• World Bank Group president David Malpass spoke during a panel on getting to net-zero IFIs (international financial institutions) and multilateral partnerships, during the IMF annual Fall meeting at the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, on October 12.BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

    Do net-zero pledges add up?

    Do net-zero pledges mean the world is on track to protect the climate? So far, the answer is no, because if, when, and how net zero is reached matters.
    The Boston Globe Department News
  • An aerial view of the Merrimack River running through the UML campus

    With NSF Award, New Grad Program Focuses on Protecting Water Resources

    An interdisciplinary team of UML faculty, led by Assoc. Profs. Meg Sobkowicz-Kline and Chris Hansen, have received a nearly $3 million National Science Foundation Research Traineeship award for a new graduate student program focused on developing sustainable materials and chemicals that won’t harm water resources.
    Featured Story
  • Meg Sobkowicz-Kline talks to a student about recycled plastics in the lab

    New Seminar Series Explores Climate Anxiety, Plastics Sustainability and More

    UMass Lowell’s Climate Change Initiative, in partnership with the Environmental, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Department and the Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy, is hosting a virtual spring seminar series featuring experts from across the country.
    Department News
  • Recycling Contaminated Plastics Using Bioprocesses

    Recycling Contaminated Plastics Using Bioprocesses

    Funded by a $1.5M grant from the Department of Energy, Professor Meg Sobkowicz-Kline, along with colleagues Dongming Xie and Hsi-Wu Wong, is working to optimize this enzymatic recycling process for low quality contaminated PET sources and large-scale deployment.
    Department News
  • Advancing Safe and Sustainable Chemistry

    Advancing Safe and Sustainable Chemistry

    For more than 20 years, the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production’s Chemicals Science and Policy Initiative has been a leading research and strategy effort focused on driving the transition to safer, more sustainable chemicals, materials, and products.
    Department News
  • Asst. Prof. of Economics Kelly Hellman, plastics engineering major Kerry Candlen and chemical engineering major Maria Fonseca-Guzman

    Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy Awards First Fellowships

    The Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy has awarded its inaugural fellowships to Asst. Prof. of Economics Kelly Hellman, plastics engineering major Kerry Candlen and chemical engineering major Maria Fonseca-Guzman.
    Featured Story
  • Administrators and guests look at the new Green Roof garden

    UML Celebrates Energy Savings, Sustainability on Earth Day

    The university marked two major milestones at its Earth Day celebration: the completion of its $23.1 million Accelerated Energy Program and its latest STARS Gold rating, which moves UML into the top 10 nationally.
    Featured Story
  • Cashier Danielle DePalma hands a student a paper bag at the bookstore

    Bookstore Switches from Plastic to Paper Bags

    The River Hawk Shop now gives customers recyclable paper bags instead of single-use plastic bags, a move that will eliminate around 10,000 plastic bags from the waste stream each year.