Sustainability

A large group of people wearing safety equipment and breathing masks stands in front of the remains of the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan

Fukushima Disaster: Key Takeaways 8 Years Later

Eight years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a UConn researcher shares some surprising good news.

Amanda Bunce, a graduate student in the Department of Natural Resources, inventories trees within the UConn Forest. (Tom Rettig/UConn Photo)

Yellowstone: A Landscape with Lessons

Yellowstone National Park and the UConn Forest look nothing alike but both speak to the same point: disturbances in the ecosystem drastically alter the landscape. Lessons from one may inform the other.

A man in a cherrypicker with an orange power saw, trimming evergreen branches

Enhanced Tree Trimming Reduces Storm-Related Power Outages, UConn Study Finds

A new study found that regular tree trimming reduces power outages caused by downed transmission lines.

When the Endangered Species Act listed spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest, some logging companies were prevented from logging parts of their land. The proposed changes would allow for economics to play a role in listing decisions rather than just scientific data.

Now Endangered: The Very Act That Protects Wildlife

Business interests do not currently figure into decisions about listing species under the Endangered Species Act, but new rules could change that. What role does economics play in wildlife decisions? Mark Urban of UConn, explains.

John Volin, professor of natural resources and the environment, front right, and extension educator Emily Wilson lead students into the UConn Forest. (Sue Schadt/UConn File Photo)

UConn Launches Institute of the Environment

UConn's new Institute of the Environment creates a multidisciplinary initiative for charting a course to a more sustainable future.

Associate extension professor Tom Worthley sitting next to an established hackberry tree, a native species, outside the Young Building . (Sean Flynn/UConn Photo)

Planting New Trees in the Wake of the Gypsy Moths

A good way to identify a new plant is by looking around your neighborhood or your property to see what is thriving, says Thomas Worthley, UConn Extension.

Christian Connors '20 (CLAS) collects caterpillars near Dog Lane in Storrs on July 11, 2019. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Summer Undergraduate Researcher Christian Connors ’20 (CLAS)

'With insects, there is this hidden guild of organisms that are secretly controlling insect numbers,' says Christian Connors, who is conducting research on insect parasitoids.

Rain overwhelms a local drainage system. (Kara Bonsack /UConn Photo)

Helping Municipalities Meet New Pollution Regulations

A UConn Extension program, partnering with the state, is helping towns comply with new state and federal requirements for reducing water pollution – and saving them money.

Children go to school by canoe on the Maranon River, a main tributary of the Amazon River, in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve in May 2019. (Cris Bouroncle/AFP/Getty Images)

Opportunities Exist to Restore Tropical Rainforests – Here’s How We Mapped Them

Using high-resolution satellite imagery and the latest peer-reviewed research, experts integrated information about four benefits from forest restoration: biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and water security.

Tracy Rittenhouse, who teaches wildlife techniques and researches wild populations, traps small mammals along the edge of the Fenton tract of the UConn Forest. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Tracy Rittenhouse Knows Where the Wild Things Are

Bobcats have been spotted on campus. Students who took pictures of them showed them to Rittenhouse, who is helping analyze data for the state's Bobcat Project.