Campus sustainability projects offer opportunities to link campus operations with academics. For ecologists, these links can include building upon urban long term ecological research such as urban nitrogen budgeting. In addition, the campus can serve as a tool to examine local biodiversity, urban storm water, and climate change issues in the classroom. This presentation will describe how an urban nitrogen budget at the University of Minnesota was developed. In addition, this presentation will describe how the Sustainability Office and the environmental studies department at Macalester College currently collaborate to develop campus sustainability academic projects. By linking to campus sustainability projects, ecologists have an opportunity to improve pedagogy, connect students to civic engagement, and offer real-world projects without leaving campus.