This spring, Emory’s Office of Sustainability Initiatives (OSI) celebrates a new class of Incentives Fund grant recipients. The diverse array of projects funded this year includes a pilot to redistribute unused laboratory supplies, a plan to modernize Emory’s student-operated bicycle repair shop, and an investment in water-free reflux reactions in a campus laboratory.
The grant applications welcome creative proposals that seek new knowledge, support new behavior patterns and foster cultural change.
Three funding categories are available.
The General Sustainability Incentives Fund allows all Emory and Emory Healthcare students, faculty and staff to request up to $3,000 for any project or research related to sustainability at Emory.
The Green Offices Incentives Fund and the Green Labs Incentives Fund support sustainability in Emory’s work and research spaces by funding sustainable processes and procedures in Emory University and Emory Healthcare offices and labs certified through the respective programs. Up to $5,000 is available for proposals that encourage changes in behavior, practices and equipment utilized in these spaces.
The newly funded project proposals for the 2025-26 cycle include:
General Sustainability Incentives Fund
- Emory Bike Social: Modernizing the Fixie (Ilka Tona)
- From Farm to Fridge! (Liz Carlino)
- Lab Supply Redistribution Initiative (Alexandria Wilkerson)
- The Muscogee Language Trail (Michael Martin)
Green Labs Incentives Fund
- Blakey Lab Goes Green: Higher Throughput Experimentation, Lower Energy Consumption (Wesley Pullara)
- Energy Efficient Heating of Large-Scale Reactions (Jacqueline Smith)
- Sustainable Organic Reactions: Water-Free Reflux as a Strategy for Greener Chemical Processes (Laura Ackerman-Biegasiewicz)
Alexandria Wilkerson, a clinical research coordinator in the School of Medicine, is one of this year’s awardees. She proposed a redistribution and donation system for unused laboratory supplies. Wilkerson will distribute excess, unused medical and laboratory supplies to other labs at Emory and community programs that need the resources.
“What excites me most,” says Wilkerson, “is the potential to turn something that might otherwise be overlooked into meaningful opportunities for learning, connection and impact. It feels like a small shift that can make a big difference, and I’m grateful to be part of that work.”
The Lab Supply Redistribution and Donation Initiative will drive positive community impact among local partners and reduce landfilled waste on campus while conserving valuable resources in campus laboratories and clinical settings.
To learn more about this year’s Incentives Fund projects, visit OSI’s Incentives Fund home page.
More about the Sustainability Incentives Fund
The Incentives Fund has supported research projects, campus-based activities and the development of new rituals that promote sustainability on Emory’s campuses since 2007.
Awardees are selected by a committee of Emory students, faculty and staff from across campus that review and discuss all applications. The group evaluates projects for feasibility, clarity, sustained impact, innovation and relevance to Emory’s Sustainability Vision.
OSI is also pleased to announce an additional funding opportunity for the spring and summer semesters. In alignment with the launch of Emory’s Break Free from Plastic Initiative, a campus-wide effort to reduce the use of single-use plastics, OSI has opened applications for a Break Free from Plastic Incentives Fund. Applicants are encouraged to apply for grants of up to $5,000 for projects that reduce the use of single-use plastic. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until May 15, and all funds must be spent by June 26, 2026.