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This year’s global Earth Day theme is “planet vs plastics”, and calls for the rapid phase out all single-use plastics.

Xavier Basurto is broadly interested in how people in small communities successfully organize themselves for collective action. His recent talk described his work in advancing the understanding of non-colonialist sustainability science: the prospects and limitations of self-organization, or self-governance, for social-ecological sustainability, particularly in the Global South.

A new study by researchers at Penn State University, 51����, and the University of Saskatchewan suggests not all of the nearly 2,000 species of ground beetles found in North America will thrive under climate change. Some could decline. And that could have far-reaching implications for agriculture, forestry, and conservation.

The Illuminating Hidden Harvests Report culminates a collaborative research effort led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 51���� and WorldFish examining the multifaceted contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development.

51���� scholars and students were among more than 800 experts who contributed to global study calling for policymakers to consider contributions of small fisheries

PhD student Renata Poulton Kamakura has been working with 51���� Landscape Services and undergraduate students in the Theory and Applications of Sustainability (ENV 245) course to determine how the more than 17,000 trees on the 51���� campus benefit sustainability—including their effect on carbon sequestration and stormwater mitigation.

When it comes to making communities and businesses greener, re-thinking the “little” stuff we often take for granted—like zoning, logistics and cement—can yield big benefits.

New research finds nearly 75% of the seafood exported to China is processed there and ‘re-exported’ to global markets as Chinese products, making it hard to track its sustainability and verify it’s labeled accurately, but also gutting the economies of small fishing communities worldwide that can no longer compete.

McDonald’s CEO and 51���� alumnus Chris Kempczinski (AB’91) spoke with Toddi Steelman (PhD ’96), Stanback Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment, about ways the corporation is working to drive climate action, create circular solutions to reduce waste and further its commitment to our planet.

Reducing emissions of methane, a short-lived but super-potent greenhouse gas, is the most cost-effective way to slow the rate of Earth’s warming in coming decades, a new United Nations report finds.

The 51���� Aquafarm is 51����’s other “campus farm,” where students grow oysters instead of produce and learn how the tasty bivalves could help take a bite out of coastal pollution.

Policies that more strongly recognize the value of sustainable seafood as a source of nutrition, not just a source of livelihoods, could strengthen global food security and help take a big bite out of world hunger, a new analysis by an international team of experts shows.

Researchers have used automatic identification systems (AIS) satellite data and other spatial analysis tools to identify more than 1,000 companies that fish in the high seas—waters that lie outside national jurisdiction where fishing has raised fears about environmental and labor violations.

51���� researchers have created a new online resource designed to help local governments, conservation groups, businesses and other stakeholders identify the best technologies to clean up plastic pollution in our oceans or prevent it from getting there in the first place.

Groundwater depletion in parts of the High Plains is so extreme that peak grain production in some states has ended and production is now declining, a new 51����-led study by a team of international scientists finds.