Research
Using the Sun to Clean up the Atmosphere
Valparaiso University prides itself on the opportunities it provides students to use their learning to serve a greater cause. The University is also committed to sustainability, and keeping the planet as clean and healthy as possible. A new grant from the United States Department of Energy has given Valpo a chance to live those values.
The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that to meet temperature goals in the coming years, we must go beyond lowering our carbon emissions and seeking alternate fuel sources — we must also develop ways of removing carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. A grant from the Department of Energy given to Carbon Solutions, LLC will be used to research more efficient methods of carbon dioxide extraction and storage, and the company has turned to researchers at Valparaiso University’s James S. Markiewicz Solar Research Facility to help.
Valparaiso University Professor Receives $300,000 Grant to Research Micro and Nano-plastics
Julie Peller, Ph.D., professor of chemistry at Valparaiso University, and her team of collaborators and student researchers have been named the recipients of nearly $500,000 National Science Foundation Grant to continue their work in micro and nanoplastics research. The three-year grant is a continuation of a previous grant that Peller was awarded in 2020.
“I was very happy to find out we’d been named the recipients,” Peller said. “We’re finding this research to be very interesting. The more we work on it, the more questions arise.”