Sustainability News

Reuters cites Eric Williams, professor of sustainability, on extracting rare earths from coal ash.

The New York State Pollution Prevention Institute is hosting a daylong program at RIT next week that will explore how businesses throughout the state and from coast-to-coast are reducing food waste, including by making use of organic resources to lessen their environmental footprint.

What’s good for the environment is bad for business.

That entrenched idea long has pitted the value of environmental protection against that of economic development. President Donald Trump talks about “beautiful, clean coal,” withdraws from the Paris climate agreement, and dismantles environmental regulations—all in the name of jobs and prosperity. Meanwhile, more and more studies show climate change and its related devastation progressing at alarm-bell speed.

A leading business-news publication for Western New York, the Rochester Business Journal recently published an overview of GIS and its role within the sustainability field today.

Advanced degree candidates were honored by the Golisano Institute for Sustainability during commencement ceremonies in May.

The Reducing Embodied-Energy and Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) Institute has selected 12 new projects for funding, including two involving Rochester Institute of Technology. “The selection process was highly competitive,” said Magdi Azer, REMADE’s chief technology officer. “We received many comprehensive submissions that addressed our technical focus areas. Ultimately these 12 projects, totaling $5.9 million in public-private investments, ...

WXXI reports on RIT’s work on the Global Urban Evolution Project.

RIT environmental science students turned some heads when they stopped to pick white clover plants near a gas station along New York State Route 33A in October. But little did onlookers know that they were helping to conduct the largest evolution study outside of human genomics.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 14: Growing up in India, Shahana Althaf thought earning a doctorate was a distant dream. Despite potential roadblocks, she persevered and will receive her Ph.D. from RIT’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability on May 10. Shahana talks with Associate Professor Callie Babbitt about how she overcame cultural pressures and the challenges of balancing home life with a young child to fulfill her dreams.

“The Future of Technology, the Arts and Design,” the first-ever symposium and panel discussion of its kind held during Imagine RIT: Creativity and Innovation Festival, showcased what RIT alumni envision for next 50 years related to technology, the arts and design and how we can leverage its power for the greater good.

Drones are adding a new level of precision to agriculture, giving farmers digital tools for cultivating better and more profitable crops.

Images of plastic bags and bottles clogging beaches and oceans have some calling for a ban on all such products. But packaging experts say it’s not that easy to eliminate a highly effective material. Instead, researchers at RIT are looking to strike a balance: Find a way to produce plastics that retain their best qualities and yet are more environmentally friendly.