RADFORD -- Radford University’s Organizational Research Team will be conducting a Carbon Footprint Survey to measure greenhouse gas emissions generated by commuting to and from the campus by RU’s students, faculty and staff.

All members of the RU community are asked to complete the brief, anonymous survey, accessible online.

The survey is in compliance with one of RU’s main sustainability initiatives, the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), which was signed last October by RU President Penelope W. Kyle and serves as a pledge by RU to reduce its greenhouse emissions along with other colleges and universities in the United States.

Designed, compiled and processed by the Center for Social and Cultural Research in the department of sociology, the survey will attempt to quantify greenhouse gas emissions associated with campus commuting. The data will helo guide RU in making transportation service decisions and emission reductions.

"The data gathered from the survey will help RU make evidence-based decisions on a car sharing program, improvements for biking on campus and provide data for the mandated greenhouse gas inventory,” said Jeanne Mekolichick, director of the Center for Social and Cultural Research. “The collaboration between RU's Office of Sustainability, the Sustainability Steering Committee and the research team is an outstanding illustration of undergraduate research meeting the needs of the community.”

The survey period will be April 15 -27, and the final report is scheduled to be completed by May 6.