Mellichamp Academic Initiative in Sustainability at UC Santa Barbara
Sustainable Materials and Product Design
PAST EVENTS
Conferences, Workshops, & Summits
2019 THE SECRET LIVES OF PLASTIC CONFERENCE
More and more people are becoming aware of plastics gyres and microplastics in the oceans, cities around the world are banning plastic bags and straws, and China has stopped accepting most of the world’s plastic for recycling. Scientists, policy-makers, municipalities, industries, and countries are struggling with the positive and negative implications of plastic...
2019 POLYMER UPCYCLING WORKSHOP
Two days of discussion on the future of polymers
The movement is still somewhat small and the challenge is big — more than 8 million metric tons big — but UC Santa Barbara chemical engineer Susannah Scott, leader of the Mellichamp Academic Initiative in Sustainable Manufacturing, is confident that something can be done about the ubiquitous issue that is plastic....
2017 SCIENCE, COMMUNICATION AND UNCERTAINTY WORKSHOP
Science, Communication, and Uncertainty
A central issue in the practice and communication of science is what scientific uncertainty means, and how that term and the content shape both scientific and public discourse. For example, often media coverage notes or mentions uncertainty without clarifying whether it's general uncertainty (due to deficient knowledge) or scientific uncertainty (which is based on considerable information; we can state the boundaries of the estimates, or have a lot of knowledge about the conditions under which things happen). Then it's easy for people prone to either discount or be confused by science to say, well the scientists don't really know, so it isn't really happening (climate change, sea level rise, vaccinations, etc.)...
2017 WORKSHOP ON SUSTAINABLE CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING
A day of discussion on the future of manufacturing
The 2017 Workshop on Sustainable Chemical Manufacturing will be held on the University of California, Santa Barbara Campus on Wednesday and Thursday, March 22nd and 23rd, 2017. The workshop will be co-sponsored by the Mellichamp Academic Initiative in Sustainable Materials and Product Design and the Aachen-California Network of Academic Exchange (ACalNet) and will be hosted by Professor Susannah Scott from the UCSB Department of Chemical Engineering...
How to Tell Your Research Story in the Digital Media World: Applying journalistic principles to communicate your science effectively
This two-part workshop will help you apply journalistic principles and storytelling techniques to the natural and environmental sciences and engineering. These skills will help you communicate your scientific research story to a wider audience in an engaging, compelling, and clear way...
2016 RENEWABLE CARBON WORKSHOP
Carbon, Climate, The Future of Energy. Our experts discuss.
Carbon-based fuels continue to be our primary energy source in the 21st century, accounting for more than 80% of our total energy supply. This reality exists even in light of overwhelming evidence linking byproduct CO2 emissions to unprecedented rapid global climate change. Although at times polarizing, the role and impact of carbon on our society continues to be heavily discussed in the media, in politics, and within society at large...
2015 SUSTAINABLE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION CONFERENCE
How to say what needs to be said.
Related to this particular issue, but also to environmental and other science-based issues, scientists, engineers, and technology developers in particular and academics in general must become able to communicate clearly to other scientists within and across their disciplines, the public, business leaders, government officials, and policy-makers...
2014 SUSTAINABLE CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGIES SUMMIT
Our very first Summit!
The Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Academic Initiative in Sustainable Materials and Product Design at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), in partnership with the Center for the Sustainable Use of Renewable Feedstocks (CenSURF) and the Chemical Life Cycle Collaborative (CLiCC), will host the inaugural UCSB Sustainable Chemical Technologies Summit...
