Climate Change

Berkeley Lab, NOAA, NASA to Use Research Aircraft in Summertime Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Sampling Project

Date Posted: 
Jun 2 2008
Title of News: 
Berkeley Lab, NOAA, NASA to Use Research Aircraft in Summertime Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Sampling Project
Summary: 
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the University of California, the California Air Resources Board, and NASA will use aircraft outfitted with atmospheric sampling devices in mid-June to measure greenhouse gases over California, in an effort to better understand the relative contribution of the state’s GHG emissions to the global total.
Source: 
Lawrence Berkeley Nat'l Laboratory News Center
Picture: 
EETD-emissions-concentrations.jpg

Call for Papers for The 8th Int'l Workshop on Micro & Nanotechnology for Power Generation & Energy Conversion Applications

Title: 
Call for Papers for The 8th Int'l Workshop on Micro & Nanotechnology for Power Generation & Energy Conversion Applications
Description: 
Call for Papers The Eighth International Workshop on Micro and Nanotechnology for Power Generation and Energy Conversion Applications with The Second Symposium on Micro Environmental Machine Systems The operation time of portable devices dramatically increases using a high-performance miniature generator. Quick energy charging is possible by just changing fuel cartridges, which are available in 24-hours stores. The amount of used batteries, which are the most unpopular wastes, is reduced by replacing batteries with recyclable fuel cartridges ― Such innovation is now being pursued by Power MEMS, which is an exciting area of research with a tremendous market potential. Since its inception in the late 1990's, Power MEMS has expanded to include not only MEMS for micro power generation and energy conversion but also various small energy machines and related nanostructured materials. The covered power levels vary from ten nanowatts to hundreds watts, spanning 10 orders of magnitude. The objective of PowerMEMS workshop series is to catalyze innovation in micro and nano technology for power generation and energy conversion applications. The workshop will provide researchers with a forum for discussing latest research results and promoting progress towards commercialization. The workshop also will allow interaction between the multiple disciplines required for Power MEMS, such as electrical, chemical and mechanical engineering, chemistry, and material science. In this year, PowerMEMS workshop will be jointly held with The Second Symposium on Micro Environmental Machine Systems (μEMS). Recently, global warming has become a symbolic of environmental issues, and people are increasingly concerned about how human activities influence global environment. Environmentally-friendly technology has been rapidly growing the research area, and many micro and nano technologies have been developed to tackle the environmental problems. The objective of μEMS is to facilitate discussion on environmentally-friendly technology in aspects of micro and nano machine systems. All topics on micro and nano technology aiming at mitigating environmental issues are welcome. Topics of interest may include, but is not limited to micro and nano technology. Abstracts for μEMS 2008 are handled equally with those for PowerMEMS 2008, and the proceedings will be published jointly.
Deadline: 
July 8, 2008

Climate change could severely impact California's endemic plants

Date Posted: 
Jul 1 2008
Title of News: 
Climate change could severely impact California's endemic plants
Summary: 
The native plants unique to California are so vulnerable to global climate change that two-thirds of these "endemics" could suffer more than an 80 percent reduction in geographic range by the end of the century, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study. Because endemic species - native species not found outside the state - make up nearly half of all California's native plants, a changing climate will have a major impact on the state's unparalleled plant diversity, the researchers warn.
Source: 
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
Picture: 
plants-bay.jpg

Climate change could severely impact California's endemic plants

Date Posted: 
May 26 2008
Title of News: 
Climate change could severely impact California's endemic plants
Summary: 
The native plants unique to California are so vulnerable to global climate change that two-thirds of these "endemics" could suffer more than an 80 percent reduction in geographic range by the end of the century, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study. Because endemic species - native species not found outside the state - make up nearly half of all California's native plants, a changing climate will have a major impact on the state's unparalleled plant diversity, the researchers warn.
Source: 
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
Picture: 
plants-bay.jpg

Maharashtra at the Crossroads: Berkeley Lab-Led Agreement Tackles India's Energy Shortage, Global Climate Change

Date Posted: 
Jun 23 2008
Title of News: 
Maharashtra at the Crossroads: Berkeley Lab-Led Agreement Tackles India's Energy Shortage, Global Climate Change
Summary: 
The Indian state of Maharashtra is at a crossroads. Its people endure frequent electricity blackouts due to a booming energy demand that far outpaces energy production. One solution is to build more coal-fired power plants, which are among the chief greenhouse-gas-emitting culprits of climate change. Another solution takes a different approach: reduce electricity demand, and the need for more power plants, by implementing energy-efficiency measures. The latter choice may have an edge, thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) facilitated by Berkeley Lab scientists that aims to export California's lessons in adopting energy efficiency strategies to the state of Maharashtra. Maharashtra leads India in energy consumption.
Source: 
Science@Berkeley Lab
Picture: 
mumbai-smog.jpg

CITRIS co-sponsors Copenhagen climate and energy conference as lead-in to 2009 UN meeting

Date Posted: 
Jun 22 2008
Title of News: 
CITRIS co-sponsors Copenhagen climate and energy conference as lead-in to 2009 UN meeting
Summary: 
BERKELEY – Some 250 of the world's leading climate and energy researchers, industry representatives and government leaders will convene on Thursday, June 19, in Copenhagen, Denmark, for an international research summit sponsored by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at the University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the Copenhagen Climate Council. The conference, "Unlocking the Climate Code: Innovation in Climate and Energy," aims to identify the critical research and development achievements necessary for a successful transition to a low carbon economy. Conference participants will present and debate relevant policy and business models that can support technology innovation in carbon emissions reduction. Nobel Laureate Steve Chu, who is a UC Berkeley physics professor, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and an outspoken advocate of research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, will give the conference's keynote speech.
Source: 
UC Berkeley News

The 2008 Young Voices Award on Urban Air Pollution and Climate Change

Name of Competition: 
The 2008 Young Voices Award on Urban Air Pollution and Climate Change
Description: 
BAQ 2008 Young Voices Award on Urban Air Pollution and Climate Change Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) encourages new thinking and approaches to deal with the problems of urban air pollution and climate change in Asia. So far, traditional approaches used in dealing with these problems have not produced enough results nor are seen to create significant impacts in the future. It is therefore important to consult with the next generation of air quality and climate changes policy makers, experts and managers. The 2008 Young Voices Award on Urban Air Pollution and Climate Change (the Young Voices) will be handed out for the first time at the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2008 workshop, which will be held from 12-14 November 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand (see www.baq2008.org). Eligible for the Young Voices award are full/part - time students currently enrolled at Universities or Colleges in an academic degree (undergraduate or advanced degree) program in a subject that is of relevance to urban air pollution and climate change in Asia. The maximum age at the time of BAQ 2008 (12-14 November, 2008) is 25 years. There is no geographical restriction on participation in this competition and students from all over the world can participate. The award committee will however consider the ideas submitted for their relevance for Asia. If applications are submitted on behalf of a group the application form should clearly indicate who the person is who will present at BAQ 2008 if the awards committee selects the submission as one of the winners.
Deadline: 
August 30, 2008

MONDIALOGO ENGINEERING AWARD

Name of Opportunity: 
MONDIALOGO ENGINEERING AWARD
Description: 

MONDIALOGO ENGINEERING AWARD

Largest worldwide contest for student engineers calls for participants

· Contest of Daimler and UNESCO promotes ideas for fight against poverty and climate change
· €300,000 in prize money as seed funding for project proposals
· Registration phase runs until31 October 2008

Stuttgart/Paris – Daimler and UNESCO invite student engineers from universities around the world to apply for the largest international engineering competition - the Mondialogo Engineering Award.Registration is open until 31 October2008 atwww.mondialogo.org. The award carries prize money totalling € 300,000. It is intended that these awards be used as seed funding to help develop and initiate the proposed projects.

In the Mondialogo Engineering Award, student engineers from developing and developed countries are challenged to form International Project Teams to develop ideas and design project proposals for sustainable solutions to problems in developing countries.The focus is on the design of innovative technologies to reduce poverty, promote sustainable development and address other United Nations Millennium Development Goals, in such fields as environmental protection, energy, water supply and sanitation, waste management, use of natural resources, medical care, nutrition, housing, hygiene, disaster protection, mobility, communication andclimate change - a key concern of the Mondialogo Engineering Award.

International Project Teams eligible to apply for the Mondialogo Engineering Award should consist of two student groups from two higher education establishments, with one group from a developing country and the other from a developed country.The Mondialogo Internet Portalwww.mondialogo.orgacts as a contact centre for groups to meet each other, and will later function as a virtual office for inter-group communications.Teams will have time until April 2009 to develop and design their project proposals.An international jury will then assess the entries and decide on the awarding,which willbe part of a festive ceremony in later 2009. Key factors in the assessment are sustainability, technical quality, feasibility of the project proposals and the quality of the intercultural cooperation between the teams. Through the competition Daimler and UNESCO aim to promote international cooperation, intercultural dialogue and the exchange of knowledge among student engineers, universities and higher education establishments.

The Mondialogo Engineering Award is part of the Mondialogo project initiated and launched by Daimler and UNESCO in 2003. The Mondialogo Initiative also consists of the Mondialogo School Contest and the multilingual Mondialogo Internet Portal. The aim of the Mondialogo project is to encourage cooperation and dialogue between people from different countries and cultures, working together across continents on a joint project activity.This cooperation is intended to develop understanding, tolerance and friendship between people with different cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds.

Contact:

Daimler AG UNESCO
Susann Rohr Sue Williams
Phone: + 49 (0)711/17-40622 Phone:+33 (0)1 45 68 17 06
Fax: + 49 (0)711/17-24847 Fax: +33 (0)1 45 68 56 59
susann.rohr@daimler.com s.williams@unesco.org

Mondialogo
André Paris
Phone:+49 (0)69/74 34 88 309
Fax: +49 (0)69/74 34 88 809
presse@mondialogo.org

Application Deadline: 
October 31, 2008

The Center for Biological Diversity Arctic Species Conservation Program Staff Scientist

Name of job: 
The Center for Biological Diversity Arctic Species Conservation Program Staff Scientist
Description: 

The Center for Biological Diversity seeks a full-time Staff Scientist to
work on biodiversity protection issues in and affecting Alaska and the
Arctic. The Center is a national non-profit organization dedicated to
protecting endangered species and wild places through science, policy,
education, and environmental law.

Particular emphasis of the Staff Scientist position will be advocating for
the protection of vulnerable Arctic and sub-Arctic species such as seabirds,
polar bears and other ice-dependent marine mammals in the face of global
warming, offshore oil and gas development, industrial fishing, shipping and
other emerging threats. The Staff Scientist will work closely with the
Center's climate and oceans programs in developing and implementing actions
and strategies focused on both reducing the Arctic melt and on adapting
wildlife management to the changing conditions of a warming Arctic.

Requirements for the position include an advanced degree in a relevant
scientific field, excellent research, writing, and oral advocacy skills, a
demonstrated commitment to environmental protection, an ability to work with
lawyers and other staff members as part of an effective team, and a strong
work ethic. Familiarity with natural resource management and wildlife law
desired.

The Staff Scientist will be responsible for engaging in policy advocacy,
interacting with local, state, and federal agencies, scientists, other
environmental organizations and the public, drafting reports, comments,
petitions and webtext, and doing media outreach. Frequent travel required.

Salary for the Staff Scientist position is commensurate with other
non-profit organizations and includes an excellent vacation and benefits
package.

Location for the Staff Scientist position is Anchorage, Alaska.

Please send a cover letter, resume, references, and writing sample via email
(no paper) to alaska@biologicaldiversity.org "Attn: Staff Scientist".
Position open until filled. No telephone calls please. Only candidates
selected for interviews will be contacted.

Application deadline: 
Open until filled
Date posted: 
June 19, 2008

Center for Biological Diversity Public Lands Program Staff Scientist

Name of job: 
Center for Biological Diversity Public Lands Program Staff Scientist
Description: 

The Center for Biological Diversity seeks a full-time Staff Scientist to
work as part of our Public Lands Program. The Center is a national
non-profit organization dedicated to protecting endangered species and wild
places through science, policy, education, and environmental law. The
Center’s Public Lands Program works to ensure that America’s public lands
are protected, restored, and managed for the maximum benefit to our nation’s
wildlife and ecosystems.

The Staff Scientist will play a leading role in developing the Center’s
approach to managing public lands in a changing climate. The position is
focused on ensuring that public lands are managed to optimize carbon storage
and biodiversity protection and will involve scientific analyses, public
policy advocacy, and education and outreach.

Responsibilities:

* Conduct rigorous scientific analyses on public land management and
climate change, including: 1) identifying opportunities to increase carbon
storage and reduce emissions by improving public land management; 2)
analyzing options to help species survive a changing climate through better
land management; and 3) documenting the connection between biodiversity
protection and carbon storage.
* Develop policy recommendations for managing public lands to optimize
carbon storage and biodiversity protection;
* Produce scientific and policy reports that highlight the Center’s
positions regarding public land management;
* Undertake outreach to selected constituent groups to build support
for improved management of public lands;
* Conduct policy advocacy within Congress, the California State
Legislature, and state and federal land management and regulatory agencies;
and
* Conduct public education and media outreach.

Desired qualifications:

* Ability to develop and implement rigorous analyses on the
implications for carbon and biodiversity of federal land management;
* Excellent research, writing, and oral advocacy skills;
* Familiarity with federal land-use laws and climate change science
and politics;
* Experience in designing and implementing efforts to reform federal
land management;
* PhD or equivalent experience; and
* Demonstrated commitment to environmental protection.

Salary commensurate with experience and competitive with other non-profit
organizations. Position includes an excellent vacation and benefits
package. Located in Sacramento or San Francisco.

Please send a cover letter, résumé, references, and writing sample via email
to publiclandsscientist@biologicaldiversity.org. Only candidates selected
for an interview will be contacted. Position open until filled.

Application deadline: 
Open until filled
Date posted: 
June 19, 2008
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