The Dow Postdoctoral Sustainability Fellows Program is administered by the University of Michigan Graham Sustainability Institute to support full-time postdoctoral scholars committed to finding interdisciplinary, actionable, and meaningful sustainability solutions. These fellowships support a new generation of sustainability scholars who understand the necessity of collaborating across disciplines and sectors to address complex sustainability challenges. Fellowships are funded through a mix of support from the Dow program and U-M units. The program seeks candidates working on sustainability issues at the interface of the social sciences/humanities and natural/physical/engineering sciences. Fellows receive an annual stipend of at least $52,000, U-M medical and dental benefits, and access to up to $2,000/year for research and related travel.
Applicants must complete an “Intent to Apply” by November 2nd, and submit their application fully by November 16, 2015. Fellowships will began in September 2016.
Questions about the program and/or application should be submitted to dow-postdoc@umich.edu.
Gary Cohen is a social entrepreneur and activist spurring environmental responsibility in health care both in the United States and abroad. American hospitals have historically been major contributors to environmental pollution, largely ignoring the damage to local communities and environments caused by extensive use of harmful chemicals in medical devices, toxic cleaning agents, reliance on fossil fuels, and disposal of waste via incineration. Cohen has led a paradigm shift in the perceived responsibility of health care providers, from a narrow, patient-centered duty of service regarding individual health to a broader obligation to also “do no harm” to surrounding communities, their residents, and the global environment.
In 1996, he co-foundedHealth Care Without Harm(HCWH), initially a grassroots cooperative, both to bring attention to the problem and to propose practical, economically viable solutions. At first, Cohen focused on one toxin or waste byproduct at a time. HCWH’s campaign against the use of mercury, a highly toxic neurotoxin once ubiquitous in thermometers and other medical devices, led to its virtual elimination in the United States and ultimately a global treaty phasing out its use by 2020. HCWH is also credited with playing a leading role in reducing the number of carcinogenic-emitting waste incinerators in the United States from 5,600 in the late 1990s to fewer than 70 in 2006. Since its founding, HCWH has grown to comprise thousands of hospitals and healthcare partners in more than 50 countries. Cohen has achieved remarkable success in galvanizing a sense of social responsibility among hospitals and health care conglomerates and spearheading voluntary (rather than through legal or judicial mandates) adoption of safer practices.
He has since expanded HCWH’s mission to engage environmental scientists, medical professionals, and institutional leadership around the broader challenges of sustainability, climate change, and community health. To that end, he has also founded or co-founded other organizations, including theHealthy Hospitals Initiative, a data-driven platform that guides hospitals in purchasing safer chemicals and healthy food and implementing energy efficient technologies, andPractice Greenhealth, a U.S.-based membership organization for hospital systems to share best practices, information, and tools for environmentally responsible patient safety and care. In these ongoing strategic collaborations, Cohen is repositioning environmentally conscious health care as prudent, cost-effective, and easily within reach.
Gary Cohen received a B.A. (1978) from Clark University and studied at the University of California at Berkeley (1983–1984). He served as executive director of the National Toxics Campaign Fund (1989–1993) and co-founded the Military Toxics Project (1991–1994), before co-founding Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) in 1996. He currently serves as president of Health Care Without Harm and its membership affiliate, Practice Greenhealth.
Kartik Chandran is an environmental engineer integrating microbial ecology, molecular biology, and engineering to transform wastewater from a troublesome pollutant to a valuable resource. Traditional facilities for biologically treating wastewater remove pathogens, organic carbon, and nutrients (where necessary) through decades-old technology that requires vast amounts of energy and resources, releases harmful gases into the atmosphere, and leaves behind material that must be discarded. Chandran approaches wastewater treatment with the goal of producing useful resources such as fertilizers, chemicals, and energy sources, in addition to clean water, in a way that takes into account the climate, energy, and nutrient challenges we face today.
The key insight of Chandran’s research and applications thereof is that certain combinations of mixed microbial communities, similar to those that occur naturally, can be used to mitigate the harmful environmental impacts of wastewater and extract useful products. For example, Chandran has determined an optimal combination of microbes (and associated wastewater treatment technologies) to remove nitrogen from waste while minimizing the release of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. This approach also involves reduced chemical and energy inputs relative to traditional treatments and has the added benefit of preventing algal blooms downstream by maximizing nitrogen removal. More recently, using ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, Chandran has enabled the transformation of bio-generated methane gas into methanol, a chemical that is both easily transported and widely useful in industry (including the wastewater industry).
Chandran imaginatively tailors his solutions to be locally appropriate. In rural Ghana, in conjunction with his Engineers without Borders students, he has re-engineered source-separation toilets to both provide sanitation and recover nutrients for use in agriculture. In Kumasi, Ghana, he is testing the large-scale conversion of sludge into biofuel while also providing new training opportunities for local engineers and managers. Through his groundbreaking research and its practical applications, Chandran is demonstrating the hidden value of wastewater, conserving vital resources, and protecting public health.
Kartik Chandran received a B.S. (1995) from the Indian Institute of Technology at Roorkee (formerly, University of Roorkee) and a Ph.D. (1999) from the University of Connecticut. He was a senior technical specialist (2001–2004) with the private engineering firm Metcalf and Eddy of New York, Inc., before returning to academia as a research associate (2004–2005) at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Currently an associate professor in theDepartment of Earth and Environmental Engineeringat Columbia University, his work has been demonstrated in New York City and Ghana and has been published in such journals asPLoS ONE,Environmental Microbiology,Environmental Science & Technology, andBiotechnology and Bioengineering, among others.
In a study published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, scientists from three universities show that products made in China are associated with significantly higher carbon dioxide emissions than the same products made elsewhere.
A grassroots composting effort from NC State students and staff is strengthening literal grass roots on the university’s recreation fields at Centennial Campus.
In fall 2014, University Recreation and Grounds Management partnered to study the viability of using compost instead of traditional fertilizer to maintain the health of grass on the university’s recreation fields. With the help of students Morgan Malone and Lindsay Edwards, two recreational fields on Centennial Campus were included in a study that compared the soil health of a field receiving compost versus a field receiving traditional fertilizer.
After students conducted initial soil and compaction tests, the field receiving the compost was aerated and topdressed with a quarter inch of compost, which was blended into the turf with a drag mat. The students later conducted follow up testing to monitor turf and soil health over time.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reached a significant milestone in bringing the building community together by releasing a common definition for a zero energy building, or what is also referred to as a “net zero energy” or “zero net energy” building.
After leading an extensive stakeholder engagement process over the past year and a half, the Energy Department released its findings in the recently published A Common Definition for Zero Energy Buildings, which states that a Zero Energy Building is “an energy-efficient building where, on a source energy basis, the actual annual delivered energy is less than or equal to the on-site renewable exported energy.” This definition also applies to campuses, portfolios, and communities. In addition to providing clarity across the industry, this new DOE publication provides important guidelines for measurement and implementation, specifically explaining how to utilize this definition for building projects.
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