Science & Technology

Faced with extreme weather events and unprecedented environmental change, animals and plants are scrambling to catch up — with mixed results. A new model developed by Carlos Botero, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, helps to predict the types of changes that could drive a given species to extinction.

The U.S. Green Building Council recently awarded Sumers Recreation Center its highest certification: LEED Platinum. The news demonstrates Washington University in St. Louis’ sustained commitment to protecting the environment.

Anthropologist T.R. Kidder in Arts & Sciences contributed to one of the first “big data” studies in archaeology to tackle broader questions of how humans have reshaped landscapes, ecosystems and potentially climate over millennia. The analysis published Aug. 30 in the journal Science challenges conventional ideas that man’s impact has been “mostly recent.”

A global study comparing 2,062 birds finds that, in highly variable environments, birds tend to have either larger or smaller brains relative to their body size. New research from Carlos Botero, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, finds birds with smaller brains tend to use ecological strategies that are not available to big-brained counterparts.

New Arts & Sciences research from Washington University in St. Louis shows that invasive mosquitoes at the northern limit of their current range are surviving conditions that are colder than those in their native territory. This new evidence of rapid local adaptation could have implications for efforts to control the spread of this invasive species.

The Trump Administration’s proposed overhaul of the landmark Endangered Species Act will “hasten the extinction of countless species,” says Jonathan Losos, director of the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in St. Louis and an international biodiversity expert.

Michael Bloomberg announced the formation and convening of the Midwestern Collegiate Climate Summit, to be held in early 2020, to focus on mitigating the effects of climate change. Washington University in St. Louis will serve as its anchor.

Washington University in St. Louis has launched a new $3.5 million solar project. When complete, it will generate 2.5 megawatts of energy across the university, enough to take 480 cars off the road.

Richard Alley, the Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, will deliver the McDonnell Distinguished Lecture on March 6 at Washington University in St. Louis. Alley’s lecture is titled “Finding the Good News on Energy and Environment.”

The Green New Deal, announced this week by Democratic members of Congress, may not amount to quick change but at least begins a conversation toward critical climate change goals, said an environmental law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.