Sustainability

By Sydney Murray, Sustainability Office Environmental, climate, and energy injustices affect humans and environments all around the world. Like many other small island nations, Puerto Rico is facing the brunt of these phenomena. Increasingly high sea levels, frequent hurricanes, and dependency on nonrenewable resources are a few factors that position Puerto Rico at the frontlines […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office   Everybody wins when we have clean air to breathe. That’s the idea behind the statewide Clear the Air Challenge, which the University of Utah participated in this July to reduce single-occupant vehicle (SOV) trips and decrease carbon dioxide emissions. We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone who participated […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office Residents have long struggled with Salt Lake City’s infamous winter inversions, which trap particulate pollution in the valley where they accumulate to hazardous levels. But winter isn’t the only season during which our air is unhealthy to breathe. In fact, as climate change and drought intensify, threats to summer air […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office  The Pac-12 Sustainability Conference gathered at the University of Utah this week for its first in-person event since 2019. The gathering, which was originally scheduled for summer 2020 and postponed due to COVID-19, brought together Pac-12 member universities to discuss and plan sustainability action in their college athletics departments. “After […]

By Sarah Buening, Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund Intern The COVID-19 vaccine marked a turning point in the pandemic and offered a glimmer of hope for many people, including University of Utah anesthesiologist Dr. Emily Hagn. Exhausted by the collective loss and continuous struggle of COVID-19, Hagn decided to keep her vaccine vial as a hopeful […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office “When it comes to health, our zip code matters more than our genetic code,” says Dr. Andy Hong, assistant professor in the Department of City and Metropolitan Planning and director of the Healthy Aging and Resilient Places Lab at the University of Utah. The built environment plays a significant role […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office   The Clean Water Act is nearing its 50th anniversary, but the courts still have not agreed on how to interpret it—specifically, how to determine its scope and which bodies of water it regulates. On Tuesday, April 5 at 4:00 p.m., Robert Adler, distinguished professor in the College of Law […]

By Anders Hart, Active Transportation Intern Thank you to everyone who participated in Winter Bike Day! Despite 14-degree temperatures, we welcomed over 50 people, including 12 cyclists. The University Police gave free U locks to cyclists who registered their bikes, and Commuter Services provided Campus Bike Shop services. We also gave out much-needed hot chocolate […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office Dr. Jennifer Follstad Shah grew up in northern Wisconsin where she loved spending time near the water with her family. “Rivers and lakes are near and dear to my heart,” she says. “I have always been drawn to the outdoors, which is why I became an ecologist.” Follstad Shah, who […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office. Photo credit: Dave Titensor/University of Utah When Dr. Lazarus Adua read a book about “super polluters”—or major powerplants that account for a large chunk of global carbon emissions—he was inspired with a new research idea. “I was thinking—could the same thing apply at the household level?” Adua says. “I wanted […]