Each program is $20 per person to attend, please call 480-727-7208 to register by phone, or log on to to register and submit payment online. A complete list of the 2008-2009 President’s Community Enrichment Programs may also be viewed at www.asufoundation.org/pcep.
As we near the second decade of the 21st century, the majority of people worldwide are living in cities, compared to only 10 percent of the global population who were urban dwellers in 1900. As urbanization expands and economies grow, cities themselves grow larger and place ever greater demands on services that nearby and distant ecosystems provide. Urban ecology integrates natural and social sciences to study these radically altered local environments and their regional and global effects.
As we near the second decade of the 21st century, the majority of people worldwide are living in cities, compared to only 10 percent of the global population who were urban dwellers in 1900. As urbanization expands and economies grow, cities themselves grow larger and place ever greater demands on services that nearby and distant ecosystems provide. Urban ecology integrates natural and social sciences to study these radically altered local environments and their regional and global effects.
Cities can be informative test cases for understanding socio-ecological system dynamics and responses to change. But as the centers of human innovation and productivity, it may well be that the sustainable solutions to living in a changing world will be found in urban regions. Cities therefore present both the problems and solutions to sustainability challenges of an increasingly urbanized world.
Nancy B. Grimm is an ecosystem ecologist/biogeochemist at ASU. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College in Massachusetts and master’s degree and doctorate from ASU, where she has held research and faculty positions since 1990. Grimm’s research asks how landscape heterogeneity and climate variability influence retention, cycling and transport of nitrogen, both in desert and urban landscapes. She is lead principal investigator and co-director of the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) project, a study of the Phoenix metropolis and surroundings that is one of the first comprehensive investigations of an urban ecosystem. Grimm has published more than 100 research articles and book chapters and has received more than $25 million in collaborative research and training awards.
Everyone is acutely aware of the impact that oil prices have on our economy. Most people are also aware of the concerns that have been raised about the increase in carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere and the resulting effects on our climate patterns. Add to this political unrest in the Middle East and the military commitment our country has in that region, and it’s clear that energy–particularly liquid fuel–is shaping multiple dimensions of our world. In recent years, scientists, politicians, the energy industry and concerned citizens have all come to the conclusion that we will ultimately need to move away from our complete reliance on fossil fuels. But what are the alternatives?
The answer may lie in slimy green substances similar to what you might find in your swimming pool if you neglect to clean it. Dr. Woodbury will review several exciting approaches to slimy green fuel production underway at ASU. He will talk in detail about the Tubes in the Desert project, which uses photosynthetic microorganisms grown in transparent tubes to create a material that is easily converted into a form of diesel fuel. This approach, compared to ethanol production, would enable a high yield per acre, using less water, and would not require arable land for production. The promise and the challenges associated with this new technology will be discussed.
Neal Woodbury, Ph.D, deputy director of the Biodesign Institute at ASU, is also director of the Center for Bio-optical Nanotechnology at the Biodesign Institute. Dr. Woodbury leads a team that seeks to develop molecular devices and nanoscale hybrid electronics for use in biomedicine, environmental remediation and monitoring, threat detection and agriculture. His research into the structure/function relationships in photosynthesis led him to realize the awesome potential of harnessing the energy of light to direct chemical reactions.
Green Series at the Garden: Topics in Sustainability