Feb. 17, 2010/Tempe, Ariz.- The Arizona State University Alumni Association will honor faculty members and alumni involved in solving challenges with world-changing consequences.

School of Sustainability affiliated faculty member Nancy Grimm, who is principal investigator and co-director of the multi-million dollar Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research project (CAP LTER), will receive a Faculty Achievement Award for Research.

The Founders' Day Awards Dinner is set for 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 24 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, 2400 E. Missouri Ave., Phoenix. The award ceremony has been a signature event for the university for decades, and it honors individuals who exemplify the spirit of the founders of the Territorial Normal School of Arizona, ASU’s predecessor institution, who received their charter from the Thirteenth Territorial Legislature on March 7, 1885.

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The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. has joined Arizona State University in an innovative education and science partnership aimed at sustaining a biodiverse planet. Today, Secretary Wayne Clough, head of the Smithsonian, and ASU President Michael M. Crow launched a global classroom – with one foot in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert and the other in the tropical landscapes of Panama.

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Low-income children in the Phoenix area have few options for environmental education during the summer months when hot temperatures force everyone inside and the price of science camps is out of their reach.

Katie Mills, a long-time intern with the CAP LTER Ecology Explorers schoolyard program, found a way to bring environmental education to kids in a housing complex for low-income families. Katie, now Programs Coordinator for Helping Hands Housing Services, details this initiative in the latest issue of The Network News, the bi-annual LTER Network newsletter.

Q&A with Christiana Honsberg and Stuart Bowden

Professors Christiana Honsberg and Stuart Bowden are the leaders of ASU’s Solar Power Lab. Honsberg is chief scientist of the lab and is considered a pioneer in photovoltaics. Bowden heads the industrial collaboration section of the lab and is credited with improving the efficiency of silicon and crystalline silicon solar cells and the cell manufacturing process.

At what point did “sustainability” become part of your research focus?

When we became involved in photovoltaic research in the mid-1980s, the quest for solar energy had already been driven up by the 1970s oil crises and then redirected toward space applications as oil prices returned to low levels. Nevertheless, we always expected that when the technology became cheap enough, solar power would provide electricity in underdeveloped countries. The Kyoto Protocol in 1997 became a turning point for us because it highlighted world sustainability issues and prompted many highly developed nations to deploy photovoltaic systems. This has led to increased research focus over the past decade on photovoltaic materials and their impacts.

What are your most important sustainability-related research projects?

In one project, we are working to overcome current barriers to the production of very thin, high efficiency solar cells. Such a breakthrough will stimulate rapid improvements in existing commercial solar cell technology, reduce solar cell costs, and increase their use. Our goal is to put solar cells on a track analogous to what Moore’s Law describes for computers — geometric growth in power over time but at the same cost.

In a second project, we are developing ultra-high efficiency solar cells that will exceed existing efficiency limits of about 30 percent for non-concentrated sunlight and 45 percent for concentrated. Because we are using new approaches, such as exploiting the efficiencies of so-called “intermediate band material,” we expect to dramatically reduce the cost of materials and production while increasing power output. These new cells can literally transform our energy system by opening practical new applications for solar power that range from hydrogen fuel production to “smart windows” — glass that controls the amount of heat transfer in response to conditions.

How will your research affect future policy decisions?

Both of our projects make solar cells better and more affordable, which should increase the ability of policymakers to meet greenhouse gas emission targets. Our ultra-high efficiency solar cells, however, will take us even farther than that. We envision a future in which we no longer plug most of our devices into distant power-generating sources, but instead let them generate and store their own power from available sunlight.

What is the world sustainability challenge that concerns you most?

We are most concerned about the world’s growing need for affordable, sustainable energy. This is a matter of environmental, economic, and social concern for both rich and poor countries.

January 30, 2010

Raymond Mendez, the "original insect wrangler" who tamed 25,000 roaches, and trained moths to attack on command for the movie "Silence of the Lambs," headlines the Southwest's first Social Insect Science EXPO on Feb. 20 at the Desert Botanical Garden.

Designed for inquiring minds and families, the EXPO brings together some of the top scientists from Arizona State University, their favorite critters and the public. Attendees will be able to peer inside bee colonies and rub elbows-to-antennae with leaf-cutter, harvester and trap-jaw ants. Mendez, founder of Work as Play, which develops exhibits for zoos and museums, will bring his live ant and naked mole-rat colonies to share, in addition to speaking about his work in science, film and television, design and advertising.

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Best Buy, Dell, HP, Intel, Toshiba and Walmart to Establish System to Help Consumers Identify "Green" Electronics

TEMPE, Ariz.- The Sustainability Consortium, along with leaders in the manufacturing and sales of consumer electronics, today announced plans to establish a system, including social and environmental considerations, to help consumers identify "green" electronics. The Sustainability Consortium is co-administered by Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas.

Working with Best Buy, Dell, HP, Intel, Toshiba, and Walmart, the consortium will research and publish findings on the lifecycle environmental and social impacts of electronic products. These findings will be used to support efforts to identify products as sustainable or "green." This type of information is designed to reduce consumer confusion and help standardize product claims.

"Customers tell us they want to purchase electronics that have a minimal impact on our planet. This is an effort to help them do that using a common methodology that manufacturers across the industry participate in," said Scott O’Connell, environmental strategist, Dell. "This is about making it easy for customers to determine what’s ‘green’ and what’s not, and we’d like to have the whole industry involved."

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CAP LTER held its 12th Annual Poster Symposium on January 14, 2010 at ASU in Tempe. The theme of this year’s symposium was "Urban Ecology and Sustainability."

Dr. Stephanie Pincetl, Director, The Urban Center for People and Environment, UCLA, gave the keynote address, "Urban Nature’s Services Infrastructure: Challenges in Implementation and Ideas of Nature." Over 30 students and faculty presented posters during the symposium on topics ranging from urban black widow spider behavior to environmental justice and public health.

The program and posters for this year’s symposium can be viewed here: 12th Annual Poster Symposium.

CAP LTER is one of several ASU NSF-sponsored STEM education initiatives that have combined their energy and expertise to develop The Modeling Institute, a groundbreaking project that was recently funded through a five-year, $1.25 million NSF Institutional Integration (I3) grant.

The Modeling Institute aims to produce a community of highly-qualified middle school math and science teachers through "modeling instruction," a highly successful teaching method used in many high school physics classrooms and increasing in popularity in chemistry and mathematics classrooms as well.

Monica Elser (bio), CAP LTER’s Education Manager, will collaborate with colleagues from across the university on this initiative.

Sustainability Consortium co-chairs Dr. Jay S. Golden of the School of Sustainability, Barrett Honors Faculty, at Arizona State University, and Dr. Jon Johnson of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, were the guest speakers at a 90-minute Webcast, "Inside the Sustainability Consortium," presented by GreenBiz.com on Dec. 2.

The Consortium is an independent group of scientists and engineers from leading academic research institutions around the world who engage with other leading researchers from the NGO, governmental and industrial sectors. The primary function is to develop the science to support the indexing of consumer products throughout all phases of the products life.

The Consortium clarified its mission and strategies in the Webcast, while debunking the misconception that it is working on a Sustainable Product Index exclusively for Walmart. While the discount retailer was a founding partner of the Consortium, the Consortium's steering committee is made up of CPGs, NGOs, government agencies, and others interested in advocating for good business.

"Walmart understands that multiple retailer engagement is necessary if this initiative is going to work," noted Dr. Johnson.

This information, along with a comprehensive dialogue on the types of product data to be collected and shared around sustainability were the topics of the Webcast.

Article source:

GreenerPackage.com

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Timothy Lant, research director at ASU's Decision Theater, and James G. Hodge Jr., the Lincoln Professor of Health Law and Ethics at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, have received a grant to examine the role law plays in critical public health emergencies, such as the H1N1 flu pandemic.

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Q&A with Hallie Eakin

Dr. Eakin is an assistant professor in the School of Sustainability investigating economic globalization and rural vulnerability to climate change in Latin America. She has previously consulted with the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on projects in agricultural development and adaptation to climate impacts.

What triggered your focus on sustainability?

My interest in sustainability emerged from my undergraduate thesis on the use of seasonal climate forecasts to alleviate drought hardship in Zimbabwe. A few years later, while working in international development, it became clear to me that farmers would need far more than weather forecasts to improve their decision-making, economic status, and food security. The effective use of forecasts depended also on incorporating farmers’ knowledge into the forecasting science and addressing the many cultural, economic, and ecological constraints they face. This experience highlighted the importance of systemic approaches to problem solving, and helped me to better understand what the challenge of sustainability was all about.

What is your most important sustainability-related research project?

I am coordinating an international group of scholars – including a climatologist, agroecologist, economist, and several geographers – in a project that evaluates how policy and climatic risk affect maize production in Mexico. Maize has been critical to Mexican culture and rural livelihoods for centuries. By examining the way rural farming decisions are influenced through factors such as environmental change, migration, urbanization, and market liberalization, we can assess how economic policy and climatic risk affects Mexican food security, not only for households but for the entire country.

How will your research directly affect policy decisions?

One effective way to address social and ecological vulnerability is to understand what vulnerable people value and worry about, as well as their motivations, needs, and priorities — and then communicate this perspective to leaders who can affect policies. My current project aims to open a dialogue in Mexico on the drivers of change in Mexico’s food system and we hope our findings will contribute to international efforts aimed at reducing threats to critical food systems from climate change.

What is the world sustainability challenge that concerns you most?

I am most concerned with the fundamental problem of global poverty and inequality, and its effect on sustainability. Persistent social injustice undermines the ability of society everywhere to live more sustainability.

November 30, 2009

Climate projections for the next 50 to 100 years forecast increasingly frequent severe droughts and heat waves across the American Southwest, sinking available water levels even as rising mercury drives up demand for it.

Declining water supply will affect more than just water flowing from taps and spraying from hoses and sprinklers. It will also strongly impinge on power generation, testing the capacity of sources like Hoover Dam, with its roughly 1.3 million customers in Nevada, Arizona and California, to generate adequate power with less water.

Now, Patricia Gober and David A. Sampson of the Decision Center for a Desert City at Arizona State University are teaming with David J. Sailor of Portland State University on a $65,000 grant to wade into this deep problem.

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The sun shines bright in the Valley, but that is not the reason why China's leading manufacturer of solar panels, Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd., decided to locate its first manufacturing plant here. It is its longstanding ties to Arizona State University that helped convince the manufacturer of the benefits of metropolitan Phoenix, said Jonathan Fink, a Foundation Professor in ASU’s School of Sustainability and the School of Earth and Space Exploration.

"These earlier steps, which date back more than a decade, represent the apolitical, technology based cultivation that universities are best suited to carry out, usually behind the scenes," Fink said.

Suntech announced its choice of the Phoenix metropolitan area for its first U.S. plant on Nov. 15 and cited several reasons, including the research strengths of ASU, Arizona’s statewide renewable energy policies and the favorable local business climate fostered by groups like the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. While Suntech will provide a modest initial commitment of about 75 new jobs and a facility of about 100,000 sq feet of space, it is the fact that they chose the Valley that has many people excited.

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Daniel M. Bodansky, a preeminent authority in international climate change law, has been appointed the Lincoln Professor of Law, Ethics, and Sustainability at Arizona State University, according to Paul Schiff Berman, Dean of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

Bodansky also has been named an Affiliated Faculty member in both the College of Law's Center for Law and Global Affairs, and in the Global Institute of Sustainability's School of Sustainability at ASU. His appointment is effective Aug. 1, 2010.

"The hiring of Dan Bodansky is a tremendously positive step for advancing ASU," said ASU President Michael Crow. "On the law and sustainability front, Dan will bring us global thinking at the highest level. This is a great day for ASU."

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TEMPE, Ariz. (Nov. 9, 2009) — Arizonans are gearing up for more H1N1 activity this flu season, and a new survey reveals how much they really know about the virus and how they’re preparing for its spread.

The new survey of more than 700 Arizona households was designed and analyzed by faculty and students from the School of Health Management and Policy at the W. P. Carey School of Business, the Decision Theater at the Global Institute of Sustainability, and the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. The study was sponsored by the Arizona Department of Health Services and was conducted during the month of October. The results will be used by public information officials from various hospitals, public health agencies and related organizations to determine how to best communicate to the public about H1N1 influenza.

> Read more see "New H1N1 Survey Reveals Arizonans' Flu Season Plans"

The LTER All Scientists Meeting brings together scientists from a range of disciplines every three years to share research findings and collaborate on cross-LTER site projects.

In September 2009, CAP LTER scientists, staff, and students traveled to Estes Park, Colorado for this event, which involved plenary sessions, workshops, poster sessions, and ample opportunities for networking.

CAP scientists organized workshops on a range of topics including land fragmentation, integrative science, use of social networking media, and residential landscapes. The program from this meeting details these and other events held during the four-day event.

Q&A with Bruce Rittmann

Dr. Rittmann is Regents’ Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, affiliated faculty of the School of Sustainability, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. As director of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the Biodesign Institute, he has pioneered research on microbiological systems that generate usable energy from waste products and remove pollution from contaminated ecosystems.

What event or recognition focused your work on sustainability?

In the mid-1990s, I realized that sustainability is not about “the environment” or “the Earth,” but about the ability of human civilization to survive. Earth will fare well, and so will cockroaches, but will human society continue to exist? Should it? Balancing our deplorable record of destruction with our great works of art, music, architecture, and engineering, I decided humanity is worth the effort, so I made sustainability an explicit part of my research.

What is the most important sustainability-related research project you are currently working on?

Our society’s addiction to fossil fuels is the root cause of most environmental problems. Intoxicated by hundreds of millions of years of stored-up energy to draw upon, we have built a society that depends on coal, petroleum, and natural gas for up to 86 percent of its energy. This cannot be sustained. Therefore, my most important project studies how to use photosynthetic bacteria to capture sunlight and CO2 and convert it into a form of renewable biofuel that can replace fossil fuel.

Why do you believe microbes are the key to sustainability solutions?

Bacteria can grow 100 times faster than plants and do not compete for arable land or consume and pollute our water resources. With a working large-scale microbe-based system, we could generate enough renewable energy to replace the world’s fossil-fuel use in a total area roughly equal to Texas. Microbes can provide other services as well. In our lab we are developing microbe-based systems that can purify contaminated water and increase our usable water supplies.

How do you think your sustainability-related research can affect policy decisions?

Once policymakers realize it is possible to replace fossil fuels without harming our food supply or water resources, we can focus on global cooperation instead of competition over fossil fuels. I expect some push-back from entities with vested interests in fossil fuels, but society has no choice but to move steadily over the next 20 or so years towards an energy supply that is predominantly clean and renewable.

What is the world sustainability challenge that concerns you most?

Global climate change is the most difficult technical challenge because fossil fuel use permeates every aspect of our society and we are way behind in finding solutions. What worries me most, though, is that war and terrorism may overrun civilization if we cannot find technological solutions fast enough.

October 30, 2009

Arizona State University received a gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership and Energy and Environmental Design program for the academic complex at its Polytechnic campus.

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ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability Brings Slate of Transformational Leaders to Arizona

TEMPE, Ariz. – To engage public dialogue about the mounting challenges that must be addressed to create a sustainable world, the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University (ASU) is announcing the 2009-2010 slate of distinguished speakers for its Wrigley Lecture Series on Sustainability.

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Arizona State University has topped $300 million in research expenditures for the first time in its school history. With a total of $307 million in research expenditures for FY2009 (which ended June 30), a growth of nearly 9 percent compared to FY08, ASU has made a dramatic climb in the ranks of top research universities.

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