Sustainability Commons^™

Comprehensive Atmospheric And Environmental Observations In The Himalayan Region Advances Development Of Earth System Science On The Tibetan Plateau, Weiqiang Ma, Yaoming Ma, Zhipeng Xie, Xuelong Chen, Binbin Wang, Cunbo Han, Maoshan Li, Lei Zhong, Fanglin Sun, Zhongyan Wang, Zhenhua Xi, Lian Liu, Bin Ma, Wei Hu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The Himalayan region, represented by Mount Qomolangma, is not only a typical area where special atmospheric processes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are concentrated, but also an important research area for climate, ecology, and environmental changes. The Qomolangma Station for Atmospheric and Environmental Observation and Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (abbreviated as QOMS) is located in the core area of Mount Qomolangma National Nature Reserve. It is dedicated to studying the complex terrain mountain atmospheric processes and environmental changes of the Third Pole of the Earth, focusing on the land-atmosphere interaction process on the TP under the background of climate …

The Qomolangma Station For Atmospheric And Environmental Observation And Research, Chinese Academy Of Sciences, Institute Of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy Of Sciences

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Forest Fire Carbon Emission And Mitigation Strategies, Zhihua Liu, Hongshi He, Wenru Xu, Yu Liang, Jiaojun Zhu, Geoff G. Wang, Wei Wei, Zifa Wang, Yongming Han

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Between 2000 and 2020, global wildfires contributed to approximately 7.32 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, accounting for about 18.5% of CO2 emissions released from fossil fuels. Forest fires alone contributed to around 20% of these wildfire emissions, approximately 1.5 billion metric tons of CO2. Due to climate change and human activities, carbon emissions from forest fires are on the rise. For example, the 2023 Canadian fires have emitted 1.268 billion metric tons of CO2 up to August 29th. Despite the simultaneous increase in forest area and volume, the frequency and extent of forest fires have significantly decreased …

Epidemiologic Understanding Of The Un Sustainable Development Goals, Zeinab Baba

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

A Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar entitled "Epidemiologic Understanding of the UN Sustainable Development Goals," presented by Professor Zeinab Baba, Department of Public Health Sciences, West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

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 …

Land Education And Young People Working Toward Salamander: Collective Well-Being In Response To Bioindicators Of Socioenvironmental Justice, Rachael Arens, Ricardo Martinez

Democracy & Education

Our planet is facing many environmental challenges, including climate change, loss of biodiversity and habitat, and pollution, while many of our populations are also experiencing marginalization due to poverty, race, gender, language, ability, and environmental injustices. Environmental hazards and policies often impact those in society who are most at-risk, creating a need for an environmental education (EE) movement that encourages students to challenge and regain control of a system that impacts them. Teachers can implement a reflection tool known as the SALAMANDER Collective Well-Being in Response to Bioindicators of Socioenvironmental Justice Framework to prompt students and other educators to place …

Indigenous Values And Their Place In Contemporary Discussions Of Sustainability, Joey Miller

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar on "Indigenous Values and their Place in Contemporary Discussions of Sustainability" by Professor Joey Miller, Department of Philosophy, West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

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 …

Complex Impacts Of Wars On Global Sustainable Development In A Metacoupled World, Qutu Jiang, Zhenci Xu, Yuanzheng Cui, Jianguo Liu

I-GUIDE Forum

Wars and armed conflicts have had profound impacts on local and global sustainable development in an interconnected world. However, evidence on the impacts of wars is fragmented and little attention has been paid to the impacts on the 17 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a unifying framework for achieving global sustainable development. This perspective synthesizes the scattered information to provide a holistic analysis and highlight the applications of remote sensing in assessing the impacts of wars on global sustainable development in a metacoupling world. Wars have complex impacts on all 17 SDGs, which cascade beyond conflict zones and spillover to …

Cross-Scale Urban Land Cover Mapping: Empowering Classification Through Transfer Learning And Deep Learning Integration, Zhe Wang, Chao Fan, Xian Min, Shoukun Sun, Xiaogang Ma, Xiang Que

I-GUIDE Forum

Urban land cover mapping is essential for effective urban planning and resource management. Thanks to its ability to extract intricate features from urban datasets, deep learning has emerged as a powerful technique for urban classification. The U-net architecture has achieved state-of-the-art land cover classification performance, highlighting its potential for mapping urban trees at different spatial scales. However, deep learning approaches often require large, labeled datasets, which are challenging to acquire for specific urban contexts. Transfer learning addresses this limitation by leveraging pre-trained deep learning models on extensive datasets and adapting them to smaller urban datasets with limited labeled samples. Transfer …

Curriculum Design Of Artificial Intelligence And Sustainability In Secondary School, Jinyi Cai, Mei-Po Kwan, Chunyu Hou, Dong Liu, Yeung Yam

I-GUIDE Forum

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing numerous sectors with its transformative power, while at the same time, there is an increasing sense of urgency to address sustainability challenges. Despite the significance of both areas, secondary school curriculums still lack comprehensive integration of AI and sustainability education. This paper presents a curriculum designed to bridge this gap. The curriculum integrates progressive objectives, computational thinking competencies and system thinking components across five modules—awareness, knowledge, interaction, empowerment and ethics—to cater to varying learner levels. System thinking components help students understand sustainability in a holistic manner. Computational thinking competencies aim to cultivate computational thinkers to guide …

The Medieval Climate Anomaly: Drought And Societal Collapse, T. Elliott Arnold

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar on "The Medieval Climate Anomaly: Drought and Societal Collapse" by Professor (Thomas) Elliott Arnold, Department of Earth & Space Sciences, West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

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.

The Experience Of Awe In Nature And Its Implications For Sustainability, Ella Shriner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Awe is a complex emotion and a relatively new field of psychological study. Previous studies have looked at the benefits of spending time in nature including spurring environmental action, and how awe is felt in nature. In this study, I investigate the connection between these two ideas by addressing the questions of how Awe is experienced in the Northern Rivers region of Australia, and whether small and big moments of awe motivate people to take environmental action and connect them to their community and the natural world. For this study, I conducted 15 interviews, collected 51 surveys, and personally explored …

Portugal To New Mexico: Investigating The Applicability Of Syntropic Agriculture To A Semi-Arid Continental Climate, Arielle Nathan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Conventional industrial agriculture has numerous detrimental effects on the environment including high carbon emissions, pollution and overconsumption of water, soil degradation, and reduction of biodiversity (FAO, 2018). Large-scale alternatives are needed to combat these negative consequences and provide climate solutions. Syntropic Agriculture is a promising farming alternative especially in arid systems subject to degraded soils and desertification. New Mexico is a semi-arid continental climate in a prolonged period of drought and predicted to experience worsening agricultural conditions due to desertification, wildfire intensification, and exacerbated water scarcity. In an area with similar agricultural challenges, a project in Mértola, Portugal (Terra Sintrópica) …

Challenges Of Embedding Sustainability In Organizational Culture, Jyro B. Triviño

Leadership and Strategy Faculty Publications

Advocating for robust, aggressive, and advanced sustainability is a direction that is ideal yet challenging. It means not only decreasing additional harm to the environment but, at the same time, objectively using renewable energy flow. Embedding sustainability as part of organizational culture appears to be a daunting task. Not all enterprise managers comprehensively understand the phenomenon, which entails proper awareness of its benefits and consequences. This qualitative study focuses on Philippine business enterprises' ability to embed a regenerative sustainable culture. It includes salient insights from five Philippine medium-sized enterprise owners who were also acting as managers. It shows that the …

Water Wise Landscape Practices: A Case Study For The City Of Gering, Christina E. Land

Community and Regional Planning Program: Professional Projects

This professional project is founded on my education, experiences, and networks. I have had the opportunity to use what I have learned thus far and be challenged to look at public planning from a different perspective. In partnership with the City of Gering I was able to get knee deep in the facility planning of the city owned property which is home to the Community Ever Green House. The project reviews how the property is integrated into the community and the impact it has. Then, identifies opportunities to improve overall functionality with a closer look at addressing hazard mitigation using …