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Sustainability News

Flattening the curve in rural Navajo and Hopi communities

April 28, 2020

Recently, GIOS receptionist Shaundiin Yazzie shared two initiatives led by her sisters. These include the production and distribution of 3D-printed face shields led by IndigeDesign Collab and a food pantry distribution led by a registered dietician. The initiatives were covered in a news broadcast by local station ABC15 Arizona.

Shaundiin's sister Eunique Yazzie invites you to watch a video about the IndigeDesign effort, join a Facebook group to get involved, make a donation, or volunteer to deliver supplies. Sister Denee Bex, whose outpatient nutrition consultations are for Navajo elders, the malnourished and immunocompromised, is building a list of people and organizations willing to donate.

These opportunities are shared here as a courtesy and may be shared with your networks as well, if appropriate. Please don't hesitate to contact Shaundiin if you have any questions.

Webinar on NSF-approved formats for support documents

April 24, 2020

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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ASU expert proposes a biodiversity-focused solution to prevent zoonotic diseases

ASU Now | April 24, 2020

Barbary ApeCOVID-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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New KEDtalk: Swimming in plastic

April 23, 2020

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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Novel coronavirus detected, monitored in wastewater

ASU Now | April 23, 2020

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.

ASU ranked top in US, 5th in world pursuit of UN sustainability goals

ASU Now | April 22, 2020

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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Zero greenhouse gas emissions earns ASU the AASHE Platinum rating

ASU Now | April 22, 2020

Thirteen years ago, Arizona State University made the pioneering promise to completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from its campus operations by the year 2025. But on June 30, 2019, the university accomplished that goal, six years ahead of schedule. This remarkable achievement—completed even as ASU’s student population ballooned—was one of many initiatives that earned the university the prestigious STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) Platinum sustainability rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

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Middel receives CAREER for work in heat mitigation

ASU Now | April 16, 2020

Sustainability scientist Ariane Middel, an assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and in the School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering, has been awarded an NSF CAREER award to further pursue her research in the SHaDE lab, which looks at heat from a human perspective.

The panel that reviewed her work particularly valued Middel’s integration of research and education, with K–12 outreach and a special focus on attracting women to STEM fields, and the academia-practitioner partnerships she is building with cities in the Valley.

“The proposed research will help us understand how people experience heat by including other atmospheric variables, such as mean radiant temperature (MRT),” Middel said. “MRT represents the heat load on a human body and varies significantly if somebody is standing in the shade or sun. We will use an innovative mobile sensor platform called “MaRTy” to measures how people experience heat in Phoenix and Los Angeles.”

The new normal: Salon, Kuby call for survey responses

April 16, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced rapid, large changes in how we do practically everything. Virtually overnight, a large fraction of U.S. households has transitioned from a reality of long commutes, in-person classes and business meetings, and in-store shopping to one of telecommuting, online classes and business meetings, and online shopping – even for groceries. Many of these changes were happening already, but COVID-19 has pressed the fast-forward button.

Sustainability scientists Deborah Salon and Mike Kuby invite you to take part in a survey-based research study to better understand which of the COVID-19 changes might persist after the pandemic, and for whom. The results will help government agencies and communities recover faster and become more resilient to the next adverse event. They will be making the responses to this survey available to anyone who would like to use them, with the hope that this will increase their usefulness in preparing for the future.

Public Interest Technology University Network announces Year 2 Challenge

April 15, 2020

The Public Interest Technology University Network is pleased to announce the launch of the Year 2 Challenge for its 36 members. ASU is a founding member of this network, and the School for the Future of Innovation in Society won a grant in year 1.

The Challenge aims to support the development of Public Interest Technology programs within academia by encouraging new ideas, fostering collaborations, and incentivizing resource- and information-sharing among network members.

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Wutich to be panelist on NYAS COVID-19 and Anthropology webinar

April 15, 2020

Sustainability scientist Amber Wutich will join the New York Academy of Sciences Anthropology Section as a panelist for a webinar focused on our current pandemic (COVID-19), contextualizing the global comparative, disease and treatment, issues of social and economic inequity, immigrant health, questions of stigma, and policy. The panel will be moderated by Tonya Taylor, assistant professor, College of Medicine, SUNY Downstate.

Wutich is President’s Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Global Health in Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change. Other panelists include Shirley Lindenbaum (Professor Emerita, Department of Anthropology, The Graduate Center, CUNY), Merrill Singer (Professor Emeritus of Medical Anthropology, The University of Connecticut and in Community Medicine at The University of Connecticut Health Center), James H. Jones (Associate Professor of Earth System Science & Senior Fellow, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University), and Thurka Sangaramoorthy (Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Maryland).

ASU's CBIE launches new webinar series

April 14, 2020

A new webinar panel series entitled Don’t Waste the COVID-19 Crisis: Reflections on Resilience and the Commons Revealed by COVID-19, kicks off on April 20 with an event featuring sustainability scientists Brad Allenby and David Manuel-Navarrete.

Tune in to Zoom on Monday at noon for the event, What Does a Post-COVID-19 World Look Like?

Co-hosted by the Center for Behavior Institutions and the Environment (CBIE), the International Association for Study of the Commons (IASC), and the Resilience Alliance, the series was organized by Marco Janssen, Marty Anderies, and Mike Schoon.

Free on-demand grantsmanship training for ASU researchers

April 13, 2020

Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise offers free access to Dr. Meg Bouvier’s virtual, on-demand grantsmanship training courses. ASU researchers can take advantage of valuable training from medical writer Meg Bouvier.

To access the training:

  1. Visit MegBouvier.com
  2. Choose your training workshop
  3. Use code "ASU NIH Training" on checkout

Margaret Bouvier works with institutions that conduct biomedical research—from academic medical centers to universities to non-profits. As a full-time NIH grantwriter, she sees dozens of reviewer comments each year. With that broad, current perspective, she knows what is fundable right now.

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Fulbright Scholar Information Sessions April 15 and 23

April 13, 2020

The 2020 Fulbright Scholar competition is now open, with applications due in September. Applications submitted during this year’s competition will be for research and/or teaching abroad to take place during 2021-2022 academic year.

If you are considering applying this year or in the future, you can learn more about the Fulbright Scholars program and strategies for applying. In a special workshop session hosted on April 15th and April 23rd, Karen Engler-Weber, ASU's Fulbright Liaison, will discuss different award options available for faculty, academics and administrators. Additionally, you'll learn about the application process, important strategies for applying and ASU resources available to support your Fulbright goals.

April 15, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.: Register

April 23, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.: Register

Watch Live: 2020 National Academy of Sciences Awards Ceremony

April 13, 2020

Recipients of the 2020 NAS Awards will be honored at a ceremony on Sunday, April 26th during the National Academy of Sciences’ 157th Annual Meeting. The Awards Ceremony will be webcast live, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Arizona time.

Among the winners is sustainability scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton, who has been awarded the 2020 Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship. The Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship is awarded to a scientist making lasting contributions to the study of the physics of the Earth and whose lectures will provide solid, timely, and useful additions to the knowledge and literature in the field.

Many scientific sessions during the NAS Annual Meeting will be webcast live, from a book and author talk with Carl Zimmer on She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity to a COVID-19 Update with the National Academy of Medicine.

Visit the NAS website for more information and to register.

Celebrate ASU Earth Month while social distancing

April 12, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic may have upended life as we know it, but there are a few things that haven’t changed, like the fact that it’s currently Earth Month at Arizona State University. To mark the occasion, Siobhan Lyon and Emmery Ledin, two members on the sustainability committee of the ASU staff council created the Earth Month Learning Series, a sequence of online discussions that are a part of ASU’s recognition of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

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COVID-19 linked to environmental degradation

April 11, 2020

Digital illustration of Earth in space with the shape of a COVID-19 particleOn April 10, 2020, Issues in Science and Technology published an article by ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber titled “A Global Strategy for Preventing the Next Pandemic.”

While the media and the public are focusing on the wildlife trade as the main factor for COVID-19, Gerber believes it is only one part of the equation. In this publication, she explains how environmental degradation has contributed to the transition of disease from animals to humans.

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Silicon Kingdom Holdings funds ASU carbon-capture machines

April 8, 2020

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, has moved into the next stage of development.

In April 2019, ASU and Silicon Kingdom Holdings, a Dublin-based startup, entered into a partnership to deploy Lackner’s carbon-capture technology at scale. Recently, SKH gave ASU its first two months of payments and will continue to pay ASU $125,000 per month for three years to conduct research in the field of direct air capture.

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