The Center for Public Engagement with Science (PEWS) is excited to be collaborating with the UC Office of Sustainability, the School of Environment and Sustainability (SEaS), and Student Government on another Sustainability@UC Week! Join us January 26th-31st, 2026 for a week full of events and activities related to sustainability and the environment for UC students, researchers, educators, staff, and the public.
Sustainability@UC Week 2026 will include a series of public talks, workshops and career panels for UC students, a critical walk around UC’s campus, a student poster session and community tabling event, and much more! Read the full event schedule here, or a schedule of all events open to the public.
Public Keynote
On Thursday, January 29th, Sustainability@UC Week will host a public keynote by Dr. Teresa Mares, sponsored by PEWS and SEaS.
Biting the Hands that Feed US: Labor and Social Sustainability in the Food System: Consumers are increasingly concerned with what goes into their food and are demanding a healthier and more ecologically focused food system. However, labor is rarely part of the so-called sustainable food discussion. This talk examines the legal, social, and political contexts of labor in the food system, highlighting themes of migration, agrarian exceptionalism, and racial and gendered inequality. Stretching from dairy farms in Vermont to superstores around the country, today’s food and farmworkers are on the frontlines. Given that their work is essential to a sustainable food system, what will it take to bring dignity to their lives and labor?
Teresa Mares is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Vermont, where she has been a faculty member since 2011. She is also affiliated faculty with the Graduate Program in Food Systems. For the past two decades, Dr. Mares has been conducting ethnographic research on topics related to food security, immigration, labor, and food justice, both in the Pacific Northwest and in New England. She is the author of Life on the Other Border: Farmworkers and Food Justice in Vermont (UC Press 2019) and co-author of Will Work for Food: Labor Across the Food Chain (UC Press 2025).
Thursday, January 29th, 2026
Clifton Court Hall, University of Cincinnati, 2800 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati
5:00-6:30pm – Student Poster and Community Tabling Event
6:30-7:15pm – Sustainability Awards
7:30-9:00pm – Public Keynote
Reception included!
Sustainability Awards and Student Poster/Community Tabling Event
Before the keynote, stop by Clifton Court Hall between 5:00-6:30pm to check out student research on sustainability from a variety of disciplines and network with community organizations working on sustainability in Cincinnati. Then celebrate sustainability at UC with the Sustainability Awards ceremony, sponsored by the Office of Sustainability. A reception is included, and all are welcome to attend.
Are you a UC graduate or undergraduate student interested in presenting a poster at the Student Poster Session? Submit an abstract here!
Learn more and register for Sustainability@UC Week 2026 here! Questions? Email engagingscience@uc.edu.
