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Environmental Science & Sustainability
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Environmental Science & Sustainability is a crossroads for committed students, clubs, and organizations. Will you help us make a better future?

BYU Clubs and Organizations

Environmental issues affect every aspect of life on Earth, requiring diverse approaches and participants. Here are some clubs on BYU campus that foster the values of environmental justice and stewardship.

BYU Office of Sustainability

The office of sustainability is seeking to improve understanding and implementation of sustainable practices on campus and beyond. Sign up for their newsletter and apply for a job in their office.
Sustainability homepage

BYU Environmental Science Club

We are the Environmental Science Club at Brigham Young University. Our mission is to bring students in the environmental science major together and provide opportunities to connect with professionals.
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Instagram

BYU Earth Stewardship

BYU Earth Stewardship is a group of environmentally conscious students dedicated to achieving sustainable lifestyles and wisely managing our stewardship of the earth. We have weekly meetings and regular service projects.
Facebook
Instagram

BYU Student Sustainability Initiative

The BYU Student Sustainability Initiative (SSI) is a student-led organization whose goal is to increase sustainable practices at BYU on an institutional level and create a campus culture more focused on environmental sustainability. While we work with administration to establish a Sustainability Office, students currently participate in various projects to have an impact now including: improving access to recycling, establishing student composting, holding educational events, and local service projects.

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Instagram

Utah Valley Chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby

In our local chapter of this national nonprofit, we work to build political will in our valley for a national carbon fee and dividend bill. We do things like reaching out to business and community leaders, organize events, and write letters to the editors and op-eds. We also work closely with Climate Utah and various climate campus groups around the state. Join us and start organizing on the local level with the resources of a national organization!
Website
Join Here

Local Environmental Organizations

We asked our students and faculty what groups and movements had helped them understand environmental issues and make a difference. Here is the list! (Being listed here does not imply that we endorse all the views or practices of all these groups. This is just a place to get started as you explore how to fulfill your divine calling as a steward of God's Creation.)

LDS Earth Stewardship

https://ldsearthstewardship.org/

Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance

https://www.mesastewardship.org/

Conserve Utah Valley

https://conserveutahvalley.org/

The Nature Conservancy

https://www.nature.org

Citizen's Climate Lobby

https://citizensclimatelobby.org/

Bicycle Collective

https://bicyclecollective.org/

BikeWalk Provo

http://www.bikeprovo.org/

Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

https://suwa.org/

Sierra Club Utah

https://utah.sierraclub.org/

Move Utah

https://move.utah.gov/about-us/

PANDOS

https://www.pandos.org/

RepublicEN

https://www.republicen.org/

SLC Air Protectors

Facebook

SLC Brown Berets

Facebook

TreeUtah

http://treeutah.org/

Union of Concerned Scientists

https://www.ucsusa.org/

Uplift Climate

https://upliftclimate.org/

Utah Clean Energy

https://utahcleanenergy.org/

Utah County Sustainability Coalition

Utah Lake Commission

http://utahlakecommission.org/

Utah Moms for Clean Air

Facebook

Utah Valley Permaculture

http://www.permaculturedesignschool.org/

Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment

https://www.uphe.org/

Utah Recycling Alliance

https://utahrecyclingalliance.org/

Leaders for Clean Air

http://leadersforcleanair.org/

HEAL Utah


https://www.healutah.org/

Utah Rivers Council

https://utahrivers.org/

Ecotopia Now!

https://www.studioecotopia.com/

Utah Society for Environmental Education

http://www.usee.org/

Utah Valley Earth Forum

https://uvef.org/

Utah Youth Environmental Solutions

https://utahyes.org/

Save Our Canyons

https://saveourcanyons.org/

Provo Sustainability Committee

Committee Members

Civil Riot


Facebook

Elders Rising

Facebook

Extinction Rebellion

Facebook

Fridays for Future Utah

https://www.instagram.com/fridaysforfuture.ut/?hl=en

Environmental Sustainability Lehi City

https://www.lehi-ut.gov/services/environmental-sustainability/

Sustainability Provo City

https://www.provo.org/departments/development/sustainability

Bioneers

https://bioneers.org/
In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources, and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and peace.
WANGARI MAATHAI
Environmental Science & Sustainability in the News
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Air pollution costs Utahns billions annually and shortens life expectancy by two years

By Isabella Errigo
November 18, 2020 09:13 AM
New study led by ESS undergraduate Isabella Errigo reveals the cost of air pollution for Utahns’ health and pocketbooks
4 Min Read
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Intellect

BYU researchers help test wastewater for COVID-19 infection rates in Utah

By Brenna Seeman
May 18, 2020 09:58 PM
ESS professor Zach Aanderud and his team of students use cutting-edge molecular methods to track COVID-19 in municipal wastewater.
2 Min Read
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How You Can Have a Positive Impact on the Climate Change Emergency

By Grace McGregor
November 23, 2020 07:20 AM
COVID-19 isn’t the only worldwide emergency affecting billions of people—climate change continues to threaten us with devastating implications. Here are some ways to help.
2 Min Read
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Studying climate change at opposite ends of the Earth

ESS undergraduate Natasha Griffin has presented at conferences in Europe, ridden in a helicopter and visited both the North and South Poles to figure out how humans are affecting the Earth.
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The price of air pollution

We all know intuitively that polluted air isn't good for our bodies or communities, but just how much is air pollution costing us? ESS undergraduates and faculty led a statewide study to answer just that.
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Influencing Environmental Change from Iran to Utah

By Kalicia Bateman
April 08, 2020 10:36 AM
ESS PhD student Sara Sayedi wanted to use science to improve policy in her home country of Iran, but politics limited her work in the public arena. Now at BYU, she is influencing policy at a global scale.
3 Min Read
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Ben Abbott Lab

After a mega fire: how waterways are impacted by wildfires

BYU team investigates ecosystem resilience to wildfire, linking plants, streams, climate, and society
2:52
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Tree Heart Attacks: Aspen Clones Dying

Professor Sam St. Clair from the Environmental Science & Sustainability program takes the vitals of one of North America's keystone tree species.
2:07
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How environmental justice affects all of us

By Grace McGregor
June 24, 2021 12:30 PM
Environmental degradation harms every individual by causing pervasive decline of life on Earth, but it doesn’t impact everyone to the same degree. ESS professor Ben Abbott shares three ways to improve your understanding on how environmental justice affects you and your community.
3 Min Read
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Intellect

Saving the world's water (and humans) one little stream at a time

Todd Hollingshead
By Todd Hollingshead
January 16, 2018 10:00 PM
ESS professor Ben Abbott presents a new tool to fight nutrient pollution. Streams can be “sensors” of ecosystem health, allowing both improved water quality and food production.

2 Min Read
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Intellect

Fighting bad air quality with ... dance?

Andrea Christensen
By Andrea Christensen
September 11, 2018 10:00 PM
Dance professor Keely Song and ESS professor Ben Abbott teamed up to promote BYU's free UTA passes to students, employees, and their families.
1 Min Read
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Impact Magazine

Dr. Gary Booth: A Lifelong Legacy

By Madeline Jones
July 03, 2020 03:29 PM
While at BYU, Dr. Gary Booth taught a wide range of subjects. Students and faculty alike appreciated Booth and his impact on the college.
2 Min Read
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Intellect

BYU analysis of 115+ studies: Masks powerful & cost-effective in combating COVID-19

July 23, 2020 09:56 AM
After reading 115 studies on COVID-19, ESS faculty and students published non-technical report on the effectiveness of masks at slowing the spread.
1 Min Read
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Intellect

Why are aspen dying?

June 27, 2013 10:00 PM
If Utah’s quaking aspen appear to be quaking more than usual this summer, the trees have reason to tremble, says a Brigham Young University biologist. In dappled forests across the West, aspen trees are battling deadly killers from heat stroke to bud-nipping predators to tree “heart attacks.”
3 Min Read
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Permafrost Collapse and the Global Ecosystem

By Kalicia Bateman
March 17, 2020 11:10 AM
ESS professor Ben Abbott co-authored a study in Nature on the permafrost climate feedback. Working with an international team, he found that abrupt permafrost collapse could double carbon release.
1 Min Read
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Intellect

Water cycle diagrams are giving us a false sense of water security

Todd Hollingshead
By Todd Hollingshead
June 10, 2019 10:00 PM
A new study in Nature Geoscience led by ESS professor and students found that the global water cycle is incorrect even in modern papers and textbooks. 85% of diagrams show no people, despite human domination of water at a global scale.
2 Min Read
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Impact Magazine

Plant & Wildlife Sciences Across the Map

By Emma Gee
June 29, 2020 02:18 PM
Professors and students from Environmental Science & Sustainability lead research projects from Antarctica to Alaska.
3 Min Read
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Intellect

Study finds bedrock is teeming with microorganisms protecting water quality

February 03, 2019 10:00 PM
The solution to nutrient pollution could be right below out feet. Literally. New study reveals the active and dynamic world of groundwater microbes.
3 Min Read
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Impact Magazine

Interdependence and Stewardship: Piecing Together Humanity’s Relationship with the Earth

By Carlee Reber
June 05, 2019 01:06 PM
Will we show up in the geologic record in millions of years? The Anthropocene suggests the answer is yes: collective human impact on the environment will leave a definitive mark in future bedrock.
10 Min Read
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