Sustainability Digest 010320

The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability provides this list to announce seminars, meetings, colloquiums, lectures, brown bags, announcements of interest, and job opportunities to the Institute community. If you have items you’d like to add please submit them to Cindy.Zisner@asu.edu before 5:00 p.m. Wednesday. This Digest is sent out on Friday morning. You may subscribe, unsubscribe, or change subscriber settings at http://lists.asu.edu/archives/giosasu.html on the menu on the right of the page at Subscribe or Unsubscribe. You can also view archives here.

NEW ITEMS

(Current items remain in the Digest until they happen so don’t forget to peruse the web listing in case you missed something in the previous week.)

Institute Events

1. School of Sustainability Alumni - Community Garden Maintenance & Harvest

2. Foodtank 2020 Summit: The Wisdom of Indigenous Foodways

3. Free Film Screening: The River and the Wall

Other Events - On Campus

4. Innovations Talk: Unfracking the Future through Civic Technoscience

5. NatureMaker Open House

6. From Biology to Design: How Nature has Inspired Sustainable Innovation at the Rhode Island School of Design

7. Center for Imagination in the Borderlands Launch

8. 2020 Social Embeddedness Network Conference

Other Events - Off Campus

9. GreenBiz Webcast: State of Green Business 2020

10. Desert Rivers Audubon Monthly Speaker Series: Arizona's Pygmy Owls

News and Announcements

11. Mapping the way to resilient cities

12. Two new President's Professors named

13. UREx SRN Alumni: Beating the heat in Phoenix neighborhoods

14. How to make landscapes more sustainable: ASU ecologist focuses on big and small picture

15. Sustainability and Cronkite film students expose the tragedies of homelessness

16. ASU professors to help Gulf Coast communities assess climate risks

17. We can course correct and save the melting Arctic

18. Meet sustainability online student Wes Fitch

19. The Sustainability Opportunity for business professionals

20. The FAA Challenge: Smart Airport Student Competition

21. Native American Congressional Internship

22. Call for Applications: Five KLI Writing-up Fellowships in Interdisciplinary Sustainability Science

23. December Southwest Climate Outlook

24. CLIMAS Podcast: December 2019: Winter/Holiday Optimism Edition

Other Jobs

25. Postdoctoral Fellow, Urban Flooding, Lyle School of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX

26. Postdoctoral Researcher, Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

27. Water Transactions Coordinator, Colorado Water Trust, Denver, CO

28. Land Stewardship Coordinator, Aldo Leopold Foundation, Baraboo, WI

29. Executive Director, Division of Hydrologic Services, Desert Research Institute, Reno/Las Vegas, NV

30. Postdoctoral Fellow, Nature and Human Health, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT

31. Communications Specialist, Water Program, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC

32. Natural Resource and Environmental Economist, RTI International, Durham, NC

33. Permit Writer, Department of Ecology, Yakima County, Union Gap, WA

34. Program Associate, Climate Corps, Environmental Defense Fund, Boston, MA

35. Program Coordinator, Political Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, DC

36. Research Associate, Department of Public Service and Administration, Texas A&M University, College, Station, TX

37. Research Positions, Pacific Institute, Oakland, CA or remotely from US East Coast

EVENTS

Institute Events

NEW!

School of Sustainability Alumni - Community Garden Maintenance & Harvest

(Saturday, January 11, 2020) Interested in gardening? Want a way to contribute to your community? Interested in meeting fun, sustainability-oriented people? Then join us for the School of Sustainability Alumni Monthly Community Garden Harvest Day! From 9:00-11:00 a.m. at Escalante Community Garden, 2150 E. Orange St, Tempe. More information and registration.

NEW!

Foodtank 2020 Summit: The Wisdom of Indigenous Foodways

(Wednesday, January 22, 2020) Arizona State University, Food Tank, and University of Hawaii Present: "The Wisdom of Indigenous Foodways." The Summit will feature native voices and, over the course of two hours, speakers will delve into a wide range of issues from biodiversity, to wildfoods, landrace property rights, and more all while sharing inspiring models of strength and innovation within indigenous communities. Reception to follow (included). From 4:00-6:30 p.m. in rooms Synergy I and II, Skysong, Arizona State University, 1365 N. Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale. More information and tickets.

NEW!

Free Film Screening: The River and the Wall

(Wednesday, January 29, 2020) The River and the Wall investigates the costs of a recurring symbol of the ongoing immigration debate – a physical barrier, or the wall – as filmmakers traverse our southern border to explore where the wall would be built and its potential environmental, economic, and social consequences. Doors open 6:30 p.m.; film begins 7:00 p.m. at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 1140 E Baseline Rd, Tempe. More information and registration.

(Thursday-Saturday, April 2-4, 2020) Earn a certificate in sustainability strategy from the W. P. Carey School of Business and School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. Join this cohort and connect with a network of sustainability professionals. Sessions focus on organizational opportunities that accompany sustainability challenges. Participants learn how to make the business case for sustainability projects to minimize wasted resources, time and talent. Hear about what you can expect from Bruno Sarda, President of CDP North America in this video. Best early bird rate ends January 15, 2020. Contact sustainabilityskills@asu.edu for information.

Other Events

On Campus

Dialogues in Complexity: Dynamics of Political Polarization

(Monday, January 6, 2020) Sam Wang, Princeton University, will present Bugs in Democracy: Fair Maps, Gerrymandering, and the Road to Majority Rule in America and Joshua Plotkin, University of Pennsylvania, will present Information Gerrymandering and Undemocratic Decisions from 3:00-5:30 p.m. in the auditorium, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe campus. More information.

NEW!

Innovations Talk: Unfracking the Future through Civic Technoscience

(Tuesday, January 14, 2020) Sara Wylie, Northeastern University, will present “Unfracking the Future through Civic Technoscience” from 1:00-2:00 p.m. in room 120, Computing Commons, Arizona State University, Tempe campus. More information and rsvp.

NEW!

NatureMaker Open House

(Wednesday, January 22, 2020) Please join us for the opening of NatureMaker, a unique collaboration between the Biomimicry Center and the ASU Library. NatureMaker is an active learning library where hands-on explorations of natural history artifacts inspire sustainable innovation. Come join us for a fun night of interactive activities that reveal the back stories of nature’s genius in our amazing new collection. Discover how cactus spines can inspire new water systems, how sea sponges can lead to innovations in porous ceramics or how shark skin has been used as a model for new antimicrobial surfaces. From 4:00-8:00 p.m. at the Biomimicry Center, Design South, room 126, Arizona State University, Tempe campus. More information.

NEW!

From Biology to Design: How Nature has Inspired Sustainable Innovation at the Rhode Island School of Design

(Thursday, January 23, 2020) Neal Overstrom and Jennifer Bissonnette, Rhode Island School of Design, will present “From Biology to Design: How Nature has Inspired Sustainable Innovation at the Rhode Island School of Design” from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in room 60, Design North, Arizona State University, Tempe campus. More information.

NEW!

Center for Imagination in the Borderlands Launch

(Thursday, January 23, 2020) We invite you into this indigenous space of language, inquiry, and wonder as we consider our desert and its many bodies of land, water, language, and person. Join us as we constellate our borderlands and the radical imaginations shaped here with those radical imaginations and conversations occurring, and yet to occur, nationally and internationally, along other borders. We welcome you into our conversations as we embrace the tensions of our borderlands—the stories, languages, questions, loves, and arts made here—as a necessary part of the futures we have yet to create. From 6:15-8:15 p.m. in the Katzin Concert Hall, Music Building, Arizona State University, Tempe campus. More information.

NEW!

2020 Social Embeddedness Network Conference

(Tuesday, March 24, 2020) Since 2014, the annual Social Embeddedness Network conference has convened community-engaged faculty and staff from a variety of disciplines and units throughout ASU to build connections and share strategies and best practices for advancing ASU as a socially embedded institution. From 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. in the Memorial Union, Arizona State University, Tempe campus. ASU's Office of University Initiatives and Educational Outreach and Student Services (EOSS) invite you to submit a proposal to share how you are partnering with community organizations in your socially embedded research, teaching or practice to achieve positive outcomes at the local, regional and global level. The deadline for conference proposals is Friday, January 10, 2020. More information.

Off Campus

Green Chamber of Commerce Evening Out: Sustainable Practices - Soup to Nuts

(Wednesday, January 8, 2020) Join the Chamber in Chef Jennifer's kitchen for an evening conversation and about how every business can bake-in sustainable practices and look for opportunities in unusual places. From 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Witnessing Nature In Food Corporate Commercial Kitchen, 3801 S Central Ave, Phoenix. More information and registration.

NEW!

GreenBiz Webcast: State of Green Business 2020

(Monday, January 13, 2020) In this one-hour webcast, coinciding with the report’s release, GreenBiz Group Chairman and Executive Editor Joel Makower, Trucost CEO Richard Mattison, and Lauren Smart, Trucost Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Institutions Business, will provide insights into key trends and metrics in sustainable business, including new metrics introduced in this year’s report revealing companies’ exposure to carbon price risk, and the growing climate risk faced by companies to their facilities and physical infrastructure. At 1:00 p.m. EST. More information and registration.

NEW!

Desert Rivers Audubon Monthly Speaker Series: Arizona’s Pygmy Owls

(Tuesday, January 14, 2020) Stephen Vaughn, ornithologist and professional photographer, will present “Arizona’s Pygmy Owls” from 7:00-8:00 p.m. at the Southeast Regional Library, 775 N Greenfield Rd, Gilbert, AZ. More information.

GreenBiz 20

(Tuesday-Thursday, February 4-6, 2020) GreenBiz 20 brings together a powerful community of more than 1,500 professionals from business, government, academia and NGOs to explore the pressing challenges, emerging trends and promising opportunities that will leave you feeling inspired and prepared for a successful year ahead. The conference will be at the JW Marriot Camelback Inn in Phoenix. More information and registration.

Eighth Natural History of the Gila Symposium

(Thursday-Friday, February 27-28, 2020) A symposium for researchers, land managers, students and the general public, this educational event is FREE. Student travel scholarships (usually $200) are available. New for the 8th symposium is student research scholarships for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. The symposium will be held at Western New Mexico University, Silver City, NM. More information.

Intermountain Sustainability Summit

(Thursday-Friday, March 19-20, 2020) The Intermountain Sustainability Summit is an annual benchmark event where sustainability professionals from business, non-profits, government, and education come together, along with the next generation of leaders, to learn, share, network and build momentum as we work to improve our communities, environment and economy. There is a student poster contest and students whose posters are chosen to be displayed will receive free admission on the main Summit day, March 19, and be entered to win cash-card prizes. Poster submission deadline February 15, 2020. Join us at Weber State University, Ogden UT. More information.

18th Annual Climate Prediction Applications Science Workshop

(Tuesday-Thursday, April 14-16, 2020) The 18th Annual Climate Prediction Applications Science Workshop (CPASW) will bring together a diverse community to share developments in research and application of weather and climate information for societal decision-making. Participants will include researchers, service producers, resource managers, planners, practitioners, social scientists, and others making weather and climate-sensitive decisions. NOAA’s National Weather Service Climate Services Branch, Arizona State University, the Arizona State Climate Office, and many climate services partners are collaborating in the organization of the 2020 CPASW. The workshop will be held in Phoenix, AZ. Registration will open in February 2020. More information.

Phosphorus Forum 2020

(Thursday, April 30, 2020) Arizona State University's Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance will host its 4th annual Phosphorus Forum in Washington, DC. Professor Don Boesch of the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science will be providing the keynote at this day-long knowledge-sharing and networking event. Participants will include scientists, NGOs focused on water quality issues, nutrient recovery technology companies, fertilizer manufacturers, food producers, water utilities, farm consultants, government regulators, agricultural suppliers, phosphate mining companies, and others. There is no streaming of this event. More information and registration.

NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

NEW!

Mapping the way to resilient cities

The alarm is sounding to warn that the structural foundations that have long enabled major cities to function productively in the past won’t provide a reliable template for the future. This is most evident when it comes to public infrastructure, said Mikhail Chester, an associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Read more.

NEW!

Two new President’s Professors named

Two Arizona State University faculty members have been named President’s Professors, adding to the growing list since 2006 — the first year the designation was given out. The new honorees are Michael Angilletta, a professor in the School of Life Sciences and the associate director of undergraduate programs, and Joni Adamson, professor of environmental humanities in the Department of English and director of the Environmental Humanities Initiative at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. Read more.

NEW!

UREx SRN Alumni: Beating the heat in Phoenix neighborhoods

School of Sustainability PhD graduate, Melissa Guardaro has made an impact on heat action planning in Phoenix, Arizona. As part of the Nature’s Cooling System Project, Guardaro strove to address social and geographical equity concerns related to heat mitigation and adaptation strategies in under-served areas. She partnered with local groups including the Nature Conservancy, community based organizations, city officials, and the public health department to develop heat action plans for three low-income communities: Edison-Eastlake Community, Mesa Care Neighborhood, and Lindo Park-Roesley Park Neighborhood. Read more.

NEW!

How to make landscapes more sustainable: ASU ecologist focuses on big and small picture

A picture of a crying child with a boot pressed against his face is frightening. But zoom out and see that the child is holding the boot to his own face, and you get an entirely different perception altogether. That viral meme proves the importance of context. Arizona State University School of Life Sciences Dean’s Distinguished Professor Jianguo Wu wants landscape and urban ecologists to recognize that when designing ecological studies that look at land use. His lab has published four studies this year to illustrate just that. Read more.

NEW!

Sustainability and Cronkite film students expose the tragedies of homelessness

“Hiding In Plain Sight” and “Fighting For A Home” are two short films on the complexities of homelessness from School of Sustainability and Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication students in Peter Byck’s Sustainability Storytelling course. Read more.

NEW!

ASU professors to help Gulf Coast communities assess climate risks

As the seas rise along the Gulf Coast of the U.S., thousands of communities must decide how to adjust to a new environment. Two professors at Arizona State University are part of a team that’s developing a new tool to help homeowners assess their risk and make informed decisions. Read more.

NEW!

We can course correct and save the melting Arctic

In the newest article from the Global Futures Laboratory, "Rapid Changes in the Arctic: This Story is Not Just about Polar Bears," thought leaders Peter Schlosser, Stephanie Pfirman, Clea Edwards, Nina Berman, Steven Beschloss, Rolf Halden and Manfred Laubichler discuss the changing Arctic and what needs to be done to course correct. "To be clear, this is not all doom and gloom. There is a path forward," they say. Read more.

NEW!

Meet sustainability online student Wes Fitch

Growing up in north Texas, Wes Fitch never really had the opportunity to experience nature. So when he finally did in Boulder, Colorado and the Pacific Northwest, it was life changing. Read more.

NEW!

The Sustainability Opportunity for business professionals

The Sustainability Opportunity is an intensive seminar that combines the power of the consistently top-ranked W. P. Carey School of Business with the pioneering, first-in-the-nation School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. Instead of focusing on gloom and doom, this seminar focuses on the business and organizational opportunities that accompany our global challenges. Read more.

NEW!

The FAA Challenge: Smart Airport Student Competition

Through the FAA Challenge: Smart Airport Student Competition, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) invites university teams to propose solutions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of smart technology in and around the airport environment while enhancing the overall traveling experience. For the 2019-2020 academic year, the FAA Challenge: Smart Airport Student Competition focuses on Smart Airports, providing students the opportunity to design, build, and test smart technology that has the ability to improve traveler's transportation experiences from home, in the airport environment, and to his/her final destination. This challenge aims to foster an ecosystem in the United States that will lead to the future of innovation in smart airports, propelled by upcoming leaders and innovators: college and university students. For more information and full challenge details, visit the FAA Challenge Website. If you have any questions, please contact the FAA Challenge Program Team at faachallenge@nianet.org. Proposal deadline is January 13, 2020.

NEW!

Native American Congressional Internship

The Native American Congressional Internship gives Native American and Alaska Native students a first-hand look at Federal-Tribal relations and allows them to work on issues important to their communities. This fully-funded, ten-week summer internship in Washington, DC, is open to undergraduate, graduate, and law students. Interns work in congressional and agency offices where they research legislation, meet public officials and Tribal leaders, and network with a strong cohort of Native professionals. The Foundation provides airfare, housing, a living allowance, and a $1,200 educational stipend. Applications are due by January 31, 2020 (postmark). More information at:

https://udall.gov/OurPrograms/Internship/Internship.aspx. Program contact: Jason Curley, Education Program Manager at Udall Foundation, curley@udall.gov.

NEW!

Call for Applications: Five KLI Writing-up Fellowships in Interdisciplinary Sustainability Science

The Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI) Writing-Up Fellowship is an individual fellowship awarded to excellent doctoral students in the final stage of their PhD to work independently on research projects supervised by their advisor in their home institutes. We look forward to receiving applications especially, but not exclusively, from the following research areas: social-ecological research, innovation research, inter and transdisciplinary sustainability research, transformation and transition research, environmental humanities, environmental history, and environmental ethics, geography, environmental economics, political economy, history, philosophy, and social studies of environmental and sustainability research. As "A Home to Theory that Matters," the KLI privileges theoretical, conceptual, and formal as well as philosophical, historical, and reflexive work in the life and sustainability sciences. Thus, the five fellowships are especially well-suited for two categories of late-stage PhD students: Those who have completed empirical research and wish to use the Writing-up Fellowship to elaborate on the (conceptual, epistemological, and methodological) underpinnings and implications of their work; and those whose research deals with the historical, philosophical, and conceptual foundations of sustainability research at the science/society interface. The fellowship offers generous financial and career support to PhD students finalizing their thesis. Fellows will enjoy the benefits of the KLI resident fellowship program and receive relocation allowance and travel budgets for conferences. Deadlines: Pre-selection phase: Jan. 30, 2020 (submit statement of motivation through our contact form); full application: Feb. 29, 2020; and expected starting date of the fellowship: Sep. 2020 (duration: 3-6 months). More information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact KLI Scientific Director Guido Caniglia guido.caniglia@kli.ac.at.

American Meteorological Society’s teacher professional development courses

The American Meteorological Society is currently accepting applications for all five of its K-12 teacher professional development courses. Spring and summer courses have different enrollment deadlines. See the AMS webpage for details!

Foundations of Sustainability Online Course for Professionals

How are companies applying sustainability strategies for long-term success? How can incorporating sustainability in organizational strategy positively impact revenue and reduce risk? Learn how in this 6-hour online self-paced course from the ASU School of Sustainability. Questions? Contact SustainabilitySkills@asu.edu. Learn more and enroll.

Arizona Department of Water Resource Drought Program

November 2019 drought summary is online.

NEW!

December Southwest Climate Outlook

The December 2019 Southwest Climate Outlook is online.

NEW!

CLIMAS Podcast: December 2019: Winter/Holiday Optimism Edition

Tune into the Southwest Climate podcasts on Apple Podcasts or Southwest Climate Change Network.

OPPORTUNITIES

Institute Job Openings

Faculty Associate Pool, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University

Application open until filled. More information.

Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Center for Biodiversity Outcomes