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Sustainability
Can Galápagos businesses be eco-friendly and profitable at once?
In an effort to try for this, a group of Penn undergrads led by doctoral student Jesse Hamilton partnered with five small enterprises on the islands. Even amidst a global pandemic and local civil unrest, the pilot was a success.
Design travels to South Carolina to plan more protective urban coastlines
A Weitzman School team is working with the city of Charleston on an urban seawall plan that combines natural elements with structural systems that respond to the local conditions of the city’s shoreline.
Supporting agriculture and a safe food supply
Essential workers in the School of Veterinary Medicine are caring for livestock, keeping track of disease, ensuring product consistency, and communicating with farmers to ensure that farms can continue providing a reliable food supply for the community.
Nature as a refuge in unsettling times
Even before the pandemic, campus initiatives like NatureRx@Penn and the 30x30 Challenge encouraged time outside. These efforts are continuing, now that restorative outlets are more important than ever.
Urban planning for biodiversity after bushfires
The Weitzman School’s Richard Weller visited Sydney for a two-week intensive on critical urban challenges and converting a parkland into an incubator for wildlife.
Amazing cows hold promise in pioneering sustainable food systems
Researchers at Penn Vet are discovering that cows and other livestock found in animal agriculture are critical partners in developing sustainable, regenerative agro-food systems.
‘An Atlas for the Green New Deal’
The McHarg Center releases a new collection of maps and datascapes capturing the spatial consequences of climate change in support of a coordinated national response.
Side Gigs for Good, part two
In a second installment of Side Gigs for Good stories, meet four more Penn employees whose after-work endeavors go above and beyond.
As good as new at Penn Closet
The student-run thrift shop on the ground floor of Williams Hall gives clothes and other items a second life, plus offers donators and shoppers a simple way to practice sustainability.
Immersive stories to spur action on climate
Organized by the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH), a two-day festival, “Environmental Storytelling and Virtual Reality” begins Friday, and will explore how virtual reality and other immersive storytelling might inspire action on climate change.
In the News
Could Florida electric bills go up because of a fuel made from manure?
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that federal and California state subsidies have led to a gold rush of companies trying to get into the business of renewable natural gas around the country.
FULL STORY →
Why don’t we just ban fossil fuels?
Joseph Romm of the School of Arts & Sciences says that stronger action against fossil fuels is essential to save the planet.
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UN reports worrying rates of warming as COP28 tries to tackle climate crisis
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences warns that the steady warming rate of the planet’s surface and oceans is fueling increasingly dangerous extreme weather events and coastal flooding.
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An oil executive is leading the UN climate summit. It’s going as well as you’d expect
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Ahmed al-Jaber’s comments about fossil fuels betray an ignorance of climate science and a dismissiveness about the need for rapid decarbonization.
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Princeton and Penn scientists win Philly award for their climate change work
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences has won the 2023 John Scott Award for his work to address climate change.
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Should you stop flying to fight climate change?
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that decisions by individual climate scientists of whether or not to fly won’t change the system of air travel.
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