Environment
Students in the Maple Syrup and Climate Change course tap sugar, silver and Norway maple trees on campus to examine the local effects of climate change on soil and plant life. They also learn about the maple syrup industry, including maple tapping by both Native American and non-Native harvesters, farmers and companies, as well as how Indigenous people today use maple tapping for food sovereignty.
Since its launch in 2014, Kellogg’s Youn Impact Scholars program has recognized, supported and convened 100 talented creators from Northwestern and beyond, helping them tap into an exceptional global network of leaders, all working toward effecting change in social and environmental areas that matter most.
Driven to capture rare and unexpected images of fragile landscapes, Los Angeles-based photographer Josh Anon has had his share of awe-inspiring encounters with wildlife around the world. Anon, a Roblox product lead by day, has captured images of penguins, polar bears, walruses and much more.
Mimi Scheffler Gordon ’94 dreamt of working in Africa one day when she visited for the first time as a Northwestern undergrad. Nearly three decades later, she’s spearheading a sustainability project in Kenyan communities, building up local economies with an unlikely partner: local bees.
Many of us amped up our cleaning regimens during the pandemic. But now Erica Hartmann, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and dozens of other scientists have issued a warning about the overuse of certain chemicals often found in cleaning products.
Fourth-year doctoral candidate Tabor Whitney ’22 MA spends several months each year in Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, collecting feces samples from mantled howler monkeys. The feces may contain clues about the monkeys’ physical condition and could aid Whitney in developing a “health index welfare assessment,” a tool that provides metrics that conservationists can use to make decisions about the endangered creatures.
Northwestern researchers are the first to discover a link between so-called “underground climate change,” or “subsurface heat islands,” and ground movements beneath urban areas. The researchers found that as the ground warms, it also moves, and this could be a ticking time bomb for urban infrastructure, which is now, quite literally, on shaky ground.
A transformative grant from the Howard and Paula Trienens Fund will advance global sustainability and energy solutions at one of Northwestern’s flagship research institutes. The grant from the Trienenses’ donor-advised fund was recommended by University Trustee Nan Trienens Kaehler ’79 MS and Thomas R.
As concern grows about climate change and its impact on the planet, scientists at Northwestern’s Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy are asking and answering urgent questions.
No work day is predictable for Alexa Carreno ’13 and her fiancé, Jeremy McKay. The Denver, Colo.–based legal partners are the co-founders of Environmental and Animal Defense (eaDefense), a nonprofit law firm providing accessible legal services focused on environmental justice and animal rights.
