Each fall, ELI welcomes 20-30 UCSB undergraduate students to begin their journey to becoming environmental leaders.
Students join ELI from various disciplines across campus, bringing with them unique perspectives and ideas and enriching each cohort with diverse projects and skill sets. Whether students are interested in fast fashion, intersectional environmentalism, marine conservation, sustainable agriculture or nutrition, climate change, or other topics, all ideas are welcome and encouraged.
Highlighted ELI projects show the diversity of project ideas and project implementation:
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Providing environmental education and nutrition education to local elementary students
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Offering free sustainability consulting services to local businesses
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Driving community clean-ups to address increased litter as a result of disposable masks
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Raising voter awareness at UCSB about environmental issues
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Reducing use of plastic glitter at festivals
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Increasing food recovery and decreasing food waste from restaurants using the MealPass app
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Creating a podcast series to engage in conversations about environmentalism
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Making UCSB a bee-friendly campus
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Achieving climate neutrality in Isla Vista
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Making the UCSB residence halls energy efficient
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Creating an app to provide rainforest communities with essential resources to protect these habitats
“Learning with a cohort of passionate students motivated me and allowed me to learn about different areas of environmental sustainability. The ELI program was unlike any class I've taken because of its networking and skills-building opportunities. Students who are willing to be dedicated and put in the effort are guaranteed a great learning experience! You can truly take it into any direction and cater your project toward your future career goals.”
--Risa Mori
“ELI provides the opportunity to put your ideas into action. No idea is too big or small for this program. I gained a lot of knowledge about what it takes to make the change that I want to see in the world.”
--Tyler Barton