Spartan Daily

Sustainability Matters lecture series showcases SJSU faculty research

Faculty members from various departments, including animation/illustration, urban planning and archaeology, presented their research projects to a group of about 30 attendees at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library on Monday.

Part of SJSU’s Sustainability Matters Speakers Series, this was the last lecture for Fall 2011 — and indefinitely.

“There are no plans at the present to revive the series because there is no funding,” Anne Marie Todd, chair of SJSU’s sustainability board said. “Next semester we will be figuring out ways to maintain sustainability efforts without funding.”

David Chai, an assistant animation/illustration professor, presented several animations and short films from the Green Ninja project, which is funded through research grants from several organizations, including NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Green Ninja is a collaborative project between scientists, faculty and artists to create educational materials, such as live action films and web episodes demonstrating the connection between humans and climate change, according to the project’s website.

He said the project members include students not just from the animation/illustration field, but also computer science, marketing, music and theatre.

“For the animated short, it took a group of over 30 students working all semester to complete two and a half minutes of finished animation,” Chai said.

Chai said one of the project’s goals is to spread serious environment-related information in an entertaining, accessible and memorable way.

“We would love the Green Ninja to be the 'Smokey the Bear' or 'Schoolhouse Rock' for this generation,” he said.

Hilary Nixon, the second presenter and an associate urban and regional planning professor, focused on community involvement with food resources in her research.

She said she worked with students, faculty and community members on “Garden to Table: Grow, Harvest, Share” – a three part community food program funded by grants from Health Trust, a non-profit focused on promoting wellness in the Silicon Valley.

Garden to Table includes a residential garden-sharing program (in which homeowners would offer their lawns to be used by neighbors), a fruit tree gleaning program and a community garden, according to a press release.

She said the program had started initially because of community members pushing for it.

“Community members wanted to focus on increasing production, consumption, access and affordability of healthy food,” Nixon said.

Ninian Stein, an assistant professor of archaeology, presented on the Future Boston Project, which focuses on dealing with climate issues in urban areas.

“What would an environmental bill of rights look like?” Stein said.

She said interdisciplinary methods and collaboration is essential to create an effective change.

Dustin Mulvaney, an assistant environmental studies professor, presented next on issues in the solar energy industry.

“Who is going to bear the burden of this transition in clean energy?” he said, mentioning problems in the industry that have affected the health of workers and native habitats, such as a solar plant that is endangering animals in the Mojave Desert.

Mulvaney said public participation is key to dealing with environmental issues such as these.

Juneseok Lee, a civil and environmental engineering professor, closed the lecture series with his current research in water consumption, infrastructure and other issues.

“Unfortunately, our sewer lines are aligned with our drinking water line,” he said, showing a picture of two pipes that had ruptured and spilled into each other.

Some of his research on sustainable water resources is funded by the California Water Service Company and the National Science Foundation, according to a press release.

"(The) College of Engineering is very supportive of faculty excellence and especially faculty research development," he said in an email. "They provide appropriate seed money to go for external competitive research opportunities."

Lolitta Gevorkova, a senior communication studies major who attended the event, said she liked that each faculty member covered different topics.

“Areas outside of communication studies and environmental studies need to be exposed to presentations like this,” she said.