Who is eligible to compete
Any student or team of students enrolled at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, San Diego, Santa Barbara, or Santa Cruz may submit an application to represent their campus in either the Climate Science or Climate Solutions competitions. Riverside and San Francisco are using internal events to select their two winners and two runners-up in each competition. Your application will be evaluated by qualified UC faculty and staff, including those of local campus sustainability and entrepreneurship offices. Each campus will be responsible for selecting their Carbon Slam finalists: one winning individual or team and one runner-up individual or team in each competition, Climate Science and Climate Solutions, for a total of four (individuals or teams) from each campus.
Competition categories
Climate Science includes research on global and local climate change scenarios and the impact of climate change on human and natural ecosystems (terrestrial, freshwater, marine) from individual through ecosystem levels, land/sea management, government and economic systems, and human health and prosperity.
Climate Solutions includes topics covering land and water resource management, renewable energy, energy storage, energy efficiency, biomass, carbon-neutral fuels, green technology, carbon tax, environmental policies, or other solutions that reduce the negative impacts of climate change or help reduce climate change on local and global scales.
Live pitch and poster guidelines
You will know by April 29 if you have been selected as a finalist (winner or runner-up) at your campus in the competition category you entered. Winners will present 3-minute pitches in front of judges and invited guests at Carbon Slam on May 23 in Silicon Valley, at a venue to be announced soon. Runners-up will present their research results on posters at a poster session and reception at Carbon Slam on May 23. Check Pitch Guidelines and Poster Guidelines for more information on how to prepare your presentations for the live event.
Stipends and travel expenses
All Carbon Slam finalists (each team member) will be awarded a stipend of $300 to attend the Carbon Slam event on May 23. In addition, we will work with each campus to cover student travel costs to the event.
Consent for the University of California to use your information
By applying for and being selected as a Carbon Slam finalist, you agree to have your name, program, presentation format, title, and project summary included in printed and web-based event materials.
Apply
To enter Carbon Slam in either the Climate Science or Climate Solutions category and compete to be a finalist as an individual student or student team from your campus, read and follow the Carbon Slam Video Submission Instructions.
The deadline to submit your application and video is 11:59 pm, April 18th.
Questions
If you have questions, including whether your topic qualifies under Climate Science or Climate Solutions, contact Sue Carter at carbon-slam@ucsc.edu.