Monday, November 3
9:00 to 10:00 am
Lincoln Campus Center Auditorium
Measurement and Leadership:
Life Cycle Analysis and LEED
Scot Horst, Horst, Inc.
Friday, November 21
1:30 to 2:30 pm
Cape Cod Lounge, Student Union
Green Energy: Reconfiguring
the North American Power Grid
Massoud Amin, Professor of Electrical and
Computer Engineering and Director,
Center for the Development of Technological Leadership, University
of Minnesota
(More Information)
November, 22, 2008
Clean Energy Connections is a career and
business development information and networking event. It is
a forum for the individuals and organizations that will accelerate
the growth of our clean energy economy. (More
Information)
Connecticut River Water Quality
Monitoring Project
Before going out for a paddle or swim, recreational users
of the Connecticut River will soon be able to check the internet
for up-to-date water quality information on three segments
of the river: between Turners Fall and Greenfield and between
Chicopee and Holyoke in Massachusetts; and between White River
Junction, Vermont and Cornish, New Hampshire. The availability
of this information is the result of a new water quality monitoring
project conducted by The University of Massachusetts Water
Resources Research Center in partnership with the Pioneer Valley
Planning Commission, Franklin Regional Council of Governments,
and the Connecticut River Joint Commissions. The water quality
monitoring project is one of ten Connecticut River projects
funded under a $953,000 Targeted Watershed Initiative grant
from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, matched by $458,000
in local funding commitments. (More
Information)
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Focus on Faculty Research
Green Infrastructure to
Build Green Communities
Katie Maginnis for TEI
 With
the implications of climate change and the rising price of
oil, many architects are embracing the idea of “green
building”. Jack Ahern, Professor
of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, has
been developing a theory of landscape urbanism based on green
infrastructure practices.
(Complete
Article)
Geobacters Cleanup Groundwater
Contaminated with Uranium
Katie Huston for TEI
 Twenty-one
years ago, Derek Lovley discovered Geobacters,
novel anaerobic organisms that gain energy from iron oxides.
Today, he’s as excited about working with them as ever. “[Geobacter]
is just so darn interesting,” he says. “It does
so many interesting things. Lovley, a Distinguished
University Professor of Microbiology, first isolated
Geobacters in the Potomac River downstream from Washington,
D.C., in 1987 while working at a federal government lab. Since
then, he’s discovered numerous applications, including
bioremediation of polluted groundwater and harvesting electricity
from organic waste.
(Complete Article)
Economic Approaches to Managing Natural Resources
Katie Huston for TEI
 John
Stranlund was drawn to economics because of his passion for
the environment.
“Economics looked like a promising avenue for me to study
environmental issues,” he says. “I cared about
the environment and development before I cared about economics.
In fact, without the environment and development aspect, I’m
not sure I would be an economist.” Today, Stranlund
is a professor in the Department of Resource
Economics where
he’s been on the faculty since 1993. His current research
takes two distinct directions, ranging from the effectiveness
of environmental regulation in the developed world to resource-sharing
and government intervention in small fishing villages in Colombia.
(Complete Article)
Using Bioremediation to Treat Pollutants
in the Environment
Katie Huston for TEI
 Sarina
Ergas knows that small organisms can make a big
difference. Ergas, an Associate Professor in the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
specializes in bioremediation, a process of using microorganisms
to biodegrade toxic compounds to non-toxic substances to
reduce pollutant concentrations in the environment. “We
have microorganisms that we find can carry out some particular
process that we want them to carry out, and then what we
have to do is figure out what their needs are,” she
says. “We can’t just make them do our
bidding. We have to get on their agenda. Microorganisms don’t do this altruistically.
They only want one thing: to grow and create more bacteria.”
(Complete
Article)
Health and Sustainable
Food Systems
Katie Maginnis for TEI
 When
discussing issues of food security and sustainability, many
people mention the phrase “think globally, act locally.” This
may be a good place to start, but it’s more complicated
than that, says Kalidas Shetty, Professor
of Food Science. In order to create more sustainable
food systems, we need to take an integrative approach. As Shetty
explains, “What we’re seeing already is that food,
health, energy, environment, and of course water and sanitation – they
all connect. If we don’t understand that, we cannot address
the issue.” (Complete Article)
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