Environmental Sciences and Engineering News

Legal marijuana sales creating escalating damage to the environment

February 20, 2017 By 2020, legal marijuana sales in the U.S. will generate more annual revenue than will the National Football League. However, growing the plant has serious repercussions for the environment, according to a new study by Dr. William Vizuete and a U.K. colleague.

Gillings School is top public health school at public university for NIH funding

February 16, 2017 The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that the Gillings School was the top public health school at a public university in receiving NIH funding during fiscal year 2016. The School received 107 awards, for a total of $65,454,312 in funding.

Study investigates role of cadmium and microRNAs in preeclampsia

February 10, 2017
Drs. Rebecca Fry and Samira Brooks have explained an underlying biological mechanism by which exposure to cadmium may increase the risk of developing preeclampsia during pregnancy. Their study was published in Food and Chemical Toxicology.

Aaron Williams, RTI executive, former Peace Corps director, selected as Gillings School’s commencement speaker

January 25, 2017
Aaron Williams will present the Gillings School's commencement address on May 13 at 1 p.m. in the Carmichael Arena. Williams is executive vice president for government relations and corporate communications at RTI International and past director of the U.S. Peace Corps.

ESE student wins AGU’s Outstanding Student Paper Award

January 25, 2017
Rachel Baum, doctoral student in environmental sciences and engineering at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, has received the American Geophysical Union’s Outstanding Student Paper Award.

Doctoral student awarded fellowship to study water purification process

January 12, 2017
Kasia Grzebyk, doctoral student in environmental sciences and engineering, has received a generous fellowship award from the American Membrane Technology Association. She is one of four national recipients.

Aquagenx compartment bag tests used for water quality monitoring in rural Myanmar

The Aquagenx water quality test kit, which was developed by a researcher at the Gillings School, is being used as part of an assessment of the Accelerating Water and Sanitation for All Program in remote communities in Myanmar.

Five Gillings School junior faculty members receive development awards

Five faculty members from three departments in the Gillings School were awarded 2017 IBM Junior Faculty Development Awards.

ESE doctoral student receives NIEHS Superfund Research Program award

December 5, 2016
Elizabeth Martin, doctoral student in environmental sciences and engineering at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and trainee in the UNC Superfund Research Program (SRP), has been named recipient of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Karen Wetterhahn Memorial Award.

ESE researchers awarded large supercomputing grant from DOE

A team of researchers, including two UNC faculty members and an alumnus, has been awarded a large grant from the United States Department of Energy (DOE). Through the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment program, they will receive 115 million core hours of use on the world’s third-fastest supercomputer.