In its daily operations, its educational programs and student successes, its research, solutions, partnerships and outreach, ASU is committed to sustainability. This page represents highlights from 2019, separated out by Sustainable Development Goals.

Download the 2019 Sustainability Impact Report

• SDG 1 - No Poverty
• SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
• SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-Being
• SDG 4 - Quality Education
• SDG 5 - Gender Equality
• SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
• SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
• SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
• SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
• SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
• SDG 13 - Climate Action
• SDG 14 - Life Below Water
• SDG 15 - Life on Land
• SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Sustainability Experts

Sustainability Research Map

Download the 2019 Sustainability Impact Report

Second Nature, a nonprofit organization focused on accelerating climate action in higher education, has recognized Arizona State University for cutting its carbon emissions and awarded the university “Marks of Distinction" for its climate actions.

Between 2007 and 2018, ASU cut its net carbon emissions by 28%, reducing its net carbon emissions per 1,000 square feet of buildings by 49% and its net carbon emissions per on campus student by 45%. The university did this while experiencing an increase in on-campus population of 30.5% and expanding campus buildings by more than 40%.

“The reduction in carbon emissions was accomplished through energy efficiency, renewable energy and transportation changes," said Mick Dalrymple, director of ASU University Sustainability Practices. "Our progress has been made possible through collaborative action across the university and beyond. Teams have designed and constructed new buildings to be highly energy efficient, as well as extensively retrofitted existing buildings. Students have led the charge on cutting commuting emissions by taking up biking, walking and light rail, and moving onto campus in new residence halls or nearby.”

Dalrymple said ASU plans to be carbon neutral by 2025 in regards to campus buildings and the ASU vehicle fleet, and carbon neutral by 2035 in regards to commuting and air travel.

"We are continuously exploring opportunities for new types of clean energy, more efficient technology, new modes of working, more efficient use of space and the planting of more trees in concert with Phoenix and Tempe,” Dalrymple said.

Our Fall 2019 semester boasted a robust mix of 7 projects with nine classes of Arizona State University students. The Project Cities (PC) program connects students and faculty from the university with Arizona municipalities to collaborate on developing potential solutions to local sustainability challenges the communities face. This semester, students partnered with three communities: the City of Glendale, City of Peoria, and Town of Clarkdale on seven projects with the help of 150 students across 10 classes.

This semester’s showcase featured the following projects:

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On December 5, ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber shared her insight on identifying key priorities in biodiversity efforts through a high-level conversation on Politico.

This talk called “Nature in Crisis” was joined by Rep. Raúl Grijalva from The House Committee of Natural Resources, Linda Krueger from The Nature Conservancy, and Nick Juliano from Politico, moderating the talk.

Much of the conversation addressed the dire consequences from the findings of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services global assessment, stating 1 million species of the estimated 8 million species of plants and animals on Earth are threatened with extinction.

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Led by Nicole Darnall, associate dean and professor of public policy and management in Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability, students in SOS/PAF 545: Organizations, Sustainability and Public Policy have partnered with the City of Tempe to assist the city as it considers implementing a sustainable purchasing policy (SPP) to help it achieve its ambitious Climate Action Goals.

As part of the partnership, students from the class have spent the fall semester conducting research and working with the city’s procurement department staff and vendors to address four questions that would help the city think through its options as it considers how it might adopt an SPP:

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On December 5, 2019, the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes hosted Lucas Mariacher, the Zero Waste coordinator in the City of Phoenix.

Zero waste is an educational outreach program aiming to achieve zero waste by 2050. To achieve this goal, Mariacher discussed the common misconceptions about recycling and how to recycle properly.

“Arizona landfills produce 47 million cubic feet [of waste] per day, with landfills being the third largest producer of methane in the United States,” Mariacher explained.

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On December 5, 2019, students from the ASU Graduate Certificate in Environmental Communication and Leadership (ECL) presented their group projects to representatives of the SEEOP Argo Research Sailing Vessel and the City of Phoenix’s Zero Waste initiative.

The core course in the ECL curriculum is taught by Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director and School of Life Sciences Professor Leah Gerber. Some of the training conservation students receive as part of this certificate includes honing leadership skills and learning how to address non-scientific audiences and stakeholders for increased reach and impact.

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Attention conservationists, grasshopper friends and nature lovers:

The registration for the third European Congress on Orthoptera Conservation (ECOCIII) has opened! This year it will be held in Leiden, the Netherlands from March 19–21, 2020. Registration can be completed online. Please remember that registration closes February 5, 2020. In case of questions, please do not hesitate to contact the coordination team at ecocIII@naturalis.nl.

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The Project Cities-Apache Junction partnership hit a new milestone in December 2019: For the second time in the two-year partnership, an applied project has seen formal implementation by the city.

An Innovative New Partnership Model

Throughout the course of the collaboration, the Apache Junction partnership worked with 13 unique classes and 213 ASU students from a variety of disciplines on eight different projects. The projects are bounded by the timeline of a semester, but a handful of these projects have continued to see continual success, as city staff has successfully leveraged student work to advance the issues for the community.

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A unique carbon-capture machine developed by Klaus Lackner, an Arizona State University professor and the founding director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, was recently hailed as one of the most important engineering innovations of 2019 by Popular Science.

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The ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes team is excited to introduce you to their new member, Project Manager Alice Letcher.

As the center's project manager, Alice will be in charge of developing and implementing projects, partnerships and strategies to further our strategic goals.

Alice has a professional background in geology and isotope geochemistry. Prior to joining the center, Alice worked for the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU for two years, as a research specialist and then project manager in the W. M. Keck Foundation Laboratory for Environmental Biogeochemistry.

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In this episode, Dr. Marissa Matsler (@oh_the_urbanity) talks with Dr. David Manuel-Navarrete about the evolutionary forces working against wider adoption of green infrastructure in cities today. They discuss his recent publication in Anthropocene titled "Intentional disruption of path-dependencies in the Anthropocene: Gray versus green water infrastructure regimes in Mexico City, Mexico", in which he uses human niche theory to analyze the feedback loops which encourage cities to continue investment in grey infrastructure at the expense of green infrastructure solutions that could help with the social and environmental challenges of climate change. Dr. Manuel-Navarrete shares more about his case study research in Mexico City and his transdisciplinary approach to science. This interview is wide-reaching touching on historic infrastructure transitions, the ways in which humans differ from termites, the need to bring the subjective and the objective together in scientific inquiry, and a hopeful message describing how we can work collaboratively to change our current destructive path dependencies. You can listen to Dr. Manuel-Navarrete discuss some of these topics in Spanish in our previous episode, Paradigmas Insostinebles en Nuestras Ciudades.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes, e-mail us at futurecitiespodcast@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @FutureCitiesPod. Learn more about the Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network (UREx SRN) at www.sustainability.asu.edu/urbanresilience.

Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Buzzsprout.

Four out of the seven Arizona State University professors recently named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) were sustainability scientists in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability.

Sander van der Leeuw, C. Michael Barton, Gary Marchant and Charles Perrings were all chosen in recognition of their career contributions to science, innovation or socially distinguished efforts to advance science and its applications. To be named a fellow is an honor awarded for contributions to a specific field.

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Sustainability Scientists Jianguo Wu and Paul Westerhoff joined nine other ASU colleagues in being named Highly Cited Researchers by the Web of Science Group for the year 2019. Globally, only about 6,200 academics have received this award, including 11 (one retired) from Arizona State University. Researchers who receive this honor are ranked in the top 1 percent of the most cited works in the last decade.

“Being cited by ones’ peers is a hallmark of highly respected work, and is demonstrative of the caliber of professionals dedicated to advancing impactful, cutting-edge research here at ASU,” said Sethuraman "Panch" Panchanathan, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise and ASU’s chief research and innovation officer.

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On October 21, 2019, ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber delivered a congressional briefing funding needs to implement the Endangered Species Act 2019.

The congressional testimony title was “Solving the Biodiversity Crisis and Saving Endangered Species: The critical need for federal funding.” The event took place in the Longworth House Office Building in Washington D.C.

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On Saturday, September 23, 2019, the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes participated in the university’s annual Homecoming block party.

The block party had 14 acres of over 100 tents with fun games, food and hands-on educational activities. Conservation students at our booth interacted with families and engaged them in biodiversity conservation related activities to educate them on its importance.

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Two sustainability scientists in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, out of five Arizona State University professors overall, were awarded the prestigious Regents Professor title.

Nancy Grimm, a distinguished sustainability scientist in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and Vijay Vittal, a senior sustainability scientist and Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering professor, are both internationally recognized experts at the apex of their fields. They joined an elite rank when their nominations were approved by the Arizona Board of Regents.

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Claudia Castellanos is a 2019 finalist of the WE Empower UN SDG challenge and an innovative entrepreneur that empowers women, farmers and foodies alike. WE Empower Intern Jordan Leiter highlights Castellanos and her business, Black Mamba Foods, in this article while demonstrating how they further gender equality and other United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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Three Arizona State University students have won $6,000 in startup funds through the Microsoft Community Impact Pitch-Off for their new circular economy project.

Brian Boyle, Matthew Burmeister and Andrew John De Los Santos — three master's students from the School of Sustainability — were awarded the funds for their project, "The Circular Classroom." The project aims to meet the needs of underserved high school students in the Phoenix metro area with the technology and support necessary to transform hard-to-recycle plastic waste (i.e., #5 Polypropylene plastic bottle caps) into low-cost 3D printed educational materials.

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What food policy decisions were made in the Situation Room in the Obama White House? What was the process like writing the National Organic Program standards? How do we solve climate change through agriculture? Can organic feed the world?

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