SUSTAINABILITY & CLIMATE

Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a broad and integrated sustainability initiative focused on the transportation infrastructure and efficient mobility of people and goods, while maintaining an environmentally balanced and socially acceptable approach,

The Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Waterwith Systems (WaterCAMPWS), at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champain is a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center.

The mission of The WaterCAMPWS is to develop revolutionary new materials and systems for safely and economically purifying water for human use, while simultaneously developing the diverse human resources needed to exploit the research advances and the knowledge base created.

The Institute for the Sustainability of Intensively Managed Landscapes (ISIML) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is an institute at that focuses on the interaction between water, carbon, and energy cycle dynamics to predict the impact factors in climate change of surrounding ecosystems. ISIML, in conjunction with the Institute for Advanced Computation and Technologies (IACAT) at NCSA, is developing technologies for a Virtual Observatory for Sustainability of Intensively Managed Environmental Systems

Institute for Sustainability of Intensively Managed Landscapes

The Illinois Sustainability Technology Center (ISTC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign integrates applied research, technical assistance, and information services to advance efforts in the areas of pollution prevention; water and energy conservation; and materials recycling and beneficial reuse.


The Center has analytical capabilities for most regulated environmental contaminants and for a variety of industrial process and waste stream constituents. Special expertise is available in the analysis of ultra-trace level metals, mercury, arsenic and selenium speciation, and isotope ratios. We also have expertise in the analysis of explosive compounds and their degradation products, pesticides and PCB congeners, and a variety of surfactants and industrial cleaner constituents. Standard quality assurance practices include careful instrument calibration, analysis of blanks, duplicates, matrix spikes, and standard reference materials, when appropriate. Major analytical systems are maintained under maintenance contract to optimize performance and up-time.

The Center for Environmental Biotechnology at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory expertise to ESD in microbial ecology and environmental engineering. The CEB focuses on research in real-time direct environmental assessment and biological treatment, bioremediation, and natural attenuation.

The Berkeley Initiative in Global Change Biology (BiGCB) at the University of California Berkeley aims to facilitate and coordinate cutting-edge research in Global Change Biology. The approach of the Initiative emphasizes using integrated analyses of fossil, historic, and modern biological data, much of which is unique to UC Berkeley. By applying new technologies to understand past responses, researchers affiliated with the Initiative hope to develop predictions of future biological change.

The Ecosystems and Networks Integrated with Genes and Molecular Assemblies (ENIGMA) at  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is a multi-institutional consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through its Scientific Focus Area (SFA) grant program and managed by DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Established in 2009, ENIGMA researchers seek to advance our understanding of microbial biology and the impact of microbial communities on their ecosystems. Team members collaborate closely to generate detailed quantitative understanding across scales — from molecular to cellular to community-level.  We have the technological and scientific arsenal to link environmental microbiological field-studies to both highly advanced field and laboratory meta-functional genomic and genetics tools. This capability, the ability rapidly to assess gene content and expressed functions of environmental microbes and bring them to model-organism status in the laboratory, is ripe for application to microbial communities. These studies will likely provide unprecedented views into the pathways that link the functioning of diverse genomes in the context of their environment and thereby deliver a mechanistic understanding of complex environmental bioprocesses

The Superfund Research Program at the University of California Berkeley focuses on using state-of-the-art technology, including ‘omics’ and nanotechnology to achieve the following specific objectives of the program

  • Develop and apply novel biomarkers in studies of human populations.
  • Enhance our knowledge of the toxic effects of benzene and arsenic, especially in early life.
  • Identify genes that confer susceptibility to Superfund chemicals through the application of functional genomics.
  • Expand our ability to remediate toxic waste sites at a lower cost using bioremediation and persulfate oxidation.
  • Improve our ability to measure Superfund chemicals in the environment using nanotechnology.
  • Promote the exchange of information among scientists, regulators, and other interested parties in order to translate basic research findings into appropriate policies and public health interventions

The Berkeley Water Center at the University of California Berkeley takes a comprehensive approach to water resources research and management that reflects the conditions of the 21st Century: variable and uncertain supply, increasing demand and inadequate structural and institutional infrastructure. We seek to develop and demonstrate the application of new concepts, information and engineering technology and computational tools that serve diverse water interests.

The Berkeley Food Institute at the University of California Berkeley works to catalyze and support transformative changes in food systems, to promote diversity, justice, resilience, and health, from the local to the global. BFI envisions a world in which nutritious, affordable food is available for all and is produced sustainably and fairly – ensuring healthy people and a healthy planet. The College of Natural Resources, the Goldman School of Public Policy, the Graduate School of Journalism, Berkeley Law, and the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley have joined together to develop an institute dedicated to galvanizing the transition to more resilient and just food systems, from local to global scales. BFI has over 95 affiliated faculty and staff on the UC Berkeley campus.

The overarching question the Institute seeks to address is this: how do we facilitate and contribute to the transition of food and agriculture systems from being highly industrialized, consolidated, homogenized, and globalized system to become healthful, ecologically and culturally diverse, regenerative, and socially and economically just? Areas of interest include:

  • Sustainable Agriculture and Ecosystems
  • Society and Culture
  • Economics and Business
  • Policy and Justice

The Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) at the University of California Berkeley combines efforts at the UCTransportation Center, the UC Energy Institute, the Institute of Transportation Studies, the Energy and Resources Group, the Center for Global Metropolitan Studies, and the Berkeley Institute of the Environment. Research efforts are primarily concentrated in six main areas:

  • Advanced vehicles and fuels
  • Energy and infrastructure
  • Goods movement
  • Innovative mobility
  • Mobility for special populations
  • Transportation and energy systems analysis. 

Headquartered at the University’s Richmond Field Station, TSRC uses a wide range of analysis and evaluation tools, including questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, automated data collection systems, and simulation models to collect data and perform analysis and interpretation of the data. The center then develops impartial findings and recommendations for key issues of interest to policymakers to aid in decision-making. TSRC has assisted in developing and implementing major California and federal regulations and initiatives regarding sustainable transportation. These include the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), the Low Emission Vehicle Program and Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, the Pavley Law, Low Carbon Fuel Standards policies, California SB 375 (anti-sprawl legislation), and the federal Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. 
 

Carbon Cycle 2.0 at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory specialize in all aspects of predicting, measuring, and better understanding our planet’s atmosphere and the multitude of variables that affect climate and weather. Our researchers access some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to simulate Earth’s climate to enable us to better understand how human activities affect the carbon cycle and climate. They also work in field locations all over the world to measure and record data essential to increasing our understanding of the planet’s climate system, ultimately improving the accuracy of our predictions for Earth’s future climate.

The Cookstove Efficiency and Emissions Testing Facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is used for detailed evaluation of the fuel efficiency and pollutant emissions of cookstoves, including methods traditionally used in developing regions of the world and cookstoves designed for increased efficiency. The facility is equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation for monitoring cooking parameters, such as fuel use rate and moisture content, flame and food temperatures, and for measuring gas and particle phase pollutant concentrations in real-time, including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, and black carbon

The Environmental Measurement Laboratory (EML) is an EPA/California Department of Health Services certified analytical lab within the Earth Sciences Division (ESD) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for researchers at DOE laboratories and the University of California. The EML has the capabilities to conduct a variety of analyses covering both organic and inorganic methods, including examination of water, soil, sediment, seawater, and waste water samples. The Lab provides analytical support to Central Valley agricultural projects for selenium separation (selenite, selenate, and organo-selenium) and ion chromatography (chloride and sulfate).