1/11/12 Northeastern University continues to gain recognition for its long-standing commitment to sustainability, ranking second among 178 schools worldwide in the University of Indonesia (UI) GreenMetric Ranking of World Universities. The UI GreenMetric ranks higher education institutions on their efforts toward campus sustainability and environmentally friendly university management.
12/20/11 Auroop Ganguly, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University, studies climate change and extreme weather events — such as hurricanes, rainfall and heat waves — from an interdisciplinary perspective.
11/28/11 Every year, more than one trillion plastic bags are circulated across the globe — roughly one million every minute. Northeastern students Kelly Benoit and Adrian Van are working to reduce that number, starting on Huntington Avenue.
11/28/11 Northeastern University freshman Steffi Klosterman completed her first experiential learning opportunity even before she arrived on campus in the fall.
8/24/11 Students looking for practical dorm room staples this fall, such as mirrors, bed risers and storage units, have an alternative to shelling out dough at the nearest retail store. In fact, their fellow Huskies may have already donated the goods they seek.
8/3/11 Northeastern University has partnered with the city of Boston as part of a bike-sharing program called Hubway, which allows users to rent bicycles and pedal between a series of newly installed stations throughout Boston’s neighborhoods. The program will feature 61 stations, including one at Northeastern’s North Parking Lot on Hemenway Street that holds up to 11 bicycles at a time. A second Hubway station, though not maintained by the University, is situated on Columbus Avenue between Renaissance Garage and International Village near the Ruggles T Station.
8/3/11 For the third consecutive year, Northeastern University has been recognized by The Princeton Review for its commitment to sustainability. In the new 2012 annual college guide, “The 376 Best Colleges,” Northeastern made the Green Honor Roll for its outstanding commitment to campus sustainability through environmental policies, practices and academic offerings.
7/22/11 Some of the freshest fruits and vegetables in Boston could be found at Northeastern University on Wednesday, when the campus’s first-ever farmers market was held on Centennial Common.
7/15/11 Over the last year, a group of Northeastern University engineering students built a solar-powered boat not only to compete in a national collegiate competition, but also to shed light on the potential of green technology.
7/12/11 Last year it was the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and then another in China in early June and just last week, Montana suffered an oil spill, with an estimated 42,000 gallons dumping into the Yellowstone River. Jennifer Cole, director of the Environmental Studies Program at Northeastern, discusses how oil spills affect wildlife and irrigation, and emphasizes the need to reevaluate our dependence on fossil fuels.
6/28/11 It’s not often than an undergraduate term paper turns into an internationally circulated policy document. But that’s exactly what happened to Tori Porell, a sophomore international affairs major at Northeastern University, who is wrapping up a six-month co-op at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) in Switzerland.
6/17/11 A Northeastern University team will travel to Cameroon this fall to test a device designed by students to help poor farmers preserve their food using solar power — an endeavor that they hope will ultimately result in new opportunities for entrepreneurship and healthier living in the western African country.
5/26/11 Excess home power usage can send individuals’ energy bills through the roof and often leave utility companies scrambling to relieve pressure on the grid. So Northeastern University students devised a home energy-control system that monitors power levels inside a particular home — or even throughout an entire apartment building or neighborhood — potentially saving homeowners cash and helping to prevent widespread blackouts.
5/18/11 During the Spring 2008 move-out, then-Northeastern sophomore Dan Abrams noticed his roommate was preparing to junk an unwanted toaster.
5/4/11 Not only has Praful Mathur’s entrepreneurial spirit helped him flourish at Northeastern University, but it also recently provided him with an opportunity to attend a dynamic international conference that brought together world leaders, visionary minds and ambitious students.
5/4/11 Alexander Gorlov, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at Northeastern University, has been nominated for a 2011 European Inventor Award for designing an environmentally friendly water turbine.
4/19/11 Northeastern University has been honored with the 2011 Green Business Award, presented on Friday by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino at the fifth annual Mayor’s Green Awards. The University is the only higher-education institution this year to be recognized for its multi-dimensional sustainability strategy and leadership in green initiatives.
4/6/11 Building characteristics—public housing or private duplex, tall or short, new or old—are associated with indoor allergens, according to a new study by Northeastern researchers. The report, published in the Journal of Urban Health, found a clinically significant level of cat allergen was associated with living in high-rise buildings, and a high level of mouse allergen was associated with living in public housing. We asked lead author Lindsay Rosenfeld, associate research scientist for the Institute on Urban Health Research, to assess the findings.
3/21/11 By May, senior Jason Whye could be restoring natural habitats or removing invasive plants as a community crew leader for a national conservation group that hires students to work in the national parks and forests.
2/2/11 A group of Northeastern University engineering students has come up with a low-cost way to help the world’s poor preserve food with the power of the sun.
1/28/11 Calls to curb the world’s dependence on fossil fuels have grown louder in recent years, and scientists worldwide continue to push for breakthroughs in the green technology industry. Last year, five Northeastern University engineering students found themselves in the heart of this global issue—designing a low-cost bioreactor that produces clean biofuels.
1/11/11 Each year, the student environmental group HEAT (Husky Energy Action Team) sponsors a three-week-long called Do it in the Dark. The goal: to reduce each on-campus residence hall's overall energy consumption.
1/3/11 Universatas Indonesia (UI) announced its Green Metric World University Ranking for 2010. Out of nearly 95 universities surveyed throughout the world, Northeastern ranked fourth overall, and second in the United States. UI factored in the location, amount of green space, electrical consumption, waste management, as well as policies, actions, and communication related to sustainability. The criteria was weighted and given a corresponding numerical score, which allows for quick comparisons with other universities addressing the problems of sustainability and environmental impact.
12/6/10 Economic and geopolitical trends suggest the supply of rare earth elements (REEs) will not be able to keep up with global demand. A concern is growing as China, which controls about 95 percent of the world's REE exports, has indicated that it might reduce its international trade in the metals. These elements are critical components in the development of clean energy products and have applications in defense and high-technology manufacturing.
11/10/10 Northeastern University earned one of the highest ratings in the country in the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card, an annual survey that ranks sustainability and energy efficiency at more than 300 North American college and university campuses. The report card is developed and released each year by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, an independent organization engaged in research and education to advance sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices.
10/14/10 William Detrich, professor of biochemistry and marine biology in the College of Science at Northeastern University, has been awarded $639,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance his research on the effects of global warming on Antarctic fish and the role of these fish in the Antarctic food chain.
10/1/10 Northeastern University’s newest residence hall, International Village, has recently won Food Management magazine’s “Best Concept” award and was named “Best New Facility” by Food Management Magazine not only for its high-quality and sustainable menu options, but for leading the way in green construction. Chock full of vegan, vegetarian and exotic food choices, it is also the first LEED Gold Certified university dining facility to operate two 3-star certified Green Restaurants in the United States.
9/30/10 Dozens of Northeastern University students trekked in a loop around campus on Wednesday, hauling five-gallon jugs of water in the sweltering midday heat. No, it wasn’t an innovative new workout regimen—instead, it was an awareness exercise organized by Northeastern’s student chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) that highlighted a clean-water distribution system the group is working on in Uganda.
9/21/10 The functional differences between organisms will provide a critical view into how the effects of global warming may take hold in the future, according to internationally renowned biologist George Somero, who spoke at the inaugural Distinguished Lectureship hosted by Northeastern University’s Department of Biology on Sept. 15.
9/17/10 Northeastern University's Marine Science Center in Nahant will undergo dramatic renovations that will strengthen the coastal facility's capability to perform marine science and ocean engineering research, thanks to a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
8/9/10 A month-long field study in sustainability to Costa Rica this past spring got off to a shaky start - mudslides turned a 40-mile car trip into a four-hour adventure - but it yielded a transformative experiential learning opportunity for the nine Northeastern students who participated.
8/2/10 Northeastern was among 18 colleges and universities selected from 703 institutions that made the Princeton Review "2010 Green Rating Honor Roll" for its outstanding commitment to campus sustainability through environmental policies, practices, and academic offerings. Each school named to the honor roll received the highest possible score (99) in its Green Rating tallies. This is the second year in a row Northeastern made the list.
7/30/10 Every afternoon, Northeastern University graduate student Xioadan Ruan rides her bike along the Charles River, collecting water samples at five potential swimming areas.
7/5/10 This summer Cambridge Energy Alliance (CAE) and NSTAR will be reaching out to Cambridge's small business community to promote energy efficiency measures and accompanied incentives. The Cambridge commercial canvass is made possible through a partnership with Northeastern University's Summer Discovery program, which is supplying six volunteers for the duration of the small commercial campaign. After several days of training, volunteers will visit Cambridge's small businesses establishments, and alert businesses of money-saving opportunities in their buildings.
5/26/10 Northeastern student Kassi Stein says she has long had a passion for research. Participating in the Gordon Engineering Leadership Scholar Program her freshman year got her off to a strong start in pursuing that passion.
5/10/10 Student researchers at Northeastern University have designed an apparatus to convert plastic waste into clean energy without releasing harmful emissions.
5/4/10 Northeastern University President Joseph E. Aoun welcomed leaders from the public and private sectors to the Marine Science Center in Nahant on May 3, providing a tour of the facility that highlighted the groundbreaking research being done off the coastal shores of Massachusetts.
5/3/10 Joan Fitzgerald, urban planner, professor, and director of the Law, Policy and Society program in Northeastern's College of Arts and Sciences, recently authored "Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development." The book extols the value of going green to drive economic growth in our cities. In this Q&A, Fitzgerald offers her perspective on best practices, examples of what cities can accomplish, and direction on policies that are needed for a post-fossil fuel economy.
4/30/10 The Massachusetts College and University Recycling Council presented Northeastern with a certificate of achievement for excellence in two recycling categories: garbage and food.
4/23/10 Northeastern University's newest residence hall, International Village, has received two new honors that recognize top priorities at the university-the fostering of a strong relationship with the surrounding community, and the promotion of sustainability.
4/22/10 Determined to find ways to reduce the world's energy consumption, a group of five electrical and computer engineering seniors at Northeastern University have developed a home power-monitoring system that not only tracks how much energy specific devices use, but gives consumers simple ways of making greener decisions, even when they're away from the house.
4/21/10 The Faculty Senate on April 21 approved two new dynamic academic programs at Northeastern that will expand the fields of study in the key areas of urban architecture and computer and network security.
4/15/10 Northeastern University has received a $9.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the impact of exposure to environmental contamination on preterm birth rates and to develop sustainable solutions.
3/12/10 A Northeastern University biochemistry and marine biology professor and one of his undergraduate students are preparing to embark on a six-month expedition to Antarctica to study the effect of global climate change on marine organisms.
3/4/10 Northeastern University student Michaela D'Amico earned a "Coolest Co-op" title for a video snapshot of her co-op working with the Amazon Defense Coalition in Ecuador. The video placed third in the first annual Coolest Co-op Contest, launched to help celebrate the centennial year of Northeastern's renowned co-op and experiential-learning program.
12/15/09 In December a group of 15 Northeastern students attended the fifteenth annual United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The students, who dubbed themselves the COP15 crew, got to observe more than 15,000 representatives from 192 countries working to negotiate a framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
11/5/09 Although America's supply of drinking water is considered among the world's safest, there is an urgent need to develop more stringent regulations to guide how water is monitored for pollutants, according to April Gu, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University. Gu is working on the fundamental research underlying our ability to identify and monitor real and potential pollutants in water and remove them at lower cost than is now possible.
10/20/09 Built around a broad base of sustainability research and an overarching commitment to creating a “greener” campus, Northeastern University this week marked the first Sustainability Week with programs, lectures and a prestigious award for the Dockser Hall renovation.
10/2/09 The Northeastern University School of Law's Dockser Hall recently earned LEED gold certification from the U.S. Green building council, the nation's second highest "green" building status. It is the first LEED Gold building at Northeastern.
9/8/09 Northeastern is taking tag sales to a whole new level. Taking its cue from the heaps of trash typically accumulated—and then hauled away—during spring move-out, the student-run environmental group Husky Energy Action Team (HEAT) kicked off the first Trash2Treasure initiative this year.
8/3/09 The Princeton Review's annual Green Rating gave Northeastern the highest possible score for creating one of the most environmentally friendly campuses in the United States. (See USA Today's follow-up report in its education section.)
6/2/09 In late April, students from Northeastern's chapter of Engineers Without Borders traveled to Bbanda, Uganda, about 72 miles west of the capital, Kampala, to gather data for designing a clean-water distribution system. The trip was funded by Friends of the Sick and Poor, a Dorchester, Mass.-based community organization working to repair the devastation caused by Bbanda's AIDS epidemic.
5/11/09 This week, the Northeastern University community is celebrating national Bike Month by participating in the 2009 MassCommuter Challenge. Faculty, staff, and students can pledge to bike for all or part of their regular commute by choosing to pedal to the university or to public transportation.
4/22/09 The Northeastern University Center for Renewable Energy Technology (NUCRET) is preparing to host an international symposium titled "Energy Challenges for the New Millennium," featuring forums, scientific sessions and educational outreach programs.
3/30/09 Who says going green means having to skimp on style? Recently Northeastern transformed more than 90 banners that once lined Huntington and Columbus Avenues and refashioned them into 300 one-of-a-kind tote bags.
3/26/09 Northeastern University is participating in Boston's Earth Hour by asking all faculty, staff and students to turn off non-essential lighting on Saturday, March 28, from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m.
3/23/09 Growing up in the blustery hills of Vermont, Matilda Urie never lost the propulsion toward a career in wind farm development.
3/19/09 For juniors Mark Martino and Brendan Tanguay, a "Made in China" sticker conjures up fond memories of their international co-op rather than concerns about the world economy. That's because for six months, they called home a plastics and electronics factory in Fenggang, China.
1/30/09 In six weeks, nearly 70,000 lightbulbs—or “lamps” as they’re known in the industry—were replaced with more sustainable alternatives campus-wide. This energy-saving measure is part of an ongoing effort by the facilities division to reduce the university’s carbon footprint and save money.
12/11/08 A group of Northeastern University mechanical and industrial engineering students have designed a groundbreaking, robotic cleaning system for solar panels that has been submitted for a patent.
11/27/07 The Husky black and red is getting a touch of green. Northeastern’s grade from the College Sustainability Report Card, which tracks environmentally friendly practices and policies on U.S. and Canadian campuses, improved dramatically over the past year, up to B from C-, according to the Sustainable Endowments Institute. The university was one of five institutions singled out for demonstrating the greatest year-to-year improvement, along with such schools as the University of Southern California and Notre Dame.
10/29/07 Northeastern University has received a $498,803 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to assess next generation learning through computer-facilitated networked play. The project focuses on a cooperative interdisciplinary computer game, Shortfall Online, developed by faculty and staff from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and the Department of Visual Arts and Multimedia Studies.
5/23/07 The John D. O'Bryant African-American Institute (JDOAAI) is incorporating the redblack&GREEN project, an innovative new campaign designed by JDOAAI staff member and N.U. alumna, Núrí Chandler-Smith, with strong support from Dean Lula Petty-Edwards. The goal of the project is to educate JDOAAI students, staff, and the larger community on issues of environmental sustainability and to implement sustainability practices throughout the Institute.