The SSC is a coalition of member groups: MIT student sustainability-related or sustainability-adjacent organizations that are primarily or wholly student-run and operated, although they may receive funding and logistical support from external sources, like Departments, Labs, and Centers (DLCs). The SSC is facilitated and coordinated by two co-leads—one undergraduate and one graduate—who also serve as student representatives on the MIT Climate Nucleus. The SSC also works closely with many other sustainability-related groups on campus, including DLCs, academic programs, and external partners. See our governing document for more details.
Our Member Groups
Civil and Environmental Engineering Association (CEESA)
💡 Group summary: The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Chapter at MIT, known as CEESA (Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Association), strives to uphold the values of excellence in academic and professional environments. Through service projects, educational programs, and social functions, CEESA aims to foster a vibrant and supportive community that enables every student to reach his or her highest potential.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate
💻 Website: https://cee.mit.edu/education/undergraduate/undergraduate-student-life/
✉️ Contact: ceesa-exec@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
Divest
💡 Group summary: MIT Divest is an activist student organization committed to petitioning the MIT administration to divest its $27 billion endowment from the fossil fuel industry. Divest focuses on raising awareness about the environmental impact of fossil fuel investments and advocating for sustainable financial practices at MIT.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate and Graduate
💻 Website: https://www.mit-divest.com/
✉️ Contact: mit-divest-leads@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
Engineers Without Borders (EWB)
💡 Group summary: The MIT Engineers Without Borders chapter, a student-run organization, focuses on learning practices that will make us lifelong change-makers. Our team is a diverse group of engineers, scientists, leaders, designers, humanitarians and innovators that’s working together to create a better world, one community at a time.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate and Graduate
💻 Website: http://ewb.mit.edu/
✉️ Contact: ewb-exec@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
GSC Sustainability
💡 Group summary: GSC Sustainability is a gathering point for climate-conscious, action-driven graduate students to collaborate on implementing sustainable practices on the MIT campus. The group collaborates with other student organizations and Institute partners to educate, inspire, and engage students in sustainability and advance MIT’s Climate Action goals. They also manage the Sustainability Fund that supports graduate student-led sustainability projects.
🎓 Open to: Graduate
💻 Website: https://www.instagram.com/gsc_sustainability/
✉️ Contact: gsc-sustainability-chair@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
MIT Energy and Climate Club (MITEC)
💡 Group summary: The MIT Energy and Climate Club connects students, alumni, and community members passionate about energy and climate change. Since 2021, the club has expanded its focus to include both energy and combating climate change. As MIT’s central platform for energy and climate discussions, MITEC serves as a hub for thought-leadership and relationship building within this powerful community.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate and Graduate
💻 Website: https://mitec-club.org/
✉️ Contact: mitec_execom@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
MIT Sustainability Summit
💡 Group summary: The MIT Sustainability Summit is an annual student-run event that has grown to include hundreds of attendees ranging from professionals, academics and students. Past Summits have featured discussions with thought leaders and expert practitioners alike.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate and Graduate
💻 Website: https://sustainabilitysummit.mit.edu
✉️ Contact: sustainabilitysummit@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
MIT Water Club
💡 Group summary: MIT Water is the premier network for water research and innovation at MIT. The club organizes conferences, lectures, research showcases, outreach events, and entrepreneurship competitions throughout the year. Their flagship events include the MIT Water Summit, MIT Water Innovation Prize, MIT Water Night, and the Working Water series, all aimed at addressing pressing challenges in the water sector.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate and Graduate
💻 Website: https://mitwater.org/
✉️ Contact: waterclub-officers@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT)
💡 Group summary: The MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team is a student group under the MIT Edgerton Center. Every two years, SEVT designs and manufactures a solar powered vehicle that competes in prestigious national and international competitions.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate and Graduate
💻 Website: https://www.mitsolar.com/
✉️ Contact: gosolar@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
Surfrider Foundation (MIT Chapter)
💡 Group summary: The MIT chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s ocean, waves and beaches, for all people, through a powerful activist network. MIT Surfriders organizes cleanups, awareness campaigns, and advocacy efforts related to ocean conservation, plastic pollution, and coastal protection.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate and Graduate
💻 Website: https://www.instagram.com/mitsurfrider
✉️ Contact: mitsurfriderexec@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
Sustainable Energy Alliance (SEA)
💡 Group summary: The MIT Sustainable Energy Alliance is an undergraduate club at MIT that examines the tough questions of next-generation energy. SEA focuses on (1) technology, (2) educational outreach (particularly in local K-12 schools and programming), and being (3) solution-agnostic.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate
💻 Website: https://www.facebook.com/mitsea/
✉️ Contact: mitsea-exec2223@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
UA Sustainability
💡 Group summary: UA Sustainability is one of the largest student committees under the Undergraduate Association. It consists of around 30 undergraduates working to make MIT more sustainable. The committee covers areas of institutional, personal, and external sustainability, organized into working groups that tackle projects in specific areas, such as Thrift/Reuse, Garden, and Publicity teams.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate/Undergraduate and Graduate
💻 Website: https://ua.mit.edu/sustainability
✉️ Contact: ua-sustainability-chairs@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
Waste Watchers
💡 Group summary: Waste Watchers (WW) is a student-led initiative addressing waste stream contamination at MIT, supported financially and logistically by the MIT Office of Sustainability and MIT Recycling. Trained and paid students staff shifts at campus events, helping individuals dispose of waste correctly and educating the community about proper sorting. WW aims to decrease contamination levels, collect data to inform purchasing decisions, and raise awareness of waste production to contribute to a sustainable campus culture.
🎓 Open to: Undergraduate and Graduate
💻 Website: https://web.mit.edu/waste-watchers/about-ww.html
✉️ Contact: waste-watchers-admin@mit.edu
Last updated: July 10, 2024
Our Co-Leads
The SSC is facilitated and coordinated by two co-leads—one undergraduate and one graduate—who also serve as student representatives on the MIT Climate Nucleus. They serve staggered terms with a duration of one academic year. All undergraduate and graduate students with a demonstrated interest in sustainability are eligible to apply for this role, with a selection process facilitated by the Undergraduate Association (UA) and Graduate Student Council (GSC). The undergraduate co-lead typically is selected at the end of the fall semester, and the graduate co-lead is selected at the end of the spring semester.
Maria Alder (she/her)
Undergraduate Co-Lead
SB in Computer Science and Engineering, Class of 2025
Term: Calendar Year 2024
Nathan Bradshaw (he/him)
Graduate Co-Lead
Third-year PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Course 3)
Term: Academic Year 2024-2025
The MIT Climate Nucleus
The MIT Climate Nucleus is a faculty committee that has broad responsibility for the management and implementation of Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade across its five areas of action: sparking innovation, educating future generations, informing and leveraging government action, reducing MIT’s own climate impact, and uniting and coordinating all of MIT’s climate efforts. The Nucleus meets once per month during the academic year. On a regular basis, the Nucleus makes recommendations to the MIT Climate Steering Committee about how to amplify MIT’s impact in the climate sphere. The SSC is financially and logistically supported by the Climate Nucleus. SSC co-leads serve as student representatives on the Climate Nucleus or any other future climate advisory or decisionmaking body at MIT and liaise between student groups, DLCs, and the rest of the MIT community on sustainability-related issues: by collecting regular feedback, coordinating new initiatives, and publicizing events and opportunities.
Former Co-Leads
Former Co-Leads
Anushree Chaudhuri SB/MCP ’24
Melissa Stok ’24
Joseph Li ’24
Emily Kang ’25
Sylas Horowitz ’23
Naomi Lutz ’22
Non-Member Student Groups
We also communicate with other primarily student-run or student-focused organizations on campus. Some of the groups listed below were formerly member groups but are now inactive or no longer primarily student-run. Others are groups that are sustainability-adjacent—some that are newly established—but they have not become formal member groups of the coalition.
- Cell Agriculture/Food Tech (Inactive)
- Chi Epsilon (CEE Honor Society)
- ESI Rapid Response Group (RRG)
- Food and Agriculture Club (MIT FAC)
- MIT Electric Vehicle Team (MIT EVT)
- MIT Impact Investing Initiative (MI3)
- MIT Wind Club
- Sloan Energy and Climate Club
- Sloan Entrepreneurs for International Development (SEID)
- Terrascope
