Sustainable Development Goals (497)
The Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. The seventeen Sustaiable Development Goals (SDG) were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the Goals.
Children categories
2 Zero Hunger (13)
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3 Good Health and Well-Being (65)
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4 Quality Education (45)
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
6 Clean Water and Sanitation (34)
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7 Affordable and Clean Energy (35)
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8 Decent Work and Economic Growth (10)
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (30)
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
11 Sustainable Cities and Communities (162)
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12 Responsible Consumption and Production (58)
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
14 Life Below Water (83)
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15 Life on Land (152)
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (31)
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17 Partnerships for the Goals (20)
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
Study expounds upon evolution of mosquitoes and their hosts
This story was originally published on Phys.org and authored by Mick Kulikowski, Director of Strategic Communications and Media Relations at NC State University
Raleigh, NC — Researchers at North Carolina State University and global collaborators have mapped the mosquito’s tree of life, a major step toward understanding important traits, such as how the insects choose their hosts, feed on blood and spread disease. The findings will help researchers make better predictions to model disease transmission and understand what makes some mosquitoes better disease carriers than others.
The research suggests mosquito evolution over the past 200 million years mirrors the Earth’s history of shifting land masses and changing host organisms, said Dr. Brian Wiegmann, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Entomology at NC State and corresponding author of a paper describing the mosquito family tree.
The William Neal Reynolds Professorship is one of the highest distinctions available to NCSU faculty members.The Reynolds Professorships were established in 1950 by William Neal Reynolds, a long-time president and board chairman of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, to recognize and support outstanding faculty achievement in research, teaching and extension.
“This ongoing project builds a big-data resource that mines the academic literature with published observations of the sources of blood mosquitoes drink, from animals as diverse as fish to humans,” Wiegmann said. “It focuses explicitly on data collection to infer aspects of mosquito biology in a contextualized way. That means linking up the family, or phylogenetic, tree with the narrative of life on Earth: geologic history, climate history and organism history.”
Editor’s note: The Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF) was planned with sufficient capacity to properly accommodate all the problem waste to be generated by the cleanup of the Oak Ridge Reservation. However, to accelerate the cleanup and reduce the cost of preprocessing demolition waste, highly toxic waste was not systematically separated from less contaminated waste that would not have required disposal under Superfund criteria. Thus, EMWMF was approaching its capacity much sooner than projected. Hence, DOE began planning the Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) on land designated to remain uncontaminated during DOE’s Stakeholder Stewardship process of the late 1990s.
What did EPA Administrator Regan know when he overruled his experts?
WASHINGTON — A controversial decision by Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency may compromise the protectiveness of radiation cleanups across the country, yet the agency will not release the material explaining the basis for this decision, according to a federal lawsuit filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The suit seeks to find out why EPA allowed a landfill at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, one of the nation’s largest nuclear waste sites, to pollute local waters over the objections of its top legal experts.
The Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation (TDEC) had objected to plans by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to build a landfill for radiological wastes and debris from demolished structures from the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. TDEC protested that wastewater from the landfill would contaminate Bear Creek, a tributary of the Clinch River. EPA’s acting Regional Administrator agreed with the state.
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- tdec
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- michael regan
- andrew wheeler
- clean water act
- oak ridge superfund site
- superfund program
- freedom of information act
- foia
- carlton waterhouse
- environmental management disposal facility
- emdf
- environmental management waste management facility
- emwmf
- regulatory capture
Thursday, 19 October 2023 08:02
Creation Care Alliance announces the 2024 Winter Symposium
Written by Thomas Fraser
ASHEVILLE — The theme of our 2024 Creation Care Alliance Symposium is “Sacred Symbiosis: Relationships for Eco-Justice.” Our presentations, workshops and conversations will explore the relationships needed to build and nurture justice for all creation–human and non-human. We’re excited to dive in and learn together!
Hosted at Montreat Conference Center in Black Mountain, the symposium will begin on Friday, February 2nd, with a full day of workshops and conversations and will run through Saturday, February 3rd.
Our keynote speaker, Mary Crow of Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), will speak on the 3rd.
Unlike past years, Friday and Saturday’s programs are open to all and will not be limited to clergy. We hope you join us!
Discounts:
- Early-bird discount. Register before December 4th to receive $15 off both days of the conference. If you attend both days, that is $30 savings!
- Group discount. Groups of three or more people from the same congregation are eligible for the group discount of $10 off both days of the conference. If your group attends both days, that is a $20 discount per person. This offer is open until the close of registration on January 19th. The link for group discounts can be found on the symposium registration page (follow the below link).
- Student discount. If you are a current student, you can attend the symposium for a fraction of the cost ($20 on Friday and $30 on Saturday). We hope you will join us!
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Tuesday, 17 October 2023 23:02
Dogwood Arts sets out to keep Knoxville blooming — one yard at a time
Written by Hellbender Press
Annual Bazillion Blooms campaign focused on planting a Dogwood in every yard across East Tennessee
It’s planting time in Tennessee! Dogwood Arts is on a mission to Keep Knoxville Blooming by selling dogwood trees through their annual Bazillion Blooms program. Bare-root trees (2-4ft tall) are on sale now for $25 each (or $20 each when five or more are purchased). The trees are disease-resistant, April-blooming, and available in either white or pink flowering varieties. Orders can be placed year-round, but trees are distributed in the fall to coincide with optimal planting time for successful growing.
Trees ordered through Nov 16 will be available for pick-up at the Dogwood Arts office (123 W Jackson Avenue) on Friday, Dec. 8 from 10AM-4PM and Saturday, Dec 9 from 9AM-12PM. Tree orders can be placed online at https://www.dogwoodarts.com/bazillionblooms or by calling Dogwood Arts at (865) 637-4561. Since 2009, over 14,500 dogwood trees have been added to East Tennessee’s landscape through the Bazillion Blooms program.
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Wednesday, 18 October 2023 16:05
“It has been a fantastic career. It has been kind of like a fantastic dream for me. A fantastic wonder.”
Written by Rachel Kovac
Bart Carter retired after a 30-year career at TWRA. He is credited with improving backpack electrofishing equipment commonly used by conservationists around the country. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
Electrofishing innovator retires after 30 years of service with TWRA
MORRISTOWN — Bart Carter, Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency Region 4 Fisheries Program Manager, has retired after three decades of service to the state’s wildlife resources.
During his 33-year career, his work included improving hatcheries, enhancing fish habitat, restoring streams to native fish fauna, helping discover new species, adding public access areas, and mentoring employees.
One of his most significant developments during his career was designing and building new backpack electrofishing equipment.
“Electrofishing can be an effective tool for fish community sampling, fish relocation, invasive species eradication, (and) sampling fish tissue contaminants,” said Mark O’Neal, director of ETS Electrofishing systems, LLC in Madison, Wisconsin.
“The tools they use just stun fish and doesn’t kill them. It stuns them out and then they can weigh them and put a tag on them, without having to using a pole with a hook or a net,” O’Neal said.
“It puts out a high DC voltage pulse. On a boat system you have to use a larger pulse. More DC power to drive a current in the water. When the fish experience a DC current they go to the anoid,” O’Neal said.
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- bart carter
- tennessee wildlife resource agency
- ets electrofishing system
- mark o’neal
- john hammonds
- region 4 reservoirs fisheries biologist
- region 4 fisheries program manager
- twra region 4
- american fisheries society
- rainbow trout
- warmwater streams biologist
- national park service
- south holston
- watagua
- clinch
- powell
- nolichucky
- french broad
- east tennessee river
Oct. 24 - 31, everybody is encouraged to learn about bats and get involved in their conservation. National Park Service
An excellent time to celebrate bats
ASHEVILLE — Last year, the public was invited to “Bats N Brews” in honor of Bat Week at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. This year we have not heard yet of any event to celebrate bat week in the southern Appalachians. Who will step up this year? Please let us know of any related activities. Or at least celebrate with family and friends. This article includes great recipes, too.
Bat Week is an international, annual celebration designed to raise awareness about the need for bat conservation. Bats are vital to the health of our natural world and economy. Although we may not always see them, bats are hard at work all around the world each night — eating tons of insects, pollinating flowers, and spreading seeds that grow new plants and trees.
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Wednesday, 11 October 2023 15:05
APIEL 2023, Oct. 21 — the 14th Appalachian Public Interest and Environmental Law Conference
ELO is a student-run organization at the University of Tennessee College of Law. It is not directly affiliated with the University of Tennesse or any particular non-profit organization. It is dedicated to providing students and attorneys with learning opportunities and leadership experiences.
Networking environmental leaders across Appalachia and the State of Tennessee
Knoxville — APIEL is a relative newcomer to the small circle of inclusive U.S. public interest environmental law conferences. Because it is organized by law school student volunteers, APIEL is affordable to attend for citizens from all walks of life. Students are free!
APIEL is much loved and considered essential by regional nonprofit leaders and activists. It is also highly acclaimed by seasoned environmental lawyers. With just 13 conferences under its belt, APIEL has risen to rank among leading peer conferences with a much longer track record, such as the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) at the University of Oregon School of Law (41 events), the Red Clay Conference at the University of Georgia School of Law (35) and the Public Interest Environmental Conference (PIEC) at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law (29).
Wednesday, 11 October 2023 10:38
Tennessee Project Milkweed orders top 300,000 and exhaust the free supply. TDOT says there’s more to come.
Written by Hellbender Press
Monarch butterfly feeding off milkweed. TDOT launched a program to promote milkweed production, a common source of food for butterflies, birds and other insects. 
Free milkweed seed will help citizens restore landscapes and preserve habitat; orders commence again in June for popular TDOT project
NASHVILLE — Amid unprecedented citizen demand, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) halted online orders for free milkweed seed, offered as part of its Project Milkweed. Launched in June 2023, this mail-order resource was aimed at restoring landscapes and preserving habitats for monarch butterflies and other pollinator species. Since June, TDOT has taken nearly 131,000 individual orders from Tennesseans for milkweed seed. In total, 779,601 red and common milkweed seed packets were requested. The program will return in June 2024.
“TDOT is happy to offer such a popular program to the public, and to empower Tennesseans to do their part in saving pollinators as they are vital to life, growing food, and the economy of Tennessee,” said TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley in a release.
Orders exhausted a stock of 300,000 milkweed seed packets by Sept. 30. Additional seed material has been ordered and is expected to arrive in October. All remaining orders will be fulfilled then, according to TDOT.
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Tuesday, 10 October 2023 12:09
Global temperatures are off the charts for a reason: 4 factors driving 2023’s extreme heat and climate disasters
Written by Michael Wysession
2023’s weather has been extreme in many ways. AP Photo/Michael Probst
This story was originally published by The Conversation. Michael Wysession is Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
Between the record-breaking global heat and extreme downpours, it’s hard to ignore that something unusual is going on with the weather in 2023.
People have been quick to blame climate change – and they’re right: human-caused global warming plays the biggest role. The weekslong heat wave that started in June 2023 in Texas, the U.S. Southwest and Mexico would have been virtually impossible without it, one study found.
However, the extremes this year are sharper than anthropogenic global warming alone would be expected to cause. September temperatures were far above any previous September, and around 3.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.75 degrees Celsius) above the preindustrial average, according to the European Union’s earth observation program.
July was Earth’s hottest month on record, also by a large margin, with average global temperatures more than half a degree Fahrenheit (a third of a degree Celsius) above the previous record, set just a few years earlier in 2019.
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Friday, 06 October 2023 17:59
Woods and Wildlife Field Day scheduled for October 19
Educational event features opportunities to learn about forest management
OAK RIDGE — The 2023 Woods and Wildlife Field Day will include topics focusing on current research and forest stewardship practices that will help landowners with forest management goals. This field day presented by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is scheduled for October 19, 2023, at the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center and UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge.
“We are excited to share on a variety of topics related to natural resources research and management in Tennessee,” says Kevin Hoyt, director of the Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center. “Not only is the information timely for forest management, but it’s also the perfect time of year to enjoy the fall colors at the center.”
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Learn-to-Fish clinic and Music Jam at Oconaluftee visitor center
CHEROKEE — Great Smoky Mountains National Park will host a free youth fishing clinic and an Old Time Music Jam at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center on Saturday, October 21, 2023. Both events are free and open to the public.
In collaboration with the International Game Fish Association, the park will hold the fishing clinic from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Try your hand casting a line for local trout and earn your Junior Ranger Angler badge. Learn about fish conservation and ethical angling practices at fun, interactive stations. All fishing equipment will be provided. The first 25 families will receive a free fishing pole to keep! A valid Tennessee or North Carolina fishing license is required for participants 16 or older.
Published in Feedbag, Event Archive, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Water, 4 Quality Education
ORNL, TSU to partner on research education programs
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Tennessee State University have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen research cooperation and provide diverse undergraduate students enriching educational research opportunities at the lab. This collaboration will further cement relationships between the lab and minority serving institutions, encouraging students from underrepresented backgrounds to achieve their professional goals.
ORNL is devoted to accelerating the pipeline of future workforce by offering educationally oriented, mission-aligned STEM student experiences with world-class researchers and staff.
“It is important to foster students’ natural curiosity in STEM education and research,” said Susan Hubbard, ORNL’s deputy for science and technology. “Through ORNL’s partnership with Tennessee State University, we will offer hands-on learning experiences, helping students to develop critical skills and a passion to impact their communities through research opportunities.
“The programs also provide an opportunity for diverse students to learn about how national laboratories work to address complex, pressing challenges. Helping to develop the STEM workforce of tomorrow’s problem-solvers is important to ORNL and the nation,” Hubbard said.
While adhering to Tennessee State University’s curricular requirements, students will gain access to educational programs at ORNL as interns during their undergraduate studies.
“This collaboration will strengthen and support our students’ overall preparation and contributions particularly as it relates to the mission of ORNL and the Department of Energy. Furthermore, this opportunity will broaden TSU’s research capacity and capabilities via access to state-of-the-art facilities and resources at ORNL,” said Quincy Quick, TSU’s associate vice president for Research and Sponsored Programs.
Students will engage in research activities through internship programs in DOE mission areas including renewable energy and materials, neutron scattering, fusion and fission energy technologies, national security research, manufacturing, environmental sciences and computer sciences.
Additionally, interns may have the opportunity to work with ORNL’s premier research facilities such as the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (home of the world’s fastest supercomputer Frontier), the High Flux Isotope Reactor, the Spallation Neutron Source and the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences — all DOE Office of Science user facilities — plus the DOE Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL.
ORNL and TSU will commit to increasing the number of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fortifying the talent reservoir for workforce development and fostering collaborative mentoring opportunities for students.
For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. — Natori Mason
Sturgeonfest 2023
Join in a great event on Saturday, Oct. 7 for Sturgeonfest 2023 where you will have the opportunity to see the release of baby sturgeon into the French Broad River.
When: Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The sturgeon release will begin at 11 a.m. and there are 1,000 baby sturgeon to release.
Due to habitat degradation, barriers to migration, overharvest and pollution, lake sturgeon have been almost extirpated from much of the Southeast US for more than 50 years.
In 2015, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission joined surrounding states in the Southeast Lake Sturgeon Working Group in an effort to restore lake sturgeon to the Tennessee and Cumberland river systems.
Brood stock comes from the Wolf River in Wisconsin, where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to collect eggs and milt for transportation and hatching at the Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery in Georgia.After hatching and growing, lake sturgeon are sent to the USFWS National Fish Hatchery at Edenton, N.C. and the Wildlife Commission’s Table Rock State Fish Hatchery for several months before release.
Approximately 2,000-9,000 juvenile lake sturgeon have been stocked annually in the French Broad River since 2015.
Dylan Owensby of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services says lake sturgeon are slow-growing, long-living fish. They might live up to 150 years and can grow more than 6 feet and up to 200 pounds. Females mature at 14 to 33 years of age and reproduce only once every four or more years. Males mature at 8 to 20 years of age. Sturgeon are bottom dwellers feeding on larval insects, crayfish and mollusks.
Learn more about lake sturgeon in the French Broad, watch Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency’s sturgeon reintroduction video and read other Hellbender articles on sturgeon.
If you are an angler in Tennessee and lucky enough to catch a sturgeon, please let TWRA This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. know (as explained in the video linked above) specially if it is a lunker.
Friday, 29 September 2023 11:53
Appalachian State Energy Center is crushing it with biochar
Written by Hei-Young Kim
Community biochar production in Boone. Appalachian State Energy Center
Appalachian State University research helps farmers and crop yield
This article was provided by Appalachian State University. Hei-Young Kim is laboratory manager and research assistant with the Appalachian Energy Center.
BOONE — The Appalachian State Nexus Project experiments continue to advance agricultural innovations with biochar to help local farmers. Biochar is a charcoal-like material produced from plant material such as grass, agricultural and forest residues that produce carbon-rich material used for agriculture and horticulture purposes.
Adding biochar to soil increases surface area, pH, plant nutrient availability, and enhances water-holding capacity, according to Appalachian State researchers. It also can sequester carbon in the ground for extended periods of time, which may otherwise find its way into the atmosphere as CO2 or methane.
The qualities of biochar vary depending upon the material it comes from — timber slash, corn stalks or manure.
Published in News, ES! Initiatives, Earth, 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, 13 Climate Action
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