SNRE Dean Rosina M. Bierbaum co-chaired a Working Group on Biodiversity Preservation and Ecosystem Sustainability, which has submitted its report titled "Sustaining Environmental Capital: Protecting Society and the Economy." The report states that the grand challenge is in maintaining ecosystems to assure the continued flow of ecosystem services, while also meeting society's demands for those services. "We need to view ecosystems comprehensively if we are to sustain the ecosystems that sustain us," the report states.
March 17, 2011
By Kevin Merrill
Dr. Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist, technology entrepreneur, philanthropist and medical doctor, addressed responses to such global threats as climate change, epidemics, water scarcity and nuclear proliferation Wednesday in the 10th Annual Wege Lecture on Sustainability.
Brilliant, a U-M alumnus who also is president and chief executive officer of the Skoll Global Threats Fund, delivered the lecture titled "Sustainable Humanity" in Rackham Auditorium.
SNRE is housed in the Dana Building, the greenest building on U-M's campus.
Andy Hoffman, the Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at SNRE, was one of 20 environmental researchers from across North America recently awarded Leopold Leadership Fellowships for 2011. Based at Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment, the Leopold Leadership Program was founded in 1998 to help academic scientists make their knowledge accessible to decision makers.
More than 1.5 million U.S. jobs are directly connected to the Great Lakes, generating $62 billion in wages annually, according to a new analysis by Michigan Sea Grant at the University of Michigan. The analysis, released today, is based on 2009 employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and represents a conservative estimate of direct employment related to the Great Lakes in several industries, according to the authors, Michigan Sea Grant's assistant director, Jennifer Read, and research specialist Lynn Vaccaro.
A team of four dual-degree SNRE students took second place last week in the Clean Energy Prize contest for their master's project. Team Smart Energy—Andrew Lubershane, who is completing a master's in applied economics in addition to a degree at SNRE, and Erb students Mike Elchinger, Ryan Flynn, and Graham Brown—won $25,000 for a plan that uses an innovative financing model to retrofit municipal buildings for energy efficiency savings. Their master's project client is the Clean Energy Coalition. The group has also received a $50,000 grant from the Ford Motor Company to support implementation of their business plan over the summer.
Ten students at the School of Natural Resources and Environment have been named Scholars and Fellows by two prestigious environmental organizations. Eight have been named Doris Duke Conservation Fellows as future leaders in nonprofit and public sector conservation. The Wyss Foundation awarded fellowships to two students as future leaders in Western land conservation issues.
The Wyss Foundation has awarded fellowships to two students at the University of Michigan' School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) as future leaders in Western land conservation issues. The 2010 Wyss Scholars (listed with their SNRE field of academic study) are Martha Campbell (Sustainable Systems) and David O'Connor (Conservation Biology).
Eight students at the School of Natural Resources and Environment have been named Doris Duke Conservation Fellows as future leaders in nonprofit and public sector conservation. "More Michigan fellows were named than was the case at any of our peer schools, a wonderful outcome that reflects the stellar qualities of our students and the commitment of the School to the program," said Steven L. Yaffee, an SNRE professor and director at the SNRE-based Ecosystem Management Initiative, which administers the Duke Fellows program at the University of Michigan.
University of Michigan researchers are available to discuss the potential impacts of President Obama's proposal, announced Monday, to reduce funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.