Back down to earth
11/15/21 — Materials science professor Ting Xu is re-engineering plastics for the age of sustainability.
Sustainability & environment
Where there’s smoke
11/15/21 — On wildfire days, taking steps like closing up houses and using indoor filtration can cut the infiltration of PM2.5 particulate matter into homes by half.
Block by block
11/15/21 — Research shows that levels of air pollution vary not only by region, such as between urban and rural areas, but by city block.
Daniel Kammen named senior adviser to USAID
10/21/21 — Kammen, who holds joint appointments in energy and resources, public policy and nuclear engineering, will serve as senior adviser for energy, climate and innovation for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
New study shows how air pollution varies block by block
09/07/21 — Researchers used Google Street View cars to show that levels of air pollution vary not only by region, such as between urban and rural areas, but also by city street
New faculty cluster to focus on climate change, environmental justice
09/02/21 — CNR: Five assistant professors, including civil and environmental engineering's Maya Carrasquillo, will bring their disparate perspectives to research on battling the “climate gap”
How much wildfire smoke is infiltrating our homes?
09/01/21 — Environmental engineers used crowdsourced data to measure indoor air quality during California’s wildfires.
How to make plastic truly biodegradable
08/31/21 — Professor Ting Xu and her students have come up with a solution for the global problem of single-use plastics: embed enzymes so that the unwanted plastic can self-destruct with a little heat and water
Fighting wildfires with computing and data science
07/13/21 — Berkeley's Fire Research Group uses algorithms, machine learning, and simulation to improve fire prevention efforts.
New studies of deadly air pollutant document environmental inequality
04/28/21 Washington Post — “The deck is stacked against people of color,” says civil and environmental engineering assistant professor Joshua Apte
Out of the bag
04/26/21 — A chemical process that converts polyethylene plastic into a strong adhesive could create economic incentives for recycling plastic bags.
Earth Day message for California: Move faster on climate change
04/22/21 Los Angeles Times — Scientists led by Berkeley energy professor Dan Kammen urge aggressive action to confront the climate crisis
New process makes ‘biodegradable’ plastics truly compostable
04/21/21 — Ting Xu's lab has embedded polymer-eating enzymes in plastic to allow programmed degradation after the plastic's useful life is over
10 years after Fukushima, Berkeley monitoring still in use
03/11/21 Berkeley Lab — Response to earthquake, nuclear plant disaster led Kai Vetter and colleagues to new programs and technologies
Upcycling: Turning plastic bags into adhesives
12/17/20 — New catalytic process can stick polyethylene to metal or other materials, potentially boosting the economics of recycling
Clean Air Car Race turns 50
11/05/20 — In 1970, two teams of engineering students participated in a cross-country car race to test technologies that reduced automobile emissions.
How SCET director is protecting trees needed for a COVID vaccine
10/23/20 — A compound in Chilean soapbark trees is a key ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine; Ricardo San Martin wants to ensure that the bark is sustainably harvested.
Super sand
04/14/20 — Engineers have developed a mineral-coated sand that can soak up toxic metals from water, cleaning up stormwater as it replenishes aquifers.
Environmental engineering students win $25K grant from the EPA
02/20/20 — The team, supervised by Professor Ashok Gadgil, will use the money to develop ways to remove arsenic from drinking water in California.
Sustainable sand gives pollution a one-two punch
12/05/19 — Berkeley engineers have developed a mineral-coated sand that can soak up toxic metals like lead and cadmium from water.