Win Prizes During #UHBYOBottle Campaign
Every year, at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, University of Houston students, faculty and staff have the opportunity to help reduce plastic waste and win prizes by participating in the Office of Sustainability's #UHBYOBottle social media campaign.
The tradition returns this semester from Jan. 13 to Jan. 24.
During this time, participants who post a photo of themselves using a reusable water bottle on Instagram or Twitter with #UHBYOBottle and @UHSustain will be entered to win a variety of cool prizes.
Read more
Sustainability in the news
Researchers Are Gathering Data Off the Coast of Antarctica to Improve Forecasts of Future Sea-level Rise
The Amundsen Sea off Antarctica's western shore is even more isolated. But the icy expanse is proving to be fertile ground for researchers, plowing the waters in search of clues that will help scientists more accurately predict future sea-level rise.
Julia Wellner, associate professor of geology in the University of Houston's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, has been directing two projects that took place in the Amundsen Sea this spring. UH Ph.D. students Delaney Robinson and Rachel Clark were there, too, working on specialized ships that spent February and most of March dodging icebergs and plowing through sea ice in the service of science.
UH Cullen College Engineering Faculty Win NSF Grant For Water Purification Study
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded $300,008 to two UH Cullen College of Engineering professors for their research into the development of coatings designed to play a role in water purification.
The research has the potential to help ease the global water crisis by developing water filters so efficient they far surpass current options to make water safe to drink. Such better, smaller filters could help make it more practical to transport and operate water purification systems in rugged or impoverished regions of the world where clean drinking water is frequently absent.
Facilities Business Operations and Compliance Contracts Team Commits to Sustainability
Under the leadership of Assistant Director, Guicela Salazar, the contracts team has completely streamlined its processing efforts by virtually going completely paperless.
Given that an average contract may have 30+ pages this is a huge sustainable effort by not printing contract packets. Facilities contract coordinators Nancy Borja, Jacqueline Silis and Shercan Castaneda are to thank in addition to Salazar.
Smart Low-Carbon Cities - Big Changes Ahead
Research by climate scientists has shown that CO2 levels and global temperatures are climbing faster than previously projected, and cities around the world increasingly are taking action, pursuing strategies to both reduce the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions they create and to increase the supply of renewable energy they consume.
As U.S. cities prepare their own pathways to becoming low-carbon communities, they will need to anticipate big shifts in energy generation and distribution, as well as how people move about the city and the way in which new structures are built.
