Student Organizations

ACWA at UCLA stands for Access Clean Water Anywhere, we bring together students passionate about environmental justice through clean water accessibility. The purpose of our club is to raise awareness about issues of unequal clean water access and advocate for it to the wider UCLA community.

Email: acwaucla@gmail.com

Website: http://acwaucla.wordpress.com/Instagram: acwa_ucla

The Backpacking Club at UCLA is dedicated to providing excursions in a multitude of outdoor disciplines. This organization seeks to connect like-minded students with interests in backpacking, hiking, rafting, mountain biking, canyoneering, paddle-boarding, among countless others. Furthermore, the organization provides educational programs in developing essential skills to safely and responsibly explore the outdoors. We’re all about getting people outside and enjoying the great ol’ outdoors.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uclabackpacking/

Slack: bit.ly/backpacking-slack

Be Green Bruins are passionate about sustainable agriculture, food culture, and the environment. We provide Bruins who want to be green the opportunity to volunteer at sustainable community gardens and farms. We are also working on building a community garden on our own. In addition, we create posts related to those topics on Instagram to spread awareness.

Email: begreenbruin@g.ucla.edu

The Bruin Birding Club are passionate about birds, birding, ornithology, and conservation. Undergraduates, graduate students, postdocts, faculty and other staff are all welcome. Our aim is to spread knowledge and appreciation of birds across UCLA, serve as a nexus for bird lovers across campus, and do our small part to make UCLA a more habitable place for our feathered neighbors. We lead multiple field trips per quarter all around Los Angeles and Southern California for birders of all experience levels.

Email: bruinbirdingclub@gmail.com 

Instagram: @bruinbirding

Bruin Beekeepers seeks to promote awareness of the importance of bees to agriculture and the environment and to champion bee conservation. This is accomplished through community advocacy and taking care of live bees, native and honey, on and off the UCLA campus.

Email: bruinbeekeepers@g.ucla.edu

Instagram: @bruinbeekeepers

Bruin Shelter, Hunger Project, and Swipe Out Hunger created Bruin Dine to address food waste and food insecurity at UCLA. The student organizations began discussing Bruin Dine in Fall Quarter of 2017, and since then have worked with UCLA Dining and Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) to safely run the program. Bruin Dine aims to bridge the gap between food waste and food insecurity by recovering food from UCLA’s dining halls and serving it to students in need.

Contact: BruinDine@gmail.com 

Instagram , Linkedin

Founded in 2016, Bruin Home Solutions is a group of student engineers, scientists, designers, and entrepreneurs collaborating to build a better tomorrow. Our mission is to spearhead the movement toward a greener future at UCLA by engaging motivated students in a number of multifaceted sustainability initiatives and to create lasting quantifiable change. What this translates into is our 124 members working to train fellow students in technical skills & professional certifications, auditing UCLA buildings to improve energy & water efficiency, competing in international engineering design competitions, conducting research on hydroponic & aquaponic sustainable technologies, hosting networking nights, and developing new products. At Bruin Home Solutions, we are in the business of driving student ideas to action and making a positive and measurable impact on the UCLA community.

Email: bruinhomesolutions@gmail.com
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Bruin Supermileage is a student-run project that designs, builds, and races highly energy-efficient internal combustion engine and battery electric vehicles. We compete in the collegiate Shell Eco-Marathon Americas event each year against teams from throughout the Western Hemisphere. Through this experience, our team members learn real-world engineering and leadership skills while encouraging environmental sustainability. The nature of the project necessitates an interdisciplinary team composition, including mechanical, electrical, materials science, and computer science engineers, among others.

Email: smv@bruinracing.org 

Instagram , Youtube

CALPIRG is a statewide, student directed, public interest advocacy organization and is funded through student fees. Our organizers and advocates train students on how to run effective campaigns to solve some of society’s most urgent issues through policy. Our primary mission is to encourage student power and activism and to serve as a resource to all student organizations. Last year we had several significant accomplishments. We were the group that passed SB100, one of the strongest climate change laws in the country which committed the entire state of CA to 100% clean electricity by 2045. And in the 2018 election, CALPIRG students across the state registered 6,000 students to vote and contacted 500,000 students to get them to the polls. Read more about our accomplishments here: https://calpirgstudents.org/recent-victories/

If you are a part of or affiliated with a student group that would like to collaborate or seek assistance from CALPIRG, please email our organizer or chapter leadership directly! We are excited about the upcoming quarter, and encourage all interested students to apply for an internship. Join our chapter and you will gain skills and experience necessary to make a difference in the world, as well as meet an amazing group of intelligent, positive, and hardworking people. (We also have a LOT of fun doing it!!)

Email: kgonzalez-valle@calpirgstudents.org 

Website: https://calpirgstudents.org/chapters/ucla/

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In November 2013, President Janet Napolitano announced the Carbon Neutrality Initiative, which commits the entire University of California to emitting net zero greenhouse gases from its buildings and vehicle fleet by 2025, something no other major university system has done. The initiative builds on UC’s pioneering work on climate research and furthers its leadership on sustainable business practices. UC is improving its energy efficiency, developing new sources of renewable energy and enacting a range of related strategies to cut carbon emissions. The Carbon Neutrality Initiative engages UCLA students, faculty, and staff, raising awareness to the initiative, and promoting ways that the UCLA community can reduce its overall carbon footprint and the carbon footprint of each individual. Undergraduate and graduate Carbon Neutrality Initiative Fellows lead the projects and efforts of this organization.

The Congo Basin Institute (CBI) Club is a student-organized extension of CBI, a research center of higher learning and scientific excellence in Central Africa. CBI’s mission is to find integrative breakthrough solutions that conserve the environment and meet the vital needs of local communities. Members of this organization are UCLA undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and postdocs who are interested in working on environmental science and sustainability projects in Cameroon where the CBI headquarters resides. Such projects would include building scientific knowledge, conducting applied research, and working with indigenous populations. CBI Club’s mission is to create a cross-global network of student researchers interested in the intersection of sociological ecology and conservation biology in the Congo Basin.

Founded in Spring 2019, Design Create Solar is a non-profit technology oriented student organization that strives to bring UCLA students from different educational backgrounds together to brainstorm, design and ultimately produce a solar energy solution to energy-related issues within the UCLA community and underprivileged communities around the world. Design Create Solar has three main technical programs: IMPACT, @UCLA and COLLABORATE.

Our first program, the IMPACT program, aims at developing a solar energy solution to an energy related issue in an underprivileged community anywhere around the world. With a focus on taking applicable engineering and technical skills from the classroom into the real world, this program gives our members the ability to create innovative solar energy solutions to serve the global community. Our second program, the @UCLA program, is aimed at designing, manufacturing, assembling and analyzing a product that utilizes solar energy to provide a readily available source of energy for UCLA students, faculty and visitors for various applications. Our third program, the COLLABORATE program, aims at connecting Design Create Solar with other clubs on campus to work on projects that require the incorporation of solar technologies to achieve the best outcomes. The purpose of the COLLABORATE program is to further the interdisciplinary learning that Design Create Solar hopes to foster and to develop special connections with other student organizations within UCLA. Although we are a club that is based on engineering principles, our organization is a hub for UCLA students from all backgrounds. We are an eclectic group of students that use engineering, art, marketing, and business skills to shine light on the global energy and environmental crises and to get the public excited about solar energy as an effective solution.

Contact: designcreatesolar@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designcreatesolar/?hl=en

The student garden expanded in 2013 and registered as our own student organization (Dig: the Campus Garden Coalition at UCLA) with the Center for Student Programming to fortify the structure of the garden group while taking on new and different roles on campus (though our roots still run deep with our parent organization, E3: Ecology, Economy, Equity). The leadership council positions of Dig are open to both undergraduate and graduate or professional school students while visitors and volunteers of any kind are welcome in the gardens. The organization seeks a diverse membership comprised of students, staff, faculty, alumni, and other volunteers/visitors.

Email: digucla@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digucla/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digucla/

Clean Consulting’s mission is to empower companies to understand and act on their connections with the natural world. Our services’ objective is to evaluate companies’ current practices and encourage the use of most sustainable strategies. By making them aware of their corporate social responsibility and the growing presence of sustainability in the professional sphere, companies will be able to mitigate risk, improve their brand value, reduce cost by adopting more resource-efficient technologies, lead change and inspire others.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleanconsultingucla/

E3 is rooted in responsibility for the environment, human justice, and economic viability. Our mission: Uniting and Empowering UCLA’s community to take transformative action as a global leader based on our inherent cultural and ecological responsibilities.

In 2003, it was a group of students who initiated the Green Building and Clean Energy Policy with the UC Regents, and out of that success, the California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC) was born. Since that time, the CSSC has been working with UC Office of the President on further expansions of that policy. The CSSC at UCLA, now known as E3 for ecology-economy-equity, requested the creation of the Campus Sustainability Committee in 2004, and has continued to be a driving force for sustainability throughout the university.

Email: e3ucla@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e3ucla

The Ecological Restoration Association is a student service group working to restore degraded ecosystems in the community and learn about the significance of conservation biology and citizen science.

Email: eraatucla@gmail.com
Instagram

Coastalong is a 100% bike-powered, eco-friendly festival put on entirely by UCLA students. The aim of this event is to demonstrate methods of alternative energy and to provide a fun, entertaining venue to increase awareness about sustainability, clean energy, and the environment. At the festival, we feature delicious food, interactive activities such as yoga, painting, and flower crown making, as well as great music to enjoy the day.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoastalongFestival/

Email: coastalongfestival@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coastalong/

Engineers Without Borders partners with disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life through implementation of environmental and economically sustainable engineering projects, while developing internationally responsible engineering students. EWB-UCLA strives to uphold this vision; furthermore, they hope to encourage local community awareness of environmental/global issues through outreach and education programs.

The Environmentalists of Color Collective at UCLA aims to:
(1) Raise awareness about the contributions that people of color have made to the environmental justice movement,
(2) Reframe the definition and values of mainstream sustainability to be more inclusive of all marginalized and underrepresented communities, and
(3) Stimulate critical dialogue about environmental racism and justice issues at UCLA and beyond.

 Email: ecc.ucla@gmail.com

Instagram

Environmental Science Without Borders (ESWB) is founded on the premise that young and early-career scientists need both specific, content-oriented peer-mentoring and general advice relevant to advancing a career in the environmental sciences. This program encourages strong relationship building and peer-support, internationally, through partnerships with UCLA, Nelson Mandela University, The Congo Basin Institute and other universities. It is an opportunity for all participants through virtual and in-person platforms, to gain general advice, encourage one another, share resources, and collaborate across disciplines.

Email: eswb.ucla@gmail.com

Social Media: Facebook , Youtube

Environmental Student Network is a community of people who care about the environment.  We foster environmental stewardship through our mentorship program, professional development events, volunteering opportunities, and socials.  Our mentorship program connects underclassmen with upperclassmen to provide peer guidance and helps students get involved in the environmental community at UCLA.

Email: uclaesn@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uclaesn/?hl=en

Farmers’ Market at UCLA is a registered student organization that coordinates the biweekly farmers market in Bruin Plaza and designs educational events for all students! We bring many local Southern California farmers to campus, providing market-goers with fresh, sustainable, and delicious produce. We’ll also keep you updated with information about upcoming markets, fun recipes to try out, and local food news, so be sure to like our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/uclafarmersmarket/

GIVE at UCLA’s mission is to empower students to both understand what being a global citizen is as well as to encourage students to become global citizens through various volunteering activities in our community as well as group activities to promote our core values: sustainability, global awareness, as well as ethical and responsible volunteering.

Contact: givevolunteersatucla@gmail.com

Good Clothes Good People is a nonprofit organization that aims to provide FREE clothing, hygiene products, and school supplies to students and others in need. We were founded by undergraduates and high school students working to integrate artistry and service in Louisville, Kentucky, and have expanded to UCLA’s campus to serve the Los Angeles community. Since its opening, the UCLA Redistribution Center has served over 5,000 visitors and partnered with a variety of organizations to best aid students in need.

IUSSC is an enviro/sustainability think-tank at UCLA. Our aim is to provide unique and policy-driven solutions to some of Los Angeles’ greatest sustainability issues by intensely researching both LA and a select foreign megacity mirroring LA’s most important characteristics. We believe that studying the way other countries deal with the sustainability issues that affect us here at home will provide distinctive insights on how we can tackle them. After a year of research, we travel to that megacity to gain first-hand exposure, publish our results in academic journals, and record the whole process in documentaries.

 Email: iusscexec@gmail.com

LEED Lab is a hands-on building sustainability program where students assess the performance of existing facilities on campus and certify these buildings under LEED for Operations and Maintenance (LEED O+M). LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. Any building has the potential to achieve silver, gold, or platinum certification based on a variety of sustainability measures such as energy efficiency, water use, and waste reduction. This system is organized and supported by the US Green Building Council. LEED Lab is offered as both a 2-unit contract course and an extra-curricular activity open to all students.

Medical Aid Initiative (MAI) is a student-found organization, partnered with UCLA Health, that aims to reduce medical waste in the US, enhance healthcare access worldwide, and promote communal awareness of issues regarding medical waste and resource partitioning. As a student volunteer program, MAI collects excess, unused medical supplies from UCLA Health and coordinates their distribution to humanitarian organizations that utilize them to reach underprivileged communities outside of the US. MAI envisions improving healthcare in developing nations through redistribution of localized and unused resources, thereby reducing medical waste in the US.

Email: maiatucla@gmail.com

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Net Impact is a global nonprofit organization with thousands of professionals, graduates, and undergraduates who take on social challenges, protects the environment, and orient businesses toward the greater good. Our chapter is the leading gold status undergraduate chapter nationwide and we provide social impact consulting services. We work with non-profits, NGOs, social enterprises and for-profit companies to improve their performance and ensure a lasting impact. While working on consulting projects, our members discover sustainability careers, build relationships with local business leaders, and learn about the importance of social impact in business settings. Through workshops, case studies, and guest speakers, our members develop the skills that guide them as they provide consulting services for real companies.

Contact info: netimpactatucla@gmail.com

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ORCA provides opportunities for students interested in the marine world to dedicate themselves to actively promoting conversations on ocean conservation and justice, while providing access to resources for achieving career-related goals and policy progress.

Email: uclaoceanrca@gmail.com

Instagram

Project RISHI focuses on catalyzing sustainable development in India, by forming partnerships with rural communities in need. Students research and implement health-care and social policies in these regions that directly addresses the needs of these communities, emphasizing environmental sustainability, women’s empowerment, medicine and public health, and education.

 Email: ucla@projectrishi.org

Instagram

Renewable Energy Association at UCLA (REA) strives to cultivate an understanding of the importance of various forms of renewable energy and their effects on our environment, economy and society while encouraging our community’s clean energy development through technical projects, local initiatives, and education. Our current focus areas include solar, biofuels, waste processing, and community outreach.

Email: uclarenewable@gmail.com

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ROOTS is a new student-led organization created with the purpose of promoting environmental outreach for marginalized communities by educating and bringing awareness about local environmental problems, as well as advocating for these communities at a local governmental level. We believe in connecting people to nature and to the realities surrounding us regarding environmental issues. Lastly, we believe in fair treatment of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Email: uclaroots@gmail.com

Social Media: Instagram

The mission of SAGE at UCLA is to cultivate the next generation of mindful industry workers by educating students on climate action and providing them with the professional tools necessary to become effective leaders and sustainability advocates within their future careers. We pursue this through a three pronged approach: 

1. Corporate consulting: researching and presenting to industry professionals on how to decrease their environmental impacts and rethink the design process from a sustainable lense.
2. Legislation education and action: contributing to the effort of informing the UCLA student body on policies and bills relating to sustainability. Student voices are an under-utilized catalyst for change.
3. Personal mentality and lifestyle: providing media (books, movies, podcasts, etc) to our members and hosting discussions to engage in conversation about sustainability.

Email: bruinsageclub@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bruinsage

This is the UCLA Extension Student Chapter of ASLA – American Society of Landscape Architects.

Email: uclaextscasla@gmail.com

The purpose of the Surfrider Foundation Club at UCLA is to increase student interest in the goals of the International Surfrider Foundation by providing an opportunity for discussion of current events, activities and educational programming to students. Based on issues that are pertinent to the Surfrider Foundation, the Surfrider Foundation Club at UCLA will organize local programs (beach sweeps, films, etc.) to actively involve UCLA students in conservation and activism in Los Angeles and surrounding areas.

Email: uclasurfrider@gmail.com

Sustainability Action Research (SAR) is a student-initiated, student-designed, and student-facilitated research program offered through the Institute of the Environment & Sustainability (IoES). In the winter and spring quarters of each academic year, students on Sustainability Action Research teams are partnered with a campus stakeholder to research, rethink, investigate, and tackle UCLA’s greatest sustainability issues.

In the last 10 years, Swipe Out Hunger has developed from a grassroots movement at UCLA to a nationwide non-profit with chapters across 50+ universities. At UCLA, we aim to provide innovative solutions to combat food insecurity on and around our campus. The lack of accessibility to basic needs such as food is a major hindrance of student success, so our goal is to alleviate those circumstances and improve the college experience through our initiatives. These include our premier “Swipes Drive” where students can donate their extra dining hall swipes to their peers, as well as our food waste mitigation program “Bruin Dine” where we recover leftover food on campus that otherwise would have been wasted.

National website: https://www.swipehunger.org/

Email: swipes@g.ucla.edu

UCLA Chapter Website: https://www.uclaswipeouthunger.org

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The UCLA Bicycle Coalition unites the diverse bicycling community in order to make UCLA and the broader Los Angeles region a safe and enjoyable place to ride.

SWC EARTH (Environmental Awareness, Recycling, and Terrestrial Health) promotes sustainability in the student lifestyle through projects in collaboration with other UCLA organizations throughout the year. We educate students on environmental issues, put on activities and programs to promote sustainable habits, and spearhead projects committed to making environmental change on campus. Environmental health = public health!

Facebook

Email: swc.earth@usac.ucla.edu

Instagram

As the official student charity of UCLA, UniCamp annually links 450 student volunteers to around 1,000 urban Los Angeles youth. Through offering a residential summer camp experience at a subsidized cost, UniCamp works directly with today’s youth to empower their communities while also building a community of close-knit UCLA students on campus. UniCamp’s focus is guiding today’s student volunteer to become a leader through a unique community service that benefits a wider population.

Email: jliou@unicamp.org

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The Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) has made sustainability a key area of concentration and has begun to promote sustainability efforts in the residence halls, as well as throughout the undergraduate student government offices.

The Undergraduate Student Association Council Facilities Commission (FAC) is one of 15 undergraduate student government offices. FAC is responsible for ensuring UCLA facilities are accessible, sustainable, and representative of student needs. Our role is to amplify the student voice on sustainable campus policy and fulfill student demands when maintaining campus facilities, including buildings, outdoor spaces, and UCLA-managed transportation services.

FAC must also engage the UCLA community in promoting sustainability and accessibility across campus, educate on how these issues affect the campus, and provide resources surrounding these issues. The Facilities Commissioner, the elected USAC officer who oversees the commission, also chairs The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), the undergraduate sustainability funding body, and appoints various campus committees related to space allocation and sustainability. With multiple projects and over 70 student members, FAC welcomes all undergraduate students to get involved in making the campus more sustainable and accessible.
Instagram: @usacfac
Email: fac@usac.ucla.edu

Unravel seeks to educate students about what happens behind the seams of our favorite clothes. Our mission is to unravel the environmental and social impacts of the fashion industry and empower UCLA students to make more informed and conscious consumption decisions. We aim to create a community of like-minded individuals who hope to make the fashion industry (and world!) more environmentally friendly. No fashion experience required; Everyone is welcome!

Contact: unravelatucla@gmail.com

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Our group aims to increase awareness and opportunities in the subfield of Wilderness Medicine. Wilderness medicine includes understanding the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and prevention of illness and injuries in areas such as diving and hyperbaric, tropical and travel, and high-altitude environments, including improvisation and application in remote, wilderness settings. We also aim to empower members to advocate for access of the wilderness and decolonization of the wilderness through perspectives of community health. We aim to achieve these aims through talks, workshops and organized trips.

Email: uclawda@gmail.com

The mission of the WDA at UCLA is to expand knowledge of wildlife health and disease at our university and support students in their interests in wildlife medicine, disease ecology, conservation, field biology, and other topics within this realm. We will accomplish our goals through workshops, guest speakers, journal clubs, and field trips to engage students and emphasize the importance of these fields of science from a One Health perspective.

Email: uclawda@gmail.com