ISSE News & Activities
04/2008—On April 17th, ISSE's Tim Ezzell (Director, Community Partnership Center) hosted a Campus Heritage Workshop to discuss ideas and recommendations to promote historic preservation on the UT-Knoxville campus.
04/2008—ISSE Senior Fellow Milton Russell participated in the Vanderbilt Symposium “Uncertainty in Long-Term Planning: Nuclear Waste Management, A Case Study” held January 6-8, 2008. This symposium was held in honor of Professor Frank L. Parker as a celebration of his life and work on engineering solutions to environmental problems. Professor Parker is well-known in the UT-ORNL-DOE community for his leadership and wisdom in dealing with nuclear waste and other issues. Bill Colglazier, formerly of EERC and UT, represented the National Academy of Sciences in honoring Parker and participated as well. Russell presented the paper “Environmental Decisions for Now through the Long-Long Term,” a revision of which is available here. The Symposium sponsors have a tentative agreement that the papers will be published in either a special issue or special section of Risk Analysis. Russell also presented a version of this paper on March 28 at the first of the planned monthly energy and environment lunch discussions sponsored by the Baker Center.
04/2008—On April 4, 2008, ISSE, the Center for Environmental Biotechnology, and the Joint Institute for Biological Sciences co-hosted Dr. Rachel Brennan of Penn State, who presented a seminar on "Solving a Global Water Crisis in a Local Watershed: A Comprehensive Analysis of Chitin as a Multifunctional Substrate for the Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage." The seminar was from 1-3PM on the UT campus in the Auditorium (Room 300) in Buehler Hall. Read/print this flyer for additional information on the topic and the speaker.
02/2008—On February 25, ISSE and the Cumberland River Compact were recognized by EPA as the Center of Excellence for Watershed Management in Tennessee. This is only the second Center of Excellence to be designated in the Southeast. Read the full press release.
02/2008—ISSE Director Randy Gentry was featured this past Friday in a WKNO (Memphis) radio report on the water dispute between Memphis and the state of Mississippi. Read the story and listen to the radio report.
02/2008—Bruce Tschantz (TNWRRC) made a presentation at the conference "Environment Virginia -2008," held at Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Lexington, Virginia, on April 1-3, 2008. The 19th annual conference was a 3-day affair focusing on air quality, water quality, and waste, but had a special first-day session (April 1) on dam safety. Dr. Tschantz spoke on the topic "Overview of Safety and Options of Low-Head Dams," which was presented in the first day’s session titled, "Dam Safety - New Regulations & Information on Low-head Dams." This session focused on the general problem of low-head dams in the U.S., the hydraulic hazards presented by these dams, major safety, environmental, legal/administrative, social, economic, and management considerations and issues in removing dams, and options for remediating the problem. The coordination and web site information for the conference are: Amy DeHart, Program Coordinator, 19th Annual Environment Virginia Symposium, Lexington, VA – Virginia Military Institute, www.environmentva.org
02/2008—ISSE Director Randy Gentry was quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday, February 10, 2008 in an article titled, “Mapmaker’s border error raises new water war front.”
02/2008—Tim Ezzell (ISSE's Community Partnership Center) is working to preserve UT's architectural history. These efforts are reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
01/2008—ISSE's Kim Davis was featured in a story in the South Knox – Seymour Times regarding a presentation she gave to the Knoxville Tree Board. Read the article at: http://www.skstimes.com/awareness011608.html
01/2008—ISSE's Community Partnership Center hosted a "Campus Heritage Workshop" on Monday, January 28, 2008 from 6:30-8:30pm in the Shiloh Room of the University Center. The purpose of the Workshop was to see the results of the recent inventory of UT's historic sites and discuss campus preservation ideas and issues. Read and print a workshop flyer (PDF file).
01/2008—ISSE co-hosted “Sustainable Tennessee: Bridging Conversations, Showcasing Solutions: A Sustainable Tennessee Regional Opportunity Forum,” on Thursday, January 24, 2008 from 11:45am-8:00pm. This one-day meeting was held in UT’s University Center, and was designed to showcase a range of community-based, sustainable solutions and programs by and for businesses, non-profits, and agencies working in Eastern Tennessee. Review the agenda. Additional information is available at www.sustainabletn.org.
12/2007—ISSE researchers Jonathan Overly (“Fuel Sell”), and Jean Peretz and Bruce Tonn (“The Public Bang for the Federal Buck”) were featured in articles in the Fall 2007 issue of Scientia, a research magazine for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
12/2007—Tim Ezzell (Director of ISSE’s Community Partnership Center) was featured in a December 10 Knoxville News-Sentinel story titled “Grant to help UT preserve its history: Work under way on identifying historic structures on campus.”
11/2007—Jonathan Overly, ISSE researcher and Executive Director of the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition, wrote an article for the November 2007 issue of BioCycle magazine titled “Fleets Fuel up on Biodiesel Blends.”
11/2007—ISSE Senior Fellow Bill Fulkerson made a presentation entitled “Framework for Managing Climate Change and Recommendations from Erice, 2007” at the scientific session on managing climate change at the conference Energy & Climate: Managing Climate Change and the Recommendations of the World Federation of Scientists, held at the Papal Academy of Sciences, the Vatican, on December 20, 2007.
11/2007—Tim Ezzell, (Director, Community Partnership Center), was interviewed by the Tennessean for a story that appeared in its November 24, 2007 edition titled “Campuses close in on wary neighbors; residents fear loss of historic homes.”
11/2007—On November 12, Dr. Bruce Tonn spoke at the Annual Owner’s Meeting for the Three Rivers Market, a community-owned natural foods grocery store in Knoxville. The title of his presentation was “Futures of Cooperative Organizations,” which began at 7:00 PM at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike in Knoxville. Dr. Tonn leads ISSE’s Environmental Sustainability Program Area, and is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at UT. An internationally known futurist, Dr. Tonn’s research focuses on environmental and energy policy, future studies, decision-making under uncertainty, and the impacts of information technology on society.
10/2007—UT Press Release: Water Act Could Fund Vital UT Research - The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), passed by the U.S. Congress in September, authorizes funding of $2 million for the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, for operation of the Southeastern Water Resources Institute (SWRI). Read the complete press release on the SWRI web page under “Recent Developments.”
09/2007—Campus Conversations (which airs on UTTV) highlights some of the finest faculty members and programs available at the University of Tennessee in a 30-minute show hosted by Chancellor Loren Crabtree. ISSE Director Randy Gentry appeared on a segment recorded August 13, 2007, discussing ISSE. Tim Ezzell (Director of ISSE’s Community Partnership Center) appeared on a segment recorded August 3, 2007, discussing improvements to the campus environment. From the link above, you may watch streaming video of Campus Conversations, watch it on UTTV, or subscribe to the video podcast.
09/2007—Larry McKay, ISSE Program Leader for Water Resources and a professor in UT’s Earth and Planetary Sciences department, was selected as the Geological Society of America’s Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer for 2008. More information on Dr. McKay and his lecture topics, a schedule of talks and a lecture request form are available online at http://web.utk.edu/~hydro/Birdsall-Dreiss.html.
09/2007—On May 24, 2007 ISSE Senior Fellow William Fulkerson testified before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee of the United States Senate at a hearing on coal gasification, synfuels and related topics. Read his testimony here (a PDF file).
08/2007—News Release: UT Researchers Earn EPA Grant to Develop Green Building Materials List - University of Tennessee researchers will help make the fast-growing manufactured home industry more environmentally friendly thanks to a new grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. With more than one million homes built since 2000, the industry is having a significant impact on the housing market, and the $295,970 grant will allow researchers from UT’s Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment (ISSE) to study the materials used to construct modular and prefabricated homes. [To read full press release from UT, click here.]
05/2007—On May 31, Kimberly L. Davis (ISSE) and Robert Emmett Jones presented results of their 2006 survey of Knox County homeowners’ attitudes about the protection and maintenance of the local urban forest to a special workshop for the Knoxville/Knox County Metropolitan Commission (MPC), Knoxville City Council, and Knox County Commission. Their presentation focused on attitudes and knowledge of local residents about protection and maintenance of the local urban forest, and supplemented information presented by Mike Carberry (MPC Comprehensive Planning Manager) and Doug Bataille (Senior Director of Parks and Recreation for Knox County). The purpose of the workshop was to provide an overview of process and concepts associated with the proposed “Knoxville/Knox County Tree Conservation and Planting Plan,” which includes recommendations for forest protection on ridges and along streams, planting plans with highway and public facility development, and the creation of a City-County Tree Board. On June 25, the Plan was approved unanimously by the Board of Commissioners.
05/2007—ISSE Senior Researcher Mary English is quoted on wind power and public policy in Popular Mechanics (May 17, 2007).
04/2007—Jack Geibig (Senior Research Associate, ISSE) of the Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies was quoted in the April 18, 2007 edition of USA Today. The article, “Getting Gold Out of Green,” discusses how mainstream corporations are embracing the green movement and finding new niches amid growing foreign competition for eco-friendly products and services. In talking about the green movement, Jack was quoted as saying, “I think we're beyond the fad point. People are buying hybrid vehicles, they're concerned about global warming, they're more engaged than ever.”