Arizona State University
AC-9: Academic Research

Process: Arizona State University award data are queried using the following sustainability indicators: Sustainability Scientists and Scholars (Investigators) Keywords Centers Colleges Sponsors Each set of results are then combined together resulting in a distinct set of award numbers, thus eliminating duplicate reporting of expenditure values. Final expenditure totals are generated from this distinct set of awards and categorized based on survey instructions. For information purposes, the criteria for each category are included in the uploaded spreadsheets.

ASU scientists, along with colleagues at Argonne National Laboratory, have reported advances toward perfecting a functional artificial leaf. Designing an artificial leaf that uses solar energy to convert water cheaply and efficiently into hydrogen and oxygen is one of the goals of BISfuel – the Energy Frontier Research Center, funded by the Department of Energy, in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Arizona State University. ASU engineer Amy Landis has been awarded a $6.9 million grant from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy to promote the use of biomaterials as sustainable sources of rubber and fuels. Dragica Vasileska, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, will lead a national project aimed at producing more reliable and durable photovoltaic cells for solar energy systems. In new research conducted at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, scientists explore the relationships of two important bacterial forms, demonstrating their ability to produce electricity by coordinating their metabolic activities. Salt River Project and ASU's College of Technology and Innovation have partnered for a second year to award a $170,000 grant to fund research initiatives in renewable energy and conservation. Mikhail Chester, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering has been involved in a variety of research efforts to accurately forecast the costs – both economically and environmentally – of transportation systems and technologies throughout their life cycles and over the coming decades. A $180,000 grant was awarded to the College of Technology and Innovation at Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University (NAU) to support a study on ways to naturally eliminate invasive plants. In a Co.EXIST article by Stan Alcorn, ASU researcher Kevin Gurney discusses his tool, the Ventus Project, an online portal that allows everyday citizens to record nearby carbon-emitting power plants. Research to help provide more sustainable water and energy resources earns ASU chemical engineer Mary Laura Lind support from the National Science Foundation. A transdisciplinary team of scientists is using the hot and populous Phoenix metropolitan area to explore how different segments of the region are being affected by increasingly oppressive heat.