A small orchestra is playing “Pomp and Circumstance,” everyone is in maroon, and your parents are waving their hands frantically in the stands. You’ve come a long way, kid. It’s time to graduate college.

You not only will be graduating from Arizona State University; you’ll be graduating with a degree from the School of Sustainability. We think that’s pretty cool. And to add to your efforts, we’ve made your graduation as sustainable as it can be.

Recently, ASU partnered with Herff Jones to offer caps and gowns made from 100% recycled materials. Called “Renew” caps and gowns, the Repreve® yarn is mostly sourced from post-consumer plastic bottles. Each gown removes approximately 29 plastic bottles from the landfill. How awesome is that? Even better, when you purchase your cap and gown at the Sun Devil Campus Stores or through Herff Jones, you receive a one-year membership to the ASU Alumni Association.

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As part of  Arizona State University’s Sustainability Science for Sustainable Schools program, engineering graduate student Shawn Fink organized Mountain Pointe High School's Earth Day celebrations. He also partnered with the high school's teachers to create sustainability lesson plans and student projects.

The Sustainability Science for Sustainable Schools program, part of ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability, recently won the 2013 President's Award for Sustainability. Since the program's inception, ASU has partnered with more than ten local K-12 schools. Graduate students at ASU can learn how to interact with students, plan lessons, and gain real-world experience in teaching.

“High school students will face real, complex sustainability challenges in their lifetimes,” says Monica Elser, a principal investigator for the Sustainable Schools program. When students learn about sustainability in their classrooms and through real projects implemented in their schools, she says, “it helps them see how sustainability applies to them, and how they can make a difference in the future.”

TEMPE, Ariz. – April 24, 2013 – According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the largest coal-fired power plant in the west needs to improve its pollution controls.

Located near Page, Ariz., the 2,250-megawatt, 40-year-old Navajo Generating Station (NGS) provides electrical power to customers in Arizona, California and Nevada and for pumping Colorado River water for the Central Arizona Project, which delivers water to central and southern Arizona. It is also Arizona’s “largest single source of climate-disrupting pollution,” according to a <!-- -->report<!----> published by the Sierra Club.

The EPA gave an extended deadline of 2023 for installation of emissions reduction equipment, with a goal of reducing the visibility impact of the NGS required by Congress under the Clean Air Act and to protect public health. The EPA’s proposed emission limits would reduce emissions by 84 percent, or 28,500 tons per year.

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A recent School of Sustainability alum, Andrew Krause, and his mentor, Sustainability Scientist George Basile, and two former classmates have launched the website, eEcosphere in an effort to make sustainability actions easier to adopt among everyday people.

The website is based on years of research done by Basile and other sustainability scientists. The research they compiled outlines how people and corporations have undertaken sustainability efforts. This research is now on eEcosphere in an easy-to-read, interactive format with social capabilities.

“A person may already be saving energy but might need help with water conservation; someone else might need help with both,” Krause elaborates. “eEcosphere helps people identify and adopt ideas that match their personal sustainability goals. It embeds a scientific approach in the decision-making process and encourages people to take action as a group using the social web.”

A team of researchers and managers from ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability has released Arizona's first energy efficiency guide that collects workable, applicable programs across the state and nation.

The publication is called the "Energy Efficiency Idea Guide for Arizona." The author, Mick Dalrymple, indirectly started the guide when he was trying to comprehend and organize the multitude of energy efficiency programs.

“There was not one location that consolidated all the different barriers and opportunities to promoting energy efficiency, particularly in Arizona,” he says. “This can be a national guide, but it is tailored to our economic and regulatory environment and how we operate in a hot, arid climate.”

Amy Landis, a senior sustainability scientist at ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability and an engineer at ASU's School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, will lead the sustainability assessment of a $6.9 million project funded by the Biomass Research and Development Initiative of the USDA and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Landis is researching a way to use biomaterial as a source for rubber and fuel. Using the guayule plant, Landis says latex can be extracted to use in rubber instead of petroleum-based synthetics that are harmful to the environment. The guayule plant could also be a local source of biofuels, lessening U.S. dependency on foreign suppliers.

“Our contribution to the sustainability assessment includes a complete life cycle assessment of natural rubber tires,” Landis says. “We don’t want to ignore or overlook any short-term or long-term impact.”

For his research in asphalt rubber technology, Senior Sustainability Scientist Kamil Kaloush was honored with the Outstanding Research Award from the Rubber Pavements Association.

For the past 12 years, Kaloush has been working with his research group at Arizona State University to provide performance testing and innovative pavement designs using rubber. Their team has found ways to reduce traffic noise, improved safety, and lowering tire particle emissions. Kaloush is also working on ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions during asphalt manufacturing and road construction.

Kaloush is the director of the National Center of Excellence on Sustainable Materials and Renewable Technologies (SMART) Innovations at ASU.

Algae Testbed Public-Private Partnership (ATP³) members from across the nation visited the ASU Polytechnic campus April 15-18 to collaborate on research and projects and to advance algae-based technologies.

The U.S. Department of Energy and Arizona State University's ATP³ initiative brings algae researchers together to maximize efforts and streamline research to effectively advance sustainable technologies like biofuels.

Gary Dirks, the Global Institute of Sustainability's new director and director of ATP³ says, "The ATP³ kickoff meeting gave all of the partners of ATP³ a chance to discuss how we will support public and private institutions in finding solutions to the nation's energy challenges."

For their demonstrated excellence in fostering the successful development, implementation and promotion of sustainability, three programs at ASU were awarded the President's Award for Sustainability:

Facilities Management Grounds Services – Grounds for Grounds

The program recycles coffee grounds into fertilizer, working towards Arizona State University's zero waste goal.

Materials Management Recycling

The recyclable items list has grown thanks to ASU's Materials Management, which also helps ASU Recycling staff.

Sustainability Science for Sustainable Schools

Graduate students, professors, high school students and teachers, and researchers team up to work on a project to make a local Arizona school more sustainable.

Arizona State University engineer and Senior Sustainability Scientist Samuel Ariaratnam is among contributors to a new book published by the National Academies aimed at providing communities some of the best strategies for sustainable urban development.

Underground construction is a rapidly expanding field, fueled by the growing needs of cities to replace aging infrastructure or build new infrastructure using methods that will increase the efficiency, resiliency and safety of such facilities and utility systems.

“I’m certain this book is going to have a big impact. It’s already gotten a lot of attention internationally,” he says. “Everyone is looking for better ways to build infrastructure, both the public sector and private sector.”

Women & Philanthropy, a group committed to supporting and investing in Arizona State University, awarded $286,541 to six promising programs this year, the highest amount of total annual funding in its 10-year history.

While this year’s grants recognize ASU’s commitment to science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (STEAM), they also include programs that support ASU’s commitment to connect with communities through mutually beneficial partnerships.

The School of Sustainability, part of the Global Institute of Sustainability, received $30,200 to work with the journal, "The Sustainability Review," to produce public videos highlighting current research in an easy-to-understand format.

Emily Allen, a two-time intern in DCDC's Internship for Science-Practice Integration (ISPI) program, has won the Udall Scholarship for commitment to the environment.

Emily has aspirations of following the example of famed U.S. Congressman Morris K. Udall.

Throughout his decades-long career of representing Arizona, Udall – a lawyer and environmentalist- worked on legislation to expand the national park system, protect the environment and effectively manage natural resources. He also was a driving force for legislation, called the Central Arizona Project (CAP), which brought Colorado River water to the parched Arizona desert.

While Udall supported the project, which routed river water through Arizona and into Phoenix and Tucson, he was concerned about its environmental impact. This dilemma became a significant challenge of Udall’s work on the CAP.

Allen, a sustainability and English major and student in Barrett, The Honors College, has been named a 2013 Udall Scholar by the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation. She will receive a $5,000 scholarship to use toward tuition for her senior year at Arizona State University.

She was among 488 candidates nominated by 230 colleges and universities. Fifty recipients from 43 colleges and universities were chosen for this year’s scholarship. Udall Scholars are selected on the basis of commitment to careers in the environment, Native American health care or tribal public policy; leadership potential; academic achievement; and record of public service.

"My career goal is to work with local governments in the state of Arizona to protect fragile water resources from the pressures of overuse and rapid urban development. I plan to accomplish this goal as an attorney with a water law specialty, either in a private firm or a local municipality," Allen stated on her scholarship application.

"I will learn from Morris Udall’s challenge in office and defend water resources against unreasonable urban uses. I will be the additional support that city officials need to protect and property manage water resources," she added.

Allen said she is honored and humbled to have won the scholarship.

"It is an incredible honor to have the opportunity to engage further with the Udall Foundation and to be able to learn more about environmental leadership through their network," she said.

"I also feel humbled because so many people helped me to earn this award. My application was based on my experience with the School of Sustainability, the Barrett Honors College, and the Decision Center for a Desert City. The exceptional mentorship available to me through those three entities not only helped me to develop my credentials for the scholarship, but they also provided me with critical support in the scholarship application process," she added.

Emily's work in DCDC's ISPI program has included working in 2011 at the City of Mesa with mentor Mark Holmes, P.G. on Uncovering Barriers and Motivations in Groundwater Management Collaboration and GIS-Based Delineation of Prime Groundwater Recharge Areas in the East Salt River Sub-basin and her current internship with the City of Phoenix working with mentor Doug Frost.

Allen will attend a conference of Udall Scholars August 7-11 in Tucson where they will receive their awards and meet policymakers and community leaders in environmental fields, tribal health care, and governance.

TEMPE, Ariz. – April 18, 2013 – Arizona State University has appointed documentary filmmaker Peter Byck to jointly serve as Professor of Practice for the Global Institute of Sustainability’s School of Sustainability and for the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Byck focuses on issues of environmental sustainability and he has more than 20 years’ experience as a writer and producer. His most recent documentary, the widely acclaimed Carbon Nation™, is a “climate change solutions movie (that doesn’t even care if you believe in climate change).” The film was recently featured during an interview with Byck on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” show. Byck’s new installments in the “Carbon Nation 2.0” film series will be co-branded with ASU.

Byck will teach a short film documentary course to educate and provide hands-on experience to students on communicating contemporary principles, ideas, concepts, and issues of sustainability; documentary film-making and marketing; and storytelling on sustainability-related topics. The course will be offered in the fall semester of 2013.

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TEMPE, Ariz. — April 18, 2013 — The Phosphorus Sustainability Research Coordination Network (RCN) kicks off its first meeting in Washington, D.C. May 14-16 to address ongoing challenges in producing a sustainable global phosphorus system.

This is the first of five annual meetings of the Phosphorus Sustainability RCN designed to connect scientists and stakeholders across the world to find sustainable solutions that provide a secure food supply, protect fisheries, and maintain clean drinking water.

James Elser, a sustainability scientist at ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability, serves as principal investigator of the RCN. Elser is also a Regents’ professor at ASU’s School of Life Sciences, with more than twenty years’ experience in phosphorus research.

“Phosphorus is a naturally occurring element essential for all life, including crops,” explains Elser. “The availability of cheap phosphate rock used to make fertilizers is increasingly uncertain. Meanwhile, phosphorus runoff from farms and cities pollutes lakes, rivers, and coastal oceans, causing harmful algal blooms that impair drinking water and kill fish and shellfish. Neither of these situations is desirable, but it would seem that by solving one, we might solve the other. For long-term sustainability, we need to make fertilizer by efficiently recycling phosphorus from the food system instead of mining increasingly scarce rocks. This will also keep our lakes and oceans clean.”

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By Henry Fountain on April 15, 2013 via The New York Times

CUCAPÁ EL MAYOR, Mexico — Germán Muñoz looked out at the river before him and talked about the days when dolphins swam here, 60 miles from the sea.

"The wave made noise like a train," he said, describing the tides that would roll up the Colorado River from the Gulf of California and then a mile or so up this tributary, past his family’s land. "There would be all kinds of fish jumping, very happy. And then the dolphins would come, chasing the fish."

That was in the 1950s, when the Colorado still flowed regularly to the gulf — as it had for tens of thousands of years, washing sand and silt down from the Rocky Mountains to form a vast and fertile delta. In the last half-century, thanks to dams that throttled the Colorado and diverted its water to fuel the rise of the American West, the river has effectively ended at the Mexican border. The Colorado delta, once a lush network of freshwater and marine wetlands and meandering river channels and a haven for fish, migrating birds and other wildlife, is largely a parched wasteland.

Mr. Muñoz last saw a dolphin as a teenager in 1963, the year the last of the big Colorado dams, the Glen Canyon, began impounding water 700 miles upstream. "The river doesn’t come here anymore," he said.

But after decades of dismay in Mexico over the state of the delta, there is reason for some optimism. An amendment to a seven-decades-old treaty between the United States and Mexico, called Minute 319, will send water down the river once again and support efforts to restore native habitat and attract local and migratory wildlife.

Continue reading at The New York Times.

TEMPE, Ariz. – April 16, 2013 – American historian of science and author Naomi Oreskes visits Arizona State University on Monday, April 22 as a Wrigley Lecture Series speaker, hosted by ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability.

Oreskes will speak about climate change and how consensus forms around scientific issues. The event is free and open to the public, held at ASU’s Tempe campus, Old Main building in the Carson Ballroom, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m., followed by a reception.

Please RSVP at: http://sustainability.asu.edu/events/rsvp/naomi-oreskes

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Visit the Farmers Market @ the ASU Tempe Campus on Tuesday, April 23 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to celebrate Earth Day 2013. This will be the last market of the spring season.

This market will feature guest vendors, Medicine Take-Back Day, prize drawings and extra tables and chairs for lunch dining.

Visit Farmers Market Special Events to learn more or email FarmersMarket@asu.edu.

The Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, a program under ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability, is hosting two lectures by representatives from the Municipality of Haarlemmermeer, the Netherlands. The lectures are part of the Institute's Sustainability Series.

The Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives recently partnered with officials in Haarlemmermeer in February to learn how the region has become a go-to example of urban sustainability and policymaking.

The Dutch representatives, Fonz Dekkers, John Nederstigt, and Arthur van Dijk, will discuss topics such as sustainability monitoring, urban development, and Haarlemmermeer as a case study.

Emily Allen, a sustainability and English major and student in Barrett, The Honors College, has been named a 2013 Udall Scholar by the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation. She will receive a $5,000 scholarship to use toward tuition for her senior year at Arizona State University.

Allen hopes to follow in the footsteps of the scholarship's namesake, Morris K. Udall, a U.S. congressman who established legislation in Arizona to expand national parks and create the Central Arizona Project.

“My career goal is to work with local governments in the state of Arizona to protect fragile water resources from the pressures of overuse and rapid urban development. I plan to accomplish this goal as an attorney with a water law specialty, either in a private firm or a local municipality,” Allen stated on her scholarship application.

The Future of Arizona’s Forests: Anticipating the effects of climate change and fire on water sustainability

Arizona’s forests are not only mountain playgrounds for recreation and tourism but also sustain critical ecosystem functions such as water storage, filtration, and release for downstream uses.

In the face of climate change, forest ecosystems are being stressed from higher temperatures and lower precipitation, making them more vulnerable to insect infestations and more frequent and intense wildfires.

The impacts of climate and landscape changes and wildfire include increased erosion, sedimentation, and warmer water temperatures, which in turn affect municipal water supplies and riparian habitats.

Please join us as we explore the critical research and policy priorities regarding the interaction between Arizona’s climate, forests, and water.

Panelists

Erik Nielsen

Assistant Professor School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability

Northern Arizona University

Thomas Sisk

Olajos-Goslow Professor of Environmental Science and Policy

Northern Arizona University

Abe Springer

Professor of Geology

Northern Arizona University

Dave White

Moderator and Co-Director

Decision Center for a Desert City

Arizona State University

When

Tuesday, April 23, 2013, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

Lunch will be served. Please RSVP to: Sarah.Jones.2@asu.edu

Location

Decision Center for a Desert City, 21 East 6th Street, Suite 126B, Tempe [Map]