Data Team

The Data Team collects, processes, and analyzes the information needed to evaluate UVA's nitrogen footprint. By turning purchasing, food, energy, and other university data into measurable nitrogen impacts, the team helps track UVA's progress toward its goal of reducing nitrogen losses to the environment.

Turning University Data into a Nitrogen Footprint

Since 2014, the Nitrogen Working Group has evaluated, tracked, and worked to reduce UVA's nitrogen footprint. The Data Team plays a central role in that work by collecting information from across the University and transforming it into a consistent dataset that can be used to calculate and track nitrogen losses over time.

Much of this work centers on food purchasing data. Each year, NWG students analyze more than 80,000 lines of food data to calculate UVA's nitrogen footprint for the previous year. The team also works with partners and external tools to improve how these data are processed, categorized, and incorporated into footprint calculations.

Tracking UVA's Nitrogen Footprint

The Data Team's work contributes to UVA's long-term effort to reduce reactive nitrogen losses to the environment. UVA's current goal is to reduce nitrogen losses by 30% below 2010 levels by 2030.

Food Data at Scale

Food is an important component of UVA's nitrogen footprint, making detailed food purchasing data essential to the Data Team's work. Each year, students process more than 80,000 lines of food data to calculate the University's food-related nitrogen impacts.

Building Better Data Systems

The Data Team's work continues to evolve as the NWG improves how food and other resource data are processed and analyzed. The team uses programming, data validation, and footprint modeling to make a large and complex dataset more useful for understanding UVA's environmental impact.

In 2025–2026, UVA also partnered with the sustainability analysis platform SIMAP and tastefood.org to help establish a Food Emissions Working Group involving nearly 30 colleges and universities. The collaboration provides an opportunity to share approaches for tracking and reducing food-related emissions across higher education.

From Measurement to Action

Data gives the Nitrogen Working Group a way to measure where nitrogen losses come from, track change over time, and identify opportunities for reduction. The Data Team's work provides the foundation for turning UVA's nitrogen footprint into informed sustainability action.