The American Meteorological Society released its annual State of the Climate report on August 1. The report, compiled by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Center for Weather and Climate, shares detailed updates on annual changes to global climate indicators and weather events. This year’s report details 2017 climate records, which include Earth experiencing record-high sea level rises and significant losses of Arctic sea ice.
According to the report, Arctic air temperatures increased at twice the rate of the rest of the world. The report called the magnitude and sustained rate of declining sea ice unprecedented.
Challenges to our planet can overwhelmingly command the headlines: climate change, massive population increases, dwindling resources.
But with every crisis comes an opportunity for creativity — innovative responses that have the potential to improve our lives and change how we interact with the ecosystem and with one another. And in Phoenix and other “extreme” cities, there is growing urgency to find those solutions.
During spring 2018, 14 Arizona State University students spent nine days in Havana, Cuba through the School of Sustainability program, “Cuba: Unlocked and On the Edge of Rapid Transitions.” This study abroad opportunity, offered in partnership with the Council on International Educational Exchange, allowed students from six ASU colleges to dive deeper into areas of energy systems, food systems, waste management, social equity and economy.
Students lived with host families during the program to better understand what it’s like to be Cuban during a time of economic struggle coupled with an increase in tourism due to the country’s newly opened borders. Through various off-the-beaten-path learning experiences, such as visiting urban gardens and volunteering in neighborhoods and waste facilities, students were able to interact with Cuban citizens and observe first-hand some of the complex issues exacerbated by the burst of tourism.
Using a combination of field instrumentation, unmanned aerial vehicles and a hydrologic model, a team of researchers from Arizona State University and the Jornada Long-Term Ecological Research Program of the National Science Foundation has been studying the fate of monsoon rainfall and its impact on groundwater recharge in the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico.
Their findings, recently published in the journal Water Resources Research, explain how a surprising amount of rainfall, nearly 25 percent, from monsoon storms is absorbed into small stream beds and percolates into the groundwater system. The researchers identified factors affecting the percolation process through the use of a numerical model that reproduced the long-term observations obtained at a highly instrumented research site.
“The results of this study show that monsoon storms serve an important role in recharging groundwater aquifers near the point of runoff generation,” said ASU hydrologist Enrique Vivoni of the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. “This is an essential process that banks renewable surface water for future use as a groundwater resource in the arid Southwest and throughout the world.”
New solar energy research from Arizona State University demonstrates that silicon-based tandem photovoltaic modules, which convert sunlight to electricity with higher efficiency than present modules, will become increasingly attractive in the U.S.
A paper that explores the costs vs. enhanced efficiency of this new solar technology appears in Nature Energy this week. The paper is authored by ASU Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering Assistant Research Professor Zhengshan J. Yu, graduate student Joe V. Carpenter and Assistant Professor Zachary Holman.
The Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative was launched in 2011 with a goal of making solar cost-competitive with conventional energy sources by 2020. The program attained its goal of $0.06 per kilowatt-hour three years early, and a new target of $0.03 per kilowatt-hour by 2030 has been set. Increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic modules is one route to reducing the cost of the solar electricity to this new target. If reached, the goal is expected to triple the amount of solar installed in the U.S. in 2030 compared to the business-as-usual scenario.
Who does the United States public trust to help in its efforts to become more resilient to extreme weather events and climate change? A 2016 Pew Research Center survey revealed that 76 percent of citizens trust scientists “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to act in the public’s best interests, but only 27 percent report the same degrees of trust for their politicians and elected officials. Given these percentages, how does the public feel about the hybrid workers in government: the scientist civil servants staffing the federal agencies run by political appointees?
Since the civilian workforce of the federal government makes up over 99.7 percent of the total staff, leaving very few positions to be filled by political appointment, it turns out that the actual “doing” part of resilience policy and science is largely left to scientist civil servants. Who are these scientist civil servants, then? How do they straddle the line between resilience policy and science? And how does the public feel about what they do?
The statistics are in: 81 percent of Arizona State University freshmen who enrolled in the School of Sustainability in fall 2013 graduated from ASU in four years. This is higher than the university’s overall four-year graduation rate.
Though all of the students included in the 81 percent started out in the School of Sustainability, about seven percent of them changed their major at some point.
“It’s okay if a student changes their major during their time at ASU,” said Lisa Murphy, Director of Academic Services at the School of Sustainability. “It’s important that students find the right major for them.”
Still, even with a small percentage of students shifting gears, the School of Sustainability holds one of the highest graduation rates at ASU. As of spring 2017, 1,098 students have graduated from the School of Sustainability since it opened in 2007.
The Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Martin Chungong, recently visited Hawaii to meet with the Hawaii State Senate and Amanda Ellis, the Director of Strategic Partnerships throughout Hawaii and Asia Pacific for Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. The official visit was in preparation for an upcoming collaborative project to help legislators from 178 parliaments better meet their commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Hawaii is a leader in sustainable development, making the state an ideal place to convene. In 2015, Hawaii became the first state with a law requiring that 100% of its energy be generated by renewable sources. The law was passed after a successful Blue Planet Foundation campaign in which legislators were sent drawings and letters from more than 500 students, teachers and community members in support of renewable energy. Hawaii will achieve this goal by 2045.
Who does the United States public trust to help in its efforts to become more resilient to extreme weather events and climate change? A 2016 Pew Research Center, survey revealed that 76% of citizens trust scientists “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to act in the public’s best interests, but only 27% report the same degrees of trust for their politicians and elected officials. Given these percentages, I wonder how the public feels about the hybrid workers in government: the scientist civil servants staffing the federal agencies run by political appointees. Since the civilian workforce of the federal government makes up over 99.7% of the total staff, leaving proportionally very few positions to be filled by political appointment, it turns out that the actual “doing” part of resilience policy and science is largely left to scientist civil servants. Who are these scientist civil servants, then? How do they straddle the line between resilience policy and science? And how would the public feel about what they do?
For one week in June of 2018, UREx SRN students convened at ASU’s Barrett and O’Connor Center to meet with some of these scientist civil servants, as well as with scientists working for the non-profit sector, as part of ASU’s Science Outside the Laboratory program on resilience policy and science. There, at the Center and at D.C. government agency buildings, SOtL program director Dr. Jennifer Brian and Dr. Matthew Harsh, as well as former program director Ira Bennett, arranged roundtable discussions about the duties involved in federal science positions, federal policies for building resilience to extreme weather events and climate change, and efforts toward developing trust and collaboration with the American public on these issues.
Students met early on with Advance Science Staff Lead, Dr. Jennifer Saleem Arrigo, at the US Global Change Research Program (GCRP), which is the charged with publishing the quadrennial National Climate Assessment. Students also met with the Director and Assistant Director of the Natural Resources and Environment Department, Frank Rusco and Joe Thompson respectively, at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which ensures the government is fulfilling its mandated duties like producing the Assessment. These civil servants talked about the importance of the Assessment for communicating to both policymakers and the public on consensus science on the threat and effects of climate change, even as receptiveness to this information has changed in recent years. Responses to student questions regarding speakers’ feelings on the impactfulness of their work, including changes in receptiveness, where emphasized as the normal ebb and flow of politics. The speakers viewed much of what they do as preparation for the opening of political windows of opportunity: that is, for the times when the public or congressional attention and will for action suddenly swell and crest, and it becomes possible to carry forward climate change resilience actions. I was impressed by how these scientists, with long careers in academia or in climate research, had become politically savvy in their roles without diluting the quality of their research or diverting from its intended purpose.
Students also met with scientists and an art director about the importance of visualization and interactivity for communicating the need for resilience strategies. Claudia Nierenberg and Stephen Zepecki spoke to us about NOAA’s role as both researchers as well as communicators to the public and political figures. Students were given a demonstration of the Science on the Sphere demonstration tool: a globe upon which model and satellite data can be projected, demonstrating to viewers various planetary processes ranging from atmospheric warming over the past century, hurricane formation and landfall events, and changes in oceanic currents. Nierenberg and Zepecki described the Sphere as being a particularly impactful tool for communicating the findings of NOAA, and for how our own resilience concerns in the US have parallels and connections to nations across the planet.
In a separate event at the National Building Museum, Curator Chrysanthe Broikos and students engaged in a discussion over a recent exhibit, Designing for Disaster. The exhibit exposed attendees in both the effects of natural disasters like wildfires and flooding, in the forms of faux-burned and faux-flood-damaged exhibit spaces. It also showed the effects of disaster resilience policy, in the forms of future building and infrastructure design. These forms of communication impressed me with literal flatness of much of the work that I do: most of it will be communicated via paper or screen, but might have more impact by the use of other mediums, in terms of quality and quantity. Also, seeing the connection between disaster effects, resilience policy, and design effects gave me some trust in the good intention of the scientists and agencies that pushed for policy change.
We also held roundtables with scientists involved in policy work in the non-governmental organization (NGO) world, discussing the ways that they partner with communities and sub-federal government to increase community resilience. Genevieve Maricle, the Global Knowledge and Innovation Lead at the World Wildlife Fund spoke about how cities and communities both in the US and abroad are mobilizing to implement the Paris Climate Agreement goals and UN Sustainable Development Goals in the absence of federal support. Jorge Ramos, manager of Conservation International’s Climate and Ocean division, spoke about work done on mangrove conservation partnerships with communities, and how such localized work can even be the ideal form of resilience work, both with and without the presence of federal support. Indeed, many students within the UREx SRN are involved in research that can increase the effectiveness and equity involved in community resilience efforts. With low trust in politics and federal agencies, and inconsistent financial support or vision from the elected heads of these groups, partnerships between concerned communities and NGO scientists that can support the technical and financial aspects of achieving their goals are increasingly necessary.
This post represents only a few of the great discussions and ideas that arose from this year’s Science Outside the Lab program. Additional speakers came from the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes (CSPO); the American Meteorological Society; the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FEMA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). In a closing feedback session, students offered that they were impressed with the genuine sense of duty that these scientist civil servants felt toward communication and community outreach in their work. My own strongest impression was how these scientists all strove in good faith to fulfill the obligations of their positions, regardless of pushback or frustration some felt during this and previous stages of the political cycle. Further, we all felt inspired seeing the results of the scientific research we do that is being translated into policy and action, and we came away with the understanding that as either future unaffiliated scientists or civil servants enacting science policy, we will have an impactful role to play in making more resilient communities, cities, and nations.
UREx La ciencia afuera del laboratorio (SOtL) - Verano de 2018
¿En quién confía el público de Estados Unidos para ayudar en los esfuerzos para ser más resilientes a los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos y al cambio climático? Una encuesta del Centro de Investigación Pew en 2016 reveló que el 76% de los ciudadanos confían “mucho" o "regular" en que los científicos actúan en beneficio del público, pero solo el 27% reporta los mismos grados de confianza en sus políticos y funcionarios electos. Dados estos porcentajes, me pregunto cómo se siente el público acerca de los trabajadores híbridos en el gobierno: los científicos que trabajan como funcionarios en las agencias federales dirigidas por personas designadas por razones políticas. Dado que la fuerza laboral civil del gobierno federal representa más del 99.7% de la planilla total, dejando proporcionalmente muy pocos puestos a cubrir con designaciones políticas, resulta que la parte real de “ejecutar” relacionada con la política de la resiliencia y la ciencia queda en gran medida en manos de funcionarios científicos. ¿Quiénes son estos funcionarios científicos, entonces? ¿Cómo caminan la línea media entre la política de resiliencia y la ciencia? ¿Y cómo se sentiría el público acerca de lo que hacen?
Durante una semana en junio de 2018, los estudiantes UREx SRN se reunieron en el Centro Barrett y O'Connor de ASU para conocer a algunos de estos científicos que trabajan como funcionarios públicos, y conocer también a científicos que trabajan para el sector sin fines de lucro, como parte del programa La ciencia afuera del laboratorio de ASU que trata sobre la política de resiliencia y la ciencia. Allí, en el Centro y en los edificios de las agencias gubernamentales de D.C., la directora del programa de SOtL, la Dra. Jennifer Brian y el Dr. Matthew Harsh, así como el ex director del programa Ira Bennett, organizaron mesas redondas sobre los deberes relacionados con las posiciones científicas en el gobierno federal y las políticas federales para la construcción de resiliencia ante eventos climáticos extremos y el cambio climático, y los esfuerzos para desarrollar confianza y colaboración del público estadounidense sobre estos temas.
Los estudiantes se reunieron con la Dra. Jennifer Saleem Arrigo, Líder del Personal de Ciencias Avanzadas del Programa de Investigación en Cambio Global (GCRP), que está a cargo de la publicación de la Evaluación Nacional Climática cuadrienal. Los estudiantes también se reunieron con el Director y Subdirector del Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Medio Ambiente, Frank Rusco y Joe Thompson, respectivamente, en la Oficina de Rendición de Cuentas Gubernamentales (GAO), que garantiza que el gobierno esté cumpliendo con sus deberes obligatorios, como generar la Evaluación. Estos funcionarios hablaron sobre la importancia de la Evaluación para comunicar a los legisladores y al público sobre la ciencia consensuada en torno a la amenaza y los efectos del cambio climático, incluso a pesar de que la receptividad a esta información ha cambiado en los últimos años. Respuestas a las preguntas de los estudiantes sobre la opinión de los oradores en torno al impacto de su trabajo, incluidos los cambios en la receptividad, fueron enfatizados frente al vaivén normal político. Los oradores vieron gran parte de lo que hacen como una preparación para la apertura de ventanas de oportunidad política: es decir, para los momentos en que la atención y la voluntad públicas o del Congreso se intensifiquen repentinamente y sea posible llevar adelante acciones para lograr resiliencia al cambio climático. Me impresionó cómo estos científicos, con largas carreras académicas o de investigación climática, se han vuelto políticamente hábiles en sus roles sin diluir la calidad de su investigación y sin desviarse de sus propósitos previstos.
Los estudiantes también se reunieron con científicos y un director de arte para hablar sobre la importancia de la visualización y la interactividad para comunicar la necesidad de estrategias de resiliencia. Claudia Nierenberg y Stephen Zepecki nos hablaron sobre el papel de NOAA como investigadores y comunicadores ante el público y las figuras políticas. Los estudiantes recibieron una demostración de la herramienta de demostración Ciencia en la Esfera: un globo sobre el cual se pueden proyectar datos satelitales y de modelación, mostrando a los espectadores diversos procesos planetarios que van desde el calentamiento atmosférico durante el siglo pasado, la formación de huracanes y el efecto al tocar tierra, y cambios en las corrientes oceánicas. Ellos también describieron la Esfera como una herramienta particularmente impactante para comunicar los hallazgos de NOAA, y la forma cómo nuestras propias preocupaciones de resiliencia en Estados Unidos tienen paralelismos y conexiones con las naciones de todo el planeta.
En un evento separado en el Edificio del Museo Nacional, la curadora Chrysanthe Broikos y los estudiantes participaron en una discusión sobre una exhibición reciente, Diseñando para Desastres. La exhibición expuso a los asistentes tanto los efectos de los desastres naturales como los incendios forestales y las inundaciones, en forma de espacios de exhibición simulando estar quemados o inundados. También mostró los efectos de la política de resiliencia ante desastres, en la forma de diseños futuros de construcción e infraestructura. Estas formas de comunicación me impresionaron por el carácter plano de gran parte del trabajo que hago: la mayor parte se comunica a través de papel o pantalla, pero podría tener más impacto con el uso de otros medios, en términos de calidad y cantidad. Además, al ver la conexión entre los efectos de los desastres, la política de resiliencia y los efectos del diseño, pude confiar en la buena intención de los científicos y las agencias que impulsan el cambio de políticas.
También realizamos mesas redondas con científicos involucrados en el trabajo de políticas en el mundo de las organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG), discutiendo las formas en que se asocian con las comunidades y el gobierno sub federal para aumentar la resiliencia de la comunidad. Genevieve Maricle, Líder de Conocimiento e Innovación Global en World Wildlife Fund habló sobre cómo las ciudades y comunidades tanto en los Estados Unidos como en el exterior se están movilizando para implementar los objetivos del Acuerdo Climático de Paris y los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sustentable de la ONU en ausencia de apoyo federal. Jorge Ramos, gerente de la División de Clima y Océanos de Conservation International, habló sobre el trabajo realizado con alianza con las comunidades para la conservación de manglares, y cómo ese trabajo localizado puede ser la forma ideal de trabajo de resiliencia, con y sin la presencia de apoyo federal. De hecho, muchos estudiantes dentro de UREx SRN están involucrados en investigaciones que pueden aumentar la efectividad y la equidad involucradas en los esfuerzos de resiliencia comunitaria. Con poca confianza en la política y las agencias federales, y ante el inconsistente apoyo financiero o de visión de los líderes electos de estos grupos, cada vez son más necesarias las alianzas entre comunidades interesadas y científicos de las ONG que pueden apoyar los aspectos técnicos y financieros para alcanzar las metas.
Esta publicación representa solo algunas de las grandes discusiones e ideas que surgieron del programa de La Ciencia afuera del laboratorio este año. Otros oradores adicionales representaron a organizaciones como el Consorcio para Ciencia, Política y Resultados (CSPO); la Sociedad Meteorológica de Estados Unidos; la Administración Federal de Seguros y Mitigación (FEMA), y el Sondeo Geológico de Estados Unidos (USGS). En una sesión de retroalimentación de cierre, los estudiantes dijeron que estaban impresionados con el sentido genuino del deber que estos funcionarios científicos sentían con respecto a la comunicación y la extensión comunitaria en su trabajo. Mi impresión más fuerte fue cómo todos estos científicos se esfuerzan de buena fe para cumplir con las obligaciones de sus posiciones, independientemente del retroceso o la frustración que algunos han sentido durante esta y las etapas anteriores del ciclo político. Además, todos nos sentimos inspirados por los resultados de las investigaciones científicas que hacemos y verlos traducidos en políticas y acciones, y llegamos a la conclusión de que, ya sea como futuros científicos no afiliados o funcionarios públicos promulgando políticas científicas, tendremos una función impactante para lograr comunidades, ciudades y naciones más resilientes.
The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, along with Vital Voices, the United Nations Foundation and many other partners, announce the winners of the inaugural WE Empower U.N. SDG Challenge. Five women entrepreneurs, representing each of the five U.N. regions, were selected to attend the United Nations Global Goals Week in September and to receive training and support for their efforts to empower women and improve sustainability in their fields.
The winning submissions are diverse and innovative:
Habiba Ali, Africa - Ali founded Nigerian company Sosai, which brings renewable energy technologies to the most rural of users, improving access to clean, affordable energy and providing clean water and better health outcomes.
Science magazine recently published an article co-authored by Klaus Lackner, Director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at Arizona State University. The article, “Net-zero emissions energy systems,” examines the possibilities and challenges facing the decarbonization of energy use — as in, developing an energy system that does not add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Decarbonizing energy use would ease the dangerous effects of climate change. Eliminating emissions from some services, such as local travel, heating and cooling, would be relatively simple, but emissions from some essential services would be difficult to curtail.
In the report, Lackner and the authors discuss the complexities facing the decarbonization of certain energy sectors, such as air travel, cement production and the provision of a reliable electricity grid. They outline research and development areas that are crucial to achieve this goal of net-zero emissions in energy systems.
A transparent supply chain is good for business, as more consumers and investors are demanding to know where products come from and how they are made. “Organizations that create that transparency have more consumer and investor trust, which leads to loyalty and business value creation,” wrote Euan Murray, Chief Executive of The Sustainability Consortium, in a GreenBiz article.
With this in mind, TSC released its third annual Impact Report, “Transparent Supply Chains for Better Business,” which focuses on how well companies such as Walmart and Sam’s Club are using the organization’s tools to examine and improve their supply chains.
Using numbers from the Sustainability Index, which allows retailers and suppliers to measure sustainability performance for 115 different consumer goods categories, TSC reported in 2018 that it made significant progress on all three aspects of increasing transparency: aspiration, process and outcome. Read the full TSC Impact Report.
On the heels of a meeting about climate change with Pope Francis last month, John Browne, Executive Chairman of L1 Energy and board member of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, penned an op-ed for Bloomberg Opinion. Browne’s editorial focuses on the great energy shift that needs to happen, with oil and gas companies adapting to be a positive part of the energy transition rather than victims of it.
As a former chief executive of BP, Browne made waves in the late ‘90s when he voiced his concern about climate change and stated that oil and gas companies have a responsibility to take action. Today, Lord Browne of Madingley remains a vocal proponent of shifting energy sources and consumption without harming the world’s poorest people. He believes society already has the tools to do just that.
Bulent Bicer, Project Manager of Research at Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, recently represented ASU at the annual Top Executive Conference (TOPEX) in Fiji. TOPEX is hosted by the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation, the country’s chief employer organization. This year’s theme was “Change and Transition: Readiness and Resistance,” and about 200 executives were in attendance.
Bicer presented on behalf of Amanda Ellis, who develops relationships throughout Hawaii and Asia Pacific as the Director of Strategic Partnerships for ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. Bicer and Ellis worked together on the presentation titled “Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development Goals,” which provided an overview of renewable energy as part of human development, and, more specifically, the importance of renewable energy in Fiji and other island nations.
During the presentation, Bicer spoke about ASU’s past and ongoing activities in Fiji and the Pacific Islands, such as SolarSPELL and Vocational Training and Education for Clean Energy (VOCTEC).
It’s predicted to be 116 degrees in Tempe on Tuesday. Scorching.
That kind of extreme heat is a dangerous annual stress on city resources. Last year, the Tempe Fire Department responded to 141 calls for heat-related emergencies. There have been 84 heat-emergency calls so far this year.
So, Arizona State University researchers are working with the city of Tempe on ways to mitigate the effects on the people who live here. A team from the Urban Climate Research Center has several projects happening now, which the city discussed in a press conference on Wednesday.
Arizona State University School of Sustainability alumnus Andy Stein was just named to the seventh annual “Double Chai in the Chi: 36 Under 36” list, selected by the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago’s Young Leadership Division (YLD). The list highlights the societal contributions of Chicago’s young Jewish population.
“To see so many people creating new opportunities that better our community is truly inspiring,” said Alex Entratter, current YLD campaign chair and former honoree. “This is just the beginning of a bright future for these individuals and the community they are impacting."
Stein graduated from ASU with a Master of Sustainability Solutions. While at ASU, Stein was concurrently a Project Manager for the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives. Now, Stein is a Sustainability Program Coordinator at Northwestern University, where he focuses on the university’s Built Environment Program. He has a particular interest in sustainable building practices and incorporating sustainability into business operations.
When asked by the “36 Under 36” list’s organizers to describe himself in 10 words or less, Stein responded: “Passionate about creating a healthy and sustainable future for everyone.”
Three times farther from the sun than Earth, a massive asteroid made of metal floats in space between Mars and Jupiter. Its name is Psyche, and it could be the core of an early planet that survived violent collisions when the solar system was forming. Psyche was the sixteenth asteroid ever discovered, in 1852, but only recently has a spacecraft mission been initiated by Arizona State University and NASA to study this asteroid in more depth.
Unlike most other known asteroids, which are primarily rocky, Psyche appears to be made almost entirely of nickel-iron metal — much like Earth’s own core. According to ASU’s Psyche website, “The asteroid Psyche may be able to tell us how Earth’s core and the cores of the other terrestrial (rocky) planets came to be.” Scientists can’t investigate Earth’s core directly, so studying an asteroid with a similar makeup may be the next best thing.
ASU leads the Psyche mission, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is responsible for its management, operations and spacecraft navigation. The spacecraft is slated to launch in 2022, and then it will spend nearly four years cruising through space, using the gravitational field of Mars to increase in speed, until it reaches Psyche in 2026. Upon arrival, the spacecraft will orbit Psyche for 21 months, mapping and studying the asteroid’s properties.
In September 2016, ASU partnered with Conservation International to train the next generation of conservation leaders, while protecting the nature people need to thrive. This partnership was established via the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes and the CI Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Science. Today, it was announced that the Moore Center’s senior vice president, Dr. Daniela Raik, would transition as the new senior vice president for the organization’s Americas Field Division. Dr. Mike Mascia who currently leads the Social Science Program, is stepping in to fulfill her previous role.
We take the opportunity to thank Dr. Raik for her vision and leadership, which were instrumental in establishing the ASU-CI partnership.
ASU welcomes Dr. Mascia and looks forward to continuing our work together to advance this very important partnership.
The ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes is currently hiring a Senior Management Research Analyst – Biodiversity in Business to lead the center’s work on biodiversity in the business sector.
This individual will join a vibrant and growing interdisciplinary team of faculty and non-academic partners to develop and implement a portfolio of projects that address the multiple aspects of environmental and non-market valuation within the business landscape.
Diane Trimble earned two degrees from Arizona State University, but the journey wasn’t easy. About 20 years ago, Trimble dropped out of college halfway through a bachelor’s degree after struggling to balance work with classes. She became a restaurant manager, a wife and a mother to three sons — the oldest of whom started asking her questions about her college experience as he neared the end of high school.
Trimble said she was initially embarrassed by her son’s questions because she couldn’t fully answer them. But then a lightbulb went off. “His questions made me realize that I [had] a second chance at a college experience — an experience that I could share with not only my oldest son but also my two others that would follow in both of our footsteps,” Trimble said.
Inspired to be a better role model for her sons, Trimble decided to finally finish her bachelor’s degree. The timing couldn’t have been better — as a Starbucks manager, she found out she could get full tuition coverage from the new Starbucks College Achievement Plan, a partnership with ASU.
“I felt beyond satisfied and overjoyed as I started my college journey over again, while guiding my son through his transition from high school into college,” Trimble said. “Going back to school gave me a new-found love for myself. For the first time in my life I wasn’t someone’s boss, wife or mom, I was Diane: a 40-year-old student finding her place in life.”
Trimble took on 18 credits a semester to complete her online degree in less than two years. After a lot of hard work, she graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership. She said the online format was beneficial for her and she “never felt that [she] had to choose school as a priority over everything else in [her] life.”
Feeling empowered, Trimble didn’t stop at a bachelor’s degree. She soon enrolled in the Executive Master of Sustainability Leadership program in the School of Sustainability. “I choose a degree in sustainability because it wasn’t just a degree about the environment, it was also a degree that took into account our social, economic and cultural impact,” she said.
Trimble chose the EMSL, in part, because it allowed her to intertwine 20 years of “living and breathing business strategies” with sustainability strategies. Through her coursework, studying abroad and engaging with staff and fellow students from diverse backgrounds, Trimble said she learned to be an effective leader in her workplace and community. She completed her master’s degree in 2018.
Now, Trimble is working on an event that will allow people in her city of Victorville, CA and the surrounding region to connect and collaborate around higher education and opportunities for youth.
“This event will give others the opportunity to tell their story of how Starbucks and ASU gave them a fresh start,” Trimble said. “It will also give those that are looking for a fresh start and that extra boost of motivation to take that next step.”
The American Meteorological Society released its annual State of the Climate report on August 1. The report, compiled by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Center for Weather and Climate, shares detailed updates on annual changes to global climate indicators and weather events. This year’s report details 2017 climate records, which include Earth experiencing record-high sea level rises and significant losses of Arctic sea ice.
Challenges to our planet can overwhelmingly command the headlines: climate change, massive population increases, dwindling resources.
During spring 2018, 14 Arizona State University students spent nine days in Havana, Cuba through the School of Sustainability program, “Cuba: Unlocked and On the Edge of Rapid Transitions.” This study abroad opportunity, offered in partnership with the Council on International Educational Exchange, allowed students from six ASU colleges to dive deeper into areas of energy systems, food systems, waste management, social equity and economy.
Using a combination of field instrumentation, unmanned aerial vehicles and a hydrologic model, a team of researchers from Arizona State University and the Jornada Long-Term Ecological Research Program of the National Science Foundation has been studying the fate of monsoon rainfall and its impact on groundwater recharge in the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico.
New solar energy research from Arizona State University demonstrates that silicon-based tandem photovoltaic modules, which convert sunlight to electricity with higher efficiency than present modules, will become increasingly attractive in the U.S.
Who does the United States public trust to help in its efforts to become more resilient to extreme weather events and climate change? A 
The statistics are in: 81 percent of Arizona State University freshmen who enrolled in the School of Sustainability in fall 2013 graduated from ASU in four years. This is higher than the university’s overall four-year graduation rate.
The Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Martin Chungong, recently visited Hawaii to meet with the Hawaii State Senate and Amanda Ellis, the Director of Strategic Partnerships throughout Hawaii and Asia Pacific for Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. The official visit was in preparation for an upcoming collaborative project to help legislators from 
The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, along with Vital Voices, the United Nations Foundation and 
Science magazine recently published an article co-authored by Klaus Lackner, Director of the 
A transparent supply chain is good for business, as more consumers and investors are demanding to know where products come from and how they are made. “Organizations that create that transparency have more consumer and investor trust, which leads to loyalty and business value creation,” wrote Euan Murray, Chief Executive of 
On the heels of a 
Bulent Bicer, Project Manager of Research at Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, recently represented ASU at the annual Top Executive Conference (TOPEX) in Fiji. TOPEX is hosted by the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation, the country’s chief employer organization. This year’s theme was “Change and Transition: Readiness and Resistance,” and about 200 executives were in attendance.
It’s predicted to be 116 degrees in Tempe on Tuesday. Scorching.
Three times farther from the sun than Earth, a massive asteroid made of metal floats in space between Mars and Jupiter. Its name is Psyche, and it could be the core of an early planet that survived violent collisions when the solar system was forming. Psyche was the sixteenth asteroid ever discovered, in 1852, but only recently has a spacecraft mission been initiated by Arizona State University and 
Diane Trimble earned two degrees from Arizona State University, but the journey wasn’t easy. About 20 years ago, Trimble dropped out of college halfway through a bachelor’s degree after struggling to balance work with classes. She became a restaurant manager, a wife and a mother to three sons — the oldest of whom started asking her questions about her college experience as he neared the end of high school.