In the News

  •  'Earth Oracles’ by Allison Maria Rodriguez at UML’s University Gallery. (Photo courtesy UML University Gallery)

    University Gallery Celebrates and Warns in Brilliant ‘Earth Oracles’

    The UMass Lowell Department of Art & Design issues a warning on climate change and extinction in the riveting exhibition "Earth Oracles," an installation by Allison Maria Rodriguez, on display from Jan. 31-March 22 in the University Gallery.
    The Lowell Sun Department News
  • Surface temperatures at 7 a.m. EST on Jan. 16, 2024. Temperatures below freezing are in blue; those above freezing are in red. The jet stream is indicated by the light blue line with arrows. Mathew Barlow/UMass Lowell, CC BY

    Extreme Cold Still Happens in a Warming World

    In mid-January 2024, much of the U.S. experienced record-breaking daily low temperatures due to a southward shift in the polar jet stream. Research suggests that climate change may play a significant role in exacerbating the intensity of these events.
    The Conversation Department News
  • 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
  • Professor, Mathew Barlow. College of Sciences; Environmental Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Initiative. (from UML website)

    Expert: 2023 Full of Climate Disasters but Coming Years Could be Worse

    Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Professor Mathew Barlow spoke to Turkish news outlet, Anadolu Agency, about how the impact of climate change may seem substantial in 2023, but most likely will increase in volatility over years to come.
    Department News
  • Crews worked after a torrent of water washed out the intersection of Pleasant and Colburn streets in Leominster, leaving a house there an island on its own foundation, Sept. 12. Photo Credit: LANE TURNER/GLOBE STAFF

    Today’s ‘Unprecedented’ Flooding Extremes Will Be Tomorrow’s Good Old Days

    The devastating floods in Leominster and other regions serve as a sobering reminder of the link between climate change and extreme weather events. This Boston Globe article, written by Climate Change Initiative professors Mathew Barlow and Juliette Rooney-Varga, emphasizes that these events are not an anomaly but a consequence of human-induced climate change, fueled by the emission of greenhouse gases.
    The Boston Globe Department News
  • Rist fellow Caralyn Conrad

    Sustainability Projects Take Shape on Campus

    The Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy granted fellowships to mechanical engineering major Caralyn Conrad, industrial engineering Ph.D. student Mahsa Ghandi and Art and Design Assoc. Prof. Kirsten Swenson.
    Featured Story
  • nuclear physics gamma detector

    Professors Look to Diversify Nuclear Science

    Funded by a U.S. Department of Energy grant, minority community college students will have an opportunity to learn about nuclear science at UMass Lowell’s Radiation Laboratory.
    Featured Story
  • Dillan Patel

    Rist Institute Welcomes Environmental Defense Fund Fellow

    Environmental Defense Fund fellow Dillan Patel has worked with UML’s Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy over the summer to help create a community outreach plan for a geothermal pilot project.
    Department News
  • Winbourne tree research

    Hot in the City

    Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Asst. Prof. Joy Winbourne is researching how trees respond to urban environments and climate change by deploying sap flow sensors throughout Lowell.
    Featured Story
  • Arbor Day tree planting

    UMass Lowell Blooms into Certified Arboretum

    A ceremonial planting on South Campus signified UMass Lowell’s new role as a certified arboretum – a place where trees and other plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes.
    Featured Story
  • Assoc. Prof. Trelles and grad student in the lab

    Researchers Develop Way to Produce Hydrogen from Plastic Waste

    A team of university and U.S. Army researchers, led by UML Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Assoc. Prof. Assoc. Prof. Juan Pablo Trelles, has developed a way to extract hydrogen from plastic waste that can be used as clean fuel.
    Featured Story
  • Offshore wind turbines

    Using Sound Waves to Monitor Offshore Wind Turbine Blades

    Mechanical Engineering Assoc. Prof. Murat Inalpolat and his team are developing and implementing a continuous, sound-based sensor system for monitoring the structural health and integrity of offshore wind turbine blades.
    Featured Story
  • Ross lab gold and tin

    Chemistry Lab Group Makes Scientific Discovery

    Chemistry Asst. Prof. Michael Ross’ lab group found that nanoparticles combining post-transition and noble metals absorb higher energies of light. Their discovery is highlighted in Matter, a scientific journal published by Cell Press.
    Featured Story
  • UMass Lowell Research Prof. of Economics David Turcotte

    Expert: Gas Stoves are a Health Concern, Evidence Shows

    While the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission this week walked back a report saying the agency would seek to ban household gas stoves due to health concerns over emissions, a UMass Lowell expert on the issue maintained “adequate evidence” of ill-health effects exists to take action.
    Press Release
  • Meg with student in the lab

    Engineering Professors’ Research on Plastics Recycling and Sustainability Gets $1M

    Prof. Meg Sobkowicz-Kline and Asst. Teaching Prof. Akshay Kokil were awarded funding totaling $1 million by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology for projects that aim to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills and the environment each year.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • Hmes were surrounded by water in Fort Myers, Fla.

    Hurricane Ian Capped 2 Weeks of Extreme Storms Around the Globe

    When Hurricane Ian hit Florida, it was one of the United States’ most powerful hurricanes on record, and it followed a two-week string of massive, devastating storms around the world. Prof. Mathew Barlow wrote a piece for The Conversation about what’s known about how climate change fuels tropical cyclones.
    The Conversation Department News
  • Cool Science Alice Lobel

    Local K-12 Students Use Art to Teach Public About Extreme Weather

    The National Science Foundation-funded project Cool Science hosted its 10th annual Extreme Weather Art Competition for students in grades kindergarten through 12th. The winning posters are now displayed on transit buses in the Merrimack Valley and Worcester areas.
    Featured Story
  • A student uses their laptop outside while seating in a green Adirondack chair

    Changing Campus Landscape Greets River Hawks this Fall

    New homes for the Honors College, Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy and Asian American Center for Excellence and Engagement highlight a busy summer of campus improvements by Facilities Management.
    Featured Story
  • Matt Barlow research

    Scientist Lends Expertise to Greater Boston Climate Assessment

    Environmental, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Prof. Mathew Barlow led the Storms, Precipitation, Flooding and Groundwater section of a new report that assesses likely climate changes for the Greater Boston area. 
    Department News
  • Two men stand next to research equipment and a radiation area caution sign

    Radiation Safety Program Earns Brand-New International Accolade

    UMass Lowell has been recognized with the first Outstanding Radiation Safety Program award by the Health Physics Society, an international nonprofit organization of more than 5,000 scientists, physicians, engineers and other professionals.
    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
  • A man speaks to a crowd while holding a certificate in a wood-paneled room with an American flag

    S.E.E.D. Fund Recipients All About the Green

    Seven projects led by students, faculty and staff received a share of the university’s annual $50,000 Sustainability Encouragement & Enrichment Development (S.E.E.D.) Fund. 
    Featured Story
  • Asst. Prof. Yuzhang Lin

    Electrical Engineering Professor Wins $500K NSF CAREER Award

    Asst. Prof. Yuzhang Lin was recently awarded a five-year, $500,000 faculty early-career development grant by the National Science Foundation to conduct a study that will help better predict and visualize power distribution capacity and consumers’ power demand in real time.
    Featured Story
  • Shawsheen Valley Technical High School students

    High School Students Learn about Cybersecurity Field

    Sixty-five students from Greater Lowell and Shawsheen Valley technical high schools and their teachers got an overview of UML’s computer science and cybersecurity programs and some hands-on experience at the university’s Cyber Range during a recent visit to campus.
    Featured Story
  • Three bees pollinate pink and yellow flowers

    UML Climbs to New Heights for Sustainability

    UMass Lowell remains the highest-rated campus in Massachusetts for sustainability with a STARS Gold score of 83.37 from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
    Department News
  • Three students hold award certificates while talking to two faculty members on a staircase

    Lights Out! Students’ Energy-Saving Idea Wins CO2 Challenge

    A competition-based initiative to get students thinking about their residence hall energy usage won the third annual Rist Institute for Sustainability & Energy Climate Mitigation Challenge, which asks students to find ways to reduce CO2 emissions by 10,000 pounds in 10 weeks.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • Climate Change Leads to Simultaneous Droughts Across the World

    Climate Change Leads to Simultaneous Droughts Across the World

    Asst. Prof. Christopher Skinner recent work published in Nature Climate Change shows that continued use of fossil fuels will increase the risk that multiple regions across the globe experience drought simultaneously.
    Department News
  • EEAS Asst. Prof. James Heiss

    Environmental Science Professor Awarded NSF CAREER Grant

    The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Asst. Prof. James Heiss a $680,000 faculty early-career development award to understand water and chemical exchanges between groundwater and surface water along the land-sea transition zone.
    Featured Story
  • Two women hold an award plaque while posing for a photo with five men

    UML Earns ‘Leading by Example’ Award for Decarbonization Efforts

    UMass Lowell received a Leading by Example award from the state’s Department of Energy Resources for its collaborative efforts with fellow honorees UMass Amherst, UMass Dartmouth and Salem State University to decarbonize their campuses.
    Featured Story
  • Asst. Prof. Stephen T. Lam

    UML-led Research on Molten Salt for Energy Generation Wins DOE Funding

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a team of researchers from UMass Lowell and Oak Ridge National Laboratory a $400,000 grant to develop machine learning-based approaches for simulating molten salts used in advanced nuclear reactor systems.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • Headshots of a woman professor, a woman student and a male student

    RISE Fellowships Support Innovations in Energy, Sustainability

    The Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy has awarded 2021-22 fellowships to Assoc. Prof. of Electrical and Computer Engineering Cordula Schmid, Analytical Chemistry Ph.D. candidate Elizabeth Farrell and chemical engineering major Andrew Parker.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • 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 shape sails past wind turbines in the ocean

    UMass Lowell Wins Grant to Diversify Offshore Wind Workforce

    UMass Lowell, in partnership with the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston, has received a $241,300 grant from the Commonwealth to develop academic pathways that increase the participation of underrepresented populations in the offshore wind industry.
    Featured Story
  • A infrared image of the Southwick Hall roof taken by the drone

    Infrared Drone Takes Campus Energy Audits to Another Level

    Researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering used a drone equipped with an infrared camera to help Facilities Management identify energy inefficiencies in campus buildings and heating systems.
    Featured Story
  • UMass Lowell Research Prof. of Economics David Turcotte

    Environmental Health Expert Works to Improve Homes, Workplaces

    David Turcotte is an authority on sustainability and environmental justice who is leading efforts to improve the quality of life for people in their homes and workplaces. A member of UMass Lowell’s Climate Change Initiative, Turcotte can discuss how the phenomenon impacts the incidence of asthma and hazardous-materials cleanup responses as a result of extreme weather events.
    Press Release
  • The UML men's soccer team plays a game on North Campus

    America East Schools Team Up to Champion Sustainability

    With the collaboration between UMass Lowell’s Office of Sustainability and its Athletic Department serving as a model, the America East Conference has created a sustainability network that gives its 10 member institutions an opportunity to share best practices and advance green initiatives.
    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
  • 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
  • Student Javon Bryan takes part in the World Climate simulation with other students

    EEAS Faculty, Students Present at AGU Conference

    Four Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences faculty members and graduate students from the Kennedy College of Sciences presented research at the virtual AGU Fall Meeting, the largest gathering of Earth and space scientists from around the world.
    Department News
  • TNEC trainers help someone with their hazmat suit

    TNEC’s Evolving Worker Safety Training Gets $6.6M Boost

    Thanks to a five-year, $6.6 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, The New England Consortium at UMass Lowell will expand its hazardous materials worker health and safety training under the direction of Research Prof. David Turcotte.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • Predicting The Onset Of Drought In The Northeast Us

    Predicting The Onset Of Drought In The Northeast U.S.

    Drought and heat waves both have a range of severe societal and ecosystem impacts. Our research seeks to understand the causes of droughts and heat waves and how they interact with one another to better predict their occurrence and help manage their impacts in the Northeast U.S.
    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
  • Extreme Multi-Hazard Coastal Storm Impacts

    Extreme Multi-Hazard Coastal Storm Impacts

    Supported by a three-year, $784,000 National Science Foundation grant, a team of researchers led by James Heiss in the Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EEAS) are studying the impact of extreme multi-hazard coastal storms on groundwater flow and saltwater-freshwater mixing in beach aquifers.
    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
  • Cool Science: K-12 Student Art Competition

    Cool Science: K-12 Student Art Competition

    Cool Science brings an inter-disciplinary approach to the challenge of improving public understanding of climate change science by focusing on issues related to heat transfer, energy and extreme weather. This project aims to engage students, teachers, parents, and the general public with the science of extreme weather.
    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
  • University officials pose for a photo at the Leading by Example award ceremony at the State House

    State Grant Powers Renewable Energy Master Plan

    UMass Lowell has received a $100,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to develop a campus-wide renewable energy master plan that will help advance the university’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
    Featured Story
  • UML physics major Anne Souza teaches an online lab to science teachers in Haiti

    New Honors Class Inspires Renewable Energy Research

    A new honors seminar that helps students think critically about different sources of energy is inspiring research involving renewables, including projects at UMass Lowell’s Haiti Development Studies Center.
    Featured Story
  • Hurricane Irma

    Researchers to Study the Impact of Coastal Storms on Beach Aquifers

    Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Asst. Prof. James Heiss and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution were awarded a three-year, $784,000 National Science Foundation grant to study how powerful coastal storms affect the fresh water flowing below the ground along the seashore.
    Featured Story
  • An aerial view of the UML campus and Merrimack River

    Very Cool! UML 16th on Sierra’s List of Eco-friendly Schools

    UMass Lowell is No. 16 on Sierra magazine’s “Cool Schools” list for 2020, the university’s highest ranking ever in a survey that assesses colleges’ performances on everything from sustainability-focused courses, carbon-neutral energy and land policies, eco-friendly dining halls and student engagement.
    Featured Story
  • Drought photo

    Climate Scientists to Study Droughts, Heat Waves in the Northeast

    Profs. Mathew Barlow and Christopher Skinner of the Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will study the cause of heat waves and droughts in the Northeast and how they interact with each other under a three-year, $478,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
    Featured Story
  • Students Fiona Benzi, Lucia Cheney and Kseniya Vialichka pose for a selfie

    Environmental Science Students Give Virtual Teaching a Try

    Environmental science students from the Kennedy College of Sciences led free educational sessions on Zoom for middle and high school students who, like them, are stuck at home because of the coronavirus pandemic.
    Department News
  • Students inspect a solar panel on a parking kiosk on Jackson Street

    UML’s Solar Energy Association Provides Bright Spot for City

    Graduate students from the Francis College of Engineering’s Solar Energy Association are helping the community by inspecting the city of Lowell’s solar-powered parking meter kiosks as part of an extracurricular service-learning project.
    Featured Story
  •  A view of downtown Lowell on Tuesday, May 8 2018.

    UMass Lowell Commits to Spreading Green Initiatives

    This month the City of Lowell and the university announced the Green Community Partnership — an alliance committed to driving down the carbon footprint of the Mill City.
    Boston Herald In The News
  • Student Lily Green talks about her Carbon Consumers project

    How to Lose 10,000 Pounds (of CO2) in Just 10 Weeks

    Three student projects proposing ways to reduce the university community’s carbon dioxide emissions by 10,000 pounds in 10 weeks received the first-ever Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy (RISE) Student Innovation Awards and a share of $1,000 in prize money.
    Featured Story
  • Juliette Rooney-Varga talks with two conference attendees about the En-ROADS climate solutions simulator

    UML Researchers Shed Light on Climate Change Science

    Climate change was the central issue at the 100th annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Boston, where students, faculty and alumni from the Kennedy College of Sciences shared their environmental and atmospheric science research and networked with meteorologists, climate scientists and academics from around the country.
    Featured Story
  • Student panelist Zachary Traverso speaks during the conference

    Renewable Energy is Great, but How Do We Store It?

    Faculty and student researchers examined what the state must do to incorporate renewable energy sources into the electrical grid to reduce carbon emissions in “The State of Grid Energy Storage in Massachusetts,” a report commissioned by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts.
    Featured Story
  • Chancellor Moloney and UML staff pose with DOER and DCAMM officials with the Leading by Example award

    UML Earns Kudos from Commonwealth for Sustainability

    The commonwealth of Massachusetts recognized UMass Lowell for its sustainability efforts across campus with a 2019 Leading by Example award, which Chancellor Jacquie Moloney accepted at a State House ceremony.
    Featured Story
  • UMass Lowell Research Prof. of Economics David Turcotte

    $1M Grant Goes to Asthma Prevention Research

    A UMass Lowell researcher who works to alleviate asthma in senior citizens has received $1 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to advance his work.
    Press Release
  • Offshore wind turbine blades

    Event Explores Future of Energy Storage

    Leaders from business, education, government and research will gather next week to discuss the state of energy storage in Massachusetts.
    Press Release
  • Asst. Prof. Hsi-Wu Wong working in the lab

    Chemical Engineering Professor Recognized with NSF CAREER Award

    The National Science Foundation recently recognized Asst. Prof. Hsi-Wu Wong of the Department of Chemical Engineering with a prestigious faculty early career development grant, called the “CAREER” award. This highly competitive annual program selects the nation’s best young university faculty-scholars “who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization.”
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • Animation of weather phenomena known as “atmospheric rivers”. The animation comes from a climate model simulation ran with the Community Earth System Model (CESM).

    Tracking Atmospheric Rivers in a Changing Climate

    Climate models are used to study how and why atmospheric rivers change as the climate changes. This is the research topic of Chris Skinner’s recent NSF grant: “Elucidating the drivers and consequences of changes in atmospheric rivers from the last glacial maximum to the present day.”
    Department News
  • Satellite flying above Earth

    Innovating Meteorology Through Remote Sensing Technology

    Professor Robert Gamache’s current work aids satellite programs of NASA’s Earth Observing System, missions to Mars and Venus, several satellite programs of ESA, EUMETSAT and CNES, and the study of the atmospheres of exoplanets.
    Department News
  • Lori Weeden speaks during the workshop

    It’s Never Too Early to Learn About Climate Change

    The UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative, in conjunction with the National Association of Geoscience Teachers and the College of Education, hosted a professional development workshop for two dozen area K-12 teachers on incorporating climate change education into the classroom.
    Featured Story
  • iStronG: Supporting Stem Interest and Self-Efficacy for Low-Income Students

    iStronG: Supporting STEM Interest and Self-Efficacy for Low-Income Students

    A major goal of this grant is to contribute to research on the potential of systems thinking, place-based curriculum in out-of-school TRIO college access programs, such as Upward Bound, to increase underrepresented students’ STEM interest, self-efficacy, and motivation to pursue STEM degrees/careers.
    Department News
  • 2019 INI Fellows

    Summer Program Trains Young Professionals for the Nuclear Industry

    Reactor system fundamentals and technology and advanced reactor designs were just some of the topics discussed at this year’s Intercontinental Nuclear Institute (INI), an annual summer fellowship program organized by UMass Lowell and the Czech Technical University in Prague.
    Featured Story
  • Student Media Production for Climate Change Communication

    Student Media Production for Climate Change Communication

    The Climate Education in an Age of Media (CAM) Project brought together a team of scientists, science educators, media artists, and media instructors, to create curriculum materials and resources that give geoscience educators the tools they need to bring student media production into their own climate change education work.
    Department News
  • Pig farm manure

    Researchers Produce Renewable Engine Fuel from Wet Biowaste

    A team of researchers from UMass Lowell, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and China Agricultural University in Beijing has developed a new, sustainable way of converting wet biological waste into diesel-compatible fuel, using heat and water.
    Featured Story
  • 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.
    Featured Story
  • MLSC's Travis McCready with Jacquie Moloney and Joseph Hartman at the ceremony

    Modernized Perry Hall Opens New Era of Research, Learning

    The university celebrated a $50 million renovation of Perry Hall, which is home to academics, research and industry partnerships in fields including biomedical, chemical and environmental engineering, as well as biomanufacturing and clean energy.
    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. 
    Department News
  • Cybersecurity illustration

    UMass Lowell Expands Cybersecurity Training

    UMass Lowell – a leader in information technology, security and criminal justice education and research – is introducing a new online program for information technology professionals who want to update their skills on the latest standards in cybersecurity on their own or for employers who want to ensure their workforce and operations are fully prepared to counter any threats.