Barrett Small Network Hero

Sustainability

Explore the various projects below categorized under the general theme of Sustainability. Be sure to return to the Barrett College Fellows Program main page and explore projects under the other 11 themes as well. You might be surprised at what you find and maybe you will discover the perfect research project for what you hope to study!

Please do not contact the research centers or faculty listed below directly (a formal application process is a required step to joining these research opportunities).

For questions about the Barrett College Fellows Program or specific research projects, please contact Dr. Sarah Graff at: BarrettCollegeFellows@exchange.asu.edu.

Back to Barrett College Fellows main page

Research projects

Project # 3

Center name: School math & natural sciences
Campus/Location: West
Faculty lead: James Johnson

Project description

Urbanization is a rapid ecological disturbance that can alter the genotypes and phenotypes of native biota. These shifts to urban living must be understood if we hope to understand human-wildlife interactions. Our earlier wors suggetss interesting behavioral and genetic difference exist between urban and desert black widow spiders. This fellow would be trained to further this understanding, ultimately helping us collect a fuller dataset that depicts the genetic relationships within and among black widows collected from replicate urban and desert populations. # Students needed: 1-3

Special skills needed

Basic BIO lab skills and comfort working with arthropods a plus.

Majors

BIO, FOR

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Education, Sustainability

Project # 6

Center name:
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Dave Keating

Project description

This work involves a series of projects that research how people are influenced--or not--by seeing the same or very similar persuasive messages over time. For example, one specific project will test how young adults respond to repeatedly viewing TikTok videos about health or environmental topics, such as vaping or water conservation. The goal of this work is to understand how and why people's beliefs and behaviors are influenced over time.

I am looking for two students to join the research team who are interested in persuasive messages, the influence of social media content, and/or health and environmental topics. I view this as a collaboration--I have some ideas that we are going to test, but there is a lot of room for these two students to help design the specific nature of the studies, including (but not limited to) what topics we focus on, how we design the messages that people will see, and how to best reach people to participate in the research.

Special skills needed

- Quantitative Reasoning (this does *not* mean stats! but these projects are quantitative social science ones, including behavioral experiments)
- Strong/Clear Writing (my hope is that the students will be co-authors on any published work affiliated with the projects, and this will require them to write up some portions of the papers that report on the research)

Majors

- anything affiliated with social and behavioral sciences
- journalism and mass communication
- communication

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 8

Center name: Renewable Energy Materials and Devices Laboratory
Campus/Location: ASU Research Park
Faculty lead: Nicholas Rolston

Project description

Our group's research goals are to develop next-generation energy and semiconductor technologies and to ensure that they are fit for manufacturability and durability. We study the connection between material degradation in printable thin-film energy and semiconductor materials and devices with the evolution of mechanical and environmental stress. We leverage scalable, open-air deposition methods to fabricate robust devices toward the goal of manufacturing. We use thin-film metrologies along with newly developed and custom-built equipment to characterize material properties and reliability on length scales from angstroms to meters. Our focus is to develop the next-generation of photovoltaics, battery, and semiconductor technology using the paradigm of design for reliability.

Special skills needed

Above all else, enthusiasm and a desire to learn more about designing the future of energy and semiconductor devices!

Majors

Any field of engineering, physics, or chemistry

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 11

Center name: Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity and Sustainability
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Deirdre Pfeiffer

Project description

Understanding and responding to fair housing issues facing Arizona Hispanic and other underserved households may help to improve their housing security, particularly through access to affordable homeownership and rentals. This research will examine two pathways of discrimination in Arizona housing markets in collaboration with the Southwest Fair Housing Council (SWFHC). Subproject 1c.1 will examine the pathway of coded language for Fair Housing Act (FHA) protected groups in grounds for opposition in public decisions about proposed housing projects and policies diversifying types and costs. Subproject 1c.2 will examine the pathway of home sale transactions. This research will contribute to scholarly conversations about the drivers of housing discrimination and inform new strategic initiatives to dismantle pathways to discrimination in Arizona (e.g., stakeholder convenings to discuss policy changes and SWFHC grant writing and strategic planning).

Special skills needed

Passion for social justice issues, interest in learning more about how housing is related to social justice, self-directed, strong communication skills, reliable, adeptness at Excel, interest in qualitative research methods (understanding the world through textual data collected from people, media, and public meetings)

Majors

Any social science major

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Law, Justice, and Public Service

Project # 12

Center name: Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity and Sustainability
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Deirdre Pfeiffer

Project description

Land availability presents a major challenge to solving interrelated crises of housing availability, affordability and security in Arizona’s increasingly land locked and built out urban areas. This research will draw on data from local regulations and stakeholder interviews (subject matter experts and neighborhood residents) and use content and thematic analysis to explore the potential for adapting garages and driveways to support new housing in socioeconomically diverse single-family home communities in the Phoenix metro area.

Special skills needed

Passion for issues related to social justice and the interconnection between well-being and the urban built environment (buildings, infrastructure systems, green/natural/open spaces), interest in learning more about how housing is related to social justice and wellbeing, self-directed, strong communication skills, reliable, adeptness at Excel, interest in qualitative research methods (understanding the world through textual data collected from people and regulations)

Majors

Any social science major

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 28

Center name: Children's Equity Project
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Shantel Meek

Project description

The Children’s Equity Project is led in partnership with researchers and advocates at several universities and organizations across the United States. Our work focuses on closing opportunity gaps and advancing equity in all of the systems that impact the lives of children and families so that all children, particularly those from historically and contemporary marginalized communities, can thrive.

The CEP works at the intersection of research, practice, and policy. We engage in rigorous original research, partner with policy makers at every level of government to support data and research informed policy changes that will advance opportunity for children from historically marginalized communities; and engage with communities to deliver training, technical assistance, and professional development. We are informed by families' voices through our family advisory committee, lived experiences, data, and research, and have deep expertise in child development, policy, and systems.

Special skills needed

No pre skills required, just dedication and interest in our mission

Majors

Policy, education, sociology, family development, early childhood education, etc

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Humanities, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Education, Sustainability

Project # 35

Center name: School of Sustainability
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Stylianos Syropoulos

Project description

Sustainability––especially climate justice––requires a form of altruistic prosociality that extends beyond immediate, visible beneficiaries to encompass distant, often-anonymous multitudes, and even the as-yet-unrealized future generations. These are precisely the kinds of beneficiaries that people typically struggle to prioritize, as their needs and presence feel abstract and disconnected from everyday life. This challenge underscores the importance of understanding how individuals and groups can develop a broader moral circle that includes these hard-to-care-for entities to promote sustainability for all.

This project will investigate how exceptionally altruistic populations, including effective altruists (EAs), who strategically maximize welfare gains through their charitable contributions (N = 119), and extraordinary altruists (XAs), who have made life-saving organ donations to strangers (N = 65), compared to demographically similar general population controls (N = 176) differ in several psychological dimensions relevant to sustainability. These include: moral expansiveness toward nature, responsibility to future generations, impartial intergenerational beneficence, and the ability to perceive non-human animals as sentient beings. Additional exploratory analyses will explore the cognitive (e.g., reasoning abilities), affective (e.g.,
empathy levels), and moral (e.g., utilitarian beliefs and moral values) foundations that might explain why exceptionally altruistic individuals are more likely to exhibit sustainability-focused attitudes.

Special skills needed

Data Analysis Experience in any of the following software: Jamovi, R, SPSS, SAS

Majors

Sustainability, Psychology

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 36

Center name: MSD, Space Architecture & Extreme Environments (SAEE)
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Elena Rocchi

Project description

Barrett Honors students will participate in SAEE Barrett Research programs, including:
1) Working in the labs of the Interplanetary Initiative, The Next Lab, and the Luminosity Lab, contributing to cutting-edge science, with one student per lab.
2) Engaging in supply chain management within the Business program to contribute to designing the first Starbucks in space, with one student.
3) Participating in the SAEE Barrett Global Flex program in Rome, one of the space capitals of the world, providing an ideal environment for this program and open to all.
The faculty lead is Elena Rocchi, working in collaboration with the different lab directors, program heads, and faculty abroad. By the time of application, new opportunities in labs and cities may arise, so students are encouraged to schedule a meeting with me, as the leading faculty member, to discuss available placements and opportunities in more detail.

Special skills needed

Self-Time Management; Design Capacity and Interest in Making Things; Collaboration and Teamwork; Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving; Adaptability and Flexibility; Attention to Detail; Interpersonal and Cross-Cultural Communication; Initiative and Drive; Technical Competency; Global Perspective

Majors

Architecture,
Industrial Design,
Graphic Design (for virtual simulations/technologies),
Computer Science (for virtual simulations/technologies),
Design, Arts,
Mechanical Engineering,
Civil Engineering,
Urban Planning,
Business Administration (Supply Chain Management),
Environmental Design,
Aerospace Engineering,
Biomedical Engineering (for health-related research in space),
Materials Science,
Sustainability Studies,
International Studies (for global perspectives),
Electrical Engineering (for wearable technology design),
Physics (for space science and research applications)

Years

2nd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Business and Entrepreneurship, Education, Engineering, Health and Wellness, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 39

Center name: Center for Transitioning to a Net-Zero Chemicals and Materials Industry
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Bhavik Bakshi

Project description

The main goal of this project is to develop a model of the electronics industry that includes the flow of various types of materials, energy use, products, and waste. This will require a study of the industry based on the academic literature, government reports and industry data. Basic knowledge about steps in the electronics industry including manufacture of chips, assembly and disassembly will also be needed. This work will utilize a framework developed in my group that has already been used to develop similar models for other industry sectors including basic chemicals, steel, cement, etc. The work will be entirely computational in nature.

Special skills needed

Basic understanding of mass and energy conversion and balance.

Majors

Chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, physics.

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 45

Center name: New Carbon Economy Consortium (NCEC)
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Tempe
Faculty lead: Krista O'brien

Project description

The New Carbon Economy Consortium (NCEC) is an alliance of universities, national labs, and NGOs working in partnership with industry leaders to build a carbon-conscious world. NCEC hosts members with carbon removal solutions in Engineered Solutions, Biological Solutions, and Hybrid Solutions as well as Finance, Governance, Policy, Business, and Entrepreneurship.

The NCEC Insights project intends to educate a broad audience on cutting edge solutions in carbon sequestration, use, and storage. These solutions range from technical solutions like mechanical carbon sequestration to natural solutions such as “blue carbon” which utilizes coastal ecosystems to capture and store carbon. The Barrett Fellows will be tasked with 1) conducting research into up-and-coming carbon solutions, 2) interviewing researchers and practitioners in fields of carbon capture, use, and storage, and 3) drafting written deliverables. This project will expand students' knowledge of carbon capture concepts and allow students to develop climate communication skills, as the insights will communicate complex topics to the general public.

The faculty lead for this project is Amanda Ellis, but Krista O'brien is the secretariat and primary manager of the New Carbon Economy Consortium. NCEC falls under the Global Partnerships department within the Global Futures Laboratory.

Special skills needed

Required:
- Strong oral and written communication skills
- Proficiency in email communication
- Self-motivated to work independently and meet deadlines in a timely manner
- An interest in climate action and carbon solutions
- Experience working on a team

Preferred:
- Understanding of various CO₂ concepts such as CO₂ sequestration, conversion, storage, and mineralization.
- Experience conducting interviews

Majors

English, Communications, Journalism, Sustainability, Engineering, Education (flexible on major if they fulfill the required & preferred skills through course work and professional experience)

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Sustainability

Project # 51

Center name: Center for Global Health
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Amber Wutich

Project description

AW4A’s goal is to advance water security in Arizona’s most water-insecure households. Our international, interdisciplinary team works under the leadership of MacArthur Fellow, Dr. Amber Wutich. Based on the premise that it is impossible to create meaningful environmental justice impacts in communities without establishing trust and committing to long-haul connections with those communities, we are building a multi-stakeholder network facilitated through a partnership between Arizona State University (ASU), Northern Arizona University (NAU) and the University of Arizona (U of A) to engage and co-develop projects with water-insecure communities across the state.

At the AW4A network, we expect to create in-person and virtual spaces that allow stakeholders who are experiencing water insecurity to learn from each other, build leadership and advocacy capacity, and enhance existing opportunities for collaboration. Fully integrated into the AW4A team, the Barrett College Fellow will take a leading role in building this collaborative network, developing and implementing the effective relationship building and communication strategies that are vital to its success. This involves hosting workshops and webinars, as well as maintaining newsletters, blogs, graphic creations, and other media tasks to keep our partners and community engaged with our work.

Special skills needed

We are seeking a dynamic student invested in learning how to create and maintain relationships with multiple stakeholders involved in socio-environmental issues (i.e., water security in low-income communities) across Arizona. Skills that are valued are:
Strong written and verbal communication skills that enhance the quality of team and project outputs.
Critical thinking and problem-solving skills to deal with unexpected situations.
A desire to work on complex problems as part of an interdisciplinary team.
Curiosity and learning mindset about stakeholder engagement and community-based research.
Minimum basic understanding of Spanish.
Ability to work with Canva or other graphic design software.
Ability to work with Mailchimp or other newsletter design and distribution software.

Majors

Business, management, marketing, and related support services,
Marketing/marketing management,
Multi-/interdisciplinary studies,
Journalism,
Environmental studies,
Communication sciences and disorders,
Anthropology,
Global Health,
Liberal arts and sciences/liberal studies,
Graphic design,
Digital communication and media/multimedia,
Environmental design/architecture,
Geography,
Environmental/environmental health engineering

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Law, Justice, and Public Service, Art, Architecture, and Design, Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Business and Entrepreneurship, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Education, Engineering, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 52

Center name: Human Biometeorology Lab & Heat Ready
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Jennifer Vanos

Project description

We have various opportunities for students to gain experience on projects doing field work that relates to extreme heat. Working in our HeatReady program on schools and neighborhoods, collecting data as part of our integrated urban field laboratory, working with physiological data and models, and working in our thermal chamber with our manikin, ANDI.
The faculty lead would generally be Jennifer Vanos.

Special skills needed

Motivated, good initiative, instrumentation, working with data (statistics, processing, visualizations, GIS), interest in fieldwork in the heat, working with the community and stakeholders

Majors

Geography & Urban planning, Sustainability, Engineering (Built environment), Health Solutions

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Engineering, Health and Wellness, Sustainability

Project # 60

Center name: Project is part of the OpenForest4D, funded by the NSF
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Chelsea Scott

Project description

Forests change over time due to a variety of processes, including wildfires, droughts, invasive species, logging, and anthropogenic development. Quantifying these changes is important for understanding biomass loss, biodiversity conservation, fire severity assessment, post-fire regeneration, and soil erosion prevention. This project is part of a larger project that focuses on measuring forest characteristics from remote sensing data and analyzing how forests change following a landscape disturbance.

In this project, the student will analyze remote sensing data like satellite imagery and lidar using GIS (geospatial information system) tools. The student will manually map features like trees and will measure canopy height. The student will then work to compare these manual measurements to measurements derived using automatic workflows. This project contributes to assessing the accuracy of automatic workflows of deriving forest characteristics and understanding how forests change over time.

Special skills needed

Background in geospatial information system (GIS), remote sensing, and/or ecology,
Excited to learn how to map trees from remote sensing data,
High attention to detail (there is a lot of information in the remote sensing data),
Commitment to attending weekly in-person or virtual meetings and discussing progress and challenges

Majors

Earth and Environmental Sciences/ Earth and Space Exploration,
Geography,
Geographic Information Science,
Ocean Futures,
Biological Sciences (Conservation Biology and Ecology),
I would accept other on these themes

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 64

Center name: Center for Science and the Imagination
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Ed Finn

Project description

The Center for Science and the Imagination is building a community climate futures project with the town of Guadalupe. Students joining this project will participate in a collaborative research program working with elders and high school students in the Guadalupe community to imagine resilient, positive futures in the face of climate change and other challenges. Activities will include designing and implementing monthly activities for community members to imagine hopeful futures and connect community heritage and history to aspirational goals for the future. Some examples of previous workshop themes include quilting and fabric arts, visual arts, cooking, music. This work draws on methodologies from the fields of design research (such as co-design and speculative design), foresight and futures (including trend analysis and worldbuilding), and the humanities (speculative fiction and personal narratives). Students will support the project through ideation and implementation, community engagement, data analysis, and sharing of research findings with the Guadalupe community and other audiences.

Special skills needed

Required: Collaboration, communication, creativity, reliability, and a sense of adventure
Interest in community-based work, futures foresight

Majors

All majors are encouraged to apply

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Education, Health and Wellness, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 65

Center name: Decision Theater
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Manfred Laubichler

Project description

The Decision Theater is developing innovative decision-support tools to address critical challenges in Arizona's energy and environmental landscape. In examining the future energy landscape, DT is developing a data-driven model that will guide stakeholders in evaluating novel energy sources, including nuclear options, to meet the state’s 20 GW demand from coal and oil closures and new growth, while balancing safety, security, and efficiency concerns. DT also aims to map ozone pollution and risks that may trigger EPA-imposed restrictions on development. Decision Theater will integrate these data streams and models into cohesive visualizations, ultimately, to support decision-making across industry, government, and communities through understanding complex financial, regulatory, environmental, and societal factors.

Special skills needed

This position will assist the Decision Theater staff with subject-matter research and analysis which may include:
Writing briefs,
Briefing colleagues on background for topics,
Researching through complex techniques and procedures, library research, structured
interviews or other project-specific methodology,
Writing and editing material for publication and presentation,
Maintaining research documentation and sources,
Running models and tools for presentations to clients and visitors

Qualifications include:
Demonstrated public speaking experience,
Strong qualitative research skills,
Strong written and verbal communication skills,
Detail-oriented,
Ability to pick up things fast with a strong desire to learn,
Demonstrated leadership experience,
Previous knowledge or skill and/or equivalent experience in Outlook, MS Office Suite,
Word, and Excel, specifically macros and functions,
Experience with collaborative platforms such as Google Docs,
Ability to lift/move heavy furniture with the assistance of a dolly,
Interest in learning how to utilize technology to support decision-making and public policy

Majors

All majors are appropriate but may be best suited for those in Sustainability, Complex Adaptive Systems, Fulton Engineering, School for the Future of Innovation in Society, WP Carey (Business Analytics), Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 70

Center name: Active Schools & Communities Lab
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Allison Poulos

Project description

Join Dr. Poulos in the College of Health Solutions and an interdisciplinary research team to support our local communities to make the streets safer for walking, riding, and rolling. On this project, you would assist with data collection including conducting surveys and environmental assessments of street and neighborhood conditions, tallying pedestrian and vehicular traffic counts, data management, and dissemination of results. Our project will measure changes in behavior and attitudes after the installation of protected bike lanes, and provide a great opportunity for hands-on, community-based research with community partners in government and non-profit spaces.

Special skills needed

Interest in health, sustainability, safety, design; Interest in community-based work; Preferred availability on Wednesdays or Thursdays

Majors

Health Education, Health Promotion, Public Health, Population Health, Kinesiology, Health Sciences, Engineering, Architecture, Design, Sustainability, Psychology, Education

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Engineering, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 72

Center name: Active Schools & Communities Lab
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Allison Poulos

Project description

Interested in helping schools make informed decisions to support physical activity when it's hot? Join our study to learn about the strategies used and challenges schools face; and collect data to identify thermal exposure among children playing in different schoolyard environments. This project will include collecting some primary data at schools in the Phoenix region and working with existing data. Our team collaborates and supports other labs at ASU including Dr. Vanos' Human Biometeorology Lab and Dr. Middel's SHaDE lab.

Special skills needed

Interest in learning about OR experience with data collection (observations, interviews, environmental sensoring); Data entry; Data analysis; Creating reports/presentations; Preferred availability on Wednesdays

Majors

Health Education, Health Promotion, Public Health, Population Health, Kinesiology, Health Sciences, Engineering, Architecture, Design, Sustainability, Psychology, Education

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Education, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 85

Center name: School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Dwarak Ravikumar

Project description

This project will use a combination of computer vision and physics-based models to determine the water use and losses of cooling towers in commercial buildings. The student is expected to conduct and assist in research and writing code on identifying structures in satellite/drone imagery using computer vision. Subsequently, the student will apply principles of physics and thermodynamics to the results of the computer vision analysis and determine the waste loads and losses of cooling towers in Arizona.

Special skills needed

Artificial intelligence and/or Computer vision

Majors

Computer Science Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Sustainable Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 86

Center name: School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Dwarak Ravikumar

Project description

The student will be expected to analyze big data and write code to quantify the amount of human urine that is being generated in commercial buildings in the state of Arizona. Based on the volume of HU generated, the next step will be to determine how can this HU be used as fertilizers for the crops grown in AZ, develop and optimization algorithm to develop and locate the infrastructure required to convert HU to fertilizers and quantify the associated environmental benefits of implement this circular economy from HU to food systems.

Special skills needed

Data analysis, Big data, Python coding, Statistics

Majors

Computer science engineering, Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 88

Center name: School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Dwarak Ravikumar

Project description

This project seeks to implement a circular economy from solar panels to Concrete. More specifically, the student will be expected to be part of a team focusing on experimental research and analysis to assess how the properties of concrete change when we add solar glass to it, how to best improve the properties of concrete from glass addition and quantify the associated environmental benefits. The student will help in experimental work, conduction analysis and co-authoring a paper.

Special skills needed

Experimental research relating to preparing concrete samples containing glass and measuring the properties of the said concrete sample. Analysis the results from the experimental research. Quantifying the sustainability benefits from this circular economy.

Majors

Civil engineering, Construction engineering and management

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 91

Center name:
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Tracy Perkins

Project description

Environmental Justice Wikipedia Project: Conduct background research to identify strong source material for new articles about US environmental justice activists on Wikipedia. Student will be trained in finding and evaluating source material. Depending on student interest and ability, student may edit existing Wikipedia articles on environmental justice activists.

Environmental Justice Oral History collection: Edit transcripts of oral history interviews with environmental justice activists to prepare them for public release. Student will be trained in the editing process.

Perkins is faculty lead for all of the above. Depending on student interests and project needs, students could be assigned to either of these projects.

Special skills needed

Detail oriented
Responsible and reliable

All project skills can be taught, but familiarity with social movements, environmental justice, library sciences, racism and other forms of social inequality, oral history, literature reviews, Wikipedia and/or archiving is a plus.

Majors

Most humanities and social science degrees will be appropriate. Particularly useful degrees include: Justice Studies, Transborder Studies, American Indian Studies, Asian Pacific American Studies, African and African American Studies, Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, Sociology, History and American Studies.

Years

ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students, First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Health and Wellness, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 92

Center name: School of Molecular Sciences & School of Ocean Futures
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Liza Roger

Project description

My team focuses on understanding stress in corals and other symbiotic cnidarians (ie. sea anemones and upside-down jellyfish) from a cellular and biochemical point of view. We work on protein, symbiosis, metabolites, free radicals etc. to better understand environmental stress ahead of designing treatments such as nanomedicine for corals or chemical cues to improve coral health. For more information visit https://sms.asu.edu and https://oceans.asu.edu.

Special skills needed

Cleanliness, willingness to learn, can think on their feet, interested in marine research, knowledge in chemistry and biochemistry (some knowledge in marine science would be nice), the specific skill set here will be acquired during the Honors project (e.g. coral cell dissociation, coral culture, multiwell assays, fluorescence imaging, coral/anemone/jellyfish husbandry, protein extraction western blot, nanoparticle synthesis, cytotoxicity etc).

Majors

Chemistry, biochemistry, (case dependent: conservation biology, cellular biology)

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 93

Center name: SolarSPELL
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Laura Hosman

Project description

SolarSPELL is seeking 3-4 interns to curate regionally-relevant, engaging, and educational Wikipedia articles to add to our offline digital libraries that are used around the globe. Wikipedia for Schools (WFS) is a curated selection of ~7,000 articles from the full Wikipedia article catalog that are meant to be school-friendly and support existing curriculum. The SolarSPELL initiative includes WFS as a collection of our offline, digital libraries, which are localized for the community using them. As such, further review of WFS is necessary to assess what new articles to include and what articles to (perhaps) weed out in order to be as relevant as possible to our in-country library users around the world. This project would require research into relevant supporting materials for curricula where SolarSPELL currently has libraries, including countries in the Pacific Islands, East Africa, and Southern Africa. Students proficient in Arabic may also work on the Arabic WFS for our Northeast Syria library.

Special skills needed

- Ability to conduct research
- Thrive in a team environment and work well with others
- Detail oriented and reliable; a strong and honest work ethic motivates you
- Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world

Majors

All majors

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 94

Center name: SolarSPELL
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Laura Hosman

Project description

SolarSPELL is seeking students to curate regionally-relevant, open access, educational content for our Middle East library collection that is currently used in the Autonomous Region of North and East Syria (AANES). Proficiency in Arabic, Kurdish, OR Syriac is required. The Arabic collection on our digital library currently includes over 1500 resources. Students in this role will oversee the expansion and further development of the Arabic collection for use in North and East Syria and beyond. This is the first library to curate local content in three languages: Arabic, Kurdish, and Syriac. More information about our partnership with AANES can be found here: https://solarspell.org/rebuilding-education-during-conflict.

Special skills needed

- Arabic, Kurdish, or Syriac proficiency
- Thrive in a team environment and work well with others
- Detail oriented and reliable; a strong and honest work ethic motivates you
- Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world

Majors

All majors

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 95

Center name: SolarSPELL
Campus/Location: Tempe, Fully remote, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Laura Hosman

Project description

SolarSPELL is seeking enthusiastic interns with a passion for French, education, and community development to help curate culturally relevant, open-access educational content for our newest French language library, set to empower communities in West Africa. Students will work closely with the SolarSPELL team to prioritize content needs and address feedback. This opportunity allows for in-depth research on the cultural, linguistic, and educational contexts of West African / Sub-Saharan African countries, with a preliminary focus on Senegal, Cameroon, and/or Benin.

Special skills needed

- Strong written and verbal communication skills in both French and English.
- Thrive in a team environment and work well with others
- Detail oriented and reliable; a strong and honest work ethic motivates you
- Experience with online research, document curation, or working with open access resources.
- Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world

Majors

All majors

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 96

Center name: SolarSPELL
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Laura Hosman

Project description

SolarSPELL is looking for students with a strong passion for agriculture to help research and curate region-specific, open-access educational content for SolarSPELL’s Agriculture Library. New students will build on the foundation established by previous student teams, enhancing the library’s resources. The Agriculture Library focuses on climate change adaptation strategies for small-scale subsistence farmers in regions like South Sudan and Rwanda. A background in small-scale agriculture, including crops such as coffee and corn, as well as knowledge of climate change impacts is essential for effective research and content curation.

Special skills needed

- Background knowledge and/or experience with agricultural practices
- Detail oriented and reliable; a strong and honest work ethic motivates you
- Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world

Majors

All majors

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Health and Wellness, Sustainability

Project # 98

Center name: SolarSPELL
Campus/Location: Tempe, Fully remote, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Laura Hosman

Project description

SolarSPELL is seeking a team of students who are passionate about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to curate regionally-relevant, open-access, educational content for the collections in the SolarSPELL library. Students will review, research, and select high-quality STEM resources that align with the curricula and educational needs of SolarSPELL’s target regions, including countries in the Pacific Islands, East Africa, Northeast Syria, and Southern Africa. Interns will focus on ensuring that materials are engaging, culturally appropriate, and suitable for offline learning environments. This project will also involve identifying gaps in the existing library collections and sourcing innovative content that supports foundational STEM education and sparks curiosity in learners worldwide.

Special skills needed

- Interest in STEM Education: Passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics topics.
- Ability to thrive in a team environment and work effectively with others.
- Detail oriented and reliable; a strong and honest work ethic motivates you
- Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world

Majors

All majors

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Education, Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 99

Center name: SolarSPELL
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Tempe, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Laura Hosman

Project description

SolarSPELL is seeking a music production intern to assist in the editing and production of songs that reflect the mission and values of our global educational initiative. The final product(s) will be used in various media and outreach initiatives, enhancing our organization's branding and storytelling efforts. This role offers the unique opportunity to apply music editing skills in a meaningful way, contributing to an organization that aims to improve access to education in resource-constrained regions to children around the world.

Special skills needed

- Experience in music production, including audio editing, mixing, and mastering
- Proficiency in music production software
- Strong attention to detail and the ability to work independently while meeting deadlines
- Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world

Majors

All majors

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 110

Center name: LightWorks
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Ivan Ermanoski

Project description

The goal of this project is to determine the feasibility of edible mushroom cultivation on abiotic substrates. The approach is a sustainable alternative to photosynthetic crops, to decrease the environmental footprint of food production by 100x, while improving nutritional quality and access to food and minimizing food waste. The project is predominantly lab-based and mycelium cultivation, mechanical and electrical design, and experiment-computer interface.

Special skills needed

Interest in in sustainable food systems

Majors

Biology, chemical, mechanical, electrical engineering, chemistry, physics, and related disciplines

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 113

Center name: Sustainable Critical Minerals and Communities Laboratory
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Datu Buyung Agusdinata

Project description

In 2023, wind energy accounts for over 10% of electricity generation in the U.S., making it the country's largest renewable energy source. The U.S. has installed more than 145 GW of wind capacity. Offshore wind, though nascent, is projected to reach 30 GW by 2030.

The project explores the future evolution of wind energy technologies in the United States. In modeling such dynamics, the project will consider factors such as policy incentives, Innovations in turbine design, retirement rate of old turbines, availability of land and critical minerals, and installation and operating costs. The project covers both onshore wind farms and offshore projects. Based on several projections of wind energy capacity and the existing wind farm database, the project will use an Excel spreadsheet to model the retirement and addition of wind turbines for 2025-2050.

Special skills needed

Spreadsheet modeling, statistical and data analysis, basic software coding

Majors

Engineering, Technology, Sustainability

Years

3rd Year Students, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 114

Center name: Kusumi Lab
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Kenro Kusumi

Project description

There are about 30,000 amniote vertebrate species, and nearly 10,000 of these species are reptiles. Reptiles display incredible diversity of morphological and physiological adaptations to their environments, compared with mammals and birds, but they have not been the focus on genomic or molecular studies. We have deciphered the genome of the Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), a hallmark species of the desert southwest that is threatened with habitat loss and disease. This recent work is described in this video. We have also completed the reference genome for the Sonoran desert tortoise (G. morafkai) and the Texas tortoise (G. berlandieri) and are using these data to study the effects of changes in the Colorado River and monsoon precipitation on the evolution of these species across the southwestern US. Students with interest or skills in computational biology or bioinformatics will work with researchers to further investigate the genetics of the desert tortoises.

Special skills needed

Scripting (R, Python) or coding skills preferred, Familiarity with command line platforms (UNIX, Linux, etc.), Interest in applying computational approaches to conservation science

Majors

BS Biological Sciences, BS Data Science, BS Biochemistry, BS Neuroscience, BS Geography or GIS

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 115

Center name: ASU Percussion Program/ New Morse Code
Campus/Location: Fully remote
Faculty lead: Michael Compitello

Project description

The Language of Landscapes Hub (LoL Hub) is a multi-media public digital resource designed to encourage action on climate change through engaged and collective observation and communication. LoL Hub combines field recordings and collectively recorded/performed music; interviews with humanities scholars and scientists; and models for community activities generated by musical ensemble New Morse Code (Hannah Collins and PI Michael Compitello), composer Christopher Stark, and participants in a number of community engagement activities throughout the US. LoL Hub will expand these in-person activities along lines recommended by humanities scholars and project consultants, encouraging members of the public to engage with one another’s acoustic ecologies, sonic history, and community priorities through the creation of a publicly available database of field recordings and musical compositions.

Project
Work with faculty lead Michael Compitello on creating a public-facing LoL Hub database and public interface, including ArcGIS, UI design, and StoryMap creation.

Assemble and tag project resources, design ArcGIS framework and additional content, including professionally recorded video interviews, photos/videos taken at project sites, and suggested reading/listening/activities.

Work with Compitello to design and create ArcGIS map, and ArcGIS StoryMaps, which will present project- and site-specific information for all extant project locations, introductions to the scholarship of project experts and consultants, and guidance for user participation. Create and add to the database of field recordings.

Special skills needed

ArcGIS, Database creation and editing, Geotagging sound files, photos, and videos, Meta-data tagging of sound files with component sounds (birds, water, wind, or specific musical instruments), Web editing: this project is primarily in ArcGIS and StoryMaps, but experience in web design is a plus, Experience in video and audio editing

Majors

Geographic Information Science (Online and in-person), Data Analytics, Global Futures, Innovation in Society, Sustainability, Media Arts and Sciences, Graphic information technology, Music, Interdisciplinary Studies

Years

ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Humanities, Sustainability

Project # 117

Center name: Sustainable Critical Minerals and Communities
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Datu Buyung Agusdinata

Project description

Deep-sea mining (DSM) refers to activities to extract minerals such as nickel, copper, cobalt, and rare earths from the ocean floor up to 6000 m in depth. It has emerged as a contentious frontier in resource extraction that promises access to valuable critical minerals while raising significant environmental, social, and ethical concerns. The project aims to gauge public perception of DSM, particularly in regions directly linked to its operations. The project will use a socio-ecological, and technological systems (SETS) framework and employ Q-methodology, a qualitative-quantitative approach that reveals the subjective viewpoints of participants. In collaboration with the Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), the study will focus on countries in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, regions where DSM activity and its potential impacts are particularly relevant. The Q-methodology will involve engaging diverse stakeholders to identify shared and contrasting perspectives that provide nuanced insights into public attitudes.

Special skills needed

Statistical and data analysis, system thinking, psychology and human behavior

Majors

Psychology, Sociology, Sustainability, Statistics

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 119

Center name: Sustainable Critical Minerals and Communities Laboratory
Campus/Location: Tempe, Polytechnic, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Datu Buyung Agusdinata

Project description

Arizona has a long history as a hub for mining, particularly copper. While mining has contributed significantly to the state’s economy, it has also left a legacy of environmental degradation, including water contamination, habitat destruction, and pollution, along with social challenges such as land disputes and the marginalization of Indigenous and local communities. These issues underscore the need for a more equitable and sustainable approach to mining operations.
This project aims to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to support just and sustainable mining practices in Arizona by designing a communication platform/interface to enhance collaboration among stakeholders, including mining companies, government agencies, local communities, and advocacy groups. The AI-powered platform will promote trust-building, transparency, and informed decision-making by facilitating data sharing, real-time monitoring of environmental and social impacts, and conflict resolution.

Special skills needed

AI applications, Data analytics, social and environmental justice

Majors

Computer science, Sustainability

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Engineering, Sustainability

Project # 120

Center name: Water Equity Lab
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Maura Allaire

Project description

The Water Equity Lab within the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (SGSUP) is launching a multidisciplinary study of how climate and governance shape access to adequate water and wastewater services. Little is known about the social dimensions of onsite infrastructure or how climate change will impact such systems. Regional modeling will examine the effectiveness of state, county, and local policies; findings can identify practices that enable resilience of wastewater systems under more frequent and extreme precipitation events.

Special skills needed

Strong analysis skills, including statistical modeling and/or spatial analysis. Interest in water infrastructure and/or environmental policy.

Majors

Sustainability, Urban Planning, Civil Engineering, Economics, Business Management, Computer Science

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Engineering, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 121

Center name: The Biomimicry Center
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Sarah El-Sayed

Project description

Student will support existing activities related to lab to market for biomimetic innovations across campus, including developing an educational module on biomimicry to be used by Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The student will also maintain the social media page with periodic updates.

Special skills needed

Research methods, possibly grant writing experience, social media

Majors

life sciences, interdisciplinary, business, sustainability

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Business and Entrepreneurship, Sustainability