Audubon • 3rd September 2024

This Runner Is Completing a 100-Mile Ultramarathon in Every State—For Owls

Ten years ago, Pete Ripmaster was running through the frozen Alaska woods in the middle of the night, lost and alone.

National Geographic • 14th December 2023

One unexpected way to reduce violent crime? Create green spaces.

Darnell Ishmel’s street in Flint, Michigan, used to be lined with waist-high grass on vacant lots. The blight felt overwhelming, “to the point where I [didn’t] even want to walk outside,” he says.

The Seattle Times • 27th October 2023

A runner finds a sense of belonging on an Alaskan retreat for people of color

I’M RUNNING THROUGH the woods in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula with about a dozen other people. The air is cool, and the trees’ leaves are shiny and wet from the morning’s rain.

Planet Detroit • 11th September 2023

House bills aim to protect Michigan’s pollinators – Planet Detroit

Two bills introduced in the Michigan House are intended to save pollinators—and, by extension, help protect Michigan’s crops and biodiversity.

Outside Online • 7th September 2023

Alison Mariella Désir Leads BIPOC-Only Running Retreat in Alaska

Ever since she founded Harlem Run in 2013, Alison Mariella Désir has been building community in the world of running—and uplifting people who are underrepresented in it. In August, she led a running retreat exclusively for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in Alaska.

U-M Erb - • 7th April 2023

It’s time for the end of the fossil-fuel industry as we know it

With climate change, “we are confronted with an existential crisis that requires radical action if we are to respond with adequate scope and scale,” Andrew J. Hoffman and Douglas M. Ely argue.

U-M Erb Institute | Business for Sustainability • 31st March 2023

Justice should be an action, not only a core value

The Erb Institute recently convened the workshop “Building Connections for Business, Sustainability & Justice Research,” bringing together scholars, corporate leaders and advocates to explore how research can inform solutions to pressing environmental, social and racial justice challenges.

Hidden Compass • 7th February 2023

Beyond the Waves

Sitara Siverls is sitting at the bedside of a bald Caucasian man in a dimly lit intensive care unit (ICU) room, holding his hand. Outside in the hall, doctors and nurses move briskly.

Sustain.Life • 18th January 2023

Is there a problem with carbon removal technology?

Carbon removal stories have become part of both climate and mainstream news—companies including Shopify, Stripe, Google, and Facebook are notable investors in new carbon removal technology. On the surface, carbon removal tech seems like it could be a magic wand for all our climate problems, but the reality is more complicated.

Belt Magazine - Dispatches From the Rust Belt and Greater Midwest • 30th November 2022

An Auto Plant Becomes a State Park

Major investments in parks and green spaces in both Flint and Detroit are revitalizing former industrial sites and vacant lots, and helping both cities to recover from decades of economic decline.

Well+Good • 14th November 2022

These Running Shoes Are Made From Captured Carbon Emissions

Running shoes are typically pretty terrible for the environment. But On Running is working to reverse this trend. The brand recently developed the first shoe made from carbon emissions—basically turning industrial pollution into foam for running shoes.

Model D • 13th October 2022

Closing Michigan's 'adventure gap': Floating classroom gets hundreds of students out on the water

It’s a sunny October afternoon on Belle Isle, and about 80 middle school and high school students are getting ready to go canoeing. Only a few of them have been in a canoe before, and most haven’t been in any kind of boat.

Planet Detroit • 8th October 2022

WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE?

Environmental problems become environmental justice issues based on how they harm people. Often, certain already disadvantaged communities face disproportionate harm from things like air pollution and water pollution.

Audubon • 19th September 2022

These Native Meadows in Motown Aim to Boost Birdlife and Neighbors’ Well-Being

A few years ago, Detroit’s Callahan Park was indistinguishable from an abandoned lot, its overgrown turf grass strewn with litter. While the city has been in economic recovery mode since its 2013 bankruptcy, some areas have rebounded more than others, and many of its more than 300 parks look much like Callahan once did.

SEEN Magazine • 1st August 2022

A Buzz-Worthy Mission: Beekeeping Organizations in Metro Detroit

People depend on pollinators. Beyond producing honey, bees are essential to our ecosystem — including the food we eat.

Sustain.Life • 17th June 2022

It’s time to rethink business travel emissions

The coronavirus pandemic forced a temporary halt in business travel and many in-person meetings. But before the pandemic, “demand for air travel had been growing at a rate that outpaced decarbonization efforts."

Planet Detroit • 7th June 2022

New Detroit Parks Coalition aims to uplift and enhance Detroit parks, build ‘place-based equity’

While Detroit is home to more than 300 parks that offer all manner of green spaces and recreational opportunities, they’ve often struggled to get the funding they need to serve the community.

Planet Detroit • 17th February 2022

Detroiters try ice climbing at Pictured Rocks during Michigan Ice Fest

A bus full of Detroiters arrived at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula during for the five-day Michigan Ice Fest, held Feb. 8-13.

Ross Dividend Magazine • 9th November 2021

The Erb Institute: 25 Years of Advancing Business Sustainability

What does sustainability in business mean today, and what does it look like going forward?

Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum • 19th October 2021

Sustainability Goes Hand in Hand with DEI

While the scope of sustainability in business has broadened beyond environmental footprint—to include social responsibility and human rights, for example—the scope of diversity, equity, and inclusion has also broadened.