Sustainability Research

Earth Day

Amazon Rainforest

Cool lessons from Utqiaġvik, Alaska

Rena Malai — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 17:21:32 +0000

Cool lessons from Utqiaġvik, Alaska Rena Malai Wed, 08/23/2023 - 13:21

This summer, computer modeling and the Arctic ecosystem converged at the top of the world. Professor Elise Miller-Hooks and a team of National Science Foundation (NSF) researchers convened at the Barrow Arctic Research Center. These NSF Navigating the New Arctic researchers traveled to the remote location to attend the Permafrost and Infrastructure Symposium in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, some 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

The symposium brought together scientists, regional planners, village leaders, project managers, and federal and local policy makers. The team attended to learn and grow their research–and to share. Miller-Hooks described what she learned as massive.

“It was nothing like I expected. When I entered Utqiaġvik, I found myself in a tough environment with mostly dirt roads. The other researchers told me these roadways are built on permafrost,” she said. “Later on, they convinced me to lower myself into a cave underground to see 16,000-year-old permafrost.”

Elise Miller-Hooks analyzes permafrost in Utqiaġvik.

The people of Utqiaġvik live on the permafrost and they still fish and whale in the surrounding seas, as they have for centuries. Whaling is not a hobby, or for profit. They whale to survive. It is their food supply and more.

“It [whaling] is their culture. It is what they raise their kids to do. It's what their songs and dances are about. It's truly everything. They say that if you take that away from them, it's like killing them,” said Miller-Hooks. All of this could be threatened by more shipping traffic as the polar ice caps shrink and Arctic sea ice diminishes.

Most of the researchers at the symposium were there to study the permafrost which is thawing because of human-made climate change; when the permafrost thaws, the land under the structures that have been built on it sinks. Miller-Hooks described the situation as the base falling out from under them and said that they need to find solutions now, not tomorrow. With very limited access to materials, finding a solution is especially challenging.

Miller-Hooks’ research focuses on forecasting and modeling shipping and maritime transportation changes that will come as the permafrost thaws and the sea-level rises. She said she doesn’t get out in the field much in her line of work but found the experience life changing.

“What I learned from the community and tribal leaders was invaluable. I learned that they really want co-production. They want to be heard. They want us to understand what they know and bring it into our research. We must not ignore their experience and try to push research findings on them, but instead, learn together and jointly develop solutions.”

This idea crystalized after Miller-Hooks presented her research at the symposium. After her presentation, one of the village leaders expressed concern and skepticism about the math.

He said he thought she was looking at the wrong thing. He told her that more shipping in the Arctic would harm the whales and could harm whaling.

Miller-Hooks explained that her research creates the tools that can help forecast changing Arctic traffic, and how these projections and analyses can be used to help make cases to mitigate the impact on the whales and their breeding, other marine life, whale hunting, and indigenous people’s subsistence way of life.

“Now I have a much better understanding of the power of the results that we will get, and how they can be used from many new angles that I hadn't thought of,” she said. Miller-Hooks hopes to collaborate with the communities and work with them to uncover how increased maritime traffic and related industrial activity in the region will impact their way of life, and how the U.S. and other Arctic nations can prepare to do the right thing.

Research Sponsors: Funding for the symposium came from the NSF Arctic Sciences program, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Center for Safety Equity in Transportation, and UIC Science, a subsidiary of the Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation providing logistical support to scientists and researchers working in Alaska's Arctic.

In This Story

Elise Miller-Hooks

Delve deeper into Mason's research in the Arctic

Learn more about research at Mason

Topics

Climate Research

Research

College of Engineering and Computing

National Science Foundation

global climate change

CEIE Success Stories

CEC faculty research

CEC Global Engagement

Mason students help the environment with sustainability summer fellowships

Colleen Rich — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 14:33:15 +0000

Mason students help the environment with sustainability summer fellowships Colleen Rich Tue, 09/13/2022 - 10:33

Mason doctoral student Sri Saahitya Uppalapati takes questions following her virtual presentation on her work with Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action.

��AV doctoral and graduate students helped the environment, nonprofit organizations and the local community with summer projects through the Sustainability Summer Graduate Research Fellowships. This summer marked the first time Mason’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE) has offered the fellowship program.

Thanks to a unique collaboration between ISE and the Office of Graduate Education, eight student fellows received funding to research a variety of topics, including solid waste reduction strategies and helping Fairfax County’s goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions. A video presentation of their final projects can be found here.

“Our students were able to offer organizations and the community their cutting-edge research skills,” said Jeremy Campbell, ISE’s associate director of strategic engagement. “The students benefited from the fellowships by getting real-world experiences early on in their graduate careers and seeing their research make a difference.”

Campbell emphasized the importance of the partner organizations participating in the program and said that he planned to continue the summer fellowships, as well as further develop partnerships with local government entities, nonprofit organizations and other outside groups. He also said that students participating in the fellowship program were able to network in their field of interest.

All of the participating students except one are pursuing doctorates. The students came from a variety of study areas, including sociology and conflict analysis and resolution.

A chart from Mason doctoral student Shawn Smith's presentation.

Sri Saahitya Uppalapati, who is pursuing a PhD in communication in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, worked on building communications materials for Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action about the impact of the climate crisis on health in Virginia.

“It was inspiring to be surrounded by such dedicated and committed folks who truly care about the intersection of climate and health,” Uppalapati said.

Bradley Gay, a doctoral student in earth systems and geoinformation sciences in the College of Science, partnered with Blake Vullo, doctoral student in sociology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, to work on Future Earth’s Global Food Program. Gay studied land use change using global remote sensing data analysis. The results of his study will help push for policy that is backed up by data, Gay said.

“I appreciated the chance to study something that I’m interested in that also will be hopefully extremely helpful in policy change,” Gay said. “It was a great opportunity.”

Other students and their projects included:

Arvind Geetha Christo, doctoral student in sociology, worked on conservation and environmental justice in South Asia, partnering with the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security program.

Ashton Rohmer, doctoral student in conflict analysis and resolution at the Carter School, tackled the sustainability aspects of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill with the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Stacy Lynn Yike, master’s student in environmental science and policy, looked at solid waste reduction strategies in the context of Fairfax County’s climate action plan with the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions.

Shawn Smith, doctoral student in environmental science and policy, researched air and water pollution, environmental health, and public policy, with the Sierra Club, Virginia Chapter.

Dhruv Deepak, doctoral student in sociology, worked on globally diverse forms of community-level sustainability paradigms as part of Future Earth’s Program on Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production.

Topics

Students

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Research

Graduate Education

Smithsonian-Mason team keeps watch, so elephants can doze off

Colleen Rich — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 16:22:41 +0000

Smithsonian-Mason team keeps watch, so elephants can doze off Colleen Rich Fri, 12/17/2021 - 11:22

Learn more about SMSC

Because elephants only sleep three to four hours a night, and frequently wake during that time, their sleep is a precious commodity.

Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation student Eva Noroski (left) works with Mason Alumna and Elephant Trails Keeper Ashley Fortner to research elephant sleep patterns at the National Zoo. Photo by: Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications/��AV

That’s why ��AV senior Eva Noroski has spent a month this semester assisting 2017 Mason alumna and Elephant Trails keeper Ashley Fortner at the National Zoo, researching how these massive mammals can get optimal sleep.

“Sleep is super important for the elephants because they don’t actually do a lot of it,” said Fortner, who studied for a year at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC).

“Eva’s work is actually directly, every day, impacting how we take care of the elephants.”

Noroski has been accessing footage from the Smithsonian’s camera system to monitor the elephants from 5 p.m. until 5 a.m., and logging what she observes. In particular, she’s tracking Kamala, a female elephant who has arthritis, which causes her difficulty in laying down and getting up.

“I’m trying to determine which elephants she sleeps best with, if she sleeps best by herself, if there are any social dynamics that appear during the night that I can let the keepers know about,” said Noroski, an environmental science major and conservation studies minor. “That’s all really significant information because their sleep is important to their health, and if any mammal is losing sleep, they could become more susceptible to illness.”

Noroski’s findings will help management create pairings that offer the best sleep for each of their five elephants, said Fortner, who graduated from Mason with a integrative studies degree and a concentration on applied global conservation.

When Noroski isn’t behind the computer, she can be found performing zookeeping tasks, and shadowing Fortner as she interacts with, trains, and completes wellness checks with the elephants.

“I have made great connections, not only with people here at the zoo, but also with my [SMSC] teachers who are active conservationists,” Noroski said. “They’re super willing to help students find opportunities as well as connect us with other people—that’s a really unique thing you can’t just get in any conservation program.”

That’s exactly why Fortner said she also “fell in love” with the SMSC program.

“It means so much,” Fortner said of being able to mentor students in the same way she was mentored. “Once I found my path, I found that having those practicums and hands-on learning experiences helped me make that decision.”

“For the mentor side of it, it’s giving back to the conservation community,” she said. “It was really important for me to not only take care of elephants and give back to conservation in that way, but to help people that also want to do this see that this is possible.”

Noroski, who grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said she chose Mason after researching schools with the best conservation programs.

Being at SMSC with a small cohort of students and teachers is one of the most rewarding parts, she and Fortner agreed.

“It’s a great program where you get really personal attention, as well as amazing practical experience that you will not just be able to find anywhere else,” Noroski said. “You are put in a position where you are pretty much handed useful, practical experience in the real working world.

“That’s invaluable when you’re an undergrad and trying to get your foot in the door,” she said.

Topics

Students

Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation

Smithsonian

Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Conservation

Conservation Biology

conservation-learning environment

Undergraduate

Undergraduate Education

undergraduate research opportunities

School of Integrative Studies

environmental science

Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP)

Mason team tackles climate change in Virginia counties through new three-step initiative

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 17:54:54 +0000

Mason team tackles climate change in Virginia counties through new three-step initiative Mariam Aburdeineh Thu, 12/09/2021 - 12:54

In This Story

Joel Hicks

Solving climate change is a grand challenge facing the planet. As more individuals and leaders are recognizing the need to switch to environmentally friendly practices, ��AV’s Local Climate Change Planning Initiative (LCCPI) is helping make that a reality for counties across Virginia.

“Our vision is to have Mason be the lead university in helping counties that lack the resources and expertise in [addressing climate change] get this done,” said Paul Bubbosh, a 1988 Mason alumnus and adjunct professor at the Schar School and College of Science.

Wealthier counties have funding to mitigate environmental issues, said Bubbosh, who started LCCPI with Schar School adjunct professor Joel Hicks in Fall 2021. Many smaller jurisdictions do not, he said, and they may not have staff for these initiatives.

LCCPI, housed within the Center for Energy Science and Policy, allows Mason to bring in its resources and expertise in modeling, engineering, environmental science, policy law, and more, to provide pro bono services to these counties, Bubbosh said.

Students will play an active role in the initiative’s three-stage process, which the Mason team is piloting in Manassas City.

The first stage, which Bubbosh said takes four to six months, is about gathering data on the county’s emissions footprint and having students conduct inventory modeling.

The next stage involves working with community leaders for a year to develop goals, such as changing streetlights to LEDs or reducing emissions, he said.

“In that process, which involves students leading community meetings with faculty, we begin to educate members of the public about the things they desire,” Bubbosh said. “It’s moving them toward understanding what makes the best, most economical, most practical sense for the community.”

Working at the local level is where critical change can happen, said Bubbosh, who said LCCPI was inspired by his time as a Peace Corps volunteer, when he saw how local communities are impacted by climate change.

That’s why stage three provides heightened value.

Hanna Metuda is one of two undergraduates volunteering with LCCPI. Photo provided.

“Any contractor you hire to do this leaves at stage two,” Bubbosh said. “We want to embed students in internships with the local county to help them implement what they found in stage two.”

“Being in the forefront and crafting creative solutions that could ripple through other communities is really inspiring,” said Hanna Metuda, a senior studying government and international politics. “That Mason is allowing students to be a part of that is exciting…and it gives me hope for our environment.”

Metuda is one of two undergraduates volunteering with LCCPI. She said growing up in the Philippines with the effects of pollution and climate change inspired her environmental drive. While she said she’s excited to apply what she’s learned in the classroom, she understands challenges could arise.

“Students will discover hurdles along the way that no classroom will ever be able to prepare a student for,” Bubbosh said, suggesting some challenges may be insurmountable. “However, that learning experience, even at a loss, is a win for students in terms of practical work experience.”

“It’s about seeing results—not academic exercises—and actually making a difference in someone’s life,” he said.

From left to right: Delegate Rip Sullivan (D-48th) from Manassas, Paul Bubbosh and Ambassador Richard Kauzlarich, Director of Mason's Center for Energy Science and Policy. Photo provided.

Topics

Schar School

Schar School Faculty

Center for Energy Science and Policy

Manassas

Campus News

Government and International Politics

internships

Climate Change

climate change education

environmental science

Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP)

Podcast - EP31: Lisa Gring-Pemble on how sustainability is good business

Damian Cristodero — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 14:00:36 +0000

Podcast - EP31: Lisa Gring-Pemble on how sustainability is good business Damian Cristodero Wed, 10/13/2021 - 10:00

In This Story

Gregory Washington

Lisa M. Gring-Pemble

Lisa Gring-Pemble thinks business can be a force for good in society. And the co-director of ��AV’s Business for a Better World Center and co-founder of the university’s Honey Bee initiative is an outspoken champion of that sensibility. Gring-Pemble tells Mason President Gregory Washington how and why business should be a force for addressing world challenges. She also describes how business can drive sustainability success and shouldn’t be measured simply by profits but how it affects the environment and the communities in which we live.

Topics

Access to Excellence podcast

Podcast Episode

podcast

Business for a Better World Center

Honey Bee Initiative

Costello College of Business

Business

The Secret's Out: Mason is a leader in sustainability research and practices

Damian Cristodero — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 17:03:52 +0000

The Secret's Out: Mason is a leader in sustainability research and practices Damian Cristodero Thu, 09/16/2021 - 13:03

A lush campus isn’t the only thing that makes Mason green. For years, the university has been a sustainability leader.

Mason has more than 125 “Green Leaf” courses in over 25 academic programs. Those courses provide valuable grounding in the properties of sustainability.

Did you know Mason researchers have tracked climate change perceptions for more than a decade? The Center for Climate Change Communication is a nationwide asset, with its research cited regularly by elite media, including The New York Times. The center partners with more than 600 meteorologists to communicate the regional effects of climate change, educates voters, and more.

With no better time to prioritize a healthier planet, Mason launched its Institute for a Sustainable Earth in 2019 to put ideas and research into action. It connects Mason Nation with policymakers, businesses and organizations to address pressing challenges.

The buzz on campus doesn’t only surround the Office of Sustainability, which drives everything from Mason’s carbon neutrality plan to its Greenhouse and Gardens program. Mason has50 beehives under its care, as one of many initiatives to help earth thrive.

Mason is also training the next generation of climate scientists.

Topics

Office of Sustainability

Center for Climate Change Communication

Honey Bee Initiative