Partners Explore R&D Opportunities Related to Water and Sustainability

WaterEnergy

On Monday of this week, Sustainability Week, U of I researchers met at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center with colleagues from Argonne National Laboratory to explore opportunities for collaboration on energy/water nexus issues.

 

ISTC has collaborated with Argonne scientists for years on various sustainability projects. Kevin O’Brien, ISTC director and chair of the Water Council of the U of I’s Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment (iSEE), brought together partners to explore future points of shared interest.

 

The next day, iSEE invited business and organization leaders from Champaign-Urbana to a “Community Conversation on Energy Conservation.” The gathering emphasized local resources for improved building efficiency such as ISTC’s Illinois Green Office Challenge, and iSEE’s Certified Green Office Program.

 

The gatherings took place just as the 2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (ICAP) was being released on campus. The five-year update of the plan reported that sustainability efforts in campus buildings has reduced energy consumption by 20 percent, greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent, and potable water use by 20 percent. Continuing commitment to improving efficiency of water and energy use at the University of Illinois will contribute to the ICAP meeting its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

 

 

What ‘Back to the Future Part II’ got wrong (and right)

sharmaHappy Back to the Future Day! ISTC Senior Research Engineer B.K. Sharma is one of the University of Illinois researchers featured in a fun roundup of predictions made for this day by the feature film 26 years ago.

 

The movies predictions about alternative fuels from garbage were somewhat prescient. Sharma hasn’t come up with Mr. Fusion, but he makes gasoline from all types of wastes (grocery bags, prescription medicine bottles, milk cartons, straws, bottle caps, tires, old coffee grounds, algae, sewage sludge, manure and food waste).

 

The Cubs, predicted to win the World Series, on the other hand, are just hanging on.  See the whole article at https://illinois.edu/blog/view/6231/263585.

Celebrate Sustainability Week 2015, October 19-23

It’s Sustainability Week on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, and several events are planned, including the official release of the 2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan, or ‘iCAP’ on Sustainability Day, Wednesday, October 21. There will be a reception at 1 PM in Illini Union Room A on the 21st, which will include updates from each of iSEE’s Sustainability Working Advisory Teams (SWATeams), details of the iCAP and updates on progress, and a discussion of how you can get involved in reducing campus greenhouse gas emissions. To attend this reception, register at https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/3510756.

 

Another highlight will be the Sustainability Day keynote event, from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21 at the National Soybean Research Center (NSRC) Room 149. Award-winning filmmaker Shalini Kantayya will share her new feature documentary “Catching the Sun: The Race for the Clean Energy Future.” The film follows the lives of unemployed American workers training for jobs in the solar industry to expose some hard questions about creating a clean energy economy. A discussion will follow the screening.

 

The full list of Sustainability Week activities, including a campus tree walk, a tour of the Waste Transfer Station, and much more is available on the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) calendar.

catchingthesun

Free Champaign County Electronics Collection Event, Oct. 10

A free countywide residential electronics collection event will be held on Saturday, October 10, 2015 from 8 AM to noon at Parkland College, 2400 W. Bradley Ave., Champaign, IL. The collection will be in Parking Lot M; enter from Duncan Rd.

 
Residents may bring the following electronics items (working or non-working) to the collection event. The limit is 10 items per household.

Computer components:

  • Computers, printers, copiers, monitors*, keyboards, speakers, mice, cables, PDAs
  • Software, CDROM/floppy disks, UPS, tablet computers
  • Computer parts including but not limited to: circuit boards, hard drives, optical drives, power supplies, ribbon cables, RAM
  • Networking equipment, hubs, switches, routers, cables, modems, scanners
  • Ink cartridges

Entertainment:

  • Televisions*, VCRs, radios, stereo equipment, tape recorders, record players, remote controls, MP3 players, compact disc players, e-readers
  • Electronic toys, amplifiers, electronic keyboards
  • Hand-held gaming devices, game consoles, Walkmans, sewing machines
  • Digital cameras, camcorders

Communication Devices and Other Electronics:

  • Cash registers, typewriters, adding machines, calculators
  • Copiers, duplicators, voice recorders
  • Label makers
  • Portable power banks and coin counters
  • Telephones, PBX systems, answering machines, fax machines
  • CB radios, ham radios, cell phones, pagers, Black Berry/Palm Units, GPS units, Bluetooth serial port adapters
  • Rechargeable batteries, battery chargers and adapters, surge strips
  • Video recorders, video monitors, security systems, walkie-talkies

Miscellaneous: cables/cords/wire

 
*not accepted: broken glass cathode-ray-tube televisions or broke glass cathode-ray-tube monitors. For a complete listing of items not accepted, please visit the Champaign County RRR webpage at www.co.champaign.il.us/rrr.

Event: Water Problems, Water Solutions: The Future of Clean Water in Illinois

Nutrient runoff, pollution, and sewage contamination are just a few of issues threatening the water we all depend upon. The Clean Water Rule went into effect on August 28th, closing loopholes in the Clean Water Act and restoring protections to over 48,000 miles of waterways in Illinois.

 

Impact, Environment Illinois, the Green Observer, and Students for Environmental Concerns are co-hosting a panel discussion with open Q&A on the importance of clean water for Illinois, and in general, as well as the threats it faces. The event, entitled “Water Problems, Water Solutions: The Future of Clean Water in Illinois,” will be held from 5:00 – 6:15 PM on Wednesday, September 30, in Room 319 Gregory Hall (810 South Wright Street Urbana, IL 61801) on the UI campus.

 

On September 18th the US Senate introduced a measure to overturn the Clean Water Rule. This event is part of Environment Illinois’ campaign to defend the Clean Water Rule. There will be the opportunity at the end of the event to participate in the campaign, as well as learn more about working on social change as a full-time career after graduation.

 

Speakers will include:

 

Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/events/1646945918923166/.

 

Waterproblems

ISTC hosts Events on Environmental Effects of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products

As P2 Week kicks off this week, we are reminded of the important legislation of the past that has helped achieve cleaner waters in the U.S.; however, there is still work to be done. The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 in response to the growing awareness that raw sewage, industrial wastes, and other pollutants were regularly being dumped into waterways. The goal of the Clean Water Act was to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of our nation’s waters.” The law called for “zero discharge of pollutants into navigable waters” and water quality was to be improved so waters were both fishable and swimmable again. Progress has been made, but even after more than 40 years, water pollution is still a problem in many areas of the U.S. with excess nutrient runoff, mine drainage, oil or chemical spills, overflow of sewage during high rain events, etc.

 

In the past 10 years, the widespread occurrence of emerging contaminants, including pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) and steroid hormones, in waterways has been recognized as a critical environmental issue. To learn more about new research in that area and to provide opportunities for collaborations, ISTC is arranging a meeting on Thurs., Sept. 24 from 11 a.m.- noon for U of I faculty and staff from campus units studying PPCPs to discuss their projects. At noon, Dr. Wei Zheng from ISTC will present a talk on his PPCP research work. The talk will be broadcast live and also archived on the ISTC website. To register for the Sept. 24th webinar, visit https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6647723536738560514.

 

In addition, on April 4, 2016, ISTC is organizing a conference, along with IL-IN Sea Grant and funded by the U of I Extension, titled ”PPCPs in the Environment”. The event will be held at the I-Hotel Conference Center in Champaign. The call for abstracts will be announced in December. More information on the conference will be available on the ISTC website at that time.

 

 

 

Long Lab Career Feted at ISTC

retirement party cake with a icing rat on topHis retirement cake was festooned with a big black rat.

 

That was alright with Jerry Bargren. After four decades in U of I labs, “lab rat” is no slight.

 

He first retired as lab supervisor at the College of Veterinary Medicine in 2006. But after nine months of living la vida loca around the house, Jerry jumped at the chance to join ISTC.

 

“I thought it might be a year,” Bargren said. But he fulfilled a key role as a master of sample preparation. “I do enjoy working in the lab,” a phrase he repeated several times over 20 minutes. He first served in a hospital lab in Thailand during the Vietnam War. Next came his long stretch at Vet Med before his post-retirement at ISTC.

 

With the dizzying technological changes occurring during his time in the laboratory, Bargren says his job has largely stayed the same. Precision lab sample preparation and processing, sample clean-up, isolation and purification. The atmosphere in the lab is collegial and cooperative. When a mistake occurs (a shifted decimal point!) never be afraid to admit it, he said. Correct it.

 

Director Kevin O'Brien (left) and Senior Chemist (John Scott) congratulate Jerry Bargren upon his re-retirement.
Director Kevin O’Brien (left) and Senior Chemist John Scott (right) congratulate Jerry Bargren upon his re-retirement.

The best moments for this lab rat are when he devises a creative procedure that works as well as the standard published protocol. He remembered once working out a new procedure for evaluating antibiotic dosages using thin layer chromatography. Control measurements using standard methods at a Canadian lab showed the same results.

 

He and Senior Chemist John Scott recently collaborated on testing Scott’s idea for a quicker and cheaper technique for measuring total phenol. The new method worked as well as the standard one. “That’s the kind of thing I like to work with and get a better method,” Bargren said.

 

In retirement he said he will read a lot more – particularly books on World War II. He will also spend more time with his wife (also a career lab dam (momma rat)) and their seven children and 21 grandchildren.

Chambana Science Cafe Fall 2015 Schedule Announced

The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology co-sponsor the Chambana Science Café, a monthly seminar series that brings scientists to the public to talk about their research in an informal setting. Seminars take place on the first Wednesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at Pizza-M (208 W. Main Street in Urbana, IL), and there is free pizza while it lasts. The first meeting of the semester will be next week on September 2, with a presentation by Sarah Brown-Schmidt, associate professor of psychology at Beckman Institute.

 

Science Cafe Fall 2015 schedule

Where to donate your used stuff in Champaign-Urbana

There are many non-profit organizations in the Champaign-Urbana area that accept donations all year. This post will be updated as new information becomes available. Contact the author with suggestions.

 

Courage Connection

Courage Connection provides housing and supportive services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness or who are victims of domestic violence. They operate a thrift store called Connection in Lincoln Square Mall, which sells donated clothing items for women, men and children, as well as gently used home décor and housewares. All proceeds assist families in our community. Courage Connection clients also get free emergency and professional clothing there. Donations accepted during store hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Hours are M-F 10-6, Saturday 9-5. Donations are tax-deductible. See http://courageconnection.org/our-store/donations/ for a complete list of acceptable items.

Pick-up service for large donation items (e.g. furniture) is available at no charge in Champaign, Urbana and Savoy. They require a photo to be emailed to them to make sure they have space for your item. Pick-up appointments can be arranged for Tuesday mornings or Thursday afternoons. See http://courageconnection.org/our-store/pick-up-and-delivery/. Contact: 217-384-2158; store@courageconnection.org.

 

Champaign-Urbana Theater Company (CUTC)

Accepts limited donations of clothing and other items for use as costumes and props. Accepts latex paint if the can is at least 1/2 full. They will also accept lumber and other set construction materials if they are whole and in good condition (no scraps). Contact the costume manager ( costumes@cutc.org ) for clothing donations and the company’s executive director (manager@cutc.org) for all other items.

Crisis Nursery
Crisis Nursery works to prevent child abuse and neglect by providing 24-hour emergency care for children and support to strengthen families in crisis. See Items can be dropped off M-F 8-5. See https://www.crisisnursery.net/GivingOpportunities/NeedsWishList.aspx for their wish list. Contact: 217-337-2731

Goodwill/Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries, Inc.

There are Goodwill Stores in Champaign, Savoy (where the old Pages for All Ages book store used to be in the Savoy Plaza), the LaBelle Boutique in Urbana, and an express donation center in Savoy. Donations are accepted Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to store closing and on Sunday from noon to store closing. Donations are tax-deductible. See http://www.llgi.org/donate-or-volunteer/unacceptable-donations/ for a list of items they will NOT accept.

Goodwill participates in Dell’s Reconnect electronics recycling program. Note that they do NOT accept CRT monitors—only flatscreen monitors and TVs in working condition. Please consult the Champaign County Electronics Reuse and Recycling Guide for a list (beginning on p. 3) of other local businesses that accept unwanted electronics.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore
The main store address is 119 East University Avenue, Champaign. See http://cuhabitat.org/re-store/donate-materials/ for list of acceptable items. Donations are accepted at the store Monday – Friday 10am-6pm and Saturday 10am-4pm. To arrange a pick up for donations call (217) 355-6460. The ReStore is open Tuesday-Friday 10am-6pm and Saturday 10am-4pm. Note that there may be a fee for pick up or delivery of items. Contact: 217-359-0507 or 217-819-5118; restore@cuhabitat.org

The IDEA Store

The IDEA Store is a materials-for-the-arts and educational reuse store where you can donate a variety of items that would otherwise go to the landfill. All proceeds from store sales benefit the CU Schools Foundation. Donations are accepted during store hours, Tuesday-Friday noon-7pm & Saturdays 10 am to 5 pm. Donations are tax deductible. See http://the-idea-store.org/wp-content/uploads/Final-Acceptance-List-9-20-12.pdf for the donation list, which includes almost anything that might be used for craft projects and office/school supplies.

Teachers, keep the IDEA Store in mind if you need supplies for class projects or extra school supplies. You can often get a lot of material for a small price. Items are often sold by the pound. In the fall, they highlight items that appear on school supply lists. See http://the-idea-store.org/retail-store/ for more information. If you’re looking for a particular type of material, you can let them know and they’ll contact you if they receive anything that fits your needs. Contact: 217-352-7878; info@the-idea-store.org

Preservation and Conservation Association (PACA)

PACA accepts architectural pieces (doors, windows, fixtures, etc.), furniture, storage items like filing cabinets, and even small home décor items. Contact them if you have items you suspect they might be interested in to determine if they will accept the item and/or have space for it. The warehouse is at 44 E Washington St, Champaign, IL. Their warehouse hours are Tuesday 10-4, Wed. 10-7, Th & F 10-4 & Sat. 9-12. Contact: 217-359-7222; pacaexdir@gmail.com.

University YMCA Dump and Run

Each year as students leave campus in droves, lots of useful materials end up headed to the landfill. The University YMCA Dump & Run collects some of this material and then sells it a large community garage sale in the fall—just in time for students to move back into the campus area and need items for their dorm rooms or apartments.

They accept: furniture, dishes, glassware, pots & pans, small household appliances, computers, electronics, bicycles, office & school supplies, nearly-new clothing, books, toiletries, lawn & garden, artwork, vinyl & cds, musical instruments, sporting equipment & other household goods. They DO NOT collect televisions, paint, child/infant car seats, stoves, washers, dryers, non-working electronics & computer parts, sleeper sofas, mattresses, televisions, or large exercise equipment. Contact Emily at 217-337-1500 or emily@universityymca.org to schedule a pick up time on our special pick up day on Saturday, August 8, 2015. Contact: Emily Cross, 217-337-1500: emily@universityymca.org.

 

Champaign County Humane Society

Accepts a variety of items for donation, including cleaning and office supplies. See http://www.cuhumane.org/Donate/WishList.aspx for their wish list.

Local Libraries

Most area libraries (including the University of Illinois) accept used books, CDs & DVDs. If you don’t see your library on the list below, contact them directly to inquire about making a donation.

Park District Camps and Preschools

Contact the Champaign or Urbana Park Districts to donate gently used books, educational items, school supplies, or craft supplies.