Sustainability Calendar

Join the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative for an in-person seminar by Lauren Kinsman-Costello, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Kent State University, as she presents on, "Actionable Data: Assessing the Water Quality Improvement Function of Wetland Restoration in Ohio." Abstract: As part of an ambitious statewide effort to limit phosphorus (P) loads into the western Basin of Lake Erie to mitigate recurring harmful algal blooms, Ohio has invested over $170 million since 2020 in constructing and restoring wetlands throughout the state. However, the actual ability of wetland ecosystems to store P and remove nitrogen is highly variable, and at times, wetlands can become sources, rather than sinks, for P. Knowing this, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources supported a function-focused monitoring and assessment program designed and implemented by a consortium of scientists from six Ohio universities. This talk will describe results to date of the H2Ohio Wetland Monitoring Program, as well as the challenges and opportunities encountered as researchers, agency personnel, ecosystem managers, and other stakeholders cultivated a network for science-based management and restoration. Biography: Lauren Kinsman-Costello obtained her B.S. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University, where she worked at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, in Zoology and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior. Lauren studies elemental cycling to better understand how ecosystems, especially muddy ones, work. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Kent State University where she leads the Kinsman-Costello Nutrient Biogeochemistry Lab. Coffee and treats will be provided. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.  Originally published at environmentalchange.nd.edu.

Join Shirley Heinze Land Trust at the Gillespie Conference Center in South Bend on Friday, October 23, for an evening celebrating conservation efforts at Lydick Bog and beyond! The night will include dinner, live music, a silent auction, and a special program – all supporting the rare landscape at Lydick Bog and honoring the work Shirley Heinze, partners, and community members are doing beyond the bog to promote conservation throughout the South Bend area. Individual tickets and tables are available, as well as sponsorship opportunities for those looking to make an even greater impact. RSVP by October 9th. Secure your tickets here! This event is hosted by the Shirley Heinze Land Trust. 

Join the REC-ND Club at the ND Power Plant Tour on an exhilarating tour where you can learn more about how power is produced on campus and what past and current initiatives are taking place to make Notre Dame a greener campus. Register today This event is organized by the Notre Dame Renewable Energy Club.

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Spencer Banzhaf for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Spencer Banzhaf is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Director of the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics Policy (CEnREP) at North Carolina State University.  More details to be announced soon. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Justin Farrell for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Justin Farrell is Professor of Sociology at the Yale School of the Environment. He studies how values, history, and environment shape communities. His books have been published by Princeton University Press, with a new book forthcoming from Norton, and his research articles have appeared in Science, PNAS, and the American Sociological Review, among others. His research has been supported by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation. He is an elected member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican, and a proud Notre Dame graduate. More details to be announced soon. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.

This HR workshop takes a deep dive into the University's Sustainability Initiative, a core component of our 2033 Strategic Framework. Led by executive director Geory Kurtzhals and sustainability program manager Olivia Farrington, participants will be introduced to the basics of sustainability at Notre Dame, will learn about the campus' sustainability journey, and get resources and inspiration for personal action. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:• More about sustainability work taking place across the University.• How every job on campus is a sustainability job.• Opportunities to incorporate sustainability principles into your role at the University.• Ways to support our strategic framework to create a healthier, more vibrant campus and care for our common home. THIS WORKSHOP IS IDEAL FOR:• Anyone who has responsibilities for purchasing materials and planning events.• Those with direct responsibility for overseeing building upgrades.• Anyone with a common interest in how they can be more sustainable in their work and life. This workshop opportunity is open to current staff at the University. To register, visit the NDHR Learning Workshops Catalog.

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Benjamin Sovacool for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Benjamin K. Sovacool is Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University in the United States, where he is the Founding Director of the Institute for Global Sustainability. He is also Professor of Energy Policy at the Bennett Institute for Innovation & Policy Acceleration at the University of Sussex Business School. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and a Fellow in the Academy of Europe (Academia Europaea).  This presentation explores how concepts from justice and ethics can inform energy decision-making and highlight the futurity, fairness, and equity dimensions of energy production and use. It defines "energy justice" as a global energy system that fairly distributes both the benefits and costs of energy services, and one that contributes to more representative and inclusive energy decision-making. Such an assessment brings together core understandings of distributional and procedural justice alongside cosmopolitan interpretations of equity and recognitional notions of fairness. The presentation then focuses on six new frontiers or fruitful areas of future research. First is making the case for the involvement of non-Western justice theorists. Second is expanding beyond humans to look at the Rights of Nature or non-anthropocentric notions of justice. Third is focusing on cross-scalar issues of justice such as embodied emissions. Fourth is identifying business models and the co-benefits of justice. Fifth is better understanding the tradeoffs within energy justice principles. Sixth is confronting utopian or falsely constructed justice discourses. In doing so, the presentation argues in favor of "justice-aware" energy planning and policymaking, and it hopes that its (reconsidered) energy justice conceptual framework offers a critical tool to inform decision-making. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Elena Bennett for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Elena Bennett is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Sustainability Science at McGill University. Her work focuses on the interactions among ecosystem services and how we can manage these interactions for multifunctional working landscapes, using a landscape ecology and systems ecology perspective. She is the Director of ResNet, a 100+ person NSERC Strategic Network that works with communities in six working landscapes across Canada to address questions about managing ecosystem service provision. More details to be announced soon. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Maximilian Auffhammer for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Maximilian Auffhammer is the George Pardee Jr. Professor of International Sustainable Development and Chair of the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate. More details to be announced soon. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.