Carlie LaughlinThe Sustainability Showcase is a celebration of the incredible sustainability work happening across campus – from research and student initiatives to operations and community engagement. Its awards recognize the passionate students, faculty, staff, and community members who are helping to shape a more sustainable future at UK.
Students from all majors had the opportunity to submit their sustainability-focused research to the annual Sustainability Research Poster Competition, hosted by the Office for Undergraduate Research. Six winners were announced at the Showcase:
1st Place: Katelyn Straw
2nd Place: Nikhil Kumar
People’s Choice: Katherine Neglia
1st Place: Rosbelly Rios
2nd Place: Odianosen Ewah
People’s Choice: Seth Thompson
The Sustainability Champion Awards, now in its fourth year, celebrates UK community members who have made significant contributions to sustainability at the University of Kentucky in recent years. Recipients of the 2025 Sustainability Champion Awards are:
- Ashton Potter, Executive Director of The Food Connection
- Kenton Sena, Senior Lecturer in the Lewis Honors College
- Ryan Lark, Zero Waste Specialist
- Lauren Cagle, Associate Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies, and Director of the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment
- William Varney III, Bike Shop Manager
Nomination statements are available on UK Sustainability’s website.
The Yanarella Levine Legacy Award, named for retired political science professor Ernie Yanarella, and retired College of Design faculty member Richard Levine—both pioneers and life-long champions and scholars of sustainability—is intended to recognize members of the UK Community who have contributed a tremendous body of work supporting a legacy of sustainability at the University of Kentucky and beyond.
The 2025 award was presented to Ibrahim Jawahir, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and director of the Insitute of Sustainable Manufacturing in the College of Engineering. “For more than three decades at the University of Kentucky, Professor I. S. Jawahir has built a far-reaching legacy in sustainable manufacturing—one that advances UK’s mission on campus and resonates across academia and industry worldwide,” wrote Jawahir’s nominator Fazleena Badurdeen, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. “As James F. Hardymon Chair in Manufacturing Systems and Founding Director of UK’s Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing (ISM), he has transformed sustainability from aspiration into strength: a research, education, and outreach engine that develops solutions, prepares the workforce, and convenes global partners around responsible production.”
The Sustainability Challenge Grant program is designed to engage multidisciplinary teams from the university community in the creation and implementation of ideas that will promote sustainability on campus and in the local community. Five teams of University of Kentucky faculty and staff were selected to receive Sustainability Challenge Grants totaling more than $150,000.
- Digital Stormwater Learning Lab: An Innovative Framework for Stormwater Monitoring, Management, and Education
- James Shelley, Research Communications Specialist, Kentucky Water Research Institute
- Steve Evans, Associate Director, Kentucky Water Research Institute
- Lindell Ormsbee, Professor, Civil Engineering
- Lee Moser, Extension Associate Senior, UK-Cooperative Extension Service
- Sahar Alameh, Assistant Professor, Department of STEM Education
- Diana Byrne, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
- Kevin Lewis, Water Quality Compliance Manager, Environmental Quality Management
- Kenton Sena, Senior Lecturer, Lewis Honors College
- Tracey Miller, Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture
- Alan Fryar, Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Tiffany Messer, Associate Professor, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
- Healthy Futures Through Heritage: Adaptive Reuse for Rural Kentucky Clinics
- Emily Bergeron, Associate Professor, Department of Historic Preservation
- Travis Rose, Senior Lecturer, Department of Historic Preservation
- Joe Brewer, Director of Technology and Facilities, College of Design
- Lindsey Fay, Associate Professor, School of Interiors
- Living Materials, Moving Spaces
- Hannah Dewhirst, Assistant Professor, School of Interiors
- Ingrid Schmidt, Assistant Professor, School of Interiors
- Jordan Hines, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture
- Susie Thiel, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance
- Laura Neese, Lecturer, Department of Theatre and Dance
- Jeremiah Kearns, Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre and Dance
- SOS (Save Our Seeds): An Appalachian Heritage Seed Project
- Cindy Finneseth, Assistant Professor, Department of Horticulture
- Shawn Wright, Extension Associate Senior, Department of Horticulture
- Kenton Sena, Senior Lecturer, Lewis Honors College
- Rebekah Radtke, Associate Professor, School of Interiors
- Matt Strandmark, Education Archivist & Appalachian Studies Academic Liaison, UK Libraries
- Ugly Produce Project: A Living Lab to Reduce Food Waste and Advance Sustainability Education
- Yeonjung Kang, Assistant Professor, Department of Retailing and Tourism Management
- Muzhen Li, Assistant Professor, Department of Retailing and Tourism Management
- David Johnson, Assistant Professor, Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition
- Sara Maksi, Assistant Professor, Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition
- Helen Turner, Associate Professor and Director, School of Interiors
- Krista Jacobsen, Associate Professor, Department of Horticulture, Faculty Director, Sustainable Agriculture and Community Food Systems
The University of Kentucky awarded its inaugural Distinguished Partner Award to Coca-Cola. The award is intended to honor a partner from the private sector who has made significant contributions to the University’s sustainability efforts. Since 2017, as part of their pouring rights contract with the University, Coca-Cola has provided $25,000 annually in support of sustainability through their Student Influence Program. Projects that have received support through this partnership include:
- Installation of 10 solar umbrellas across campus
- Design and construction of a pocket park
- Provision of thousands of recycling kits to fans tailgating at Kroger Field
- Establishment of the Campus Woods Urban Sawmill project
The annual Sustainability Showcase is presented by the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment, the Office of Sustainability, and the Office of Undergraduate Research.
