Research
Turning cellulose into biofuel: VU prof, grad student search for key on molecular level
Mar. 24, 2015—Originally published by the Vanderbilt School of Engineering found here. Brady, left, and Matt Lang, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Vanderbilt University. (Susan Urmy/Vanderbilt University) Nature exquisitely engineered a way to produce fuel from organic matter. The answer to how lies in decaying leaves on the forest floor or a backyard compost pile...
Cheaper wind power possible through “talking” turbines
Mar. 16, 2015—Originally published by Reuters. The measurements taken inside a Vanderbilt University wind tunnel could hold the key to making wind power a viable, cost effective energy source in the future, according to Professor Doug Adams and his team of engineers. Inside a massive 20,000 square foot laboratory, Adams and his team fitted inertial sensors on two...
Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review
Mar. 4, 2015—The Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review (ELPAR) welcomes Professor William Boyd of the University of Colorado Law School as a part of its annual Nashville conference to discuss the importance of a revitalized and expanded notion of public utility for efforts to decarbonize the U.S. power sector. A panel of experts will join him...
Time when climate was topsy-turvy in Western U.S. aids climate prediction efforts
Mar. 2, 2015—Climate scientists now put the odds that the American Southwest is headed into a 30-year “mega drought” at 50/50. Meanwhile, the forecast for the Pacific Northwest is continued warming with slightly drier summers and even wetter winters. However, 21,000 years ago, at the peak of the last Ice Age, a period known as the Last...
Dr. Randy Blakely’s lab wins 2015 basketball “Greenest Group on Campus” award
Feb. 11, 2015—Read the MyVU story here. Dr. Randy Blakely’s lab group has been named winner of the 2015 Vanderbilt Basketball Sustainability Competition. Dr. Blakely’s lab staff celebrated their title of “greenest group on campus” at the Vanderbilt vs. South Carolina basketball game Feb. 7 with a catered hospitality event, tickets to the game, an autographed basketball...
Family tradition helps expand environmental and sustainability studies
Feb. 3, 2015—Originally published by Vanderbilt News. Read the article here. For Sommers Kline, BA’14, it all began the first semester of her first year when she signed up for an oceanography course. “Within the first two weeks, I learned that coral reefs were unlikely to last beyond the next 30 years,” Kline recalled. “I thought that...
Vanderbilt Engineering Students Prepare for 2015 Solar Decathlon
Sep. 17, 2014—Selected last spring for the 2015 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, a team of Vanderbilt students is partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville to build Harmony House. It’s a 1,000-square-foot, energy efficient, fully solar-powered home likely to be used as a test site for the housing nonprofit after the contest ends. “A lot of Solar...
Vanderbilt professor speaks on climate change at TEDxNashville
Jun. 1, 2014—Michael Vandenbergh, David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair of Law and director of Vanderbilt’s Climate Change Research Network, recently spoke on “Buying Time: The Private Governance Response to Climate Change” at TEDxNashville. Professor Vandenbergh’s academic research explores the relationship between formal legal regulation and informal social regulation of individual and corporate behavior, the influence of social...
Diamond named Udall Scholar
Apr. 28, 2014—[Originally published by MyVU] The Office of Honor Scholarships is pleased to announce that Michael Diamond, a junior in the College of Arts and Science, has been named a 2014 Udall Scholar. The Udall Foundation is an independent federal agency that was established by Congress in 1992 to provide federally funded scholarships for college students...
In Class and Across Campus, Vanderbilt Helps Future Generations Find Relief for an Overstressed Planet
Mar. 18, 2014—[Originally published in Vanderbilt Magazine] Written by Joanne Lamphere Beckham From corporate boardrooms to statehouse chambers to the halls of academe, sustainability is one of this century’s biggest challenges. Although defined in many ways, sustainability is generally understood as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet...