Two groups of University of Illinois Springfield students won awards at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Reimagine Our Future Undergraduate Sustainability Competition. They were honored during an awards reception on Saturday, Dec. 2 in Urbana.

UIS students Charles Wheeler, Lucas Baronello, Saharra Murphy, Caila Riggs and Michelle Check won one of two $1,000 second-place awards for their project “Farm to School: A Shared Investment for a Healthier Future.”

A $500 third-place award was given to UIS students Karmyn Flesch, Nadia Wilson, Emily Rhodes and Gabriella Sanchez for their project “Zero Food Waste: Solutions for UIS.”

The students entered into the competition as part of UIS Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Megan Styles’ Introduction to Sustainability class.

The goal of the Reimagine Our Future Undergraduate Sustainability Competition is to promote the development of bold and innovative plans or solutions that promote one or more of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This year’s competition featured a record number of 243 participants and 44 submissions from 10 higher education institutions.