Featured series 
Tag: Environments & Sustainability
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Campus & Community
Al Gore to celebrate sustainability at Harvard
Former Vice President Al Gore will be coming to campus on Oct. 22 for the first-ever University-wide celebration of sustainability. The event, hosted by President Drew Faust, will mark the official launch of the University’s new greenhouse gas reduction effort and will also celebrate Harvard’s broader environmental initiatives, including the critical role the University plays…
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Science & Tech
Environmental report card grades Harvard A-
Harvard received the highest ranking in a recent “College Sustainability Report Card” that graded the green credentials of 300 colleges and universities. Harvard received high ranks for an array of activities, including recycling, green buildings, energy supply, transportation, and student involvement. Overall, the University was among 15 nationwide that received the top A- grade, earning…
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Science & Tech
Island nation president plans for extinction
The leader of the South Pacific island nation of Kiribati laid out an extraordinary plan Monday (Sept. 22) that would scatter his people through the nations of the world as rising sea levels submerge the islands they have called home for centuries.
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Health
Harvard Forest: 3,500 acres, global impact
Harvard may be rooted in Cambridge, but it has a lot more roots in the small north-central Massachusetts town of Petersham. That’s where you’ll find the woods, streams, and fields of the Harvard Forest, a 3,500-acre research and teaching facility that’s been part of the University for more than a century. Having been closely monitored…
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Nation & World
Electric cars, ‘cap and trade,’ and more
R. James Woolsey Jr., a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has a favorite personal strategy for ensuring U.S. domestic security: his Toyota Prius hybrid, upgraded with an A123 conversion kit that allows it to run largely on a battery rechargeable by house current.
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Campus & Community
Praise and preservation
Harvard University President Drew Faust used the bully pulpit of Appleton Chapel this week (Sept. 16), urging the University’s citizens to act responsibly on environmental matters.
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Campus & Community
Byerly Hall greens itself
Byerly Hall, a handsome slate-roofed building at 8 Garden St., opened in 1932. Its Georgian Revival exterior, exterior clock, and white-trimmed windows complement the stately 19th century ambiance of Radcliffe Yard. But beneath old red brick now beats a 21st century heart, including water and energy systems that meet modern standards for sustainability and efficiency.
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Campus & Community
Allston projects demonstrate commitment to sustainability
In the future, Harvard will go beyond traditional ivy and red brick to create campuses with more energy-efficient buildings that minimize water usage and produce low air emissions.
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Science & Tech
Costa Rican minister outlines plan to achieve carbon neutrality through reforms
Costa Rica’s environment minister outlined the Central American nation’s plans to become carbon neutral by 2021 through green reforms in energy, transportation, government, and private industry sectors.
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Science & Tech
Ashton: A legacy written in trunk, limb, and leaf
They were in a bind, no doubt about it.
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Science & Tech
Markey addresses ‘Future of Energy’
The chair of the U.S. House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming struck an optimistic tone about the planet’s climate crisis Monday (April 21), saying that an energy revolution is in the offing if government can just get the policy right.
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Campus & Community
Digging spoons: GSD café has tableware fit for composting
Beginning earlier in the spring semester, the Chauhaus café at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) started providing only tableware made from bio-based plastics fit for composting.
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Campus & Community
Going for the green at Harvard
William James Hall and the Hoffman Labs have emerged victorious in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Environmental Competition 2008, Harvard’s biggest and most comprehensive eco-contest ever.
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Science & Tech
Workshop ponders: Post-Kyoto, what next?
With the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period expiring in 2012, the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements hosted a workshop of leading thinkers Friday (March 14) to help determine what comes next.
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Health
HSPH establishes new three-year grant program
The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has announced the establishment of the A.G. Leventis Foundation Fellowship Program with a three-year grant to support Cypriot/Greek and Nigerian students and scholars in public health.
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Campus & Community
The three green ‘r’s: Reduce, reuse, recycle
On a snowy Friday morning last week (Feb. 22), a truck pulled up in front of 90 Windom St., a two-story brick building on the site of Harvard’s new Allston Science Complex. The former commercial space is the last of the structures to be cleared before construction begins.
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Campus & Community
President Faust appoints task force on Harvard greenhouse gas emissions
Harvard University President Drew Faust today (Feb. 27) announced the formation of a task force comprised of faculty, students, and administrators charged with examining Harvard’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and recommending a University-wide greenhouse gas reduction goal.
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Campus & Community
Papers, workshops, tours light up energy meeting
Harvard is already famous for its experts in languages, law, medicine, government, and literature. Now you can add heating and cooling.
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Science & Tech
Impact of global warming on health debated
Disagreement over the public health impact of global warming emerged in a symposium Monday morning (Feb. 18) at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The colloquium, titled “Sustaining Human Health in a Changing Global Environment,” addressed what hazards can be expected as a result of rapid and continuing climate…
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Science & Tech
Warming of Antarctic oceans endangers marine life
Global warming is endangering marine life in Antarctic waters for the first time in millions of years, said specialists participating on a panel at the American Association for the Advancement…
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Health
Bonsai collection highlights age, beauty
The foliage is green and youthful, but the twisted, gnarled trunks show the trees’ age. But that’s the point, of course.
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Campus & Community
University recycles half its trash for first time
Harvard’s University-wide recycling rate topped 50 percent for the first time ever in October, the latest in a series of recycling gains that University Operations Services Supervisor of Waste Management Rob Gogan said are not over.
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Campus & Community
Environmental work honored by HMS
The Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School (HMS) has named Kofi Annan and Alice Waters as its 2008 Global Environmental Citizen Award recipients.
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Campus & Community
Community Gifts supports work of local environmental rights group
This is the first in a series of Gazette articles highlighting some of the many initiatives and charities that Harvard affiliates can support through this month’s Community Gifts Through Harvard campaign. The Community Gifts campaign allows you to donate to a charity of your choice through cash, a check, or a payroll deduction. For more…
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Science & Tech
Holdren talks back to skeptics of global warming
“Global warming is a misnomer,” said John P. Holdren, speaking Tuesday night (Nov. 6) at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Kennedy School. “It implies something gradual, uniform, and benign. What we’re experiencing is none of these.”
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Science & Tech
Engineered weathering process could mitigate global warming
Researchers at Harvard University and Pennsylvania State University have invented a technology, inspired by nature, to reduce the accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) caused by human emissions.
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Health
AAAS selects four faculty members as fellows
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently awarded the distinction of fellow to four Harvard faculty members. In all, 471 new members were named for their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.
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Science & Tech
If not in atmosphere, where does carbon go?
A prominent atmospheric scientist Monday (Oct. 29) called for more research into natural carbon “sinks,” which today absorb almost half of man-made carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere and which will play a large role in determining the extent of future global warming.
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Campus & Community
Shell makes 5-year gift to fund Harvard energy policy research
Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (KSG) is the recipient of a five-year $3.75 million donation from the Shell Exploration & Production Co., KSG Dean David T. Ellwood recently announced. The funds will be used to enhance and expand University research efforts on critical issues of energy policy.
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Science & Tech
Over the river, through the woods
For close to 30 Hyde Park preschool children, a recent trip to the Arnold Arboretum, the majestic 265-acre botanical garden run by Harvard University in Jamaica Plain, meant a journey to a world alive with natural wonders and surprises.