Innovation

Presenters and other participants in the University of Michigan’s Conference on Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards in front of the Dana Building, 1990.

Grass Roots: The Sustainable Shifts that Lead to Environmental Justice

Todd Ziegler, MS ’15

When civil rights leaders, environmentalists, and researchers converged on the university in 1990 for the Conference on Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards, they were part of a much larger movement focusing the nation on environmental justice.

Illustration of people talking

Changing the Narrative around a Changing Climate

Ashley Bieniek-Tobasco, BS ’11, MPH ’13, DrPH

Do fear-inducing representations of climate change actually motivate people to take action? As the influence of popular media grows, communicators across the sciences have an opportunity and a responsibility to shift climate conversations from messages of doom to narratives of hope.

1970 Diag Rally

50 Years Later, the Future Awaits

Dean F. DuBois Bowman and Dean Jonathan Overpeck

Fifty years after a Michigan “teach-in” provided a blueprint and momentum for thousands of other events around the country, we must continue looking forward to new iterations of environmental consciousness and care as we seek to be part of the solutions to global climate change.

Hands sliding vegetable scraps from a cutting board into a compost bin

Trash to Treasure: The Incredible Benefits of Composting

Pahriya Ashrap and Amber Cathey

Composting cuts down on the amount of trash we produce and the costs of hauling it, enriches our soil, and sequesters carbon. Take another look at the natural process of composting and how it can help combat climate change and improve your home garden.

Lorem ipsum

One Family, Three Disciplines: An Intergenerational Conversation on Public Health

Michael Boehnke, Betsy Foxman, and Kevin Foxman Boehnke

We asked a family of public health researchers about big-picture changes in the field, how they decide which questions to pursue, and what they make of specialization in the sciences. Their conversation both lifts up and itself embodies the interdisciplinary nature of public health.