By Nadia Samaroo: Sustainability Graduate Student; NOAA EPP/ MSI Center for Earth System Science and Remote Sensing Technologies II, Cohort III Fellow Over the past few months, I’ve been conducting research on living shorelines in New York City—specifically at West Pond in Jamaica Bay—to study how the area’s vegetation has recovered since Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This project is part of my research with NOAA CESSRST (Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies), where I’ve been combining both remote sensing data and fieldwork observations to better understand the shoreline’s recovery. My research looks at whether there has been …
Reflections on Facade Restoration and Sustainability: The Intersection of Historic Preservation and Environmental Responsibility
By Urban Sustainability Graduate Jeremy Edwards Abstract Facade restoration is a critical discipline that straddles architectural historic preservation and sustainable design. While traditional preservation methods have focused on maintaining historical authenticity, emerging sustainability imperatives have introduced new paradigms that emphasize energy efficiency, carbon footprint reduction, and lifecycle assessments. This paper critically examines the intersection of facade restoration and sustainability, highlighting theoretical underpinnings and best practices. It discusses the tensions and synergies between preservation ethics and modern sustainability mandates, explores material innovations and energy modeling, and offers reflections on how restoration professionals can integrate sustainable principles without compromising historical integrity. Introduction …
SUS Student Completes UNH Sustainability Institute Fellowship
Over the Summer of 2024, current Sustainability Student Divyaprabha Chandrasekar completed a fellowship with the University of New Hampshire’s Sustainability Institute. The annual paid fellowship program places qualified students from universities all over the country with various partner organizations to work on wide range of sustainability projects. Divya noted “it’s an amazing opportunity and UNH has more areas of interest and resources to work with on sustainability parameters that CCNY sustainability students could check out.” Her fellowship focused on sustainable interior design materials with Stibler Associates. The fellowship program also brings together each cohort for a professional development retreat and …
Decarbonize CCNY
Beginning with Professor Stephanie Rose’s capstone team project in 2022, a student-led decarbonization effort has gained momentum on campus. Here is a roundup of some progress to date, including the work of the Sustainability Students. In the Spring of 2024, the PSC-CUNY Environmental Justice Working group launched a plan to hold Decarbonization Town Halls on all CUNY Campuses. The first took place in May at Brooklyn College. With support from PSC-CUNY, Public Power NY, and NYPIRG, CCNY hosted a Town Hall on September 26th, 2024. Below is the video of that event.
Now With a Fully Online Option and Advanced Certificate
Formalized this academic year with CUNY, applicants to the Sustainability Program at CCNY will now see the option to apply to a fully online degree. Though options remain to complete the M.S. mainly in person or in a hybrid format, our SUS community will now expand from NYC to anywhere. The Fall 2019 Industrial Ecology Course. Since this particular course offering, students have been able to complete the core class either in person or online depending on schedule and preference. Alongside this exciting expanse in our student body learning from each other’s diverse backgrounds and knowledge, the Sustainability Program has …
Congratulations to the Class of 2024
Taking a moment to celebrate our graduates! View the full Main Commencement at this link on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw07xEpVDwQ&t=1s
Final Capstone Presentations, Spring 2024
Four final capstone presentations. First is Retrofitting Subdivisions for Sustainability: An Example from Latin America. Second (at 29 minutes) is Comparing Carbon Emissions in Residential Buildings: Embodied Versus Operational Emissions. Third (at 58 minutes) is Climate Justice and Urban Resilience in NYC. Fourth (at an hour and 26 minutes) is Reducing Human Health Risk and Exposure to Wastewater Spills in Coastal Environments: Analyzing Water Quality and Inundation Using Remote Sensing Tools in the Tijuana River
Sustainability Student Participates in Blackstone LaunchPad Innovation Sprint
By Mitaly Chakraborty This weekend, I participated in the Blackstone LaunchPad Innovation Sprint alongside my incredible friends Mayesha Fahmida (CCNY), Nayeli (John Jay), Darlyn Pacheco (Queensborough CC), and Kay Jesly (Borough of Manhattan CC). Blackstone Launchpad provided three intriguing tasks for us. Choosing from the three challenges, I opted to collaborate with the L’Oreal team. We conducted a CUNY-wide Innovation Sprint Case Study on Biolage Marketing Strategy. We concentrated on how Biolage might effectively widen its user base to encompass a broader spectrum of people while also increasing knowledge and comprehension of its universal formulations. After reviewing the data, we …
Environmental Projects Presentation on validation of SAR data using remote sensing technologies
SUS 8350B: Environmental Projects students present on their seminar research work looking at the validation of SAR data using remote sensing technologies.
Final Capstone Presentations, Spring 2023
Find the embedded videos here for our final capstone project presentations from last Spring. The first presentation starts at 10 minutes in and below is the order indicating when each presentation begins. Presentation order: Decarbonizing CCNY (at 10 minutes) Supporting Disaster Assessment and Infrastructure Recovery in Ukraine (at 53 minutes) Impact of Construction Materials on the Success of Resiliency Plans (at 1 hour and 41 minutes)