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Sustainability
‘Design with Nature,’ 50 years later
‘Design with Nature,’ 50 years later
Beginning on the Summer Solstice, the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology at the Weitzman School is presenting Design With Nature Now, a multi-platform exploration of the legacy of visionary environmental planner and landscape architect Ian L. McHarg.
Keeping rain out of the drain
Keeping rain out of the drain
From cisterns beneath Shoemaker Green to the green roof on New College House, special features of campus buildings and landscapes are helping manage stormwater to keep rain from the sewer lines, and scholars are using the infrastructure as a research opportunity.
Predilections of a destructive pest
Predilections of a destructive pest
The spotted lanternfly is emerging as a serious threat to agriculture and forested areas. At The Woodlands Cemetery near campus, Benjamin Rohr hopes to determine the types of trees the insect prefers to shape control strategies moving forward.
With unprecedent threats to nature at hand, how to turn the tide
With unprecedent threats to nature at hand, how to turn the tide
One million plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction due to human activity, according to a U.N. assessment issued earlier this month. Here, experts highlight the report’s major messages and offer ideas for moving from inertia to action to stem threats to biodiversity.
The beauty of the two-wheeled commute
The beauty of the two-wheeled commute
On Bike to Work Day, Penn will fete two-wheeled commuters with snacks, showers, and swag. For many at the University, commuting by bike is a way of life. Five Penn staff and faculty share how they make it work and why they keep riding.
Lightbulb moment: A snap-on solution for energy conservation
Lightbulb moment: A snap-on solution for energy conservation
Senior Wharton student Michael Wong won a President’s Innovation Prize for his startup InstaHub.
Confronting inequities, sharing solutions
Confronting inequities, sharing solutions
At the annual meeting of the Global Water Alliance, faculty, students, and practitioners shared solutions and challenges around the issues of water access, sanitation, and hygiene in the U.S. and around the world.
By the Numbers: 2018 Penn Sustainability Report
By the Numbers: 2018 Penn Sustainability Report
Seven highlights from this year’s Sustainability Report show progress on how the University is faring with its target goals to improve environmental sustainability.
Going plastic neutral
Going plastic neutral
The winners of a 2018 Penn President’s Engagement Prize are launching a new venture to address the global problem of plastic waste.
Green labs group strives to make science more sustainable
Green labs group strives to make science more sustainable
With a Green Labs working group, Elicia Preston of the Perelman School of Medicine and the University’s Sustainability Office in Facilities and Real Estate Services are striving to make the pursuit of scientific research a more eco-friendly endeavor.
In the News
Inside Climate News
As California pushes increased ethanol use, experts sound the alarm on environmental impacts
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the negative impacts of biofuels on land are difficult to overstate.
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Philadelphia Citizen
Penn bets big on green
Penn’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan outlines the University’s efforts to combat climate change during the next five years.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Climate policy under a second Trump presidency
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences discusses how much a president can do or undo when it comes to environmental policy.
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Salon.com
Exxon CEO wants Trump to stay in Paris climate accord
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences voices his concern about the possibility that the U.S. could become a petrostate.
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Associated Press
Amid Earth’s heat records, scientists report another bump upward in annual carbon emissions
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that total carbon emissions including fossil fuel pollution and land use changes such as deforestation are basically flat because land emissions are declining.
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The Wall Street Journal
How can we remove carbon from the air? Here are a few ideas
Jennifer Wilcox of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the carbon-removal potential of forestation can’t always be reliably measured in terms of how much removal and for how long.
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