Spring 2018 Muddy River Cleanup

As part of the larger Charles River Cleanup efforts for Earth day, volunteer to spend the day morning cleaning up the Muddy River! This year’s Muddy River cleanup will be held on Saturday, April 28 from 9:00am-Noon. FREE lunch a a t-shirt will be provided to COF participants. For more information and to RSVP, click here

Colleges of the Fenway 12^th Annual Muddy River Symposium
The 12th Annual Colleges of the Fenway Muddy River Symposium was held on April 10, 2018 at Wheelock College. Over 120 faculty, staff, and students attended this year’s event which was “Environmental Protection: A Call For Action.” Gabby Queenan, Policy Director for Mass Rivers Alliance provided the keynote address and over 33 student research projects were presented, including 7 additional projects from the COF Center for Sustainability Mini Grant Winners. This year’s winning research projects were:

2018 Muddy River Symposium
Research Project Winners

Literacy, Linguine, and Litness

Nurgul Aidarbek, Rachel Darke, Meaghan Kelly, Cedric Lalanne, Gregory Maslin (Massachusetts College of Art and Design)
Boston is well known as an academics oriented city. However, the children actually growing up in the city who attend Boston Public Schools are receiving insufficient literacy educations. To combat this problem, 826 Boston is creating an equal opportunity for children to learn and develop. By creating a platform that puts the kids in charge of their work, literacy becomes more interesting and rewarding. The organization published their first book last year, a children’s book written by a 2nd grade class. There are now two cookbooks in process of being written, which we have been helping with through our volunteering. Rather than feeling like the work isn’t applicable to life, children are able to share their culture and interests with the world, allowing others to experience life as they do.

A Salty Solution, Point of Use Solar Still, Helmand Province

David Bauters, Jackson Nissen, Benjamin Zidelis (Wentworth Institute of Technology)

 

There is a water crisis in the Helmand region of Afghanistan. Research indicated that access to freshwater in this area was the problem. Much of the freshwater in the area is diverted for illicit purposes, such as heroin production, by extremist organizations. However, there are sources of water in the area that are not diverted because the water has a high salt content. The saline water is free to access but needs to be purified in order to become potable.The purpose of the project to achieve is to help the people in Helmand have potable water. The goal of “potable water” meant to reduce the salt content in the water to an acceptable amount. The World Health Organization defines this to be 0-1000ppm. A device that would separate the salt from the water through evaporation would be effective. A device that can do this using the energy from the sun would be a solar still. The hope is that the people of Helmand can learn how to properly use the solar still and build one. The value of the people of Helmand learning to build a solar still is so if they need to move they can build another using the surrounding materials.

Learn more about their research here.

Has Mankind set an irreversible path of self-destruction for our environment? A comprehensive analysis of statistical data from NASA and the EPA between 1750 and 2017

1. Krischlunas, Dr. F. Ryvkin (Emmanuel College)

The purpose of this study is to analyze data collected by NASA [NASA, “Global”]1,2, EPA [“Figure”]3, and other sources [Boden, Etheridge, CSIRO]4,5,6 on atmospheric CO2 concentration, global CO2 emissions, average atmospheric temperature, and global sea levels to determine a relationship between observed patterns of global change and anthropological activities. Measurements from the preindustrial age (1750) were compared with the flux of human activity started by the global industrialization of societies beginning in the 19th century. From the data collected and analyzed, correlations were generated between the environmental factors. This demonstrated with certainty a predicted model of change in the foreseeable century if drastic changes are not made to human activity. After the analysis of the environmental factors listed above, a strong positive correlation was clearly shown between human activity and concerning environmental changes observed since the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the United States. The importance of this issue cannot be stressed with more intensity, for the damage to the global environment was mankind’s doing, and as such is our responsibility to amend it. Suggestions for public policy change and means to reduce the human impact on the environment will be discussed.
Sea Level Rising and Maldives Underwater Contract

Vida Rompas, Amy Tung, Selena Huang, & Matthew Menchavez

(MCPHS University)

 

The Island of the Maldives is an oasis for a peaceful getaway and a fun tropical vacation spot for everyone to enjoy the sun, beach, and the water. Unfortunately, in a world where climate change is affecting every aspect of our life, the Maldives is no exception to such drastic changes in the environment. In recent years, the oceans’ sea level is gradually rising and is a risk to the 200-island archipelago that if not prevented, could essentially “sink” the Maldives into the ocean. An increase in human activity continues to create more issues than benefits for the island nation and continues to struggle with the balance of maintaining a human and a natural ecosystem. Even with these risks, it is not too late for the Maldives to do something about it. The former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed and local officials have put in place regulations and precautions that are still in place today. Mitigation efforts include local and global policies, flood barriers like seawalls, and reclaiming islands like Hulhumalé. In the future, such mitigation efforts can focus on issues like global policy adherence, internal migration to reclaimed islands, and greening strategies to restore nutrients in reclaimed lands. Continued pursuit of these efforts will help combat the effects of climate change and help the Maldivian environment thrive and grow.

Learn more about their research here

Elemental Analysis of Lichens Along an Urban Gradient

Jaimie Thibeault and Dr. Lisa Lobel (Wheelock College)

Lichens are sensitive indicators of air pollution and have been widely used as bioindicators to assess ambient air quality. Not only do lichen growth forms differ in their response to air pollution, but due to their high surface area they also act as accumulators of trace metals. Samples of two species of lichens (Flavoparmelia caperata, Usnea strigosa) were collected from regions in Massachusetts along an urban gradient. X-ray fluorescence was used on prepared lichen samples for elemental analysis. The fruticose lichen (Usnea strigosa), which is most sensitive to poor air quality, was not found in urban locations.  Foliose lichens (Flavoparmelia caperata) with intermediate levels of sensitivity to air pollution were found in all locations. Heavy metal concentrations in this species were compared among locations to assess whether urban lichens contain higher metal concentrations.

 

Cooperative Energy, Recycling & Organics

Autumn Warnock, Aurora Goodland, Olivia Hart, Samantha Marinelli (Simmons College)

CERO uses a worker-owned cooperative business model to provide stable, green jobs for its employees, while diverting food waste back into local farms to contribute to Boston’s agricultural sustainability. Boston’s hardworking communities of color are disproportionately exposed to pollution and lack access to jobs with fair wages and good working conditions. Since its founding in 2012, CERO has managed to divert 1000 tons per year, about 6 million pounds and counting, as well as saving its customers over $200,000 while employing eight full-time worker-owners and various part-timers and volunteers. Through their composting methods using anaerobic digestion, CERO has also created compost and methane for energy use throughout the city of Boston. CERO’s success and expansion is an initial step in both reducing income inequality and building a local green economy in Boston.

COF Sustainability Mini Grant Special Recogition

NITINOL Engine

Dan Carnazza, Steve Frazier, Pat Hopkins, Joe Schnackertz, and Jeff Castiglioni

(Wentworth Institute of Technology)

As the effects of climate change become more evident, we are beginning to see a rise in renewable energy companies who strive to make an impact. An area of energy conservation that has yet to be thoroughly researched is the use of low-grade heat to either increase the overall efficiency of an existing energy production method or to create a stand-alone system that harnesses low-grade heat from a natural resource to produce electricity. A team of mechanical engineers at Wentworth Institute of Technology is developing a NITINOL heat engine that has the potential to generate a substantial amount of electricity through harnessing low-grade heat from a variety of sources. NITINOL is a shape memory alloy (SMA) made of nickel and titanium. It has very interesting thermal properties as it returns to a perfectly aligned crystalline structure when heated to a temperature above its transition temperature. If an SMA is in the form of a wire, it will stretch out to a straight position with an immense amount of force when rapidly heated. This force is then transferred to the rotary motion of a flywheel that will turn an electric generator. The team of engineers developing this engine is very thankful to the COF sustainability committee for providing a mini-grant to support our prototyping efforts.

 

 

 

 

Center for Sustainability And Environment Mini-Grants

The COF Center for Sustainability and the Environment is pleased to offer our students the opportunity to apply for mini-grants in support of research, projects, or initiatives that promote sustainability. Preference will be given to projects that reflect on student life.

Projects granted will be widely promoted to the COF communities to recognize the importance of student led sustainability initiatives. Public presentations will offer opportunities for the COF community to learn more about how to live and create sustainability.

Applications for the 2017-2018 Mini-Grants is closed.

The 2017-2018 winning projects are:

Keep Cool – MCPHS University

KeepCool offers an environmentally friendly and sustainable cooling system for medications that require temperature stability. KeepCool has developed a revolutionary cooling device free of battery replacement to avoid the difficulty of replacing batteries in refrigeration systems because of expense and availability. KeepCool targets individuals who do not have access to adequate

means for cooling. KeepCool’s vision is to promote environmental stewardship and sustainability by building a trusted company for proper medication storage.

Bee Hotel – Wheelock College

The bee population is rapidly decreasing at an alarming rate, and humans are at fault. The Bee Hotel will create a home for solitary bees, which are just as important as the well-known honeybee. The Bee Hotel will provide an opportunity for solitary bees to remain alive and warm throughout the cold winter months.  This project is not only important to the continued lifespan of the bees, but the continued production of our food is also in crisis.

Reuse Room – Emmanuel College

The Emmanuel College Sustainability Committee will be using their grant to launch a planned assessment for the need of a permanent reuse room and food pantry. The assessment will include the analysis of student opinions collected via survey, presentation of the data to the Emmanuel College’s Administration, and a promotional campaign regarding this initiative to create an informed public discourse on campus.

Photo Posts @ Drumlin Farm – Simmons College

The aim of our project is to create an opportunity for collaboration between two centers of environmental education: the Boston Area Climate Experiment and Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm. The funding will be used to create two “Photo Post” sites, one at each location, which engagevisitors to help track the growth and development of native species of plants over time and their phenological response to climate change. Surrounding the photo posts will be garden beds planted with a variety of native plant species.

Bee Awareness Event – Wheelock College

As a part of our Course Bee-Aware Environment & Society at Wheelock College, we will use the funding to raise awareness about sustainability, pollinators, pesticides, and issues with environmental health to the Wheelock Community.
Power Tomorrow – Wentworth Institute of Technology

Power Tower will utilize a heat engine created from 3D printed PLA plastic to harness the energy from Nitinol, a shape memory alloy (SMA) made of nickel and titanium. The funding for Power Tomorrow will be used to test the wide variety of applications of the harnessed energy.

Deterra Drug Disposal – MCPHS University

The Deterra drug disposal system is comprised of pouches for safe and proper disposal of unused medication. These pouches contain activated carbon that adsorbs all organic compounds when combined with warm water. This product is non-toxic and the pouch is made of biodegradable material. The use of Deterra can reduce the amount of medical waste found in sewage and drinking water which is caused by flushing and improper disposal of medication. Deterra also allows people to safely dispose their unused medication which prevents others from easily obtaining them for inappropriate uses (e.g. substance abuse).