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Community Restoration

Sustainable Solutions

Ecosystems face increased challenges — both directly and indirectly from climate change and the built environment. University of Michigan experts are on the cutting edge, developing strategies to conserve or restore natural habitats, and manage fisheries, estuaries, forests, and other resources sustainably so that we can preserve those environments and ecosystems for a long time to come. Key to this effort are experts at Forests & Livelihoods: Assessment, Research, and Engagement (FLARE), the National Estuarine Research Reserve System Science Collaborative, and the University of Michigan Biological Station.

News and Impact

two students working in a field
Adapting crops for people and the planet
satellite view of the great lakes region
Urine-to-fertilizer effort part of NSF Regional Innovation Engine
Sudeep Sharma, a postdoctoral researcher in materials science and engineering who works in Anish Tuteja’s lab, is adding droplets of water to a cooling unit. Each droplet will contain a different chemical cocktail that could change the temperature at which water freezes. Sharma and others from the Tuteja lab hope that these tests will help them find more eco-friendly de-icing products. Image credit: Marcin Szczepanski, Michigan Engineering.
Beating the freeze: Up to $11.5M for eco-friendly control over ice and snow
Local mini hydro plant in the Nepalese Himilayas. Image courtesy: Graham Institute
U-M ‘catalyst grants’ address climate resilience, sustainability
Frank Ettawageshik, executive director of the United Tribes of Michigan spoke at the Great Lakes Compact Symposium.Frank Ettawageshik, executive director of the United Tribes of Michigan, speaking at the Great Lakes Compact Symposium. Photo credit: Nick Hagen Photography
Great Lakes Compact Symposium: Celebrating and reflecting on the compact at 15 years
U-M researchers at the Edwin S. George reserve
Local gem hosts researchers throughout the decades
Individuals from SEAS, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers took part in a ceremonial tree planting at one of SEAS’ research natural areas. From left: Amy Van Zanen, Anna Gossard, Jason Stephens, Sucila Fernandes, Mike Piskur, David Naftzger, and Vianey Rueda
SEAS plants trees in support of Great Lakes tree planting initiative
Malika Stuerznickel, a doctoral candidate in anthropology, steers the Inland Seas schooner on the Detroit River.
Scholars and schooners
A group photo at the 2019 Professional Development Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate end-of-year celebration. From left to right: Robert Sellers, Charles D. Moody Collegiate Professor of Psychology, professor of education, and former chief diversity officer at U-M; PD DEI Certificate graduate Rebeca Villegas; PD DEI Certificate graduate Catalina Piatt-Esguerra; PD DEI Certificate graduate Jumanah Saadeh; PD DEI Certificate graduate Raebekkah Pratt-Clarke; Deborah Willis, assistant vice provost for equity, inclusion, and academic affairs and former assistant director of professional and academic development and senior program lead, DEI Certificate Program; Mike Solomon, dean, Rackham Graduate School
Environmental Justice and DEI
a photo of upcycled sawdust
Nearly zero-waste solution for construction: Reusable robotic 3D-printed formwork from upcycled sawdust
Eastern Bluebird. Photo: Evan Deutsch
Native plants support local bird populations
Header graphic with sustainability-adjacent imagery
Steps to a sustainable mindset
Timothy Cernak, an assistant professor from the University of Michigan’s Department of Chemistry and College of Pharmacy, stands in front of a Chinese hemlock tree (Tsuga chinensis) in its native Taiwan. Cernak thinks that the pool of organic molecules that the tree emits from its leaves could help control the spread of an invasive hemlock pest wrecking havoc in eastern North America. Photo credit: Hsin-Ting Yeh, used with permission.
U-M professor is developing precision medicine to stop a devastating hemlock pest
The current process to produce urea for fertilizer compared to the proposed sustainable process that uses carbon dioxide and nitrate to form urea using renewable electricity. Image credit: Sayo Studio
$1.3M to improve urea fertilizer production and reduce CO2 emissions
PVC piping
Rethinking PVC recycling
physicians at work
Medical plastics recycling initiative ramps up at U-M Health
Michigan Medicine’s Department of Anesthesiology launched a new initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimize its impact on climate change in 2022, and initial results have become available.
Green Anesthesia Initiative quickly shows progress
view of the biological station
A century of learning at the U-M Biological Station
These small vials contain biocrude created from tests using different parts of potatoes. Initially, the team will run tests to create similar amounts of biocrude and other chemicals from Matthaei organic waste to determine how the biocrude and other products vary with the types of organic waste collected. Image credit: Derek Smith, PhD
U-M’s botanical gardens taking steps toward carbon neutrality
When food and other organic waste goes to landfills, it rots and emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas. A team of researchers plan to reduce Matthaei’s organic waste emissions by upcycling it into useful products and energy. Image source: jbloom via Openverse.
New grant gives MBGNA collections a new life as recycled materials and biofuels
Assessing the Future of Pumped Hydro Storage in the Great Lakes
New Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Program projects receive over $1M in funding
many plastic bottles
‘Talking Trash’ discussion focuses on reducing single-use plastics
OCS Planet Blue swag
Ann Arbor campus meets two sustainability goals early
Yukun Sun, a graduate student research assistant, and William Leal, an undergraduate research assistant, both in the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at U-M, place microplastic pellets on the water in the wind wave tank at the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory. Image credit: Robert Coelius, Michigan Engineering
Tracking ocean microplastics from space
Truck traffic on Nepal’s East-West Highway, which bisects all of the country’s tiger-bearing parks, as well as important habitat corridors and bottlenecks. For their study, University of Michigan researchers and colleagues equipped two wild tigers, one male and one female, with GPS collars to record detailed information about their movements and behaviors near the highway prior to a planned lane-expansion project. Image credit: Krishna Hengaju
Rapid behavioral response of Nepalese tigers to reduced road traffic during COVID-19 lockdown
Student cabins at Camp Davis, Jackson, WY; photograph by EES graduate Trinity Pryor (B.S. ’22).
In Earth Science, the outdoor classroom isn't optional