Rich Niesenbaum, PhD

When basic science and technology is not enough to address climate change

Are advances in basic science & technology enough to confront #climate change and other #sustainability challenges? An Institute-wide project at MIT co-led by CS3 is tapping expertise from the social sciences & #humanities to reframe the problem and identify more viable solutions. #SocialSciences 🧪

The 9,000-year-old pastime that is still alive and well in the Lehigh Valley “Humans have been beekeeping for at least 9,000 years and it is done around the world; so in many ways it is part of who we are,” Muhlenberg College professor Rich Niesenbaum said.

BeeKeeping at Muhlenberg College

www.mcall.com/2025/08/11/t...

‘Critically important’: Summit highlights sustainability, economic growth in the Lehigh Valley Led by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Sustainable Energy Fund, The Lehigh Valley Sustainability Summit drew economic and industry leaders from across the region to engage on top...

“Every detail of Fahy Commons reflects Muhlenberg’s bold commitment to environmental stewardship and innovation in education, not just locally, but across the world." #sustainability www.lehighvalleynews.com/environment-...

'A beautiful place to work': Building at Muhlenberg College gains worldwide attention for sustainability, including efforts to save birds And taking a bird's eye view, the building's visible impact is having no impact at all.

Fahy Commons finds common ground with nature!
"Fahy is the world's first building to be 'Living Building Challenge Core Certified.' It just received 'Passive House' core certification, and is LEED Platinum certified. It's a trifecta of sustainability."
www.wfmz.com/news/area/le...

Latest News Maddie Davidson ’25 spoke about her tree science and stewardship project that won a Youth Climate Action Fund grant from the city and led to an opportunity to speak at last fall’s Bloomberg CityLab su...

Muhlenberg Sustainability Studies Major Maddie Davidson was interviewed on NPR Show 1A where she spoke on her tree science, stewardship project and her opportunity to speak at last fall’s Bloomberg CityLab summit in Mexico City.
www.muhlenberg.edu/news/2025/ma...

The Lab Racing to Find Out What Microplastics Are Doing to Our Bodies Inside a New Mexico lab, researchers estimate there is five bottle caps worth of plastic in human brains. Now they are trying to find out its effects.

The brains of people with dementia had far more microplastics than the brains of people without it, and other shocking news..#micorplastics

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/w...

Arctic sea ice hits record low maximum extent for the year Arctic sea ice has likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.33 million square kilometers (5.53 million square miles) on March 22, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data...

The 2025 maximum sea ice extent is the lowest in the 47-year satellite record, falling short of the previous record low of 14.41 million square kilometers (5.56 million square miles) set on March 7, 2017. #climatechange #greenland #arcticice

nsidc.org/news-analyse...

75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.

We polled Nature readers to ask if they were thinking of leaving the US for jobs abroad. Three-quarters of them (who said they were US-based scientists) said yes. 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Separated bike-lane in downtown Vancouver filled with people on bikes.

It’s REALLY important that #Vancouver’s Downtown Business Association, who were originally against downtown bike-lanes, are now among their most vigourous supporters, because of the evidence that they are better for downtown business than any street parking they replaced.

Bike-lanes mean business.

Latest News Muhlenberg’s Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation earns Phius Passive House Certification

Muhlenberg College's newest academic building, the Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation, has added Phius Passive House Certification to its expanding list of sustainability accolades.

www.muhlenberg.edu/news/2025/fa...

January temperature marks new global milestone Arctic sea ice coverage near record low

For January 2025, the average global land & ocean surface temperature was 2.39 degrees F (1.33 degrees C) above the 20th-century average, ranking as the warmest January in the 176-year global climate record. Global #climatechange is not the same as local weather!

www.noaa.gov/news/january...

Mapped: How extreme weather is destroying crops around the world Carbon Brief has analysed global media coverage over the past two years to identify reporting on extreme weather events damaging crops.

interactive.carbonbrief.org/crops-extrem... via @carbonbrief.org #climatechange #agriculture #croploss

Despite Cuts to DEI Initiatives, Food and Farm Advocates Say They Will Continue to Fight for Racial Justice People fighting for equity within the food system are worried and exhausted, but remain undeterred despite proposed cuts to DEI initiatives.

Despite Cuts to DEI Initiatives, Food and Farm Advocates Say They Will Continue to Fight for Racial Justice via @CivilEats civileats.com/2025/02/10/d...

Trump Killed a Major Report on Nature. They’re Trying to Publish It Anyway. The first full draft of the assessment, on the state of America’s land, water and wildlife, was weeks from completion. The project leader called the study “too important to die.”

The first full draft of the assessment, on the state of America’s land, water and wildlife, was weeks from completion. The project leader called the study “too important to die.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/c...

Global Temperatures Shattered Records in January Earth’s prolonged streak of abnormal heat continued into 2025 despite the arrival of La Niña ocean conditions, which typically bring cooler temperatures.

The time to act on #climatechange is now

Cooking up Success: Solar Kitchen Initiative Aims to Expand Access to Clean Energy in Angola Access to energy is essential for sustainable development, but for many rural communities, it’s still out of reach. In Angola, according to the 2019-2020 agricultural census, most rural villages lack ...

Solar Kitchen Initiative Aims to Expand Access to Clean Energy in Angola

YouTube video by Science Moms ByTheTime

The time to act on #climatechange is now

Buoyant Foundation Project

Amphibious architecture refers to an alternative flood mitigation strategy that allows an otherwise-ordinary structure to float on the surface of rising floodwater rather than being inundated. #climatemitigation

www.buoyantfoundation.org/home

California Decides What ‘Regenerative Agriculture’ Means. Sort of. A new definition for an old way of farming may help California soil, but it won’t mean organic.

#regenerativeagriculture

Apprenticeships Bring a Fresh Generation to Small Dairy Farms Pasture-based dairies struggle to compete with industrialized farms. The Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship aims to help them thrive.

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#7syllablesentence (home) #photography #flowers #honeybee

Home is where I sip nectar

The biggest Mycena spinossisima I've ever seen!!! Some mushrooms grow 10x bigger than average in the #Amazon #rainforest 💚

Global GDP Faces 50% Loss Without Climate Change Action, Study Finds Dr. Jesse Abrams from the University of Exeter said we are “grossly underestimating risk due to climate change and nature-related crises” in an interview.

www.forbes.com/sites/jamieh...

Sustainable high-yield farming is essential for bending the curve of biodiversity loss | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Food production does more damage to wild species than any other sector of human activity, yet how best to limit its growing impact is greatly contested. Reviewing progress to date in interventions tha...

Our read of the evidence is similar to this paper: even with ambitious demand-side efforts (minimize food waste, shift high-meat diets toward plants, cut biofuels) there is still an “inescapable need for yield increases” to feed 9-10 billion people while halting biodiversity loss and climate change.

China Triples US Renewable Energy Production - Akihabara News China, the world's leader in clean energy production, has surpassed the United States by a factor of more than three in terms of electricity generation from renewable sources.

An argument against US increasing #renewableenergy to mitigate #climatechange that I often hear, is "Well, what about China?" Here's the answer...
akihabaranews.com/china-triple...

I create routes through trees to help stop howler monkeys being electrocuted by power lines Inés Azofeifa Rojas monitors troop behaviour to maintain canopy connectivity.

In #CostaRica, scientists are installing rope bridges in the #forest canopy. As a result, #howlermonkey electrocutions by power lines have fallen 30%

#naturepositive #naturerestoration #nature #conservation #primates
www.nature.com/articles/d41...