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Sustainable Planet

Browse the latest in Sustainable Planet, including blog articles, Annals research, events, Academy news and more.

Content Spotlight


blog

Students Create an App to Promote Urban Farming Around the World

January 25, 2024

Winner of the Junior Academy Challenge – Spring 2023 “Urban Gardens” Team members: Tianze H. (Team Lead) (United States), Tianlai H. (United States), Radwa A. (Egypt) Mentor: Olusola Ladokun (Nigeria) Urban gardening can be an effective way to provide fresh and healthy food at a low cost, particularly in parts of the world where food security remains elusive. But it involves many variables– climate, soil, location, sun exposure, type of crop– and urban residents often...

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Q&A Blog with ISR Community Member: Daniel San Martin from Chile 

November 28, 2023

In any major climate-related crisis, access to geo-spatial-temporal datasets, mapping, modeling, and analytical tools are critical to aid recovery efforts and protect communities. Many expert researchers, especially scientists and institutions in low-to-middle income countries, lack the tools to access and analyze relevant data, to inform local decision makers on how to act rapidly and effectively.  During a recent panel with the Predictive Analytics World (PAW) climate conference, we spoke with ISR community member Daniel San Martin of Universidad Técnica...

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Bat Biology and Ecology

November 10, 2023

A series of research articles examining bat biology and ecology. Articles include The pale spear-nosed bat: A neuromolecular and transgenic model for vocal learning; From island biogeography to landscape and metacommunity ecology: A macroecological perspective of bat communities; Sick bats stay home alone: fruit bats practice social distancing when faced with an immunological challenge; A review of the major threats and challenges to global bat conservation; Individuality and function of chemical signals during conflict resolution...

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The Year in Climate Science Research

September 22, 2023

Published since 2020, The Year in Climate Science Research is a rolling submission series covering diverse topics in climate science. The editor is Dr. Luis Gimeno, University of Vigo, Spain. See https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1749-6632.year-in-climate-science.

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Using Data to Protect Food Systems from Climate Impacts

June 8, 2023

The International Science Reserve convened an expert panel to talk about the role of data in preparing for and responding to potential food system crises. The world has enough food to feed everyone, yet the World Food Programme estimates that 345 million people around the world remain acutely food insecure in 2023.   Potentially further escalating this inequity, climate shocks are increasing the risks to agricultural yields. Heavy rainfall, droughts, and heatwaves can cause crop failures; climate and...

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Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists

June 6, 2023

The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists seek to identify and honor exceptional young scientists and engineers 42 years of age and younger. Honorees are selected based on the quality, novelty, and impact of their research and their potential for further significant contributions to science. For previous issues of awardee papers, see Ann NY Acad Sci (2012) 1260 and Ann NY Acad Sci (2013) 1293. Or click https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1749-6632.blavatnik-awards.

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Tales In New Urban Sustainability

May 1, 2023

From global data-sharing efforts to local educational campaigns, new urban sustainability projects are shaping the cities of a greener future. In 1900, about 13 percent of the world's population lived in cities. Today, well over half of it does, and that proportion continues to grow. Cities now account for three-fourths of global gross domestic product, and about the same fraction of human-generated carbon emissions. Because they concentrate huge amounts of human activity into small areas,...

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blog

Urban Gardens Innovation Challenge in Rwanda, sponsored by Clifford Chance

March 10, 2023

https://vimeo.com/815640290 With the participation of 547 students in 118 teams, the Urban Gardens Innovation Challenge organized in Rwanda by The New York Academy of Sciences in partnership with Association Mwana Ukundwa (AMU) has been a great success. Sponsored by the Clifford Chance Cornerstone Initiative, the Spring 2022 competition tasked students aged 13-17 from Kigali, the country’s capital, to use micro-gardening techniques to broaden access to nutritious food sources. Kigali is considered one of the most...

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The Year in Ecology and Conservation Biology

March 6, 2023

Published since 2008, this series includes scholarly review articles in ecology and conservation biology. The series is currently edited by Richard Ostfeld (Cary Institute) and Allison Power (Cornell). Articles include Un-yielding: Evidence for the agriculture transformation we need; Herbivores in Arctic ecosystems: Effects of climate change and implications for carbon and nutrient cycling; From island biogeography to landscape and metacommunity ecology: A macroecological perspective of bat communities; Prioritizing actions: spatial action maps for conservation; and,...

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blog

Forestry for a Sustainable Future

December 31, 2022

Meet the winners of the Fall 2022 Junior Academy Challenge “Forestry for a Sustainable Future.” Prolonged droughts, caused by climate change, have amplified the risks of forest fires around the globe– making blazes bigger, more frequent, and more intense. These fires devastate vast swathes of forests and often spread into residential areas, threatening lives and housing. Research by the University of Maryland suggests that fires cause forests to lose 3 million more hectares annually than...

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Annals

February 17, 2024  · 
Functional diversity of snake locomotor behaviors: A review of the biological literature for bioinspiration
Contributors: Jessica L. Tingle| Kelsey L. Garner| Henry C. Astley|
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October 19, 2023  · 
Shaping the development of complex social behavior
Contributors: James P. Curley| Frances A. Champagne|
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September 26, 2023  · 
On the evolution of epigenetics via exaptation: A developmental systems perspective
Contributors: David S. Moore|
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August 17, 2023  · 
Exploring the potential of meeting adolescent girls’ nutrient needs in urban Colombia using food‐based recommendations
Contributors: Frances Knight| Sabrina Kuri| Claudia Damu| Carla Mejia| Nathalia Correa Guzmán| Gilles Bergeron| Sandra L. Restrepo‐Mesa|
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August 03, 2023  · 
Reimagining scientific conferences—a Keystone Symposia report
Contributors: Shannon Weiman| Jennifer Cable| Walter Greenleaf| Felix Rundel| Kate E. Whitfield| Lory Wingate| Richard Gallagher| Jennifer Pesanelli| Dereck Orr| Thale C. Jarvis| Raluca Cadar| Matthew D' Uva| Dylan Ruediger| Robert Vaez| Adam Frisby| Sami Ahmed| Dorit Donoviel| Judith Klinman| Debbie Johnson|
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July 27, 2023  · 
Automated behavioral scoring: Do we even need humans?
Contributors: Will Kenkel|
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July 06, 2023  · 
Locally relevant food‐based recommendations could increase iron and calcium intake for adolescent girls in Vietnam
Contributors: Simone Michelle Gie| Phuong Hong Nguyen| Gilles Bergeron| Lan Mai Tran| Nga Thu Hoang| Frances Knight|
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June 21, 2023  · 
Emotion in the mind's eye: Imagination for adaptive cognition
Contributors: Chantelle M. Cocquyt| Daniela J. Palombo|
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June 05, 2023  · 
Convergent mechanisms of microglia‐mediated synaptic dysfunction contribute to diverse neuropathological conditions
Contributors: Nicole Scott‐Hewitt| Youtong Huang| Beth Stevens|
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May 30, 2023  · 
Design and evaluation of an independent 4‐week, exosuit‐assisted, post‐stroke community walking program
Contributors: Richard W. Nuckols| Chih‐Kang Chang| Daekyum Kim| Asa Eckert‐Erdheim| Dorothy Orzel| Lauren Baker| Teresa Baker| Nicholas C. Wendel| Brendan Quinlivan| Patrick Murphy| Jesse Grupper| Jacqueline Villalobos| Louis N. Awad| Terry D. Ellis| Conor J. Walsh|
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