What can the social sciences contribute to the public debate about climate change? To answer that question, the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise and the Union of Concerned Scientists gathered 90 leading scholars, business leaders, policy makers, advocates, religious leaders and journalists to explore how better to communicate climate science to a skeptical public and mobilize progress. The summary report of that workshop distills the collective wisdom of that landmark two-day event.
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-of-its-kind 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. The project focuses on mapping threats to the lakes themselves, and will complement ongoing efforts focused on watersheds.
S.C. Johnson & Son, maker of household products such as Windex, Pledge and Ziploc, is viewed as one of the more environmentally responsible companies in the U.S. So it was surprising to some when the Racine, Wisc.-based company faced multiple lawsuits for its patented Greenlist label and methodology. How did a company that was lauded as visionary years ago for voluntarily removing chlorofluorocarbons from aerosol cans wind up being accused of greenwashing? Andrew Hoffman, an SNRE and Ross School of Business professor, wrote in the case study, "SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash," that the company's experience underscores the wider problem of communicating green credentials to consumers.
The U.S. Department of Energy is supporting research by SNRE Professor Don Zak that may help finally answer how human production of nitrogen are shaping forests and the future of Earth’s climate.
Alumnus Cynthia Koenig and the Dana Building are featured in the new public service announcement created by the University of Michigan. The announcement will air as a commercial and during sporting events broadcast on TV.
Shots from inside the Dana Building come from the Flume Room, the research lab space operated by Associate Professor Brad Cardinale.
Here is the story from the University Record explaining how the announcement was built ...
Robert L. Ryan, who earned master of landscape architecture (1995) and doctoral (1997) degrees from SNRE, has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).