Topic: Sustainability

Displaying 37 - 54 of 693

Find Your Sustain Ability: Get to Know Team Sunergy (Pt. 1)
July 10, 2023
Two App State Team Sunergy members join Chief Sustainability Officer Lee Ball in the podcast studio to share their experiences with solar vehicle racing. Nicole Sommerdorf and Patrick Laney explain how they got involved with the team, as well as the impact it has had on their personal growth and their job prospects post-graduation.

Find more App State podcasts at podcasts.appstate.edu and subscribe on your favorite platform.
Find Your Sustain Ability: National Geographic CEO Dr. Jill Tiefenthaler
July 7, 2023
Dr. Jill Tiefenthaler, the first female CEO of the National Geographic Society, joins App State Chief Sustainability Officer Lee Ball in the podcast studio to discuss the journey that led her to her current position. She shares her thoughts on the importance of higher education and the history of the Society’s National Geographic magazine, as well as a few of her favorite National Geographic Explorers.

Find more App State podcasts at podcasts.appstate.edu and subscribe on your favorite platform.
Appalachian Energy Summit announces $1.75 billion in statewide avoided energy costs
National Geographic CEO Jill Tiefenthaler shares international project updates with summit attendees
June 29, 2023
The Appalachian Energy Summit continues toward the established 2025 goal of $2 billion in avoided energy costs for the UNC System and state agencies. Since 2002–03, the System and its partners have collectively avoided $1.75 billion in energy costs.
App State’s Mountaineer Food Hub receives $50,000 contribution from Harris Teeter
June 20, 2023
App State’s Mountaineer Food Hub has new resources to address food insecurity within the Boone campus community thanks to a $50,000 donation from Harris Teeter — marking the largest corporate gift in the food hub’s history.
Construction of App State’s Conservatory for Biodiversity Education and Research set to begin this summer
The academic facility will be the first net-zero energy building in App State's new Innovation District
June 9, 2023
Construction for App State’s Conservatory for Biodiversity Education and Research — the first academic building of the university’s Innovation District — is set to begin in July. The facility, offering classroom, office, laboratory and event space, will be built to the rigorous sustainability standards of the Living Building Challenge.
3 App State graduate students win $25,000 award in sustainable business pitch competition
June 1, 2023
Three App State graduate students won a $25,000 prize in EnergyTech’s annual business pitch competition. The event has teams identify a promising energy technology, assess its market potential and pitch a strategy for commercialization of the product to a panel of judges.
At App State, sustainable purchasing is a collective effort — and a key climate strategy
May 12, 2023
App State continues to implement its sustainable purchasing initiative as part of the university’s Climate Action Plan, which guides App State’s progress toward climate neutrality. Sustainable purchasing is the practice of buying goods that mitigate negative effects on human health and the environment.
App State digital textbook rentals boast 99% participation rate, save students $5M in 2022–23
University wins national award for its e-book programming
May 5, 2023
Since its launch in 2021, App State’s award-winning digital textbook rental system — one of the first of its kind in the nation — has been utilized by 99% of the student population. The program has saved students over $5 million in the past academic year.
Where to Find the Energy to Save the World [alumni featured]
Wired Magazine
May 4, 2023
This feature in Wired Magazine follows the journey of App State alumna Jamie Beard in her mission to make geothermal a leading renewable energy source. The article takes a personal look into Beard’s life as an environmental advocate and how she balances her passion for work as the mother of a son with a rare metabolic disorder known as Hunter syndrome. Beard graduated from App State in 2002 with a degree in industrial technology and a focus on alternative energy.
App State students unveil new solar array near State Farm Road
May 3, 2023
App State’s student-led Renewable Energy Initiative hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 14 for the university’s new State Farm solar array, which has the capacity to collect data and provide performance updates. The 100-kilowatt array is visible from the Boone Greenway Trail.
App State small business centers assist 1,000 clients with $65M in capital formation
Small Business and Technology Development Center serves 14 counties with offices in Boone and Hickory
April 11, 2023
The App State-affiliated Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) is a valued asset in the economic development infrastructure of North Carolina, serving as an advisory resource for growing and developing businesses. Learn more about two Hickory area small businesses that have worked with SBTDC to pursue their business goals.
From waste to wear: App State alumna develops sustainable pigments for fashion, printing industries
Jane Palmer's LA-based company produces black pigments made from wood waste
March 24, 2023
App State alumna Jane Palmer ’98 started her Nature Coatings business in 2017 to transform wood waste into high-performing black pigments. The company provides an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum-based carbon blacks.
Gas stoves: We’ve got hybrid cars. Why not a plug-in hybrid kitchen? [faculty featured]
The Charlotte Observer
March 18, 2023
In this opinion piece, Carla Ramsdell, an instructor in App State’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, explains how a hybridized kitchen can be an environmentally positive solution for gas stove users. Ramsdell suggests that along with a gas stove, having a single-burner electric induction cooktop provides another cooking option that helps improve indoor air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Honoring women’s leadership and history at App State
March 8, 2023
This Women’s History Month, learn more about a few of the App State administrators, alumni, students, faculty, staff and campus visitors who are leading the way and inspiring others, as well as university events and initiatives focused on women’s history.
Since 1958, App State's Southern Appalachian plant collection has aided research, teaching and conservation
I.W. Carpenter Jr. Herbarium houses 30,000 plant specimens
Feb. 24, 2023
For nearly 65 years, App State’s herbarium has served as a vital record of the flora biodiversity in the Southern Appalachian Mountains region. Faculty and students engage with its 30,000 specimens for teaching, research and plant conservation.
App State’s Day of Service honors legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Feb. 20, 2023
App State’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service — now called Mobilize the Mountains — was held Feb. 18, with more than 50 students volunteering for a day of reflection, education and service. Mountaineers have been taking part in this event for more than two decades.
Mountain hares are built for snow. That may become a problem. [faculty featured]
National Geographic
Feb. 20, 2023
Dr. Marketa Zimova, assistant professor of biology at App State, explores how climate change has negatively impacted mountain hares in the Scottish Highlands. Zimova explains that mountain hares have turncoat capabilities — changing from a brown coat to a white coat during winter months to blend in with the snow — but with less snow each year, they are becoming more easily exposed to predators.
NC State scientists want less phosphorus use, and the White House is paying attention
The News & Observer
Feb. 13, 2023
Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, toured the Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, headquartered at N.C. State, in February 2023. App State is one of nine institutions across the U.S. that are partners in the center, which aims to facilitate a 25% reduction in human dependence on mined phosphates and a 25% reduction in phosphorus losses to soils and water resources within 25 years.