Environment and Sustainability

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

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  • Fans Can View Falcon Chicks Even As they Grow This Spring
    4/12/11
    Viewers who log onto the University at Buffalo's falconcam to watch BB and Yankee, UB's resident peregrine falcon mom and dad, will see more of the couple's falcon chicks once they hatch and become mobile, thanks to the installation this spring of a second camera. Watch the live streaming video from both cameras at http://ubfalcon.buffalo.edu/
  • Windows That Block Heat Only On Hot Days: New Research Brings Us Closer
    4/7/11
    New materials science research from the University at Buffalo could hasten the creation of "smart" windows that reflect heat from the sun on hot summer days but let in the heat in colder weather. The findings concern a unique class of synthetic chemical compounds that are transparent to infrared light at lower temperatures, but undergo a phase transition to begin reflecting infrared when they heat up past a certain point. An article detailing some of these discoveries appears today (April 7) on the cover of the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.
  • Air Pollution Data Collected During Beijing Olympics Will Help Determine Effects on Cancer and Cardiopulmonary Diseases
    3/30/11
    Lina Mu, PhD, assistant professor of social and preventive medicine at the University at Buffalo and a native of China, has received a $1.3 million, three-year grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to study the short-term effects of particulate matter (PM) among Beijing residents.
  • UB's Department of Geology to Present Public Lecture Series on Marcellus Shale
    3/28/11
    The University at Buffalo's Department of Geology is holding a series of talks about the gas industry, and unconventional gas drilling or hydraulic fracturing and its relationship to the economy and environment of New York State. The lectures, which are free and open to the public, will be held at 8 p.m. each Thursday from March 31 to May 19 in Room 250, Baird Hall on UB's North Campus. To register, go to https://www.ubevents.org/event/marcellus
  • Iodine-131 exposure puts children's normal growth and development at risk, says UB radiation expert
    3/23/11
    Alan H. Lockwood, MD, professor of neurology and nuclear medicine in the University at Buffalo's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences calls the Japanese Health Ministry's advice not to give tap water to infants "prudent." Lockwood, a board member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, can discuss human health effects of radiation. Six weeks after the Chernobyl accident, he examined survivors at a Moscow hospital.
  • UB Law School and the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy Will Host Conference on Hydrofracking
    3/21/11
    The University at Buffalo Law School and the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy will host a two-day conference on hydrofracking -- "Hydrofracking: Exploring the Legal Issues in the Context of Politics, Science and the Economy" -- Monday and Tuesday, March 28-29, in 509 O'Brian Hall on UB's North Campus.
  • 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.