UNITEDGREEN OFFERS 3 $1,000 PRIZES FOR STUDENT IDEAS

January 28, 2012 (San Diego)--In conjunction with its Forging a Sustainable Future Symposium to be held March 3-4, 2012 at San Diego State, UnitedGREEN is offering three $1,000 scholarships to students engaged in research projects. Students conducting research in how to make the San Diego, Imperial County, and Tijuana region sustainable in the areas of food, energy, water are encouraged to apply for this award.

Top entries will present their research at the March FSF Symposium, display their work at the event, and publish it on the www.unitedgreen.org website. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is the keynote speaker for the FSF event.

Any student currently enrolled in a college or university in San Diego, Imperial Counties, and Baja California is encouraged to apply.

“We are looking for innovative ways in which our region can become self-sustaining in the areas of Food, Energy, and Water,” said FSF co-chair Patrick Hurley, “And we’re willing to pay for them. The students who win the award in each of the categories will retain all rights to their work, but we do want them to share their ideas with the world.”

The student’s work must be original, actionable, and pertain to helping make the region sustainable. “We do not want them just synopsizing other work from journals,” added FSF co-chair Walter Meyer. “We know we have many talented young people here and we’d like to encourage them to look at solving the problems the planet is facing. If we can make San Diego self-sustaining, we can set an example for the country and the world. And although an international border divides the region, we know that our energy, food, water and trash concerns don’t stop at the border.”

On Tuesday, March 18, Meyer addressed a class at UCSD about the Symposium to make the students aware of the cash prize being offered for student work. As other classes from surrounding schools invite him to present, Meyer will continue to inform the academic community and ask for their ideas.

Mark Hanson, Ph.D., Executive Director of UnitedGREEN’s parent organization, the Heartland Coalition, said, “We want to start building more sustainable communities starting today and that means finding new ways of doing things.”

Applications for the prize are due Wednesday, February 15, 2012 with full work meeting minimum criteria to be presented the week of February 20-25. One prize will be awarded in each of the three areas: food, water, and energy. Presentations will be judged by a panel of experts in each of those fields. For more information on applying visit UnitedGREEN.org or contact Walter Meyer at wmeyer@heartlandfdn.org.

The goal of the nonprofit UnitedGREEN (GrassRoots Environment and Energy Network) is to speed the transition to a sustainable future for all the people of San Diego by sparking collaborations between key public and private entities by facilitating a grassroots movement that engages and unites the community in a shared fight for a truly sustainable future and fostering projects and initiatives that generate a green economy and accelerate the establishment of green enterprises employing a green-collar workforce.

UnitedGREEN hosted its first FSF Symposium in November and prior to that had hosted two other green conferences. Among the speakers at past events were then-Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi and noted architect Ed Mazria. Now a US Congressman, Garamendi will also presenting at the March event along with former member of the California Assembly and SDSU Professor Lori Saldana and many other experts.

The FSF Symposium is open to anyone who is interested. Tickets for the two-day event are $95 or $35 for students and members of partner organizations. More information and tickets are available on the www.UnitedGREEN.org web site.