For the second year in a row, the annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report name Arizona State the most innovative university in the nation. The widely touted list compares more than 1,500 institutions on a variety of metrics. ASU has taken the top spot in each year since the innovation category was created.
“We do things differently, and we constantly try new approaches,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “Our students’ paths to discovery don’t have to stay within the boundaries of a single discipline. Our researchers team up with colleagues from disparate fields of expertise. We use technology to enhance the classroom and reach around the world. We partner with cities, nonprofits and corporations to support our advances as the higher-education economy evolves. This ranking recognizes the new model we have created.”
Note: Stacy Alaimo is Professor of English and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she served as the Academic Co-chair for the President’s Sustainability Committee and directed a cross-disciplinary minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies.
She is internationally recognized as a leading scholar in the environmental humanities, ecocultural theory and science studies; has presented plenary talks across the U.S., Canada and Europe; and has served on the prestigious international evaluation panel for Sweden’s major environmental humanities grant competition.
Sustainability plans require data to capture the extent to which universities, businesses, cities and even nation states are minimizing their environmental impacts. Such information is invaluable for tracking the progress of efforts to cut carbon emissions; to reduce the use of energy, water and toxic chemicals; and to reduce waste and pollution.
"Arizona State University provides arguably the most comprehensive, transdisciplinary, solutions-focused sustainability education and research offerings in the U.S., and it continues to grow."
The Red List is the world’s standard for quantifying species extinction risk and is used around the world to inform policy, planning and conservation action.
Through this partnership, ASU joins a group of global leaders charged with devising strategies for species conservation and biodiversity decision-making. It is one of only three universities in the world to join forces with IUCN Red List to help guide the scope and application of scientific data.
The knowledge partnership focuses on sustainable production methods – more specifically transitioning agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture producers through science, engagement and technology.
As part of the partnership, six scientists from CI’s Moore Center for Science will become professors of practice at ASU, conducting research and teaching. ASU scholars will co-develop research with CI and apply it in the field through conservation projects.
The partnership also focuses on training the next generation of conservation leaders, as well as bringing aboard two postdoctoral fellows.
As WBCSD’s second global knowledge partner, ASU benefits by having access to the largest network of world-class companies engaged in social and environmental sustainability, while having exposure to real-world problem-solving opportunities, events, internships and job opportunities.
Having a seat at the table on substantive discussions with global companies will allow ASU to shape the way that businesses approach their sustainability practices.
For its third consecutive year, the School of Sustainability offers its students a hands-on look into what their future might hold with a career in sustainability.
The Alumni Job Shadowing program, which began in 2014 and continues to grow, gives current students the opportunity to interact with and shadow a School of Sustainability alumnus for a day. The program provides students with insight into not only future career possibilities, but also into the world of professionalism, networking and higher education. Students receive one-on-one attention from their alumni sponsors and can see how their classes apply in the working world.
“This job shadow gave me great insight into how my sustainability degree can be used in a real-world job. This opportunity has rejuvenated my interest in getting a job where I can apply the knowledge I gained from my classes… I believe it has made me confident as a student that my degree is such an intricate part of how a business operates,” says Adrian Nunez, a School of Sustainability Bachelor of Science student.
Moving up five spots from 2015, Arizona State University was named sixth in Sierra Club's annual "Cool Schools" ranking of roughly 200 colleges and universities.
The ranking lists schools based on a demonstrated commitment to upholding high environmental standards. A few of the categories ASU scored high in are bike facilities, organic gardens, undergraduate programs, student outreach and move-in/out waste reduction.
“For more than 10 years, ASU has demonstrated its fundamental commitment to sustainability,” says Christopher Boone, dean of ASU's School of Sustainability. “We are very pleased to be recognized by the Sierra Club for all of our hard work.”
Julie Wrigley stands with fellow "Pioneers for the Planet" Dang Yanbao and Sophia Heinonen (who stood in for Kristine Tompkins), and Honorary Chair Prince Albert II.
“Women approach problem solving as an opportunity to share and bring others along on our journeys.”
This is Julie Ann Wrigley, cofounder of ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, giving her take on “the power of parity” to a panel at the August 2016 East-West Sustainability Summit in Honolulu, HI.
Her comments on the ability of women to create solutions were aptly timed.
She delivered them one day before receiving a “Pioneer for the Planet” award, recognized with the likes of Dame Jane Goodall and E.O. Wilson – the “father of biodiversity” – at an event emceed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas Friedman. Called the Sustainability Leaders Luncheon, it was co-hosted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, whose annual congress was also happening in the Aloha State.
Furthering ASU's commitment to translating knowledge in action, its Center for Biodiversity Outcomes joined three powerful international partnerships over the summer of 2016.
The center's new partners include names you might recognize: the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List and Conservation International.
These partnerships respectively seek to promote sustainable development through the global business community, devise strategies for species conservation and biodiversity decision-making, and expand conservation science and training to the next generation of conservation leaders – aims that will put ASU's wealth of sustainability research and expertise to good use.
Charles Redman, co-director of the UREx SRN, speaks to Mark Brodie, of KJZZ 91.5, about building resilient infrastructure for our changing climate.
Redman talks about how the answers for one city may differ from that of another. In some cities, green roofs have been a wonderful solution, but they tend to work only in snow country since the buildings are constructed to handle heavier loads. This clearly does not apply in Phoenix, and it illustrates why we need to approach each city from a different angle.
There are three factors that promote happiness where we live, say School of Sustainability Professor Scott Cloutier and his colleague Deirdre Pfeiffer. In a paper published in the Journal of the American Planning Association, they name these factors as access to open and green space, environmental design that promotes social interaction, and places that are safe and secure.
Cloutier and Pfeiffer conceived of the study after observing urban planning focused solely on improved physical health, leaving mental and emotional health by the wayside. Now, the pair suggest strategies planners can use to measure all three “happiness” factors, and evaluate the extent to which their proposals would promote better health overall.
The researchers even developed a tool called the “Sustainability through Happiness Framework” that allows planners to collaborate with neighborhood residents on the creation of places where they'll be happy to live.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced $2.2 million dollars in conservation grants given to 58 community-led wetland, stream and coastal restoration projects across the nation. One of those grants, in the amount of $43,422, was awarded to Senior Sustainability Scientist and New College Assistant Professor of environmental chemistry Beth Polidoro, whose project will monitor and conserve urban waterways and lakes in the Phoenix metro area.
Sustainability scientist Daniel Sarewitz argues that scientists shouldn't simply create more knowledge, but should address important, real-world problems.
Global capacity of microgrids is expected to grow by 500% over the next ten years for applications such as the military, remote villages, telecom, campuses and industrial parks, mines, communities, buildings, and commercial and industrial centers.
In May, LightWorks® – in collaboration with NEPTUNE’s Micro-Grid Project lead by Nathan Johnson – hosted a micro-grid boot camp for civilian and military application. This boot camp has trained 25 US Veterans to date, with plans to expand training to hundreds of people per year. The one-week program couples simulation-based design with hands-on integration to provide an “all-inclusive” approach to microgrid education. Two Veteran graduates from the program have been hired into Dr. Johnson’s research laboratory to work on design, fabrication and control of 1 kW to 100 kW micro-grids focused on providing power to 1.4 billion people without electricity.
In an August 2016 blog entry, School of Sustainability Dean Chris Boone examines the ways that ASU is an "all-in" university when it comes to sustainability.
As the National Park Service marked its centennial in August 2016, the federal agency considered its twin mandates of preserving the most beautiful and historic sites in the country while ensuring that everyone gets an opportunity to see them. How can it accommodate growing numbers of visitors in a sustainable way?
Thankfully, the research of ASU sustainability experts like Megha Budruk, Dave White and Paul Hirt can help NPS better understand the natural systems it protects. These scientists – along with other faculty and students – have studied a range of questions including visitor use, the role of technology in saving the parks and the changing nature of interpretation.
The "Museum on Main Street," conceived by the Smithsonian Institution, brings exciting exhibits to small towns throughout the United States. Among these exhibits is WaterSim, an interactive water management tool developed by researchers at ASU's Decision Center for a Desert City.
According to School of Sustainability Dean Chris Boone, “WaterSim America is a great platform to educate the broader public on what they can do as individuals and groups to manage water in ways that lead to positive change.”
WaterSim achieves this by simulating the impacts of factors like population growth and drought on a given state's water supply and demand. Users then respond to challenges by selecting policies that steady their state’s water system.
The goal of the worldwide voyage is to help people find the inspiration to turn that aloha towards our planet.
We can't see ahead very well, but we can see behind very well. We are sailing in the wake of our ancestors.
“Can we have chocolate for breakfast” asked young students at the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) Learning Center? Miki Tomita, Director of Educational Programs at the PVS Learning Center, calmly tells the students to put the chocolate away and continue with their activities. Miki is one of the many voyaging crew members working to prepare these young children for the future of voyaging. We asked Miki to share with us the symbolism of voyaging and sustainability.
What sustainability issue would you want to solve in your lifetime?
If we invest time, energy, resources and love into education, then instead of solving one problem we can solve them all. Our children can help us to solve what we have not been able to in our generation. The most inspirational thing about this voyage is that education is the primary driver. We get to explore and uncover what people all around the world are doing to help educate the next generation to make the world a better place.
Can you share what the Worldwide Voyage entails?
The PVS Hawaiian voyaging canoes, Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia, are on a five year, 60,000 nautical mile voyage to discover how local communities around the world are navigating toward a sustainable future. The Hawaiian name for this voyage, Mālama Honua, means “to care for our Earth.” Living on an island chain teaches us that our natural world is a gift with limits and that we must carefully steward this gift if we are to survive together.
What are the goals of the Worldwide Voyage?
One of the goals is continuing the traditions way finding, practicing Hawaiian values like mālama honua and aloha everywhere around the world. Here in Hawaii we strive to live, breathe, and practice aloha everyday. Some know that they want to do something to care for our environment and resources, but haven’t found the pathway. Some people don’t yet fully understand their actions cause negative impacts. Nainoa Thompson, President of PVS and master navigator, believes the goal of the worldwide voyage is to help people find the inspiration to turn that aloha towards our planet; to launch 10,000 voyages for a healthier planet.
How do navigators prepare and get selected for a voyage?
PVS has over 400 volunteers who were identified as eligible to train as crew for the Worldwide Voyage. Whether you start as an apprentice to a navigator or volunteer, you might get asked to go on a short sail and then build your experience form there. Captains and other leaders select from the pool of navigators based on voyage needs and local knowledge, while also ensuring different communities are represented.
One might feel fear, exhilaration, doubt or all three. Knowing that someone else on the crew or someone thousands of years before you may have stood on the deck, felt these same emotions and pushed through is profoundly transformational. You feel a connection with the people who were cultivating and practicing the spirit of voyaging for thousands of years. You feel a sense of “ohana” or family.
When you’re steering the canoe, it’s just as important to “back sight,” or turn around and look back. We follow the stars -- we look for signs in the environment that surrounds us. We have to physically turn around and look back to see the path that we’ve sailed. We can’t see ahead very well, but can see behind very well. We are sailing in the wake of the ancestors. The future is attempting to live in the wake of the ancestors.
The CI vision starts with the premise that the ocean has always been central to life in Hawaiʻi, providing food, cultural benefits and recreation.
Jack Kittinger, Senior Director of the Conservation International (CI) Hawaiʻi Program, works to protect Hawaiʻi’s natural resources for the benefit of the state’s communities. Today he’s taken a short break from the sun and the surf to meet with partners in Washington D.C. to advance this mission. We caught up with Jack for an interview as he navigated through the DC Metro System on his way to key meetings.
What have you learned about traditional knowledge in Hawaiʻi?
Threats such as overfishing, coastal development and harmful runoff have weakened ocean health — and essential marine populations.
It’s extremely important to recognize that indigenous people are the first stewards – this is becoming globally recognized. People that have co-evolved with transformed ecosystems have developed amazing knowledge sets and practices, which ensured the survival and health of people and nature. The challenge we face is how to implement traditional knowledge in conventional management, in an ever-changing world where the scale of threats is shifting. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a forest, grasslands, or coral reefs – the single biggest challenge is getting a disparate set of community members to engage in collective action for mutual benefit. Traditional knowledge has much to offer in telling us how to adapt and evolve. This is both our biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity.
Did you pick-up any Hawaiian phrases or sentiments that embody the culture of conservation?
Like most people that live and work in Hawaii, I have tremendous respect for the values and practices of Native Hawaiian culture. I am honored to have been invited to work with communities across the pae‘āina (the archipelago). The legacy of understanding and preserving cultural mores, values, and practices is shared in the incredible archives of scholars such as Mary Kawena Pukui, but also in the living traditions of communities, and in the evolving scholarship by Native Hawaiian writers and researchers. The repository of Native Hawaiian language newspapers, for example, is giving us guidance on very contemporary challenges such as climate change. This knowledge source is a gift from previous generations to ours.
One of my favorite mo‘olelo (proverbs) that comes to mind when applying traditional knowledge to conservation is “I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope,” which loosely translates to “we look to the past as a guide to the future.” This proverb embodies the Hawaiian perspective on experience and time – that the past is in front of you and the future is behind you. We may not be able to see the future, but we can see and learn from the past.
Can you tell us about a recent partnership between CI and Arizona State University?
After meeting with ASU President Michael Crow, it was clear that CI embraces many of the same values that ASU and the President shares. We are working together to make a difference. We share a common vision for success – to create a real-world positive impact in our communities. We are laser focused on this work and will showcase our vision for collective impact at the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi this year.
ASU and CI will host a joint workshop entitled “Coordinating Conservation and Development for Collective Impact: An Introduction” on September 3, 2016 from 11 am – 1 pm. Continued improvement of human well-being is only possible with healthy ecosystems to depend upon. IUCN attendees are encouraged to join this session and learn how to develop a framework to address challenges and opportunities of integrating biodiversity with sustainable human development.
For the second year in a row, the annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report name Arizona State the most innovative university in the nation. The widely touted list compares more than 1,500 institutions on a variety of metrics. ASU has taken the top spot in each year since the innovation category was created.
Charles Redman
