UNH Today

Jason Staples ’23 came to UNH intending to focus his academic work primarily on data analysis, but after gaining hands-on experience in the university’s new 碳诊所 – where students complete carbon footprint analysis for regional organizations by utilizing several tools, including SIMAP, the university’s nitrogen and carbon accounting platform – he was inspired to add a sustainability dual major.

至少，这个决定不需要剖析复杂的数据. 其实要简单得多.

“我生活在这个星球上，我打算在这里呆很长时间. 所以我想帮助它成为最好的地方，”斯台普斯说.

联合国卫生组织仍然集中于同样的努力, as SIMAP recently underwent a significant functionality update that now allows it to calculate all 范围3间接排放 – such as those that are produced by customers using a company’s products or by suppliers making products a company uses – and the impact is already being felt both by the organizations benefiting from the technology and the UNH students like Staples gaining real-world experience implementing it.

Scope 3 emissions can make up more than half of an organizations total emissions and were previously not able to be calculated by SIMAP (Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform), 一个独一无二的, 联合国创建的工具被500多个学术机构使用, nonprofits, 小型企业, 世界各地的市政当局和其他组织.

最近的更新改变了这一点, allowing organizations to more completely evaluate their emissions and begin focused work to reduce them. 多亏了 碳诊所, which was piloted last spring, students like Staples are often on the front lines of such efforts.

“我在数据分析领域工作了几年, but the 碳诊所 showed me there was an actual applied practice of taking these techniques and using them to create something real and meaningful,斯台普斯说.

SIMAP officially launched in 2017 after evolving through several iterations from what was originally a master’s thesis at UNH in 2001. The update to include Scope 3 calculations positions SIMAP to remain an invaluable tool for carbon footprinting.

SIMAP calculates Scope 3 emissions using an EPA data set that illustrates how “for every dollar you spend on a certain category, 这是对上游温室气体排放的估计,——艾莉森·里奇, SIMAP co-developer and program manager at the UNH 可持续发展研究所 and co-leader of the 碳诊所, says. This allows the tool to calculate emissions associated with purchasing categories like construction, 包括与采购材料有关的费用, 它以前没有这个功能.

利奇说:“这是很长一段时间的到来——这已经在我的愿望清单上很多年了。. “It’s so rewarding to be at this intersection between the development of a tool and helping people make real progress. It really empowers people to do their own calculations so they can work toward their own carbon footprint reduction.”

詹妮弗·安德鲁斯, 可持续发展研究所项目总监, 帮助开发SIMAP, 共同经营碳诊所并指导SIMAP实习生. She used the example of food and the correlated calculations now possible as one of the ways in which the updated tool will help illustrate the impact of emissions.

“When you look at the food we purchase or the food we are serving in our dining halls at UNH, 它产生的碳足迹可能和我们的发电厂一样大，甚至更大,安德鲁斯说. “这种讲故事的方式很有力量, 这就是这个更新让我们能够以数据驱动的方式做我们以前做不到的事情.”

“与这些企业密切合作，真的感觉我们正在创造影响. 它让我们觉得我们所做的事情更有价值."

除了对组织的好处, UNH students are also benefitting from the upgrade by gaining invaluable hands-on experience working with clients in real-world settings.

碳诊所使用SIMAP, allowing students to learn the ins and outs of the program while also helping local companies and other outlets arrive at real solutions to reduce emissions. SIMAP interns and 碳诊所 participants also get to sharpen their general professional skills like time management and working collaboratively.

26岁的布雷特·舒尔茨(Brett Schultz)利用自己的经验，通过该公司获得了一份实习机会 可持续发展研究所 在那里他将为一组杂货店做类似的工作. The sustainability dual major and the programs connected to it were some of the biggest draws that brought Schultz to UNH.

“I think UNH has a whole lot of opportunities that some college students don’t have access to, especially considering that SIMAP was developed here and some of the creators are our instructors,舒尔茨说. “与这些企业密切合作，真的感觉我们正在创造影响. 它让我们觉得我们所做的事情更有价值.”

Durga Raja ’25 came to UNH with a general interest in sustainability but said it really took shape after taking a few classes and participating in the 碳诊所, 先是作为学生，今年是作为同伴导师. 这也使她能够承担更多的领导角色, 包括促进会议和作为客户的关键人物.

“These opportunities really gave me a solid background in sustainability and helped develop the skills needed to continue,” Raja says. “在我加入碳诊所之前，我并不一定会考虑碳足迹, 但它让我看到了它有多重要.”

For clients and students alike – not to mention the environment in the bigger picture – the upgrade to include Scope 3 emissions promises to be something of a game-changer for SIMAP.

“If we are really going to tackle climate change and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, 我们需要知道起点,” Leach says. “你无法管理你不衡量的东西, 这次更新提供了一个我们之前无法估计的相当重要的部分.”