Stewards Magazine

Unhealthy air quality created by smoke from the Canadian wildfires has been a topic of concern across Michigan and much of the U.S. lately. But for residents of the 48217 community in Southwest Detroit, known as the most polluted ZIP code in Michigan, breathing toxic air has been their daily experience for decades. SEAS graduates sought to bring awareness to 48217 and its environmental burdens through their master’s project, “Mapping Environmental Justice and Uplifting Community Survival in Southwest Detroit.”

An estimated 19 square miles of vacant land remain scattered throughout Detroit, representing unique opportunities and complex challenges. Who acquires this vacant land and how it is transformed holds the potential to empower communities to reinvent the future of Detroit, something that SEAS Assistant Professor of Practice in Landscape Architecture Lisa DuRussel (BS ’02, MLA ’06), alongside her students and community collaborators, is passionate about ensuring.

Thanks to the digital revolution, a burgeoning amount of big data is available in real-time on a mass scale. Big data offers scientists unparalleled access to vast amounts of raw information that can be harvested, analyzed and translated into new solutions to the world’s most challenging problems—including sustainability and climate change. We spoke to four SEAS professors about how they are using big data to reimagine sustainability solutions to agriculture, landscape conservation, biological systems and cities.

A compilation of news and updates from SEAS and PitE alumni, all in one spot.