The MCA offers an opportunity for scientists and engineers at the Associate Professor rank (or equivalent) to substantively enhance and advance their research program through synergistic and mutually beneficial partnerships, typically at an institution other than their home institution.

The MCA is the only cross-directorate NSF program specifically aimed at providing protected time and resources to established scientists and engineers at the mid-career stage. Projects that envision new insights on existing problems or identify new but related problems previously inaccessible without new methodology or expertise from other fields are encouraged.

Full proposals are due February 1, 2021. Read more about program solicitation 21-516.

Only eight countries have legislated full gender equality, according to the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law database. (No, the United States isn’t one of them.) And an estimated one in three women worldwide experience physical violence.

To accelerate the adoption of policies that empower women and ensure equal rights, Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and EdPlus partnered with global organizations — including the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the United Nations and the World Bank — on a unique video training series: SDG 5 Training for Parliamentarians and Global Changemakers.

This series will inform members of parliaments and other leaders on gender issues and trends, providing actionable steps they can take to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (UN Sustainable Development Goal 5) in their countries. Read more on ASU Now.

Voices from the Future, a product of ASU's Narrative Storytelling Initative led by sustainability scholar Steven Beschloss, is a collection of stories based on the experiences and insights of survivors of extreme weather events on five continents. This project, both in its perspective and execution, represents the belief that personal stories have the potential to touch a wide cross-section of readers and constructively influence thinking and behavior.

Within these stories, you'll learn how people responded to disaster and how these experiences have affected their lives and visions of the future.

“I think there's been a failure to convince the public about the scale of the problem, the nature of potential responses and the science and the reality of climate change,” said Beschloss, who is also narratives lead of the Global Futures Laboratory. Read more about the series and its reach in this story on ASU Now.

Join ASU's Operational Excellence Community of Practice (OECoP) for this speed networking event. Registrations are limited for an optimal interactive experience. Participants will have the opportunity to make their elevator pitch and work on their professional conversational skills as they answer structured discussion prompts in small-group zoom break-out sessions. You will leave the event having practiced your skills, learned something about other areas in ASU, and expanded your network.

Sign up for this free, one-hour event on ASU Career EDGE. ASUrite login required.

Join the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their very first NSF Virtual Grants Conference to be held during the weeks of November 16 and November 30, 2020. Registration will be free of charge and opens on Thursday, October 29 at 12PM EST.

This event is designed to give faculty, researchers and administrators key insights into a wide range of current issues at NSF. NSF staff will provide up-to-date information about the proposal and award process, specific funding opportunities and answering attendee questions.

Just like the in-person grants conferences, the NSF Virtual Grants Conference is a must, especially for new faculty, researchers and administrators.

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Join us via Zoom as sustainability scientist Mikhail Chester discusses the vulnerability of infrastructure to climate change and the challenges of designing systems for deep uncertainty. Sustainability scientist Margaret Garcia will moderate the audience Q & A following the presentation.

Mikhail Chester is the director of ASU's Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering, where he maintains a research program focused on preparing infrastructure and their institutions for the challenges of the coming century. His work spans climate adaptation, disruptive technologies, innovative financing, transitions to agility and flexibility, and modernization of infrastructure management.

In his work as co-leader of the Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network, Chester argues that we need to fundamentally reassess what our systems need to be able to deliver in circumstances that are changing faster and faster.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee on Advancing a Systems Approach to Studying the Earth: A Strategy for the National Science Foundation. The committee has been tasked to develop a compelling vision for a systems approach to studying the Earth in order to inform approaches to integrated research at NSF and to provide guidance as to how NSF can support the research community. The final report will also identify the facilities, infrastructure, coordinating mechanisms, computing, and workforce development needed to support a more integrated approach for studying components of the earth system.

The committee seeks feedback from the scientific community across all components of the Earth system to considered—including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and the individuals, institutions, and technologies that respond to and influence these dynamics—as will their interactions and feedbacks through time. Your answers to this questionnaire will help the authoring committee better understand the range of issues associated with this complex topic.

The questionnaire is now available and can be found here. Please share among your networks as well. Your input is greatly appreciated!

Join us for a special discussion led by Kristin Baja of USDN with city staff from Salt Lake City, UT and Fort Collins, CO as they highlight how focusing on racial equity and climate justice in local plan and policy development helps lay the foundation for a more equitable and resilient community.

The Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) is working to restructure and rethink how local governments plan and implement projects by working at the nexus of equity, resilience, and greenhouse gas mitigation. USDN staff and members have developed guidance to overhaul the typical government process and center racial equity and climate justice in plan and policy development as well as implementation by 1) centering corrective action and 2) shifting power to frontline communities to create an equitable and resilient society.

The Nexus Guidance turns traditional planning efforts on their heads and reshapes how we approach planning including Climate Action Plans (CAPs), Hazard Mitigation Plans (HMPs), and Capital Investment Projects (CIPs).

With more Arizona cities beginning CAP and HMP processes, we have the opportunity to learn from USDN’s Nexus work to ensure Arizona government plans and projects are developed through a truly equity-centered approach.

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Lee Gutkind has made several costume changes in his life. The fatigues of the U.S. Coast Guard. The leather of a biker. The black T-shirt of a beatnik. The tweed of a college professor. But through it all, one thing has remained the same: He is a writer.

This month, at age 75, the SFIS professor published his memoir, “My Last Eight Thousand Days: An American Male in his Seventies,” a deeply personal reflection on the journey that brought him to where he is now, revealing all the discomforts of his latest costume change — that of an older man.

Gutkind will discuss the book with sustainability scholar Steven Beschloss, director of ASU’s Narrative Storytelling Initiative, in a live Zoom event co-hosted by Changing Hands Bookstore at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20. An excerpt from the book is available to read now at the online magazine Transformations, a collaboration between the Narrative Storytelling Initiative and the Los Angeles Review of Books that features essays inspired by the belief that sharing transformative stories has the power to influence the trajectory of our lives.

Sustainability scientists Faheem Hussain, Mary Jane Parmentier and Laura Hosman recently conducted a webinar with USAID. The webinar, Digital Strategies for Offline Communities: Cases and Lessons from the Field, shared research-based insights and lessons learned from various approaches to digital engagement in education and with vulnerable populations, including refugees and rural communities.

The webinar was the second provided as part of USAID's DigiKnow series. Read about the collaboration and find links to both webinars here.

As global environmental issues are increasingly coordinated through international negotiations, new methods are needed to engage citizens worldwide in the policy-making processes. Sustainability scientist Netra Chhetri and co-authors draw insight about citizens' views on issues of climate and energy through quantitative analysis of the data from World Wide Views.

A new paper, Global citizen deliberation: Case of world-wide views on climate and energy, has been published in the December 2020 issue of Energy Policy. The abstract follows.

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Renee Bhatti-Klug, ASU’s Senior University International Educator, provides training to faculty and staff on building inclusive environments for our culturally and linguistically diverse student population. Concurrently, she is a doctoral student in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College (MLFTC) at ASU, working under the supervision of Dr. Audrey Beardsley, a faculty member in MLFTC.

Bhatti-Klug's research focuses on increasing cultural intelligence among university faculty through intercultural competence training. She is hoping to work with four culturally competent-curious faculty members who would be willing and able to participate in the Global Advocacy Certificate Program (GACP) during the spring and fall of 2021.

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The University Senate Student-Faculty Policy Committee has requested that faculty be reminded of the Spring 2020 Senate-approved Resolution 2020-74 for supporting voting removal of barriers for students. The committee worked diligently with ASU student government on the proposal for relief of academic work on election day. All faculty are urged to demonstrate support for students’ participation in voting by using their discretion when considering the dates of elections when planning course calendars and due dates and when considering excused absences, make-up assignments or testing on election days.

With the unique circumstances posed by Covid-19 and other considerations, it is anticipated that students may need to stand in line for long periods to vote. During past election days, students have been faced with making the difficult decision of leaving the polls and not voting in order to attend class. Students may choose not to vote to avoid penalties imposed by faculty for missing class and/or not submitting assessments that are due on election day. As faculty, we acknowledge that students may face these and other barriers to voting on election day and we do not wish to suppress any citizen's participation in voting or create barriers to students exercising their civic right and responsibility to vote. The University Senate remains committed to protecting the academic freedom of faculty and maintaining excellence in teaching while allowing students to exercise their right to vote.

Please communicate this resolution with faculty in your units. Questions related can be directed to Scott Day, Chairperson of the University Senate Student-Faculty Policy Committee.

In a shared effort to support increased access and affordability to high-quality learning experiences, Pearson is partnering with ASU to provide access for all enrolled ASU students to all Pearson eText and premium digital courseware products (i.e. MyLabs, Mastering and Revel) at no cost. According to the College Board, the average college student spends more than $1,200 on books and materials (Kristof, 2018). As these titles will be free of cost to all students whether Online or On-campus, faculty who opt-in to the offer will enable a reduction in textbook expenses.

Only textbooks that are available on Pearson’s new eText platform are included. Availability of titles will continue to expand rapidly but will not include old editions or books out-of-publication. In addition to becoming free, the distribution of the titles through the digital eText also ensures seamless access for students. With the launch of Pearson eText 2.0, students will now be able to access their course materials without leaving Canvas. This will allow for material access on day one of classes for all students, both international and domestic, regardless of where the students reside. The easy-to-use, Pearson eText will allow students to continue learning no matter where their day takes them.

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The Hindu, one of the main newspapers in India, has published an invited opinion piece by sustainability scientist Marco Janssen. In the piece, Janssen argues that we need to facilitate the self-governance of local commons, but provide safeguards at various levels.

When we want to manage shared resources, we need to balance both private and public interests. Global commons refer to shared resources that cannot be managed within national jurisdictions. The spread of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19; greenhouse gas emissions; biodiversity reduction; overfishing; and the accumulation of plastic waste are some of the problems within the scope of global commons.

To manage our global commons, we need to facilitate and accommodate the self-governance of local commons, but provide safeguards at different levels to avoid exploitation and manage risks. Governing the global commons is the defining challenge for current and future generations.

Janssen is a professor in ASU's College of Global Futures and president of the International Association for the Study of the Commons. Read the full article at The Hindu.

The ASU Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions (LEAPS) and several ASU faculty have been working with the Center for Strategic Policy Innovation for several months to develop ways to enhance renewable energy development opportunities in medium-size cities across the U.S. The LEAPS lab is led by sustainability scientist Nathan Johnson.

After substantial discussion and refinement, LEAPS is ready to introduce the Clean Growth Incubator Template and webinar-enhanced training Platform.

The event has a vital goal: to kick-start significant economic development and job creation at the local level through the build-out of clean, renewable energy. It especially targets local government leaders, urban planning professionals and clean energy experts. Learn more and register.

Thank you to all of the Global Futures faculty and researchers who participated in last week’s UN Global Compact. The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory was able to showcase 142 faculty, staff and external partners to an international audience across 36 hours of programming specific to sustainable development, planetary systems, innovation, complexity and global futures.

You can find all of the recorded content on the UNGC YouTube Channel and we encourage you to share these sessions with your networks as it pertains to the advancement of your research.

In 2018 the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) named Arizona State University as its primary location to house a national biorepository for the next 30 years. Hundreds of thousands of biological samples collected over the next three decades from 81 field sites across the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, are to be curated by ASU’s Biodiversity Knowledge Integration Center (BioKIC) and Natural History Collections and be made available to the greater scientific community. Nico Franz is the principal investigator.

According to Franz, ASU Biocollections and the NEON Biorepository has just completed phase one of physical renovations, with the addition of a nearly 4,000 square feet of "cryo collections" space, for NEON organismal and environmental samples stored at -80 degrees and in liquid nitrogen. Read about the original grant on ASU Now.

The National Science Foundation has issued program solicitation NSF 20-611, Sustainable Regional Systems Research Networks (SRS RNs). Full proposals are due by January 11, 2021.

NSF will hold an informational webinar on October 27, 2020, from 2:30-3:30 pm EST to discuss the SRS RNs solicitation and answer questions. Webinar registration and more information.

The United States is made up of regional systems comprising interdependent urban and rural systems and every community category between urban and rural. Urban systems are dependent on rural systems for the provisioning of food, energy, water, and other materials and natural resources, while rural systems are dependent on urban systems for markets, manufactured goods, and medical resources. These systems are also connected by ecological processes that both influence and are influenced by human behavior. The vital interconnection of urban-rural systems underscores the critical need for the advancement of sustainable regional systems (SRS). The goal of this solicitation is to fund convergent research and education that will advance sustainable regional systems science, engineering, and education to facilitate the transformation of current regional systems to enhance sustainability. To further the advancement of SRS science, engineering, and education, NSF will support Full Scale proposals and Planning Grant proposals for Sustainable Regional Systems Research Networks (SRS RNs).

Read more at NSF.gov.

The Environmental Humanities Initiative's 2020 distinguished lecture with Elizabeth Hoover was rescheduled to November 5. The lecture was accompanied by a reading group event series.

Watch the recording of the lecture discussion, and a pre-recorded distinguished lecture video.

Elizabeth Hoover's work focuses upon Native American food sovereignty and seed rematriation; environmental reproductive justice in Native American communities; the cultural impact of fish advisories on Native communities; and tribal citizen science. She serves on the executive committee of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance and the board of North American Traditional Indigenous Food.

Her first book, The River is In Us: Fighting Toxics in a Mohawk Community, is an ethnographic exploration of Akwesasne Mohawks’ response to Superfund contamination and environmental health research. Her second book, a project-in-progress, From Garden Warriors to Good Seeds; Indigenizing the Local Food Movement, explores Native American community-based farming and gardening projects and the role of Native chefs in the food movement.

Register for this live online event.