Environment and Sustainability

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

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  • 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.
  • Climate Change Remains a Real Threat to Corals
    10/7/10
    Hopes that coral reefs might be able to survive, and recover from, bleaching caused by climate change may have grown dimmer for certain coral species, according to new research by University at Buffalo marine biologists published online this week in PLoS One.
  • A Less Toxic, More Efficient Dispersant is Scientist's Goal
    9/21/10
    After the failure of the Deepwater Horizon oil well last spring, nearly 2 million gallons of dispersant were released into the Gulf of Mexico to contain the spill. While preliminary reports suggest that it successfully dispersed much of the oil, the long-term effect of such a massive volume of dispersant on ecosystems, wildlife and humans remains to be seen.
  • UB's "A Greener Shade of Blue & You Expo" to Highlight Green Products and Services in WNY
    9/16/10
    Sustainability at home and on campus is the theme of the University at Buffalo's second annual "A Greener Shade of Blue & You" to be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 21 in the Student Union, on UB's North Campus.
  • Better Assessment of Ash Cloud Hazards is Goal of UB Volcanologist's Research
    9/10/10
    A University at Buffalo volcanologist who is an expert in volcanic ash clouds and their impact on air travel is available to speak with news media about new scientific research he is conducting on better assessing the hazards of volcanic ash clouds.