Sustainability Highlights

Arizona State University joins Climate Leadership Network

One of the founding signatories of nonprofit Second Nature's American College and University President’s Climate Commitment, ASU recently signed a new set of commitments put forward by the organization, making it a member of the Climate Leadership Network.

ASU Wrigley Institute leaders define sustainability

Though most experts agree that sustainability's primary aim is to accommodate a growing number of people on a planet with finite resources, the term is defined in different ways - as exemplified by the ASU Wrigley Institute's directorate in a recent article.

ASU LightWorks to engage military in energy-related research

Recognizing that energy challenges pertain to both technology and people, ASU LightWorks will support six energy-related research projects intended to engage veterans or active-duty military using $1.5 million in seed grants.

DCDC details decade of water research in Phoenix

Published in the journal Sustainability, a paper authored by a team of Decision Center for a Desert City researchers synthesizes the evolution of the interdisciplinary research and boundary organization, which has enhanced adaptive and sustainable governance in the face of complex system dynamics.

Sustainability student poses climate question during CNN debate

During CNN's October Democratic presidential debate, Master of Sustainable Solutions student Anna Bettis appeared in a pre-recorded video expressing her concern about climate change and asking what candidates would do to address it.

David Hondula: On Extreme Heat and Sustainability

In this month's video Q&A, David Hondula - a senior sustainability scientist and assistant research professor in the Center for Policy Informatics - discusses climate with regard to extreme heat and his research into its impacts on human health.

CAP LTER partners to bring big data to high school girls

More than a dozen 11th- and 12th-grade girls spent their fall break gathering skills that will be valuable to them in future STEM careers during a workshop hosted in partnership with ASU’s Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research program.

Scientist weighs in on future habitability of Persian Gulf

In response to a study published in Nature Climate Change that predicts parts of the Persian Gulf will be uninhabitable by the end of this century, sustainability scientist David Hondula points out that conditions in many cities - including Phoenix - already reach extremes that pose a threat to human health and lives.

Species adapt to natural climate change better than human activity

After excavating the remains of 95 species from a Bahamanian sinkhole, a team of researchers - including distinguished sustainability scientist Janet Franklin - discovered that, of the species who were no longer found in the area, more had disappeared in the last 1,000 years due to human activity than in the many thousands of years prior.

Climatologist recognized for fundamental contributions to field

Senior Sustainability Scientist Tony Brazel has been named the 2015 winner of the International Association for Urban Climate’s Luke Howard Award, a testament to his influential research on urban heat islands and desert environments, as well as to his enduring impact on projects like ASU's DCDC and CAP LTER.