2019

Nine Northwestern University students will participate in year-round curriculum, international conference as a part of the 12th annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) program

Joint effort will develop solutions related to ecosystem conservation and climate change, expands the scope of ongoing four-year collaboration and impact

In 2019, the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern (ISEN) saw significant advancements and new programs

Study reveals pre-asteroid ocean acidification from volcanic eruptions, providing insights into climate change effects.

Northwestern Buffett Institute awarded $150,000 to an interdisciplinary project addressing global environmental challenges, focusing on social justice and Indigenous rights

Scientists sequenced genes from 1,100+ plant species, revealing key evolutionary insights and genome duplications crucial for plant adaptation.

Colin Phillips, a postdoctoral fellow in Northwestern University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a NatureNet Fellow from The Nature Conservancy, is working on developing models that can serve as management tools for river networks globally.

ISEN announces the 2019-2020 Cluster Fellows

A group of Northwestern first-year and sophomore students traveled to Israel with the Global Engineering Trek (GET) program to better understand the desert

Engineers from Northwestern and Cornell have developed an energy model to replace carbon-generated power with cost-effective wind, solar, and hydro energy

Sruthi Darbhamulla collaborates with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to study disaster risk reduction, environmentally responsible recovery and reconstruction

Team of Northwestern researchers are first to document the role chemistry will play in next generation computing and communication

Researchers unveiled two new classes of materials designed to remove several toxic contaminants from drinking water

US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $24 million in funding for nine research projects to explore and develop new methods of capturing carbon emissions directly from the air

Robert P. H. Chang and Mercouri Kanatzidis of Northwestern University received a DOE "Ten at Ten" Award for pioneering all-solid-state solar cells with halide perovskites, significantly impacting photovoltaic science and technology.

Burgess Davis pioneers PepsiCo's shift to sustainable plastics, emphasizing innovation and circular economy principles

SUSPIRE workshop in Chicago convened stakeholders to strategize on sustainable, resilient urban systems amid climate and societal changes.

Two researchers at Northwestern University, Robert P.H. Chang and Mercouri Kanatzidis, were recently honored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) with the prestigious Ten at Ten Award

Michael R. Wasielewski receives $1.5M from the DOE for research in Quantum Information Science, focusing on photon-molecule interactions for quantum processing advancements

Northwestern Professor Eric Masanet serves as a lead author for the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report chapter "Demand, Services, and Social Aspects of Mitigation"

2019 Resnick Family Social Impact Fund recipients will take part in prototype creation, international partnerships, and interdisciplinary collaboration to address critical sustainability and energy challenges

Northwestern and Caltech scientists develop new electricity generation method using oxidized thin metal films and water salinity gradients.

Chris Wolverton leads computational materials science at Northwestern, innovating in energy storage and conversion through predictive modeling and collaboration.

Ken Park seeks to unlock the potential of fog, smog harvesting through bio-inspired surface engineering

Researchers at Weinberg College use big data to address global issues like gun violence, climate change, and water insecurity

Five Northwestern University professors have been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

Farmers in Illinois are legally contesting a fracking sand mine to protect their farmland and lifestyle against industrial encroachment.

Approximately eight million metric tons of plastic pollution enter the ocean each year--by 2050, the amount of plastic is expected to exceed fish in the ocean by mass

Of the 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics generated since 1950, 79 percent of it has ended up in landfills and ecosystems

Wendy Schmidt addresses ocean threats like pollution and climate change impacts, advocating for innovative conservation solutions and public engagement at Northwestern University.

Northwestern and WWF partner to address environmental and indigenous impacts of Amazon infrastructure, advocating for sustainable development in Brazil.

Samir Mayekar, co-founder of NanoGraf Technologies, advances greener lithium-ion batteries with innovative material solutions for longer-lasting, faster-charging batteries

Discovery illuminates how bacteria turn methane gas into liquid methanol

Approximately half of all plastic that is produced is designed to be used only once and then thrown away

Northwestern research reveals increased adoption of electric passenger vehicles could reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality

Sustainability forum co-hosted by ISEN and Kellogg School of Management inspires corporate environmental awareness and response

Yijan Kang's research at the Flex Lab addresses carbon emissions and fossil fuel depletion through his findings on catalyst

Network of researchers from academic, civic, government, and industrial institutions convene to focus on plastic waste impacts and solutions

Northwestern University has been awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2019 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year Award for its exceptional achievements in energy efficiency

Klaus Weber, professor at the Kellogg School, argues that companies need to integrate climate change into their business processes and strategies, making it a routine part of decision-making systems

Climate change is affecting the Great Lakes which provide nearly 34 million people with fresh drinking water and jobs

Resnick Family Social Impact Program funds new collaborative research on sustainable infrastructure planning

John Romankiewicz supports the prominent grassroots environmental organization in its efforts to retire outdated coal plants, prevent new natural gas plants from being built, and accelerate the progress of clean energy

Neha Palmer pioneers Google's renewable energy strategy, leading the tech giant to 100% renewable energy usage

Professor Monica Prasada argues that the true benefits of carbon taxes are often overlooked in economic analyses that focus solely on costs

Linda Qiu seeks legal ways to combat underwater noise pollution to protect Arctic marine life.

Vidya Venkataramanan collaborated with The Nature Conservancy to study the socio-economic, health impacts of flood mitigation interventions in the Chicago area

Northwestern Engineering’s Linda Broadbelt and Wei Chen have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional distinctions awarded to an engineer

Studies from Northwestern researchers reveal the Vikings may have actually enjoyed warm temperatures in Greenland

Researchers from Northwestern find little evidence for the "motivated reasoning" explanation on the political divide in the U.S. on climate change beliefs and policies

Benjamin Linzmeier, Earth historian, paleontologist, and postdoctoral researcher, deciphers ancient climates through extinct organisms, revealing how past cataclysms shape today's carbon cycle

A new era of growth in the field of perovskite solar cells began this month, with the publication of a paper by Professor Mercouri Kanatzidis

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law's Environmental Advocacy Center and the World Wildlife Fund partner on experiential project on environmental law frameworks in Latin America and the Caribbean

Sarrin Chethik values his Northwestern sustainability and energy certificate for boosting his academic and professional journey in the energy sector.

The Wanxiang Fellowship offers an immersive study abroad in China on renewable energy, culture, and language, with substantial financial support.

Northwestern Engineering alumnus Akshat Thirani ('16) was named to Crain’s Chicago Business’ “20 In Their 20s” for his startup, Amper Technologies, which optimizes manufacturing with sensor technology