Earth Month 2024 at USC was a great success! With over 70 events across our campuses, we came together for sharing, workshops, neighborhood clean-ups, conferences, gardening, creative art exhibits and more.
Read on for highlights of activities, news, and media from our 2024 Earth Month Celebration.
News & Events
- 2024 Research Symposium Focused on Resilient Futures
On Thursday, April 11, USC School of Architecture hosted the annual Research Symposium on “Resilient Futures: Bridging Tradition and Innovation in the Living Environment.” - Sharing Untold Stories: Ph.D. student Amber Santoro highlights community impacts of freeway construction
Inaugural 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 Challenge
The 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 List
USC 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. - Sustainability takes center stage at town hall event
Representatives of the USC Office of Sustainability spoke with students about what’s been done, what’s in the works and what needs to happen to create a greener university. - Supreme Court to consider ‘good neighbor’ rules that limit cross-state air pollution
The nation’s highest court is considering putting a hold on a clean air rule that requires upwind states to reduce pollution affecting their downwind neighbors. - Talking about mental health in climate spaces
The 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 Uranga
On 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 Trojan
To celebrate Earth Day, USC Staff Assembly invited Lilian Ledesma from the USC Office of Sustainability to present on How to be a Sustainable Trojan. - Where did Earth Day go?
As Monday marks the 53rd anniversary of Earth Day, USC has become part of a concerning trend; a decline in participation of environmental initiatives. - Elevating the social justice impact of climate change
The increase in climate-related disasters and pollution disproportionately impacts marginalized communities around the world. This makes climate change a core social justice issue. - Keck Medical Center of USC receives sustainability award
On 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. - Jane Fonda brings her story of climate activism to USC
Jane Fonda knew that the best way to draw in a standing room only audience to discuss climate change was by telling stories and speaking from the heart. “This is what I want to spend… - USC Wrigley Institute Selects 2024 Storymakers
The 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 journalism
We 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. - 200 adventures in 24 hours: First ‘Questival’ at USC
From passing encouraging notes in Leavey Library to slam dunking in Venice, Cotopaxi’s famous Questival adventure race led Trojans to explore L.A. while doing good for the community. - Political leaders, scholars and activists discuss challenges ahead at Climate Forward Conference
The fifth annual event packed Town and Gown on Thursday afternoon and featured several discussions and Q&As. - USC Researchers are Developing AI-Enhanced Safety Inspections for Nuclear Waste
Researchers 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. - Ancient canoe revival highlights Indigenous sustainability practices and ocean conservation
The first Tongva “ti’at” built in centuries finds a permanent exhibit and helps highlight Native American sustainable maritime traditions. - Arts & Climate Collective hosts annual festival, encouraging sustainability
Students were treated to booths that featured community organizations and student artwork while listening to live music. - Don’t worry, bee happy with Earth Month
USC celebrates Earth Month with a plethora of events and open conversations on sustainability and environmental journalism. - From Drug-Detection to Eco-Entrepreneurship: Introducing Kandis Leslie Gilliard-AbdulAziz
Kandis Leslie Gilliard-AbdulAziz brings a wealth of experience to her role as assistant professor at USC Sonny Astani Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. - Associate Professor Kelly Sanders to Advise the White House on Clean Energy Policy
Sanders has been appointed 2024 Assistant Director for Energy Systems Innovation at the White House.
Videos
President Folt’s Earth Month 2024 Message
How to be a Sustainable Trojan Presentation 2024
USC OCEC: Investing in Our Values
Coffee with Ish: Sustainability
Celebrating 30 years of the USC Environmental Studies Program with Karla Heidelberg and Jill Sohm
Climate Forward 2024: A Lot Done; A Lot More To Do (full stream at USC Wrigley’s Facebook Live)
Edible America: Food Security, Organic Farming and the Art of Eating Well
The Politics of Electric Vehicles: Why Have EV’s Become a Partisan Issue?
Podcasts
From Where We Are – Springing into Earth Month
Happy Earth Month! Now the entire month of April, rather than just one day, is dedicated to celebrating our planet and taking action to protect it. In honor of Earth Month, the USC Arts & Climate Collective, or the ACC, hosted their 3rd annual Arts & Climate Collective Festival.
From Where We Are – From the new Metro D Line to USC kicking-off AAPI Month
On today’s show, we hear student’s post-game reactions after last nights women’s basketball loss, learn how the USC community is preparing for the upcoming solar eclipse, and celebrate Earth Month with student art at the Art & Climate Collective Festival. All that and more, From Where We Are.
From Where We Are – Jane Fonda talks community during climate change at USC
Jane Fonda began by reminiscing about growing up in LA many years ago before freeways when nature was everywhere – easy to get lost in. She reveled in the birdsong, but then, after going away for many years, she came back to freeways, smog, way more people and way more buildings. But what really pushed her over the edge wasn’t until the 2019 climate catastrophe in L.A. where there were raging wildfires.
Preventative Pros – Climate Change and Rethinking the Status Quo
Ans Irfan, MD, EdD, DrPH, ScD MPH, MRPL, associate professor of population and public health sciences in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at Keck School of Medicine of USC, examines the role society and policies play in climate change, the need to confront the big questions, and how we might adjust our approach to improve humanity’s outcome.