The warming climate has made wildfires and smoke increasingly common. Researchers in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences evaluated data from a number of sources to look at air quality trends in the West. A new paper by doctoral student Kai Wilmot with Gannet Hallar and John Lin (GCSC-affiliated faculty) and Derek Mallia (past GCSC fellow) […]
Research
Wildfire smoke trends worsening for Western U.S.
Researching wildlife during the pandemic
Excerpted from an article by Paul Gabrielsen in AtTheU. Read the full story here. The coronavirus pandemic shut down a lot of research, including field research. But not so for Austin Green, a doctoral student in the Şekercioğlu research group in the School of Biological Sciences. A 2019 recipient of a National Geographic Society Early […]
How vegetation effects microclimates in urbanized Salt Lake Valley
A new study by Carolina Gómez-Navarro and GCSC affiliate faculty Diane Pataki, Eric Pardyjak, and Dave Bowling, looks at how trees and grass can help mitigate excessive heat in urban areas. Hard surfaces like roofs, buildings, and pavement absorb the sun’s heat and radiate it into the surroundings, creating a “heat island effect”. While trees cast […]
The U reaches 71% renewable energy
By University of Utah Communications Originally published in @theU University of Utah Facilities Management has taken another important step forward as a leader in energy and sustainability by signing a 25-year solar energy contract with the Castle Solar Project near Huntington, Utah. The contract will deliver 20 MW of solar energy to campus over its […]
GCSC seminar: disaster resilience in an unjust world
By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office As climate-induced wildfires rage across the West and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten our communities, many of us have disaster on the mind. How will we respond when disaster strikes close to home? How will we recover? How can we build our communities to be resilient in the face […]