Sustainability News

Yong Hang Zhang and Zachary Holman

The most efficient solar panels are often too expensive, but the cheaper solar panels are often inefficient. To combat this problem Zhang and Holman  invented an efficient, but cheap solar panel that broke the efficiency record for thin film celled panels.

Mark Henderson, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Associate Dean of Barrett, the Honors College, School of Sustainability Senior Scientist

Named a President's Professor for his outstanding work in creating the GlobalResolve.

Dave White is named the 2016 "Community Solutions Scholar" by the ASU College of Public Service and Community Solutions [per Facebook post].

We welcome Madeline Milay Audrey Tetreault to the world on April 27th, 2016. At 6lbs, 4oz, 19 inches, she is beautiful, strong, healthy, and our little Sun Diva.

Channeling the great poet, feminist, and playwright for whom she is named we hope she grows to be a courageous leader and servant for the world:

"Let us forget such words, and all they mean,

as Hatred, Bitterness and Rancor, Greed,

Intolerance, Bigotry; let us renew

our faith and pledge to Man, his right to be

Himself, and free.”

―Edna St. Vincent Millay

Andrew Smith, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Pauline Cheong, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

They received the "Zebulon Pearce Distinguished Teaching Award" for their excellence in going above and beyond to teach students.

Jim Elser

Elser, working along side many scientists, have researched how human interactions affect the accumulation of phosphorus in the environment. This research provides ways we can reduce the long term impacts of these actions as phosphorous is one of the essential elements of survival. They found that recycling phosphorous as fertilizer rather than letting it escape was an effective way to reduce the loss of phosphorous in our environment as well as provided a natural fertilizer to farms.

Ariel Anbar

President’s Professor in ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and the School of Molecular Sciences, Anbar focuses on the chemical evolution of the atmosphere and oceans as he searches for life in the present, past and future.

Roberto Gaxiola

Roberto has created a new form of biotechnology that enables plants to use less water, but grow a greater amount of food by altering a gene commonly used in photosynthesis of the plant. This will cause farmers to use less resources when growing crops and create more food for the world which will reduce food scarcity.

David Pearson

With the new story on a pair peregrine falcons nesting in the downtown Phoenix area, a theme of urban wildlife has emerged. David found that although many animals will become extinct as our global population increases, there are and will be many organisms that will evolve to co-exist and adapt to a lifestyle with humans.

Allison Weidemann, School of Sustainability Alumni

Weidemann, was awarded a Fulbright Grant to teach English  in Turkey.

Jin Jo, School of Sustainability Alumni

Selected for a position with U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Visiting Faculty Program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He will collaborate with the world's top scientist on an energy optimization plan.

In an essay titled The advent of the humane economy, Wayne Pacelle – president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States and March 2016 Wrigley Lecture Series speaker – details how an increasing concern over animal protection has inspired changes in business that are beneficial to the bottom line.

Ted Pavlic

Ted, a Sustainability Scientist and Scholar and Professor at the School of Sustainability, has looked to nature to solve the complex problems of today. He found that nature and animals provide examples of how humans can interact with each other and their environment, especially when it comes to sustainability. In the future, he hopes to explore how behavioral analysis can be used when designing resilient and sustainable automation systems.

Janet Franklin 

The health of terrestrial plant communities are critical for human survival not only because we depend on them for food and resources, but because they provide necessary ecological processes, such as absorbing CO2, that our Earth needs to survive.

Janet Franklin researched the effects that climate change, invasive species and human induced disturbances on these vital terrestrial plant communities. She found that the drying effects of climate change effect drier landscapes the most which can lead to fires, insect outbreaks and human disturbances ultimately stressing the entire community, both plants and humans.

Pitu Mirchandani, School of Sustainability

Pitu was named as a fellow to the Insinstitute For Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) for his fundamental research contributions about various aspects of transportation and traffic modeling.

ASU's Wrigley Institute is developing an ‘Introduction to Circular Economy’ program that will introduce students to circular economy principles and implementation strategies. Students will be able to pursue a professional certification program and/or a parallel graduate-level certificate program within the School of Sustainability by 2018.

Arizona State University was announced as a Pioneer University of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's prestigious international Circular Economy 100 (CE100) network. ASU is the first university to join with a city to focus an advancing the circular economy.