Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future
Encyclopedia
The David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (ACSF) is a research organization created in Fall 2007 at Cornell University
. ACSF advances multidisciplinary research in Energy
, the Environment
and Economic Development
, and cultivates collaborations within and beyond Cornell.
, Environment
, and Economic Development
.
, Climate Change
, Combustion Engineering
, Computation and Modeling
, Ecotecture
, Electric Infrastructure, Energy Storage - Batteries
, Fossil Fuels, Fuel Cells, Geothermal
, Solar Cells, and Wind Energy
and Water Energy
.
, Built Environment
, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change - Disease, Conservation genetics
, Ecosystem Services Valuation, Impacts of Biodiversity Loss, Invasive Species
, Microbial Diversity, Nitrogen pollution, Climate models, Sustainable Agriculture
, and Water Management
.
and Development
, Climate change adaptation, Community empowerment
, Crop and livestock growth, Food systems
, Human Health, Jobs and the Workforce, Pro-poor financial systems, Social entrepreneurship
, Water Management
The awards given in 2011 included:
. At this conference, Cornell Professor Johannes Lehmann presented on biochar
and sustainable agriculture and carbon management. Antonio Bento, professor of applied economics and management, presented research on the potential effects of including carbon offsets in cap and trade programs.
, including a congressional hearing on July 13, 2010.
The New York Times Times has featured Francis Moon's research on Vibro-Wind Technology in the 10th Annual Year in Ideas.
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. ACSF advances multidisciplinary research in Energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
, the Environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
and Economic Development
Economic development
Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...
, and cultivates collaborations within and beyond Cornell.
History
ACSF, initially the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future (CCSF), was created in the fall of 2007 at Cornell University by the Office of the Provost following a multiyear, cross-campus dialogue on energy and sustainability. It started as a pilot program with initial support from David R. Atkinson, Cornell alumni of '60, and his wife Patricia Atkinson. It was renamed the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, or ACSF, in October 2010, following an $80 million gift from the Atkinsons, making it a permanent center on campus. It was the largest gift ever received from an individual at Cornell UniversityResearch Areas
The three main areas of focus at ACSF are EnergyEnergy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
, Environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
, and Economic Development
Economic development
Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...
.
Energy
Topics in energy research include: Biofuels, Carbon FootprintCarbon footprint
A carbon footprint has historically been defined as "the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person.". However, calculating a carbon footprint which conforms to this definition is often impracticable due to the large amount of data required, which is...
, Climate Change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, Combustion Engineering
Combustion Engineering
Combustion Engineering was an American engineering firm and leading firm in the development of power systems in the United States with approximately 30,000 employees in about a dozen states at its peak. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, C-E owned over two dozen other companies including...
, Computation and Modeling
Data modeling
Data modeling in software engineering is the process of creating a data model for an information system by applying formal data modeling techniques.- Overview :...
, Ecotecture
Sustainable architecture
Sustainable architecture is a general term that describes environmentally conscious design techniques in the field of architecture. Sustainable architecture is framed by the larger discussion of sustainability and the pressing economic and political issues of our world...
, Electric Infrastructure, Energy Storage - Batteries
Energy storage
Energy storage is accomplished by devices or physical media that store some form of energy to perform some useful operation at a later time. A device that stores energy is sometimes called an accumulator....
, Fossil Fuels, Fuel Cells, Geothermal
Geothermal
Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to:* The geothermal gradient and associated heat flows from within the Earth- Renewable technology :...
, Solar Cells, and Wind Energy
Wind energy
Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion; see also wind power.Total wind energy flowing through an imaginary area A during the time t is:E = ½ m v2 = ½ v 2...
and Water Energy
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
.
Environment
Topics in environment research include: Biogeochemical CyclesBiogeochemical cycle
In ecology and Earth science, a biogeochemical cycle or substance turnover or cycling of substances is a pathway by which a chemical element or molecule moves through both biotic and abiotic compartments of Earth. A cycle is a series of change which comes back to the starting point and which can...
, Built Environment
Built environment
The term built environment refers to the human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from personal shelter and buildings to neighborhoods and cities that can often include their supporting infrastructure, such as water supply or energy networks.The built...
, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change - Disease, Conservation genetics
Conservation genetics
Conservation genetics is an interdisciplinary science that aims to apply genetic methods to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity. Researchers involved in conservation genetics come from a variety of fields including population genetics, molecular ecology, biology, evolutionary biology,...
, Ecosystem Services Valuation, Impacts of Biodiversity Loss, Invasive Species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
, Microbial Diversity, Nitrogen pollution, Climate models, Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment...
, and Water Management
Water management
Water management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. In an ideal world. water management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands...
.
Economic Development
Topics in economic development include: BiodiversityBiodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
and Development
Development
-Land use:*Green development, a concept that includes consideration of community-wide or regional environmental implications*Land development, altering the landscape in any number of ways...
, Climate change adaptation, Community empowerment
Community development
Community development is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities....
, Crop and livestock growth, Food systems
Food systems
The term "food system" is used frequently in discussions about nutrition, food, health, community economic development and agriculture. A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population: growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing,...
, Human Health, Jobs and the Workforce, Pro-poor financial systems, Social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship is the work of social entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change . While a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a...
, Water Management
Water management
Water management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. In an ideal world. water management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands...
Academic Venture Fund
Research is primarily funded through the Academic Venture Fund (AVF), with several recipients each year. The Academic Venture Fund was initiated in 2008.The awards given in 2011 included:
- New Sales Approaches for Improved Cookstoves- Garrick Blalock, Johannes Lehmann, and Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue
- Threats to BiodiversityBiodiversityBiodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
and Ecosystem ServicesEcosystem servicesHumankind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by natural ecosystems. Collectively, these benefits are known as ecosystem services and include products like clean drinking water and processes such as the decomposition of wastes...
in the Finger Lakes- Bernd Blossey, John Fitzpatrick, Paul Curtis, Eric Nelson, and Kelly Zamudio - Developing a Soil-Based, Sustainable Specialty Crop Greenhouse Industry in the Northeast- Miguel Gómez, Huaizhu Gao, and David de Villiers
- Harnessing GenomicsGenomicsGenomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...
to Advance Biodiversity and ConservationConservationConservation may refer to:* Conservation movement, to protect animals, fungi, plants and their habitats** Conservation biology, the science of the protection and management of biodiversity...
Research- Matthew Hare, Kelly Zamudio, Ian Hewson, and Alexander Travis - Ecologically Sustainable Disease Management for Emerging BioenergyBioenergyBioenergy is renewable energy made available from materials derived from biological sources. Biomass is any organic material which has stored sunlight in the form of chemical energy. As a fuel it may include wood, wood waste, straw, manure, sugarcane, and many other byproducts from a variety of...
Crops- George Hudler, Gary Bergstrom, Kathie Hodge, and Lawrence Smart - Property Formalization and the Role of Technology in TanzaniaTanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
- Stephan Schmidt and Eduardo Penalver - Implications of Methane Production Related to Natural GasNatural gasNatural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
Extraction From ShaleShaleShale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
- Jed Sparks, Anthony Ingraffea, Natalie Mahowald, Robert Howarth, and Antonio Bento - Sustainable Pest ManagementIntegrated Pest ManagementIntegrated pest management is an ecological approach to agricultural pest control that integrates pesticides/herbicides into a management system incorporating a range of practices for economic control of a pest...
and YieldYield-Physics/chemistry:* Yield , the amount of product obtained in a chemical reaction** The arrow symbol in a chemical equation* Fission product yield* Nuclear weapon yield-Earth science:* Crop yield** Yield...
Increase Strategies- Jennifer Thaler, Miguel Gómez, Georg Jander, and Katja Poveda - School Gardens -- Improving New York State Youth Ecological literacyEcological literacyEcological literacy is the ability to understand the natural systems that make life on earth possible. To be ecoliterate means understanding the principles of organization of ecological communities and using those principles for creating sustainable human communities. The term was coined by...
, Diet and Physical Activity- Nancy Wells, Brian Wansink, Jennifer Wilkins, Marcia Eames-Sheavly, and Gretchen Ferenz Fox - A New Framework for Evaluating Agrarian Development- Wendy Wolford, Philip McMichael, Ronald Herring, Gregory Alexander, and David Kay
Other Programs
The Atkinson Center hosts several topical lunches throughout the year at Cornell University, for students and researchers to attend. It also hosts the annual Iscol lectures, featuring environmental lecturers including Bill McKibben and James Hansen.Outreach
In 2010, ACSF cosupported a delegation of 23 faculty and students from Cornell to go to the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Cancún, Mexico, from 29 November to 10 December 2010. The conference is officially referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 6th session of the...
. At this conference, Cornell Professor Johannes Lehmann presented on biochar
Biochar
Biochar or terra preta is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass. Biochar is under investigation as an approach to carbon sequestration via bio-energy with carbon capture and storage. Biochar thus has the potential to help mitigate climate change, via carbon sequestration...
and sustainable agriculture and carbon management. Antonio Bento, professor of applied economics and management, presented research on the potential effects of including carbon offsets in cap and trade programs.
ACSF in the News
Johannes Lehmann has made significant contributions in the field of biocharBiochar
Biochar or terra preta is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass. Biochar is under investigation as an approach to carbon sequestration via bio-energy with carbon capture and storage. Biochar thus has the potential to help mitigate climate change, via carbon sequestration...
, including a congressional hearing on July 13, 2010.
The New York Times Times has featured Francis Moon's research on Vibro-Wind Technology in the 10th Annual Year in Ideas.
Partnership Institutions
Engineering Energy Studies, Energy Transitions Group, Cornell Center for Materials Research, Energy Materials Center at Cornell (EMC2), Graduate Education in Earth-Energy Systems, KAUST Cornell Center for Energy and Sustainability, Northeast Sun Grant Initiative, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Climate Information for Mosquito Control & Public Health Officials, Cornell Plantations, Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, Ecology and Evolution of Infections and Disease at Cornell, Institute for Computational Sustainability, Northeast Regional Climate Center, Cornell Climate Change Research Directory, Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center, Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise, Center for the Study of Inequality, Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development, Cornell Population Program, Institute for Computational Sustainability, Institute for the Social Sciences, Mario Einaudi Center for International StudiesExternal links
- The Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future
- Congressional Briefing on Carbon Sequestration and Biochar
- NYTimes 10th Annual Year in Ideas
- e360
See also
- Sustainable developmentSustainable developmentSustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
- Climate changeClimate changeClimate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
- SustainabilitySustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
- Cornell