School of Natural Resources and Environment

Blogs

Bradley J. Cardinale, who joins SNRE's faculty in January, has received a $2-million National Science Foundation grant as part of the agency's efforts to expand knowledge and understanding of Earth's biodiversity. Assistant Professor Cardinale is the principal investigator on a project titled, "Can evolutionary history predict how changes in biodiversity impact the productivity of ecosystems?" He and his colleagues will examine how evolutionary processes among algae generate and maintain the diversity of genes, and whether genetic diversity can explain the productivity of freshwater lakes.

Oct. 7, 2010

The Federal Trade Commission released proposed revisions to the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, or Green Guide, to prevent companies from "greenwashing" products with misleading claims of environmental friendliness.The proposal calls for the elimination of vague claims that cannot be substantiated, like "green" and "eco-friendly;" for details and facts about degradable, compostable and recyclable materials; perimeters for labeling a product as made with renewable energy or materials, "non-toxic" or "free off" harmful substances.

The report on national climate-change adaptation that was delivered yesterday to the White House science adviser is now available to the public. Dean Rosina M. Bierbaum, who co-chaired the D.C. climate adaptation summit last spring held by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) that formed the basis of the report, was one of the committee that introduced the report to Dr. John Holdren, the President' Science and Technology Adviser. The report identifies seven priorities:

Dean Rosina M. Bierbaum is joining science colleagues from around the nation today in delivering a National Climate Adaptation Summit Report to President Obama's science adviser. The report is based on last springí¢â‚¬â„¢s National Climate Adaptation Summit, of which Dean Bierbaum was co-chair. The report's release can be viewed as a live streamed webcast. The event begins at 3:30 p.m. EST, and takes places in the main auditorium of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Building in Washington, D.C. The report, as well as webcast instructions, can be found at http://www.joss.ucar.edu/events/2010/ncas/report_release_webcast.html.

The University of Michigan and Michigan State University will jointly lead a federally funded effort to help Great Lakes-region residents anticipate and adapt to climate change. The interdisciplinary effort will be funded by a five-year, $4.2 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The new Great Lakes Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center (GLISA) will focus initially on the watersheds of lakes Erie and Huron and three critical topics: agriculture, watershed management, and natural resources-based recreation and tourism.

The University of Michigan and Michigan State University will jointly lead a federally funded effort to help Great Lakes-region residents anticipate and adapt to climate change. The interdisciplinary effort will be funded by a five-year, $4.2 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. SNRE Professor Don Scavia is a co-leader of the project.

How could climate change and our response to it affect the Great Lakes' water quality? That's the primary question a team of 27 researchers from across the University of Michigan and collaborators at other institutions will answer with a new $5-million grant from the National Science Foundation.

The researchers will focus on extreme weather events caused by climate change.

The Great Lakes hold 84 percent of North America's surface fresh water, and their basin is home to 10 percent of the U.S. population.

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