Meet the new Right Wing Environmentalists, Disruptors in Business Education, and Battery Storage Gam
As the Director of Sustainability at the Smeal College of Business, it is my responsibility to keep my mind constantly steeping in a solution of: 1 part business, 1 part technology, and 1 part each of environmental and social impact, including emerging science, news and events. (Stir together and steep for years until it reaches desired level of understanding).
In "That's News to Me" I share what I am reading with the growing Triple Bottom Lion community.
Defying Disruption with Differentiation (BizEd Magazine)
An interview with Rich Lyons, dean of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley
Disruptors in Business Education, touches on digital learning, joint degrees, the importance of student-mentor relationships, and experiential learning.
"Lectures have become durable goods, and that shift has changed the very product we’re offering. We’re entering the era of 'education-as-a-service,' which parallels the 'software-as-a-service' era in business...But it’s always valuable to have people come to campus. That’s one of the things we’ve learned. It’s hard for a 100 percent digital educational experience to capture some of the important relational elements.
"About eight years ago, we decided that every student in the MBA program had to make at least one selection from a certain category of experiential learning courses. One is our Clean Tech to Market class, or C2M, in which MBA students work with PhD students in chemistry, engineering, and other fields to do commercialization analysis on the basic science being created at the nearby Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory."
Conservative and concerned about climate change? Meet the EcoRight (Republicen.org)
Republicen features twelve "EcoRight Spokespeople"....like consultant Kelsi Wolever (pictured above) and Eagle Scout and Pitt economics student Sam Ressin (below)
"Native Iowan Kelsi Wolever, a recent graduate of Iowa State University with a dual degree in environmental science and political science, currently works as an associate consultant with Sibson Consulting...In 2015 as a reporter for ClimateEye, leading the #Dare2Ask campaign in Iowa, where she followed the Republican candidates for the presidential nomination to events around the state to ask if free enterprise can solve climate change. Passionate for politics, she also hosted at her university discussion groups on the importance of conservatives engaging young voters with climate change policies."
"Sam Ressin is a first year undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh studying Economics-Statistics and Political Science. As an Eagle Scout, Sam cares deeply about preserving our natural resources for ourselves and future generations. He is active on campus as a member of the Green Fund, a student board that funds sustainable projects, and as a member of the Pitt Men's Glee Club. Sam is the President of the Climate Stewardship Society, a student organization that is working to bridging the divide on issues such as environmental stewardship and climate by appealing to the shared values of liberal and conservative students alike."
VIDEO SHORT: New Research Finds Plastic Particles in Bottled Water
Orb Media, a unique new journalism start-up, is behind the research into plastics in bottled water. Read more from the BBC's report and download the full scientific report.
The Battery Boost We’ve Been Waiting for Is Only a Few Years Out (Wall Street Journal)
"The batteries that power our modern world—from phones to drones to electric cars—will soon experience something not heard of in years: Their capacity to store electricity will jump by double-digit percentages, according to researchers, developers and manufacturers."
This will be a game-changer for renewable energy, mobile phones, electric cars, and countless other devices and systems on which modern life will come to depend.
Should Some Species Be Allowed to Die Out?​ (NY Times)
"Of the 1,280 endangered animals and plants listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 557 are from Hawaii, including the short-tailed albatross, the Hawaiian hoary bat and the Kauai cave wolf spider, as well as four species of turtle, six damselflies, two varieties of pond shrimp, four snails and seven kinds of yellow-faced bee. Conservationists have called the islands 'the extinction capital of the world.'"