Sustainability News

- Drexel Food Lab Students Vie for Top Spot in Cooking Competition Using New Dried Vegetable Blend from Baldor Specialty Foods to Combat Food Waste
 
 February 17, 2016
 
 Students from the Drexel Food Lab in Drexel University’s Center for Hospitality and Sport Management will be serving up a series of unique dishes before a panel of judges this Friday to see which recipe — all incorporating a new flour created from vegetable by-product — has the most potential appeal to consumers. The contest, sponsored by corporate partner Baldor Specialty Foods, a leading northeast produce distributor, was devised as part of a larger company initiative to combat industry-wide food waste, a program they call SparCs (“scraps” spelled backwards).
 
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- Former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger Joins Drexel as Distinguished Professor and Fellow
 
 February 10, 2016
 
 A visionary leader in Philadelphia’s urban evolution, former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger will join Drexel University as a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Architecture & Interiors of the <a href="http://www.drexel.edu/westphal">Westphal College of Media Arts & Design</a> and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow in the <a href="http://drexel.edu/lindyinstitute/">Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation</a>, a cross-university strategic initiative that aligns Drexel’s academic work with the real-world need for urban revitalization.
 
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- Consortium on Urban Design and Public Health Releases First Annual Report
 
 January 20, 2016
 
 Can intentional design help people live healthier lives? The first annual progress report of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)’s Design and Health Research Consortium contributes to a growing body of research showing that the physical and built environment can play a crucial – and often overlooked – role in public health. The report from the Architects Foundation, along with the AIA and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), covers consortium activities across a spectrum of research issues where design contributes to public health.
 
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- Cleaning Wastewater With Pond Scum
 
 January 05, 2016
 
 A blob of algae scooped from a fountain on South Street almost two years ago, has seeded a crop of the green stuff that Drexel University researchers claim is more effective at treating wastewater than many of the processes employed in municipal facilities today. The algae is a functional ingredient of a bioreactor system designed by Drexel environmental engineers to remove several chemicals from wastewater at once — shortcutting a process that normally takes multiple steps, expensive ingredients, and a great deal of time.
 
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- Academy of Natural Sciences Discovered Life Around the World in 2015
  
  December 14, 2015
  
  From elusive, rare fish to the potential key to the evolution of river-based plants, scientists from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University played a significant role in adding to the rolls of known species this year.
  
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- $5 Million in Grants to Fund Academy of Natural Sciences Research into Delaware River Watershed
  
  December 14, 2015
  
  With the grant, researchers will research questions surrounding the river's watershed, which serves as drinking water for approximately 15 million people.
  
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- Do You Think Before You Breathe? Drexel Survey Finds Broad Misperceptions About Impact of Cleaner Indoor Air
  
  December 07, 2015
  
  Do you know how easy it is to improve the quality of the air you breathe every day? Or how much indoor air quality affects your health and productivity? If you’re not sure, you’re not alone. According to a recent survey by a group of Drexel University environmental and architectural engineering researchers, there is quite a bit of confusion about the costs and benefits of indoor air quality improvement—even among building owners, designers, managers and tenants.
  
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- A Dimetrodon By Any Other Name
  
  November 23, 2015
  
  A unique fossil in the Academy of Natural Science of Drexel University’s collection continues to fuel important paleontological discoveries more than a century after it came into to the museum.
  
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- The World Underfoot
  
  November 16, 2015
  
  Eighteenth-century land surveyor William Smith was a rock star. And we mean that quite literally — Smith’s 1815 map of England, Wales and part of Scotland was the world’s first look at the organization of the earth beneath our feet. Less than 200 copies of this seminal work exist today and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University owns one of them.
  
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- A.J. Drexel Institute for Energy and the Environment Plots a Course for Philadelphia to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
  
  November 04, 2015
  
  Researchers from the A.J. Drexel Institute for Energy and the Environment issued a 97-page report to the City of Philadelphia that plots a detailed course for how the city can reduce its emission of greenhouse gasses—with the goal of an 80 percent reduction by the year 2050. Among its suggestions are retrofitting hospitals, grocery stores, schools and retail stores with better windows and insulation; drawing electricity from low-carbon sources like nuclear, wind and solar power; and encouraging the use of electric vehicles, public transportation, walking and cycling.
  
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