Georgia Southern University has been named a finalist for the 2017 Climate Leadership Awards by Second Nature.

The awards recognize universities who have made a commitment to innovative and advanced leadership in sustainability, climate mitigation and resilience. These universities are part of the President’s Climate Leadership Commitments, a group of presidents from various universities that already have a significant commitment to sustainability.

“It is a tremendous honor and great accomplishment for Georgia Southern to be named a part of this very selective group,” said Lissa Leege, Ph.D., director for the Center for Sustainability. “This recognition will serve to further energize our pursuit of sustainability and to broaden our influence as we model sustainability for our students as future leaders.

Former University President Bruce Grube signed the Climate Commitment in 2007 for Georgia Southern, paving the way for the University’s national recognition.

Leege believes Georgia Southern was selected as a finalist in part because of the strong commitment students have to sustainability across campus.

“All Georgia Southern students take an Environmental Science course, and the student-initiated sustainability fee supports innovative sustainability advances on campus,” she said. “We are one of the state’s top participants in Georgia Power’s Commercial Energy Efficiency Rebate Program. We irrigate with a cutting-edge reuse water system, and we are ranked No. 1 nationally for the number of passengers on our buses per mile.”

The winning institutions will be announced in September, and the Awards ceremony will take place at the Greenbuild Leadership Awards Luncheon in Boston on Nov. 9. Winners will receive national recognition for the award, and winners and finalists will be listed permanently on the Second Nature Climate Leadership webpage.