Boston University

Sustainability

Photo: Microbes under a microscope, they appear as red and scattered

Microbes

Microbes Reveal Clues About Extraterrestrial Life

April 16, 2025

Photo: An exterior shot of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The building is peeking out of from a snowy mountain

History

Keeping Seeds Alive If the World as We Know It Ends

February 10, 2025

Awards

Why Do Urban Trees Grow Faster than Rural Ones?

January 29, 2025

Research News

Brink Bites: BMI Objections, Studying UFOs, and Alcohol’s Impact on College Students

January 24, 2025

Photo: A stock photo of gold brick in a stack.

Climate Change

Can Gold Reserves Help Pay for Climate Disaster Recovery?

January 22, 2025

Photo: Two older people with darker complexion walk bikes as they smile and laugh with each other

Expert Take

Cycling Can Make Older Adults Healthier and More Independent. Here’s How to Design Bikes and Networks That Meet Their Needs

January 6, 2025

Photo: A woman mounts a sensor on a Boston city Blue Bike.

Air Quality

Air Quality Sensors Could Be Coming to a Bicycle Near You

June 4, 2024

Photo: Environmentalists help bring an end to further construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline project, which contributes to the use of fossil fuels linked to pollution, environmental degradation and global warming. They protest with plastic jugs on their heads and a paper pipe which reads STOP ALL PIPELINES.

Climate Change

How High-Level Lawsuits Are Disrupting Climate Change Policies

April 29, 2024

Photo: A large banner on the side of a building in Boston's Seaport reading "Seaport = 20 Billon Dollar Climate Denial" as people walk by in their daily routines

Climate Change

City Leaders Need to Make Billion-Dollar Decisions to Protect Boston from Sea Level Rise

January 31, 2024

Photo: A large teal sign reads "COP28 UAE: Energy Transition Changemakers". Streams of lit up water streams are shown in front of the bright sign.

Climate Conference

Can the World Find Agreement on Fighting Climate Change?

December 11, 2023

Image: A Modern wire frame mesh design vector illustration of the year "2023". Numbers are depicted with glowing neon green low polygonal digits on black background.

2023 in Review

Best of The Brink 2023: 10 Life-Changing Inventions, Amazing Discoveries, and Surprising Findings from BU Researchers

December 11, 2023

Photo: Trees and mist in the green forest of Stanislaus National Forest from Yosemite National Park. A large green forest full of lush pine trees are shown. they look scenic with the rising sun. A hazy blue, green, and black static overlay is stylized at the bottom of the image.

Expert Take

US Forest Service’s Dangerous Carbon Disposal Plan Would Foul Our National Forests

December 7, 2023

Photo: A woman with glasses and a polkadot blouse and red skirt poses for a picture in front of a stone building on a sunny day

MacArthur Fellowship

BU Ecologist Lucy Hutyra Wins a 2023 MacArthur “Genius Grant”

October 4, 2023

Photo: Group photo of Assistant Professor of Biology, Sarah Davies (center) and PhD student, Maria Valadex Ingersoll (CAS 23) and Dr Hannah Aichelman (right) (CAS 23). The three women pose in a lab as Davies holds up a sample of bleached coral and another sample of algae rests on the lab tables in front of Ingersoll.

Coral Reefs

For Coral Reefs, Temperature Is Everything—Is It Too Late to Save Them?

September 26, 2023

Photo: A group of people pose in font of a building with glass doors. Pictured (from left): Saylor Williams, Manpreet Singh (GRS’24), Gloria Waters, Rebecca Pearl-Martinez, Golden (CAMED’27); Angie Serrano, a BU medical school assistant professor of vascular biology; Dennis Carlberg, and Greg Miller.

Sustainability

How to Make Research Labs More Sustainable

June 20, 2023

Photo: College of Engineering professors (from left) Rabia Yazicigil, a white woman with short curly hair and wearing a black blouse, oversized blue blazer, and black pants, Mo Khalil, A tan man wearing glasses, brown sweater, and black pants, and Doug Densmore, a light-skinned Black man wearing a long sleeve collared grey shirt and black pants in a lab. Yazicigil and Mo Khalil look to Densmore as he talks and gesticulates.

Biomanufacturing

Turning Trash into Medicines, Machine Oils, Cosmetics, and More

June 15, 2023

Photo: Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano erupts in the background as Peter Schroedl, a person wearing black clothes, a face mask, orange neon vest collects specimens from volcanic rocks in the foreground.

Microbes

What Microbes Can Tell Us about Life on Earth and in Space

April 24, 2023

Photo: To the far left, Andrew Reid Bell, a white man wearing a green cap, looks on as a small group of dark-skinned Black women and men look to tablets on a multi-colored, checkered long table. They are in a small wooden dwelling with an open doorway and cross-patterned open windows letting light in.

Conservation

How Do We Make Farming Better for the Planet? Ask Women

March 16, 2023

Photo: The Tobin Bridge is shown over the Mystic River in Massachusetts. A large, cantilever truss bridge is shown over a slightly foggy body of water with a small line of boats docked underneath. The city of Boston can be seen in the distant skyline.

Climate Resilience

Climate Change Is Threatening the Mystic River Watershed—Can It Be Saved?

March 7, 2023

Photo: Close-up side-view shot of a cooking pot on a gas stove. Various kitchen appliances can also be seen on the counter in the background.

Gas stoves

Should You Replace Your Gas Stove?

January 26, 2023

Should You Replace Your Gas Stove?