Sustainable Spelman

03/26/2026

03/18/2026

SPELMAN INNOVATORS DEVELOPING ‘PLANTGPT,’ AI TOOL DESIGNED TO GIVE ANYONE A GREEN THUMB

Joy Rutledge and Temple Dees are working at Spelman College’s Arthur M. Blank Innovation Lab to develop an AI program that assesses environmental data from plants into real time care guidance.

The project, PlantGPT, connects plant sensors to artificial intelligence software and analyzes environmental conditions to provide feedback about plant health. An elite team of Spelman innovators, including Rutledge, Dees, Grace Burch, Jessica Obi, and Devyn Washington, have worked on the project at different stages.

“Plant GPT is a way to be able to talk to your plants,” Rutledge said in an Instagram video created by Spelman. “So, when your plant is dying, you need to know what type of information the plant needs or resources that the plant needs, such as water, sunlight, nutrients.”

The system gathers environmental readings using sensors placed near the plant. Those sensors monitor conditions, including soil moisture, humidity, temperature and light exposure. The data is then transmitted to an artificial intelligence model that interprets the readings and produces recommendations for plant care.

“So we’ve basically created sensors and connected it to an AI,” Dees said. “You’re able to get this real time data from your plant that way when it does notify you, you’ll be able to adjust the conditions of your plant.”

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Joy Rutledge and Temple Dees are working at Spelman College’s Innovation Lab to develop PlantGPT so plant owners can stay informed.

03/17/2026

From Campus to Community: Inside Spelman College’s Growing Sustainability Initiative

Under President Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s leadership, Spelman College became one of the first HBCUs to develop a climate action plan to reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions through the creation of its Sustainability Spelman Initiative. Sustainability Spelman aims to create a culture of climate neutrality by reducing the campus wide ecological footprint and promoting sustainability.

Iesha for Drawdown GARecently, Drawdown GA, a statewide initiative working to catalyze a Georgia beyond carbon, interviewed Spelman’s sustainability coordinator Iesha Baldwin to understand how much the initiative has evolved and impacted sustainability on campus.

In the interview, Baldwin shared that Spelman’s initiatives range from energy efficiency to food waste reduction. The success of these initiatives is rooted in Spelman’s strong foundation of leadership support. The Sustainability Spelman initiatives include:

- Building improvements and energy efficiency, supported by external partners and campus-wide assessments

-Food waste reduction and composting, integrated into dining services and event operations

-Student training in the built environment, helping prepare the next generation of facilities, energy, and sustainability professionals

-Community engagement and storytelling, ensuring operational wins are visible and understood

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Under President Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s leadership, Spelman College became one of the first HBCUs to develop a climate action plan to reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions through the creation of its Sustainability Spelman Initiative. Sustainability Spelman aims to create a culture of climate ...

01/10/2026

https://afrotech.com/spelman-college-composting-initiative-diverts-300000-pounds-food-waste

According to an impact report from Compost Now, the college’s program has diverted 301,649 pounds of food waste since early 2020. The diversion prevented an estimated 784,288 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, similar to the effects of driving 880,5062 miles, and avoided more than 31,000 pounds o...

12/17/2024

Gary Anderson, a 23-year-old architecture student, created the famous recycling logo in 1970. His design, featuring three chasing arrows, won a contest by the Container Corporation of America and has since become a global symbol for environmental awareness and sustainability.

11/13/2024

https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/an-america-sized-hole-in-the-world?r=3cxi4&utm_medium=ios&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1wRKJ6zhnuPt-u3lq16D2MhImj0bQuCRj9AQaqS7ZVyDxeTd6924j0vXY_aem_q-EgxLcHQJRj_HRWDqZPag&triedRedirect=true

Washington won't help in the climate fight, but there's still a key role for Americans

01/13/2024

Only one month left to register for the 2024 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit! Join us in Long Beach, California, February 11-13, 2024 for hands-on, interactive sessions and opportunities to connect with campus climate professionals and sustainability solutions providers from all over the country! Register for the summit now: https://bit.ly/2024HECLS