ISF Kick-Off Highlights Water & Climate Resiliency

Purdue University’s Institute for a Sustainable Future has just launched this month, but its relationships across the state and nation have been established over a decade through the work of faculty researchers and the leaders of both the Purdue Climate Change Research Center and the Center for the Environment.

Purdue’s new Institute for a Sustainable Future supports research and engagement across a range of areas including water challenges, environmental stressors, climate change, sustainable communities and visualizing a sustainable future.

This week, multiple events on campus and across the state of Indiana highlight some of the institute’s significant partnerships and highlights the cutting-edge research of our faculty.  We invite you to participate in some of these events either in person or virtually!

Water Summit

Wednesday, September 7th-8th: In person

Returning to an in-person format, our partners at the White River Alliance are holding their 5th Annual Water Summit at the Athenaeum in downtown Indianapolis.  For several years, the Center for the Environment has partnered with the White River Alliance to organize informational and policy events about key environmental challenges in Indiana including wetlands health and management and the dangers of PFAS in water and ecosystems.  At this year’s summit, ISF member and Assistant Director of the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program, Dr. Stuart Carlton, will be presenting on a panel discussing “Restoring Rivers & Revitalizing Communities: Pollution challenges, creative funding, municipal motives & returns.” This panel is taking place on Thursday, 9-8, at 10:30 am. 

For information about registering for the event, see: https://thewhiteriveralliance.org/programs/water-summit/

Wildfire, Water Systems & Public Health: Lessons from Recent Western Wildfires

Wednesday, September 7th: Virtual, 12:00-1:30 PM

Professor of Civil Engineering/ Environmental & Ecological Engineering Andrew Whelton is no stranger to wildfire recovery. As detailed in Purdue Today coverage this spring, Whelton has been regularly showing up to wildfires with his students and dozens of coolers for the past four years. On Wednesday, with support from ISF, Whelton has organized a virtual event focused on providing insight and guidance on the impacts of wildfires on water systems. The event also includes the experience of Joe Martinez, Drinking Water Bureau Chief, New Mexico Environment Department and Cordelia Schimpf, Program Analyst, Public Health Division, Oregon Health Authority.  With hundreds of participants expected to join, the event promises to be informative and interesting.  For more information on how to register, see: https://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/environment/events/index.php?view=4621

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Lake Michigan

Thursday, September 8th: Virtual; 1 pm-2 pm

ISF supports a special initiative in Great Lakes Research and often collaborates with IL/IN Sea Grant on research and events.  For this virtual webinar, Purdue Extension (FNR) and Great Lakes Ecosystem Specialist  Paris Collingsworth  will discuss projected changes in climate and aquatic habitats in the Lake Michigan while also describing key interactions between climate change and other stressors relevant to ecosystem services.  He will also lead a conversation about how climate change can be incorporated into current lake management strategies. To find out more and register for the event, see: https://extension.illinois.edu/events/2022-09-08-potential-impacts-climate-change-lake-michigan-everyday-environment

Imagining a Sustainable Future: Marianne Boruch reads from Bestiary Dark

Thursday, 9/8: In Person, 7:30, Krannert Auditorium

This event is the first of a year-long series of events by ISF focusing on "Imagining a Sustainable Future," events that explore how we can visualize sustainability and environmental challenges across a range of disciplines. In this first event, ISF teams up with the Dept. of English and the Creative Writing Program to welcome poet and professor emeritus Marianne Boruch, who will be reading excerpts from her work Bestiary Dark. In this collection, Boruch’s poems "face the ancient, unsettling relationship of humans and the natural world - the looming effect we've wrought on wildlife - and what solace and repair our learning even a little might mean."

Climate Leadership Summit

Thursday, 9/8 and Friday, 9/9, Richmond IN and Virtual

ISF builds on relationships developed by both the Climate Change Research Center and the Center for the Environment. PCCRC has long supported Earth Charter Indiana, an Indiana non-profit founded on the four principles of the Earth Charter that include: 1) Respect and care for the community of life; 2) Ecological integrity; 3) social and economic justice; and 4) democracy, non-violence and peace. Each year, they hold the Climate Leadership Summit, an annual, statewide conference specially designed for mayors, city, town and county leaders, and community partners to discuss how to prepare for the changing climate.  This year, in addition to being a sponsor of the summit, the new director of ISF, Professor Mathew Huber (EAPS) will be a keynote speaker presenting the institute to participants.

In addition, ISF member and Professor Panagiota Karava (Mechanical Engineering) will be presenting research on a team project, “MySmartE – A Software Platform For Smart & Energy-Efficient Residential Communities,” which is a first-time cloud-based eco-feedback and gaming platform that aims to promote energy conserving thermostat-adjustment behaviors in multi-unit residential buildings. The project reflects work supported by an initial $3.5 million NSF grant for the team project, “Sociotechnical Systems to Enable Smart and Connected Energy-Aware Residential Communities.” The team includes faculty members Ilias Bilionis (Mechanical)Engineering, James Braun (Mechanical), Leigh Raymond (Political Science)  and Torsten Reimer (Communication and Psychological Sciences).  The project introduces a new modeling approach for personalized eco-feedback design integrated with a collaborative social game to assist residents enhance their thermostat use while promoting community-level energy savings.

Because Purdue is a sponsor, all members of ISF can attend the conference, in person or virtually, for free.  For more information, see: https://www.earthcharterindiana.org/climate-leadership-summit

We hope you are able to participate in some of these opportunities and we look forward to seeing you at the official launch party on September 21st.  For more information and to RSVP, see: https://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/environment/events/index.php?view=4673