A Hub of Sustainability
There were plenty of clues around campus that April was Earth Month: tree plantings, conferences and summits, awarding of Sustainability Awards and granting of Green Initiative grants. But the maturity of UC Berkeley as a hub of sustainability awareness and action goes far deeper; Berkeley marks Earth Day every day, and its efforts are being felt on campus and far beyond.
In the global arena, CITRIS is now collaborating with the Copenhagen Climate Council to cosponsor next month’s C-GRACE, one of several strategic meetings for negotiating a new Kyoto Protocol. The event involves CITRIS with international scientists and government and industry leaders in exploring research priorities that can promote a low carbon future while still sustaining global growth and human prosperity.
On the research front, the Energy Biosciences Institute and Joint BioEnergy Institute have put Berkeley on the map as a major center of energy research, but the campus also houses some 100 study programs and dozens of research centers focusing on environmental research of all stripes. Researchers in the college are engineering novel technologies—from solar photovoltaic panels and new-generation nuclear power plants to sensors that can power smart automotive engines, smart fueling stations and smart homes. At the same time they are searching for the most sophisticated approaches to help solve one of the oldest problems known to mankind: a clean and safe water supply.
Go to the Berkeley Institute of the Environment website for detailed listings of the many centers doing outstanding sustainability research in the college and all across campus.
I welcome your thoughts and ideas.
S. Shankar Sastry
Dean, College of Engineering
NEC Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering
Email Dean Sastry
Upcoming Events
May 12 Spring Reception for Graduates: Come celebrate and enjoy refreshments with this year’s engineering graduates. Alumni welcome!
May 31 Tribute to Honor Jim Gray: Join the family and colleagues of Jim Gray in hosting a tribute to the legendary computer science pioneer, missing at sea since January 28, 2007.
June 9 Special Southern California Alumni Event: Can Nuclear Energy Reduce Global Warming?: Meet College of Engineering Dean S. Shankar Sastry, hear a faculty lecture by Jasmina L. Vujic, Department Chair of Nuclear Engineering, and network with fellow Berkeley Engineering alumni in Los Angeles.