Environment and Sustainability

During the past decade, residents of Pasto, Colombia, and neighboring villages near Galeras, Colombia's most dangerous volcano, have been threatened with evacuation, but compliance varies. With each new eruption Colombian officials have grown increasingly concerned about the safety of the residents who live within striking distance of Galeras. Now, geologists from the University at Buffalo and the Universidad de Narino have organized a workshop in Colombia designed to tackle the communication issue.

Modern glaciers, such as those making up the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, are capable of undergoing periods of rapid shrinkage or retreat, according to new findings by paleoclimatologists at the University at Buffalo.

A University at Buffalo professor who has garnered more than 140 patents for power sources for tiny biomedical devices now is working to develop batteries that could power much larger devices, such as electric vehicles.

In its effort to promote renewable energy technologies throughout New York State and in response to Governor Paterson's call to expand New York's renewable energy portfolio, the New York Power Authority today joined with the University at Buffalo to announce a $7.5 million award to the university to construct a 1.1 megawatt solar energy array on UB's North (Amherst) Campus.

University at Buffalo visual-studies students will present an exhibit on how to keep the UB campus "green" and how to use "play" to address serious issues like racial stereotyping, genetic engineering and the economic crisis.

A pair of peregrine falcons has settled into its custom-made nesting box situated on top of MacKay Heating Plant on the University at Buffalo's South (Main Street) Campus, thanks to the cooperative efforts of the University at Buffalo and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Lights are shining more brightly on the University at Buffalo's North (Amherst) Campus this winter because the university has swapped some conventional lamps for LEDs, light-emitting diodes.

Snow that blows and drifts across roadways has long troubled road maintenance crews and commuters alike, creating treacherous driving conditions and requiring additional maintenance resources to mitigate the problem. Now, a University at Buffalo engineer has led the development of "SnowMan," a user-friendly, desktop software package that puts cost-effective solutions to the snow drift problem at the fingertips of highway designers and road maintenance personnel.

Starting this week, students in three dining centers on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus will be carrying individual plates -- not trays -- to their tables as part of UB's effort to go "trayless."

In the world of supercomputers, practical considerations like energy consumption have traditionally been overshadowed by the emphasis on high performance. But as energy costs have increased, computational scientists at the University at Buffalo's Center for Computational Research (CCR) have found a way to do more cutting-edge science while consuming less power.