Welcome to the Zilkha Center for the Environment
Zilkha Center for the Environment (ZCE) oversees campus sustainability efforts, manages Hopkins Memorial Forest in partnership with a committee of researchers and other stakeholders, offers time-honored co-curricular initiatives such as the student summer grant program, Log Lunch, and Maple Fest, and is the administrative home of the Environmental Justice Clinic.
Protecting the environment and building sustainable societies and economies takes all of us. The ZCE works to achieve Williams College's strategic sustainability goals. We emphasize engaging students in this work and—through our co-curricular programs and management of the Hopkins Memorial Forest—extend the opportunities for experiential learning, applied research and community engagement beyond our campus borders.
News & Updates
Log Lunch Summaries
Please join us for the Halloween costume swap happening on October 22nd in Baxter Hall. Come through if you don’t have a costume yet or have an old one you want to swap! This sustainable event provides an opportunity to reduce clothing waste and is being facilitated with the help of the 62’ Center for Theatre and Dance, we are thankful for acsess to their costume storage.
We are thrilled to present the Zilhka Center for the Environment’s cohort of interns for the 2026-27 academic year.! Our interns will be working across various sustainability oriented projects, so be sure to keep a look out for their work here on our social media, on our website (link in bio) and across campus. Our internship programs provide students with hands on experience in sustainability work. We are so excited to see our sustainability projects grow as this great group of interns gets to work!
We are thrilled to present the Zilhka Center for the Environment’s cohort of interns for the 2026-27 academic year.! Our interns will be working across various sustainability oriented projects, so be sure to keep a look out for their work here on our social media, on our website (link in bio) and across campus. Our internship programs provide students with hands on experience in sustainability work. We are so excited to see our sustainability projects grow as this great group of interns gets to work!
Congratulations to Sewall House and Dodd House, the winners of the Fall 2026 Residential Energy Competition! This year, the competition recognized two winners based on occupancy size: one dorm with fewer than 40 residents and one dorm with more than 40 residents. Sewall House took first place among small occupancy dorms, reducing its electricity consumption by 20.8% compared with its baseline. Hubbell House came in second, which reduced consumption by 17.9%, followed by Perry House which reduced consumption by 11.6%. Dodd House won the large-occupancy category with a 16.7% reduction in electricity consumption. West came in second with an 11.8% reduction, followed by Fitch at 8.3%.
Thank you for those who participated and congratulations to our two winning dorms! To view the full data from from the competition, check out the first link in our Linktr.ee in bio!
HAPPENING NOW: From September 21st to October 4th, all campus residences will compete to reduce their electricity usage. The winning dorm will be determined by percentage energy reduction from their historical baseline, adjusted for things like occupancy and weather. The students who occupy the winning dorm will receive one housing point; senior or co-op housing will be offered a pizza party! Real-time progress will be posted in locations around campus (Driscoll, Mission, Paresky, EcoCafe, and the Envi Center) with weekly updates.
Learn more here: sustainability.williams.edu/energy-competition (link is in our bio)!! ⚡️
Hopkins Memorial Forest manager Elise Leduc-Fleming, took ZCE staff and interns out to tour the recently acquired bog in Pownal Vermont! Stay tuned for how you too can explore the bog soon