The Sustainability Solutions Lab (SSL) aims to provide students with an experience of professional development while working on sustainability-oriented projects throughout the Middlebury College campus and greater Middlebury community!

The 12 students in the SSL Summer 2023 cohort smiling in front of the green mountains
(Credit: JT Titmus )

What is the SSL?

The Sustainability Solutions Lab was founded in January 2017 and has connected over 142 paid student interns of varied backgrounds and majors with more than 40 environmental initiatives and projects around the Middlebury campus. Students collaborate with faculty and staff through the school year and summer to plan and implement innovative solutions to challenges affecting our institution’s sustainability commitment. 

Interested in a paid internship with the SSL? Applications for our summer internships are now open! Apply here.

Keep an eye on the Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest newsletter/Instagram or contact Tara Federoff, Sustainability Specialist at tfederoff@middlebury.edu for more information! 

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Our Projects

SSL interns have been instrumental in creating and evolving initiatives like Energy2028, Global Partnerships for Sustainability, and many others. Here is a list of past projects:

2023 Fall

  • Communications
  • Sustainability Abroad & Global Partnerships for Sustainability 
  • The Living Buildings Challenge
  • EcoReps Program Development
  • Food Waste Awareness & Minimization

2023 Summer

  • Communications
  • Sustainability Abroad
  • The Living Buildings Challenge
  • Knoll Collaborations
  • Food Preservations
  • Avian & Lepidoptera Survey
  • Campus Tree Map
  • Vermont Climate Observatory
  • Consumption & Waste Management
Read our 2023 Summer Review

2022 Summer and Fall

Read our 2022 Summer Newsletter

2022 Spring

  • Communications: Weekly posts and FAQs.
  • Sustainability Abroad: Schools Abroad surveys, website re-do, pre-departure materials.
  • Energy2028+Admissions: Case study for Admissions.

 

2021 Fall

2021 Summer

2021 Spring

2021 J-Term

  • Waste Team

2020 Fall

2020 Summer

2020 Spring

2020 J-Term

2019 Fall

2019 Summer

2019 Spring

2018 Fall

  • Waste Team: Repair Cafe, posters.
  • Transportation: MiddKidd Challenge outreach, ACTR outreach.
  • Energy 2026: Posters for proper dorm-room heating, feedback on the townhouse energy project.

2018 Summer

2018 Spring

2018 J-Term

Members of the SSL summer 23 cohort take a tour of Miller Hill Farm
Members of the SSL Summer 2023 cohort take a tour of Miller Hill Farm, learning about biodiversity and native Vermont flora from former dean Nan Jenks-Jay. (Credit: Sophia Calvi )