School of the Environment

Computer Science

Environmental Governance Lab

Subheadline

In his new book, Steve Easterbrook says climate models undergo a quality control process "that I believe is unique in the world of computational modeling"

Steve Easterbrook began thinking about his how his research might impact future generations shortly after he arrived at the University of Toronto.

“I came to U of T in 1999,” says Easterbrook, now director of U of T’s School of the Environment and a professor in the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science. “My partner and I had just started a family; we became very busy with young kids.”

Having previously worked as lead scientist at NASA’s software verification research lab, where he and his team studied flight software for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, Easterbrook took a particular interest in the role computer science and software engineering play in understanding and combatting global climate change. He decided to investigate how climate models describe our warming atmosphere – and how well they work.

In his new book, Computing the Climate, Easterbrook explains what climate models are and why we can trust them.

Put simply, climate models are computer programs that simulate the Earth’s atmosphere. Typically, they divide the atmosphere and oceans into three-dimensional blocks – some as small as 30 by 30 kilometres. Mathematical equations simulate the flow of energy, air, moisture through the atmosphere, as well as how the atmosphere interacts with the oceans and land.

To conduct his research, Easterbrook visited climate change labs around the world, including the Meteorological Office in the U.K., the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., and the Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL) in Paris, France.

Easterbrook says he saw first-hand how climate models show with remarkable accuracy how the atmosphere works over long periods. They have provided accurate predictions of the dire consequences of pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for more than a century. He says even models that predated the modern computer, like that of 19th century Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius, were accurate.

How is it that they’re so trustworthy? According to Easterbrook’s research, it’s because they involve a rigorous global collaborative effort on the part of hundreds of scientists across many disciplines. He says that makes climate models more reliable than most software, which is typically the product of a single, relatively small team’s efforts. While commercial software is tested, it does not undergo the same thorough and rigorous review as climate models.

We should believe these models, he writes in the book, because “climate modelers have built a remarkable set of design and testing practices that look quite unlike anything I've observed in commercial software companies. If you have a large enough community of experts who run the models over and over again, treating each run as though it were a scientific experiment, treating every quirk of the model with the utmost suspicion, it's possible to produce remarkably high-quality software. The result is a quality control process that I believe is unique in the world of computational modeling.”

A high-definition animation of global air circulation by Community Climate System Model (CCSM) and NCAR.

To demonstrate how well climate models work, Easterbrook uses an impressive model developed by NCAR as an example. The model’s output appears as a moving “map” of the world, showing land masses, oceans, clouds, air circulation and precipitation – and looks very similar to animated satellite images. The model correctly simulates details like the daily pulse of rainfall in the Amazon basin and in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as typhoons forming in the western Pacific Ocean that crash into Japan and China.

“None of the patterns you see in this model are directly programmed into it, none are written in the code,” Easterbrook says. “It shows that if you get the physics right, the rotation of the planet, the heating from the sun and cooling off at night, and you run that simulation – these patterns emerge. And they match the planet’s real patterns. That blows my mind.”

Magazine uses fiction to explore the toll taken by climate change – and our response

siddiq22 — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 17:27:35 +0000

Magazine uses fiction to explore the toll taken by climate change – and our response

siddiq22 Mon, 07/24/2023 - 13:27

Cutline

From left: Steven Bernstein, Matthew Hoffmann and Teresa Kramarz are co-editors of We Did It!?, a new publication that examines aspects of life in a fictional world that has achieved its net-zero carbon emissions goals (supplied images)

Cynthia Macdonald

Topic

City & Culture

Political Science

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

A new publication launched by the Environmental Governance Lab (EGL) in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Arts & Science is using speculative fiction to examine the toll climate change may take on our planet in the years ahead.

Set in an imagined Canada of 2050, the stories, poems, interviews and even advertisements in EGL's magazine We Did It!? explore aspects of life in a world that has managed to achieve its net-zero carbon emissions goals – but has yet to fully realize a fair and equitable low-carbon society.

For example, emissions in the magazine’s fictional Canada of the future have been reduced by 80 per cent following public forays into biofuels and carbon capture. The country is also less meat-dependent and less focused on consumption, with a circular economy centred on the reuse of existing materials.

However, supply-chain disruptions from wars, floods and heatwaves have led to periods of rampant inflation.

Steven Bernstein (supplied image)

“The magazine is taking place in the future, and is informed by all the social, political and technological processes that were required to get there,” says Steven Bernstein, Distinguished Professor of Global Environmental and Sustainability Governance at U of T and the co-director of the EGL.

“It shows that this will not be a straightforward process – and that even if our climate goals are met, they won’t necessarily be met in a way that we envisage now.”

Bernstein, who is also the chair of department of political science at U of T Mississauga, is a co-editor of We Did It!?, along with EGL co-directors Matthew Hoffmann, a professor of political science at U of T Scarborough, and Teresa Kramarz, assistant professor at the School of the Environment in the Faculty of Arts & Science. Together, the trio oversaw a large team of writers, researchers and designers involved in the magazine’s production.

Matthew Hoffmann (supplied image)

The project was inspired in part by the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act that enshrined the federal government’s Net Zero by 2050 pledge into law, and also by a magazine published by Lund University in Sweden that reflected on what higher education might look like 20 years into the future.

The researchers say they strived to paint an even-handed portrait of the potential road ahead.

“Going between dystopia and utopia was definitely a goal from the outset,” Hoffmann says.

“We want readers to be able to see themselves in these pathways to 2050. That means telling stories about political and personal struggles, while also telling stories about things going well. It’s definitely a mix.”

Teresa Kramarz (supplied image)

One decidedly dystopian story is “Thirsty,” written by Kramarz, which depicts a lithium mine in the Argentinian desert that has displaced an Indigenous community – leaving its people fighting for water, food and electricity.

“In ‘Thirsty,’ I’m trying to call attention to the question of a just transition,” Kramarz says. “There’s no doubt we need to decarbonize, but it worries me that in doing that we aren’t paying enough attention to people and places.”

We Did It!? was crafted through an intensive workshop process, supported by the Alan Dean Family Symposium on Environmental Governance, where energy transition experts were brought in to provide writers with the accurate technical information they needed to develop and write their stories.

The EGL plans to work on more issues of We Did It!? and to devise other artistic, creative ways to engage citizens on the topic of climate change. In addition to the magazines, some ideas may include virtual reality or video games.

“There are all sorts of opportunities, as well as different kinds of media we may not have considered yet,” Bernstein says.

We Did It!? conveys public policy information in a clear, accessible way by showing how major climate decisions affect ordinary people – and, in turn, how people can play their part as consumers and voters in shaping those decisions.

“With this publication, we want to contribute to the public conversation around what’s going to have to happen in the next 25 years,” Hoffmann says.

“It’s not that there’s too little talk about the climate, but I’d say we’re not talking and thinking about the right things. We need to have a more expansive dialogue about what we want our society to be, and what large-scale choices we want to be making. We hope that storytelling like this is a good way to do that.”

U of T-led collaboration to develop community-tailored clean energy technologies

lanthierj — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 13:57:30 +0000

U of T-led collaboration to develop community-tailored clean energy technologies

lanthierj Tue, 04/25/2023 - 09:57

Cutline

It’s important to develop clean energy systems that meet the needs of individual communities, says Kate Neville, one of the lead researchers of the CANSTOREnergy project (photo by Kate Harris)

Adina Bresge

Topic

Breaking Research

Climate Positive Energy

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Mechanical & Industrial Engineering

Political Science

Research & Innovation

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

A University of Toronto-led collaboration developing clean energy technologies that can be tailored to the needs of different communities – from Canada’s remote North to populous southern Ontario – will receive support from the federal government.

The CANSTOREnergy project brings together researchers from 11 Canadian universities, along with community, utility and industry partners, to develop technologies that convert carbon-based emissions into useful products, such as fuels and raw materials, and create a net-zero means of seasonal storage for renewable energy that meets specific community needs.

Led by researchers from U of T’s Climate Positive Energy initiative, the collaborative effort is being supported by $24 million through the federal New Frontiers in Research Fund’s 2022 Transformation Competition.

The project will deliberately focus on two very different regions – Yukon and the southern Ontario city of Hamilton – in recognition that there is no one-size-fits-all approach in a vast country like Canada.

“We want to think about addressing these big global challenges such as climate change. But we don’t solve them at the global scale,” says Kate Neville, one of the project’s lead researchers and an associate professor in U of T’s department of political science and School of the Environment in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

“You solve them by thinking about what those challenges look like in lots of places and working with communities to find solutions that meet multiple needs.”

The project’s two sites highlight the different challenges Canadian regions face when considering how carbon conversion technologies can be successfully adapted to existing infrastructure, economic forces and social goals.

Yukon, for example, is not included in the electrical grid that connects much of the U.S. and Canada, and seasonal extremes limit the availability of renewable energy. As a result, many communities need to import diesel fuel during the harsh winter months – which comes at a high cost both environmentally and financially.

Hamilton, by contrast, is a densely populated urban centre that is plugged into the main North American power grid. Heavy industry fuels the local economy, but the environmental costs, such as air pollution, are unevenly distributed and disproportionately impact low-income and marginalized communities.

“Science and research are essential to solving the greatest challenges facing humanity today and in the future,” says François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry. “That’s why our government is committed to continuing support for researchers who are pushing the boundaries of innovation, by investing in transformative, high-risk / high-reward research that will address issues that impact Canadians in all sectors of our economy and society.”

At the core of the project is a commitment to engaging community members about their energy challenges and goals and how carbon conversion technologies could fit into their future.

_ _ _

_ _

David Sinton is the nominated principal investigator of CANSTOREnergy and academic lead of the Climate Positive Energy institutional strategic initiative (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

This engagement could ultimately determine the success of carbon conversion technologies, says David Sinton, nominated principal investigator of CANSTOREnergy and academic lead of Climate Positive Energy, one of several U of T institutional strategic initiatives, and a professor of mechanical engineering in U of T's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

Technologies that perform in the lab don’t always work as well under real-world conditions, adds Sinton, who notes that the urgency of the climate challenge calls for an expedient way to pre-empt issues that may crop up during deployment.

“Too often, engineers – and I have experience in this – innovate while focusing on the technology, which is totally understandable. But when tech is developed without guidance from an end user … the subsequent iterations can be costly. 

“We don't have time for that decades-long iterative cycle that is the norm. We need a new approach and are testing that here.”

CANSTOREnergy’s research team comprises engineers, social scientists, economists and other experts from McMaster University, Yukon University, University of Waterloo, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, University of Winnipeg, Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Calgary, Carleton University and Dalhousie University.

The researchers will receive guidance from stakeholders and advisers in industry, utilities, government and Indigenous nations.

"The University of Toronto welcomes the federal government’s critical support for this important research,” says Leah Cowen, U of T's vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. “Canada enjoys a global competitive advantage in the area of carbon capture research – and the CANSTOREnergy team, with its collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, will build on these strengths and help to optimize this technology to meet the needs of communities across the country.”

Since environmental justice is at the forefront of the CANSTOREnergy project, Neville says it’s vital that communities have a say in developing the clean energy systems that could power and empower them.

“It’s about imagining community futures in ways that meet the goals of equity and fairness,” says Neville.

“It’s thinking about how technology can help us undo some of the unjust systems that we have and help build something that is not only about climate change, but about a more just future.”

_ ___ _

U of T ranked 2nd in the world in first-ever QS sustainability ranking

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 14:40:25 +0000

U of T ranked 2nd in the world in first-ever QS sustainability ranking__

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 10/26/2022 - 10:40

Cutline

(Photo by Matthew Volpe)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Global Lens

Geoexchange

Sustainabilty

The University of Toronto has been ranked second in the world and first in Canada in the inaugural QS World University Rankings: Sustainability, which assesses universities for their environmental and social impact.

The new ranking, released this week by London-based Quacquarelli Symonds, placed U of T second out of 700 post-secondary institutions around the world. Only the University of California, Berkeley ranked higher.

In the two broad areas comprising the ranking – which tracks how post-secondary institutions are taking action to tackle the world’s greatest environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges – U of T was ranked third in the world for environmental impact and seventh for social impact.

“The University of Toronto community is delighted to be ranked second in the world by QS for our leadership in sustainability,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “Our faculty members make a massive contribution to global scholarship pertaining to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Our students are deeply committed to long-term leadership in the field, as reflected in their extensive engagement in the huge range of sustainability-related learning opportunities we offer.

“And as an institution, U of T has made it a top priority to ensure that sustainability permeates our entire mission of research and teaching, while setting an example in our own operations.”

The QS sustainability ranking evaluates all universities eligible for the QS World University Rankings and takes into account data on reputation, research publications, third-party data concerning alumni impact and publicly available national-level data.

The ranking is based on 37 indicators grouped into eight lenses that each fall under the two broad categories of environmental impact and social impact. The environmental impact category comprises the lenses of sustainable education, sustainable institutions and sustainable research, while the social impact category includes employment and opportunities, equality, life quality, impact of education and knowledge exchange.

Canada had a particularly strong showing in the ranking, with two universities in the top 10 (the University of British Columbia placed third) and five in the top 50.

In a blog post, Quacquarelli Symonds noted the ranking goes beyond looking at universities’ commitment to sustainability and focuses on evidence of progress “from the impact that alumni are making in science and technology to solve climate issues, to the impact of research being done across the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.”

It also noted that the ranking “evaluates the social and environmental impact of universities as [centres] of education and research, as well as major employers with the operational sustainability challenges of any large and complex organisation.”

As an institution, U of T has undertaken several high-profile sustainability initiatives in recent years, including a commitment to divest from fossil fuel investments and a pledge to achieve a climate-positive St. George campus by 2050. The latter includes the construction of Canada’s largest urban geoexchange field – in connection with the Landmark Project – that will enable U of T to curb emissions by 15,000 tonnes per year.

U of T Mississauga is embedding sustainability into every facet of campus life, as outlined in its Sustainability Strategic Plan featuring 102 targets and more than two dozen goals. Its New Science Building, for example, will feature a geothermal system that will cover 90 per cent of the building’s energy load.

In fall of 2023, U of T Scarborough is opening the country’s largest passive house student residence, continuing its commitment to developing low carbon infrastructure and embedding social procurement in its campus operations. The campus’s accessible and sustainable open spaces are also being reimagined through the award-winning Valley Land Trail, research and teaching farm, and other green spaces.

U of T’s longstanding commitment to sustainability also pervades its research and teaching. The university offers more than 3,000 sustainability-oriented undergraduate courses and more than 100 graduate and PhD programs with sustainability-related content. Undergraduate students in all degree programs can also take part in the Sustainability Pathways program, which lets them take clusters of courses and pursue co-curricular activities that help them incorporate sustainability learning into their respective disciplines.

Both undergraduate and graduate students can also enroll in “Campus as a Living Lab” and “Community-Engaged Learning” courses that allow them to contribute to real-world sustainability initiatives at U of T or with private and public sector partners.

“We are very pleased to be recognized for our ambitious sustainability programs and activities,” said John Robinson, co-chair of the President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability (CECCS) and a professor in the School of the Environment and Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. “It is important for the higher education sector to step up its efforts to contribute to the sustainability transition and our goal is to make sustainability part of the core identity of U of T in research, teaching, operations and external partnerships.

“Two of our flagship sustainability initiatives – committing to become climate-positive in our operations on the St George campus by 2050 and making sustainability curricular and co-curricular opportunities available to all undergraduate students – reflect this commitment and are part of a suite of activities across our three campuses.

“Much more remains to be done, and we are dedicated to further expansion of our sustainability ambitions.”

Overall, U of T continues to be one of the world’s top-ranked public universities in the five most closely watched international rankings: U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities, Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities, and National Taiwan University World University Rankings.

Season 2 of Groundbreakers series: ‘Diverse research communities solving the world’s grand challenges’

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 16:18:56 +0000

Season 2 of Groundbreakers series: ‘Diverse research communities solving the world’s grand challenges’ rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 09/27/2022 - 12:18

Topic

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Climate Positive Energy

Groundbreakers

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

David Sinton

Political Science

Research & Innovation

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Self-driving vehicles. Renewable energy storage. Advanced materials and molecules. Experts at the University of Toronto are leading the way in all three areas – and more – as they work to address one of the biggest and most complex challenges facing the planet: a changing climate.

Their creative and cutting-edge work is part of the Climate Positive Energy strategic initiative. It’s one of several cross-disciplinary collaborations at U of T that aim is to tackle the most pressing problems of our time – and is highlighted in the Season 2 premiere of the Groundbreakers video series, released Sept. 27.

“What excites me about the strategic initiatives are the people behind these large research networks that are bringing together diverse communities to solve the world’s grand challenges,” Timothy Chan, U of T’s associate vice-president and vice-provost strategic initiatives, says in the video.

The premiere episode offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how researchers are tackling climate change and renewable energy challenges from scientific, social, economic and policy perspectives. They include: David Sinton, director of the Climate Positive Energy strategic initiative and a professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering; Celine Xiao, a PhD candidate in the Sinton Lab and co-founder of the E-Quester carbon capture team; and Kate Neville, associate professor in the department of political science and School of the Environment in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Groundbreakers is a multimedia series that also includes articles on U of T News. Stay tuned for more content.

Watch the Season 2 premiere

U of T expert Kerry Bowman on monkeypox and the danger posed by zoonotic diseases

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 17:34:19 +0000

U of T expert Kerry Bowman on monkeypox and the danger posed by zoonotic diseases

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 07/28/2022 - 13:34

Cutline

(Photo by James Carbone/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

Mariam Matti

Topic

Global Lens

Monkeypox

Global

The World Health Organization recently declared monkeypox – a disease that’s been a concern in African countries for years – a global public health emergency.

Monkeypox has been spreading globally in recent months with 75 countries reporting cases.

Yet, while the WHO issued its highest level of alert, that doesn’t mean monkeypox is highly contagious or necessarily lethal, says Kerry Bowman, assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the School of Environment at the Faculty of Arts & Science.

“It doesn’t mean we’re facing a situation like COVID-19,” says Bowman. “[But] I think it’s a good decision. It’s been in Africa for some time, and it is now emerging in new parts of the world.”

A joint research effort by the university and partner hospitals – including University Health Network, Sunnybrook Research Institute and Unity Health Toronto – is underway to study the global monkeypox outbreak. The team’s findings will help inform a public health response to the outbreak in Canada and support efforts in other countries where the virus is endemic.

U of T News recently spoke with Bowman about the WHO’s designation of monkeypox as a global health emergency, how that might change the international response to the outbreak and what can be done to address the rise of zoonotic diseases more generally.

What does the WHO designation mean?

What it means is that we we've got a disease of concern that’s spreading globally. There’s no question about that. It does not necessarily mean that this is highly contagious or that it’s highly lethal. You might remember the WHO did this for Zika, which may not have had implications for many of us.

So, it doesn’t mean that we’re facing another situation like COVID-19. The WHO was fairly divided on whether it was necessary to trigger the highest level of alert. But I think it’s a good decision. It’s been in Africa for some time, and it is now emerging in new parts of the world.

How might the global response to monkeypox change with this new designation?

What it could mean in the future is travel warnings and restrictions. People coming from countries with a high prevalence of monkeypox, which is the United States and parts of the European Union right now, could experience higher screening at airports. If a person is unwell and officials suspect it is monkeypox, they could order quarantine or containment. I stress the word “could” in this scenario.

I hope it will encourage countries like Canada to get moving on monkeypox before it really takes root – to get ahead of it in terms of vaccination and vaccination supply. From a public health point of view, it’s important to make sure that this can be curtailed before it becomes something that’s endemic here.

What more could be done to lower the risk of transmission?

Vaccine access and education is huge. At this point, it should be readily available, and people should decide for themselves whether they want it or not.

The other concern I have is that until very recently our leaders are being opaque on how much vaccine we have, what our situation is with vaccine and what our plans are with it. Democracy and public health should never be opaque. You really need to let the public know what we’re dealing with.

Right now, it’s not clear as to what our vaccine supplies are and whether we have enough longer term. It’s still a very slow, inconsistent process to receive vaccination.

One element I think we’re ignoring on a global level is: where are all these awful diseases coming from? Monkeypox, without question, has an environmental and climate change component to it. It's not the only factor, but it's clearly a contributing factor. We continue not to look at the upstream causes of zoonotic diseases – diseases that come from animals just as this did.

Can you expand on that?

There’s a connection related to climate change and biodiversity loss that we’re simply ignoring.

What’s happening is, as more and more forests are cut down and the climate changes in Africa and other tropical regions, you have more non-human species moving around and being hunted. The interaction between animals and people is rising as there’s both environmental degradation and habitat loss. We’re opening up more tracts of what was once pristine forest and exposing people to those viruses.

The number of zoonotic diseases that are rising is significant.

How can we address this?

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had some awareness of this – but there’s next to nothing being done to prevent more of these diseases from emerging.

It’s a real shortcoming of Western medicine that we have these firewalls where we don’t cross over into anything environmental. It’s the way we’ve organized ourselves – to our determent.

We need much more of a “One Health” approach. One Health and planetary health is something that looks at how all these systems work together – human, non-human and biodiversity.

In national and global planning, we should be looking at the consequences of mass deforestation in equatorial regions. We should also look at the health and wellbeing of ecosystems within Canada and the health of the animals.

For human health to flourish, we need to look through the lens of our environmental parameters.

Students contribute to City of Toronto climate action projects through U of T ‘Living Lab’ course

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 03 May 2022 15:45:21 +0000

Students contribute to City of Toronto climate action projects through U of T ‘Living Lab’ course

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 05/03/2022 - 11:45

Cutline

Students Sofia Padernal, Jessica Armstrong and Hilda-Matilda Idegwu deliver a presentation to City of Toronto staff about strategies to decarbonize existing buildings (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Cities

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

How can Toronto better integrate climate considerations into building procurement and management? Can the city achieve net-zero emissions without harming low-income and equity-deserving homeowners and tenants? What have other cities learned from their attempts to implement climate policies?

These are some of the questions that 56 University of Toronto graduate students recently explored on behalf of City of Toronto staff and managers, as well as the Atmospheric Fund, a regional climate agency that supports low-carbon solutions across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Areas.

The students’ work is part of a seminar – “Sustainability in the World: A Living Lab Course” – offered by the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy as part of the master of public policy and master of global affairs programs. Living lab courses are part of the university’s four flagship sustainability programs.

Sofia Padernal, a master of public policy student, said she didn’t know much about sustainability policy going into the course, but was drawn by the opportunity to work with a City of Toronto client on a real topic.

“Sometimes our ideas were very idealistic, but our client would bring us back to reality and tell us, ‘I don’t know if that’s feasible,’” said Padernal.

“Being able to work with someone who first-hand works in government and policy gave us real insight and perspective into how things work.”

From left to right: Hilda-Matilda Idegwu, Jessica Armstrong and Sofia Padernal (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

The U of T course is taught by John Robinson, professor in the School of the Environment and at the Munk School, and co-chair of the President's Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability (CECCS). He said it offered students the chance to undertake work that will make a real contribution to the city’s TransformTO Net-Zero Strategy.

“All the projects come from City of Toronto and The Atmospheric Fund staff, so they reflect the real challenges faced by the city in attempting to realize their very ambitious climate targets,” he said.

“The students have been keenly engaged, knowing full well that their projects address real-world problems and that their work has a real chance of influencing the City of Toronto’s climate strategy.”

Robinson noted that the course is a component of the U of T node of the Urban Climate Action Network (UCAN), which involves universities partnering with their host cities to help them achieve their climate targets. UCAN was conceived as part of U of T’s involvement in the University Climate Change Coalition (UC3). The course is also one of several “Living Lab” initiatives at U of T that enable students to contribute to and learn from sustainability-oriented projects.

Professor John Robinson, left, teaches “Sustainability in the World: A Living Lab Course” (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Students recently presented their work to their clients by outlining their analysis and recommendations on 12 different topics – all relevant to the City of Toronto’s climate action strategy, TransformTO. (See the full list of topics below)

As part of their presentation on “Understanding the Social Equity Implications of Decarbonization in Existing Buildings,” Padernal and her fellow group members – Jessica Armstrong, Michelle Gandhi, Hilda-Matilda Idegwu and Jacob O'Connor – noted that Toronto’s strategy to achieve net-zero emissions in existing buildings poses challenges for equity-deserving groups. For example, building owners may try to pass on the cost of retrofits to low-income tenants and some homeowners may not be able to afford energy-efficiency upgrades.

After studying government documents, policy briefs, academic literature and materials from other Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions, Padernal’s group generated five recommendations: adopt a methodology to track sustainability and equity measures; develop a green program to provide green job training; create a retrofit accelerator program to give landlords and building owners the supports and resources needed to carry out retrofits without passing on the costs to tenants; and set up a sustainability tenant advocacy board.

“The existing building strategy is an ambitious and essential program that will evidently lead to Toronto’s Net Zero Economy while transforming the housing landscape,” the group stated in their presentation. “The consideration of how its nine key actions affect the livelihood of equity-deserving groups should be considered at each stage.

“The co-benefits are endless as long as risks are mitigated.”

City staff ask students questions during presentations on a range of sustainability topics (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

The students concluded that their recommendations “are key in ensuring that the social implications of decarbonization in existing buildings do not pose a threat to Toronto’s existing housing affordability crisis.”

Padernal said working on a project that contributes knowledge to an active policy goal has made for a fulfilling experience.

“Through the feedback our clients gave us throughout the process as well as after the presentation, it felt like they valued our recommendations,” Padernal said, noting that the idea of creating a tenant advocacy board seemed to resonate especially well.

“I’m hopeful that they’ll take some of our ideas into consideration. But even if they don’t, I hope they continue to put an equity lens into the policies that they do implement.”

Ana Maria Medina, project manager in the City of Toronto’s Environment & Energy Division (EED) and the client assigned to the group, said she appreciated the group’s efforts and their openness in integrating the city’s context and needs into their process. “The findings, considerations and recommendations included in the final report are a valuable resource that the City can integrate into the implementation of the Net Zero Existing Buildings Strategy,” Medina said. “Their recommendation on the creation of a tenant advocacy board, in particular, drew our attention since it is a concept we haven't explored yet.”

Another presentation saw students outline findings from their topic “Investigating Incentives and Disincentives in the Transition to Zero-Emission Vehicles in Toronto.” The group – Luca Dannetta, Sarah Klein, Anna Lazaris, Tingwei Lyu and Arnaud Nsamirizi – explored approaches taken by global municipalities to incentivize the switch to zero-emission vehicles and promote active transportation and public transit.

From left to right: Sarah Klein, Tingwei Lyu, Luca Dannetta, Anna Lazaris and Arnaud Nsamirizi (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

The students’ policy proposals included creating subsidies for the purchase of non-high-end electric and hybrid electric vehicles, imposing a city-wide tax on gas and petroleum products and creating preferential parking areas with charging stations for electric vehicles. The students noted financial incentives are the single most effective policy tool but observed that a dense network of charging infrastructure is also crucial to encourage uptake and use of electric vehicles.

However, the students also noted electric vehicles are only a small part of the puzzle and highlighted the importance of improving public transit and cycling infrastructure. By eliciting long-term changes in travel behaviour and making people see cars as a luxury rather than a necessity, the City of Toronto could foster environmental and public health benefits far beyond what electric vehicle uptake alone could achieve, they said.

The group also noted the importance of recognizing the limitations of municipal government and working with federal and provincial partners where viable.

Their client, Deborah Herbert, project manager at EED, praised the group’s work. “It was a pleasure to work with the students – they asked insightful questions and their work was high quality,” Herbert said. “The students' report is a very helpful resource as we consider ways that the City can help support the transition to low carbon transportation."

Next, the students will compile detailed reports that will be submitted to City of Toronto clients for their consideration, and will be published in the CECCS Campus as a Living Lab Project Database by the end of May.

Stewart Dutfield, acting manager at EED who co-ordinated city staff's involvement in the students' projects, said he was impressed by the quality of work produced by the students under Robinson's guidance. "It was really special to see the depth and breadth of topics covered with a focus on TransformTO,” he said. “I know I find the process very rewarding, the outputs of process are impressive and I believe the students really benefit from the experience of addressing real world challenges.”

For Padernal, the course highlighted the scope of sustainability efforts.

“It opens your eyes. Before this, I thought sustainability was just about trying not to let the Earth die. But it’s not just that – it’s about improving the lives of people,” said Padernal. “The co-benefits of having a sustainability lens are endless.”

“I would definitely recommend taking [a Living Lab course], especially if you don’t know anything about the topic.”

Here are the topics explored with the city and its partners as part of the Sustainability in the World: A Living Lab Course:

Understanding the social equity implications of decarbonization in existing buildings
Neighbourhood and community-led solutions to building retrofitting
Innovative programs for driving emission reductions in existing buildings
Understanding the qualitative and quantitative benefits of the city’s PollinateTO community grants program
Investigating incentives and disincentives in the transition to zero-emission vehicles in Toronto
Scaling and delivering climate solutions
Climate change communication
Integrating climate considerations into procurement
Zero emissions construction product and knowledge gaps
Integration of climate in asset management processes
Jurisdictional scan of climate policies and plans
Indoor health co-benefit of building retrofit projects

From climate action to social justice, U of T accelerates tri-campus sustainability efforts

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 21:25:53 +0000

From climate action to social justice, U of T accelerates tri-campus sustainability efforts

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 12/16/2021 - 16:25

Cutline

(Photo by Johnny Guatto)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Global Lens

Diversity and Inclusion

From climate action to social justice, the University of Toronto is taking major strides to incorporate sustainability into every facet of the institution – capitalizing on its position as one of the world’s top public research universities to help meet a key global challenge.

The latest report by the President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability (CECCS) details how U of T is rapidly driving sustainability initiatives across its three campuses, with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serving as a guide. That includes everything from the creation of an Institutional Strategic Initiative (ISI) focused on clean-energy research – the Climate Positive Energy Initiative – to the launch of new “sustainability pathways” to help students explore sustainability from various academic perspectives.

The report follows U of T’s recent commitment to divest from investments in fossil fuel companies – both directly and through pooled or comingled investment vehicles – by 2030 and achieve a climate-positive St. George campus by 2050.

John Robinson

“As I indicated in my recent announcement to divest from fossil fuel investments and create a climate-positive campus, in light of the increasing urgency of the climate crisis, this is an opportune moment to commit to even more ambitious carbon reduction goals for the university’s long-term investments,” U of T President Meric Gertler said in a letter introducing the report.

“It is also time to accelerate our action on the SDGs, including but going far beyond SDG 13 for climate action.”

The committee, which late last year had its mandate extended to December 2023 and its budget doubled, outlined its accomplishments and goals across its four sub-committees – teaching and learning, research, operations and engagement, and partnerships – in a 143-page report shared with Governing Council on Dec. 16.

John Robinson, co-chair of the CECCS and the president’s adviser on the environment, climate change and sustainability, said he’s heartened by how quickly awareness of – and responses to – climate change and other sustainability issues are accelerating at the university.

“Things are really moving pretty quickly,” he said. “It’s a big institution so it’s like a supertanker that has a long turning radius [but] things are really happening in a big way.”

Case in point: an Ontario Chamber of Commerce policy report recently included U of T as a case study, calling the university “a global leader in demonstrating and promoting sustainability.”

A geoexchange field being built under Front Campus as part of the Landmark project will play a key role in enabling St. George to become climate-positive by 2050 (photo by David Lee)

Robinson added that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the extent to which issues such as social justice and equity intersect with efforts to tackle climate change and environmental damage.

“The pandemic has brought to the forefront a recognition of what’s always been true but has been ignored for too long – that when it comes to sustainability and climate change, there are these huge ethical issues around social justice, equity, diversity and inclusion that have to be addressed and made front and centre,” said Robinson, a professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and the School of the Environment.

“We can’t deal with these sustainability issues without also dealing with issues of social justice, equity and diversity.”

Accordingly, the CECCS report outlines several ways in which U of T divisions are looking to address issues around equity and diversity. They include: Procurement Services diversifying its supply chain to provide more opportunities to businesses owned by people from under-represented groups; the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design’s employment and mentorship program for Indigenous youth; and the CECCS itself expanding its membership by appointing a seat for an Indigenous staff member.

Ron Saporta

Earlier this year, U of T also announced that Ron Saporta, chief operating officer, property services and sustainability, would join Robinson as committee co-chair, a move designed to strengthen the academic-operational co-operation needed to make headway on U of T’s sustainability goals.

There is even a new institutional strategic initiative, called Sustainable Development Goals @ U of T, that’s aimed at advancing the 17 sustainable development goals at the university – an idea borne from last year’s “17 Zoom Rooms @ U of T” virtual event. The online brainstorming session brought together graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and professors who underscored the need for more cross-disciplinary and inter-institutional initiatives at the university. The session led to the creation of an ISI focused on SDGs, which will define the formal vision for an inter-disciplinary research and education network, forge relationships, secure funding and create a roadmap.

“I think it’s a brilliant move on the part of U of T to create these horizontal linkages through the ISI program,” said Robinson, who sits on the SDG ISI’s steering committee. “We’re used to being in our disciplines, in our divisions, in our departments in a more vertical set of silos – so this is a real attempt to create horizontal connectivity.”

Beyond U of T, the university has sought to create connections with likeminded institutions in Canada and across the world on sustainability issues. That includes pledging, as part of the U7+ Alliance of World Universities, to take action on COP26 goals and calling on the G7 to recognize universities’ capacity to help tackle pressing global issues such as climate change, the economic recovery from COVID-19 and championing social justice.The university has also taken steps to mobilize students, faculty and staff through events such as the Adams Sustainability Celebration, which comprised virtual showcases; the awarding of grants and prizes to support sustainability-focused courses and projects; and virtual panels. One session saw Saporta and Marc Couture, director of sustainability and energy management, review U of T’s sustainability goals and the actions being taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the St. George campus.

Yet another example is U of T’s involvement with the Urban Climate Action Network (UCAN), an initiative within the University Climate Change Coalition (UC3) that will see six universities partner with their host cities to help them achieve their climate targets. Among the initiatives under the U of T node of UCAN: more than 50 graduate students from the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy will be working on projects with TransformTO, the climate action strategy overseen by the City of Toronto’s Environment and Energy Division.

“These aren’t projects that we dream up in the academy – these are actual projects that people in the city say they could use help on – so, I’m really excited about that,” Robinson said.

CECCS is also exploring further opportunities for U of T students to contribute to climate action through curricular and co-curricular initiatives.

“There are very ambitious targets that have been adopted by City Council, but the question is how do we achieve them? How do we, for example, retrofit every single building in the city of Toronto to net-zero or better by 2050? How do we make every new building built in the city after 2030 net-zero or better?” Robinson said. “These are massive targets. So, the question is: How can we as a university get involved in this process, get engaged and contribute to reaching these vital targets?”

Robinson says part of the answer will involve engaging with private sector players, particularly on building and retrofit projects.

The committee is also looking to expand opportunities for students to work on sustainability projects on campus and with external partners through “Campus as a Living Lab” and “Community-Engaged Learning” initiatives.

“Our goal is to have 1,000 students a year doing sustainability-oriented ‘Campus as a Living Lab’ projects and 5,000 students doing sustainability-oriented ‘Community-Engaged Learning’ projects with partner organizations,” Robinson said. “That’s one way that students can get deeply involved while they’re here – and we want to make more of those opportunities available.

“We believe strongly that students can take an essential role in these matters and provide leadership.”

Robinson added that the committee is developing workshops aimed at helping students address “well-justified” anxiety about the future that awaits them and the planet. The sessions would cover topics such as how students can foster sustainability in their future workplaces and offer examples of best practices and creative approaches that have been deployed by individuals to help change organizations.

“We feel that to simply suggest to them that they should consume less or recycle more doesn’t really address that anxiety in a very positive way,” he said. “So, we’re planning to develop workshops that will be about how to become an ‘agent of change’ after you graduate.

“We think the idea of green jobs doesn’t make any sense because every job is in the world and involves people, so every job in the world has sustainability dimensions. Every graduate of the university can add a sustainability dimension to their work life.”

Robinson said he tries to help students to view the daunting challenges posed by climate change as opportunities.

“We think this is an incredible opportunity to actually re-make the world in a better way. It’s not a trivial, simple or easy challenge … but it is an opportunity. I tell my students: You’re the generation that gets to fix this problem because this is when it has to be done – in the next few decades.”

How can lizards adapt to a changing climate?

lanthierj — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 21:02:00 +0000

How can lizards adapt to a changing climate?

lanthierj Fri, 10/22/2021 - 17:02

Cutline

A common wall lizard at a sun bath (Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann/Unsplash)

Topic

Faculty of Art & Science

Research & Innovation

Trinity College

Undergraduate Students

Victoria College

Researchers at the University of Toronto and Ohio Wesleyan University are collaborating in a quest to find out how lizards can adapt to the world’s changing climate.

Sophie Berkowitz and Simone Collier, undergraduate students at Trinity College and Victoria College in the Faculty of Arts & Science, are using computational tools to analyze lizard movement and body temperature under the supervision of Vianey Leos Barajas, an assistant professor in the department of statistical sciences and the School of the Environment.

They’re working closely with ecologists at Wesleyan, Assistant Professor Eric Gangloff and undergraduate students Ciara Pettit and Sierra Spears, who cared for the lizards and provided the primary data of lizard movement and temperature.

The team’s research focuses on analyzing movements of lizards when placed in an arena with a “thermal gradient,” meaning an observation area where one end is warmer than the other. The sand-filled arena is one metre long and has a lamp as a heat source. Using open-source object-recognition software, statistical and environmental science student Berkowitz extracted movement data from hours of lizard footage to prepare a dataset for statistical analysis.

A key challenge was tracking the movement of the lizard when it crawled into the sand or attempted to crawl up the side of the observation arena, out of view of the camera, Berkowitz says.

“They try to bury themselves in the sand and get caught. Then the ecologists have to fish them out,” Berkowitz says. “Lizards have minds of their own, and our research definitely has to accommodate for that.”

With the dataset of lizard movements, body temperature and environmental temperature, mathematics and environmental science student Collier used hidden Markov models to gain insight into the lizards' movements and behaviour.

“What we're trying to do with these models is to determine their thermoregulation behaviours,” Collier says. “We want to find patterns in the lizards’ movement based on how they move between these different temperature zones.”

Lizards are ectothermic, which means they rely on the temperature of their environment to regulate their body temperature. One would expect, then, rising temperatures to affect a lizard’s behaviour. These changes in behaviour in turn hold important clues about how lizard species might be affected by climate change.

"It's really important for us as scientists to get a better understanding of how their thermoregulation works, and how it is affected by their environment,” says Berkowitz. “The hidden Markov models work on the premise that the observations are the product of an underlying behavioural process.

“If we can understand things that we can't readily observe, we can help understand the future of our lizard species in terms of climate change."

The research partnership highlights the intersection of statistics and ecology: Gangloff’s team of ecologists provided the primary data to the statistical and environmental sciences team at U of T for further analysis.

“We get to do a lot of fun projects and work with a lot of diverse students that are quite capable. They are using their statistical skillset to expand the notion of what statistical sciences mean in practice,” says Barajas.

The team is continuing their modelling and plans to publish their results, along with their modelling tools.

In addition to contributing to the field, the two U of T students say they enjoyed gaining hands-on research experience under the supervision of a professor while building important skills. Berkowitz and Collier encourage students to pursue research projects if they are interested in the topics.

“If you meet a professor that's researching something you're interested in, just reach out and see what comes of it. You never know,” says Collier.

Black high school students explore STEM fields via U of T program

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 07 May 2021 21:29:25 +0000

Black high school students explore STEM fields via U of T program

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 05/07/2021 - 17:29

Cutline

Students and instructors participate in the online launch of the Pursue STEM outreach program in March (image courtesy of Sheela Manek)

Chris Sasaki

Topic

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Mathematics

Physics