Communicating care for environmental, economic, & social justice

Care for the environment, economy, and social justice converge in sustainability, an international and interdisciplinary ideal that shapes a range of attitudes, behaviors, practices, and systems.

As for stories—nothing may be more fundamental to life than perhaps, well, life.

Through studying, hearing, amplifying and co-creating stories in ways that are attuned to power, culture and ecology, the Sustainability and Storytelling Lab (or SAS Lab, affectionately called the “sass” lab, note below) aspires to hold unsustainable acts accountable and to make sustainable futures possible.

We facilitate high-impact learning for students through courses, publications, and community-based research that bridge theory and practice. The SAS Lab’s practices move through face-to-face interactions and across media, including podcasting and online story mapping. Our mission is enacted through collaborations across CU Boulder, as well as with off-campus partners locally and globally.

Objectives: The broad objectives of the Sustainability & Storytelling Lab include:

• Advocate for sustainability and storytelling opportunities as vital to environmental, economic, and social justice, as a matter of procedure, distribution, and restoration
• Increase knowledge about sustainability, including matters related to climate, toxic pollution, public health, and just transitions
• Publicize sustainable and unsustainable acts, as well as stories about them
• Mitigate communication’s capacity for harm
• Develop praxis (theory/practice) about storytelling as constitutive of culture and power relations, whether in person at a specific location or through multi-media
• Hone skills in researching, analyzing, teaching, learning, collaborating, and creating
• Foster capacity building for all involved in or with the lab
• Energize networks among people dedicated to sustainability, including faculty, staff, students, and partners off-campus
• Contribute to the greater good, on campus, in the state, nationally, and internationally
• Communicate care for ourselves, others, and the world

What We Do:

The SAS Lab enacts our mission through collaborations across campus, as well as with communities and institutions. We co-create storytelling across media, including a podcast, ArcGIS StoryMaps, and community engagement face to face, as well as archival research and analysis of texts. Reflecting our expertise areas in communication, media, environmental and ethnic studies, our work involves a range of research approaches and practices to unsustainability and sustainability, including:

• documenting tours of waste/wasted infrastructure hosted by workers & communities mapping their expertise about everyday life
• listening to & amplifying the voices of communities most impacted by unsustainability, as well as advocacy, governance, & operations experts (on & off our podcast)
• co-creating storytelling opportunities across media platforms and social networks to foster more sustainable imaginings
• consulting with and increasing the capacity of governments, NGOs and media institutions to achieve sustainability goals
• critically interrupting unsustainability, particularly environmental and climate injustices, and speaking up for more sustainable principles and actions to the best of our abilities
• collaborating across faculty, students, staff, and administration at CU Boulder to network and catalyze sustainable education, research, and service for the future

In Spring 2025, we’re co-sponsoring Dr. Angela J. Aguayo’s visit to campus, a compelling documentary scholar and filmmaker: https://vast.colorado.edu/angela-aguayo/.

Annual report (Forthcoming May 2025). Contact us if you are interested in working with us for credit and an internship stipend–or if you would like to become a community partner: saslab [at] colorado [dot] edu

Undergraduate students: starting in January 2025, the SAS Lab is providing both credit and stipend opportunities for studies with the goal of doing so every semester. We welcome honors thesis projects, ENVS interns, COMM interns, and more. The SAS Lab currently has an open door policy across undergraduate and graduate students actively working on our many initiatives; contact us if you want to discuss if joining is appropriate for you: saslab [at] colorado [dot] edu

Graduate students: If you would like to work with Prof. Pezzullo, she can direct MA and PhD students in the Department of Communication and Media Studies; she also can co-direct in Environmental Studies and is affiliated with Ethnic Studies. Of course, when appropriate, she has served on committees across campus and campuses as well. Funding at CU Boulder is provided through the departments; the SAS Lab has no funding for graduate student lines or postdoctoral students at this time. Again, the SAS Lab currently has an open door policy across undergraduate and graduate students actively working on our many initiatives; contact us if you want to discuss if joining is appropriate for you: saslab [at] colorado [dot] edu

Our nickname: In North American cultures, “sass” can imply disrespect, but it also signifies garden vegetables grown for food and audacious and bold speech or behavior. Affectionatey called the SAS (pronounced “sass”) Lab, one might say we encourage nourishing attitudes–as well as challenging the status quo–through smart, lively, and courageous acts in the face of complex and often stressful challenges. When carelessness abounds, sass offers an expression of playful care—for ourselves, others, and the planet. 

Funders include: PACES, the College of Media, Communication, and Information, as well as the Department of Communication at CU Boulder, deCastro grants, Waterhouse Family Institute, and donations from generous mission-aligned people who want a more just and sustainable future.