Category: In the News

Originally posted by UW College of Built Environments

September 7, 2016

The University of Washington has begun a yearlong partnership with the City of Auburn, under the new Livable City Year program. UW students and professors will work with the City of Auburn to advance the city’s goals for livability and sustainability throughout the upcoming academic year.

“This partnership represents the very best kind of UW student experience by creating opportunities for community engagement, practical problem-solving and interdisciplinary study,” said University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce. “The UW could not be prouder to partner with the City of Auburn through the Livable City Year program to combine education with making positive change in a Washington Community.”

Original post by UCLA loES 

10.18.2016- 10.20.2016

A better world is possible. Each and every day, people in diverse fields are doing inspiring, cutting edge work in the environmental arena.Presented by UCLA College Luskin Endowment, a three-day symposium was held to celebrate the full spectrum of the latest research being undertaken.

The keynote address was delivered by Kathryn D. Sullivan, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans & Atmosphere, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)– and the first American woman to walk in space.

The program included talks from top experts, workshops, local and national nonprofit organizations, art, and a student film contest. It was also an opportunity to highlight UCLA campus-wide sustainability and showcase the new Luskin Conference Center; honoring the generosity of Meyer and Renee Luskin.

Since Gwynne Mhuireach, a doctoral student in landscape architecture, left the farm where she grew up near Klamath Falls she became curious about health differences between people who grew up in rural and urban areas.

With a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Washington and a master’s degree from the UO in architecture, Mhuireach initially got involved in the Biology of the Built Environment Center’s pioneering exploration of microbial communities inside buildings.

Now, she’s back outdoors looking at greenery — particularly the microbes in the air above and around the vegetation — in urban areas. She’s just completed a pilot study in which she explored Eugene’s parks and parking lots. Her findings are in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

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Editorial Note: original story published by Jim Barlow, University Communications, University of Oregon

A team of landscape architecture students from the University of Oregon have won the Living Product Prize in the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge. The competition included professional, as well as student designs.

The team’s design, Living Filtration System, would create healthier agricultural soils and practices by preventing nutrients from leaving fields in the form of runoff. Their $10,000 Living Product prize was announced at the Living Product Expo in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The team in July won $2,500 for the statewide Portland State University Cleantech Challenge. On October 22, 2016 they will find out if they’ve won the $100,000 Ray of Hope grand prize from the Biomimicry Institute.

The Living Filtration System design was inspired by the earthworm’s “villi in the small intestine, wetlands, and the soil/biotic cycle,” as stated by the project overview. The goal of the Living Product Prize is to spotlight products that mimic design principles found in nature.

The team- Wade Hanson, Casey Howard, Matt Jorgensen, Alison Lewis, and Krisztian Megyeri- started working together in spring 2015 in a design studio taught by UO Department of Landscape Architecture instructors Anne Godfrey and Emma Froh.

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Editorial Note: This story was originally published by the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts

The UO’s Urban Farm Program was featured recently in Ruralite, a national magazine targeting Western readers in seven states. Writer Dianna Troyer interviewed Department of Landscape Architecture instructor Harper Keeler about how to maximize crops in a limited space. The Urban Farm is a model for alternative urban land use where people grow food, work together, take care of the land, and build community, all with a focus on sustainability.

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