Erb Fellows Drive Sustainability in Michigan Athletics

Sustainability and sports might seem like an unlikely duo—but at the University of Michigan, they’re proving to be a powerful team.

Over the past two years, Erb Undergraduate Fellows have engaged with Michigan Athletics to tackle a unique challenge: what does it take to make college sports more sustainable? The answer, it turns out, is both complex and full of possibility. From analyzing greenhouse gas emissions to engaging fans and vendors, these students are helping reimagine what sustainability looks like in one of the university’s most high-profile arenas.

And now, the project has grown into something even bigger: a full-fledged course offered through the Program in the Environment (PitE), giving more students the chance to get hands-on experience at the intersection of sport and sustainability.

Taking the Field for Climate Action

It all started in 2022, when C.Y. Cheng (Erb Undergraduate Fellow, ’22 and former student athlete on the men’s soccer team for the University of Michigan) launched an Erb Impact Project focused on Michigan Athletics. With mentorship from Professor Sara Soderstrom and support from a dedicated student team of undergraduate Fellows, Abby Williams, Chloe Valentino, Zach Marmet, Julia Kaplan and Zane Jones, Cheng helped lead an analysis of U-M Athletics’ Scope 1 and 2 emissions—from fuel use in campus vehicles to the energy powering iconic venues like the Big House. They even developed a Tableau dashboard to visualize their findings and make future tracking easier.

The team quickly identified a bigger opportunity: Scope 3 emissions. These include things like travel, purchasing, and waste—areas that are harder to measure, but often make up the bulk of an organization’s climate footprint.

In 2023–2024, a second group of Erb Fellows took on that challenge: Ashley Dukellis, Natalie DeSarbo, Ella Simon, Rohan Shah, and Andrew van Baal. Cheng, Marmet and Soderstrom served as advisors. This group analyzed Scope 3 emissions and benchmarked Michigan Athletics against other schools in the Power 5 conferences. Their report offered concrete, actionable recommendations: from smarter travel planning to better procurement policies and data tracking.

One standout finding? Food service contractors accounted for 21% of emissions in the “purchased goods and services” category. That’s not just a number—it’s a starting point for meaningful change.

From Research to Real-World Impact

The work didn’t stop with the reports. This year, the Erb-led project evolved into a new course: Sport and Sustainability, taught by Professor Soderstrom with continued involvement of current and former Erb Fellows like C.Y., Natalie DeSarbo, and Rohan Shah. The class is fully project-based, and students are diving deep into real-world challenges—creating impact reports, building engagement strategies for fans and vendors, and even working with student-athletes to launch a new sustainability club.

“For this project, it’s a neat space because we’ve been able to find synergies between what Michigan Athletics is doing and ways to amplify that through student work,” said Soderstrom. “We’ve also identified significant areas of opportunity, and the expertise of our students can help Athletics use new ideas, frameworks, and approaches to make sense of these challenges in a collaborative way.”

Why Sports Matter in Sustainability

So why sports? What makes this such a compelling place to do high-caliber sustainability work?

According to Soderstrom, it’s the visibility—and the community.

“When you think about fans recognizing that the Big House is waste-free, and that compost collected there goes to Campus Farm to grow food for campus dining—it’s a powerful story,” she said. “You’re engaging with 100,000 people who might not otherwise think about sustainability. Sports can act as a societal leader because it brings people together.”

Through their work, Erb Fellows are helping to embed sustainability into the fabric of Michigan Athletics. They’re also building bridges—between student-athletes, sustainability offices, U-M units like Campus Farm, and fans. And they’re proving that purpose-driven leadership doesn’t have to stay in the classroom.

The Future of Sport and Sustainability at Michigan

With growing student interest and institutional support, the future looks bright. The goal? To continue integrating sustainability into every aspect of athletics, from vendor contracts to team travel.

“We’re hoping to get structures embedded in Michigan Athletics to help them meet the U-M and broader sustainability goals,” said Soderstrom. “And we’re leveraging this work to help students connect their academics and athletics in a way that makes both better.”

It’s a game plan that combines passion, purpose, and a whole lot of maize and blue energy.