• COP28 Student Delegation (Left to Right) William Lefebvre, Victoria Wisniewski, Madison Feudo, Aya Oulal, and Zita Ngagoum Ndalloka

    Gen Z Takes a Seat - and Sets the Table - at COP28

    UMass Lowell students, William Lefebvre and Victoria Wisniewski, investigate how the consequences of industrial expansion and a lack of environmental regulations from past generations has consequences for Gen Z. As both students are part of the Gen Z cohort, they seek to express their concerns about climate change at this year's COP28.
    Boston Globe Department News
  • NBC Boston anchors on set next to Bottle Ban? headline

    Healey to Ban All State Agencies from Purchasing Single-use Plastic Bottles

    Gov. Maura Healey recently signed an executive order to prohibit state agencies from buying single-use plastic bottles effective immediately, a step that she says makes Massachusetts a leader on our plastics problem. But is reducing single-use bottle use enough? The Climate Change Initiative’s Prof. Meg Sobkowicz-Kline explains to NBC Boston that we also need to find safe and effective ways to recycle the plastics that have already been produced.
    NBC Boston Department News
  • People protesting with big sign that says Stop the Destruction

    U.S. Forest Service Should Let Forests Grow

    Letting forests grow would support the full range of native biodiversity while removing carbon from the atmosphere.
    Boston Globe Department News
  • COP27 JRV, Tyler and Arie

    COP27 Empowers Students to Address Climate Change

    Three students and three faculty members traveled to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for COP27, the United Nations climate summit, where they were the only delegation from a public university in Massachusetts.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • smart thermostat

    Researchers Win NSF Grant to Boost Energy Efficiency

    UMass Lowell researchers have teamed up with local organizations in search of effective strategies that will encourage underserved communities to participate in energy efficiency programs.
    Featured Story
  • Orange flames

    Does Wood Bioenergy Help or Harm the Climate?

    Governments and organizations around the world claim that wood bioenergy is carbon neutral. New research by UMass Lowell's Climate Change Initiative, the MIT Sustainability Initiative, Climate Interactive, and Tufts University uses a dynamic model to determine the carbon - and climate - impact of wood bioenergy.
    Department News
  • How participatory simulation motivates climate action

    How Participatory Simulation Motivates Climate Action

    New research from the UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative, which spearheads impact research for the MIT Climate Pathways Project, shows that group deliberation guided by interaction with the C-ROADS model can positively influence high school and college students’ climate change knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.
    Department News
  • Introducing the new Climate Impacts and Solutions with En-ROADS curriculum module!

    New Curriculum: Climate Impacts & Solutions with En-Roads

    The Climate Impacts & Solutions with En-ROADS module is a new, free, multidisciplinary collaboration between The Climate Initiative (TCI) and the UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative (CCI).
    Department News
  • A man in a bowtie gestures in his hand while speaking

    Good COP, Bad COP: UML Delegates Reflect on U.N. Climate Summit

    An interdisciplinary group of faculty members from UMass Lowell’s Climate Change Initiative attended the recent United Nations global climate summit, aka COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, where they observed progress being made — but also missed opportunities.
    Featured Story
  • A Cool Science bus poster

    Professor: Science Education Can Help Slow Climate Change

    Science education can help slow the pace of global warming, because people who understand climate science can make informed decisions, says Education Assoc. Prof. Jill Hendrickson Lohmeier. Lohmeier does research on using artwork in informal settings to educate the public about climate science.
    Featured Story
  • A Lowell city bus crossing the Howe Bridge on campus

    Students Step Up to Reduce Carbon Footprint

    A plan to boost ridership on Lowell’s city buses won the second annual Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy Climate Mitigation Challenge, which asks students to find ways to reduce CO2 emissions by 10,000 pounds in 10 weeks.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • Climate Disasters: Prepare and Respond

    Climate Disasters: Prepare and Respond

    Climate Change is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events and resulting disasters. The New England Consortium (TNEC-CSEA) in partnership with the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) and Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Health and Safety (MassCOSH) received another 5-year NIESH Hazmat Disaster Preparedness Training Program grant to train organizations and their workers who prepare for and respond to climate related disasters.
    Department News
  • Communicating Wildfire Risk to Homeowners

    Communicating Wildfire Risk to Homeowners

    Causing numerous deaths and billions of dollars in damages, recent wildfires in California have raised concerns about growing wildfire risk. As people become more vulnerable to wildfire risk, it is imperative that information regarding such risk is effectively communicated.
    Department News
  • Charlotte Ryan works in collaboration with the Media Research and Action Project (MRAP) (https://www.mrap.info/).

    Communication Activism and Social Change

    How do individuals with a variety of interests and wills form common cause to change society? Working at the interface of media and movements, Charlotte Ryan studies how individuals build learning communities that, in turn, form coalitions and movements for systems change.
    Department News
  • CCI members pose with state legislators

    Faculty Experts Brief Legislators on Climate Change

    The university’s Climate Change Initiative hosted members of the state’s House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change for a roundtable discussion on climate science and policy at which faculty members shared scientific research and expertise to help inform policy decisions.