Based on his work to develop and implement innovative approaches to teaching engineering, ASU faculty member and sustainability scientist Thomas Seager has been selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium. Seager joins Jeffrey LaBelle from ASU's School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering and Aviral Shrivastava from ASU's School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering.

More than 70 university and college engineering faculty from across the country will gather for the event Oct. 14-17 in Irvine, Calif., to share ideas, research findings, and teaching methods.

“It is absolutely critical that U.S. engineering educators learn how to become more effective in the classroom, utilizing technology and pedagogy in creative ways in order to produce more innovative graduates who have the ability to address the complex problems of the 21st century,” said symposium chair Larry Shuman.

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Wednesday, September 19, 2012 marked the grand opening of the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV (ISTB 4) on ASU Tempe campus. In celebration of this event, the Office of Knowledge and Enterprise Development (OKED) hosted a forum discussing how activities and research at ISTB 4 and ASU affect the local economy and state. The “Exploring the Economic Impact of Research in Arizona” forum hosted a renowned group of panelists that represented the fields of research that are now housed at the ISTB 4 building. OKED Senior Vice President, Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan, was the moderator of the forum and began with introducing each panelist as a representation of the three interdisciplinary topic areas to discuss: earth and space exploration, security and defense, and energy and sustainability.

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Beginning this academic year, you can find video of our Water/Climate Briefings on the DCDC website under each Water/Climate Briefing heading. We're excited about this opportunity to reach a broader audience with our ongoing research.

Currently, our Water/Climate Briefing from September 5, 2012 on Dynamics of Water in an Urban Ecosystem is available.

The Atlantic Cities recently published an article by Richard Florida featuring Sustainability Scientist and research professor José Lobo's work on charting U.S. metro economic growth.

Florida, co-founder of The Atlantic Cities and expert in U.S. urbanization says "the United States economy grew substantially more slowly than initially estimated between April and June of this year, a torpid 1.3 percent." This economic downturn began during the Great Recession but has lasted so long, experts say the nation is facing a "lost decade" of economic growth.

Lobo analyzed the growth and decline of metros across the country, identifying how the Great Recession affected economic growth. "Which metros have grown and which have faltered over the past decade? How has the geography of growth changed since the onset of the Great Recession?" Florida writes.

Lobo then used data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to chart the economic growth of more than 350 metropolitan areas during 2001 to 2010 and during the post-crisis period, 2008 to 2010. Zara Matheson of the Martin Prosperity Institute mapped the results.

The Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale area made the top-ten list of large metros (more than 1 million people) who had the best economic growth over the past decade (2001-2010). However, during 2008 through 2010, Sun Belt metros like Phoenix were hit the hardest during the Great Recession, leading Florida to ask: "Are there metros that defy the boom-bust pattern, where growth has remained relatively consistent before and after the crisis?"

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Arizona State University researchers will embark on a novel renewable energy project with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Water Sustainability and Climate program (WSC).

NSF is providing $1.5 million to ASU to identify suitable locations across the United States where perennial biomass energy crops (e.g., miscanthus and switchgrass) could be grown sustainably. The five-year interdisciplinary project will integrate physical, agricultural and economic elements, embedded within a high-performance computing (HPC) framework, to identify geographically sustainable “hot-spots,” areas best-suited for expansion of perennial bioenergy crops.

“This effort brings together researchers from diverse backgrounds to explore critically important questions related to domestic energy security and large-scale climate change,” said Matei Georgescu, assistant professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and Sustainability Scientist in the Global Institute of Sustainability. Georgescu is the principal investigator of the project.

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Perhaps inspired by Arizona’s blazing summers, Arizona State University scientists have developed a new method that relies on heat to improve the yield and lower the costs of high-energy biofuels production, making renewable energy production more of an everyday reality.

ASU Biodesign Institute researcher Roy Curtiss, a microbiologist who uses genetic engineering of bacteria to develop new vaccines, has adapted a similar approach to make better biofuel-producing cyanobacteria.

"We keep trying to reach ever deeper into our genetic bag of tricks and optimize bacterial metabolic engineering to develop an economically viable, truly green route for biofuel production,” said Roy Curtiss, director of the Biodesign Institute's Centers for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology and Microbial Genetic Engineering as well as professor in the School of Life Sciences.

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Arizona State University chemical engineer Jean Andino will share her expertise in renewable energy development with research colleagues and students in Panama with the support of a prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar award.

Andino is on the faculty of the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.  Her teaching and research focuses on atmospheric chemistry, chemical kinetics, and air pollution sensing and control. In the energy area, her work at ASU involves seeking ways to convert carbon dioxide into fuels.

Andino plans to spend a semester at Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá  with the Centro de Investigación e Innovación Eléctrica, Mecánica y de la Industria, as well as with the Facultad de Ingeniería Mecánica,  where she will consult on air quality and energy issues, give seminars and teach a short course.

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An international team of scientists has uncovered new evidence linking early animal evolution to extreme climate change.

A dramatic rise in atmospheric oxygen levels has long been speculated as the trigger for early animal evolution. In the Sept. 27 issue of the journal Nature, researchers for the first time offer evidence of a causal link between trends in early biological diversity and shifts in Earth system processes.

The fossil record shows a marked increase in animal and algae fossils roughly 635 million years ago. Researchers, including sustainability scientist Ariel Anbar, believe that oceanic oxygen levels spiked suddenly at this time, in the wake of a severe glaciation, reaching the level necessary to allow animals to flourish. The new evidence pre-dates previous estimates of a life-sustaining oxygenation event by more than 50 million years.

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Such a simple sentence, yet so much meaning. That is what most students in the School of Sustainability want to do. At the School’s 2012 Fall Welcome, new freshman and transfer students mingled while eating free Chipotle burritos, met Dean and United Nations Champion of the Earth, Sander van der Leeuw (cue new student excitement: “That’s so cool!”), and pondered their futures.

Arnaud Irakoze was born in Burundi, Africa, a country right below Rwanda. He is now a Phoenician, getting used to the heat like other newbies. Interested in solar power, Irakoze chose to explore the Sustainable Energy, Materials, and Technology challenge area. “Phoenix is hot and sunny so we might as well have solar power,” he simply puts it.

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by Dianna M. Náñez- Sept. 27, 2012

The Republic | azcentral.com

Critics say the Valley is among the nation's most unsustainable regions, warning that if the Phoenix metro area continues on its current path it will exhaust its resources and become a mirage in the desert.

On Tuesday, mayors from Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe fought that criticism, touting recent land-planning, conservation and preservation efforts to build a more sustainable region.

The mayoral panel, sponsored by Arizona State University's Global Institute of Sustainability at Mesa Arts Center, addressed sustainability challenges and opportunities for cities.

Addressing the audience of about 250 people, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith acknowledged that the Valley's expansive development is a "miracle in the desert." But he said that responsible land planning can ensure that the region will thrive for future generations.

Smith said Valley cities are working locally and regionally to build more sustainable environments.

That effort has grown in recent years as more residents and municipal leaders say it makes economic sense to conserve and develop sustainable land-use and transit plans.

The urban sprawl that spread throughout the Valley during the real-estate boom is not a sustainable model, he said.

"We've gotten a little lazy ... recognizing how fragile our lifestyle is," he said. "We can't continue (on this path) ... and expect us to remain a miracle in the desert."

Mesa now has city-development and sustainability officials work together to ensure that sustainability is factored into land-planning and growth opportunities.

Smith said it's important to boost downtown-infill projects because sprawling Valley municipalities can't afford to provide services across such widespread city boundaries.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton shot back at one of the region's biggest critics, Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis at New York University.

Ross's book, "Bird on Fire: Lessons From the World's Least Sustainable City," ripped the region for mismanaging the natural flows of the Salt River, for creating a sprawling overpopulated Mecca and for favoring commercial growth over sustainable growth.

Ross singled out Tempe's man-made Town Lake as a waste of precious water.

Stanton said he is not focused on Phoenix's standing in national sustainability rankings.

"I don't particularly care where my city is ranked next to Chicago," he said. "The question really is, are we doing all we can to advance sustainability?"

Stanton said that Phoenix has an ASU sustainability adviser providing input on land-planning, transit, and other growth and conservation issues.

He said Phoenix has boosted bus and light-rail options as transit alternatives to cars. He also touted historic-preservation and water-conservation efforts.

Stanton said he aims to brand Phoenix as a sustainable city to attract industries expanding or opening new businesses.

The mayors agreed municipalities must create regional-sustainability partnerships.

"The more we work regionally, the more success we'll have," Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said. Mitchell spotlighted Tempe's efforts to install energy-efficient street lights, a multi-modal transit system and a recycling program.

Noting Tempe's 175 miles of bike paths, Mitchell said the Valley should consider the benefits of creating a network of connecting bike paths, which would make bicycling a more viable option for people who want to ditch their cars.

Smith said Valley residents travel so much between cities that regional cooperation is essential.

"City lines only exist on maps anymore," Smith said.

The link to the article can be found here.

A Thought Leader Series Piece

By Hunter Lovins

Note: Hunter Lovins is a past Wrigley Lecture Series speaker at ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability and was a keynote speaker at the inaugural conference of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education held at ASU in 2006.

Business is probably the only institution on the planet that is nimble and well-managed enough to respond to the global sustainability crises facing humanity. Such challenges as the impacts of climate change, soaring resource prices, poverty, and loss of biodiversity are threats, but are also opportunities. The businesses that successfully respond will be big winners in the marketplace.

Business sustainability leaders already outperform their less sustainable peers. Over 40 studies from all the major management consulting houses, as well as from academic journals such as Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Review, show that the companies that are sustainability leaders have higher and faster growing stock value, better financial results, lower risks, and more engaged workforces than other companies.

Despite all this, we’re losing. The international Convention on Biological Diversity report, Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, highlights a sobering loss of species and habitats among the world’s ecosystems. Threats like the acidification of the oceans could, worst case, end life as we know it on earth. This has happened several times before on our planet with up to 90 percent of species going extinct. Meanwhile, both the International Energy Agency and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warn that unless global leaders implement more sustainable practices immediately we will, perhaps as early as 2017, lock in an unsurvivable amount of global warming.

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DCDC Publication

Tradeoffs Between Water Conservation and Temperature Amelioration in Phoenix and Portland: Implications for Urban Sustainability

Authors

Patricia Gober [1, 2]

Ariane Middel [3]

Anthony Brazel [1]

Soe Myint [1]

Heejun Chang [4]

Jiunn-Der Duh [4]

Lily House-Peters [4]

Abstract

This study addresses a classic sustainability challenge—the tradeoff between water conservation and temperature amelioration in rapidly growing cities, using Phoenix, Arizona and Portland, Oregon as case studies. An urban energy balance model— LUMPS (Local-Scale Urban Meteorological Parameterization Scheme)—is used to represent the tradeoff between outdoor water use and nighttime cooling during hot, dry summer months. Tradeoffs were characterized under three scenarios of land use change and three climate-change assumptions. Decreasing vegetation density reduced outdoor water use but sacrificed nighttime cooling. Increasing vegetated surfaces accelerated nighttime cooling, but increased outdoor water use by ~20%. Replacing impervious surfaces with buildings achieved similar improvements in nighttime cooling with minimal increases in outdoor water use; it was the most water-efficient cooling strategy. The fact that nighttime cooling rates and outdoor water use were more sensitive to land use scenarios than climate-change simulations suggested that cities can adapt to a warmer climate by manipulating land use.

Download publication. You may or may not have access through your institution.

[1] School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University

[2] Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

[3] Decision Center for a Desert City, Arizona State University

[4] Department of Geography, Portland State University

It’s called mile-a-minute weed or “forest killer.”Mikania micrantha is an exotic, invasive species that spreads quickly, covering crops, smothering trees and rapidly altering the environment.

Researchers at Arizona State University are spearheading a four-year research project that will explore what factors cause people and the environment to be vulnerable to rapid environmental change, such as an invasion by Mikania.

Study findings likely will serve as a harbinger of the future as humans increasingly experience abrupt, extreme conditions associated with climate change, said Sharon J. Hall, the study’s co-principal investigator, sustainability scientist, and ASU School of Life Sciences associate professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“There are many communities that have to deal with and adapt to rapid change. Mikania is just one example," Hall said. "We’re looking at how social and ecological forces in communities make them more resistant or vulnerable to rapid environmental change."

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Several researchers at Arizona State University are examining the ethical aspects of food production and consumption. They are helping consumers navigate the maze of moral choices involved in filling their plates and their bellies. And they are finding that being morally mindful can lead to better nutrition, as well.

Where does a chicken or an avocado start its life before making its way to the grocery store? Joan McGregor studies food production and the ethical concerns it raises. One of these, of course, is environmental sustainability.

“We all talk about water, we talk about energy, but we sort of forget that food is a huge consumer of resources,” says McGregor, who teaches philosophy in ASU’s School of Philosophical, Historical, and Religious Studies and is a sustainability scientist in ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability.

Researchers hope that targeting people’s morals rather than their rational thoughts will be an effective way to promote healthy and ethical choices.

“We need to connect people’s values to their food choices,” McGregor says. “That means people need to have access to certain kinds of information that ties food decisions to values about the environment, animals and social justice.”

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Can we meet the needs of a growing population in the face of rising temperatures and lower rainfall in an already arid land? Can we find harmony amongst the competing interests of cities, agriculture, industry, recreation, wildlife, and indigenous communities with rights to the water?

Produced and narrated by Robert Redford and directed by award-winning filmmaker, Mark Decena, Watershed tells the story of the threats to the once mighty Colorado River and offers solutions for the future of the American West. Please join us after the showing for a panel discussion.

Panelists:

Dave White, co-director, Decision Center for a Desert City, Global Institute of Sustainability

John Hathaway, Arizona Riparian Council & watercourse planning manager, Flood Control District of Maricopa County

Jim Holway, director, Western Lands and Communities, a Lincoln Institute of Land Policy - Sonoran Institute Joint Venture

Steve Pawlowski, program coordinator, Water Sentinels, Sierra Club

Kris Randall, Arizona Riparian Council & state coordinator, Partners for Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Moderated by:

Matt Chew, assistant research professor in the School of Life Sciences.

This one-night only showing is free to the public. Free parking is available at the Brickyard Parking Garage on 6th St & Mill Ave. Be sure to bring your parking ticket into the theater for validation.

To find more information on Watershed, visit Watershed.com.

This event is co-sponsored by the Arizona Riparian Council.

Where and When:

Thursday, September 27, 2012

6:30 p.m. doors open

7:00 p.m. showing

Valley Art Theater

509 S. Mill Ave.

Tempe, AZ 85281

(5th St. and Mill Ave.)

RSVP

Dynamics of Water in Urban Ecosystems: Green Infrastructure

The term green infrastructure has been used to refer to everything from green roofs to more ecologically friendly stormwater management systems and large networks of natural areas. What these different usages have in common is a basic recognition that our built environment and our ecological environment are connected and interrelated.

Green infrastructure planning is an approach that can improve urban infrastructure to maintain healthy waters, provide multiple environmental benefits, and support sustainable communities.

Join us on October 10th to explore how green infrastructure is impacting urban ecosystems in our region.

Panelists

Mounir El Asmar, Assistant Professor, ASU School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Engineering

Irene Ogata, Urban Landscape Manager, City of Tucson

Kelli Sertich, Floodplain Management and Services Division Manager, Maricopa County

Ken Vonderscher, Deputy Director, Parks and Recreation for the City of Phoenix

When

Wednesday, October 10, 2012, 12:00–1:30 p.m.

Lunch will be served. Please RSVP to: Sarah.Jones.2@asu.edu

Location

Decision Center for a Desert City, 21 East 6th Street, Suite 126B, Tempe [Map]

CAP scientists Scott Yabiku, Sharon Hall, and Abigail York are among the investigators on a newly-funded National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, "Feedbacks Between Human Community Dynamics and Socioecological Vulnerability in a Biodiversity Hotspot," to study the resilience and vulnerability of communities in Nepal to an invasive weed species that rapidly colonizes fields, grasslands, and forests. This five-year project has been funded through NSF’s Coupled Natural and Human Systems program as well as the Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability portfolio of programs.

PI Yabiku and co-PIs Hall and York cite their interdisciplinary, collaborative experiences in CAP as a catalyst toward their new collaboration. To see an abstract of their proposal, please visit the NSF website at http://1.usa.gov/OlBPJW and/or check out the story on ASU News https://asunews.asu.edu/20120921_Mikania

Traditional ecological knowledge and sustainability (D. Shilling and M. Nelson)

Sustainability as Myth and Practice in the Global City (M. Checker, C. Isenhower, G. McDonogh)

Law for Sustainability (J.C. Dernbach)

Main themes and new directions in sustainability research (C. Boone, S. Pickett, others)

The lived experience of sustainability and resilience: archaeological perspectives (M. Hegmon)

Transitioning to a Sustainable Urban Planet (C. Boone and others)

(Please see About-Proposals about proposing a seminar/volume in New Directions)

In partnership with Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability, and the Amerind Foundation, Cambridge University Press will publish a book series about progress for a sustainable future.

The book series, edited by Christopher Boone, associate dean of Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability and Norman Yoffee, professor emeritus at University of Michigan’s Department of Anthropology and Department of Near Eastern Studies, defines "sustainability" as a practice that "seeks to reduce environmental degradation and improve human well-being by maintaining and strengthening the social and ecological systems that support us."

The series emphasizes on combining and merging expertise from a wide range of disciplines—the humanities, social sciences, applied sciences, and natural sciences. Boone and Yoffee assert that in order to achieve a sustainable future, behavior must be changed. But how does one change behavior?

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