Attendees from Arizona and beyond will explore ways to reimagine their homes – both collectively and individually – for a more sustainable future at the fourth annual Sustainability Solutions Festival, taking place throughout the Valley from Feb. 2-25, 2017.

by Adam Gabriele

Religions have undeniably shaped today’s world. Scholars in the field of Religion and Ecology study the billions of people worldwide who not only identify but also define themselves religiously.  They argue that any attempt to understand the thoughts and decision-making processes of human agents without considering religious drivers is impoverished.

Scholars of Religion and Ecology study religiously charged conflict and division, but they also highlight the potential for respectful inter-religious communication and cooperation. Indeed, Lynn White’s influential 1967 article “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis” – a central text in the field – makes the case that ideas particular to certain religions and religious scripture are most responsible for our current environmental precariousness.  He references the Hebrew Bible, for example, which authorizes humankind to have “dominion over the earth” (Genesis 1:28).

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Since its convening in 2008, the Sustainable Cities Network has maintained contact with EPA Region 9. This ongoing connection has allowed for each body – Region 9, ASU and Arizona communities – to learn and share knowledge, case studies and resources so that the lexicon of sustainability best practices steadily expands and so partnerships may emerge when interests align.

SCN recently interviewed Karen Irwin of EPA Region 9 to get details on the kind of support it can provide for urban sustainability initiatives, including smart growth, walkable and transit-oriented communities; green infrastructure; energy efficiency; renewable energy; waste reduction and materials reuse and recovery; sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure; and green fleets, among others. Read the full interview with Irwin to find out about additional opportunities, resources and ways to get involved with Region 9.

The U.N. anticipates that almost half of Earth's population will be living in “areas of high water stress” by 2030 as a result of climate change. Experts estimate that, without intervention, as many as 700 million people may find themselves displaced.

To build resilience to this scenario, ASU has partnered with Scottsdale’s future Desert Discovery Center – an expansive research center that teaches “a global audience to value, thrive in and conserve desert environments.”  The center's public face will feature a series of exhibits that address "what I can see, what I can’t see and what it all means."

“There are things going on in the desert that are deep in the crust, and they’re teeming with life,” says Senior Sustainability Scientist Duke Reiter. “But without this research and a sophisticated guide, at both a macro and micro scale, it would be impossible to see.”

The ASU Wrigley Institute is currently exploring opportunities for educational outreach services, particularly those that engage K-12 audiences, through the new center.

At the Sustainable Cities Network, we have maintained contacts within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9, the subdivision of the EPA serving the Pacific Southwest--including Arizona. Many resources are available through the EPA but the representatives within municipalities may not know about these resources, how to navigate them, or that the Region 9 Office can provide more targeted assistance. Karen Irwin, our primary contact at Region 9, has answered some questions to let us know how to best connect with the Region 9 office and resources.

Karen is an Environmental Protection Specialist in the U.S. EPA’s Pacific Southwest Office. Her work involves forming strategic partnerships with local governments and other entities to advance sustainability objectives such as renewable energy, waste reduction and recovery, and green streets and landscapes. Karen’s projects encompass developing informational tools and resources and providing technical assistance. She developed three national scale online tools published on EPA’s website. Prior to her current job, Karen served in EPA’s Air and Water programs acting on local rules and regional plans to meet national air and water quality standards. She received a Masters of Public Affairs from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Q: What resources and opportunities does EPA Region 9 offer to Arizona communities?

A: EPA offers a wide range of informational and analytical tools to help local governments move forward with sustainability initiatives in their communities, as well as grant and contractor technical assistance opportunities in certain focus areas. Sustainability initiatives supported by EPA encompass smart growth/walkable & transit-oriented communities, green infrastructure, energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste reduction & materials reuse and recovery, sustainable water & wastewater infrastructure, and green fleets, among others. Our tools often highlight best practices and exemplary programs implemented in urban and rural communities across the U.S. that can serve as case studies or templates for other communities.

Learning more specifics about the types of sustainability initiatives that Arizona local and tribal governments are interested in pursuing, as well as local needs and priorities, can help me identify which EPA tools and resources would be the most relevant and useful, as well as available resources from other organizations. I can also facilitate connections to Region 9 staff with topical expertise, if not myself, to offer support. For example, one of Region 9’s offices works to expand pollinator habitat; conversations fostered through the SCN network have led to interest by this office in pursuing a pilot project with an SCN member community to develop a pollinator protection plan, along with pollinator habitat.

Q: What activities are happening in other EPA Region 9 states that can benefit Arizona communities?

A: Several California communities (urban and rural, small and large) are leaders in sustainability, benefiting from State programs and funding that support implementation of environmentally beneficial practices. EPA Region 9 tracks many of these activities and can share with Arizona communities successful examples from California that are replicable in other areas.

Q: What are some opportunities that you can see for communities to improve their sustainability efforts? Low-hanging fruits?

A: There are many ways communities can incrementally improve their sustainability efforts – one of the lowest-hanging opportunities is to expand the objectives of a current project a local agency is already pursuing to add complimentary sustainability elements. For example, if a public works agency is re-designing a road to make it more pedestrian friendly, the re-design can integrate other ways to make the road project more sustainable, such as tree canopy, landscaping that infiltrates water, greener paving practices and pavement (e.g., to reduce urban heat island effect and use recycled materials), energy-saving light fixtures, pollinator-friendly plants, and clean construction equipment. Many of these elements can be implemented at equivalent or lower cost compared to conventional practices. Other low-hanging fruit opportunities exist with local government procurement and contracts, building permit review & approval, water and wastewater utility projects, fee structures for trash and recycling, and donation of edible food that would otherwise be wasted.

Q: How can cities get in contact with you and EPA Region 9 as a whole?

A: I encourage cities to reach out directly to me by phone (415) 947-4116 or email (irwin.karen@epa.gov). I’m also happy to connect Arizona communities to other EPA Region 9 staff who address various aspects of sustainable approaches for water, air, and land.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to highlight?

A: EPA Region 9 is a resource! I see great opportunity with ASU’s Sustainable Cities Network structure to exchange ideas, consider how EPA assistance may be beneficial in securing robust local outcomes, and to share information on successful examples and how to overcome obstacles.

Since its convening in 2008, the Sustainable Cities Network has maintained contact with EPA Region 9. This ongoing connection has allowed for each body--Region 9, ASU, and Arizona communities--to learn and share knowledge, case studies, and resources, so that each's lexicon of sustainability best practices steadily expands and so partnerships may emerge when interests align.

Interview conducted by Erin Rugland, SCN Student Assistant, via email

Nobel Laureate and Distinguished Sustainability Scientist Leland Hartwell received Research!America’s Geoffrey Beene Builders of Science Award, which recognizes those who have provided leadership and determination in building an outstanding scientific research organization.

Hartwell, an ASU School of Sustainability professor and the director of the Pathfinder Center at ASU's Biodesign Institute, was honored for his commitment as president and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center from 1997 to 2010.

“Research!America is honored to recognize Dr. Hartwell for his exemplary leadership as a researcher, educator and lifelong advocate for scientific discovery," said Research!America President and CEO Mary Woolley. "Dr. Hartwell is deeply committed to educating the next generation of critical thinkers in health, education, technology and sustainability. We salute his achievements."

ASU School of Sustainability's new sustainable energy PhD program will kick off in August 2017, focusing on overcoming obstacles to implementing national renewable energy systems.

Christine Sturm, a PhD candidate in the school, looks to Germany's renewable energy transition to learn from the substantial challenges it has faced.

She explains, "Energy systems are complex amalgams of technologies, institutions, markets, regulations and social arrangements. Nations have little experience intervening in such socio-technical systems.”

According to Professor and Senior Sustainability Scientist Martin Pasqualetti, these are precisely the challenges students in the revolutionary new program will address.

“We’re going to be a leading educational institution on this,” he says.

The backbone of agriculture production and food security in developing countries is smallholder farmers. Those smallholder farmers have small pieces of land and mainly rely on family labor. But in the last decades, those farmers have experienced increasing challenges such as extreme weather events, increasing dependency on fertilizers and pesticides, and increasing dependency of global markets that define the prices for their products. How will those farmers cope with those challenges?

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA – co-authored by School of Sustainability Professors Marty Anderies and Marco Janssen – shows that those external challenges affect the way those communities make investment decisions on their infrastructure. The international research team performed experiments in 118 small scale rice-producing communities in China, Colombia, Nepal and Thailand. The results show that the more a community is integrated with the market economy the less those communities invest in the community’s public good during the experiment. Furthermore, when communities face collective risks, this effect is amplified.

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On January 18^th, the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes (CBO), in partnership with the Security and Sustainability Forum and ASU School of Sustainability, facilitated a free webinar titled Why Companies Should Care About Biodiversity.

Corporations engage in sustainable practices for reasons beyond creating a positive public image. Sustainability practices also improve profitability and help businesses comply with emerging regulations. Many companies look outside their own doors for help in making smart choices and maximizing the impact of those choices.

Maintaining a cooperative dialogue between corporate, NGO and academic sectors is fundamental in developing and sharing creative solutions to pressing biodiversity conservation issues.

Webinar panelists included Gabriella Burian (Senior Director, Sustainable Development at Monsanto), Mark Weick (Director, Sustainability Programs at The Dow Chemical Company), Jen Molnar (Managing Director and Lead Scientist of The Nature Conservancy’s new Center for Sustainability Science) and Beth Polidoro (Assistant Professor of Environmental Chemistry at ASU's School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences and Associate Director of Research at CBO).

A free recording of the webinar is available here.

Particularly with the growing influx of refugees from neighboring countries, communities across the Middle East are facing severe water shortages. Some communities rely on limited and variable water supplies without the infrastructure to adequately treat and transport the water. Energy sources needed to purify water can be inaccessible, expensive or unreliable.

That's why an ASU-led global consortium will implement a two-year, $1.95 million USAID project to develop and test affordable, portable clean water solutions in the region. The project – established in accordance with community-specific legal and cultural frameworks – will be implemented in 18 communities throughout Jordan and Lebanon, benefiting more than 36,000 people.

Leading the consortium are Richard Rushforth – a project manager for the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives – and sustainability scientists Rhett Larson and Nathan Johnson. Together, their expertise spans sustainability, law and engineering, and they are joined in the consortium by public and private partners from across the globe.

ASU School of Sustainability instructor Brigitte Bavousett spoke with ASU Now to break down the basics of sustainable consumption and lend insight into lesser-known tactics for reducing our carbon footprints.

Bavousett recommends avoiding products with palm oil, as well as seeking out clothing made with sustainable materials or purchasing clothing at thrift stores. She also insists on avoiding plastic when making purchases. This includes rejecting plastic packaging and bringing reusable bags or requesting paper at check-out.

Bavousett expresses that although sustainable alternatives receive criticism for being more expensive, their benefits far outweigh their financial costs.

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Adding an additional layer of transdisciplinary knowledge to the program, Nobel Laureate Lee Hartwell – known for his work on the cutting edge of health science innovation – joins the School of Sustainability faculty.

Hartwell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2001 for his discoveries of a specific class of genes that control the cell cycle. His interests have since turned to how researchers can use the enormous knowledge that has accumulated during the last 50 years in genetics and biochemistry to improve molecular diagnostics to benefit human health.

The annual Transportation Research Board meeting in January 2017 featured ASU professors who discussed the future of transit in a changing world.

The presentations reflected insights from across the university, including from the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. ASU experts focused on advances in transportation sectors such as drone delivery, housing and biking, as well as taxis and ride hailing.

School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning Director and Senior Sustainability Scientist Trisalyn Nelson expressed the necessity for improving our current transportation systems.

"There’s an increasing tension between how we move through a city and our health and well-being and happiness," she says. "If we want healthy populations that are connecting to communities and moving through them in a smart way, this kind of research is really important."

In partnership with The Nature Conservancy's NatureNet program, ASU's Center for Biodiversity Outcomes is hiring a postdoctoral research associate.

The fellow will partner with a team of interdisciplinary faculty to address multiple aspects of biodiversity conservation in the business sector. They will also have an opportunity to work closely with CBO’s Knowledge Partners: The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the International Union on the Conservation of Nature and Conservation International.

On January 18, 2017, ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Director Leah Gerber will facilitate a free webinar exploring how biodiversity thinking not only benefits companies’ public image, but also their profitability and compliance with emerging regulations.

Panelists from corporate (Monsanto, Dow Chemical), NGO (The Nature Conservancy) and academic (ASU School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences and Center for Biodiversity Outcomes) sectors will share insights. This event is sponsored by the Security and Sustainability Forum and ASU's School of Sustainability.

In collaboration with The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, GreenBiz17 and the ASU Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, CBO will host a pre-conference session titled “Redefining Corporate Value: Changing the Equation for Cities, Food, Materials and Climate by Placing True Value on Natural and Social Capital.”

This first convening of WBCSD and ASU scholars will take place on February 13, 2017. It will focus on issues ranging from natural capital to sustainable supply chains. Attendees will learn about the work of WBCSD in redefining corporate sustainability and cutting-edge applied research from ASU scientists.

Senior Sustainability Scientist Matei Georgescu uses a lot of data in his research, studying how a changing landscape can affect local climate and resources. He achieves this by running simulations that make long-term projections with the goal of finding a more sustainable future. That's a lot of work.

Thankfully, through an innovative solution from ASU, Georgescu was paired with a gifted community member who could help. 16-year-old Vishesh Gupta was looking for a way to apply his knack for computer programming, and now assists Georgescu by using supercomputers to crunch data and make sense of disparate measurements.

The projects the pair are working on include the Urban Water Innovation Network, as well as a partnership with Georgia Tech and the University of Michigan that focuses on improving emergency preparedness during extreme-heat events.

In his January 2017 lecture "How Much Water Does Arizona Need?," author and journalist John Fleck drew from over two decades of reporting on western water issues to offer a surprising perspective on challenges unique to the region.

Fleck, who serves as director of the water resources program at the University of New Mexico, explained how cooperation and innovation have enabled the Southwest to grow and prosper in the face of diminished water supplies – not conflict, as some believe. That rich communities take water from poor communities was another notion Fleck labeled as a myth, saying that ideas like these make it difficult to establish collaborative relationships.

The lecture, co-sponsored by Decision Center for a Desert City, was part of an ongoing ASU conversation the examines water from a range of disciplines – from science and conservation to law and policy.

After working on issues of environmental responsibility as Girl Scout leader, Jessica Ohrt was inspired to pursue a bachelor’s degree in sustainability through ASU Online.

“I looked for a local college that had a sustainability program that would be comparable, and there wasn’t one. It was such a distinctive program and set of classes that I decided to stick with it,” said Ohrt, who lives in Marietta, Georgia.

The School of Sustainability's programs are among more than 60 undergraduate online degrees offered by ASU. In fact, the university's online bachelor’s degree program has been ranked fourth in the nation out of more than 1,300 reviewed by U.S. News & World Report, who scored based on student engagement, faculty credentials and training, student services and technology, and peer reputation.

Ohrt likes that the courses keep students on track and are self-directed, so she could work in between caring for her granddaughter. She expects to graduate in December 2017 and is considering working for a government agency or a nonprofit focusing on environmental justice.

Learn more about Ohrt's experience studying sustainability through ASU Online.

For her research with human microbiomes,  Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown – ASU environmental engineering associate professor and senior sustainability scientist – was selected to join the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Krajmalnik-Brown will serve on the National Academies’ Committee for Advancing Understanding of the Implications of Environmental-Chemical Interactions with the Human Microbiomes. Krajmalnik-Brown's expertise will help to create a research strategy to analyze how various environmental chemicals interact with the microbiomes in our gut, skin and lungs, and the effects these interactions have on human health.

Krajmalnik-Brown's study of the human microbiome has spanned nearly 10 years, with a focus on its role in obesity and autism.