“Opportunity” is the word Joshua Beres uses to describe UB’s Sustainability Academy.

Millions of people have seen her animated Web videos. She wrote a best-selling book and she has testified before Congress. She has even appeared on Stephen Colbert’s show.

When you think of the Rust Belt, glossy neighborhoods with rocketing rents may not be the first images that jump to mind.

The trouble began before they received the first of many complimentary snack bags.

Alan Rabideau, a UB environmental engineering professor with a track record of interdisciplinary research, will serve as UB's first Research and Economic Development Leadership Fellow.

UB has announced the launch of RENEW (Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water), an interdisciplinary research institute that will focus on difficult and complex environmental issues.

Samina Raja, a UB food systems researcher, has won the 2014 William R. and June Dale Prize for Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning.

Twelve classmates have joined the ranks of UB’s first entrepreneurial boot camp for students, and up to five of them have a chance to win $8,000 in seed funding when they complete it.

A temporary building on the South Campus houses a humble-looking contraption that could serve as a spark for improving public transit everywhere: a full-scale replica of a 40-foot public bus.

In a good month, Alan Rabideau doesn’t stop at the gas station.

Only about half of the prescription drugs and other newly emerging contaminants in sewage are removed by treatment plants says a new report.

 The University at Buffalo won two awards from BUILDINGS magazine’s eighth-annual America’s Best Buildings of the Year (ABBY), a contest for commercial and institutional facilities.

Think Greenland’s ice sheet is small today?

Phillip Tucciarone, a UB chemical and biological engineering student, has won a Marshall Scholarship, one of the most prestigious scholarships awarded annually to U.S. college students. 

 When cleaning up polluted land, water and air, the conventional approach is to focus solely on scientific and engineering solutions.

Two UB Professors have been awarded a $125,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Sustainable Communities program.

Jason Briner knew it was dangerous to camp on the coast of Baffin Island, one of Canada’s most northern points, during the summer. Yet that’s exactly what he was doing eight years ago.

Carnegie Mellon University and UB are collaborating to advance physical access and public transportation for people with disabilities.

A sculptural wall located at Buffalo's Silo City and designed by architecture faculty members is a finalist in an international competition in computational design.

UB undergraduate students will travel to northern Peru next summer to conduct rigorous interdisciplinary research into the biological and chemical properties of indigenous medicinal plants.

Stingrays move through water with such ease that researchers from UB and Harvard University are studying how their movements could be used to build more maneuverable unmanned underwater vehicles.

On a clear September morning, Sandy Geffner, environmental studies faculty member, and Nick Peterson, Geffner’s student and a UB staff member, treaded through Letchworth Woods on the North Campus.

UB researchers are developing a deep-sea Internet. The technological breakthrough could lead to improvements in tsunami detection, pollution monitoring and other activities.

As Earth’s temperature climbs, the stony corals that form the backbone of ocean reefs are in decline.

The façade of the Burchfield Penney Art Center has been transformed into a permanent, constantly changing new media gallery, thanks to a collaboration between SUNY Buffalo State and the UB Department of Architecture.

Robert G. Shibley, professor and dean of the Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, has received the American Institute of Architects New York State (AIANYS) 2013 Educator Award.

For years, UB dining officials have heard students talk about eating healthier. And when it was meal show time and the students had to choose, they did what they always have done. They grabbed pizza, burgers and fries.

UB and community sponsors presented a public lecture last week by pioneering public health advocate Meredith Minkler, professor of health and social behavior at the University of California, Berkeley.

Traffic is light as you merge on the highway. But a few miles ahead, near a busy intersection, it starts to snow and cars are spinning off the road.

On a Tuesday morning in June, school groups huddle around the Buffalo Zoo’s polar bear exhibit. The children come and go in great, chattering waves of 20 or 30, oohing and aahing and balancing on tiptoe to get a better view.

A University at Buffalo-led research team receives $796,000 NSF grant to develop new management techniques for our nation’s superfund sites.

Students from UB’s new Sustainability Academy joined fellow undergraduates in touring Love Canal, the 700 block of Main Street, the Buffalo River and Silo City to learn about the region’s history of industrial pollution.

A UB study to examine the effects of emissions from the Tonawanda Coke plant on the health of residents is one of several initiatives being recommended by federal prosecutors.

Eco-minded students will have the chance to intern with environmental organizations and get a behind-the-scenes look at UB’s operations this year, thanks to the university’s new Sustainability Academy.

In 2006, Charles F. Zukoski, then a high-ranking administrator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was asked to support a plan to make the university climate neutral by 2030.

As Jennifer Berryman landscaped the front lawn of Bristol Homes on Wednesday, she remembered painting the nonprofit assisted living facility a year earlier.

The UB Society of Automotive Engineers' (SAE) team was the Best Emissions Winner in the SAE 2013 Clean Snowmobile Challenge.

Domus, an international magazine on architecture, art and design, recently sat down with Dean Robert Shibley to investigate the process behind the realization of UB's Solar Strand.

Tyler Manley is one of three members on the Massachusetts Avenue Project staff who majored or minored in philosophy. How did his University at Buffalo degree prepare him for his job?

When Andrea Martinez opts for the can of juice instead of the plastic bottle at the store, it’s apparent that the research she performed on pollution in Lake Ontario has had an effect on her.

Four UB students and two staff attended a conference at UMASS Amherst this summer to learn about permaculture.

A senior class project for Jerome O’Connor’s students is counting for much more than a final grade; it’s giving them real world experience and a chance to help people in need.

Fulbright scholar and climate activist Subhashni Raj will start her PhD at the university this fall as the first recipient of the Jerome L. Kaufman Doctoral Fellowship for the study of food-systems planning.

UB is offering a wide variety of summer camps, including a great program for the young nature lovers in your family.

The practical implications of environmental justice—fighting for the rights of poor and minority persons in neighborhoods unfairly burdened by toxic wastes—got a thorough airing at a recent forum co-sponsored by the UB Law School.

UB Campus Dining and Shops has been awarded silver in this year’s National College and University Food Service Association (NACUFS) Sustainability Awards contest.

The National Wildlife Federation has listed the Solar Strand and Letchworth Woods under its “Certified Wildlife Habitat” program.

A toxin dangerous to humans may help E. coli fend off aquatic predators, enabling strains of E. coli that produce the toxin to survive longer in lake water than benign counterparts, a new study finds.

A project that asks hikers, fishermen, birdwatchers, school kids and nature-lovers of all stripes to monitor stream levels is expanding from its home base in Western New York to three new states: Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.

A UB study has found that dedicated bike lanes are not necessarily the most important factors in reducing the severity of injuries in crashes between bikes and motor vehicles.

Last year two University at Buffalo students, Matthieu Bain and Andrew Perkins, purchased a house for $800, moved in, and lived there for a year while fixing it as best they could with only the city's discards and forgotten items.

Sarbajit Banerjee, co-director of UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics, delivered a fast-paced “moonshot” proposal in Washington, D.C., this month as part of Solve for X @ Global Diaspora Forum.

A mock, online grocery store created by Leonard H. Epstein, PhD, and colleagues will provide important evidence on how price and nutrient profiling—using the NuVal nutritional coding system—affect food purchase decisions.

Barely a year old, UB’s Solar Strand has produced 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity.

Most Americans want the U.S. to place more emphasis on developing solar power. A major impediment, however, is the cost to manufacture, install and maintain solar panels.

UB Law School faculty member Irus Braverman will embark on her next project while in residence at Cornell University during the 2013-14 academic year.

UB students are studying solutions for how to keep beaches safe from harmful bacteria levels.

Because information about climate change is ubiquitous in the media, researchers looked at why many Americans know so little about its causes and why many are not interested in finding out more.

“The Environment” is the theme of the eighth edition of the UBThisSummer Lecture Series, the annual summer series of talks by prominent UB faculty members.

The snow melting is one unmistakable sign, but for David Grabowski, it’s not really spring until he pulls his boots on and heads into the woods looking for dinner.

Many college students who head to the Dominican Republic for spring break are looking to enjoy the sun and sand. But 32 students from UB spent their break on this Caribbean Island teaching English to disadvantaged children.

Bill McKibben, author and founder of the global grassroots climate action campaign 350.org, will deliver the 2013 commencement address for School of Architecture and Planning.

Three UB students took first place in UB’s Panasci TEC for their plan to manufacture a material coating that can regulate heat from the sun in any building creating “smart” windows or surfaces.

The collaborative workshop is the third that UB is hosting with the EPA this year to improve the region’s sustainability

Fred Stoss, with his signature mustache and walleye tie, is a well-known name among certain circles on the island of Aruba. He’s also met former Vice President Al Gore several times.

UB is the 11th largest green power user among U.S. colleges and universities, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

A decade past graduation, Kevin Purdy has fond memories of a freshman year spent living in the University at Buffalo’s Ellicott Complex.

Renowned author and environmentalist Bill McKibben is delivering the School of Architecture and Planning’s Commencement address. 

Yankee, the male peregrine falcon nesting on the South Campus, has found a new mate. What’s more, the female—bird enthusiasts have named her “Dixie”—has produced four eggs.

Local activists, academics, community organizers and federal experts will exchange ideas toward making Western New York’s homes and communities healthier at a daylong environmental justice forum.

Solar power plants are often located behind fences, on rooftops or in hard-to-reach places. UB’s Solar Strand, believed to be the nation’s most publicly accessible photovoltaic array, is an exception. 

UB engineers and their students are improving the environment in Western New York and beyond.

PULL projects—multiyear Pop-Up Living Laboratories—aim to promote economic stabilization, neighborhood revitalization, crime reduction and a prosperous business district in the University Heights.

Starting this spring, you won’t need to BYOB—bring your own bicycle, that is—to UB. UB has teamed up with Buffalo BikeShare and a New York-based company to launch a beta test of an innovative new bicycle-sharing program.

A team of University at Buffalo architecture students have earned international recognition for Elevator B, their 22-foot-tall, honeycomb-style tower housing bees on Buffalo’s waterfront.

To get a glimpse of what the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens may look like in the future, head over and take a look at a new exhibit of designs that explores the possibilities.

UB hosted the Young Adult Environmental Leadership Program several weeks ago in Greiner Hall.

Engineers, architects, government administrators, scientists and others met to discuss how Western New York can prepare for, fund and create green infrastructure projects.

State wildlife officials today safely captured a female peregrine falcon that had been nesting in MacKay Tower on the University at Buffalo’s South Campus.

New research describes how long-time residents teamed up with gentrifiers and external environmental activists to push for the cleanup of Greenpoint’s Newtown Creek while preserving the area’s industrial roots.

Samina Raja has spent the better part of the past decade conducting research in the field of food security and heading the only research laboratory in the United States dedicated to food systems planning.

Earth’s exponentially growing population is a “wicked problem” at the root of every major issue plaguing Earth today, Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, said at a thought-provoking presentation March 6 in the Center for the Arts.

Energy-efficiency projects at UB made possible by NYSERDA will save the university approximately $513,000 in energy costs and eliminate more than 2.600 tons of global-warming, greenhouse gas emissions annually.

The director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will speak on how to increase food production in the context of a burgeoning global population, changing climate and diminishing natural resources.

In a series of experiments, the scientists created spherical silicon particles about 10 nanometers in diameter — a potential source of energy for fuel cells.

The hazards of breathing outdoor air in some Chinese cities are well-documented. A UB study confirms that breathing indoor air also carries significant cancer risks, especially for Chinese women.

The University at Buffalo is betting on an emerging field to boost private industry and economic development in Buffalo Niagara.

While most students were settling in for the semester, Alanna Olear, an environmental engineering major, was in campus bathrooms measuring the amount of paper towels used that day.

If it were possible to capture the soul of a city inside a single home, it might look something like the house that UB faculty member Dennis Maher has spent the past three years refurbishing on Buffalo’s West Side.

A rare collection of materials that could illuminate the personal beliefs of Robert Frost is being made available to the public for the first time, thanks to a UB emeritus faculty member.

UB is again proud to be ranked on the EPA Green Power Partnership list, based on power usage and renewable energy use. 

The term “sustainability,” as it relates to using Earth’s resources wisely, can be problematic, Timothy Killeen, president of the SUNY Research Foundation, said during a visit to UB.

Amy Kedron will be the first to tell you: No matter where she lives, she will always be from Buffalo.

For many, a trip to Louisiana centers on New Orleans and its fabled nightlife. Not so for 16 UB students who earlier this month spent a week volunteering in the wetlands of southern Louisiana.

Coral colonies that suffered tissue damage in The Bahamas were still producing low numbers of eggs four years after the injuries occurred, according to new research by UB scientists. 

Two UB experts will be doing important work on commissions analyzing how New York State can strengthen its response to natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy.

The Larkin District and its development and planning team, including the School of Architecture and Planning, won an honorable mention at the National Award for Smart Growth Achievement ceremony.

Robert G. Shibley, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, has received the Robert and Louise Bethune Award, from the American Institute of Architects’(AIA) Buffalo/Western New York chapter.

Essentially a blueprint of UB’s accomplishments and future goals, the report was certified “Silver” by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS). 

When gender-neutral housing was introduced this fall, the new policy reflected not only best practices, it also incorporated a transgendered student’s thoughtful analysis and the ethical principles of social work he holds dear.