Sustainability Commons^™

Gondwana To Asia From Jurassic To Holocene: Tectonics, Marine Geology, Paleoclimatology, Petroleum Geology Sedimentology, Amila Sandaruwan Ratnayake

Sustainability Seminar Series

Sri Lanka records one of the longest and most complete tectonic evolution from the mid-latitude in the southern hemisphere (during the Jurassic) to the equatorial northern hemisphere. Therefore, onshore and offshore sedimentary basins in Sri Lanka provide the natural laboratory to reconstruct paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic during its northward voyage from Gondwana to Asia. Prof. Ratnayake will explain geological evidence for arid climate during the Early Campanian, the separation of the Laxmi Ridge-Seychelles and Seychelles from the Indian plate, sea-level regression during the Late Campanian to Late Maastrichtian, the mass extinction of coccolithophores/foraminifera at the Late Maastrichtian, Late Paleocene to the …

Sustainability Challenges Produced By Melting Ice Sheets: Insights From The Sediment Archive, Sandra Passchier

Sustainability Seminar Series

Glacial ice is susceptible to atmospheric and ocean warming, and ice mass loss is a major concern due to its impact on sea level, hazards such as glacial outburst floods, and water resources, affecting millions of people. However, the fate of land ice in the light of prolonged warming is a topic of major uncertainty because of the complex feedbacks of land ice in the climate system. This talk will highlight how glacial sedimentologists use geological archives of different time resolutions, from years to millions of years, to understand an ice-sheet’s response to warming. Records of relatively recent annual glacial …

Livelihoods, Migration, And Adaptation To Climate Change In Southeast Asia, Timothy Gorman

Sustainability Seminar Series

In this talk, I examine the complex, bi-directional relationship between migration and environmental change in Southeast Asia. Drawing first on research in Cambodia, I discuss the impacts of in-migration on environmental conditions in coastal regions. I then discuss the role of global climate change and sea-level rise as drivers of out-migration from Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta, drawing on data from the Vietnamese census.

The Ecological Consequences Of Salty Fresh Waters, Bill Hintz

Sustainability Seminar Series

Freshwater ecosystems worldwide are getting saltier. This will change the ecology and functioning of freshwater ecosystems and threatens the services fresh waters provide us as humans, such as drinking water quality. In this presentation, Dr. Hintz will explain new research that investigates the ecological consequences of freshwater salinization and how current water quality guidelines need to be reevaluated to protect freshwater ecosystems.

Environmental Issues, Conservation Challenges, And Sustainable Solutions At The Villa Of The Antonines, Deborah Chatr Aryamontri, Gregory A. Pope

Sustainability Seminar Series

The ‘Villa of the Antonines’ Project is an ongoing, long-term historical and archaeological interdisciplinary research effort and focuses on a largely neglected site that was for over a century one of the most important residences of the Roman imperial Antonine dynasty, located 18 miles southeast of Rome. Despite its historical importance, it is continuously exposed to human and natural risks. This paper will discuss the challenges faced by the research team at the site, such as climate change, environmental degradation and human damage and how these issues are monitored and studied in search of viable and sustainable solutions.

Heavy Metals In Newark Soils, Ashaki Rouff

Sustainability Seminar Series

Newark has an extensive network of urban farms and gardens that reclaim unused land, build community, and offer access to fresh, locally grown produce. However, like many post-industrial cities, Newark’s soils are also polluted, presenting a challenge for urban agriculture. Dr. Rouff will share research on the concentrations and forms of the heavy metal lead in urban farm soils, the environmental and health implications, and how urban farming practices help to manage this pollution.

Gender Inequality In Stem Education: A Longitudinal Study Of Interdisciplinary Internships, Yasemin Besen-Cassino

Sustainability Seminar Series

What are gender differences in STEM? The gender differences in STEM education and STEM careers are well-documented. This study explores to role of internships in increasing diversity in STEM. Through an NSF-funded, 5- year study, we explore the differential role of internships for women.

Enabling Data Driven Analysis Of Vulnerabilities And Sustainability Challenges In Urban Settings, Shrideep Pallickara

Sustainability Seminar Series

Can data help us understand and mitigate sustainability and vulnerability challenges? Can these data can spur exploration of new questions and hypotheses, particularly across traditionally disparate disciplines, and offer unprecedented opportunities for discovery and innovation? In this talk, Dr. Pallickara will describe an NSF-funded multi-institution effort that he leads, Sustain. Crucially, analytics capabilities within Sustain are accessible via a browser, allowing researchers to formulate hypotheses and explore multiple dimensions of vulnerability and sustainability that crosscut diverse domains and spatiotemporal scopes.

The Cold Side Of Connectivity: A Journey In The Southern Ocean With Antarctic Fish, Chiara Papetti

Sustainability Seminar Series

Characterizing connectivity among populations and species differences provides information on distribution of fish biodiversity, dispersal and genetic variability. This information is essential to set conservation priorities, identify scarce management resources and to monitor effectiveness of protection. This information is urgently requested by policymakers evaluating proposals for marine protected areas (MPAs) in Antarctica where fish dominate marine communities and connectivity may be driven by multiple factors affected by climate change. In this talk, I will summarize some recent results on population connectivity of Antarctic fish by looking at hydrodynamics, genetic variability and various life history traits of some species which differ …

Planning Cities Using Leed Standards, Jason Kliwinski

Sustainability Seminar Series

Jason Kliwinski focuses on three main areas in Sustainability Science: Sustainable Architecture, Consulting and Education. As a practicing Architect, Jason’s work includes the sustainable renovation, preservation, and adaptive reuse of existing buildings as well as creation of many new environmentally responsible & healthy buildings for twenty years. Jason’s work is diverse and includes commercial, institutional, educational, hospitality, retail and residential clients in public and private sectors. As a Consultant, Jason has assisted clients across multiple markets in pursuing LEED™ & WELL™ certifications and carbon neutrality/net zero energy on dozens of projects over the last two decades. His philosophy has always …

Islands In The Rain: Isolating The Influence Of Rainfall On Erosion On Volcanic Ocean Islands, Kimberly Huppert

Sustainability Seminar Series

Volcanic ocean islands are well suited for studying climatic controls on erosion because they typically have relatively homogeneous bedrock, dramatic rainfall gradients, and remnant surfaces that constrain their age, initial topography, and vertical motions relative to sea level. In this talk, I’ll examine the influence of rainfall and discharge variability on bedrock river incision on the Hawaiian Island of Kaua‘i. I’ll also present a new compilation of basin-averaged cosmogenic erosion rates measured on ocean islands worldwide, as well as >800 million year-scale basin-averaged erosion rates inferred from eroded canyon volumes and lava flow ages across the Azores, Hawaiian, Cape Verde, …

Pfas Screening And Protein Absolute Quantitation By Mass Spectrometry, Hao Chen

Sustainability Seminar Series

In collaboration with Prof. Mengyan Li at NJIT, we recently developed a rapid analytical method for per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) using nano-electrospray high-resolution mass spectrometry (Nano-ESI-HRMS), which was recently published in Water Research, 2022, 219, 118542. This method was applied to aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) and wastewater samples collected from three local wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The method exhibited high sensitivity with lower limits of detection (LODs) of 3.2~36.2 ng/L for 22 target PFAS analytes. In AFFF formulations, Nano-ESI-HRMS enabled the first-time detection of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMS), perfluoroethyl cyclohexanesulfonate (PFECHS), 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonyl amido sulfonic acid (6:2 FTSAS-SO2), N …

Applications Of Medico-Legal Entomology: Using Insects For Forensic And Environmental Investigations, Denise Gemmellaro

Sustainability Seminar Series

Forensic entomology is the application of entomology (the study of insects and arthropods) to forensic investigations. Medico-legal entomology focuses on those groups of insects that are attracted to decomposing organic matter. Dr. Gemmellaro’s work is mainly focused on medico-legal entomology. Once a dead body is exposed to the elements, insects will shortly locate the body and will colonize it by laying eggs on it; one of the major groups of colonizers is the true fly family of blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Blow fly females need a decomposing body to lay their eggs; the eggs will hatch into maggots and the …

Analyzing Low-Abundance Environmental Analytes Using Mass Spectrometry, Anyin Li

Sustainability Seminar Series

Electrospray ionization (ESI) is an indispensable mass spectrometry method for solution phase analytes including environmental contaminants. While MS detectors measure no more than picoamps of ion current, conventional ESI methods produce a minimum of nanoamps (nA) current, wasting a large portion of analytes, and causing non-uniform responses in the analysis.

Recent research has developed methods to generate ESI in femtoamp (fA) currents and femto flow (fL/min) flow rates. When generating nanoscale initial charged droplets, the femto ionization regimes provide improved performances for hydrophilic analytes including glycans, glycopeptide, and intact proteins. This seminar also showcases how the low ion current regime …

How Megatooth Sharks Ruled And Fell: Evidence From Stable Isotopes In Bioapatite, Michael Griffiths

Sustainability Seminar Series

The evolution and extinction of megatooth sharks, especially Otodus megalodon, have long puzzled scientists. A growing body of evidence suggests that the evolution of gigantism in these sharks, perhaps driven by their ability to thermoregulate, played a crucial role in their ecological success and response to environmental changes. Yet, until recently, the question of whether O. megalodon was ectothermic or endothermic was based solely on nonempirical inferences. In this presentation, Dr. Griffiths will present new research that involves the geochemical analysis of both modern and fossil shark teeth to shed light on O. megalodon's thermoregulation, revealing it maintained a warmer …

Wave Energy: Perspective On Applications, Technologies, And Challenges, Muhammad Hajj

Sustainability Seminar Series

In comparison to solar and wind energy, wave energy is more predictable, and incessant with a global potential of the order of tens of thousands of terawatt-hours per year. Yet, from a readiness perspective, there has not been a prevailing design for wave energy converters for many reasons. Developing the technology requires design of components including the prime mover, foundation or mooring, power take-off, and control systems. In this talk, advances made towards realizing electric power from wave energy will be discussed. A summary of an effort supported by the US Department of Energy and led by researchers at Stevens …

The Effectiveness Of Environmental Technologies In Combating Climate Change: A Cross-National Analysis, Jamie Sommer

Sustainability Seminar Series

Are our technologies helping reduce environmental issues, or just allowing people to pollute more efficiently? What factors influence the ability of technologies to reduce environmental damage? In this presentation, Dr. Sommer will explain new research that links environment-related technologies to decreases in CO2 emissions in nations with lower levels corruption compared to nations with higher levels of corruption. Her findings suggest that the state can promote and support all of the pro-environmental technologies it wants, but if it has issues with corruption those solutions may not have any impact on reducing CO2 emissions.

Sea-Level Rise And Thin Layer Placement: How They Affect Salt Marsh C And N Cycling, Charles Schutte

Sustainability Seminar Series

Around half of New Jersey’s salt marshes are not keeping pace with sea-level rise and face increasing inundation and salinity. How will this affect soil-based ecosystem services that these marshes provide, like nitrogen removal and carbon burial? In this presentation, Dr. Schutte will discuss how sea-level rise and other human-caused disturbances may interact to exacerbate marsh loss and share results about how one method to protect marshes from sea-level rise, thin later placement, affects soil nitrogen cycling process rates.

Virtual Impacts Of Food Consumption And Opportunities For Closing Resource Loops, Vikas Khanna

Sustainability Seminar Series

Food supply chains have become increasingly complex and characterized by large distances between production and consumption. The first part of this talk will describe an optimization based-model to track the US beef supply chain with a focus on quantifying virtual water and nitrogen impacts. The second part of this presentation will discuss a novel AnMBR (anaerobic membrane bioreactor) platform for resource recovery from animal wastewater streams. Life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis of the AnMBR platform will be discussed with implications for circular economy.

Structured Decision-Making Framework For Managing Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms In New York State Parks, Jennifer Graham

Sustainability Seminar Series

Cyanobacteria increasingly are a global water-quality concern because of the potential for these organisms to develop harmful blooms that affect ecologic, economic, and public health. Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) can lead to a decrease in water quality and affect many of the recreational and ecological benefits of parks that include lakes. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) is a state agency within the New York State Executive Department charged with the operation of state parks and historic sites. Many New York State parks include lakes or other freshwater bodies, which can be susceptible …

Inner Workings Of Milankovitch Cycles, Linda A. Hinnov

Sustainability Seminar Series

Milankovitch cycles are incoming solar radiation (insolation) cycles forced by variations in Earth’s orbital eccentricity, axial obliquity and precession, and are recorded on Earth in cyclostratigraphy. Insolation undergoes major daily and annual cycles with weak modulation from the obliquity variation. Thresholds in the Earth’s climate response to insolation generate the strong precession signals commonly observed in cyclostratigraphy. Dr. Hinnov will demonstrate these and other features using the insolation equation, and will discuss the manifestation of these features in key cyclostratigraphic sections.

Hydrothermal Carbonization Of Biomass Wastes: Sustainability And Geochemistry, Michael A. Kruge, Teresa A. Centeno, Alvaro Amado-Fierro, José Manuel González-Lafuente, Ruben Forjan-Castro, José Luis Gallego

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Introduction. To reduce the stream of solid waste going to landfills, innovative means for beneficial use are essential. The diversity and volume of organic wastes pose singular problems and opportunities for recovery and circularity. Common processes for organics include conversion to biofuels and carbonization to biochar, typically done by torrefaction (dry pyrolysis). Research on biochar explores its potential as pollutant adsorbent, agricultural or polluted soil amendment, biofuel (directly or as feedstock), and for carbon sequestration (Ighalo et al., 2022; Cavali et al., 2023). Recently, other processes at lower temperatures such as hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) offer new possibilities (Seshadri et al., …

Cultural Legacies In The Amazonian Holocene: A Paleoecological Perspective, S. Yoshi Maezumi

Sustainability Seminar Series

The extent to which Indigenous land use and cultural burning practices have altered modern ecosystems is a hotly debated topic in archaeology and paleoecology. To address this issue, an interdisciplinary approach combining archaeological, archaeobotany, palaeoecolgoy, and palaeoclimatology is used to investigate climate-human-ecosystem interactions in the Amazon. These data indicate Indigenous Amazonians employed diverse subsistence strategies that combined cultural burning, agroforestry, polyculture, and soil amelioration that maximized subsistence diversity without large-scale land clearing. These data provide evidence of resource diversification, improved food security, and sustainable anthropogenic landscapes during increased climate variability and expanding Indigenous populations during the late Holocene. These data …

We Designed A Board Game About The Future Of New York City!, Richard Reiss

Sustainability Seminar Series

Rapid, human-induced climate change presents a crisis that involves everyone, yet few people feel they have any influence or ability to change seemingly unstoppable events. City Atlas developed a cooperative game, Energetic, to teach anyone in the US – or around the world – how to practice fixing climate change with accurate, updatable information, scaling from a 2.5 hour game to a month long workshop, matched to the region in which they live. The game for NYC is now used at Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Brown, Vanderbilt, and Bronx Science, and at Con Ed and the NYS Dept of Energy. City …

Radium As A Tracer Of Climate-Driven Changes In The Chemistry Of The Arctic Ocean, Lauren Kipp

Sustainability Seminar Series

The Arctic is one of the most rapidly warming regions on the planet, and rising air and sea temperatures are affecting interactions between the land and the Arctic Ocean. Radium isotopes are naturally produced in sediments and are soluble in seawater, making them a useful tool for monitoring these changes and understanding how land-derived elements are transported into the open ocean. Dr. Kipp will describe results from recent oceanographic sampling expeditions in the Arctic and discuss the important role that continental shelves play in controlling the chemistry of the Arctic Ocean.

Food Web Structure And Dynamics Across Space And Time, Angélica González

Sustainability Seminar Series

Human activities are fundamentally altering major biogeochemical cycles, which are at the core of the structure and functioning of Earth’s systems. Increasing inputs of chemical elements such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and their imbalanced inputs (N:P ratios) are having severe consequences on ecological phenomena from organism physiology to ecosystem functioning. In this talk, I will discuss the utility of ecological stoichiometry thinking combined with the use of surveys, experiments, and data synthesis approaches, to understand the consequences of shifts in nutrient supply dynamics on ecological processes at multiple scales.

Weaving Traditional Indigenous Knowledge And Western Science To Address Pressing Environmental Issues In The Navajo Nation, Abhishek Roychowdhury

Sustainability Seminar Series

The largest Native American tribe in the U.S., the Navajo Nation, faces a humanitarian crisis due to lack of access to clean and safe water resources. Although access to clean water is not a privilege but it is a human right, thirty percent of Navajo residents do not have access to clean running water. Native American households are 19 times more likely than other U.S. households to live without running water. Solutions to water infrastructure that can address this gap are complicated in the arid Southwest where poor groundwater quality, including high salinity, microbial contaminants and metal contaminants, limit available …

Forecasting Winners And Losers Of Climate Change: Insights From The Interactions Between Organisms And Their Microclimates, Michael Sears

Sustainability Seminar Series

Meaningful forecasts of the responses of organisms to climate require an explicit understanding of how organismal behavior and physiology are affected by environmental heterogeneity. Such predictions are complicated because physiology and behavior vary over different time scales, vary across different life stages, and do not operate in isolation of one another. In this talk, I review case studies from my lab to highlight progress that has been made along these fronts and provide generalizations that might be made to other systems, particularly in the context of predicting responses to climate change.

Air Quality Analysis With Sensors, Satellites, And Models, Carl Malings

Sustainability Seminar Series

Poor air quality is a major global public health concern, which is only projected to get worse in coming years. A comprehensive understanding of current and potential future air quality and its key drivers spanning from local to global scales is needed to tackle this important problem. This presentation will outline the sources of information that we use to understand air quality (e.g., ground-based measurements, satellites, and models), their strengths and limitations, and how they are being used together to give us a better picture of air quality locally and globally.

From Space To The Streets: Leveraging Satellite Data For Air Pollution, Health, And Justice, Gaige Kerr

Sustainability Seminar Series

Ambient air disproportionately affects marginalized and minoritized communities in the United States. Satellite remote sensing provides crucial data needed to assess air pollution at a high spatial resolution and further understand the drivers, extent, and impacts of this form of environmental injustice. I provide a few vignettes to highlight how recent advances in remote sensing can inform and improve our understanding of environment health. First, satellite measurements and datasets that incorporate satellite data demonstrate the inequitable distribution of traffic-related pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter and how disparities have changed during recent years, including during the COVID-19 …