Professor Awarded $3.2M Grant to Expand Urban Heat Research
Wellcome, a charitable foundation based in the United Kingdom, has granted Patricia Fabian, associate professor of environmental health, a $3.2 million Climate Impacts Award to expand the scope of her ongoing research on extreme heat and health.
Why Do Urban Trees Grow Faster than Rural Ones?
Established in 1954, the Los Angeles–based philanthropic organization supports science, engineering, and medical research with a focus on novel proposals that strive to break new ground. The latest BU project is being led by forest microbial ecologist Jennifer Bhatnagar, a College of Arts & Sciences associate professor of biology and director of the BU Biogeoscience Program. She and her colleagues hope to use a better understanding of how urban trees adapt to sometimes harsh conditions to support preservation initiatives.
Mass. winters are getting warmer. Climate scientist calls it a ‘Delightmare’
Massachusetts gets 11 more above-freezing days in the winter due to climate change, according to a new report. And while many New Englanders may welcome this change, it does come with downsides. The finding comes from the nonprofit research group Climate Central, which looked at winter warming trends across the Northern Hemisphere over the last decade, and analyzed how much of the warming was attributable to climate change.
Beyond the Classroom: Roshan Sivaraman (CFA’26, Pardee’26)
As a dual degree student pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, Roshan Sivaraman (CFA’26, Pardee’26) knows all about exploring and diving into different interests. Over the summer, Roshan joined the City of Boston’s Office of Climate Resilience as a fellow, working on one of the city’s most transformational projects to take on the daily effects of climate change: the installation of 30 bus shelters with green roofs set up along one of Boston’s most utilized bus routes.
Reversal of Fortune: A Clean Energy Manufacturing Boom for Legacy Cities
In the Carondelet neighborhood of St. Louis, where once-busy shipyards gave way to vacancy and blight during the waning decades of the 20th century, a global specialty minerals company is building a $400 million factory to produce highly efficient batteries for energy storage. All of these projects and dozens more across the country are manifestations of a new federal, place-based industrial policy, fueled by more than $1 trillion in tax credits and grants under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, American Rescue Plan, CHIPS and Science Act, and most of all, what is essentially sweeping climate action legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act.
Heat Waves Are Scorching Boston, but Are Some Neighborhoods Hotter than Others?
The heat island effect means some parts of the city warm up more than others when summer temperatures soar. While parks and other areas with green space and greater tree cover provide shade, and cool the air through evaporation and transpiration, the dark roofs and asphalt of densely developed areas absorb and radiate the sun’s heat. Despite its diversity of environments, Boston decides whether it’s in a heat wave from temperature readings at just one site: Boston Logan International Airport.
A Clear Path through Murky Waters: Alum Finds Meaningful Career Studying Water Contamination
Upon finishing her PhD in environmental health at the School of Public Health, Beth Haley (SPH’24) moved to Oregon, drawn, she says, to the vast natural landscapes more commonly found out West. As a post-doctoral researcher with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Haley aims to tackle threats to water quality specific to the Pacific Northwest. Beth Haley’s PhD dissertation in environmental health linked sewage overflows with illness in Massachusetts and now her current post-doctoral research with the Environmental Protection Agency aims to tackle water quality in Pacific coastal areas.
Construction Underway on €8 Billion ‘Smart City’
Construction has begun on a “smart city” three times the size of Monaco, which its developers hope will become a prototype for sustainable development across the world. Lamda Development, the Greek developers behind Ellinikon, have called the project “Europe’s largest sustainable smart city.” By this, they mean a city – in this case within another city – that is designed and built with both its inhabitants and the surrounding environment in mind.
Sewage discharges increase risk of hospital visits for residents near Merrimack River, study finds
People living in communities along the Merrimack River are at increased risk of developing acute gastrointestinal illnesses in the days following large combined sewer overflows, according to a study from researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health.
Tensions in the ever-changing nature of cities
Over millennia, cities have evolved into new versions of themselves. This issue of Nature Cities explores pressing urban alterations in this moment of history, including conflicts wrought by gentrification and the unfolding iterations of climate change.