Bryant University
PAE-20: Inter-Campus Collaboration on Sustainability

Bryant's Chafee Center has partnered with the Rhode Island community of higher education and other groups around the state in the BRITE Team. The BRITE Team is made up of more than 30 members and works to develop and recommend a set of best practices in energy efficiency (inspired from around the world) to the state on how Rhode Island can achieve their set energy efficiency goals. In addition, Bryant's Chafee Center conducts various training programs and public forums around the state of Rhode Island to educate people on techniques on energy efficiency and the practical application of developing and utilizing alternative energy sources. The NSF-EPSCoR team at Bryant University has presented results of their research efforts at EPSCoR conferences, including the SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships) conference in August 2011 and July 2012. http://stac.ri.gov/news/2012/08/01/fifth-annual-conference-celebrates-summer-undergraduate-research-fellows-surf/ Student researchers have also presented their work at regional conferences in New England (2011), and at national conferences, e.g., Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (2010). Student researchers have also published their findings in scientific journals, such as Palaios, a paleobiology journal (studies of fossil conifers that help us to untangle present day climate change implications). Faculty have presented their work on oil pollution and on climate change studies in numerous scientific journals, and at national and international scientific conferences. The Center for Sustainable Business Practices has sponsored several workshops with participants from other Rhode Island colleges and universities to share our collective expertise on energy efficiency and water pollution mitigation.The NSF-EPSCoR team at Bryant University has presented results of their research efforts at EPSCoR conferences, including the SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships) conference in August 2011 and July 2012. http://stac.ri.gov/news/2012/08/01/fifth-annual-conference-celebrates-summer-undergraduate-research-fellows-surf/ Student researchers have also presented their work at regional conferences in New England (2011), and at national conferences, e.g., Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (2010). Student researchers have also published their findings in scientific journals, such as Palaios, a paleobiology journal (studies of fossil conifers that help us to untangle present day climate change implications). Faculty have presented their work on oil pollution and on climate change studies in numerous scientific journals, and at national and international scientific conferences. The Center for Sustainable Business Practices has sponsored several workshops with participants from other Rhode Island colleges and universities to share our collective expertise on energy efficiency and water pollution mitigation.

AASHE The BRITE Team Recyclemania The Green Report Card Rhode Island Green Building Council's consortium Audubon Society of Rhode Island Wood-Pawtucket Watershed Association Blackstone River Watershed group The Center for Sustainable Business Practices Emerging Green Leaders

The BRITE Team analyzed 53 high schools in the Rhode Island community to explore their capability for usage of alternative energy sources on campus- from solar and wind, to other alternatives like bio-mass and biothermal- to improve their energy efficiency opportunities. Bryant’s NSF-EPSCoR grant for studying climate change effects on Narragansett Bay entails researchers from the University of Rhode Island, Brown University, Roger Williams University, Rhode Island College, Providence College, Rhode Island School of Design, Salve Regina University, and the Community College of Rhode Island. By collaborating in this fashion, a more comprehensive view of the breadth of impacts can be envisioned. Bryant’s research team (Dan McNally, Julia Crowley-Parmentier, and Gaytha Langlois, along with several undergraduate researchers) is focused on the effects of chronic oil pollution along the Bay’s shores, including the rate of degradation of toxic compounds, along with assessment of the effects of ocean temperature rise and increased acidification.