Environment and Sustainability

News about UB’s environmental programs and related sustainability initiatives. (see all topics)

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  • Japanese Tsunami's Effects Will Change How and Where Future Nuclear Power Plants are Built
    3/15/11
    The design of next-generation nuclear power plants and other critical energy facilities will undoubtedly be influenced by the Japanese tsunami and its devastating effects on Japan's nuclear reactors, says Michael C. Constantinou, PhD, professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering at the University at Buffalo.
  • Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Created a 'Cascading Event'
    3/14/11
    The magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the coast of northern Japan and the tsunami it triggered demonstrate the need for an integrated approach to preparing for, mitigating and responding to extreme events, say researchers at the University at Buffalo, MCEER and the UB Center for GeoHazards Studies, who spoke to media in a briefing Friday on UB's North Campus. Video commentary from UB faculty experts is available here: http://bit.ly/eeUn1S
  • A Nano-Solution to Global Water Problem: Nanomembranes Could Filter Bacteria
    2/21/11
    New nanomaterials research from the University at Buffalo could lead to new solutions for an age-old public health problem: how to separate bacteria from drinking water.
  • New Study to Use Smart Phones to Track Air Pollution Exposure
    2/8/11
    University at Buffalo researchers are creating a new and unusual "app" for the smart phone: tracking air pollution.
  • Scientists Find Industrial Pollutants in Eastern Lake Erie Carp
    1/21/11
    Researchers from Upstate New York institutions, including the University at Buffalo, have documented elevated levels of two industrial pollutants in carp in eastern Lake Erie, adding to the body of scientific work demonstrating the lasting environmental effects of human activity and waste disposal on the Great Lakes.
  • Pest Architecture: MacDowell Colony Fellowship to Support Architect's Work on Pest Wall
    1/4/11
    University at Buffalo architecture faculty member Joyce Hwang will spend five weeks this spring at the nation's oldest artists' colony, where she will conclude a semester-long sabbatical devoted to a project she hopes to build in Buffalo: Pest Wall.
  • UB Efforts to Make University Heights a "Greener" Place to Live Are Paying Off
    11/11/10
    An initiative to educate residents in the neighborhood around the University at Buffalo South Campus about the benefits of recycling is paying off, thanks to the efforts of UB's Off Campus Student Services, UB Green and the UB Honors College.
  • 'Fracking' Mobilizes Uranium in Marcellus Shale, UB Research Finds
    10/25/10
    Scientific and political disputes over drilling Marcellus shale for natural gas have focused primarily on the environmental effects of pumping millions of gallons of water and chemicals deep underground to blast through rocks to release the natural gas. But University at Buffalo researchers have now found that that process -- called hydraulic fracturing or "fracking"-- also causes uranium that is naturally trapped inside Marcellus shale to be released, raising additional environmental concerns.
  • Radioactivity from Groundwater will be Filtered for Decades by Volcanic Rocks at Western New York Nuclear Waste Site
    10/21/10
    A massive treatment wall under construction this week at a Western New York nuclear waste cleanup site will stop radioactive contamination in its tracks for literally decades, according to University at Buffalo engineers who modeled and tested the wall's material.
  • Scientists Track an Insidious Toxic Substance in China
    10/20/10
    Scientists at the University at Buffalo and the Chinese University of Mining and Technology/Beijing are tracing a toxic trajectory of excess fluorine, which may be crippling millions of people with skeletal fluorosis in a poor, remote Chinese province. The disease causes chronic joint pain and leads to muscle wasting and crippling spine and major joint deformities. Most often, the source is excess fluorine in polluted water, but in certain areas in China it comes from coal.