Sustainability

The Gambia Goat Dairy builds sustainability through community

Since its founding by Penn Vet students in 2016, the Gambia Goat Dairy has worked in partnership with Gambians to serve its community. The research and teaching farm also gives current students the opportunity to use their veterinary skills for social good.

Luis Melecio-Zambrano

Engineering a solution for microplastic pollution

May graduates Sarah Beth Gleeson, Shoshana Weintraub, and Julia Yan will use their President’s Sustainability Prize to create a device for trapping microfibers in laundry machines to reduce ocean microplastic pollution.

Erica K. Brockmeier , Amanda Mott

A multidisciplinary approach to considering the Earth’s changing systems

Bringing expertise from each of their disciplines, the School of Arts & Sciences’ Kathleen Morrison and Joseph Francisco and the Environmental Innovations Initiative’s Melissa Brown Goodall infused chemistry, anthropology, policy, and more into an introductory course on climate and the environment.

Katherine Unger Baillie

A farm-to-table meal at Penn, in photos

Honoring Earth Week, Penn Dining and the Penn Food and Wellness Collaborative teamed up to create a vegetable-forward menu for Quaker Kitchen, sourcing produce from local purveyors to highlight what’s currently growing on the quarter-acre Penn Park Farm.

Michele W. Berger

The Clean Water Act at 50

Approaching the half-century mark of this landmark piece of environmental legislation, Penn students, staff, and faculty share their reflections on its legacy, both strengths and shortcomings.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Turning Latin America green

Santiago Cunial, a doctoral candidate in political science, investigates issues surrounding green energy in Chile and Argentina.

Climate scientist Michael Mann to join Penn faculty

Mann is the first new faculty member to be recruited as part of the recently announced Energy and Sustainability Initiative as a Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Understanding climate stories

In the latest episode of Penn Today’s “Understand This …” podcast series, Bethany Wiggin of the School of Arts & Sciences and Jennifer Pinto-Martin of the School of Nursing discuss climate stories, climate grief, and climate literacy.

Brandon Baker



In the News


Tampa Bay Times

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.

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The New York Times

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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PBS NewsHour

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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Vox.com

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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Philadelphia Inquirer

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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Yahoo! News

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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