Environmental Sciences and Engineering Research
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.
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.
Study finds disparities in drinking water quality in Wake County, NC
In Wake County, some predominantly African-American neighborhoods in urban areas completely lack access to nearby municipal water systems. As a result, residents are exposed to notably higher quantities of microbial contaminants via well water.
Pollution emitted near equator has biggest impact on global ozone
Research led by Dr. Jason West confirms that the location of air pollutants has a big impact upon ozone levels. Because the interplay of pollutants with higher temperatures speeds up the chemical reactions that form ozone, the worst effects of pollution are seen near the equator. West suggests that effects of current pollution levels could be difficult to remedy without strategic policy planning.
Prevalence of drug-resistant staph may be higher in young children of hog workers, study finds
In one rural North Carolina county, young children residing with adults who work in large industrial hog farming operations had a higher prevalence of two types of antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria in their nasal passages than children living with adults who do not work in such operations.
Researchers identify new methodology for examining changes in lung cells after pollution exposure
Hang Nguyen, MS, doctoral student of environmental science and engineering in the Gillings School, is first author of a recent study that provided the initial test of a new methodology for examining the genomic response of lung cells to real-world mixtures of air pollutants.
UNC Gillings' Water Institute, World Vision partnership will improve clean water access in 10 African nations
A six-year grant from World Vision to The Water Institute at UNC will create a partnership to improve water, sanitation and hygiene interventions in several low- and middle-income countries, with a long-term goal of helping to solve the global water and sanitation crisis by 2030.
Science for Safer Food
Over the last decade, Dr. Rachel Noble has developed technology that keeps our food – from oysters harvested off the coast of North Carolina to spinach grown in California’s Salinas Valley – safe from bacteria such as E. coli.
