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Earth Day at 50: Glen Daigger on Environmental Engineering
Season 2, Ep. 31
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Water is one of the most useful resources, and it’s necessary to keep it clean. In this episode of Michigan Minds, Glen Daigger, professor at the College of Engineering, explains how environmental engineers are focused on crafting environments to develop the microbial populations needed to remove constituents from water to make it clean, and doing it more quickly than mother nature can.
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12. Validation and verification for elections
25:21||Season 8, Ep. 12In this episode of the Michigan Minds podcast, J. Alex Halderman—Bredt Family Professor of Engineering and director of the Center for Computer Security and Society—discusses weak points in the U.S. electoral system and how to fix them, as well as the results of investigations following the 2020 election.11. Tony Reames talks about the energy transition for disadvantaged communities
18:18||Season 8, Ep. 11Tony Reames, an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Environment and Sustainability, just returned to campus from two years at the U.S. Department of Energy working on energy justice.The Tishman professor of environmental justice and director of the SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic joined us on the Michigan Minds Podcast to share his thoughts on how energy justice could manifest in the United States. His research focuses on disparities in residential energy generation, consumption, and affordability—centering on the production and persistence of inequality by race, class, and place.You just returned home from more than two years at the U.S. Department of Energy working on energy justice. What is energy justice and how is it manifesting in the United States?Energy justice is this concept that really looks at how do communities participate in both the health environment and social impacts of our energy system, recognizing that the energy system has had certain burdens on communities. And so environmental justice is really saying that all communities, regardless of race and income and geography, should be afforded a clean environment. And that the goal of addressing injustices gets us toward making sure that that's true. Climate justice also recognizes that communities of color, low-income communities are feeling the climate crisis first and worst, and that any action to address climate change should include those communities and their burdens.10. When will cars drive themselves?
17:43||Season 8, Ep. 10In this episode of the Michigan Minds podcast, Henry Liu—director of Mcity and the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation, and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at U-M's College of Engineering—gives an overview on the state of autonomous vehicles, whether you're wondering what the hold-up is for cars that no longer need driver's wheels, or eyeing offerings like Tesla's Full Self-Driving, GM's Super Cruise or Ford's BlueCruise.9. One medicinal chemist's mission to bring better medicine to sick and dying species
16:03||Season 8, Ep. 9In this episode of the Michigan Minds podcast, Timothy Cernak, associate professor of medicinal chemistry in the College of Pharmacy and associate professor of chemistry in the the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, makes the case for growing the field of conservation medicine and calls on pharmacists and medicinal chemists to "be on the front line of species conservation."8. Geoff Chatas says campus becomes "living lab" for environmental stewardship
19:04||Season 8, Ep. 8Last January, president Santa J. Ono set the university on a path to imagine what aspirations the University of Michigan could achieve in the next 10 years. Vision 2034 is the outcome of the yearlong strategic visioning process that engaged more than 25,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and local community members. U-M's vision to be the defining public university outlines four areas where the university will make dramatic and focused impact: life-changing education; human health and well-being; democracy, civic and global engagement; and climate action, sustainability and environmental justice. Geoff Chatas, the university's chief financial officer, talked with us about climate action, sustainability, and environmental justice.7. Marschall Runge sees continued statewide expansion and disease prevention efforts increase in Vision 2034.
18:55||Season 8, Ep. 7U-M's Vision 2034 is the outcome of the yearlong strategic visioning process that engaged more than 25,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and local community members. U-M's vision to be the defining public university outlines four areas where the university will make dramatic and focused impact: life-changing education; human health and well-being; democracy, civic and global engagement; and climate action, sustainability and environmental justice. Marschall Runge, executive vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Medical School, spoke with us about human health and well-being.6. Provost Laurie McCauley shares vision for making education more accessible
19:43||Season 8, Ep. 6UM's Vision 2034 is the outcome of the yearlong strategic visioning process that engaged more than 25,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and local community members. UM's vision to be the defining public university outlines four areas where the university will make dramatic and focused impact; life-changing education, human health and well-being, democracy, civic and global engagement, climate action, sustainability, and environmental justice. Provost Laurie McCauley talks about life changing education.5. President Santa J. Ono shares vision on democracy and engagement
12:48||Season 8, Ep. 5In January 2034, president Santa J. Ono set the university on a path to imagine what aspirations the University of Michigan could achieve in the next 10 years. UM's Vision 2034 is the outcome of the yearlong strategic visioning process that engaged more than 25,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and local community members. UM's vision to be the defining public university outlines four areas where the university will make dramatic and focused impact; life-changing education, human health and well-being, democracy, civic and global engagement, climate action, sustainability, and environmental justice. Ono talks about democracy, civic and global engagement on this episode of the Michigan Minds podcast.4. Dealing with plastic that can't be recycled
24:17||Season 8, Ep. 4Consumers have to wrangle with a sticky issue: Much of the plastic used every day can't be recycled.And the kind of recycling that can be done is called mechanical recycling, which means that plastic that can be recycled is simply broken down to be repurposed as other plastic objects, often which are of a lower value than the original product. Eventually, objects made out of this recycled plastic, such as park benches, just end up in a landfill.But University of Michigan chemist Anne McNeil is focusing on how to recycle previously unrecyclable plastic, using chemistry to modify the plastic into a product of equally high value to the original product.