that benefit the health and quality of life for local communities.
USC Well-being Collective
The USC Well-being Collective harnesses the power of Collective Impact to strengthen a campus culture of well-being. We bring together departments, administrative units, student organizations and non-profits to work towards a common agenda.
Event
Career Fairs
We encourage our students and employers to bring their own refillable bottles. In place of trash bins, there are “Zero-Waste Sort Stations” to recycle or compost.
Climate Forward Conference
The Wrigley Institute and Dornsife Center for the Political Future host a series of conversations on climate change issues.
Earth Week
Join fellow Trojans as we celebrate the Earth and take part in sustainability activities and events.
Green Games & Tailgating
Come cheer on the Trojans and help USC achieve our goal by properly sorting your game-day waste into the compost and recycle bins. Try to limit your use of single-use items and re-use items where possible.
Green Week
Green Week empowers you to engage in sustainability-focused projects and activities across the campuses to expand your knowledge and make connections.
Trojan Farmers Market
The Trojan Farmers Market is an open-air marketplace that brings fresh, locally sourced produce every Wednesday to McCarthy Quad, 11 am to 3 pm. EBT is accepted.