Catch up on the latest news, milestones, and developments from Jefferson Trust-supported projects across UVA and beyond.
- The Trust’s Fall 2026 Major Grants were featured The Cavalier Daily and CBS19 News. Read more about the six projects receiving $812,064 in support of innovative research, student learning, and career preparation.
- Over the past year, three student filmmakers have explored what Student Self-Governance looks like at UVA by interviewing and filming fellow student leaders and documenting what they learned along the way. Watch their 5-part video series to hear perspectives on this longstanding UVA tradition.
- DemCap Classroom is helping K-12 teachers and students explore the ideas, history, and practice of democracy and capitalism. Its new, free classroom resource has launched, featuring teacher-created lesson plans, primary sources, and professional development opportunities. Check back regularly as new materials are added.
- Zack Landsman, founder of Junk Labz and a past Trust grant recipient, recently appeared on Sustainably Speaking: Beyond the Classroom to discuss the organization’s journey – from recycling printers to create STEM kits to exploring plastics recycling and developing products from recycled plastic sheets. Listen to the episode to hear about lessons learned and what’s next for Junk Labz.
- A Jefferson Trust grant supported Ehsan Baharlou’s research into how recyclable plastics could be repurposed into furniture, including the Being Plastic, Becoming Plastic symposium and exhibition. That work has since grown into Plastic Futures in Architecture: From Recycled Synthetic to Bio-Based Polymers, a new book featuring 27 contributors from around the world, including five original speakers from the symposium. The book builds on Baharlou’s Plastic Techne framework, which organizes the volume around three modes: Being, Becoming and Beyond.