UM has decided to go carbon neutral, and the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality (the PCCN) is charged with recommending a plan to accomplish that for all three UM campuses (Ann Arbor, Dearborn, & Flint). The PCCN was announced in Fall 2018, and December 2, 2019 marked the arrival of its second Interim Progress Report. This week, hosts Isabelle Brogna and Prachiti Dhamankar figure out what’s in the report and what the PCCN has accomplished so far by speaking with Kristen Hayden and Larson Lovdal, students from the University of Michigan who serve on the PCCN. Kristen is on the Student Advisory Panel as well as a member of Climate Action Movement, a coalition group pushing UM to set an ambitious deadline for carbon neutrality and holding it accountable. Larson is on the “Energy Consumption Policies” Internal Analysis Team, one of eight such teams on the PCCN determining where carbon emissions are emitted on campus, how the school can offset or eliminate them, and under what deadline. The conversation ranges from the surprising effect of natural gas leaks on campus emissions, to the impact of DTE’s decision to go carbon neutral by 2050, transparency and accountability concerns, and a detour to talk about composting toilets.
Ann Arbor is Going Carbon Neutral!
In November 2019, Ann Arbor’s City Council passed a resolution committing the city to becoming completely carbon neutral by 2030. Sustainability and Innovations Manager for the City of Ann Arbor, Missy Stults, talks with hosts Isabelle Brogna and Prachiti Dhamankar about A2Zero, the city’s carbon neutrality planning process. A2Zero officially kicked off in December 2019, and aims to create a plan for achieving carbon neutrality by Earth Day 2020. A2Zero is an iterative, transparent, and failure-positive process, grounded in justice and equity, that will truly be a community-wide effort. The planning process involves three core components: technical committees, partner organizations, and the public. If you’d like to share your input with A2Zero, take a survey or host an event!
Direct Air Capture of CO2
Direct Air Capture (DAC) is a method of taking carbon dioxide out of ambient air. It is one solution that can work in tandem with others to slow down (and eventually reverse) the growth of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This week, host Isabelle Brogna spoke with Dr. Christopher Jones, a Georgia Tech professor and researcher (and UM alum!) who works on the cutting edge of DAC technology. He explains how carbon dioxide is taken from the air, why doing this should be a necessary part of any plan to combat climate change, and how current and future policies and funding can help the technology.
Beware the Sea Lamprey
“Nightmare. But also, cool.” – Host Bella Isaacs on the sea lamprey.
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission is a binational organization that works to control sea lamprey populations in the Great Lakes and promote scientific research in the region. This week, Ross Shaw and Cory Brant of the GLFC joined hosts Bella Isaacs, Prachiti Dhamankar, and Isabelle Brogna to talk about why sea lamprey pose such a major threat to the Great Lakes, how the commission works to control them, and why, despite appearances, these aquatic invaders are actually pretty fascinating creatures.
Reporter Jeremy Hance On Wildlife Conservation and Nature’s (Potential) Comeback
Reporter Jeremy Hance was one of the original staff writers of Mongabay, a non-profit conservation and environmental news site that “aims to raise awareness about social and environmental issues related to forests and other ecosystems.” Hance now writes a monthly column for Mongabay called “Saving Life on Earth: Words on the Wild” in addition to his freelance reporting. His feature “The great rhino U-turn,” the third installment in a four-part series on the Sumatran rhino, has been published in the 2019 Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology. Continue reading Reporter Jeremy Hance On Wildlife Conservation and Nature’s (Potential) Comeback
Brittany Turner of Cheyanne Symone
Editor’s note: We had some brief technical difficulties during the first minute of the show.
Brittany Turner is the founder of Cheyanne Symone, a jewelry company based in Ypsilanti that specializes in handcrafted, indigenous-style earrings. She’s also an energy analyst at EcoWorks Detroit and a graduate of the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability. Turner joined hosts Bella Isaacs and Meg Czerwinksi to talk about how she factors social justice and environmental sustainability into her business, her identity as a Native woman of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe, how an experience at science camp sparked her interest in energy, and much more.
2019 Youth Climate Strike
Host Bella Isaacs attended this year’s Washtenaw County Youth Climate Strike on September 20 to record the speeches given by student activists on the University of Michigan’s campus. That strike was part of a movement inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunburg, who encouraged other young activists around the world to demand that those in power “begin acting like adults” and take action on climate change. The speakers ranged in age from middle school to grad school students and demonstrated the power of youth organization in Washtenaw County.
The Community of Food, Society, and Justice Conference
This week, the five co-chairs of the upcoming Community of Food, Society, and Justice Conference joined host Bella Isaacs to talk about what attendees can expect from that conference, which will take place on Friday, October 18 and feature keynote speaker Tracie McMillan, lunch prepared with produce from the campus farm, and four panels that will “explore the multiple definitions of soil, seeds, farmers, and food.” Those interested are also encouraged to attend a talk given by environmental artist Lauren Bon on Thursday, October 17 as part of the Penny Stamps Speaker Series. Click here to find the conference’s full schedule. Continue reading The Community of Food, Society, and Justice Conference
Land Preservation in Washtenaw County
Cities and townships in Washtenaw County support a variety of progressive, publicly-funded efforts to protect local lands. They do that either by preserving those lands as they are or reserving them for agricultural use. Land protection consultant Barry Lonik, Washtenaw County Local Foods Coordinator Jae Gerhart of Michigan State University’s Extension Center, and farmer and educator Shannon Brines joined host Bella Isaacs to talk about how that process works, how land preservation relates to the local food movement, and why it’s important to consider the ecological and social impacts of urban density versus urban sprawl. Continue reading Land Preservation in Washtenaw County
How to Science Podcast
This summer, we’ve been bringing you episodes from the University of Michigan’s How to Science podcast, which is hosted by Assistant Professor Monica Dus of the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology.
Below is a list of the episodes we’ve aired, along with details about How to Science pulled from the podcast’s website.