• 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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. 
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  • 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.
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  • 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
  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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
  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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
  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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
  • 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.
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  • 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
  • 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
  • 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.
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