CCI News

Ten projects led by students, faculty and staff received more than $50,000 in support from the university’s Sustainability Encouragement & Enrichment Development (S.E.E.D.) Fund, which saw a jump in applications in its second year.

The eighth annual David Lustick Climate Change Teach-In at Cumnock Hall focused on community involvement and student interaction.

UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative Director Juliette Rooney-Varga received a three-year, $340,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study whether college students who are exposed to the World Climate Simulation are more likely to become engaged with sustainability issues on campus.

Prof. Daniel Obrist recently led an international group of researchers to conduct a long-term study of the origin of mercury pollution in the Arctic tundra.

Assoc. Prof. Mathew Barlow of the Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences is conducting research to try to understand what causes extreme rainfall events in the Northeast.

Physics Asst. Prof. Wei Guo and mechanical engineering Assoc. Prof. Fuqiang Liu are among seven early-stage researchers recently awarded funding through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) Catalyst Program to develop promising products and technologies in the fields of clean energy and clean water.

Assoc. Prof. Juliette Rooney-Varga and members of the university’s Climate Change Initiative led a legislative briefing at the State House on “Meeting the Climate and Energy Challenge,” introducing their interactive simulation to policymakers.

Juliette Rooney-Varga, director of the Climate Change Initiative at UMass Lowell, stood before a packed room in the State House and guided lawmakers, staffers, and other attendees through an exercise in climate-change policy making.

Steven Chu was on campus on Nov. 16 to deliver this year’s Tripathy Endowed Memorial Lecture and receive an honorary doctorate.

The annual David Lustick Climate Change Teach-In drew nearly 400 students to Cumnock Hall, where speakers offered lessons on responding to a changing world.

The university earns gold rating from Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, becoming one of three institutions in the state to reach that level.

The UMass system’s move to divest from direct fossil fuel holdings is a personal victory for senior biology major Sabrina Pedersen, president of the Climate Change Coalition.

Mechanical Engineering Asst. Prof. Juan Pablo Trelles is developing a new process to convert waste carbon dioxide from power plants and factories into sustainable fuels and high-value chemicals.

Students in Assoc. Prof. Juliette Rooney-Varga’s climate change course produce one-minute PSA videos on the plight of Earth, which are screened at Lowell Eco-Film Series.

Thanks to Prof. John Wooding's creative economy grant, the university is partnering with more than two dozen community groups for the monthlong Lowell Earth Day Celebration 2016.

Asst. Prof. Juan Pablo Trelles and his team are synthesizing sustainable fuels using solar energy and carbon dioxide as well as water or methane from natural gas.

After attending the U.N. Conference on Climate Change, Assoc. Prof. Juliette Rooney-Varga, director of the Climate Change Initiative, says the Paris Agreement is an important first step.

A team of researchers led by Asst. Prof. Kate Swanger is spending two months in Antarctica to study the history of rock glaciers and buried glacial ice in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region.

Environmental straight-talker Naomi Oreskes urges students to focus on solutions — and forget the doubters — at sixth annual Climate Change Teach-In.

Environmental leader Naomi Oreskes -- who advised Pope Francis on the climate-change policy he shared with President Barack Obama and Congress during his recent U.S. visit -- was the featured speaker at UMass Lowell's annual Climate Change Teach-In, which drew about 500 people.

Teams of researchers led by UMass Lowell are developing state-of-the-art “lidar” (light detection and ranging) technology to map and study the environment in unprecedented detail.

Margo T. Oge '72, ’75, a former director at the Environmental Protection Agency, visited campus recently to talk to students and faculty as part of Engineering Dean Joseph Hartman’s colloquium series.

UMass Lowell climate scientist Juliet Rooney-Varga addressed a 14-community task force from Great on the region’s readiness for the challenges of climate change.

In recent years, many higher-ed institutions have hosted climate change teach-ins. For example, UMass Lowell held its fifth annual climate change teach-in in 2014.

With $27 million in upgrades to 32 buildings through the Accelerated Energy Program, the university expects to save millions in energy and water costs.

Five professors from across the UMass system, including Juliette Rooney-Varga, advised policymakers on the science of climate change at a March 25 State House forum.

The newly launched Office of Sustainability brings the university’s wide range of environmental efforts together under one roof, providing centralized support and increased collaboration.

Juliette Rooney-Varga, an associate professor of biological sciences and director of the Climate Change Initiative at UMass Lowell, says “I do hope we take this opportunity to address the causes of climate change, while also becoming more resilient to the impacts we can no longer avoid.”

Juliette Rooney-Varga, associate professor and director of the UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative, weighs in on the winter weather.

Barrage of snowstorms and subfreezing temperatures on New England likely to persist for a while, according to a university weather expert.

If you are wishing to change someone's point of view, David Lustick would recommend against you criticizing that person for the idea. He and seven other champions of climate change from around the country attended the White House event on Feb. 9.

A team of electrical engineering and computer science students has built and tested a solar/electric-powered quadricycle that could ferry up to four passengers without consuming a single drop of gas.

The Climate Change Teach-In, now in its fifth year, is co-sponsored by the university’s Climate Change Initiative and the Climate Action Plan.

Prof. Robert Gamache of the Department of Earth, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences was named by Thomson Reuters as one of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” for 2014.

A new wind energy research center received funding from the National Science Foundation to help foster industry, academic and government collaborations.

Asst. Prof. Kate Swanger from EEAS led an expedition to Antarctica to investigate how the continent’s glaciers have responded to climate fluctuations in the past.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recently recognized Asst. Prof. Meg Sobkowicz-Kline in the Plastics Engineering Department with a prestigious faculty early career development prize, called the “CAREER” award.

Rising sea levels from melting glaciers and polar ice sheets, coupled with storm surges, will severely increase the flooding impacts in low-lying islands and cities.

Telling people stories about climate change is Juliette Rooney-Varga's passion. As director of the Climate Change Initiative at UMass Lowell, Rooney-Varga, who is also associate professor of biological sciences, has led Climate Change Teach-In, a hands-on program partially supported by a NASA grant, in which UMass Lowell students as well as high-school students from around the region learn how climate change affects the world and produce videos to communicate important information to the public.

Assoc. Prof. Mathew Barlow of the Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences contributed information about the Middle East/West Asia to an international climate change report.

Assoc. Prof. Mathew Barlow of the Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences contributed information about the Middle East/West Asia to an international climate change report.

Professors traveled to Arizona, Virginia and several Asian countries over the summer for University and personal adventures.

Students are making videos for all sorts of courses -- learning a lot and loving it.

UMass Lowell has launched its first-ever crowdfunding campaign, seeking support for a program that provides climate-change education to schoolchildren in the classroom and commuters in the neighborhoods where they live, work and shop.

A team of researchers from UMass Lowell, Rutgers University and the U.S. Geological Survey recently received a three-year grant worth nearly $830,000 from the National Science Foundation to study how wetlands influence mercury contamination in the Arctic regions.

UMass Lowell will soon be able to reduce its annual energy consumption by as much as 21 percent, thanks to the Commonwealth’s Accelerated Energy Program.

Students, faculty and staff organized a weeklong schedule of activities to highlight campus sustainability initiatives and celebrate efforts to protect the environment.

Biology Prof. Mark Hines is part of an international team of researchers that was recently awarded a three-year, $1.6 million grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study methane production in northern wetlands.

Students educated the public about climate change during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston in February.

The National Science Foundation has recently awarded Prof. Robert Gamache a three-year grant worth more than $434,000 to establish the spectral “line shape” parameters for important gas molecules found in the atmospheres of Earth, Venus and Mars.

Devan Hawkins, 22, of Pepperell, a first-year graduate student in epidemiology at UMass Lowell, recently attended the UN climate-change conference in Qatar.

Citing the University’s outstanding energy and environmental leadership, the state recently presented UMass Lowell with a Leading by Example award.

UMass Lowell's climate-change experts weigh in on the effects of Hurricane Sandy and what they mean for the future.

Juliette Rooney-Varga, Ph.D., an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at UMass Lowell, says the clock is ticking on addressing climate change issues.

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $2.2 million grant to a project led by Graduate School of Education faculty to study how ads on subway trains impact learning about climate change.

A conversation with biology Assoc. Prof. Juliette Rooney-Varga, who is passionate about climate change.

A multi-disciplinary team of researchers from UMass Lowell and Wichita State University has been awarded nearly $1.9 million by the National Science Foundation to develop the next-generation of wind-turbine blades.

Assoc. Prof. David Lustick is using a $32,000 Creative Economy grant to fund a Cool Science initiative to get students and commuters thinking about the science of climate change.

UMass Lowell’s grounds are getting a new look with the planting of new trees, flowering bushes, perennial beds and a rose garden.

UMass Lowell faculty and students, in collaboration with the Cambridge Educational Access TV Media Arts Studio have created a program that blends media-making and climate-change science.

Assoc. Prof. Mathew Barlow is part of a team of researchers led by Judah Cohen, a climate modeler at the Lexington-based consulting firm Atmospheric and Environmental Research Inc. that developed a sophisticated seasonal forecast model which correctly predicted this year’s warm winter and hot summer.

UMass Lowell’s recycling program is yielding strong results, with more than half of the solid waste generated on campus being recycled.

UMass Lowell Profs. Susan Gallagher and David Lustick are among those sharing in $250,000 in Creative Economy grants from the UMass President's Office.

Asst. Prof. Kate Swanger of the Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department stayed for two months on the continent during the 2011–12 Antarctic summer conducting field work.

Civil and environmental engineering Assoc. Prof. Kenneth Lee is spearheading efforts to develop engineering and science collaborations between UMass Lowell, UMass Amherst and four universities in Central America.

With support from its partners and from NASA’s Innovations in Climate Education grant, UMass Lowell's Climate Change Initiative is developing ways to integrate student-media production into climate-change education.

Juliette Rooney-Varga, associate professor of biological science and director of the Climate Change Initiative at UMass Lowell, comments on weather changes.

The Student Environmental Alliance is a student-run organization that focuses on advocacy and outreach.