University of Tennessee

Tennessee Collegians Reel in Conservation

CFACT Collegians Sophie Fuller and Markus Fee of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga recently took students off campus and out onto Chickamauga Lake for an afternoon of fishing, fellowship, and hands-on conservation. The fishing trip brought together 10 attendees on April 28, including UTC students and several community members, for three hours on the water in Chattanooga. With rods in hand and CFACT’s conservation message at the center of the day, students learned responsible fishing practices, picked up tactical fishing tips, and discussed how private hatcheries play a vital role in maintaining native fish species. By the end of the [...]

By Nate Myers |2026-05-11T20:07:38-04:00May 11th, 2026|Comments Off

Sounding the Alarm: Real Estate Broker Warns UTK of New ESG Threat

More than 30 people gathered at the University of Tennessee for a guest lecture and dinner hosted by CFACT campus representatives Emma Arns and Jude Abernathy (left and middle in photo above holding flag), featuring real estate broker and accredited land consultant Stephanie Cross. Her presentation focused on how ESG-related metrics are beginning to influence the housing market, particularly through third-party “climate risk” scores assigned to residential properties. Cross explained that private organizations such as First Street Foundation are increasingly generating property-level “climate risk” scores using proprietary models. These ratings are now being integrated into major real estate platforms, influencing how [...]

By Emma Arns |2026-06-10T16:16:59-04:00April 3rd, 2026|Comments Off

Beanbags & Biodiversity: CFACT Collegians Take Aim at Invasive Species

When it comes to conservation, CFACT Collegians aren’t content to sit in a classroom and theorize—they bring the message straight to their peers in ways that are engaging, memorable, and rooted in real-world impact. That spirit was on full display as students at two major universities put their own creative spin on the “Invasive Species Round-Up” event, turning a serious ecological issue into hands-on, interactive learning. At the University of Tennessee Knoxville, collegian Jude Abernathy introduced what he dubbed the “Invasive Species Cornhole Quiz.” Interacting with over 25 students throughout the day while donning an orange hunting safety vest, Jude transformed a [...]

By Emma Arns |2026-06-15T15:31:05-04:00March 26th, 2026|Comments Off

The Snack that Gives Back: UTK Collegian Challenges CO₂ Myths

Sometimes the most effective way to challenge a misconception isn’t with a sophisticated marketing or detailed presentations—it’s with a snack. That was exactly the strategy employed by CFACT Collegian Emma Arns at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who recently hosted “plant-based snack giveaway” tabling event designed to tackle one of the most persistent myths on campus: that CO₂ is a pollutant rather than an essential building block of life. College students rarely get to hear perspectives other than climate alarmism, making tabling events like Emma’s invaluable opportunities to challenge narratives and dispel misconceptions. Emma transformed a simple table into a platform [...]

By Emma Arns |2026-06-10T15:36:38-04:00March 20th, 2026|Comments Off

From Houston to Knoxville: Nuggets vs. Narratives

Across two campuses nearly 800 miles apart, CFACT Collegians recently challenged one of the loudest cultural claims of the climate movement: that Americans must give up real meat for plant-based substitutes. As part of CFACT’s Climate Realism Campaign, campus representatives at the University of Houston and the University of Tennessee Knoxville hosted Blind Meat Taste Tests, inviting students to sample chicken nuggets alongside plant-based “nuggets” and guess which was which. Instead of lecturing their peers about methane, lab-grown protein, or the questionable nutrition of ultra-processed meat substitutes, our students did something far more effective. They let the taste buds decide. University of [...]

By Emma Arns |2026-06-10T12:10:15-04:00February 19th, 2026|Comments Off