Spring 2025 IonE Mini Grants Fund Sustainability Projects across Minnesota

“What makes them so impactful is their ability to support smaller-scale projects that explore ideas related to environmental and sustainability challenges while fostering collaboration across campus and within the broader community,” DeRynck says.

Another thing that sets the IonE Mini Grants apart is their low barrier to entry – offering up to $3,000 in funding to support a broad range of applicants and ideas.

“These grants are highly adaptable – they can fund research led by tenured faculty or serve as a gateway for novice scholars and students to gain firsthand experience in leading a research project,” DeRynck adds.

This past spring, IonE Mini Grants supported 10 projects, including electrifying a food truck, establishing a community garden that educates about food injustice in the prison system, and creating weed suppressant mats from recycled textile waste. Learn more about the projects below.

The following project descriptions are presented in alphabetical order – and are based on information provided by teams that may be lightly edited.

Beyond phosphorus: managing lakes for dual-nutrient reduction

Humans have polluted lakes with excess nutrients, causing blooms of toxic algae and fish kills. While phosphorus management is a major focus in Minnesota, excess nitrogen also has negative effects like suppressing the growth of native aquatic plants. Despite current regulations on phosphorus pollution, phosphorus-rich sediment from past pollution remains in lakes, causing poor water quality today. Lake managers reduce the impact of legacy phosphorus by removing carp to limit sediment resuspension and using chemicals to trap phosphorus. However, there is little consideration of how these restoration efforts influence nitrogen or how reductions in nitrogen may also improve water quality. 

In collaboration with lake managers, the project team will monitor pre- and post-management conditions in three lake systems with a focus on nitrogen. The team will use these results to develop best management practices for reducing both phosphorus and nitrogen, allowing managers to employ the most effective strategies to keep our lakes clear.

Team Members: Jake Walsh (PI), Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, CFANS; Catherine Polik, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, CBS; Blayne Eineichner, Comfort Lake Forest Lake Watershed District; Dan Cibulka, Sherburne Water and Soil Conservation District; Benjamin Elfelt, Chisago Lakes Lake Improvement District

Building Bridges & Biodiversity: Empowering the Commonwealth Terrace Cooperative community

Commonwealth Terrace Cooperative (CTC) residents have expressed strong interest in adopting home-scale composting as a method to reduce waste, enrich soils, and support local biodiversity, yet they lack both the infrastructure and the targeted educational programming necessary to turn this interest into sustained practice.

This project will implement a 12-month education and infrastructure program to enhance CTC residents’ knowledge of soil biodiversity and its climate benefits. The initiative integrates interactive modules, a compost food-web matching game, and build-your-own worm bin workshop, with the installation of locked centralized compost bins to meet a vital unfunded community need. Participants will learn to distinguish compostable from non-compostable inputs and explore the diverse organisms in healthy compost. By combining experiential learning, expert guidance, and durable infrastructure, the project fosters lasting stewardship, strengthens research–community ties, and embeds sustainable composting at CTC.

Team Members: Jesús Pinto-Ledezma (PI), Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior (EEB); Lucy Rea, EEB; Cibele Silva, EEB; Yorkinoy Shermatova, EEB; Dennis Kim, EEB; Kavy Pathirana, EEB; Brooklyn Lennes, EEB

Driving Sustainability: Electrifying a food truck in Worthington

The Tacos Coahuila food truck in Worthington, Minnesota, seeks to address the environmental and economic challenges associated with using gas generators to power food truck appliances. Gas generators are not only costly to operate but also contribute to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Tacos Coahuila aims to partner in installing a battery system to power its appliances and share findings with the community in both English and Spanish. This initiative builds on a previous project led by the World Mart food truck in Worthington in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Extension Southwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (RSDP), Clean Energy Resource Teams, and the UMN Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The prior project explored designs and considerations for replacing gas generators with battery systems and solar panels to enhance efficiency and sustainability. The new partnership seeks to replicate and expand these findings, promoting cost-effective, sustainable practices among food trucks, with a focus on the battery system.

Team Members: Beth Labenz (PI), Southwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (RSDP), Extension; Conchita Paez-Sievert, SNAP-Ed, Extension; Nadya Bucklin, Clean Energy Resource Team (CERTs); Jesus Pinales, Tacos Coahuila

Engaging youth in testing novel methods of weed suppression and soil remediation in urban ecological restorations

Urban ecological restorations are vital for improving biodiversity, air and water quality, and providing social and cultural benefits to communities. However, restoring urban ecosystems comes with unique challenges, including heavy metal contamination in soils and high weed abundance. In the Twin Cities, industrial activities have left soils polluted with heavy metals, posing risks to people and wildlife. Our project tests multiple weed suppression methods, including exploring the effects of adding biochar – a charcoal-like material made by burning plant matter – on soil health, weed suppression, and pollutant remediation. While biochar has been well-studied in agriculture, its effects in urban ecological restorations are less understood. This work is a collaboration among scientists, local restoration practitioners, and high school students from the nonprofit Urban Roots, offering both hands-on research and educational opportunities in urban environmental restoration.

Team Members: Lindsey Kemmerling (PI), Ecology, Evolution & Behavior; Alexandra Griffin, EEB; Leta Landucci, EEB; Madeline Taylor, Earth and Environmental Sciences; David Woods, Urban Roots

Healing relationships with Manoomin

The “Healing Relationships with Manoomin Guidebook” shares teachings from 17 Manoomin knowledge holders on healing relationships with Manoomin (Ojibwemowin word for Psiη in Dakota, wild rice in English). The guidebook is intended for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Manoomin harvesters, stewards, and other relatives who would like to learn from each other about the gifts Manoomin offers us all. Four fundamental teachings emerged from the stories knowledge holders shared about Manoomin relationships. These teachings are shared so that we all may learn from them. The cultural advisor, Kathy Chosa Smith, enrolled member of Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Manoomin Ganawandang with Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, observed “Manoomin is speaking through us, Manoomin is a beautiful gift that brings our voices together.” The project team seeks support to share the guidebook and these many voices, free-of-charge, with community members at Manoomin events.

Team Members: Mae Davenport (PI), Center for Changing Landscapes; Giovanni Delgado Ortiz, Department of Forest Resources

Just Us Garden

Prisons and the experiences of those who are currently incarcerated are often left out of discussions about environmental sustainability and environmental justice. However, prisons are places of racialized violence, act as spaces of food apartheid, and are massive sources of food waste and other chemical inputs. 

The Just Us Garden aims to grow a vibrant community space in North Minneapolis that raises awareness about the poor food quality in Minnesota prisons. The garden will include growing beds that are the same size as prison mattresses, planted with food and flowers requested by someone who is currently incarcerated, and will feature their stories, testimonies and perspectives on food justice and sovereignty. The food from the gardens will be shared with their family, friends and local community. These beds will illustrate the abundance that can grow within the size of a prison bed and the possibility of transformation that is possible in every person. Importantly, the garden will also be a space for community gathering, youth education, and for people coming home from prisons to heal and engage in garden-based restorative programs.

Team Members: Lee Guekguezian (PI), Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, Humphrey School; Emma Verkuilen, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, School of Public Health; Maurice Ward, JIIVE; Clinton Omuya, Faribault Correctional Facility; Michael Chaney; Fayola Jacobs, Urban and Regional Planning; Lia Spaniolo, Extension in Hennepin County; Mary Rogers, Department of Entomology; Julia Brokaw, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation; Anita Gates, Zintkala Luta

Mass for the Endangered: Supporting biodiversity in the Twin Ports

Despite the availability of extensive scientific research on local biodiversity challenges, this research often fails to inspire tangible conservation efforts at the community level. Many people, especially younger generations, feel increasingly discouraged by anthropogenic climate change and its impacts on biodiversity, yet lack a sense of agency or empowerment to enact change.

This project addresses the need for publicly-engaged, interdisciplinary work that fosters conservation efforts at the community level by increasing the public’s emotional connection to the problem of biodiversity loss. The project will host two public, interactive performances of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Mass for the Endangered,” a powerful contemporary classical work that reimagines the traditional Catholic Mass as a prayer for endangered species and their habitats. Performances will include pre-show talks by conservation experts and educational displays featuring endangered habitats and species from our region, including the Canada lynx, wood turtle, and piping plover. Attendees, including 400 elementary school students, will receive packets of native plant seeds for distribution. This event aims to make the problem of biodiversity loss accessible and personally meaningful to diverse audiences in the Duluth-Superior region, fostering direct conservation activity.

Team Members: Kathryn Van Wert (PI), UMD English Department; Richard Carrick, Borealis Chamber Artists

Our Wildlife, Our Identity: Connecting public perceptions and biodiversity conservation in Minnesota

Biodiversity loss remains one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, yet public support for conservation efforts often hinges on a small subset of wildlife that capture cultural resonance. These “ambassador,” “flagship,” or “iconic” species often symbolize entire landscapes and local identities, galvanizing community support and financial backing for conservation efforts that benefit both the species themselves and the ecosystems they represent.

This project explores how public perceptions of iconic wildlife shape support for biodiversity conservation. Through an interactive art and survey experience at the Driven to Discover (D2D) Research Facility at the 2025 Minnesota State Fair, we will engage hundreds of participants in identifying which plants and animals they consider most iconic to Minnesota and why. The project brings together science, creativity, and community voices to examine how cultural values align – or don’t – with conservation needs. Findings will be shared through a peer-reviewed research article, a community-created art mural for outreach and storytelling, and a research brief featuring visually accessible infographics tailored to the needs of our community partners. By uncovering what drives public connection to wildlife, this work will help conservation and education organizations more effectively engage public audiences and build long-term support for protecting both iconic species and the ecosystems they represent.

Team Members: Katherine Charton (Co-PI), Institute on the Environment; Amy Waananen (Co-PI), IonE; Jessica Hellmann, IonE; Marissa Ahlering, The Nature Conservancy; Rob Croll, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission; Jennifer Stampe, Bell Museum; Hilarie Sorensen, Minnesota Sea Grant

Site evaluation and construction of the new West Bank community garden

Since 2015, The IonE Mini Grant has funded the establishment and maintenance of the West Bank Community Garden (WBCG). IonE’s dedication to sustainable futures has allowed students to maintain twelve private and three communal plots in the garden, uniting Cedar Riverside residents, students, and faculty in a shared learning experience. Following the news of necessary construction to aid water infiltration issues around the Wilson library, the garden leadership team has decided to pursue a new location for the living learning lab in coordination with UMN Landcare and Facilities Management. Due to previous soil quality and water filtration struggles at the current site, the WBCG will pursue a collaborative process of new site evaluation, design, and establishment to create a more sustainable and viable garden for the university and broader community.

Team Members: Thomas Michaels (PI), UMN Department of Horticulture; Melissa Licht, UMN English Department; Elizabeth Gens, University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Ella Kunstman, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Turning Textile Waste into Plant Protection: Developing and testing biodegradable weed suppressant mats from recycled post-consumer apparel

The United States generates approximately 17 million tons of textile waste annually. Of the total textile waste generated, only 14.7% was recycled. The environmental impact is further underscored by textiles representing 7.7% of all municipal solid waste deposited in landfills nationwide.

This project addresses the growing issue of textile waste by transforming discarded clothing into biodegradable weed suppressant mats for sustainable landscaping. Using the Fiber Shredder, a patent pending mechanical recycling technology developed at UMD, post-consumer apparel and pre-consumer textile scraps will be recycled into fibers that will be thermally bonded using biodegradable PLA film to form nonwoven mats. These mats will be tested for tensile strength and water permeability and field-evaluated at community partners Shoreview Natives in Two Harbors and the UMN Student Organic Farm in St. Paul to assess their effectiveness in suppressing weeds and retaining moisture. This collaboration aims to demonstrate a practical, eco-friendly alternative to plastic weed barriers while advancing circular economy principles. The project will not only divert waste from landfills but also serve as a model for campus-community partnerships in sustainable innovation.

Team Members: Abigail Clarke-Sather (PI), Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, UMD; Hira Durrani, Applied Materials Science, UMD

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Molly Stroh (she/her) is a communications and editorial fellow at IonE and a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota with a degree in Journalism and Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. Her professional passions include environmental storytelling and public interest communications.