School of Natural Resources and Environment

Conservation Ecology News & Highlights

Third Century Initiative

Five SNRE Faculty Receive Funding Through Third Century Initiative

Five researchers at the School of Natural Resources and Environment received funding under a new University of Michigan program to promote interdisciplinary work. The funded projects are examining the challenges facing resource-constrained environments and sustainable transportation.

The Global Challenges for a Third Century (TCI) program, as the initiative is called, funded fewer than 15 percent of submitted proposals.

SPH's Joseph Eisenberg (left), and SNRE's Rebecca Hardin and Johannes Foufopoulos.

SNRE, Public Health researchers share expertise to study health systems in Africa

It’s the kind of scientific question tailor-made for interdisciplinary research. How does Q-fever, a highly contagious and still largely untracked disease, move among people, livestock, and wild animals, and what are the long-term effects of its presence on human health and economic systems? Answers may be closer to emerging because of M-Cubed, a new University of Michigan program that is awarding nearly 200 grants to jumpstart interdisciplinary work. The two-year, $15 million effort encourages faculty to explore major issues facing the planet, from climate change and poverty to health and energy.

A satellite image of Lake Erie on Sept. 3, 2011, overlaid on a map of the lake and its tributaries. This image shows the bloom about six weeks after its initiation in the lake's western basin. On this date, it covers the entire western basin and is beginning to expand into the central basin. Map by Michigan Sea Grant.

Record-breaking 2011 Lake Erie algae bloom may be sign of things to come

The largest harmful algae bloom in Lake Erie's recorded history was likely caused by the confluence of changing farming practices and weather conditions that are expected to become more common in the future due to climate change. Rather than an isolated, one-time occurrence, it was more likely a harbinger of things to come, according to U-M researchers and other.

SNRE Alumni and Students Gather at Jolly Pumpkin

SNRE students and alums gathered Thursday for their regular happy hour at Jolly Pumpkin. Tom Wagner, Class of '71 (pictured on right) told stories about his days in the Dana Building before SNR got its 'E', Erik Herzog, Class of '89, told us about his work at the EPA and 2004 graduate Michael DiRamio talked about the beginnings of the Sustainable Systems track. A good time had by all! Thanks to all the students and alums who came! We look forward to this every month.

 

-SNRE Alumni Gateway

Allan named to EPA Great Lakes Advisory Board

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced on behalf of 16 federal agencies the membership of the first advisory board to support implementation of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. “Protecting the Great Lakes -- the largest surface freshwater system on Earth -- is important for the health and well being of millions of people," said EPA Acting Administrator and Acting Interagency Task Force Chair Bob Perciasepe. "Today I’m pleased to announce the membership of the first-ever Great Lakes Advisory Board.”

Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest

Protected areas successfully prevent deforestation in Amazon rainforest

Strictly protected areas such as national parks and biological reserves have been more effective at reducing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest than so-called sustainable-use areas that allow for controlled resource extraction, two University of Michigan researchers and their colleagues have found. In addition, protected areas established primarily to safeguard the rights and livelihoods of indigenous people performed especially well in places where deforestation pressures are high. The U-M-led study, which found that all forms of protection successfully limit deforestation, is scheduled for online publication March 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Brad Cardinale Addresses the Impact of Biodiversity on Humanity in Recent Article

Brad Cardinale, School of Natural Resources and Environment's associate professor and director of the school's conservation ecology program recently had an opinion piece about biodiversity and its impact on humanity published in the professional magazine, The Scientist. 

Cardinale focuses on increasing evidence that suggests that loss of the Earth's biological diversity will compromise our planet's ability to provide the goods and services societies need to prosper. 

Peter M. Wege and his sustainability legacy at U-M

The Center for Sustainable Systems at the School of Natural Resources and Environment annually invites an internationally recognized leader to deliver the Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustainability. Established in 2001, the lecture series is named to honor Peter M. Wege, the retired vice-chairman of the board of Steelcase, Inc., in Grand Rapids, Mich.

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