Sustainability News

  • Offshore wind turbines

    Researchers to Spearhead New $11.9M Academic Center for Offshore Wind Energy

    UMass Lowell researchers are gearing up to expand their efforts targeting offshore wind energy as part of ARROW, a collaborative project with UMass Amherst, UMass Dartmouth and other partners that will accelerate research and the deployment and scale-up of domestic offshore wind energy. 
    Featured Story
  • Bottles of Mill City Red, UMass Lowell branded Craic sauce

    From Seed to Sauce

    Craic Sauce has created a UMass Lowell-branded hot sauce made with peppers grown on campus.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • A woman wearing glasses and a purple shirt holds a microphone and speaks to contest judges seated in front of her

    Clean Green Challenge Taps Into Growing Sustainability Market

    Five teams, including three from UMass Lowell, took part in the Innovation Hub’s inaugural Clean Green Challenge, a pitch contest focused on sustainability for entrepreneurs and startups from across the region.
    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
  • 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
  • Transene research team

    Students Help Local Company Find Safer Alternatives to PFAS

    With the help of a student research team, Transene Company is offering etching solutions to its semiconductor customers that don't contain the toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • 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 looks at their phone while sitting in a red chair outside surrounded by trees

    Already a Tree Campus, UML is Blooming into an Arboretum

    UMass Lowell was once again designated a Tree Campus by the Arbor Day Foundation — and is on track to become classified as an arboretum this fall by the nonprofit organization ArbNet.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • 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
  • The first poster in a Blue Mountain Alphabet by Ingrid Hess, with illustrations and information about the Blue Mountain area national parks in Australia

    Professor Educates Children About Environment Through Art

    Art Assoc. Prof. Ingrid Hess is traveling to some of the world’s most beautiful places to make artwork that educates children about the natural world and environmental sustainability. She’s won grants, fellowships and artist residencies to visit national parks in Costa Rica, Australia, the U.S. and more.
    Featured Story
  • A room full of students talk to each other while sitting at round tables

    Students Take the Lead at Sustainability Symposium

    Hosted for the first time by UMass Lowell, the Student Sustainability Leaders Symposium brought together more than 100 students from 18 colleges and universities across the Northeast to share their work and explore opportunities for collaboration and partnerships.
    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
  • A gas station sign showing the price of $4.51 per gallon

    Four Ways River Hawks Can Beat Sky-high Gas Prices

    If you’re spending more on gas to get to campus, the university has several ways to save money on your commute — while decreasing carbon emissions.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • A student walks across a bridge as a campus shuttle bus approaches

    New Canal Bridges Improve Students’ Commutes to Class

    With construction work complete on two new canal bridges along Pawtucket Street, students are enjoying shorter trips on two of the university’s busiest bus lines — and improved paths for walking and biking.
    Featured Story
  • a sign of encouragement to students hangs on a tree outside on campus

    UML Recognized for Wellness Initiatives

    UMass Lowell, which ranks No. 1 among colleges and universities for well-being and work according to the Sustainable Campus Index, has created an Office of Student Life and Well-being to better integrate wellness across campus.
    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
  • 6 members of sustainability teams show their awards

    UMass Lowell Receives Award for Decarbonization Efforts

    UMass Lowell has received a Leading by Example award from the state Department of Energy Resources for its work completing a comprehensive decarbonization study to determine its path to carbon neutrality by 2050.
    Lowell Sun In The News
  • 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
  • Students participate in the Plastics Sustainability Forum

    High School Students Learn about Plastics Recycling, Sustainability

    Fifty students from Lowell High School and Greater Lawrence Technical High School, along with their teachers, learned about plastics recycling and environmental sustainability during the Plastics Sustainability Forum, held recently at the Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center on North Campus.
    Featured Story
  • A student carries an air conditioner on his shoulder in a parking lot while another student collects recycled items from a car in the background

    ‘Fall Into Recycling’ Returns, Diverting Over 6 Tons from Landfills

    More than 6 tons of appliances, electronics, batteries and more were collected at Fall into Recycling, a popular waste diversion program that contributed to UMass Lowell being named a Top 10 Zero Waste Campus by the Post-Landfill Action Network.
    Featured Story
  • People are a blur walking under two solar street lights

    Off the Grid: UML Installs New Solar-Powered Streetlights

    The university has installed eight solar-powered streetlights along the new Northern Canal Overlook on East Campus — one of the city’s busiest areas for foot traffic. The lampposts were funded in part by a $10,000 grant from the Lowell Green Community Partnership, an alliance between UML and the city.
    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 view of the GPS Center from outside

    From Refurbished Labs to New Hammocks, River Hawks Will Find Many Changes

    Returning students will notice several changes across campus this fall, including the new Global and Professional Studies Center opposite University Crossing, refurbished instructional and research labs, and the addition of outdoor amenities such as hammocks, Adirondack chairs and covered bike racks.
    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 woman in glasses holds a piece of cardboard that has a rectangular hole in the middle. Her right hand is in the opening.

    Climate Change Lessons Reach Beyond the Science Classroom

    “Integrating Climate Change into the K-12 Classroom,” a free professional development workshop hosted by EEAS Assoc. Teaching Prof. Lori Weeden and the university’s Climate Change Initiative, showed teachers how they can address the topic through a variety of educational lenses.
    Featured Story
  • Austin Thoren helped plant the new container garden on a rooftop terrace at the O'Leary Library on South Campus.

    On UMass Lowell Roof, a Garden Grows

    Through an ongoing partnership with a local nonprofit, the university last month installed 500 growing containers for herbs, vegetables, and flowers covering the 2,300-square-foot mezzanine roof at O’Leary Library on South Campus.
    Boston Globe In The News
  • Two students help containers at the rooftop garden

    O’Leary’s New Rooftop Garden More Than a Pretty View

    A new rooftop garden of 500 herb, flower and vegetable plants has taken root at O’Leary Learning Commons on South Campus, the latest piece of UMass Lowell’s Urban Agriculture Program — a collaboration between the Office of Sustainability and Mill City Grows.
    Featured Story
  • students play cornhole outside the Campus Rec Center

    Hammocks and Patio Heaters: UML Enhancing Outdoor Spaces

    Hammock gardens, Adirondack chairs and patio heaters are just some of the amenities the university is adding to improve outdoor spaces for when students return to campus in the fall.
    Featured Story
  • Engineering students look at a refrigerator while doing an energy audit

    Urban Sustainability Projects Get $50K Boost

    The Lowell Green Community Partnership, an alliance between UMass Lowell and the city, awarded its first $50,000 in grants to five joint university-community projects that advance urban sustainability initiatives.
    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
  • UML staff members plant flowers using compost generated from dining halls

    UML Named ‘Innovator of the Year’ for Waste Management

    UMass Lowell was named “Innovator of the Year” at the first-ever Casella Sustainability Leadership Awards for the new and creative ways that the university sustains resources and diverts waste destined for landfills.
    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
  • Juliette Rooney-Varga talking to a class

    Science Professor Works to Depolarize Climate Change Issue

    Environmental Science Prof. Juliette Rooney-Varga, director of UMass Lowell’s Climate Change Initiative, says we must depolarize the politics of climate change — an issue that President Biden has made a top priority in his new administration.
    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
  • 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
  • The sun rises over the new Northern Canal Overlook

    State Grants Give Green Light to ‘Pawtucket Greenway’

    The Pawtucket Greenway, a collaboration between UML and the City of Lowell that will connect South and East campuses with a continuous, shared-use pathway for pedestrians and bicyclists, got a boost from a pair of state grants.
    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
  • the sun rises behind Fox Hall and East Campus

    Energy-Saving Measures a ‘Big Win’ for UML Utility Bill

    By taking simple steps like turning off unneeded computers and lights and adjusting air conditioners during peak periods of energy demand, UML faculty and staff helped the university reduce its projected utility bill by $180,000 for the coming year.
    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
  • An electric vehicle charging station behind Coburn Hall

    New Incentives Help University Save Energy, Money

    The university is advancing its sustainability and cost-saving goals through new partnerships and programs with its utility provider, National Grid, doubling both its electric vehicle charging stations and its incentives for energy efficiency.
    Featured Story
  • Mill City Grows' Nikki Tolani waters crops inside the greenhouse

    UML’s Greenhouse Helps Ease Growing Food Insecurity

    As food insecurity grows because of the coronavirus pandemic, the university’s Urban Agriculture Program is helping to provide fresh, healthy produce to the community through its partnership with Mill City Grows.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • 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
  • Eight people stand in front of Perry Hall Plaza stone

    New Greenspace Unveiled at UMass Lowell

    UMass Lowell has dedicated Perry Hall Plaza, a new greenspace that is the latest step in the university’s work to further enhance the the beauty and sustainability of the campus.
    Eagle-Tribune In The News
  • Dedication of the Rist Urban Agriculture Greenhouse and Farm

    UMass Lowell Launches New Sustainability Initiative

    UMass Lowell today announced it is establishing the Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy to bring together the university’s numerous efforts in areas from clean energy and energy resiliency to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and water use.
    Newsletter
  • Joanne Yestramski,Brian Rist, John Lebeaux and Ruairi O’Mahony at in front of the Rist Urban Agriculture Farm

    UMass Lowell Unveils New Sustainability Program with $1M Gift

    Brian Rist, a member of the college’s class of 1977, offered the largest singular gift in UMass Lowell history and was recognized for his charity with the establishment of the Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy.
    Lowell Sun In The News
  • A student and his family dispose of cardboard during move-in

    Sustainable Move-In Unpacks a Punch

    The Office of Sustainability held its first Sustainable Move-In event on campus, collecting 62 large trash bags of plastic foam and enough cardboard to fill four large dumpsters.
    Featured Story
  • The floating trash collector in water

    Students Engineering Better Way to Clean City’s Canals

    Rover the River Hawk, an Industrial Capstone Senior Design project that Engineering students are building to clean debris from the city’s canals, received a Green Design award from the Lowell Sustainability Council and a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan.
    Featured Story
  • U.S. Rep Lori Trahan visits the Urban Agriculture Greenhouse

    UML Recognized for Waste Reduction Efforts

    The university’s waste reduction efforts ranked fifth in the 2019 Sustainable Campus Index, up five spots from the previous year. The university’s Urban Agriculture Program was also highlighted in the index, which is published by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • 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
  • A student volunteer sorts donations on South Campus

    Student Donations Go Back into the Community

    Students donated more than 14,000 pounds of clothing, bedding, food and personal items during this spring’s Sustainable Move Out Donation Drive, which benefitted a half-dozen nonprofit organizations across the community.
    Featured Story
  • A student takes a picture of the sheep

    Mow Town: Sheep Do the Job at ‘EweML’

    From grazing sheep to battery-powered lawn mowers, Grounds Operations Manager Erik Shaw is coming up with innovative ways to maintain the campus grounds – and help boost the university’s sustainability efforts.
    Featured Story
  • 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
  • Students unload electronics from a car

    ‘Spring Into Recycling’ Helps River Hawks Declutter

    Faculty, staff and students dropped off more than 6 tons of personal electronics, appliances and more during April’s two-day Spring Into Recycling event, run by the Office of Sustainability and Information Security.
    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.
    Featured Story
  • A student walks past the rooftop garden at University Crossing

    Rooftop Garden Takes Urban Agriculture to Another Level

    Rows of kale, Swiss chard and collard greens are growing on the new Green Roof vegetable garden at University Crossing, a collaboration between Mill City Grows and UML’s Urban Agriculture Program, Student Government Association and Office of Sustainability.
    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
  • UML staff members standing in front of rooftop garden

    UML Celebrates Sustainability Program

    UMass Lowell and the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) celebrated the completion of the university's $23.1 million Accelerated Energy Program (AEP) at a ceremony Monday.
    Lowell Sun In The News
  • 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.