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Posts Tagged ‘School of Natural Resources & Environment’
U-M project finds link between land ownership and climate change
Studying 80 forest "commons" in more than a dozen developing nations, a University of Michigan researcher and his University of Illinois colleague have found links between local ownership and control of those forests and the fight against climate change. [Read more...]
Innovative Business Organizations Explored in New Book by Erb Institute Scholars
A new breed of company is emerging that wants to both make money and change society. These "hybrid organizations" and their investments in sustainable business practices are explored in "Hybrid Organizations: New Business Models for Environmental Leadership," a new book by five graduates of The Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. [Read more...]
Students help green-technology firms in Michigan
U-M students in the School of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ross School of Business worked with a local venture firm, Turtlerock Greentech LLC, to review business plans and potential investment opportunities as part of the firm's efforts to promote green technologies and sustainable enterprises. [Read more...]
U-M research team begins first mapping project to determine health, future of the Great Lakes
A University of Michigan-led research team is creating a comprehensive analysis and mapping of threats to the Great Lakes that will guide decision-making in the United States and Canada for years to come. The mapping and analysis project will produce the first regional synthesis of human impacts on the Great Lakes, thereby helping regional planners and conservation groups to prioritize their activities. The Erb Family Foundation is funding the $500,000, two-year project. [Read more...]
Tackling the problems that degrade aquatic systems
Allen Burton, director of the Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research and a professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, is both studying and teaching a seminar on the impacts of human activity and climate change on waterways in North America and Europe. [Read more...]
Helping the Golden State shine again
A group of ten U-M students in the School of Natural Resources and Environment are conducting a comprehensive assessment of how to manage development of renewable energy generation capacity in California deserts. The student project overview notes that "significant opportunities exist to promote distributed generation of solar and wind energy, but large-scale central generation will likely be an important component of a national transition to clean energy. Solar and wind energy generation are the leading technologies that offer the potential to be deployed at the utility-scale." [Read more...]
U-M’s Scavia advises Congress on an action plan for algal blooms and hypoxia
U-M sustainability expert Don Scavia joined colleagues from federal agencies, state governments and universities Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009, to advise Congress on how to address the depletion of oxygen from the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico and other major U.S. bodies of water. “Hypoxia — regions of lakes and oceans with seriously depleted oxygen — has become an issue of global importance,” he said. In the Great Lakes region alone, Lake Erie’s dead zone, once thought to be shrinking, has grown again to threatening levels not seen in years. A key factor is the phosphorus lost from nearby fields. [Scavia Testimony] [Read more...]
‘Climate Smart’ World Within Reach, says World Bank
Developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty, but this depends on financial and technical assistance from high-income countries, says a new World Bank report co-authored by U-M's Rosina Bierbaum, dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment. High-income countries also need to act quickly to reduce their carbon footprints and boost development of alternative energy sources to help tackle the problem of climate change. [Read more...]
U-M joins other leading research universities to launch futurity.org
A group of leading research universities has launched Futurity (www.futurity.org), an online research channel covering the latest discoveries in science, engineering, the environment, health and more. The University of Michigan is one of 35 partners supporting the project. Given the changes occurring in the news business, the partner universities are looking for ways to share important breakthroughs with the public in a new and direct way. [Read more...]