Science & Technology

Washington University’s new Center for the Environment begins its work, another step forward in the “Here and Next” strategic plan.

The Share Our Stuff collection drive is getting underway at WashU, helping to keep items out of landfills as students move out.

Washington University has acquired three electric shuttles as part of its Danforth Campus fleet. The shuttles will be on display at the Earth Day Festival in Forest Park April 22-23.

Fuzhong Zhang, at the McKelvey School of Engineering, developed a method to create synthetic spider silk at high yields while retaining strength and toughness using mussel foot proteins.

For the green energy revolution to be successful, scientists must develop more cost-effective and sustainable battery technologies. Researchers in the McKelvey School of Engineering are spending their energy on just that.

As part of Active Transportation Month in April, the Sustainability, Parking & Transportation, and Operations & Facilities Management offices are hosting commuter fairs and a commuter challenge to encourage low-carbon means of transportation. 

Young-Shin Jun, a professor at the McKelvey School of Engineering, and her team are extracting valuable rare earth elements from coal fly ash, a fine, powdery waste product from the combustion of coal. The process is ultimately a path toward reducing and remediating waste products.

Physicist Anders Carlsson in Arts & Sciences used 40 years of data from the St. Louis region to figure out the ideal mix of solar generation and storage for a reliable power grid.

A team of researchers at the McKelvey School of Engineering has developed an energy-efficient way to consolidate long-term memories on a tiny chip. Shantanu Chakrabartty and members of his lab developed a device that mimics the dynamics of the brain’s synapses.

Maxine Lipeles, a professor emerita of law and former director of the School of Law’s Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, will receive the Lifetime Achievement and Career Award at the 2023 Albert P. and Blanche Y. Greensfelder Forum on Feb. 11.