Sustainability stories from the greater USC community in Los Angeles, the media, and other organizations.
- Class of ‘24 Spotlight on Calder ScarpaGraduating with a Bachelor of Architecture, Calder Scarpa harnessed the value of interdisciplinary studies by exploring the relationship between food and architecture.
- Using State-of-the-Art Tools to Cocreate a Future for the LA RiverImagine restoring a 51-mile-long concrete river—running through the heart of the Los Angeles Basin in California—into a vibrant corridor reconnecting fractured communities and ecosystems.
- Class of ‘24 Spotlight on Anna Avdalyan“Sometimes, a simple shift in perspective or scale can unveil solutions. I’m passionate about material activism because we can’t ignore the consequences of our material choices any longer.”
- 2024 Research Symposium Focused on Resilient FuturesOn Thursday, April 11, USC School of Architecture hosted the annual Research Symposium on “Resilient Futures: Bridging Tradition and Innovation in the Living Environment.”
- Video: Celebrating 30 years of the USC Environmental Studies Program with Karla Heidelberg and Jill SohmIn honor of this milestone, we sat down at USC’s new Sustainability Hub for a chat between former ENST director Karla Heidelberg and current ENST director Jill Sohm as they reflect on the first 30 years of the program and share their vision for the next 30!
- Sharing Untold Stories: Ph.D. student Amber Santoro highlights community impacts of freeway constructionInaugural USC Libraries Sustainability Fellow curates digital exhibit to spotlight community displacement during L.A.’s heyday of freeway construction.
- BioFlare Wins The 2024 Min Family ChallengeThe USC student startup is developing a device that would transform most organic food waste into cooking gas and reduce indoor pollution for millions.
- Win Aung is Named on the Metropolis Future 100 ListUSC School of Architecture student Win Aung ‘24 has been named to the prestigious 2024 Metropolis Future 100 List, recognizing the top graduating architecture and interior design students in the United States and Canada.
- Talking about mental health in climate spacesThe climate crisis can make our current times feel quite challenging, especially if you are a young person trying to deal with all the other pressures in your life: school, work, interpersonal relationships.
- Media Panel: Transportation in LA with Nick Andert and Rachel UrangaOn April 11th, 2024, USC ITE had the pleasure of welcoming two transportation media professionals to our campus for a media panel discussion about transportation in Los Angeles.
- Recap of event: How to be a Sustainable TrojanTo celebrate Earth Day, USC Staff Assembly invited Lilian Ledesma from the USC Office of Sustainability to present on How to be a Sustainable Trojan.
- Keck Medical Center of USC receives sustainability awardOn April 17, the 2024 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Awards recognized Keck Medical Center of USC for finding a way to save over 1.7 million gallons of water in a single year.
- USC Wrigley Institute Selects 2024 StorymakersThe USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability is pleased to announce the 2024 cohort of Wrigley Institute Storymakers fellows.
- AI bridges the gap between data and dialogue for climate journalismWe stand at the nexus of an information glut and an action deficit — particularly when it comes to defining the crisis of our time: climate change.
- USC Researchers are Developing AI-Enhanced Safety Inspections for Nuclear WasteResearchers in the USC Sonny Astani Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering are tackling one of the most complex problems facing the U.S. Department of Energy: how to safely handle and store “spent” nuclear fuel.
- Wrigley Marine Science Center is part of Mission Blue’s newest Hope Spot“This new Hope Spot is more than a place, it’s an experience. Students and researchers create core memories of their time at USC during their visits to Catalina Island.”
- How ‘Dune’ became a beacon for the fledgling environmental movement − and a rallying cry for the new science of ecologyWhen Frank Herbert sat down in 1963 to start writing ‘Dune,’ he wasn’t thinking about how to leave Earth behind. He was thinking about how to save it.
- $4 million gift launches new climate and carbon management initiative“This generous gift will enable innovative research to accelerate decarbonization strategies,” says Dornsife College Dean Amber D. Miller.
- Q&A with actress and activist Jane Fonda: Environmental issues, her childhood and the best hikes in L.A.Fonda reflects on the past and offers advice for the future in an exclusive with Annenberg Media.
- Master of Building Science Alumnus’ Wind Energy System Launches Pilot Program this Summer in L.A.Casey Castor ’19 is on mission to harvest sustainable energy with a unique leaf-like wind module for the ‘skin’ of buildings, and will launch a pilot program with Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator.
- Price student’s big idea to cut auto emissions: mini EVsDylan Qichen Di, a Master of Urban Planning student from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, has a big idea to solve the electric car cost problem: mini EVs.
- Slippery situation: Microbes in oil spills could shed light on ecosystem recoveryEarth sciences researcher hopes a long-term study of a 2021 oil spill in Southern California will help guide future decisions about how to repair affected ecosystems.
- From wood fossils to plant-based burgers with an Earth sciences degreeAlumna Hyejung “Hazel” Lee honed her lab skills at USC Dornsife, and now she uses them at Beyond Meat, a maker of meat substitutes.
- April’s eclipse will mean interruptions in solar power generation, which could strain electrical gridsWhen the Moon blocks the Sun during an eclipse, utility suppliers have to pull power from the grid to make up for gaps in solar energy.
- USC Dornsife celebrates Tyler Prize winner for defining Earth’s vital limitsJohan Rockström joins the ranks of environmental visionaries honored by the Tyler Prize, administered by USC Dornsife, for his pioneering work on the “Planetary Boundaries” framework.