Join, Manage, or Create an Environmental & Sustainability Student Organization
To create a new organization or manage an existing organization, use the following resources from the LEAD Center:
UC Berkeley has 40 environmental and sustainability registered student organizations advised by SERC.
Looking to join an existing organization? Search the directory below, or search by Environmental & Sustainability Category on Callink.
To add a student organization to this list, please email details to serc@berkeley.edu.
ASUC Sustainability Team (STeam)
- STeam is an ASUC-sponsored organization aimed at making the campus more sustainable through the creation of and participation in project groups. Each project group is focused on a specific issue area related to campus sustainability. Currently, these include Internal Department of Sustainability, STeam Energy Group, One-Side Clean (OSC), Students Toward Zero Plastic (STOP), Berkeley FLOW, I Will Ride, and Fossil Free Cal.
- Email: sustainability@asuc.org
- Website
Bay Area Environmentally Aware Consulting Network (BEACN)
- BEACN is a student-run, nonprofit consulting organization that works with clients both on and off campus on projects that encourage environmental responsibility each semester. BEACN’s mission is “to provide comprehensive strategies to our clients that integrate environmental, social, and economic factors in business decision-making processes” while offering students the opportunity to implement sustainable practices in a real world setting, while offering businesses quality consulting services and research based on up-to-date environmental and business data.
- Email: beacn.berkeley@gmail.com
- Website
Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative (BERC)
- BERC is a multidisciplinary network of UC Berkeley students, alumni, faculty, industry professionals, and advisers who seek to turn world-leading research into world-changing solutions by tackling tough and timely energy and environmental challenges. Its mission is to connect, educate, and engage its members in order to foster innovation and action.
- Email: membership@berc.berkeley.edu
- Website
Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative Undergraduate (BERCU)
- BERCU is the undergraduate branch of BERC that focuses on engaging undergraduates interested in energy and resources issues.
- Email: berc.undergrad@gmail.com
- Website
Berkeley Environmental Economics and Policy Students (BEEPS)
- BEEPS is a group for students in Environmental Economics and Policy to get together to network and socialize.
- Email: calbeeps@gmail.com
Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy (BOAA)
- BOAA’s mission is to challenge specieism. While educating UC Berkeley on the issues of animal exploitation, it promotes compassion for all animals and encourages the community to take action against animal injustice.
- Email: boaarocks@gmail.com
- Website
Berkeley Student Food Collective (BSFC)
- The Berkeley Student Food Collective is dedicated to providing fresh, local, healthy, environmentally sustainable, and ethically produced food at affordable prices to UC Berkeley and the greater community. It operates a cooperative grocery market while seeking to educate students about food systems and nutrition.
- Email: director@foodcollective.org
- Website
Berkeley Water Group
- The Berkeley Water Group is an organization meant to bring together undergraduate and graduate students from all different departments to share ideas on topics related to water, sanitation, and hygiene. Participants work on projects through the Blum Center and meet twice a month to collaborate and network.
- Email: berkeleywatergroupidealab@gmail.com
- Website
BicyCAL
- BicyCAL is a student-run organization that encourages the campus community to incorporate bicycles into their lives.
- Website
Biofuels Technology Club
- The goal of the Biofuels Technology Club is to provide UC Berkeley with a sustainable means of acquiring biodiesel as a cleaner, alternative energy source for use in campus vehicles and equipment. This self-sustaining initiative will provide a fulfilling hands-on experience for Berkeley engineers, educate Berkeley students about renewable energy resources, and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. This will be accomplished through the recycling of waste cooking oil (WCO) from local campus dining facilities.
- Email: biofuelstechnology@gmail.com
- Website
Cal Environmental Team
- Each year, the Cal Environmental Team designs and constructs a simple, sustainable water filter that can treat wastewater. The team then competes at the American Society of Civil Engineers Mid Pacific Conference to test their design against that of other teams from western U.S. universities.
- Email: calenviroteam@gmail.com
- Website
Cal Hiking and Outdoor Society
- CHAOS aims to foster a love of the outdoors through group activities including hiking, camping, backpacking, climbing, and kayaking. It’s a great space to meet other students who love nature as well as get resources for outdoor activities.
- Website
California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG)
- CALPIRG is a statewide, student-directed and student-funded nonprofit that aims to educate the public about various issues, especially environmental issues, that have an impact on all Californians. CALPIRG researches problems, promotes solutions, and demands decision-makers to act.
- Email: calpirgstudents@berkeley.edu
- Website
California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC)
- CSSC is a broad network of student sustainability organizations throughout the UC, CSU, and CCC systems. Managed and coordinated by students and recent alumni, CSSC strives to implement policies and programs at various institutional levels that enhance the three key components of sustainability: ecology, economy, and equity. It offers student activists a community of support and ways to get involved with the larger statewide sustainability movement.
- Email: info@sustainabilitycoalition.org
- Website
Coloring for Conservation
- Coloring for Conservation designs environmentally friendly coloring book to be published through an eco-friendly company using recycled paper and sells them. The profits will be donated to a forest conservation nonprofit.
- Website
Conservation & Resource Studies Student Organization (CRSSO)
- CRSSO is a student group for Conservation and Resource Studies majors intended to foster community, strengthen the student-faculty connection, and engage in social activities in nature. It also offers volunteering and networking opportunities to help CRS students get involved on campus and in the community.
Engineers for a Sustainable World at Berkeley
- Engineers for a Sustainable World is a national non-profit network of 50 collegiate chapters, all dedicated to building a better and more sustainable world. ESW-Berkeley is a diverse mix of students from all majors and backgrounds united by a passion for helping the environment. The chapter works on a variety of projects, in addition to organizing and sponsoring events aimed at education and professional development for members.
- Email: esw.ucberkeley@gmail.com
- Website
Environmental Science Student Association (ESSA)
- ESSA’s goal is to bring together students interested in environmental studies in a fun, academic, and social atmosphere. Membership is open to all UC Berkeley students who want to get involved with organizing academic, social, and career-oriented events throughout the year.
- Email: berkeley.essa@gmail.com
- Website
Epsilon ETA
- Founded in 2017, Epsilon Eta is a professional fraternity at the University of California, Berkeley for undergraduate students seeking post-graduate opportunities in the environmental field. Through establishing connections between students, faculty, researchers, and agencies in the Bay Area, Epsilon Eta seeks to develop a network for those who aspire to make tangible, positive change in the environmental sector. We utilize environmental education, volunteering, and community outreach as mechanisms to promote sustainability, environmental justice, and conservation. As a fraternity, we welcome all students who are dedicated to protecting the environment.
- Email: epsilonetaberkeley@gmail.com
- Website
EthiCAL Apparel
- EthiCAL Apparel is a social business that provides high-quality screen-printing and free design services at an affordable price. Profits from sales are reinvested through Kiva to provide microloans for low-income individuals who do not have access to traditional banking services. With a small amount of funding, aspiring entrepreneurs in developing countries may lift themselves out of poverty by launching and expanding their own businesses. Through its services, EthiCAL sets out to create a sustainable change for those in need.
- Email: ethicalapparel@gmail.com
- Website
Food, Equity, Entrepreneurship, & Development (FEED)
- Through food justice consulting, FEED serves food system organizations involved in equal food access, fair worker treatment, environmentally regenerative practices, and organizations eager to change their operations to adopt these practices.
- Email: feedberkeley@gmail.com
- Website
Friends of the River at Berkeley (FOR@B)
- Brief Description: Interested in California water? Concerned about the drought? Curious about new dam proposals? FOR@B is an activist group operating out of the UC Berkeley campus to spread awareness of water politics, law, supply, etc. to the campus and surrounding community.
- Email: dakota.goodman@berkeley.edu or riverrats2016@gmail.com
- FOR parent organization website
Fossil Free Cal
- As part of STeam and the larger Fossil Free UC movement, Fossil Free Cal runs a campaign on campus that calls on UC Berkeley and the UC system to divest their commingled and direct holdings in the top 200 fossil fuel companies with the largest reserves of carbon. Fossil Free Cal demands the administration to make sustainable, socially responsible, and mission-aligned investments.
- Email: info@fossilfreecal.org
- Website
Gill Tract Farm Students Coalition
- Gill Tract Farm Students Coalition is Cal’s student group associated with UC Gill Tract Community Farm, where our goal is to improve our local food system through the communal growing of organic produce. Membership includes participation in collaborative projects that will provide valuable experiential learning opportunities in developing our leadership skills and deepening our knowledge and experience of solving issues in the food system.
- Email: contact@gilltractfarm.org
- Website
GradFood
- GradFood is an interdisciplinary association of graduate students working across sectors to share their work and ideas regarding all things food and agriculture. GradFood brings UC Berkeley grad students from diverse disciplines together to learn and teach about something that affects everyone: food! As a hub for delving into issues that make food both an intellectually stimulating field and central to our daily lives, GradFood provides opportunities to meet students from other departments, collaborate on and present research, and network with the sustainable food systems community.
- Email: gradfooducb@gmail.com
- Website
Greening the Greeks
- Greening the Greeks is a student organization consisting of Cal Greek members that promotes environmental awareness and sustainability within the fraternity and sorority community, especially in housing facilities and at Greek-sponsored events.
- Email: greeningthegreeks@gmail.com
ASUC Helios Solar Program
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ASUC Helios Solar Program, referred to as the Helios, is responsible for coordinating the ASUC’s efforts at facilitating off-campus solar panel installations and for lobbying the University to do more to increase its share of renewable power as directed by the Referendum. The primary goal of Helios is the installation of solar panels on off-campus student group houses such as fraternities, sororities, and Berkeley Student Cooperative houses. These houses provide the best nexus between positive environmental impact and student empowerment, while providing tangible financial savings to the students. Helios strives to empower students with decentralized, independent control of their own energy supply and use the cost-savings to further expand the role of renewables in our Berkeley Community.
Housing and Dining Sustainability Advocates
- HADSA (Housing and Dining Sustainability Advocates) works directly with the residential halls and Cal Dining to help students and staff increase their awareness of their footprint and decrease their environmental impact. Through student-led advocacy, auditing, and peer education, HADSA strives to make sustainability accessible to the UC Berkeley community, improve housing and dining infrastructure, and work towards more ethical and environmentally sound practices. HADSA works on projects that progress efforts towards energy and water conservation, food waste reduction, solid waste reduction, food literacy, and gardening. HADSA offers internship opportunities to meal plan holders throughout the year.
- E-mail: madeleine.klein@berkeley.edu
- Website
Net Impact Berkeley
- Net Impact Berkeley is a non-profit, student-run consulting group on campus that strives to bring social responsibility and environmental stewardship to business and innovation. In addition to working on projects for clients each semester, Net Impact Berkeley members have access to the network of the group’s parent organization, Net Impact.
- Email: nibundergrad@gmail.com
- Website
ReUSE
- ReUSE promotes the concept of reuse by providing spaces for the campus community to freely exchange reusable goods. After collecting donated reusable materials from individuals and departments, ReUSE redistributes them through its ReUSE stations. The purpose of ReUSE is to divert reusable materials from landfills and encourage the UC Berkeley community to reconsider their notions of waste.
- Email: UCBerkeleyReUSE@gmail.com
- Website
Solar Decathlon
- Solar Decathlon is a group of Berkeley students of all different academic backgrounds who are constructing a sustainable, net-zero home as part of the 2017 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition.
- Email: berkeleysolardecathlon@gmail.com
- Website
Strategies for Ecology, Education, Diversity, and Sustainability (SEEDS)
- SEEDS is part of the Ecological Society of America that is dedicated to increasing the number of people from underrepresented minority groups in the field of ecology. SEEDS provides hands-on experience in the ecology through hikes, volunteering, grad student panels, and field trips.
- Website
Students of Color Environmental Collective (SCEC)
- SCEC is a group intended to be a healing space for students of color to seek refuge from white-dominated environmental and social justice spaces, to learn more about the intersections between environmental and social justice, and to raise conversation about environmental racism and justice on and off campus. If you self identify as a person of color, this is a space for you to share thoughts, experiences, ideas, and educational resources. It is also a space for venting, dialogue, and healing, as well as planning future events and outreach. Please be respectful of this space as existing for students of color.
- Email: socenvcollective@gmail.com
Student Organic Garden Association
- The Student Organic Garden Association is a democratic association of UC Berkeley students committed to food justice, sustainable organic agriculture, and experiential learning. SOGA manages the Student Organic Garden that serves as a space for democratic hands-on education for students.
- Email: studentorganicgarden@gmail.com
- Website
Surfrider Foundation Club (Berkeley Chapter)
- Surfrider Foundation Club is a grassroots organization dedicated to protecting and preserving the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches through engagement with environmental issues that threaten coastal ecosystems.
- Website
Sustainable Environmental Designers Interacting Networking Connecting
- SEDInc aims to bring together students in the Sustainable Environmental Design major for the purpose of connecting with others who share a common interest in sustainable design and helping guide students as they continue their life outside of UC Berkeley.
- Website
- Email: calsedinc@gmail.com
Telegraph Green: Berkeley Boba Initiative
- Telegraph Green: Berkeley Boba Initiative encourages boba drinkers in Berkeley to combat plastic waste, while promoting the health and good stewardship of the Earth. It also aims to foster connections between student organizations at Cal, both environmental and otherwise. The goal is to extend this project to other local food and beverage companies besides just boba shops, thus fostering a culture of sustainability that UC Berkeley embodies.
- Email: telegraphgreen@gmail.com
Tiny House In My Backyard (THIMBY)
- THIMBY is an interdisciplinary team of UC Berkeley graduate and undergraduate students working together to design and build an affordable, off-grid, 100% solar powered “tiny” house. This project represents an opportunity for students from diverse departments to learn about sustainable design principles through hands-on experience in all phases of development, from design to construction to performance evaluation. The end-product will serve as a “living lab” on the Berkeley Global Campus in Richmond, CA.
- Email: information@calthimby.org
- Website
Words of the Watershed Journal
- Words of the Watershed is UC Berkeley’s undergraduate journal of local environmental writing, with “local” meaning to include both Berkeley and the greater Bay Area. Students use environmental writing to indicate work that explores our collective relationship with the earth and all its inhabitants. This is a space where creative, academic, and journalistic writing and art can dwell together on common ground.
- Email: wordsofthewatershed@gmail.com
- Website
Related UC Berkeley Registered Student Organizations:
Entomology Students Organization
EOP Student Association (EOPSA)
ESPM Graduate Diversity Council (ESPM GDC)
Plant & Microbial Biology Graduate Student Group (PMBG)
Public Service Center Programs
Society of Engineering Sciences
Student Nutrition Advocacy Club (formerly the Student Dietetic Association) (SNAC)