CEL Projects
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VU Students: join the CEL email list here for updates on upcoming events!
Note: Certain Coffee Equity Lab Projects are eligible for Immersion Vanderbilt credit. Contact Professors Gabriel Torres Colon or Paul Stob with questions.
Coming February 2025: Coffee Equity Design Challenge (Case Study Competition)
- Over the course of one month, students will engage in a case study of agricultural solutions and their sustainability implications through an environmental, economic, and social lens. Winners will be awarded cash/coffee prizes and may have opportunities to present at national industry events.
- Selected applicants will meet Tuesdays (Buttrick 123) and Thursdays (Zoom) from 5-6p CST. Meetings (Feb 4 – Mar 4) will consist of lectures and direct mentorship from coffee industry professionals/researchers with expertise in sustainability issues. Students will present an analysis of the challenge case and propose a creative solution to make the value chain more equitable.
- Students: apply here for the Coffee Equity Design Challenge!
October 2024 (Returning Spring 2025): Sustainable Coffee Hour
- We were joined by Tom Valentine, Education Director at Crema Coffee Roasters in Nashville, who shared some exceptional coffees over a conversation on flavor profiles, processing types, and transparency.
September 2024 Collaboration with CxffeeBlack: Decolonizing Coffee Through Entrepreneurship
- We had the privilege of hosting international coffee scholars/research fellows as part of the Barista Exchange Program, led by award-winning roaster Cxffeeblack based in Memphis, TN, to explore precolonial ideologies and their place in a decolonized future for Africans and Afro diasporan communities.
- Article: Sprudge
- Bartholomew Jones, Cxffeeblack Founder, Speaking at TEDxMemphis as part of the Barista Exchange Program
Spring 2024: Coffee Equity Design Challenge (Pitch Competition)
- Vanderbilt students collaborated with peers, faculty, and coffee industry professionals over the course of the semester to identify equity problems and paths forward in the global value chain.Challenge winner, Samuel Ea ‘25, was invited to present his project at Re:Bloom in Chapel Hill, NC, an educational event hosted by the USA Chapter of the Specialty Coffee Association.
- Article: VU Arts & Science
Fall 2022: Partnership with Del Fuego Project
- Students in the “How to Make (Almost) Anything and Make it Matter” course, taught by Dr. Kevin Galloway, worked to prototype micro-processing mills for smallholder coffee farms. With the support of nonprofit the Del Fuego Project, which jointly coordinated the experience, Students traveled to Yepocapa, Guatemala, to research coffee drying technology and its impact on farmer livelihoods.
- Article: VU Research News
Spring 2022: Coffee Equity Design Challenge
- The semester-long immersive learning and pitch competition challenged students, faculty, and coffee industry actors to visually represent information pertinent to sustainability.
- Webpage: The Center at Sucafina