According to researchers, about half of Caribbean coral reefs have died since the 1970s, with the iconic elkhorn and staghorn corals being the hardest hit. However, climate change does not completely explain the loss of the reefs. So, in order to get a better picture of the drastic coral loss, Arizona State University researcher Katie Cramer has published a new paper in Science Advances.

"I am interested in going back to the scene of the crime when humans first began to significantly impact coral reefs centuries ago, to understand when, why and how much reefs have been altered by humans,” said Cramer, an assistant research professor at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and an Ocean Science Fellow at the Center for Oceans at Conservation International.

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By: Kathleen Yetman, ASU Food Policy and Sustainability Leadership Certificate student. 

Just before we left Tempe to tour farms and ranches in Southern Arizona, we were honored to have breakfast with Mark Killian, Director of Arizona Department of Agriculture. Director Killian shared his passion for agriculture, which stemmed from generations of his family ranching in Arizona. He told us his experiences working for the State of Arizona, first for the legislature, then the AZ Department of Revenue as well as the Arizona Board of Regents, and finally as the Director of the AZDA. Throughout his 36-years in public service, he has continued to stay connected to his roots through his family’s ranching operation.

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NSF recently recorded a webinar about the requirement to use an NSF-approved format for both the biographical sketch and current & pending support documents as part of proposals submitted to NSF. The policy, outlined in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 20-1), goes into effect for proposals submitted or due, on or after June 1, 2020.

Webinar topics include:

• the policy guidance for preparation of the biographical sketch and current and pending support sections of the proposal;
• a walk-through of the user experience in accessing these formats in NSF systems;
• detailed guidance from NIH on using SciENcv for preparing both documents; and
• answers to a number of frequently asked questions.

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COVID-19 may have jumped from a wild animal market in Wuhan, China, to people. If so, it’s not the first deadly disease to spring from nature. Middle East respiratory syndrome is said to have a source at a camel market in Saudi Arabia. In the United States, the H1N1 swine flu originated in factory farms where animals are held in extreme confinement. And Ebola likely had its start in a chimpanzee habitat in West Africa.

A rising chorus is calling for wildlife markets to be shut down across the globe.

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As the 2020 WE Empower UN SDG Challenge application deadline — April 26th — approaches, we are excited to share the impact the Challenge has had on the five 2018 Awardees.

Hadeel Mustafa Anabtawi, a social entrepreneur with a passion for empowering girls, founded The Alchemist Lab, whose educational center has offered more than 25,000 children in cities, remote villages and refugee camps the skills they need to explore themselves and the world around them with confidence and determination.

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The Environmental Humanities Initiative of the Institute for Humanities Research at Arizona State University is collaborating with the University of Texas Humanities Institute in a grant awarded by the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI), located at the University of Wisconsin System. The grant, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is for the purpose of conducting a Global Humanities Institute (GHI) in summer 2021 on the theme “Climate Justice and Problems of Scale.” This will be the fifth GHI funded through the CHCI-Mellon partnership.

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ASU-Conservation International Assistant Research Professor Katie Cramer recently co-authored a paper in Science Advances titled the “Widespread loss of Caribbean acroporid corals was underway before coral bleaching and disease outbreaks.”

The publication presented evidence through fossil data, historical records and underwater data, that throughout the last 125,000 years, the abundance of staghorn and elkhorn corals began declining in the mid-1900s. This reveals new speculation that the corals began to decline from fishing and land-clearing, but warming oceans have impelled this deterioration further.

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In his new book, "Environment," author and renowned scientist Rolf Halden explores our essential interconnectedness with our surroundings. In observations both personal and scientific, Halden reflects on how our daily lifestyle decisions are impacting the places we occupy, our health and humanity’s prospect of survival.

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An unfathomable amount of plastic has made its way into our oceans, but Charlie Rolsky believes we can make small changes in our lives to turn the tide of plastic pollution for a cleaner world and healthier ecosystems. Rolsky is a PhD candidate in the Biodesign Institute's Center for Environmental Health Engineering.

Rolsky's talk is part of the ASU KEDtalks series. Short for Knowledge Enterprise Development talks, KEDtalks aim to spark ideas, indulge curiosity and inspire action by highlighting ASU scientists, humanists, social scientists and artists who are driven to find solutions to the universe’s grandest challenges. Tune in to research.asu.edu/kedtalks to discover more.

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Our "News" feed is a great way to see how we've celebrated the students in Project Cities' showcase events in the past. This semester we're hosting our first-ever fully virtual showcase event, and we've received a few questions about how we're making the event special while practicing social distancing. Click "read more" to learn what you can expect at this semester's showcase event and catch previews of the project topics.

Event Details:

April 29, 8:30am - 2:30pm

Pre-register for the link to virtual event space

links.asu.edu/PCShowcase_RSVP

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As we try to tackle the wicked problem of climate change, one of the biggest and most important hurdles is the transformation of our food systems. While that may sound like a daunting task, the good news is there are little changes we can make each day to bring us closer to that transformation. One of these changes is reducing food waste, a concept that has found a passionate advocate in sustainable restauranteur Danielle Leoni.

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In a new study, ASU researchers Rolf Halden and Olga Hart analyze what can and cannot be measured when tracking SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, and they highlight the economic advantages of the new approach over conventional disease testing and epidemiological surveillance. Their research appears in the current issue of the journal Science of the Total Environment.

A new approach to monitoring the novel coronavirus (as well as other dangerous pathogens and chemical agents) is being developed and refined. Known as wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), the method mines sewage samples for vital clues about human health. It can potentially identify levels of coronavirus infection at both a local and global scale.

Wastewater-based epidemiology holds the potential to break the coronavirus testing logjam in many developed nations like the U.S., but it could also be an invaluable tool for gathering health data in impoverished regions likely to bear the brunt of the pandemic.

Halden directs the Center for Environmental Health Engineering at ASU's Biodesign Institute, which is working with the City of Tempe to study the city's wastewater. A dashboard is available at covid19.tempe.gov.

An Ensia opinion article by ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber was published on the 50^th anniversary of Earth’s Day, identifying viable solutions to combat biodiversity loss through Project Drawdown.

Project Drawdown is an organization that researches the most practical global climate change solutions while sharing their findings with the rest of the world. Just as Project Drawdown pursued interventions for climate change, Gerber believes we need to produce a project drawdown for biodiversity to identify and share solutions to alleviate the biodiversity crisis.

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ASU-Conservation International Research Professor Jack Kittinger co-authored a new Science publication titled “Meeting fisheries, ecosystem function, and biodiversity goals in a human-dominated world.”

Abstract:

The worldwide decline of coral reefs necessitates targeting management solutions that can sustain reefs and the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. However, little is known about the context in which different reef management tools can help to achieve multiple social and ecological goals.

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Arizona State University ranked top in the U.S. and fifth in the world for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Back in 2017, world leaders came together to produce 17 sustainable objectives to improve the state of our planet by 2030.

On the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2020, Times Higher Education magazine announced that out of 766 institutions from around the world, only three American universities placed in the top 100. ASU scored 96.3 out of 100 points, therefore making our university the top American university and fifth-best in the world.

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Today's issue of ASU Now features a video by ASU experts, including ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber, sharing insights and recommendations for saving the environment.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, they remind us that every action counts towards conserving nature and the diversity of life on our planet.

Watch the video to learn how you can make a difference.

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Arizona State University ranks top in the U.S. and fifth in the world out of 766 institutions in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The global ranking is a jump from last year’s 35th place.

In the annual rankings published by Times Higher Education magazine, ASU scored 96.3 out of 100 points. It was the top American university in the rankings. Only three American universities placed in the top 100. ASU beat the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Penn State.

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As we post this blog, we are witnessing devastation in the dairy industry brought about by the COVID19 pandemic. Wes Kerr and his family are struggling to survive, as are dairy farmers across the country. It is heartbreaking.  The United Dairymen of Arizona sent a letter to USDA stating that this is the biggest market crash the industry has seen in 60 years and, without timely and significant support, many dairies will not survive. More on what’s going on with the Kerr Family Farm and dairies in Arizona can be found in this 4/17/20 article in West Valley View.

-Note from Swette Center Director Kathleen Merrigan