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March 13, 2020
School of Life Sciences Professor Melissa Wilson researches sex chromosome evolution, sex-biased research and comparative genomics. Wilson states, “It seems really unfortunate that we are going to exclude half of the population. Even if you are understanding the research in one sex, you not understanding it in everyone.”
March 2, 2020
On February 24, 2020, the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes hosted a presentation titled “The past, present and future of coral reefs,” by Assistant Research Professor Katie Cramer. Cramer’s presentation focused on her recent publication exploring a 3000-year record of coral reef degradation to investigate the role of human and natural disturbance.
Cramer is a marine conservation ecologist and Oceans Science Fellow at Conservation International. She joined the center in November 2019 as part of the ASU-Conservation International partnership.
ASU Now | February 11, 2020
One of the many challenges we face in the journey to create a more sustainable planet is that although more people are now aware of the problem of climate change, that awareness does not necessarily lead to a change in behavior. At Arizona State University, student organizations discovered this roadblock when they noticed intensively publicizing information did not result in as much success as they hoped in regards to meeting the university’s sustainability goals. So to address this, Kendon Jung, the Coordinator for Educational Outreach and Student Services and the chair of the City of Tempe sustainability comission came up with an innovative idea: creating a new interdisciplinary class.
ASU Now | January 25, 2020
Destruction of biodiversity can sometimes feel like such an overwhelming problem, the average person has no idea where to begin if they want to make a difference. To those who feel this way, Arizona State University biologist Kirsten Traynor has a suggestion: Start with bees.
In the face of the climate crisis, all sorts of animals are facing extinction. But while the average person may not be able to do much about rhinos, tigers or birds, they can certainly help bees.
ASU Now | January 18, 2020
Emeritus professor Mark Reader has a unique way of advocating for the environment: Art.
Reader is a talented painter with a history of protesting going back to the '60s. In 1967, he had just moved from Pennsylvania and was teaching political theory at Arizona State University when Arizona began to experience the harmful effects of automobile exhaust and smokestack emissions. According to Reader, the visibility back then was so bad one couldn’t see Camelback Mountain on some days. Alarmed by the situation, he joined other protesters to demand clean air and water as part of the original Earth Day.
January 12, 2020
Roselyn Musaruwa is a 2019 finalist in the WE Empower UN SDG Challenge from Zimbabwe and a pioneer in South Africa’s cleaning industry. WE Empower Intern Jacqueline Blisse elaborates on how Roselyn’s business does much more than help keep communities clean.
Roselyn Musaruwa is the director of Surdax Investments, a company that provides multiservice solutions in Southern Africa. These services include cleaning, landscaping, pest control and many other services that guarantee the improvement of any environment.
January 10, 2020
Project Cities is proud to kick off a total of five projects with the City of Peoria and the Town of Clarkdale for the spring 2020 semester. Through the Project Cities program, Arizona State University students collaborate with neighboring cities to investigate sustainability challenges in the area and tackle challenging research questions in order to recommend solutions that the city can implement. This applied, project-based learning approach reinforces classroom lessons while also empowering students to give back to the community. This semester’s projects include a water resource management plan, a transit circulator improvement plan, a feasibility assessment of recreation corridor improvement proposals, a sustainability review and a downtown revitalization strategy.
December 11, 2019
In its daily operations, its educational programs and student successes, its research, solutions, partnerships and outreach, ASU is committed to sustainability. This page represents highlights from 2019, separated out by Sustainable Development Goals.
Download the 2019 Sustainability Impact Report
December 2, 2019
The ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes team is excited to introduce you to their new member, Project Manager Alice Letcher.
As the center's project manager, Alice will be in charge of developing and implementing projects, partnerships and strategies to further our strategic goals.
Alice has a professional background in geology and isotope geochemistry. Prior to joining the center, Alice worked for the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU for two years, as a research specialist and then project manager in the W. M. Keck Foundation Laboratory for Environmental Biogeochemistry.
November 25, 2019
On October 21, 2019, ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber delivered a congressional briefing funding needs to implement the Endangered Species Act 2019.
The congressional testimony title was “Solving the Biodiversity Crisis and Saving Endangered Species: The critical need for federal funding.” The event took place in the Longworth House Office Building in Washington D.C.
November 20, 2019
ASU’s CybersecurityDay4Girls attracted hundreds of middle school students to Arizona State University's West campus. The event was hosted in partnership with IBM to introduce young girls to the field of cybersecurity. Middle school girls are the focus of this program because women are typically underrepresented in cybersecurity roles.
CybersecurityDay4Girls covers topics to help middle school students and their families stay safe online in an ever more connected world. The program also introduces more advanced concepts like cryptography and blockchain. This exposure provides students with a better understanding of cybersecurity as a career and encourages them to consider pursuing it further.
“It’s important to make a specific reach to girls because they don’t see themselves in these roles yet,” said Jamie Winterton, director of strategy for ASU's Global Security Initiative. Winterton moderated a panel discussion between students and female cybersecurity professionals.
November 13, 2019
WE Empower UN SDG Challenge Partner, The Female Quotient (FQ), is a “female-owned business committed to advancing quality” via four innovative sections of their business: FQ Media, FQ Lounge, FQ Practice and the FQ Marketplace. This interview with Amanda Ellis — WE Empower co-chair and executive director, Hawaii & Asia-Pacific for the ASU Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability — was conducted by FQ Lounge (their signature pop-up experience) and featured in the FQ magazine.
Question: In The Equality Lounge at Davos, you noted that “women are so often seen as victims, and there is a need for justice.” Can you expand upon this, and how programs like WE Empower help change the narrative?
September 6, 2019
Saturday, September 7, 2019
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.
Attendee Check-in
Light breakfast courtesy of ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability
9:00 – 9:35 a.m.
Introduction and Keynote
Arizona Youth Climate Strike and GreenLight Solutions
Paul Hirt, Environmental Historian, ASU
9:40 – 10:10 a.m.
Workshop: Lobbying 101
Creosote Partners
10:20 – 11:20 a.m.
Elected Official and Candidate Fair
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Workshop: Press and Media Connections 101
Stacey Champion, Champion PR + Consulting
12:05 – 12:45 p.m.
Zero Waste Lunch and Volunteer Fair
Lunch courtesy of ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability
12:50 – 1:20 p.m.
Workshop: Incorporating Art in Activism
Sunrise Movement Phoenix
1:20 – 1:25 p.m.
Intermission
Kevin Goddard, Sustainability Officers Program
1:25 – 1:55 p.m.
Workshop: Local Policy Change
Braden Kay, Sustainability Director, City of Tempe
2:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Workshop: Everyday Activism
Ashley Weisman, Program Development Director, GreenLight Solutions
2:35 – 3:10 p.m.
Workshop: Civic Engagement
NextGen Arizona and Mi Familia Vota
3:10 – 3:35 p.m.
Workshop: Inclusive Conversations
CHISPA Arizona
3:35 – 3:45 p.m.
Closing Statements
3:45 – 4:15 p.m.
Photos + Cleanup + Networking
| July 12, 2019
In case you missed it, we recently published an op-ed on Medium called “Why we are launching the ASU Global Futures Laboratory,” co-written by our Vice President and Vice Provost Peter Schlosser and Arizona State University President Michael Crow. In this piece, Schlosser and Crow outline why ASU established the Global Futures Laboratory and what our initiative aims to do.
The op-ed is the first post on our new Medium channel, which we will use as a platform to share short op-eds from not only our leadership, but also the scientists and scholars within our network who are pioneering solutions to global sustainability.
To ensure you don’t miss any posts, follow our Medium channel directly, or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn where we will announce all new posts.
June 24, 2019
The ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes, a partnership between the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and the School of Life Sciences, are now accepting applications to the new Graduate Certificate in Environmental Communication and Leadership.
The certificate courses will train graduate students in communicating environmental science to the public and corporate decision-makers. Students will also obtain training in leadership skills to interact with the public, policy makers and relevant stakeholders.
ASU Now | April 19, 2019
Arizona State University and Valley of the Sun United Way joined together in the spirit of philanthropy, education and service during Sun Devils Unite from April 6 to 14.
Devils in Disguise, ASU’s largest student-led day of service, took place on April 6. Presented by Changemaker Central, the event featured 939 volunteers contributing more than 3,000 combined hours to more that 30 community partners. The participating organizations included food banks, assisted living facilities, parks, schools, homeless shelters and community centers. The value of their combined volunteer hours was equivalent to $76,290, representing a significant community impact within the span of a single day.
Greek Week 2019, which promotes pride and service within ASU’s Greek community, was also part of Sun Devils Unite. Over 40 of ASU’s fraternity and sorority chapters worked as teams to organize events focused on raising money and awareness for United Way. In total, Sun Devils raised more than $40,000 for the United Way, according to Gary Ballinger, director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at ASU.
April 1, 2019
The Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems focuses on innovative ideas and solutions to the many challenges of current food systems. In this series, we’re sitting down with the Swette Center affiliated faculty to catch up on food systems, innovation and what makes a good meal. See the rest of the series on our Food Systems Profiles page.
Read on for an interview with Christy Spackman, assistant professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society.
March 29, 2019
It is important that businesses understand how they are affecting biodiversity and how well they are managing that impact. Arizona State University, through the PLuS Alliance, partners with the United Nations Environment Programme WCMC on its Aligning Biodiversity Measures for Business project aims to bring together indicator developers and key stakeholders in a series of workshops to form a common view on measuring, monitoring and disclosing corporate biodiversity impact and dependence. From these workshops, the program will then integrate credible and comprehensive indicators of business contributions to the global biodiversity goals into corporate reporting and global policy frameworks.
The first of these workshops, which aims to explore current methodologies and identify common ground took place in Brussels March 26-27, 2019. The second workshop will take place in Brazil in November 2019 and will look to understand how current indicators can contribute to supporting global policy needs.
The PLuS Alliance team of development experts are working to create a knowledge-to-action framework and case studies in agricultural development (Indonesia), social business (Bangladesh), and urban waste management (India), which will be disseminated to practitioner communities globally.
November 20, 2018
"Every young person can recall cringing as their elders embark on a “You kids have it so easy. Back in my day…” tale. And for many things, yes, perhaps life was more difficult; but this does not mean the youth do not continue to face their own unique set of challenges. Civic engagement is an area where many young people do not feel they belong and have trouble involving themselves. With the initiative of Project Cities, Arizona State University students and the City of Glendale worked to address this.
October 3, 2018
ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber recently co-authored a paper titled “Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management for Social-Ecological System: Renewing the Focus in the United States with Next Generation Fishery Ecosystem Plan” published in Conservation Letters – a publication of the Society for Conservation Biology. (PDF)
