Join us for the #sustleadership chat w/ @bruno68 @WSSIatASU @triplepundit & @CSRwire on Oct 15 at 3:30pm EST! http://bit.ly/asu_csr #csr

TEMPE, Ariz. – October 1, 2013 – The Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, a program within the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, will convene a Twitter Chat on Leadership Through a Sustainability Lens. The chat will be co-hosted by professors George Basile, Senior Sustainability Scientist with the Global Institute of Sustainability and Professor of Practice at ASU’s School of Sustainability, and Bruno Sarda, Director of Global Sustainability Operations at Dell and professor and consultant for ASU.

Sustainability enables a more complete understanding of the world around us. What kind of leadership is needed not only for individuals to succeed, but for organizations, communities and societies to thrive well into the future? Traditional MBA programs have taught future leaders to externalize problems, how to account for some things and not for others, and how to maximize profit and push risk off on society. Now, in order to address sustainability and the need to make businesses and organizations thrive into the future we need a new kind of exec/Master’s model.

In partnership with TriplePundit and CSRwire, experts from the nation’s leader in sustainability education will share their perspectives and seek feedback from the sustainability community.

Continue Reading

The Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU) seek applicants for a nine-month tenure-track/tenured faculty position in hydrology and water resources engineering. Research areas of interest include, but are not limited to: water resources sustainability, hydrologic informatics, and interactions of water infrastructure with climate, land cover change or public health to grow and strengthen our efforts in the Sustainable Water Initiative. We seek candidates that integrate multiple tools, including field/remote sensing observations and advanced data analysis and computational models.

Faculty in the Fulton Schools of Engineering are currently involved in several multidisciplinary research and teaching efforts aimed at addressing water resources sustainability challenges. Faculty are engaged, for example, in the study of interactions of urban infrastructure, climate and water, use of novel sensing platforms in the built and natural environment, high performance computing of coupled hydrologic and atmospheric flows, and development of decision support systems for stakeholder engagement. Close collaborations also exist with faculty across the university, including faculty from the Global Institute of Sustainability, School of Earth and Space Exploration, School of Life Sciences, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and Decision Center for a Desert City. This search is aimed at further broadening and strengthening this interdisciplinary collaborative enterprise through complementary research and teaching activities.

Successful candidates should have a Ph.D. degree in Civil or Environmental Engineering or a field closely related to hydrology or water resources engineering. Required qualifications also include demonstrated evidence of research capability as appropriate to the candidate’s rank and commitment to teaching excellence. Faculty members are expected to develop an internationally recognized and externally funded research program, adopt innovative educational practices in both graduate and undergraduate instruction, advise students, and undertake service activities. The successful candidate will be expected to teach undergraduate and graduate courses that support the Sustainable Water Initiative. Priority will be given to candidates whose research interests address interdisciplinary challenges in the field.

Appointment will be at the assistant, associate or full professor rank commensurate with the candidate’s experience and accomplishments, beginning August 2014. Although the appointment may be in any of Fulton Engineering’s five schools, the successful candidate is most likely to be placed in the Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering program within the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment.

Review of applications will begin November 1, 2013. If not filled, reviews will occur on the 1st and 15th of the month thereafter, until the search is closed. To apply, submit as a single PDF file the following: a current CV, statements describing research and teaching interests and contact information for three references to hydrosystems.engineering@asu.edu.

For more information or questions about this position, please write to hydrosystems.inquiry@asu.edu.

Arizona State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. See ASU’s complete non-discrimination statement.

ASU offers applicants an opportunity to voluntarily self-disclose information for the University’s affirmative action plan; applicants may complete an EEO survey for the position they are applying for online.

Information you’ll need to complete the survey:

Job Number: 10527

Job Title: Hydrology

Department Name: Engineering

Salt River Project (SRP) and the Conservation and Renewable Energy Collaboratory (CREC) at ASU’s College of Technology and Innovation (CTI) has selected four projects to be funded to research renewable energy and conservation. Senior Sustainability Scientist Milt Sommerfeld's work on algae and water quality will be allocated funds from the $170,000 grant.

"Industry partners like SRP are the foundation of the college and provide an important component of our project-based learning and applied research model," says Mitzi Montoya, vice provost and dean of CTI.

Sommerfeld hopes to use algae to capture water contaminants and then use the resulting algae to produce biomass for fuel, feed, or fertilizer. The research will be conducted at the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation where Sommerfeld serves as co-director.

A Thought Leader Series Piece

By Christopher Boone

Note: Christopher Boone became the Interim Dean of Arizona State University's School of Sustainability in July. He continues to teach in the School of Sustainability and the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. He recently co-edited the book, "Urbanization and Sustainability: Linking urban ecology, environmental justice and global environmental change."

History shows that significant transitions are possible, and these radical changes can have far-reaching impacts on human beings and the environment. In a span of just three human lifespans—roughly 200 years—we have experienced demographic, energy, and economic transitions that have altered the human condition and our relationship with the planet. In the United States in 1800, birth rates were high, but life could be miserably short; people depended on animals, falling water, and wood for energy; and the economy was based on agriculture and resource extraction.

Today in the U.S., families are not large enough to replace the current generation, but people can expect to enjoy long lives; we are utterly dependent on fossil fuels for energy; and the economy is based mainly on services. The implications of these transitions are multi-faceted and complex, but they have contributed to, among other concerns, rising energy and material demands, global climate change, biodiversity loss, and increasing disparities of human well-being.

Continue Reading

Assessment of De Facto Wastewater Reuse across the U.S.: Trends between 1980 and 2008

Published

August 19, 2013 in Environmental Science and Technology, DOI: 10.1021/es402792s

Authors

Jacelyn Rice, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and DCDC Graduate Research Assistant, ASU

Amber Wutich, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, ASU

Paul Westerhoff, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, ASU

Abstract

De facto wastewater reuse is the incidental presence of treated wastewater in a water supply source. In 1980 the EPA identified drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) impacted by upstream wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharges and found the top 25 most impacted DWTPs contained between 2% and 16% wastewater discharges from upstream locations (i.e., de facto reuse) under average streamflow conditions. This study is the first to provide an update to the 1980 EPA analysis. An ArcGIS model of DWTPs and WWTPs across the U.S. was created to quantify de facto reuse for the top 25 cities in the 1980 EPA study. From 1980 to 2008, de facto reuse increased for 17 of the 25 DWTPs, as municipal flows upstream of the sites increased by 68%. Under low streamflow conditions, de facto reuse in DWTP supplies ranged from 7% to 100%, illustrating the importance of wastewater in sustainable water supplies. Case studies were performed on four cities to analyze the reasons for changes in de facto reuse over time. Three of the four sites have greater than 20% treated wastewater effluent within their drinking water source for streamflow less than the 25th percentile historic flow.

Read the entire article at Environmental Science and Technology.

This past summer, School of Sustainability junior Tayler Jenkins traveled to the south Asian sovereign state of Nepal to assist Sustainability Scientist Netra Chhetri on his research investigating climate change impacts on farmer livelihoods. Jenkins collected fodder, turned buffalo excrement into fuel, and learned conservation farming methods.

"Living on the farm was cool because the Nepalis have such a slow pace, but they still get things done," Jenkins says. "They are always in the present and their time is based on the sun."

Jenkins also received a Neely Foundation Food and Agriculture Sustainability Research Grant for her self-proposed thesis topic on the community-based Rupa Lake Rehabilitation and Fishery Cooperative.

See Jenkins' photos from the trip »

David Guston, a senior sustainability scientist and director of ASU's Center for Nanotechnology in Society, is set to bring a more social and ethical outlook to ASU's research through the university's new Virtual Institute for Responsible Innovation.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Virtual Institute will bring together an international team of concerned scientists, researchers, and students to instill more responsibility into emerging technologies.

"We are thrilled that NSF has chosen to advance responsible innovation through this unique, international collaboration," Guston says. "It will give ASU the opportunity to help focus the field and ensure that people start thinking about the broader implications of knowledge-based innovation."

Nanomaterials like silver, titanium, silica, and platinum can be found in your food, clothes, cleaning supplies, and body care products. Many of these items still subsist in the environment even long after you've thrown them out. However, researchers don't know how much and how long the nanomaterials survive in environments like fragile ecosystems.

Fortunately, Senior Sustainability Scientist Paul Westerhoff is leading a team of chemistry and engineering faculty for a National Science Foundation-funded project that will locate and measure nanomaterials in the environment.

The research will be conducted as part of ASU’s Sustainable Water Initiative. Findings from the research will be shared with ASU's Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research program that studies urban ecosystems.

New professor and filmmaker Peter Byck shares his story of how he became interested in sustainability and climate change to The Chronicle of Higher Education's Sydni Dunn. Byck is a professor of practice in ASU's School of Sustainability and Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

His first course, Sustainability Storytelling, started this fall and has students creating short documentaries about solar issues in Arizona.

"The sustainability students know the subject but don't know how to tell the stories, and the journalism students know how to share the message but don't have a firm grasp on the details," says Byck. "That's why we brought them together."

In a September 11 broadcast, state climatologist Nancy Selover explains Arizona's wet summer and its effects on the ongoing drought conditions.

"Up until this past week we haven't had much precipitation at all," says Selover, also a senior sustainability scientist. "We were actually very much down below 50 percent. Now we've caught up and we're just about even but that's only because of these last storms."

However, Selover says what really matters is how much precipitation hits the Verde and Salt river watersheds. Phoenix depends most on these areas' reservoirs that supply groundwater.

"We'll take everything we can get any time we can get it," says Selover. "But in terms of ground water and water resources the winter snow pack is really what we need."

Starting this month, the Global Sustainability Solutions Center (GSSC) at Haarlemmermeer, part of ASU's Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, will research the linkages between employee wellness and productivity and a sustainable built environment for Park 20|20, the Netherlands’ first cradle-to-cradle business center. The cradle-to-cradle design enables closed cycles for water, energy, waste, and materials, thus producing no outputs.

The productivity assessment will involve faculty, staff, and one graduate student from ASU.

"The project will provide important information for Park 20|20 as it continually innovates to optimize the working environment for its clients," says Marta Hulley Friedman, program manager of the GSSC. "We are very enthusiastic about partnering with Park 20|20 and providing an opportunity for our faculty and students to learn about the concepts behind Park 20|20. This is the first in a number of projects we hope to engage in together."

Aramark, a leader in food services and Arizona State University's food provider, released its 2013-2014 edition of Presidential Perspectives, a collection of 10 essays written by university presidents. This year's theme is Elevating Sustainability Through Academic Leadership, and in one chapter, ASU President Michael M. Crow shares how he's managed to transform one of the largest universities in the nation into a sustainable success story.

"America's colleges and universities are responsible for the majority of the scientific discovery and technological invention that has advanced sustainability science," says President Crow, also author of the edition's Foreword. "For academic institutions, fostering teaching and research that advances sustainability thus requires new institutional arrangements. But, more broadly, universities should be at the vanguard of producing societal transformation and solutions to the challenges that confront humanity."

Arizona State University's School of Sustainability was honored with the Bootstrapper Award at the Startup Bowl 2013 reception held August 29.

This year's Startup Bowl had 665 student participants. ASU’s School of Sustainability—with more than 300 majors and 500 minors—received the Bootstrapper Award for the highest amount of participants out of the School’s total enrollment.

"We are very entrepreneurial," says Christopher Boone, interim dean for the School of Sustainability. "We may be the smallest college, but we’re never short on big ideas."

Continue Reading

In the national online collegiate news site, Uloop, reporter Elena Novak from Florida State University compiles a list of 16 actions U.S. universities are doing to be more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Among a list made up of buildings, dorms, wind turbines, farms, and vehicles, ASU's School of Sustainability stands out for its unique education offerings.

"There are multiple layers of solutions-orientation at ASU and one of them is through emphasizing and rewarding use-inspired research and another one is through walking the talk and making the university a more sustainable place," says Candice Carr-Kelman, assistant director for the School.

School of Sustainability student Maximilian Peter Christman has learned forward-thinking during his studies.

"I think a common conception is that sustainability is about giving your children and your children’s children the same opportunity that you had," he says.

A GreenBiz.com article reports on the current sustainability undertakings of universities across the U.S., including Arizona State University.

There are many benefits that come with sustainability, as outlined by reporter Jonathan Bardelline, that include student recruitment, lower costs, improved branding, and healthier student and staff experiences. ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability houses the nation's first transdisciplinary School of Sustainability, where students gain first-hand knowledge and application of sustainability concepts.

"We're trying to find the right balance of theory and practical implementation," says Nick Brown, senior sustainability scientist at ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability.

ASU has two major sustainability goals: to be completely carbon neutral by 2035 and a zero waste university by 2015.

By Rosie Gochnour and Joe Kullman via ASU News.

The border region of southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico faces the sustainability challenges of a semi-arid climate that experiences long periods of water scarcity. Economic, social and political cooperation will be required for the neighboring states to ensure the viability of their water resources in the future, says Arizona State University engineer Enrique Vivoni.

To help foster such collaboration, Vivoni established the U.S. Mexico Border Water and Environmental Sustainability Training program (UMB-WEST) in 2012. It is supported through 2014 by funding from the National Science Foundation’s International Research Experiences for Students program.

Vivoni is an associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, and in the School of Earth and Space Exploration in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Vivoni also is a researcher with Decision Center for a Desert City.

This summer, the program brought together 11 ASU students and 13 students from three Mexican universities (the Universidad de Sonora, the Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora and the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez), along with 14 faculty members from ASU and other universities to gain a deeper understanding of the water scarcity problem in the Arizona-Sonora border region.

The group included professors and students in the fields of civil and environmental engineering, geology, ecology, agriculture, environmental science and global health.

Lessons in water conflicts

Their endeavor started with a week at ASU, where students spent time "organizing travel logistics, getting to know each other, preparing equipment and familiarizing themselves with the state of Sonora and the current water infrastructure," explains Nolie Pierini, an ASU engineering doctoral student.

In the second week, students traveled to Mexico to learn about a major ongoing water dispute in Hermosillo, the largest city in Sonora and the state’s capitol, which has experienced significant population growth in the past decade. To meet the city’s increasing water demand, officials constructed a 162-kilometer-long aqueduct to transfer water from the Yaqui River Basin, a major supplier of water, to agricultural users in Ciudad Obregon.

"It's a commonly seen water conflict between industrial water users and agricultural water users," says Matthew Thompson, who is pursuing a master’s degree in civil engineering at ASU. "The problem is amplified in the case of Sonora because they are in an area with significant drought and not enough water to meet everyone’s needs."

Hydrology field studies

Students visited both Hermosillo and Ciudad Obregon, and heard discussions and presentations from those on both sides of the water debate. They took field trips to an aqueduct, a dam and reservoir, a hydroelectric power plant and a water treatment plant – all parts of water infrastructure in the state of Sonora.

After a week of tours and presentations from water policymakers and stakeholders, the students traveled to the nearby rural city of Rayón for a week of hydrology field research.

One research project, led by David Gochis, a scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., involved attaching radiosonde sensors to large helium weather balloons to track various atmospheric conditions at altitudes as high as 20 kilometers (65,600 feet) at various times of the day. The radiosonde measures temperature, humidity and pressure in the atmosphere, data that is sent directly to a laptop computer and then used to create an atmospheric model that tracks monsoon-season weather dynamics and patterns.

Another project, led by Agustin Robles-Morua, a professor at the Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora and a former postdoctoral researcher at ASU, surveyed people living in Rio San Miguel about water use practices, water quality and the impacts of new infrastructure.

Seth Morales, an ASU senior civil engineering major who is fluent in Spanish, was able to lead his group as they learned about different perspectives of water management and the water-use practices of specific users in the Rio San Miguel area near the town of Rayón.

ASU student Thompson, who worked with a team to install a weir (a barrier placed in a channel to enable measurement of water discharge) in a small stream, says he liked the hands-on aspect of the project. "It was gratifying to go to a remote, cool area and to use our hands to get a job done," he says.

Seeing impact of research

Ara Ko, an ASU engineering doctoral student supervised by Vivoni, worked with water plant pressure chambers under the direction of Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora faculty member Enrico Yepez. Ko says she liked learning about semi-arid plant dynamics and exploring a climate and an ecosystem that is extremely different from her hometown in Korea.

Many of the students say learning about the region’s water issues during their first week in Mexico made the research experience more rewarding.

"Research like we did in Rayón can help us learn how to use water more efficiently and can ease future problems in water policy," Pierini says.

"It was surprising to see how the research, or lack of research, can really have an impact on a whole community," Morales says.

Along with gaining a renewed appreciation for thorough research, the ASU students say they enjoyed learning about a different culture.

"It was amazing to see people living in the same hot summer climate as in Arizona, but without abundant water resources," Morales says. "Some homes only have access to water every three days for a two-hour window."

Cultural connection

Along with making him more appreciative of the quality of water infrastructure in the United States, Morales says the program was a "turning point" for him. The experience led him to decide that hydrosystems engineering is the career path he wants to pursue.

Thompson, a self-proclaimed lover of the hot Sonoran desert climate, says he is glad he had the opportunity to get to know some of his "neighbors to the south." He enjoyed learning about the government, culture, universities and people in Mexico, and says he was surprised that he formed a bond with people in Mexico, despite the language barrier.

"It definitely forces you out of your comfort zone, which is something that is essential for anyone who wants to learn how to coexist with people from other cultures," Thompson says.

Adds Morales, "Interaction with another culture opens your mind and impacts the way you view science in general."

In a September 10 broadcast on PBS' program, Arizona Horizon with Ted Simons, Senior Sustainability Scientist and associate professor Hallie Eakin talks about her research on water management among cotton farmers in the Southwest. Eakin is currently partnered with experts from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension to study cotton farmers' perspectives on water sustainability.

During her interview, Eakin says Arizona has experienced an economic recession and continued drought that has brought unique opportunities for cotton farmers.

"Cotton is a water-consumptive crop compared to some other alternatives," Eakin says. "But we have to think about the conditions in which cotton is grown here. It's not only a crop that can survive in highly salinated soil, it actually does really well here in the desert. Part of our study has been looking at what really are the things that worry farmers in terms of the viability of their production."

Senior Sustainability Scientist and School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment professor Enrique Vivoni says economic, social, and political cooperation is needed to ensure a sustainable future for the southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico region. To assist, Vivoni created the U.S. Mexico Border Water and Environmental Sustainability Training program (UMB-West) to bring together ASU and Mexican faculty and students to investigate major water scarcity issues and possible solutions.

Students researched water plant dynamics in a semi-arid climate and completed their own studies using civil engineering methods and community-based surveying.

"It was surprising to see how the research, or lack of research, can really have an impact on a whole community," says Seth Morales, a civil engineering student. "It was amazing to see people living in the same hot summer climate as in Arizona, but without abundant water resources. Some homes only have access to water every three days for a two-hour window."

Arizona State University Regents’ Professor and Distinguished Sustainability Scientist Carlos Castillo-Chavez visited Mexico last month to investigate population growth impacts on agriculture. Working with representatives from Mexico's International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Castillo-Chavez discussed the center’s MasAgro program that helps small-scale farmers partner with organizations to gain access to sustainable agriculture tools and technologies.

A mathematician, Castillo-Chavez says mathematical models can help expand the program's reach to hopefully create "a culture change [that] takes place where farmers and politicians are in constant communication."

Castillo-Chavez is faculty in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and the founding director of the Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center.

In an article by Phoenix Business Journal reporter Hayley Ringle, Arizona State University Sustainability Scientist and researcher John Sabo shares recent findings from his report on water scarcity in the western U.S., co-written by author Robert Glennon.

Unfortunately, Arizona's complicated mix of increasing population and development and never-ending drought makes for an unknown sustainable future. Many policymakers may turn to water rationing, but the report's authors warn that rationing is not a sustainable option.

"The threat of water rationing will be a recurring theme over the next couple decades because of the drought, growing population and inefficiency," says Sabo, also director of research development for ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability. "At some point, there is going to be rationing and it will affect pocketbooks one way or the other."

Instead, Sabo and Glennon suggest other options for water sustainability in the West: farming efficiency, municipal water re-use, and natural conservation. However, financing these options will only get more expensive as water becomes more scarce.