ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM: Water, The Environment, and a Socially Just World

Presentation: Doug Tallamy - Rebuilding Nature's Relationships at Home

The Western New York Land Conservancy invites you to join us for a special presentation: Doug Tallamy "Rebuilding Nature's Relationships at Home."

Doug Tallamy is the famed author of the award-winning book, Bringing Nature Home. His work has sparked a national conversation about using native plants in our gardens and landscapes to reverse the loss of wildlife and to make our communities healthier. Don't miss this opportunity to see him in person!

The speaker series is our new annual member event, so please join us, your fellow Land Conservancy members, and people from around the region at this special event. Purchase your tickets ($20) in advance at the UB Center for the Arts Box Office or online at www.Tickets.com. 

Our last event sold out, so buy your tickets today!

Presentation: UB Entry in Solar Decathalon Competition

WNY Sustainable Energy Association 

Hosts 

UB Solar Decathlon Presentation! 

Monday, April 7th at 7pm 

Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center 

341 Delaware Avenue 

Buffalo, NY 14202 

(716) 854-1694 

www.hallwalls.org 

Free and Open to the Public! 

Please save the date and attend the WNY Sustainable Energy Association’s Reitan Speaker Series at Hallwalls for a night of innovation and Green Building design. UB Professor of Architecture Martha Bohm, UB Clinical Assistant Professor of Architecture Brad Wales, along with their graduate students will unveil the renderings of GRoW House. 

This is a first time entry for the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning in the US Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon bi-annual competition that will be held in Irvine, California in 2015. The UB Solar Decathlon design entry incorporates the latest green design technology and renewable energy implementation that will enable the inhabitants to Grow, Relax and Work; GRow House! 

Join the WNY Sustainable Energy Association for this informative and exciting presentation at Hallwalls!

New UB research institute to address 'the most important environmental issues of our time'

Geology prof. Jason Briner researches climate change on Canada's Baffin Island.

By Pat Donovan 

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The University at Buffalo has announced the launch of RENEW (Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water), an ambitious, university-wide, interdisciplinary research institute that will focus on the most difficult and complex environmental issues, as well as the social and economic issues with which they are intertwined.

One of the most expansive initiatives launched in recent years by the university, RENEW will harness the expertise of more than 100 faculty across the university, with the goal of hiring 20 more outstanding faculty with expertise in such areas as aquatic ecology, pollution law, behavioral economics, environmental planning, community health and energy/environmental systems.

The RENEW Institute will place UB at the forefront of environmental and energy research focused on sustainability, climate change and natural resources, said UB Provost Charles F. Zukoski.  The initiative will build upon faculty strength across six UB schools and colleges. It will receive up to $15 million in university funding over the next five years to hire faculty and develop new academic programs for students.

 “This is what great research universities do.  We bring together the best minds to address timely topics and solve problems,” Zukoski said.

“One of the most urgent challenges faced by humankind is finding ways to sustain human existence while adapting to climate change and the evolving needs for energy and fresh water,” he added.
RENEW, Zukoski said, evolved from the UB 2020 plan to position the university as one of the world’s leading universities by investing in and harnessing UB’s research strengths to bring positive changes to the world.

Environmental problems, he noted, are of particular concern in Western New York, which is surrounded by water, including two Great Lakes, and a legacy of early industrialization.

An international search for a world-class scholar and researcher to direct the institute is underway, said Alexander N. Cartwright, UB vice president for research and economic development. The director will foster collaborations among UB researchers, lead the search for additional faculty researchers to join the institute, coordinate with academic departments to develop new undergraduate and graduate programs, and establish partnerships with organizations, agencies and community leaders.

Alan J. Rabideau, UB professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering, will lay the groundwork for RENEW as the search gets underway.  Rabideau will serve as UB’s first Research and Economic Development Leadership Fellow and will begin to coordinate faculty involvement in the institute and meet with local community leaders.

RENEW’s research thrusts will address a variety of prominent issues, such as energy diversification, freshwater protection and restoration; ecosystem science, engineering and policy; societal adaptation to changing environments and the green economy; public health; and environmental management and governance.

The institute’s interdisciplinary focus – involving the faculties of the School of Architecture and Planning, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Law School, School of Management and School of Public Health and Health Professions – is designed to foster new collaborations and produce new ideas.  The initiative will tap the leadership and vision of deans and faculty at the six UB schools and colleges.

“Using this integrated approach, we will bring together researchers in the sciences, technology, public health, human behavior, public policy and other disciplines to develop new ways to strengthen and support our natural and human-made environments,” Cartwright said.

The establishment of the RENEW Institute was recommended by an advisory group chaired by Cartwright, whose members were the deans of the six schools and colleges participating in the institute, and from a faculty steering committee, also from across the six schools and colleges.

The faculty steering committee that developed specific recommendations for  RENEW’s operation included Diana Aga, professor of chemistry; Debabrata Talukdar, professor of marketing; Richelle Allen-King, professor of geology; D. Scott Mackay, professor of  geography; Errol Meidinger, professor of law; G. William Page, professor of urban and regional planning; Rabideau; and Jennifer Zirnheld, assistant professor of electrical engineering.

Talks on Adventures of Ken Ilgunas - Author and UB Grad

  "Trespassing across America: One UB Grad's Epic, 1,700-mile (and sort of Illegal) Hike along the Keystone XL Pipeline." 

A TALK by 

 KEN ILGUNAS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18
3:00-5:00 p.m.
120 Clemens Hall -- UB North Campus [Map]

Read Ken Ilgunas' article published at Salon.

Ilgunas will present a different talk on TUESDAY, November 19:

"I lived in a van down by Duke University: One UB Grad's Adventurous Account of Living Debt-Free." 

1:30-3:20 p.m.

Undergraduate Academies, 17 Norton Hall -- UB North Campus [Map]

Ilgunas published a book about his adventures entitled "Walden on Wheels: On The Open Road from Debt to Freedom." 

UB Shale Institute -- Getting to the Bottom of It

By David Kowalski ~

Shale gas and fracking have become sensitive topics at UB. SUNY signed a three-year, $22M contract to buy natural gas extracted by hydraulic fracturing beginning April 1, 2012. On April 5, a UB Shale Institute was announced to the public. Shale-gas industry ties and UB's new Shale Institute led to controversy, which only deepened after the Institute released its first study on May 15.

The Institute's study revealed a gas-industry bias and was found by the Public Accountabilty Initiative to be riddled with procedural flaws and errors of fact. All of the Institute's authors have ties to the gas industry, but they did not disclose the funding sources for their study. Lack of disclosure naturally raised concern about conflicts of interest. Also, the authors' initial claim that the study was peer reviewed was later retracted.

Subsequently, news reports in the New York Times and The Buffalo News only exacerbated concern about the effect of the industry-friendly institute on UB’s reputation for credible scholarship. The Institute’s director, John P. Martin, who does consulting and public relations work for the oil and gas industry, is a co-author on the study. Martin declined, through a UB spokesperson, reporters' requests for an interview. 

The UB Shale Institute is not a physical entity -- it's a virtual institute. The study's lead author, Timothy Considine, lives in Wyoming, works at the University of Wyoming, and has a reputation as the academic "go-to-guy" for industry-friendly studies. Two other co-authors live in Wyoming and Pennsylvania. Director John P. Martin lives in Saratoga Springs, NY.

How did an industry-friendly Shale Institute come to exist at a publicly-funded university known for academic research and scholarly activities?

According to a May 25, 2012 statement by UB Dean E. Bruce Pitman, the College of Arts and Sciences formed the Institute in April 2012, with the goal of providing scientific research and analysis on all sides of the issues surrounding shale gas. Pitman acknowledged in a radio interview on June 7, that he gave the support to create the Institute, and that he appointed the Director and the Co-Director, and got the Institute started. He also said, "The origin of the Institute. It started with a series of seminars organized by the Geology Department in spring of --get my years right-- 2011."

So how did the seminar series start and who were the speakers?

On March 28, 2011, the UB Geology Dept announced a Public Lecture Series on the Marcellus Shale.  Department chair Marcus Bursk Ph.D. said that "The series will inform attendees about how geologists explore for resources, how companies get rights to the resources, how gas resources are drilled, fracked, and distributed and what legal, environmental and regulatory issues are involved."

HEARTLESS - courtesy of IOGA.

On March 29, 2011, it was announced that oil and gas industry experts will take part in "Marcellus Shale Lecture Series: Energy Resources and the Environment in Western New York," beginning March 31 at UB. Independent Oil and Gas Association (IOGA) of New York members were to lead five of the eight presentations, and the March 31 speaker would be Rayola Dougher, senior economic advisor for the American Petroleum Institute.

Six of the eight announced presentations were connected to the gas industry. 

A speaker not listed among the industry experts was Langhorne Smith, also known as Taury Smith, the state geologist with the New York State Museum. Smith was under a state gag order from talking to reporters. A month before his UB talk, he told the Albany Times Union that the Marcellus natural gas was "a huge gift" and that the potential environmental hazards of hydraulic fracturing were often exaggerated, as reported in The Buffalo News. At his UB presentation, Smith downplayed claims that the ability to light tap water on fire was caused by gas drilling contamination.

The final presentation on May 19, 2011 was entitled "Energy and the Environment: Gas and the Green Earth," by John P. Martin, listed as former senior project manager for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. At the seminar, the audience learned that the title of his talk had changed to "Can we get to sustainable energy resource development in the 21st century?" Well, so much for the Environment and the Green Earth. 

Martin talked rapidly, describing how all energy sources have risks. It seemed that he was providing cover for the known risks of drilling and fracking. He downplayed wind turbines, and showed a fallen tubine tower made of some flimsy material to illustrate one risk. 

John P. Martin showed the same flaming faucet photo that Langhorne Smith displayed, and said the water contamination wasn't caused by gas drilling. About a month before his seminar, scientists at Duke University published peer-reviewed evidence to the contrary in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA). Martin, an economist, dismissed the scientific study and put down the journal of the esteemed National Academy.

At his UB seminar, Martin was introduced by Robert Jacobi, a UB Geologist who had a position as director of special projects in Norse Energy Corporation. Jacobi would later become the Co-director of the UB Shale Institute.

Dean Pitman consulted with Geology faculty and others at the university

In the June 7, 2012 interview cited earlier, Pitman said "That seminar series was very successful. There was interest in following up on this issue." He added, "In consultation with the Geology faculty and with others at the university, as dean I gave my support to create an Institute as an initiative of the College of Arts and Sciences. And that’s how it started."

Consultation must have occurred before February 6, 2012 when John P. Martin gave a talk in Jakarta, Indonesia and listed himself as Director of the Shale Resources and Society Institute, University at Buffalo, SUNY (also known as the UB Shale Institute). In his slide presentation (courtesy of Artvoice) he cited as "in review" the study of Considine et al. (2012), which would later become the UB Shale Institute's first study (released May 15).
 
Who is Dennis Holbrook and who consulted with him?

Should UB Sponsor a Shale Gas Institute?

~ By David Kowalski ~

The University at Buffalo (UB) has now entered into the controversial area of unconventional shale-gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing ('fracking') by sponsoring a newly-created "Shale Resources and Society Institute" (SRSI).

Last week, SRSI released their first study, which is entitled "Environmental Impacts During Shale Gas Drilling: Causes, Impacts and Remedies". The authors stated strong conclusions, which were included in a UB news release (May 15, 2012), and subsequently made for some sensational newspaper headlines. However, others who have since examined the study indicated that the authors' conclusions are biased and not supported by the data (see below).

And that's not all. Initial examination of the background of the study's authors indicated close ties with the gas drilling industry. Also, the UB news release claim that the report was "peer-reviewed" was incorrect. Subsequently, UB retracted that claim in a revised press release. Then one of the so-called peer-reviewers distanced himself from the SRSI study. Finally, the authors did not disclose their funding sources. All of these issues made shale gas and fracking sensitive topics at UB, as documented in a post last week.

Shown below are excerpts of new reports with a link to each full report. These articles start with an editorial letter by me, and continue with detailed analyses of the SRSI report by others, which together provide independent views of flaws and industry-bias in the SRSI study and lead one to question the wisdom of UB sponsorship.
 
Shale study harms UB’s reputation, By David Kowalski, Letter to The Buffalo News, May 24, 2012
But the fact that all three authors have ties to the energy industry raises concern about conflicts of interest. Their report and undisclosed funding sources only reinforce that concern and harm the university. 

They claimed that the decline [in environmental violations per gas well] was evidence for improved industry operations and state regulations. However, the authors completely ignored the fact that, as more wells were drilled over time, the total number of environmental violations increased by threefold. 

It is a shame that this study was done under the aegis of UB. The university should protect its reputation and re-evaluate its sponsorship of the Shale Resources and Society Institute.  

UB report on 'fracking' draws fire of watchdog, By David Robinson, The Buffalo News -- Front page story, May 25, 2012
A Buffalo-based corporate accountability research group Thursday criticized as "seriously flawed and biased" last week's study from the University at Buffalo that said stronger regulation was leading to an improved safety record among drillers in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale.

The new report from the Public Accountability Initiative disputed the conclusions of the study by UB's new Shale Resources and Society Institute, which reported that the rate of environmental violations -- both major and minor -- were declining at Pennsylvania's Marcellus wells.

"The evidence does not support the notion that fracking is becoming any safer," the new study said.

"While masquerading as independent, academic research, the report's errors all point in the direction of heavy pro-industry bias and spin," the Public Accountability Initiative study said.  

Critics question shale gas researcher, schools, By Kevin Begos, Associated Press, May 25, 2012

 A well-known expert on the natural gas boom is again facing criticism over his ties to industry and a lack of transparency in how he presents work to the public, fueling debates over research that's been published by major universities.

Timothy Considine was lead author on a shale gas report recently issued by the University at Buffalo and a previous report from Penn State University. Critics say both reports presented research in misleading ways and failed to fully disclose funding sources.

Considine, now at the University of Wyoming, has gotten funding from industry groups such as the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Wyoming Mining Association, the American Iron and Steel Institute, and the American Petroleum Institute.

On Thursday, the Public Accountability Initiative, a Buffalo nonprofit, issued a critique of the UB study.

The University at Buffalo also said the report "was not funded or commissioned by external sources." But Considine told The Associated Press in an email that the University of Wyoming paid him and two other lead authors.

 

Martha McCluskey, a University at Buffalo law professor who was on an ethics committee there, said the new shale institute appears not to meet disclosure provisions and hasn't gone through the standard process for faculty approval and vetting of new centers and initiatives to preserve academic integrity.  

UB Pulls SRSI Website, By the Public Accountability Initiative, May 25, 2012 (updated May 26, 2012)

The University at Buffalo Shale Resources and Society Institute (SRSI), the subject of the analysis we released yesterday, has password-protected its website as of this morning. Notably, the SUNY Fredonia Shale Resources Institute also pulled its website recently after negative attention from Artvoice. 

The Public Accountability Initiative saved copies of most of the SRSI’s web pages.

Update (5/26): The SRSI site is accessible again, and UB has issued a statement regarding the SRSI report.