"The Role of Urban Households in Pollution"
Sarah Hobbie, Associate Professor, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
Kristen Nelson, Associate Professor, Forest Resources
The flow of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus through urban households
contributes significantly to the overall biogeochemical cycles of
American cities. However, little is known about how cycles that
contribute to environmental pollution vary among households, or how
socioeconomic factors contribute to that variation. In the Twin Cities
Household Ecosystem Project, University of Minnesota researchers are
quantifying these cycles in households along an urban to exurban
gradient in the Saint Paul-Minneapolis metro area. The goal is to
determine how demographic and behavioral control factors contribute to
household-to-household variation in biogeochemical fluxes. Ultimately,
this project will inform policies intended to mitigate local and global
pollution arising from human activities in cities.
watch Hobbie & Nelson's presentation
"Greener, Resilient, Secure and Smart Power Grid and Energy Infrastructure"
Massoud Amin, Director, Technological Leadership Institute
Recent developments and policies, combined with potential for
technological innovations and business opportunities, have attracted a
high level of interest in smart power grids and energy infrastructure.
The potential for a highly distributed system with a high penetration
of renewable sources poses opportunities and challenges: 1) How do we
retrofit and engineer a stable, resilient grid with large numbers of
such unpredictable power sources? and 2) What roles will increased
efficiency, energy storage, advanced power electronics, power quality,
electrification of transportation, novel control algorithms, smart grid
and cyber security, and policies and technologies play in transforming
the power grid? This talk will focus on how the smart grid relates to
all of us.
Watch Amin's presentation
Next week:
"Designing Minnesota's Energy Future"
Steve Kelley, Senior Fellow / Director, Center for Science, Technology and Public Policy, Humphrey Institute
12pm, IonE Seminar room
Watch on UMConnect
Former state senator Steve Kelley will talk about new approaches to
public policy development that could help Minnesota move forward on
both energy efficiency and the generation of renewable energy. He will
also discuss the role that design thinking and systems approaches ought
to play in developing solutions to achieve our energy savings and
energy generation goals. Kelley is the director of the Center for
Science, Technology and Public Policy at the University of Minnesota's
Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
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Other upcoming events: 
Tuesday, April 27
Water for Mulobere film premiere
Coffman Memorial Theater, 7pmView the trailer
hereApril 29 & 30
Cross-Sector Leadership for the Green EconomyRadisson University Hotel
IonE Events PageUM Events Calendar
