Bianca Greeff, Graduate Assistant A man lies on a dismasted, rudderless fishing boat. He appears unimpressed by the sharks loitering off the port, and oblivious to the ship faintly on the horizon. This painting, “The Gulf Stream” by Winslow Homer, has been interpreted several times since its creation in 1899. Now, in our current climate chaos, Homer’s […]
Read MoreMarch 27, 2017 | 1:00 -2:00 p.m. Gould Auditorium in the Marriott Library Join the University community in honoring this year’s recipients of the Alta Sustainability Leadership Awards accompanied by a unique keynote lecture from wildlife biologist Douglas H. Chadwick. The Alta Sustainability Leadership Awards recognize excellence in leadership for the health of our community […]
Read MoreBy Liz Ivkovich, Sustainability Office. A vast network of canals and levees has turned Florida’s watery Everglades into a landscape of farms and suburban homes. Tight regulations mandate how water gets moved around, and where it gets delivered. But these water management practices are not without controversy or destructive environmental impacts, having transformed a formerly dynamic wetland into […]
Read MoreOriginally posted at UNews on Feb. 21 2017. Because the sun doesn’t always shine, solar utilities need a way to store extra charge for a rainy day. The same goes for wind power facilities, since the wind doesn’t always blow. To take full advantage of renewable energy, electrical grids need large batteries that can store the power coming […]
Read MoreBy: Liz Ivkovich, Sustainability Office. Tipping Point, def.: the critical point at which a change becomes unstoppable. Earth is undergoing an alarming series of changes due to human impacts. Warming climate, water shortages, increase in infectious diseases, and loss of biodiversity. These changes and others are converging into a rapidly approaching tipping point for Planet Earth. What individuals, groups, and […]
Read MoreCelebrate sustainability leadership on campus by nominating yourself or a colleague for an Alta Sustainability Leadership Award. These Awards recognize excellence in leadership in the areas of campus as a living lab, community partnership, sustainability education, and research. Thanks to the generous partnership of the Alta Ski Resort, an award of $2500 will be given to each recipient. […]
Read MoreBy: Bianca Greeff, Graduate Assistant. Constructed out of old farming equipment, a rusted silhouette of a tree stands above the other vegetation. Nestled in the branches sits a bee nest. This nest creates space for pollinators specific to the Bonderman Field Station at Rio Mesa to thrive, provides researchers the opportunity to study the species, all while […]
Read MoreBy: Liz Ivkovich, Sustainability Office. New research suggests that the Greenland Ice Sheet is far less stable than current climate models predict, which could mean those models are severely underestimating potential sea level rise. The ice sheet contains the equivalent of 24 feet of global sea level rise if it melts. Joerg Schaefer, a paleoclimatologist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth […]
Read More