CU-Boulder was by far the largest school in the top five, with more students than the other four schools combined. Middlebury College in Vermont was ranked first and the University of Vermont at Burlington, Warren Wilson College and Evergreen State College rounded out the top five.
The top schools earned points in ten categories including policies for building, energy, food, investment, procurement and transportation; curriculum; environmental activism; waste management; and overall commitment to sustainability.
"The University of Colorado at Boulder has played a formative and central role in global environmental research and sustainability for more than a generation," said G.P. "Bud" Peterson, chancellor of CU-Boulder. "Our students and faculty remain leaders today just as they were 30 years ago, and we are honored to be singled out for their vital and ongoing efforts."
CU-Boulder also was highlighted as a top school in three of the five "hot jobs to chill the planet" listed by Sierra magazine. CU-Boulder was lauded for programs leading to jobs as campus sustainability coordinators, outdoor education coordinators and environmental journalists. The only other school in the nation to be listed as a top school for three job categories was the University of California, Berkeley.
"Sierra is the largest circulation environmental magazine in the U.S. and they focused their formidable research capacity on evaluating campus sustainability," said Dave Newport, director of CU's Environmental Center. "To stand out in that context, especially alongside smaller, highly respected campuses with the ability to tailor their sustainability programs more narrowly, is an enormous tribute to the legacy of leadership CU students, faculty and staff have shown for nearly 40 years."
The other colleges and universities ranked in Sierra's second annual list of the top 10 "green" schools were Arizona State University at Tempe, University of Florida at Gainesville, Oberlin College, University of Washington at Seattle and Tufts University.
CU-Boulder's campus conservation and sustainability leadership stretches over four decades, dating to 1970, when the university established the first student-led environmental center. CU also started the nation's first collegiate student-led recycling program in 1976, and in 2000 CU became the first university in the country to purchase wind energy.
CU's most recent leadership accomplishment occurred only a few weeks ago with the Aug. 5 announcement of "Ralphie's Green Stampede" zero-waste and carbon reduction program at Folsom Field. The program's goal is to move toward zero-waste at Folsom Field during football season and invest in local carbon-reduction projects to match energy used to power the stadium, for team travel and other football-related energy use. University officials estimate the campus will recycle or compost at least 90 percent of the waste generated at Folsom Field this year.
On Aug. 22-23, CU-Boulder is hosting a symposium titled "Meeting the Global Energy and Climate Challenge." The free, public symposium will feature top national climate scientists, energy experts and environmental journalists discussing the science of climate change and the road toward a viable national energy strategy. A complete schedule is posted at www.colorado.edu/climatenergy/.
For more information about CU-Boulder's programs in climate change, renewable energy and campus sustainability visit www.colorado.edu/sustainability/. For more information on CU-Boulder's Environmental Center visit ecenter.colorado.edu/.
Contact
Dave Newport, 303-492-8309 Greg Swenson, 303-492-3113
NEWS SOURCE: CU-Boulder News Center
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“I discussed the opportunity with the chancellor and the cabinet,” Sture said. “Chancellor Peterson supported the idea of such an event as a public service for the common good.” The University of Minnesota is providing a program for the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul in September.
Last fall, Sture touched base with deans and began collecting their nominations for speakers. He also asked for faculty input to help identify topics of national importance for the lectures and panels. “The response was immediate and enthusiastic,” he said. “We wanted an exciting program with broad appeal. It is designed to draw attention to the fact that CU-Boulder is engaged in timely and important research and scholarship.”
Jim White, director at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) is a participant in the “Real Change: The Science Behind Global Climate Change Predictions” panel on Saturday, Aug. 23. “CU-Boulder is third in the country in research funding for environmental sciences,” he said. “We have much to contribute and look to engage the public as often as we can in a language that we all understand. Higher education can and should be out front in identifying problems, finding solutions and helping to shape a prosperous future.”
Friday’s panels include discussions on climate change and its social repercussions in the 21st century. The panels on Saturday are tightly focused on climate change and energy. “Resources and energy will be the defining issue of the 21st century: how we deal with the perfect storm of Asia’s increasing demand on supplies concurrent with diminishing energy resources will be the greatest challenge,” White said.
Sture is addressing a number of challenges in overseeing the panels. “Logistics is perhaps the biggest issue,” he said. “We have to plan for a lot of people on campus, for their hotels and transportation, as well as for parking and security. Residence hall move-in is occurring earlier in the week and Boulder will be accommodating parents and students.” Classes start on the Monday following the activities.
Stein is also adamant about the need to raise public interest, and he emphasized the importance of communicating the event’s purpose. “With this program, we are projecting CU-Boulder into the nation’s limelight,” he said. “This event is a critical part of our community outreach and in practice it is one way of serving our state and nation.”
White agrees. “In the past, scientists have failed to communicate climate change effectively. Today, CU-Boulder is at the forefront of environmental research. Providing these panels in conjunction with the DNC is an opportunity to showcase our work and get out the message about climate change and energy.”
For more information including a complete schedule of panels and presentations visit the Climate, Energy and Sustainability website.
NEWS SOURCE: InsideCU
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NEWS SOURCE: CU-Environmental Studies Program
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Turns out, there are quite a few ways Ryan's knowledge can affect water in the hills near his home: He's helped protect the James Creek water supply from vehicle-caused erosion; his analysis of acid-mine drainage for the Lefthand Watershed helped residents clean their water supply; and data he collected helped raise millions to revitalize water sources.
"It took me a few years driving back and forth to work before I realized there were all those old abandoned mines," Ryan said. "And it never registered, until I heard about the Jamestown initiative, that they were dealing with the problem of off-road vehicles using the road next to James Creek."
Once Ryan realized, however, that vehicle erosion was pushing sediment into the water supply and mine drainage was affecting water-purity levels, he was quick to help.
So quick, in fact, that his colleagues, community members, government officials and political leaders think he's been a pacesetter in Boulder's science community.
"I was excited," Ryan said about winning a 2008 Pacesetter Award in the Science/Medicine/Health category. "It's a big boost. It will get me through another decade doing this stuff."
And Ryan said he has big future plans to address community needs with help from CU researchers and students. In fact, he'd like to help people outside Boulder County, too.
"I would like to develop something where we could be a resource for groups dealing with water quality problems," Ryan said. "We'd like to be a place people can come for water advice from all over the state."
It's Ryan's enthusiasm for community outreach that makes him a pacesetter for Boulder, his colleagues said.
"He embodies, for our campus, the model for how to effectively integrate teaching and research with the local community," according to the two women who nominated Ryan for the award: Anne Heinz, dean of CU's Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies; and Dorothy Rupert, CU-Boulder outreach committee member and former state legislator.
By Vanessa Miller (Friday, January 25, 2008) Contact Camera Staff Writer Vanessa Miller at 303-473-1329 or millerv@dailycamera.com
NEWS SOURCE: Boulder Daily Camera
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Sediment records from dust blown into alpine lakes in southwest Colorado's San Juan Mountains over millennia indicates the sharp rise in dust deposits coincided with railroad, ranching and livestock activity in the middle of the last century, said geological sciences Assistant Professor Jason Neff, lead author on the study. The results have implications ranging from ecosystem alteration to human health, he said.
"From about 1860 to 1900, the dust deposition rates shot up so high that we initially thought there was a mistake in our data," said Neff. "But the evidence clearly shows the western U.S. had its own Dust Bowl beginning in the 1800s when the railroads went in and cattle and sheep were introduced into the rangelands."
A paper on the research funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation was published in the Feb. 24 issue of Nature Geoscience. Co-authors included CU-Boulder's Ashley Ballantyne, Lang Farmer and Corey Lawrence, Cornell University's Natalie Mahowald, the University of Arizona's Jessica Conroy and Jonathan Overpeck, Christopher Landry of the Center of Snow and Avalanche Studies in Silverton, Colo., the University of Utah's Tom Painter and the U.S. Geological Survey's Richard Reynolds.
The study indicates "dust fall" in the West over the past century was five to seven times heavier than at any time in the previous 5,000 years, said Neff, who is also a faculty member in CU-Boulder's Environmental Studies Program. While some fine-grained dust from Asia periodically falls on Colorado's San Juans, the abundance of larger-sized dust particles in the lake sediments there indicates most of the dust originated regionally in the Southwest, said the authors.
While droughts can trigger erosion and increased dust deposition, western U.S. droughts during the past two centuries have been relatively mild compared to droughts over the past 2,000 years, Neff said. Instead, the increased dustiness in the West coincides with intensive land use, primarily grazing, according to radiocarbon dating and lead isotope analysis of soil cores retrieved from lakebeds, he said.
"There were an estimated 40 million head of livestock on the western rangeland during the turn of the century, causing a massive and systematic degradation of the ecosystems," said Neff. The 1934 Taylor Grazing Act that imposed restrictions on western grazing lands coincided with a decrease in accumulation rates of the San Juan lake sediments in the study -- a decrease that continues to today, he said.
The study also shows more than a five-fold increase in nutrients and minerals in the lakebed sediments during the last 150 years, said Neff. Increases in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium -- byproducts of ranching, mining and agricultural activity - have been shown to change water alkalinity, aquatic productivity and nutrient cycling.
In the Niwot Ridge alpine region west of Boulder, for example, CU-Boulder researchers have observed increased algal growth in streams and lakes as a result of rising nitrogen deposition, as well as changes in the composition and diversity of wildflowers on the tundra. "Because these types of inputs have the potential to increase plant growth, the ultimate outcome of such depositions could change the fabric of our ecosystems," said Neff.
Excessive dust also can cause significant human health problems, including lung tissue damage, allergic reactions and respiratory problems, Neff said.
The San Juan lakes are located in an area dominated by rocky talus slopes with little soil and vegetation at about 13,000 feet in elevation and are located downwind of several major U.S. deserts like the Colorado Plateau and the Mojave. The site was chosen in part because the San Juans experience frequent wintertime dust deposition events -- usually between four to seven episodes annually, Neff said.
A study published in Geophysical Research Letters in 2007 involving co-authors of the Nature Geoscience paper, including Neff, showed wind-blown dust from disturbed lands in the Southwest shortened the duration of San Juan mountain snow cover by roughly a month. "The dust we see in these lakes is the same dust that causes earlier spring snowmelt here, so we can now definitively say that humans are in large part responsible for this melt," said Neff.
"There seems to be a perception that dusty conditions in the West are just the nature of the region," said Neff. "We have shown here that the increase in dust since the 1800s is a direct result of human activity and not part of the natural system."
Jason Neff, (303) 492-6187 cell phone: (303) 818-4022 Jason.C.Neff@colorado.edu Jim Scott, (303) 492-3114
NEWS SOURCE: CU-Boulder News Center
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The Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels, or C2B2, was founded in March 2007 by the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, a consortium involving all four institutions. The goal is to increase the production and use of energy from renewable resources, said C2B2 Executive Director Alan Weimer, a professor in CU-Boulder's chemical and biological engineering department.
The 10 winning proposals, each for $50,000, were selected by members of C2B2's 27 industry sponsors, including such companies as Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Dow Chemical and Shell Global Solutions, Weimer said. CU-Boulder led the way with five funded proposals, CSU and Mines each received two and NREL, a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, was awarded one.
"The mission of C2B2 is to improve the fundamental understanding of the conversion of biomass to fuels and products and develop viable technologies that can be commercialized by our industry partners in relatively short order," said Weimer. "The message from these awards is that C2B2 is thriving, and we have a tremendous amount of interest from the private sector that is only going to grow."
David Hiller, executive director of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, said each of center's six thrusts was funded within the 10 proposals. The six thrusts include crop engineering, biochemical conversion using enzymes and organisms, thermo-chemical conversion, process engineering, product engineering and system engineering.
"These first 10 seed grants highlight the central strengths of C2B2 and the collaboratory," said Hiller. "We have four excellent faculties with broad research capabilities, a spirit of cooperation among the institutions and a strong public-private partnership."
The center, which has a current budget of nearly $2 million, is funded by the four institutions, state matching funds and industry sponsor fees. The annual budget is expected to reach $5 million to $10 million in the next several years as sponsored research increases and memberships from industry collaborators grow, Weimer said.
C2B2 is headquartered at CU-Boulder.
Weimer, who received one of the 10 awards, will use the funding to explore the use of concentrated sunlight to convert algae into intermediate forms of synthesis gas, or syngas, which subsequently can be "shifted" to hydrogen or reformed to liquid fuels. Weimer is collaborating with NREL scientists on the project.
A second award to C2B2 Managing Director and CU-Boulder Assistant Professor Ryan Gill involves using genetic tools to engineer microbial communities known as biofilms that adhere to surfaces. More efficient biofilms can increase the production of biofuels made from the cellulose of plant leaves, stems and stalks, said Gill, who is collaborating with CSU co-investigator Ken Reardon on the effort.
Another CU-Boulder project involves developing specialized membranes to separate alcohol -- a potent source of renewable energy -- and water, which would eliminate the need for energy-sapping distillation processes often used for alcohol fuel production. A fourth CU-Boulder project involves the rapid screening of microbes to find types particularly well suited for energy conversion processes. The fifth CU-Boulder proposal involves the recovery of sugar and enzymes during processes that break down complex carbohydrates like cellulose during biofuel production.
One of the two CSU winning proposals involves the genetic engineering of sugar beets, viewed by many as a model renewable energy crop. The second project, led by CSU Site Director Ken Reardon, involves new technologies to stimulate algae to produce enough oils to be converted into biodiesel.
The two CSM awards include a project led by CSM Site Director John Dorgan to integrate the creation of bioplastics from plant byproducts in existing refineries, while a second project involves the technological and economic analysis of a proposed thermo-chemical plant to produce biofuels from cellulose.
The NREL award, led by NREL Site Director Al Darzins, involves establishing a bioenergy-focused algae strain collection. Darzins is collaborating with CSM's John Spear and Matt Posewitz to use cell sorting and robotic techniques to rapidly isolate and evaluate different species of microalgae for their suitability in biofuel production.
"The biggest winners in the development of C2B2 will be the students," Weimer said. "I can't imagine why any high school student interested in biofuels and renewable energy would consider leaving the state to attend college elsewhere with the opportunities C2B2 provides at the three Colorado universities."
Graduate students at four institutions will meet twice a year with C2B2 industry partners to present their research findings, an opportunity CU-Boulder Vice Chancellor for Research Stein Sture said is unusual in the arena of higher education. "The chance for these students to find jobs in their fields when they have finished school is heightened considerably by these interactions with the companies," said Sture, who is dean of the Graduate School.
In addition to fellowships for undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, C2B2 administrators plan to bring in 10 to 20 top undergraduates from around the nation as part of the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program to work with university and industry researchers, Weimer said. C2B2 administrators also are planning outreach activities to area K-12 schools, he said.
Industry sponsors can participate in discoveries and patents generated with the aim of commercializing new technologies quickly, said Gill. Sponsors also may enter into individual agreements to fund proprietary research through C2B2.
"None of us thought the center would take off this fast," said Gill, a faculty member in CU-Boulder's chemical and biological engineering department. "We could not be more pleased with the response we have had and we're excited about the future of C2B2."
A podcast on C2B2 featuring Weimer can be accessed on the Web at: www.colorado.edu/news/podcasts/. For more information on C2B2 visit the Web at: www.colorado.edu/che/c2b2/index.html or contact the following institutional C2B2 site directors: Will Medlin, CU-Boulder, (303) 492-2418, will.medlin@colorado.edu; Ken Reardon, CSU, (970) 491-6505, Kenneth.reardon@colostate.edu; John Dorgan, CSM, (303) 273-3539, jdorgan@mines.edu; and Al Darzins, NREL, (303) 384-7757, al_darzins@nrel.gov.
Contact: Alan Weimer, (303) 492-3759 Alan.Weimer@colorado.edu David Hiller, (303) 376-2631 Ryan Gill, (303) 492-2627 Jim Scott, (303) 492-3114
NEWS SOURCE: CU-Boulder News Center
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Dining Services on campuses are incorporating Grab and Go meal venues to accommodate today’s student lifestyle. As these venues have increased in availability and in popularity, so has a new waste stream of food packaging. At the University of Colorado - Boulder, the Grab and Go food packaging waste stream has become large enough to reverse previously decreasing landfill rates.
The study was requested by the University of Colorado Housing & Dining Services Department and carried out by students in ENVS 3001, Campus and the Biosphere: an Environmental Service Learning Course, under the direction of Dr. Lisa Barlow, Environmental Studies, Geological Sciences, and Baker Residential Academic Program.
NEWS SOURCE: CU Environmental Center
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Jane Pater started off in the environmental studies master's program at the University of Colorado because it seemed a natural alignment with her green interests.
Pater — who graduated from the Boulder campus with a dual degree last spring — said she had added on her MBA because she wanted to be able to breathe business into her eco-conscious ideas.
The University of Colorado's entrepreneurship program is picking up national attention for spawning sociallyconscious students and future business leaders with the release of two new lists that honor the Boulder campus, ranking it among the best internationally and nationally.
"I came into this whole thing with the realization that I needed to understand the business side to make an impact," said Pater, who now works for Summit Blue Consulting, a downtown Boulder firm that focuses on issues like renewable energy and efficiency.
The Aspen Institute has ranked CU's Leeds School of Business 20th for social and environmental stewardship in Beyond Grey Pinstripes global rankings.
Also, Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review partnered in a survey of entrepreneurship programs across the country and ranked the Leeds School 14th on its list of best graduate programs for entrepreneurs. Jane Pater, a consultant at Summit Blue Consulting firm in Boulder, works at her desk Thursday. Pater is a graduate of the University of Colorado's Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, which was ranked 14th in the top 25 graduate programs in the country by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. The school also is honored in another ranking for its social and environmental standards.
Photo by Marty Caivano
Jane Pater, a consultant at Summit Blue Consulting firm in Boulder, works at her desk Thursday. Pater is a graduate of the University of Colorado's Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, which was ranked 14th in the top 25 graduate programs in the country by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. The school also is honored in another ranking for its social and environmental standards.
"The newly emerging trends are in programs that focus on women-owned as well as environmentally and socially conscious businesses," said Rieva Lesonsky, senior vice president and editorial director of Entrepreneur magazine.
While the surveys address graduate rankings, CU's business school leaders say they also have a commitment to weaving ethics and sustainability into undergraduate classes and even competitions.
There is a new, required junior-level course for business school students that focuses on social responsibility, said Cathleen Burns, the school's associate dean for academic programs. There are also business competitions on the campus, like one for students this winter that will require that they confront sustainability challenges, while succeeding financially.
CU's Boulder campus impressed the researchers who compiled the rankings partly because of the several entrepreneurial course options it has for students, said Ben Zelevansky, director of data collection for The Princeton Review.
"We looked for a wide range of course offerings and opportunities for experiential learning and internships," he said.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at 303-473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com. E.W. Scripps Co.
NEWS SOURCE: Boulder Daily Camera
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The researchers, who forecast in April a 33 percent chance the September minimum of sea ice would set a new record, dramatically revised their prediction following a rapid disintegration of sea ice during July, said Research Associate Sheldon Drobot of CU-Boulder's Colorado Center for Astrodynamics.
"During the first week in July, the Arctic sea ice started to disappear at rates we had never seen before," said Drobot, who leads CCAR's Arctic Regional Ice Forecasting System group in CU-Boulder's aerospace engineering sciences department.
"We have been seeing a sharp decline in thicker, multi-year ice that has survived more than one melt season," said CCAR Research Associate James Maslanik. "This has been replaced in many areas by a thin, first-year layer of ice as well as by younger, thinner types of multi-year ice. The thinner ice just does not have the mass to withstand the effects of warming climate."
The record low September minimum for sea ice, set in 2005, is 2.15 million square miles, Drobot said. For 2007, the highest probability minimum extent is 1.96 million square miles, although there is a 25 percent chance the low will fall to 1.88 million square miles and a 5 percent chance the September sea-ice extent will fall to 1.75 million square miles, he said.
Sea-ice extent -- the area of an ocean covered by at least 15 percent of ice -- has been declining at least since the late 1970s, when concerted satellite measuring efforts began, said Drobot. The ongoing decline is believed by many researchers to be due primarily to higher temperatures due to warming from greenhouse gas emissions.
The factors triggering the unusually strong July sea-ice decline appear to be a combination of less multi-year ice and more cloud-free days, which accelerated the melting effects of solar radiation on the ice, Drobot said. "Things can really change fast, which is why we continually update our forecasts," he said.
The CCAR researchers used satellite data from the U.S. Department of Defense and temperature records from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the forecasts, which they have been producing for five years, said Drobot. The sea ice research by the CCAR group -- the only group in the world currently making seasonal Arctic sea ice forecasts based on probability -- is funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA, he said.
According to researcher Walt Meier of CU-Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center, the current sea ice conditions are rapidly approaching the record daily minimum already, with at least a few more weeks of melting likely.
Arctic sea ice researchers pay particular attention to the months of September and March because they generally mark the annual minimum and maximum sea ice extents respectively, said Drobot.
Arctic sea ice is "one of the better predictors of climate change on Earth," Drobot said. "There will probably be about two-thirds as much sea this September as there was 25 years ago, a good indication that something significant is happening with the climate."
The Arctic sea ice decline has been sharpest in the western Arctic over the past few years, said Drobot. Such regional variation is of interest to the maritime industry, including government agencies, international shipping companies, energy exploration corporations and tourism cruise lines active in the far North, he said.
"This type of information is useful for ship operators trying to plan activities several months out," Drobot said. "It's also useful for short-term operational planning, including cruise ship excursions."
Assuming the sea ice decline continues in the Arctic, there probably will be a significant amount of intercontinental "Northwest Passage" type of transit from North America to places like Europe in the coming decades, Drobot said. A seasonal or year-round, ice-free channel through the Arctic waters would be significantly shorter and more cost effective than shipping through the Panama Canal, Drobot said.
For more information on CU-Boulder's Arctic Regional Ice Forecasting System group, see the Web site at: ccar.colorado.edu/arifs.
A Web site with continuous updates on Arctic sea ice conditions maintained by researchers at CU-Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center can be accessed on the Web at: nsidc.org/news/press/2007seaiceminimum/20070810index.html.
Contact: Sheldon Drobot, (303) 492-8143 or Cell phone (303) 775-1670 Sheldon.drobot@colorado.edu James Maslanik, (303) 492-8974 Jim Scott, (303) 492-3114
NEWS SOURCE: CU-Boulder News Center
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Analyzing the chemical signatures of black carbon to determine its origin, scientists led by Joseph McConnell of the Desert Research Institute at the Nevada System of Higher Education in Reno report that the amount of soot from industrial emissions surpassed those from forest fires sometime in the 1880s. The trend lasted until the 1950s.
The findings are significant because black carbon "absorbs sunlight extremely efficiently and thus can have a considerable impact on climate," especially in areas where sunlight is usually reflected by snow and ice, according to Science Express.
"While enhanced radiative forcing from black carbon in snow results in warming and possibly summer melting on the permanently snow-covered Greenland ice sheet, potential impacts on seasonal snow covers are larger since additional warming leads to earlier exposure of underlying low albedo rock, soil, vegetation, and sea ice," the authors write.
Model simulations by the researchers "suggest that black carbon's impact on climate during the period from 1906 to 1910 was about eight times as strong as what was typical during pre-industrial times." The researchers say the warming effect was strongest in the winter.
CITATION: McConnell, J.R. et al (2007). 20th Century Industrial Black Carbon Emissions Altered Arctic Climate Forcing. 10 AUGUST 2007 VOL 317 SCIENCE.
Authors included J.R. McConnell, R. Edwards, J.R. Banta and D.R. Pasteris at Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education in Reno, NV; G.L. Kok at Droplet Measurement Technologies in Boulder, CO; M.G. Flanner, C.S. Zender and E.S. Saltzman at University of California, Irvine in Irvine, CA; M.M. Carter and J.D.W. Kahl at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in Milwaukee, WI.
NEWS SOURCE: mongabay.com
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