Director

Dr. James Manwell

Check out the great research going on at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. www.ceere.org

Flannery, an Australian biologist and paleontologist who says he had been skeptical of theories of global warming in the past, looks at the history of Earth's weather to help describe its future. And the picture he paints of the coming 100 years is not pretty. Read his highly acclaimed book www.theweathermakers.com The Weather Makers: The History & Future Impact of Climate Change

GE Accelerates Solar Energy Research

General Electric Company is accelerating its solar energy research program with the help of an $8.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of President Bush's Solar America Initiative.

BP Sees Potential Breakthroughs In Solar Energy Using Nanotech

July 05, 2006

Energy giant BP’s investment of $5 million over five years in the development of nanotechnology materials for making solar cells could lead to breakthroughs that will radically change the market by significantly lowering the price of the renewable energy, according to sources involved in the effort.

With wit, smarts and hope, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH ultimately brings home Gore's persuasive argument that we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue - rather, it is the biggest moral challenge facing our global civilization. www.climatecrisis.net/

Solange Brault

University of Massacuhsetts Boston

Research Interests

My research addresses, often in a conservation ecology context, the processes occuring within the life cycle and the ways that these can influence survival and reproduction at the population level . The main current topics are: Demography of pilot whales and other marine mammals, and the effect of human exploitation; metapopulation dynamics of migratory bird populations; effects of the forms of density-dependence on population dynamics. www.bio.umb.edu

Researchers Trek Antarctic To Note Global Warming

DOE sets aside nearly $4M for LED research.

GE is growing it's research in cleaner technology from 700 million in 2005 to 1.5 billion in 2010.

GE sponsers a Stanford University Global Climate and Energy Project, http://gcep.stanford.edu/ , a multi million dollar long term research collaboration that includes other universities, research institutions and private industry leaders.

This is a science specific search engine for you to use to get more detailed information on research topics. www.scirus.com

Dr. Dukes from the University of Massachusetts Boston is involved in a National Science Foundation Climate Control Experiment in Waltham, MA to study eco - system response to climate change.

It was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert? www.whokilledtheelectriccarmovie.com

MIT president considering plan for energy research initiative

UMASS Boston College of Management Professor Jeff Keisler teams with UMass Amherst Researcher for U.S. Department of Energy-funded Study of Alternative Technology April 2006
Wind, sun and switchgrass are all on the list of energy sources that could reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, but debate remains concerning the costs and benefits of each technology—and the likelihood of each one’s success. Now the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $347,000 to scientists to help untangle the pros and cons of such greener alternatives.

Erin Baker

UMASS Amherst

For Energy Conservation Research go to Scirus and type in Energy Conservation Research. See www.scirus.com

Energy Effeciency and Renewable Energy, Buiding Technology Program, Research Highlights. www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/

DOE National Laboratories and Technology Center. More than 30,000 scientists and engineers perform cutting edge research. http://www.energy.gov/organization/labs-techcenters.htm

Wind Power Research, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Wind and Hydro-power Technologies Program Areas, Wind Energy Research, Click on Supporting Research and Testing, See www.eere.gov/windhydro

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT. Science and Engineering, Research and Education, See http://web.mit.edu/ese/

Michael Moore, Senior Research Biologist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Interaction of humans with fish and marine mammals, www.whoi.edu/people/mmoore/

Evolutionary Physiology of Mammalian Torpor, Integrating Biochemistry, Nutrition and Climate Change. Dr. Craig Frank, Fordham University. See www.fordham.edu/biology/faculty/frank.shtml

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Assess Scientific, Technical and Socio-nomic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, it's potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. www.ipcc.ch/

Biodiversity, Deforestation and Species Richness, Dr. Kamaljit Bawa, University of Massachusetts at Boston, Biology Department Chairman. Dr. Bawa's book on the Western Ghats in India is now available. It is called SAHYADRIS, Mountains of the Monsoon. A DVD is also available by Sandesh Kadur. Kamal.bawa@umb.edu, www.umb.edu/news/2003news/reporter/march/biology.html

Research and Discovery: Bringing light to rural areas

What if the roof shingles of your house could power your kitchen appliances or if a soldier’s lightweight uniform could generate enough energy to power his radio or if the life-transforming impact of the electricity could be brought to the most rural, poverty-stricken areas of the world?

For the research team led by Dr. Jayant Kumar, director of the UMass Lowell Center For Advanced Materials the question is no longer IF but WHEN as they work to develop a new generation of solar technology that will not only be environment friendly but economically feasible.

The science, building on the work of the late UMass Lowell scientist Sukant Tripathy, has already resulted in tangible benefits for the Massachusetts economy by spinning off the start-up company, Konarka Technologies in Lowell. Konarka, which opened in 2001, specializes in dye-sensitized solar technology that can be integrated into materials ranging from cellular phones to sweaters to Army tents.

Konarka’s specialty is lightweight and flexible photovoltaics that turn solar light AND fluorescent light into electrical power. Energy industry analysts have described Konarka-type technologies as part of a coming “tectonic shift’’ from fossil fules to solar power.

The Boston Globe recently described Konarka as “part of a class of high-tech, medical devices, and biotech companies in Massachusetts that are exploring new directions and cultivating new ideas that will create industry clusters…These companies are interested in making giant leaps, rather than incrementally improving existing technologies.”

Founded in 2001 and nurtured at a UMass-Lowell business incubator, the company now has 35 employees, many of whom are either UMass scientists or graduates. The company recently entered a partnership with the U.S. Army’s Soldier Systems Center to begin development of flexible, lightweight patches – and perhaps eventually clothing – that act as power generators. Among the U.S. Army team working on the project is UMass Lowell alumna Dr. Lynne Samuelson, whose graduate work was done with Dr. Tripathy at UMass Lowell.

UMass Lowell contributions to the company include intellectual property, labs and equipment, scientists, leadership coaching, and seed funding. The University holds a stake in the company and will receive a share of the company profits once the products enter the market. Meanwhile, UMass students have received outstanding educational opportunities from the partnership by participating in the development of the company.

The company is named after one of the late Dr.Tripathy's favorite places, Konarka

Coral Reef Bleaching

Coral reef bleaching, the whitening of diverse invertebrate taxa, results from the loss of symbiotic zooxantheallae and/or a reduction in photosynthetic pigment concentrations in zooxanthellae residing within scleractinian corals. Coral reef bleaching is caused by various anthropogenic and natural variations in the reef environment including sea temperature, solar irradiance, sedimentation, xenobiotics, subaerial exposure, inorganic nutrients, freshwater dilution, and epizootics. Coral bleaching events have been increasing in both frequency and extent worldwide in the past 20 years. Global climate change may play a role in the increase in coral bleaching events, and could cause the destruction of major reef tracts and the extinction of many coral species.