Sustainability

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office Portland, Oregon is known for its cutting-edge climate policy, sustainability initiatives, and resilience planning. In recent years, however, Portland has shifted its focus—from climate action to climate justice. On Tuesday, April 13 at 4 p.m., Dr. Liliana Caughman, who has devoted much of her research to Portland’s climate efforts, will […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office As the COVID-19 vaccine offers communities respite and hope, calls to “build back better” from the pandemic are rising across the world. Dr. Pamela McElwee, associate professor of Human Ecology at Rutgers University, cautions that early indications show this is not happening. To “build back better”—in ways that are economically […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office   It started with a chainsaw. Dr. Nalini Nadkarni was conducting research inside a forest reserve in Costa Rica when she heard a chainsaw. “It was at this moment when I heard this chainsaw just outside of the reserve that I realized I have to do something,” she says. “I […]

By Jessica Hall, Sustainability Office Many offices across campus have been involved in the Sustainability Office’s Green Office program, which helps campus employees learn how to be more sustainable in an office space and contribute to the university’s goals. Recently, Sustainability released a new version of the Green Office program with the hopes making the […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office   As the COVID-19 vaccine makes its way into our communities and record snowfall covers unexpected cities across the United States, many of us have infectious disease—and climate change—on the mind. Dr. Mercedes Pascual, a professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, will join the Global Change […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office   The Global Change & Sustainability Center (GCSC) kicks off its spring 2021 seminar series on Tuesday, Feb. 2. Brenda Bowen, director of the GCSC, encourages everyone—students, staff, faculty, and community members alike—to tune in. The 2021 spring series features a different speaker on every Tuesday of the spring semester. […]

By Ayrel Clark-Proffitt, Sustainability Office Originally published in @theU The University of Utah has spent more than a decade building a robust campus sustainability program. Those efforts are paying off: This month, the University of Utah earned a STARS Gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). STARS, the […]

By the Sustainability Office  In a 2019 statement, University of Utah President Ruth Watkins told our community that the University of Utah is “committed to generating new knowledge in areas relating to sustainability, and to implementing best practices in university operations.” Yesterday, President Watkins announced she will be leaving the university this April. Looking back […]

Kerry Case, University of Utah Chief Sustainability Officer The past year was unprecedented in terms of grief, pain, and fear, but it also has much to teach us about how to build a better future. Systems of oppression and extraction that have shaped our country for hundreds of years were exposed in new and important […]