Salve Regina University Act on Climate: Strategic Plan for the University to Reach State Carbon Neutrality Goals

In order to become more sustainable and meet the mandate set by the 2021 Rhode Island Act on Climate law (RI General Law §42-6.2), Salve Regina University must work to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. Action to meet these standards begins now and must be continually built upon to ensure that Salve Regina University, as leader in Rhode Island, is always working for a more sustainable future. Throughout the Spring 2022 semester, students of the BIO-140: Humans and Their Environment course instructed by Dr. Jameson Chace have researched ways in which Salve Regina can begin on the path to zero greenhouse gas emissions today. By focusing on change in the areas of energy, transportation, food, financial investments, and sequestration, Salve Regina can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of today for a more sustainable tomorrow. Recommendations are broken into three time periods. Action for today to achieve by 2030 include improving energy efficiency, installing the first electric vehicle (EV) parking/charging stations, increasing carbon sequestration, reducing beef in the campus diet, and assessing the carbon impact of university financial holdings. Actions to be initiated soon and to be achieved by 2040 include shifting away from natural gas heating when system renewals take place, increasing EV parking to meet rising demand, during turnover replace current university vehicles with electric or hybrid, continuing with sequestration efforts on campus, begin phasing out high carbon diet items, and by 2040 the university investment portfolio should be carbon neutral. If carbon neutrality can be reached by 2050 the most challenging aspects of campus life that need to change will require planning now and thoughtful implementation. The class in 2022 envisions a campus in 2050 where solar lights illuminate campus and buildings through the night, all university vehicles and most faculty and staff vehicles are electric and are found charging during the day at solar powered charging stations, dining services in Miley supports community agriculture and includes incentives for meatless and low carbon meal plans, the university has become a leader in low carbon/green market investing demonstrating how careful planning can reap high returns, and carbon sequestration on campus grounds has maximized such that off campus carbon offsets are established with local land trusts to complete the carbon neutrality goals. In doing so no only will the university be recognized as a state-wide leader in climate action, but will also be a global leader in working towards a world that is more harmonious, just, and merciful.https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/bio140_arboretum/1033/thumbnail.jp

Salve Regina University Act on Climate: Strategic Plan for the University to Reach State Carbon Neutrality Goals

In order to become more sustainable and meet the mandate set by the 2021 Rhode Island Act on Climate law (RI General Law §42-6.2), Salve Regina University must work to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. Action to meet these standards begins now and must be continually built upon to ensure that Salve Regina University, as leader in Rhode Island, is always working for a more sustainable future. Throughout the Spring 2022 semester, students of the BIO-140: Humans and Their Environment course instructed by Dr. Jameson Chace have researched ways in which Salve Regina can begin on the path to zero greenhouse gas emissions today. By focusing on change in the areas of energy, transportation, food, financial investments, and sequestration, Salve Regina can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of today for a more sustainable tomorrow. Recommendations are broken into three time periods. Action for today to achieve by 2030 include improving energy efficiency, installing the first electric vehicle (EV) parking/charging stations, increasing carbon sequestration, reducing beef in the campus diet, and assessing the carbon impact of university financial holdings. Actions to be initiated soon and to be achieved by 2040 include shifting away from natural gas heating when system renewals take place, increasing EV parking to meet rising demand, during turnover replace current university vehicles with electric or hybrid, continuing with sequestration efforts on campus, begin phasing out high carbon diet items, and by 2040 the university investment portfolio should be carbon neutral. If carbon neutrality can be reached by 2050 the most challenging aspects of campus life that need to change will require planning now and thoughtful implementation. The class in 2022 envisions a campus in 2050 where solar lights illuminate campus and buildings through the night, all university vehicles and most faculty and staff vehicles are electric and are found charging during the day at solar powered charging stations, dinning services in Miley supports community agriculture and includes incentives for meatless and low carbon meal plans, the university has become a leader in low carbon/green market investing demonstrating how careful planning can reap high returns, and carbon sequestration on campus grounds has maximized such that off campus carbon offsets are established with local land trusts to complete the carbon neutrality goals. In doing so no only will the university be recognized as a state-wide leader in climate action, but will also be a global leader in working towards a world that is more harmonious, just, and merciful

Salve Regina University Act on Climate: Strategic Plan for the University to Reach State Carbon Neutrality Goals

In order to become more sustainable and meet the mandate set by the 2021 Rhode Island Act on Climate law (RI General Law §42-6.2), Salve Regina University must work to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. Action to meet these standards begins now and must be continually built upon to ensure that Salve Regina University, as leader in Rhode Island, is always working for a more sustainable future. Throughout the Spring 2022 semester, students of the BIO-140: Humans and Their Environment course instructed by Dr. Jameson Chace have researched ways in which Salve Regina can begin on the path to zero greenhouse gas emissions today. By focusing on change in the areas of energy, transportation, food, financial investments, and sequestration, Salve Regina can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of today for a more sustainable tomorrow. Recommendations are broken into three time periods. Action for today to achieve by 2030 include improving energy efficiency, installing the first electric vehicle (EV) parking/charging stations, increasing carbon sequestration, reducing beef in the campus diet, and assessing the carbon impact of university financial holdings. Actions to be initiated soon and to be achieved by 2040 include shifting away from natural gas heating when system renewals take place, increasing EV parking to meet rising demand, during turnover replace current university vehicles with electric or hybrid, continuing with sequestration efforts on campus, begin phasing out high carbon diet items, and by 2040 the university investment portfolio should be carbon neutral. If carbon neutrality can be reached by 2050 the most challenging aspects of campus life that need to change will require planning now and thoughtful implementation. The class in 2022 envisions a campus in 2050 where solar lights illuminate campus and buildings through the night, all university vehicles and most faculty and staff vehicles are electric and are found charging during the day at solar powered charging stations, dinning services in Miley supports community agriculture and includes incentives for meatless and low carbon meal plans, the university has become a leader in low carbon/green market investing demonstrating how careful planning can reap high returns, and carbon sequestration on campus grounds has maximized such that off campus carbon offsets are established with local land trusts to complete the carbon neutrality goals. In doing so no only will the university be recognized as a state-wide leader in climate action, but will also be a global leader in working towards a world that is more harmonious, just, and merciful

Risk of COVID-19 after natural infection or vaccinationResearch in context

Background: While vaccines have established utility against COVID-19, phase 3 efficacy studies have generally not comprehensively evaluated protection provided by previous infection or hybrid immunity (previous infection plus vaccination). Individual patient data from US government-supported harmonized vaccine trials provide an unprecedented sample population to address this issue. We characterized the protective efficacy of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and hybrid immunity against COVID-19 early in the pandemic over three-to six-month follow-up and compared with vaccine-associated protection. Methods: In this post-hoc cross-protocol analysis of the Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, and Novavax COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, we allocated participants into four groups based on previous-infection status at enrolment and treatment: no previous infection/placebo; previous infection/placebo; no previous infection/vaccine; and previous infection/vaccine. The main outcome was RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 >7–15 days (per original protocols) after final study injection. We calculated crude and adjusted efficacy measures. Findings: Previous infection/placebo participants had a 92% decreased risk of future COVID-19 compared to no previous infection/placebo participants (overall hazard ratio [HR] ratio: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.05–0.13). Among single-dose Janssen participants, hybrid immunity conferred greater protection than vaccine alone (HR: 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01–0.10). Too few infections were observed to draw statistical inferences comparing hybrid immunity to vaccine alone for other trials. Vaccination, previous infection, and hybrid immunity all provided near-complete protection against severe disease. Interpretation: Previous infection, any hybrid immunity, and two-dose vaccination all provided substantial protection against symptomatic and severe COVID-19 through the early Delta period. Thus, as a surrogate for natural infection, vaccination remains the safest approach to protection. Funding: National Institutes of Health

Risk of COVID-19 after natural infection or vaccinationResearch in context

Summary: Background: While vaccines have established utility against COVID-19, phase 3 efficacy studies have generally not comprehensively evaluated protection provided by previous infection or hybrid immunity (previous infection plus vaccination). Individual patient data from US government-supported harmonized vaccine trials provide an unprecedented sample population to address this issue. We characterized the protective efficacy of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and hybrid immunity against COVID-19 early in the pandemic over three-to six-month follow-up and compared with vaccine-associated protection. Methods: In this post-hoc cross-protocol analysis of the Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, and Novavax COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, we allocated participants into four groups based on previous-infection status at enrolment and treatment: no previous infection/placebo; previous infection/placebo; no previous infection/vaccine; and previous infection/vaccine. The main outcome was RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 >7–15 days (per original protocols) after final study injection. We calculated crude and adjusted efficacy measures. Findings: Previous infection/placebo participants had a 92% decreased risk of future COVID-19 compared to no previous infection/placebo participants (overall hazard ratio [HR] ratio: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.05–0.13). Among single-dose Janssen participants, hybrid immunity conferred greater protection than vaccine alone (HR: 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01–0.10). Too few infections were observed to draw statistical inferences comparing hybrid immunity to vaccine alone for other trials. Vaccination, previous infection, and hybrid immunity all provided near-complete protection against severe disease. Interpretation: Previous infection, any hybrid immunity, and two-dose vaccination all provided substantial protection against symptomatic and severe COVID-19 through the early Delta period. Thus, as a surrogate for natural infection, vaccination remains the safest approach to protection. Funding: National Institutes of Health