Dr. Erica Majumder broadly classifies her research as “waste management microbiology.” Her group aims to use microorganisms to develop new strategies capable of removing pollutants from the environment and repurposing industrial and agricultural waste. With 292.4 million tons of solid waste being produced each year, in the US alone, finding new ways to upcycling these resources is crucial for environmental sustainability.
Waste
Dairy Goldmine: Gulustan Ozturk finds the nutrition in waste
Dr. Gulustan Ozturk’s research at UW-Madison focuses on bioactive compounds found in milk and dairy streams. Her main goal is to isolate these compounds using advanced processing methods to develop microbiome-centered interventions for improving human health, with potential applications in personalized nutrition and precision treatments. This work supports sustainability by adding value to dairy coproducts and streams, such as utilizing whey protein phospholipid concentrate which is a byproduct of whey processing, contributing to economic, environmental, and social sustainability as part of the Dairy Innovation Hub’s mission.
A Forkful of Sustainability
Imagine a meal from your favorite restaurant. Now imagine one-third of it sitting in a truck, heading to a waste facility. This is the reality for most eating establishments. A large quantity of a restaurant’s …
Post-Landfill Action Network membership offers benefits for UW–Madison community
UW–Madison is a PLAN Member until December 31st, 2024. All UW–Madison students, staff, and faculty are eligible to take advantage of the campus membership offerings. Below, you can learn more about benefits and registration details. …
How UW–Madison moves out sustainably
When Malorie Garbe became the Sustainability Coordinator for University Housing in July 2020, she faced a unique experience with Sustainability Move Out. Her predecessor, Breana Nehls, had developed the program to donate or recycle as …
Campus users respond to food waste survey
On August 4th, 2021, the Office of Sustainability informed campus users of changes to the UW–Madison food waste collection program. As part of the announcement, a survey was circulated to assess the thoughts, opinions, …
Compost changes: UW–Madison must overhaul food waste collection program
In recent years, UW–Madison maintained a successful campus food waste collection program. However, due to unforeseen circumstances the university must overhaul the program. Learn more below and please take our survey to help UW determine …
UW–Madison students join Zero Waste Atlas Fellowship
This spring, five UW–Madison students joined the Zero Waste Atlas Fellowship. The Zero Waste Atlas is a new scoring system and benchmarking tool to assess a university’s capacity to achieve its zero waste goals. Fellows …
Social Sustainability Coalition highlights Black leaders in environmentalism
During Black History Month, Social Sustainability Coalition members created a social media campaign to highlight prominent Black leaders in the field of environmentalism and sustainability. These leaders and their contributions were featured on the Office …
Office of Sustainability welcomes expertise in energy and resource management
The UW–Madison Office of Sustainability strengthened its capacity to advance sustainability across campus with the hire of two staff members in early 2020. Josh Arnold now serves as Campus Energy Advisor, while Travis Blomberg serves …