Spring 2021 update | FAQ page | Class flexibility for students | Novel coronavirus updates
March 27, 2020
With virtual meetings and classes being the norm these days, the university's Marketing Hub has created several backdrops that you can use for all of your Zoom calls. Download one or more ASU-themed virtual backgrounds and show your Sun Devil spirit!
Not sure how to change your virtual background? Follow these instructions, and happy Zooming!
March 27, 2020
Sustainability scientist Tom Seager has been part of the International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technologies every year since 2013. This year's series on resilient healthcare infrastructure has gone virtual, adding new content related to the COVID-19 response to its ISSST2020 Keynote Series.
You can subscribe to the ISSST YouTube channel to find talks from previous ISSST programs, interviews, discussions, and new content generated by the ISSST2020 Thematic and Sessions Chairs.
March 26, 2020
A medical condition forced Samantha "Sammy" Selway to transition to online schooling. It was while she was in the process of doing this that she found Arizona State University's sustainability degree.
"After I had decided to leave [another university] because of the Misophonia, the director of their Disability Resource Center told me about ASU’s online programs and then I found the sustainability major," Selway said. "It was perfect and looking back, having to leave in-person college seems like a blessing in disguise."
Selway is a senior at ASU pursuing an online Bachelor of Science in sustainability with a focus in energy, materials and technology. Continue reading to get acquainted with Selway, her propensity to power through the obstacles of life and her research project.
Medium | March 26, 2020
As this pandemic unfolds before our eyes, it is clear that it will shape our generation much the way the Great Depression and the World Wars shaped the generations of those times. So says sustainability scientist Mark Roseland and his co-author Ray Tomalty in a new piece published at Medium.com.
Social distancing raises profound questions for our approaches to sustainable cities. Sustainable cities and a suite of related terms such as urban sustainability, smart growth, eco-cities, new urbanism, and sustainable communities share a revulsion toward urban (and rural) sprawl, and a prescription for more compact urban development.
In some ways social distancing can help us see what more sustainable cities could be like. These include reductions in travel and air pollution, and increases in digital connectedness and respect for social institutions. But there are downsides, as well.
March 25, 2020
One of the most important awards an early-career scientist can receive is the NSF CAREER Award. Arianne Cease, assistant professor in the School of Sustainability and affiliated faculty in the School of Life Sciences, recently received the call telling her that she would be an NSF CAREER recipient for 2020. Besides being prestigious, the CAREER provides funding for five years, giving the principal investigator a solid foundation on which to build their research program.
Cease is the director of the Global Locust Initiative (GLI). Locusts are grasshoppers that migrate together to a new location to exploit fresh resources. A locust plague can devastate local agriculture and bring starvation to untold numbers of people. The GLI is focused on interdisciplinary locust research and management to reduce or eliminate the harm caused by these migrating insects.
March 25, 2020
Arizona State University’s Healthy Urban Environments Initiative awarded an innovative team of science students from the Arizona College Prep-Erie Campus with a $50,000 grant for their work on a heat stroke prevention device. With funding, these 9th and 10th graders will build a prototype of the device to test on student athletes.
According to Rachna Nath, a science teacher for the ACP-Erie campus, she and the students have been working with Chandler Innovations on the project since August 2019. After testing the device, they will report all data collected to the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, of which HUE is a unit.
March 23, 2020
The research community is facing unique challenges during this crisis, from the unprecedented disruptions to education and academic and research programs, to how to best support public health efforts through our knowledge and expertise.
As we face new and unique challenges in confronting the COVID-19 epidemic, NSF is prioritizing the health and safety of the research community. NSF understands the effects this challenge will have on NSF-funded research and facilities, and they are committed to providing the greatest flexibilities to support your health and safety as well as your work.
In a new announcement, Important Notice No. 146, and a policy implementation guideline document, NSF explains that they are continually updating guidance and online resources to keep you informed. NSF is also accepting proposals for nonmedical, non-clinical-care RAPID research on coronavirus, as our ability to better understand the virus and how to effectively respond will be crucial to public health efforts.
March 23, 2020
Editor's note: Although this summer's Tokyo Olympics have been postponed due to COVID-19, there is a possibility they will be rescheduled to next summer. With Tokyo's extreme summer heat and humidity, dangers to health would remain. The following information holds true for August in Tokyo, including August 2021.
This summer’s Tokyo Olympics are expected to be one of the hottest Olympic Games on record. According to Jennifer Vanos, an assistant professor in Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability, long-term climatology tells us that the question is not if it will be hot and humid in Tokyo, but rather how much hotter than normal it could be. In an effort to obtain more precision on these marginal differences and how the extreme heat will impact athletes, spectators and volunteers, Vanos and an interdisciplinary group of global researchers just published a paper in the journal Temperature.
March 19, 2020
Dimensions is a linked research knowledge system that re-imagines discovery and access to research. Dimensions brings together grants, publications, citations, alternative metrics, clinical trials, patents and policy documents in one platform, enabling users to find and access relevant information faster, analyze the academic and broader outcomes of research, and gather insights to inform future strategy.
There is an online toolkit of videos and tutorials on how to navigate the product, several on-demand webinars on how to make the most of Dimensions data, or you can begin exploring the platform right away. Sign up at the bottom of any resource page to receive email updates from Dimensions.
March 17, 2020
Inspired by sustainability, public transit and urban spaces, School of Sustainability senior Nick Johnson took on a year-long internship with Valley Metro.
“As I continued my studies it became clear that these urban spaces are also capable of manifesting strong and environmentally responsible communities. From then on I knew that I am most passionate about working towards creating more sustainable cities that have robust transit networks, walkable spaces, and human-oriented design."
The passion he felt has manifested in projects, student leadership and fostering a culture of sustainability, right here in the valley. Read more about Nick Johnson in his Q&A.
ASU Now | March 17, 2020
This month, Pat Gober will be retiring from ASU’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning full-time faculty to focus on research and professional service projects. Gober, a population geographer and demographer, was the founding director of the Decision Center for a Desert City.
Over the course of her 45-year tenure at ASU, Gober held a range of appointments including a term as chair of the Department of Geography, where under her leadership it grew into a nationally-ranked geography doctoral program. She also held appointments as distinguished honors faculty fellow in Barrett, The Honors College; policy research associate, Morrison Institute for Public Policy; senior sustainability scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability; and interim director in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban planning.
March 16, 2020
ASU psychologist Athena Aktipis and collaborators weigh in
Cooperation is essential during a pandemic. As societies deal with the rise of disease in different ways, a consistent theme is that knowing how diseases spread and evolve can put you in a much better position to evaluate what is or isn’t a real threat.
We asked Arizona State University’s resident expert on cooperation, Athena Aktipis, and some of her collaborators about how to encourage cooperation during a pandemic. Aktipis is an assistant professor of psychology in the ASU Department of Psychology who studies cooperation and cheating and co-directs the Human Generosity Project.
March 16, 2020
As ASU continues to monitor COVID-19, the university is temporarily transitioning classes wherever possible to remote teaching and learning, starting March 16, 2020. The university’s primary goal is the continuation of classes and the commitment to high-quality delivery of learning. ASU has collected all the resources available to you on one website so that you are prepared to teach, learn and work through digital remote options.
March 13, 2020
If you registered to attend ASU's Fulbright Day on March 18, you will be contacted about in-person and online workshops now tentatively planned for April. More information can be found in this announcement.
Faculty, students and staff are still eligible to apply for a Fulbright. For questions about Fulbright Scholars or Specialist Programs, contact Karen.Engler@asu.edu.
March 12, 2020
ASU Knowledge Enterprise has issued recommendations to mitigate the impact of 2019 Novel Coronavirus on the university’s research mission. For the most current information on the virus and the university’s response, visit the university’s information center at coronavirus.asu.edu.
For details on each of the following research guidelines, issued today, visit research.asu.edu/covid-19.
Guidelines to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on research activities:
March 10, 2020
Register by March 29 to attend the Project Cities Faculty Open House on Thursday, April 9th from 2 to 4 pm. New faculty are needed to support this innovative program with real-world impact!
Project Cities is a unique, ASU-community partnership that connects students and faculty in project-based classes to local community partners, with the goal of advancing the communities' sustainability goals. Attendees will be the first to choose projects with the community partners.
March 10, 2020
The 2021 AAAS annual meeting is scheduled for February 11-14 in Phoenix. The focus of the meeting will be on understanding the complexities and dynamics of various ecosystems by drawing on a multitude of perspectives.
ASU is the host insitution for the 2021 meeting and we want to show up in force! Proposal submissions for the conference are now open. Submissions were scheduled to close on Thursday April 16, but will be extended due to the community focus on COVID-19. More details can be found on the AAAS conference website.
March 9, 2020
Undergraduate faculty from all academic disciplines who would like to learn how to incorporate sustainability into their teaching are invited to attend a workshop at Dickinson College on May 19-21, 2020. Applications are due April 1, 2020. Faculty will work collaboratively to learn to introduce and enhance sustainability content in new and existing courses.
For ASU faculty, this training opportunity qualifies for the ASU Sustainability Curriculum Incentive Program.
March 6, 2020
Is the New York Times paywall bringing you down? A great perk about working or studying at ASU is NY Times access through a Group Pass. All ASU students, faculty and staff have free access to "all the news that's fit to print."
ASU users must initially register for an Academic Group Pass account through a campus authenticated link, i.e. users must sign-in to their ASU account, and follow these steps.
March 5, 2020
NSF released a Dear Colleague Letter, NSF 20-052, regarding the NSF RAPID and COVID-19. If your research meets the requirements for the RAPID, please remember that you must contact an NSF Program Officer within your directorate prior to your submission.
Proper protocol is to first email the identified Program Officer. We recommend that your email present your developed idea in a short project summary. The email must clearly show the immediate impact on how to model and understand the spread of COVID-19. NSF uses the RAPID program to address areas of severe urgency related to the availability of or access to data, facilities, or specialized equpment. The RAPID is generally for research responsive to natural or anthropogenic disasters and unanticipated events. The budget is capped at $200,000 and funds are available for one year.
