Architecture & Urban Planning

Editor's Note: The Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation helped fund Sarah's early work on Conservation Development with the Wildlife Conservation Society through a Leadership Grant.

As recently as 20 years ago, there were an estimated 50,000 rivers in China, each covering a flow area of at least 60 square miles. But now, according to China's First National Census of Water, more than 28,000 of these rivers are missing. To put this number into context, China's lost rivers are almost equivalent, in terms of basin area, to the United States losing the entire Mississippi River. Why have these rivers "vanished" from the maps and national records?

China's environmental situation is frequently scrutinized both within China and across the world. In the second half of a two-part podcast Angel Hsu, a China expert completing her PhD this May at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, discusses urbanization in China and India and China's push to develop sustainable ecocities. Listen to the podcast

Low-income neighborhoods are more often exposed to poor environmental quality when compared to wealthier communities, and scientists are saying this gap will increase as climate change is more widely felt.

Diesel-powered vehicles are a significant source of pollution, impacting health and contributing to climate change. The Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative, a coalition of community, environmental advocacy and public health departments, is working together with the Pacific Institute to reduce the impact of this pollution on low-income communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

1999 Switzer Fellow Erika Zavaleta strives to bridge ecological theory and research to sound conservation and management practice in her work and personal life. Between 2008 and 2010, she and husband Bernie Tershy worked with Anni Tilt of Berkeley-based Arkin Tilt Architects and Santa Cruz builder Marc Susskind to design and build a home that did just that.

Are you a homeowner, interested in finding ways to make your home or investment property more sustainable? Then listen to Beverly Craig (1994) discuss lessons learned from six years working on improving the water and energy performance of multifamily affordable housing with Homeowner's Rehab, a nonprofit that owns over 1,000 units of affordable housing in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Thanks to a Switzer Foundation Professional Development Grant, I had the opportunity in January to attend the 13th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment, titled “Disasters and Environment: Science, Preparedness and Resilience.” The conference brought together experts from many disciplines and sectors to delve into the complex challenges associated with preparing for, responding to, and recovering from natural disasters.

Los Angeles, California, is one of the biggest transportation in the world, but that has major health implications for residents. Exposure to diesel fumes has an impact on everyone, and Switzer Fellow Scott Fruin documents those effects, especially on children.