ASU News - Research

Researchers document world's mammals in crisis

cderra — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:48:42 -0600

Science journal paper details threats to mammals worldwide as habitat loss and over exploitation take hold

From majestic African elephants to tiny and often unappreciated rodents, mammals on Earth are in a state of crisis. One in four mammal species on Earth is being pushed to extinction, according to the Global Mammal Assessment, the most comprehensive assessment of the world’s mammals.

Writing in the Oct. 10 issue of Science, (“The Status of the World’s Land and Marine Mammals: Diversity, Threat and Knowledge”) and unveiling a “Red List” of endangered mammal species (at the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain), the researchers who worked on the exhaustive study say that from 25 percent to 36 percent of species may be in danger of extinction.

“It is frightening that after millions and millions of years of evolution that have given rise to the biodiversity of mammals we are perched on a crisis where 25 percent of species are threatened with being lost forever,” says Andrew Smith, an ASU professor who played a key role in the mammalian assessment. Smith and his research assistant, Charlotte Johnson, are two of the 103 authors of the Science paper.

The Global Mammal Assessment was conducted by more than 1,800 scientists from more than 130 countries working under the auspices of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It was made possible by the volunteer help of IUCN Species Survival Commission’s specialist groups, and by collaborations between top institutions and universities, including ASU, Texas A&M University, the University of Virginia, Conservation International, Sapienza Università di Roma and the Zoological Society of London.

The mammal assessment is the first comprehensive look at the health of terrestrial and marine mammals across the globe. It is a companion assessment to similar documentation of the world’s amphibians, released four years ago by IUCN.

“Mammals are important because they play key roles in ecosystems and provide important benefits to humans,” Smith explained. “If you lose a mammal, you often are in danger of losing many other species.”

The assessment shows that at least 1,141 of the 5,487 mammals on Earth are known to be threatened with extinction. At least 76 mammals have become extinct since A.D. 1500. The real situation could be much worse, as 836 mammals are listed as “data deficient.”

The culprits driving this precarious position include habitat loss and over exploitation for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, global warming and over exploitation for marine mammals, Smith says.

“Within our lifetime, hundreds of species could be lost as a result of our own actions – a frightening sign of what is happening to the ecosystems where they live,” says Julia Marton-Lefevre, IUCN director general in announcing the Red List. “We must now set clear targets for the future to reverse this trend to ensure that our enduring legacy is not to wipe out many of our closest relatives.”

In the Science article, which includes the contributions of more than 1,700 scientists, the researchers say 188 mammals are in the highest threat category of “critically endangered,” including the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), which has a population of just 84 to 143 adults and has continued to decline because of a shortage of its primary prey, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

China’s Père David’s Deer (Elaphurus davidianus), is listed as “extinct in the wild.” However, the captive and semi-captive populations have increased in recent years, and it is possible that truly wild populations could be re-established soon. It may be too late, however, to save the additional 29 species that have been flagged as “critically endangered, possibly extinct,” including Cuba’s Little Earth Hutia (Mesocapromys sanfelipensis), which has not been seen in nearly 40 years.

Nearly 450 mammals have been listed as “endangered,” including the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), after its global population declined by more than 60 percent in the last 10 years due to a fatal infectious facial cancer. The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), found in Southeast Asia, was listed as endangered due to habitat loss in wetlands. Similarly, status of the Caspian seal (Pusa caspica) was moved to endangered. Its population has declined by 90 percent in the last 100 years due to unsustainable hunting and habitat degradation.

Habitat loss and degradation affect 40 percent of the world’s mammals. It is most extreme in Central and South America, west, east and central Africa, Madagascar, and in southern and southeastern Asia. Over harvesting is wiping out larger mammals, especially in Southeast Asia, but also in parts of Africa and South America.

The Grey-faced Sengi or Elephant-shrew (Rhynchocyon udzungwensis) is only known from two forests in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania, both of which are protected but vulnerable to fires. The species was first described this year and has been placed in the vulnerable category.

To improve the current state of these mammals, Smith suggests a few actions that could help immediately.

“Curtail the trade of endangered species,” he says. “It would do an amazing amount of good for stabilizing the situation in Southeast Asia, which is a biodiversity hot spot. There also is so much needless habitat loss. Trees from too many lush tropical forests end up as coffee tables or in high-end furniture.”

Conservation’s role

“Our results paint a bleak picture of the global status of mammals worldwide,” the authors of the Science article write. “Yet, more than simply reporting on the depressing status of the world’s mammals, these Red List data can and should be used to inform strategies for addressing this crisis, for example, to identify priority species and areas for conservation.

“Further, these data can be used to indicate trends in conservation status over time,” they add. “Despite the general deterioration in the status of mammals, our data also show that species recoveries are possible through targeted conservation efforts.”

For example, the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) moved from extinct in the wild to endangered after a successful reintroduction by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service into eight western states and Mexico from 1991 to 2008. Similarly, the Wild Horse (Equus ferus) moved from extinct in the wild in 1996 to critically endangered this year after successful reintroductions started in Mongolia in the early 1990s.

The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) moved from vulnerable to near threatened, although its status varies considerably across its range. The move reflects the recent and ongoing population increases in major populations in southern and eastern Africa. These increases are big enough to outweigh any decreases that may be taking place elsewhere.

“This work sets a benchmark for us to understand what is happening with biodiversity of mammals worldwide and provides a platform from which all future conservation efforts can be measured,” says Smith, who initiated the database that was used to inventory the world’s mammals. “This effort hopefully will spur greater attention on the conservation of mammals and the habitats they occupy, for the benefit of all biodiversity.”

Article Source:
Andrew Smith, (480) 965-4024

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NASA picks ASU team to guide study of search for life

nstaab — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:17:58 -0600

Humans have long pondered the possibility that life exists beyond Earth. The quest for habitable worlds has focused on searching for water, but “following the water” turns out to be too general a criterion. The list of planets and satellites that possess liquid water is growing faster than can be explored. As one of the new NASA Astrobiology Institute teams, Arizona State University researchers intend to boost extraterrestrial exploration to the next stage by refining the criteria that guide the search for life.

The multidisciplinary field of astrobiology explores the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life on Earth and in the universe. The need for experts in areas as diverse as Earth and planetary science, astrophysics, microbiology, cosmochemistry, and evolutionary biology, gave rise to the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI). Established as part of NASA’s Astrobiology Program, the NAI developed as a partnership between NASA and teams located at academic institutions, research laboratories, and NASA centers across the U.S. More than 700 scientists and educators are associated with the NAI.

NASA announced Oct. 2 that ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration is one of 10 research teams from across the country to be awarded five-year grants, averaging $7 million each. ASU previously operated as an NAI team and was a charter member of the NAI when the program was founded in 1998. The team is centered in the School of Earth and Space Exploration, an academic unit in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, but also involves several faculty members from other college units including the School of Life Sciences, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Beyond Center.

The ASU team, under the direction of principal investigator Ariel Anbar, a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the department of chemistry and biochemistry, attributes much of its recent success to the original ASU NAI team for the positive precedent that it created.

“Our proposal was built on the legacy of the 1999-2004 ASU NAI team, led by Professor Jack Farmer. ASU developed a strong reputation in the astrobiology community during those years in large measure because of the activities of that team,” says Anbar. “That reputation helped attract some of us to ASU – it certainly attracted me.”

“Few scientific questions capture the imagination like studies of the origin of life. Such research is central to the mission of the School of Earth and Space Exploration,” says Kip Hodges, director of the school. “Many of our faculty members have been involved in these efforts for years, and it is gratifying to see their contributions recognized through this award.”

The ASU team is joined by researchers from partner institutions and centers including University of California, Riverside; University of California, Merced; Rice University and University of Illinois – Chicago, as well as NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at the University of New South Wales and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Under the direction of Anbar, the team plans to refine the criteria to guide the search for life by characterizing life’s elemental requirements.

Astrobiologists assume that life may develop and survive on any planet that has water and energy. But in the search for extraterrestrial life, these criteria are too vague. Within the solar system there is abundant evidence of water-rich environments. Focused exploration on Mars has identified many ancient aqueous environments, Galileo spacecraft data indicate that the icy crust of Europa conceals a salty ocean, and the Cassini mission discovered water jets on Enceladus. Beyond the solar system, there are probably many Earth-like planets. Theories suggest that many of these planets are “waterworlds,” with oceans so deep that they have no exposed continents. All of these environments have sufficient energy to support microbial life.

“Water and energy are necessary but not sufficient,” says Anbar. “Look at Earth. Nearly half the planet’s surface is covered by ocean regions in which life is scarce. The reason is that these regions don’t have high enough concentrations of the chemical elements necessary for life. So the next step in the search for life is to ‘follow the elements’.”

The team will pursue a three-pronged research initiative to explore the relationship between the elemental composition of organisms and their environments, the impact of planetary processes on the abundance of bioessential elements, and the effects of astrophysical processes on the abundance of life-supporting elements.

Planetary missions within the solar system are expensive and rare and investigations outside the solar system are not feasible for all of the hundreds of anticipated Earth-like planets with liquid water. The resources available for astrobiology exploration are limited, so narrowing down the search criteria will be beneficial.

Yet impacts of this research extend beyond aiding in the targeting and interpretation of data from space missions. In line with the School of Earth and Space Exploration’s mission of improving science literacy both on and off campus, the ASU team has plans to engage students and teachers in the discovery process through virtual field trips and educator workshops, and an innovative approach to training secondary school science teachers.

“The opportunities this provides for us to raise the profile of astrobiology in our graduate and undergraduate educational programs is especially exciting,” says Hodges.

Archaeologist fuses anthropological approaches

rhowe — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:07:00 -0600

Arizona State University doctoral student Scott Ortman, a rising star in the field of Southwest archaeology, is helping to close the gap between theory and data with his training in quantitative and qualitative work and his skillful way of linking the two.

“A perennial problem in archaeology is that we have many interesting theoretical ideas – for example, how humans perpetuate material traditions – but we often do not know how to apply that theory to our data, such as counts of potsherds,” states archaeologist Michelle Hegmon, a professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ School of Human Evolution and Social Change and chair of Ortman’s committee.

According to Hegmon, Ortman’s dissertation – titled Genes, Language and Culture in Tewa Ethnogenesis – and the way he prepared for it exemplify new directions in teaching and research.

Centering on the migration of people from the Mesa Verde region in the 13th century A.D., the project tackles a classic archaeological problem: Is recent human diversity the result of correlated or independent change in genes, language and culture? Ortman is addressing this research from a broad perspective that crosscuts the traditional subfields of anthropology and combines it with powerful quantitative approaches. He is investigating changes in genes (bioarchaeology), language (linguistic anthropology) and material culture (archaeology) to take a fresh look at the migration of a particular group over time to see whether there are predictable conditions under which genes, language and culture travel together.

Investigating an ancient mystery

“I’m studying the role of large-scale population movements in generating human diversity,” says Ortman. “Existing models in archaeology tend to view the social consequences of migration as being governed by the ‘social kinetics’ of the situation—the relative size of the immigrant vs. local population, the size of migrating groups, the pace of movement, etc. This leads to the assumption that, when immigrants outnumbered locals, it should be pretty easy to identify where they came from.”

But Ortman’s subject doesn’t fit this model. As he explains, “What I’ve found is that the genes and language of the Tewa-speaking pueblos of New Mexico derived almost exclusively from the Mesa Verde area of southwestern Colorado, but their material culture derived largely from local New Mexico antecedents. In fact, the disjunction in material culture between the Mesa Verde homeland and the New Mexico destination is so complete that, using only archaeological evidence, one would be hard-pressed to argue that a migration between the two areas even occurred.”

Ortman has come to realize that such problems are only difficult to fathom when viewed through the “social kinetics” lens.

“Why should we assume that migrants necessarily want to do things as they have always done?” he asks. “Of course they do in some cases, but in others, social change may be the reason for moving. Archaeologists are finding more and more ways that the pueblos encountered by the earliest Spanish explorers differed from the earlier pueblo societies of Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Perhaps these differences were intentional and resulted from the collective and conscious choices of people who vacated the Ancestral Pueblo area over the course of the 13th century.” Ortman is enthused about the implications of this scenario for archaeology and human evolution.

Looking across approaches

Ortman’s training in multiple methodologies allows him to explore anthropological issues—such as the Mesa Verde migration—from various perspectives. The flexible, interdisciplinary nature of ASU’s doctoral program in anthropology enabled him to assemble an extraordinary team of faculty renowned for their expertise in their respective subdisciplines. Along with Hegmon, Ortman works with National Academy of Science member Jane Buikstra and assistant professor Chris Stojanowski, specialists in bioarchaeology, and Elizabeth Brandt, professor of linguistics and sociocultural anthropology.

Brandt is excited about Ortman’s research because “it involves the application of cognitive linguistic theory to archaeology, which is highly innovative.” She adds, “I know of no one else who has used this theory as productively as Scott has in archaeology. His current research is also very interesting, as he is crossing several disciplines and subdisciplines to bring the power of those theories and methods to bear on a major research question.”

Ortman has made significant contributions to the field of anthropology. “In articles published in our field’s flagship journal, American Antiquity, Scott has developed empirical methods that allow him to apply linguistic and metaphor theory to interpret pottery design change, and he has used Bayesian empirical methods—mathematical concepts that combine rational inference and physical causality—to analyze survey data, thereby interpreting major changes in settlement,” says Hegmon.

Due to graduate by May 2009, Ortman is already a well-published and respected researcher. While completing his dissertation, he is serving as acting director of research at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, one of the premier archaeological research facilities in the nation. His long list of accomplishments includes a National Science Foundation pre-doctoral fellowship and the Ruppé Prize for the best student paper in archaeology—an award usually reserved for senior students that Ortman managed to earn in the first year of his master’s program. Most recently, Ortman was awarded a Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies Early Career Fellowship Program.

Rebecca Howe, rebecca.howe@asu.edu
School of Human Evolution and Social Change
(480) 727-6577

Lecture to focus on health law

lfaling — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:21:48 -0600

J.A. (Tony) Patterson Jr., of Fulbright & Jaworski, presents a lecture and discussion on a health law-related topic.

Held at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU, Armstrong Hall, 1100 S. McAllister Ave., room 114, Tempe campus. This free event is sponsored by ASU’s Center for the Study of Law, Science, & Technology.

For more information, contact Sandy Askland at (480) 965-2465 or Sandy.Askland@asu.edu.

Research expenditures shoot up during 2008 fiscal year

cderra — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:19:00 -0600

Arizona State University’s research expenditures in fiscal year 2008 (FY08) grew to nearly $238 million, up $19 million, or 8.7 percent compared to FY07. This growth happened during a time when university funding for research by the federal government failed to match inflation.

“Our growth shows how varied and significant our research is at Arizona State University,” emphasized R.F. “Rick” Shangraw Jr., ASU vice president for research and economic affairs. “This bodes well for our future because we have a strong, diverse research portfolio which crosses and integrates many disciplines, and is vital to our country.”

“Our expenditures grew in what generally was a flat year for university research because of our interdisciplinary research expertise,” added Stephen Goodnick, ASU associate vice president of research. “The areas we grew the most – biosciences, alternative energy and flexible displays – all are interdisciplinary research areas.”

ASU’s $237.5 million total research dollars for FY08 comes from a variety of sources. ASU spent $190.5 million in funds received from the federal government, industry and other private sources; $34.4 million in state funds (including Technology & Research Initiative Funds from state sales tax revenue); $6.4 million from the ASU Foundation specifically for research projects; $2.8 million from foreign sources; and nearly $1.7 million from local governments.

ASU, a Research I university, has targeted several areas for growth in its research enterprise, Goodnick said. These include alternative energy and biosciences research. ASU draws on the interdisciplinary nature of its research teams to tackle challenging societal problems.

“Our biggest growth was in funds from the National Institutes of Health,” said Goodnick. “This is attributable, in part, to our large investment in biosciences over the past five years.”

“We’ve also had continued growth in Department of Defense funding, primarily due to the Flexible Display Center and its ground breaking work in information delivery,” he added. “We have had an increase in NASA funding, due in part to Mark Robinson and his work with the lunar reconnaissance mission, and we have experienced growth in alternative energy funding, like the ‘tubes in the desert’ project funded by the Science Foundation of Arizona and British Petroleum.”

In total, federal agencies that have provided the most to ASU include the NIH with more than $40.5 million, followed by the National Science Foundation ($39.2 million), NASA ($15.8 million), the U.S. Army ($14.5 million) and the Department of Education ($14.2 million).

ASU projects that brought in the most funds were the Flexible Display Center ($9.4 million), the Microscale Life Sciences Center ($7.5 million), the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera ($5.3 million) and a project on alternative energy that focuses on development of cyanobacteria for generating solar-powered, carbon-neutral biodeisel fuels ($4.7 million).

While ASU’s growth in a down year was good, Goodnick sees the future as being even brighter. He said the number of awards made to ASU during FY08 (which generally will be counted as expenditures in FY09) are up significantly.

“We have more than $272 million in awards this year, so we expect expenditures next year will grow accordingly,” Goodnick said. “This increase in awards is in line with our growth projections for ASU research in the future.”

Lucy fossil continues to inspire, educate

rhowe — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:35:13 -0600

The 3.2-million-year-old Australopith named Lucy has been called the poster child for human evolution. Discovered in 1974 by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson, currently a professor in Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Lucy continues to mesmerize the scientific community and those interested in the journey of humankind.

Lucy is the oldest bipedal adult human ancestor ever found, and her remains are additionally remarkable because of the level of completeness: 40% intact. These ancient bones are normally housed in the National Museum of Ethiopia in Lucy’s homeland; however, they will be on display in Seattle’s Pacific Science Center from October 4, 2008, until March 8, 2009. A cast of the original remains is available for public viewing in the Institute of Human Origins, located on the ASU Tempe campus.

ASU’s Nash earns Distinguished Primatologist Award

rhowe — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:51:00 -0600

Professor Leanne Nash of ASU’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change has been selected by the American Society of Primatologists to receive the 2008 Distinguished Primatologist Award. According to the society’s president, Suzette Tardif, Nash is “a woman who has steadfastly and with understatement held strong to the principles of conducting rigorous and diverse scientific research.” She also pegs her as an academician who forges strong collegial relationships and offers her “sound mentorship to students altruistically.”

A pioneer in the field of nocturnal primate research, Nash was one of the first primatologists to study exudates, or plant gum, which some primates eat and ferment in their guts. She has researched a broad range of primates but is perhaps best known for her work with galagos—popularly known as bushbabies—small nocturnal primates from continental Africa.

In fact, in the 1970s, Nash instituted a galagos colony on ASU’s Tempe campus and oversaw the group until 1994, when the remaining animals were transferred to the Phoenix Zoo and Duke University. The colony was a success on many levels, providing great insight into a species that previously had been studied on a relatively limited basis while providing unique research opportunities for students.

Nash is not one to be pigeonholed. Her legacy is far-reaching and includes notable integrative research on captive and wild animals, including mother-infant interactions, and extensive work regarding the psychological welfare of captive animals. She has been associated with the Primate Foundation of Arizona since her 1971 arrival at ASU.

Hailed for her ability to inspire and motivate, Nash is a natural mentor who enjoys working with students, especially in smaller settings where she can offer more personal attention. When asked what advice she has for students, she answers, “The most important thing is to find the best questions to ask and not be species specific. Be prepared to learn about what’s thrown in your path and take advantage of the situation.”

Also, on a more practical note, she offers, “Don’t expect glamour in the field. You will spend less than 1/10th of your time observing animals and may spend a year in a tent living off rice and beans, so make sure this work is really something you want to do.”

Nash has done fieldwork in such exotic locales as Madagascar, Makapansgat and Gombe, where Jane Goodall asked her to direct a long-term baboon field project. Unfortunately, that plan was derailed by a kidnapping that put a halt to foreigners’ fieldwork at Gombe for several years. But that didn’t stop Nash from traveling to other African locales to initiate her field research on wild nocturnal primates.

A member of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and former executive board member, Nash teaches undergraduate and graduate courses while continuing her research. She also edits and writes an impressive number of publications each year. Tardif calls her collective written works “the bible” for nocturnal primate specialists.

Rebecca Howe, rebecca.howe@asu.edu
School of Human Evolution and Social Change
(480) 727-6577

Bioengineering leader set to inject entrepreneurial spirit

jkullman — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:00:00 -0600

An accomplished researcher, scholar, administrator and entrepreneur is the new chair of the Harrington Department of Bioengineering in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University.

William Ditto comes to ASU from the University of Florida, where he is the founding chair of the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, and holds the position of J. Crayton Pruitt Family Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair.

Ditto worked in research for the U.S. Navy and in prominent science and engineering departments at Georgia Tech and Emory University prior to joining the University of Florida in 2002.

He has founded three companies based on technological advances developed through his research.

The entrepreneurial spirit that is a focus of ASU’s model for the “New American University” is a significant factor in his decision to take a new job.

“A cornerstone of ASU’s philosophy is the encouragement of rapid movement from creativity and discovery to invention, to putting new technology out there into the market and the community,” he said. “I want to become a part of that trajectory of aggressive innovation that ASU is leading.”

Deirdre Meldrum, dean of the engineering school, said Ditto was selected for his potential to play a key role in plans to expand the school and cement its place among the leading engineering schools in the nation.

“His creativity, experience and tenacity to implement ideas will enable ASU to build stronger partnerships with the medical community in the Valley, to grow our bioengineering research and to train out students to be the biotechnology leaders of the future,” Meldrum said.

Community support of biomedical research, along with the talent at ASU and many of the hospitals and health care institutions in the Phoenix area, excite Ditto about opportunities in Arizona. “All of this provides a good environment for bioengineering endeavors to accomplish the kind of progress that is going to better the human condition,” he said.

There currently are 16 full-time faculty in the Harrington Department of Bioengineering and about 110 students in its graduate programs. About 425 undergraduates are majoring in bioengineering.

He plans to structure the department to maximize opportunities for faculty – and students – to become innovators and entrepreneurs, particularly in helping create a “bio-silicon valley” in the Phoenix area.

Ditto said he wants to take “a bold and inventive approach to educating future leaders in biotechnology. I hope many of our graduates will be taking their mastery of bioengineering into medicine, law, politics, government and many other endeavors.”

Ditto’s achievements have drawn recognition in a variety of technological areas.

Aspects of his work on control of chaotic behavior – an irregular but ubiquitous behavior in physical and biological systems ranging from cardiac arrhythmia to brain seizures – have been featured in magazines and newspapers such as Science News, Time, Discover, Scientific American, Nature, Science, The New York Times and the Washington Post.

His work on control of cardiac and neural chaos has gained international attention and led to several patents for control of cardiac chaos and neural chaos.

He has been a semi-finalist in Discovery magazine’s Awards for Technical Innovation, and named one of the Top 50 Research and Development Stars of 1995 by the publication Industry Week.

Results of his research and development efforts in computer science and engineering earned accolades from PC Magazine as one of the “10 coolest technologies,” and were featured in the international magazine The Economist and the MIT Technology Review, among others.

His work also includes the development of therapies and devices for the control of epilepsy and the imaging of cardiac arrhythmia.

Recently his contributions were recognized when he was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.

Earlier in his career he was named Outstanding Young Professional of the Year by the Naval Surface Warfare Center and later received an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award.

Ditto earned his Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles and his Ph.D. in physics from Clemson University.

ASU research sets stage for ‘green’ growth in Arizona

lccampb — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:09:28 -0600

Arizona State University’s environmental research and public outreach efforts have led to a host of benefits for Arizona through the years. In key areas that include renewable energy, riparian ecosystems, urban ecology and community policymaking, the university has impacted the state’s sustainable landscape as well as contributed to the development of a unique educational opportunity for training sustainability professionals.

“Long rooted in the culture of ASU is the idea of working in interdisciplinary teams to make the world a better place,” says Jonathan Fink, the Julie Ann Wrigley Director of ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability. “Through our research, education and outreach to the community our goal is to improve the lives of future generations.”

Solarizing our energy supply

Arizona’s favorable climate set the stage for ASU to develop strong solar energy research, development and education programs over the years starting in the mid-1950s. The school served as an early headquarters for the most prestigious solar energy organization of the time, the Association for Applied Solar Energy (now the International Solar Energy Society), and this involvement helped attract professors and researchers to ASU who would go on to win major research grants, develop innovative solar energy systems, and then demonstrate their ideas in novel solar buildings and devices that still influence solar designs today.

As an outgrowth of ASU research, several demonstration projects were built in Arizona, including the ASU Solar Research House, which opened in 1981 and helped train a generation of solar professionals, and the APS Environmental Showcase Home, which opened in the 1990s and demonstrated sustainable design ideas to tens of thousands of visitors over the last 15 plus years.

In the early 1990s, the university’s solar expertise helped attract funding to establish the Photovoltaic Testing Laboratory at ASU’s Polytechnic campus, at the time the only such testing lab in the country and one of only three in the world.

In addition to its R&D program, which includes fuel cell development, the lab provides certification testing of photovoltaic technologies for companies and research centers in Arizona and around the world. The lab also donates tested PV modules to the community – primarily to schools – and for other charitable purposes. More recently, ASU hired two top solar researchers and an industry innovator to establish ASU’s Solar Power Laboratory, for which the main focus is to foster economic development for Arizona by advancing clean, sustainable solar energy technologies that can be used throughout Arizona and the Southwest.

Treating water like gold

ASU scientists have long worked to protect and rehabilitate priceless riparian habitats by understanding their dynamics and needs. In the early 1970s, researchers with ASU’s Center for Environmental Studies (a precursor of the Global Institute of Sustainability) and their students began long-term studies of the Colorado River in Arizona, its tributaries, and its associated native fish, birds and other animals. One impact of this work has been the experimental releases of simulated floodwaters into the Grand Canyon as an attempt to rebuild a declining habitat.

ASU researchers and students also founded the Arizona Riparian Council in 1986 to facilitate the exchange of information about riparian management among scientists and public agencies in the state. This organization was one of the groups instrumental in convincing APS to decommission its dam on Fossil Creek and return natural flows to the creek.

Understanding the ecology of our city

In 1997 ASU was named as one of only two institutions to win a grant to study the ecology of its urban environment. The resulting Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research project (CAP LTER) is still going strong, not only producing a rich body of data and perspectives on how humans affect and interact with their environments – a critical need as the planet rapidly urbanizes – but also training hundreds of students in interdisciplinary research methods related to urban ecology involving 11 schools and departments at ASU and more than 150 graduate students.

The project’s outreach arm, Ecology Explorers, has worked with more than 140 school teachers across the Valley in 25 school districts, four charter schools and two private schools, most of which serve large percentages of low-income and minority children.

Making great policies

One of the most recent tools developed to enhance policymaking and to create a more sustainable future in Arizona is the Decision Theater at ASU. Tackling complex issues such as urban growth, education, public health and the environment, the Decision Theater’s approach to great decisions involves a collaborative process, the best science available and interactive visualization through modeling and simulation. Three different examples illustrate its work with local communities.

• Education: Scottsdale Unified School District needed to forecast student enrollment through the year 2030. Decision Theater created a way to display and analyze data with predictive modeling and geospatial visualization to show likely outcomes from different scenarios.

• Disease control: To improve possible reactions to a pandemic flu outbreak, Decision Theater provided a realistic visualization to health officials using scenarios created through simulated television news stories, demographic data panels and escalating threat levels. This gave participants a means to test different management protocols, see their impacts and make corrections to address previously unseen gaps.

• Water: As part of a long-term project for the East Valley Water Forum, Decision Theater built a 3D water modeling tool that helps public and private agencies develop and manage a sustainable water supply. The modeling tool allows participants to compare their goals with the impacts of their actions and policy decisions, thereby letting policymakers take a virtual look to choose actions that best lead to a sustainable water supply.

Educating for sustainability

To educate the next generation of leaders for Arizona and the world, ASU opened the School of Sustainability in 2007. It is the first in the nation to offer graduate and undergraduate degrees in sustainability.

The school brings together multiple disciplines and leaders to train a new generation of scholars and practitioners on how to develop practical solutions for the most pressing environmental, economic and social challenges that are part of sustainability. As of September 2008, the school has accepted 55 graduate students and 185 undergraduates, and is providing classes for 145 business majors seeking a concentration in sustainability.

Rick Heffernon, rick.heffernon@asu.edu
Global Institute of Sustainability

Recycling Program comes to Downtown Phoenix campus

mgterril — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:09:00 -0600

ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus is showing its true colors when it comes to sustainability.

New colored recycling containers for paper, plastic and aluminum were distributed throughout the Downtown Phoenix campus in building corridors, vending and staff areas this past month. That effort, along with a new agreement with a disposal company, will allow for “co-mingling” of recyclable materials and further the sustainability efforts of ASU.

“While less than visible efforts for recycling were already in place, we found that the bulk of what was being disposed of as trash were items that were recyclable,” said Cathie Fox, facilities management director for the Downtown Phoenix campus. “By converting the compactors currently used for trash, to be used for recyclable materials, we are able to implement a co-mingled recycling program in a space-challenged environment. By employing this method we’re helping the environment and using the most cost effective method to dispose of trash.”

Fox said the Downtown Phoenix campus recently purchased approximately 100 sets of bins and an additional 600 desk-side containers, which will be distributed to all offices and work stations across the campus.

Janitorial staff will empty the large yellow, blue and green bins and smaller desk-side containers once a week in addition to regular trash pickup, making it easy for staff, faculty and students to participate. Even though the program is co-mingled, having bins that separate recyclable items helps to minimize the contamination from other waste that typically happens with one universal recycle container. It also helps educate the community at large of what can be recycled and what is trash, Fox said.

“We were very strategic about this recycling investment and continue to work to further the sustainability efforts of ASU,” Fox said. “We’re hoping that the amount of waste disposed of will go down and recycled material will go up.”

The co-mingled recycling program will be fully operational at the Downtown Phoenix campus by Oct. 1. ASU’s Tempe campus implemented a co-mingled recycling program this past summer.

Contact:
Cathie Fox, cmfox@asu.edu
602.496.1506