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Featured Story
Science Prof Wins $340K NSF Grant for Climate Simulation

Science Prof Wins $340K NSF Grant for Climate Simulation | Featured Story

7/18/2017
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.
Featured Story
UML-led Team Finds Source of Arctic Mercury

UML-led Team Finds Source of Arctic Mercury | Featured Story

7/13/2017
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.
Featured Story
Climate Researchers Win Grant to Study Northeast Rainfall

Climate Researchers Win $454K NSF Grant to Study Extreme Rainfall in the Northeast | Featured Story

6/1/2017
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.
Featured Story
State Awards $130K to Professors for Clean Energy Research

State Awards $130K to Two Professors for Innovative Clean Energy Research | Featured Story

4/26/2017
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.
Featured Story
University’s Climate Change Experts Brief Lawmakers

University’s Climate Change Experts Brief Lawmakers | Featured Story

4/5/2017
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.
In The News
As Trump Retreats, Citizens Step Up on Climate

As Trump Retreats, Citizens Step Up on Climate | In The News

3/30/2017
Boston Globe

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.
Featured Story
Climate Change Is Real, Says Nobel Prize Winner

Climate Change Is Real, Says Nobel Prize Winner | Featured Story

11/21/2016
Steven Chu was on campus on Nov. 16 to deliver this year’s Tripathy Endowed Memorial Lecture and receive an honorary doctorate.
Featured Story
Climate Change Teach-In Reveals Shift in Thinking

Climate Change Teach-In Reveals Shift in Thinking | Featured Story

11/16/2016
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.
Featured Story
University Achieves Gold Standard for Sustainability

University Achieves Gold Standard for Sustainability | Featured Story

9/19/2016
The university earns gold rating from Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, becoming one of three institutions in the state to reach that level.
Featured Story
Biology Student Helps Drive Fossil Fuel Divestment

Biology Student Helps Drive Fossil Fuel Divestment | Featured Story

6/21/2016
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.
Featured Story
Researchers Use Solar Energy For Sustainable Fuels

Researchers Use Enhanced Solar Energy to Produce Sustainable Fuels | Featured Story

5/16/2016
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.
Featured Story
Lights, Camera, Climate Change!

Lights, Camera, Climate Change! | Featured Story

5/2/2016
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.
Featured Story
Earth Day Festivities Grow in Scope, Ambition

Earth Day Festivities Grow in Scope, Ambition | Featured Story

4/7/2016
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.
Featured Story
Researchers Harness the Power of the Sun

Researchers Harness the Power of the Sun | Featured Story

3/31/2016
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.
Featured Story
5 Questions on COP21 with Juliette Rooney-Varga

5 Questions on COP21 with Juliette Rooney-Varga | Featured Story

12/16/2015
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.
Featured Story
Researchers to Probe Antarctica’s Rock Glaciers for Climate Clues

Researchers to Probe Antarctica’s Rock Glaciers for Climate Clues | Featured Story

10/16/2015
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.
Featured Story
Students Get Straight-Talk on Climate Change

Students Get Straight-Talk on Climate Change | Featured Story

10/15/2015
Environmental straight-talker Naomi Oreskes urges students to focus on solutions — and forget the doubters — at sixth annual Climate Change Teach-In.
In The News
Expert on Climate Change: 'There's No Time to Waste'

Expert on Climate Change Tells UMass Lowell: 'There's No More Time to Waste' | In The News

10/8/2015
Lowell Sun

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.
Featured Story
Researchers ExCEL in New Laser Technology

Researchers ExCEL in New Laser Technology | Featured Story

8/31/2015
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.
Featured Story
Alum Helps Clean the Air We Breathe

Alum Helps Clean the Air We Breathe | Featured Story

5/18/2015
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.
Communities Team Up On Climate Change

Boston Area Communities Team Up On Climate Change Preparedness

5/13/2015
WBUR

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.
Universities Answer Call on Climate Change

Colleges and Universities Answer the Call on Climate Change

4/27/2015
Huffington Post

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.
Featured Story
University Green-Lights Energy Savings

University Green-Lights Energy Savings | Featured Story

4/24/2015
With $27 million in upgrades to 32 buildings through the Accelerated Energy Program, the university expects to save millions in energy and water costs.
Featured Story
UMass Profs Join Forces at State House

UMass Profs Join Forces at State House | Featured Story

4/1/2015
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.
Department News
New Office of Sustainability Takes Root

New Office of Sustainability Takes Root | Department News

3/19/2015
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.
In The News
Climate Activists Say Snow Record is Nothing to Celebrate

Climate Activists Say Snow Record is Nothing to Celebrate | In The News

3/16/2015
Boston Globe

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.”
Is Global Warming Responsible for Snow?

Is Global Warming Responsible for the Amount of Snow We are Getting?

3/7/2015
Boston Globe

Juliette Rooney-Varga, associate professor and director of the UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative, weighs in on the winter weather.
Featured Story
Faculty Experts Explain Science of Snowstorms, Ice Dams

Faculty Experts Explain Science of Snowstorms, Ice Dams | Featured Story

2/27/2015
Barrage of snowstorms and subfreezing temperatures on New England likely to persist for a while, according to a university weather expert.
In The News
Prof's Work on Climate Change Honored

UMass Lowell Professor's Work on Climate Change Honored | In The News

2/16/2015
Lowell Sun

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.
Featured Story
Students Create a 'Solar-Electric Taxi’

Students Create a 'Solar-Electric Taxi’ | Featured Story

11/16/2014
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.
Featured Story
Experts Sound the Alarm on Climate Change

Experts Sound the Alarm on Climate Change | Featured Story

10/23/2014
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.
Featured Story
Gamache Named One of the World’s Top Researchers

Gamache Named One of the World’s Top Researchers | Featured Story

7/22/2014
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.
Featured Story
Wind Energy Center Gets NSF Funds

Wind Energy Research Center Gets NSF Funding | Featured Story

5/19/2014
A new wind energy research center received funding from the National Science Foundation to help foster industry, academic and government collaborations.
Featured Story
Professor Investigates Antarctic Glaciers

Professor Investigates How Antarctic Glaciers Respond to Changing Climate | Featured Story

4/4/2014
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.
Featured Story
Engineering Prof. Awarded NSF CAREER Grant

Plastics Engineering Prof. Awarded NSF CAREER Grant | Featured Story

1/24/2014
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.
Featured Story
Changing Climate Changes World

Changing Climate Changes World | Featured Story

12/27/2013
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.
In The News
Climate Change is Director's Top Priority

Climate Change is UML Director's Top Priority | In The News

10/18/2013
Lowell Sun

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.
Featured Story
Report: Humans Are to Blame for Global Warming

Humans Are to Blame for Global Warming, Says New Report | Featured Story

10/4/2013
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.
Featured Story
Prof Contributes to International Climate Change Report

Prof Contributes to International Climate Change Report | Featured Story

10/4/2013
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.
Featured Story
Professors’ Breaks Include Research, Travel

Professors’ Breaks Include Research, Travel | Featured Story

9/24/2013
Professors traveled to Arizona, Virginia and several Asian countries over the summer for University and personal adventures.
Featured Story
Video Goes to Class

Video Goes to Class | Featured Story

7/30/2013
Students are making videos for all sorts of courses -- learning a lot and loving it.
UML Eyes Support for New Program

UML Eyes Support for New Program

7/28/2013
Lowell Sun

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.
Featured Story
Scientists to Study Mercury Contamination in the Arctic

Scientists to Study Mercury Contamination in the Arctic | Featured Story

7/10/2013
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.
Featured Story
UMass Lowell to Save Money, Energy Through State Program

UMass Lowell to Save Money, Energy Through State Program | Featured Story

6/25/2013
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.
Featured Story
Campus Celebrates Sustainability During Earth Week

Campus Celebrates Sustainability During Earth Week | Featured Story

4/23/2013
Students, faculty and staff organized a weeklong schedule of activities to highlight campus sustainability initiatives and celebrate efforts to protect the environment.
Featured Story
NSF Funds Research on Greenhouse Gases Emitted by Wetlands

NSF Funds Research on Greenhouse Gases Emitted by Wetlands | Featured Story

4/23/2013
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.
Featured Story
Biology Students Reach Out to Public on Climate Change

Biology Students Reach Out to Public on Climate Change | Featured Story

3/13/2013
Students educated the public about climate change during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston in February.
Featured Story
NSF Funds Research on Planetary Atmospheres

NSF Funds Research on Planetary Atmospheres | Featured Story

1/17/2013
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.
After Climate Panel, UML Student Vows Action

After Climate Panel, UML Student Vows Action

12/31/2012
Lowell Sun

Devan Hawkins, 22, of Pepperell, a first-year graduate student in epidemiology at UMass Lowell, recently attended the UN climate-change conference in Qatar.
Featured Story
UMass Lowell Wins Governor’s ‘Leading by Example’ Award

UMass Lowell Wins Governor’s ‘Leading by Example’ Award | Featured Story

11/16/2012
Citing the University’s outstanding energy and environmental leadership, the state recently presented UMass Lowell with a Leading by Example award.
Featured Story
Expect More Superstorms to Come, Experts Warn

Expect More Superstorms to Come, Experts Warn | Featured Story

11/9/2012
UMass Lowell's climate-change experts weigh in on the effects of Hurricane Sandy and what they mean for the future.
Scientists on Hurricane Sandy & Climate Change

Scientists on Hurricane Sandy & Climate Change

10/31/2012
BostInno

Juliette Rooney-Varga, Ph.D., an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at UMass Lowell, says the clock is ticking on addressing climate change issues.
Featured Story
Profs Win Largest-Ever GSE Grant

Profs Win Largest-Ever GSE Grant | Featured Story

10/23/2012
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.
Featured Story
Prof Discusses Challenges of Communicating Climate Change

Prof Discusses Challenges of Communicating Climate Change | Featured Story

10/2/2012
A conversation with biology Assoc. Prof. Juliette Rooney-Varga, who is passionate about climate change.
Featured Story
Experts Receive $1.9M NSF Grant for Wind-Energy Research

Experts Receive $1.9M NSF Grant for Wind-Energy Research | Featured Story

9/24/2012
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.
Featured Story
Cool Science Takes Students’ Temps on Climate Change

Cool Science Takes Students’ Temps on Climate Change | Featured Story

9/5/2012
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.
Featured Story
Campus Landscaping Efforts Blossom

Campus Landscaping Efforts Blossom | Featured Story

8/14/2012
UMass Lowell’s grounds are getting a new look with the planting of new trees, flowering bushes, perennial beds and a rose garden.
Featured Story
Students Harness the Power of Mass Media

Students Harness the Power of Mass Media | Featured Story

8/10/2012
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.
Featured Story
Climate Team's Model Correctly Predicted Ongoing Drought in U.S.

Climate Team's Model Correctly Predicted Ongoing Drought in U.S. | Featured Story

8/3/2012
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.
Featured Story
University’s Recycling Efforts Take Off

University’s Recycling Efforts Take Off | Featured Story

6/27/2012
UMass Lowell’s recycling program is yielding strong results, with more than half of the solid waste generated on campus being recycled.
In The News
UMass Awards $250K to Profs' Art and Culture Projects

UMass Awards $250K to Profs' Art and Culture Projects | In The News

6/27/2012
BBJ

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.
Featured Story
Professor Studies Climate, Glacier Fluctuations at Bottom of the World

Professor Studies Climate, Glacier Fluctuations at Bottom of the World | Featured Story

4/13/2012
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.
Featured Story
UMass to Collaborate with Central American Universities

UMass to Collaborate with Central American Universities | Featured Story

4/9/2012
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.
Featured Story
Teaching Climate Change Through Media

Teaching Climate Change Through Media | Featured Story

3/28/2012
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.
Forecast? Expect More Wild and Weird

Forecast? Expect More Wild and Weird

2/2/2012
Lowell Sun

Juliette Rooney-Varga, associate professor of biological science and director of the Climate Change Initiative at UMass Lowell, comments on weather changes.
Featured Story
Students Form New Environmental Movement

Students Form New Environmental Movement | Featured Story

12/8/2010
The Student Environmental Alliance is a student-run organization that focuses on advocacy and outreach.

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