ISIE Student Newsletter - International Society for Industrial Ecology

Student Community of the International
Society for Industrial Ecology
August 2016
ISIE Student Newsletter
DEAR INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGISTS,
This has been a busy year so far! 2016 is providing plenty of opportunities for getting to know new colleagues, seeing old friends
and collaborators, and mingling with several young and senior
academics. We are happy to see many known faces this year in
many events worldwide!
In this Newsletter we bring reports from the first ISIE Americas
meeting, in Bogota, Colombia, that took place in May, and from
the Gordon Research Conference and Seminar, in Vermont,
USA, in June. We also bring you some information about the upcoming ISIE joint Socio-Economic Metabolism section conference and Asia-Pacific meeting, in Nagoya, Japan, in September.
During the first semester of 2016 we expanded our communication channels between the Board and the students, and also between the student members with each other! We hope we can all
engage more and more into exchanging ideas, experiences, and
opportunities with other student members.
This is the last Newsletter of the 2015-16 Board, which means
that we will have elections to the board soon! Have you ever
thought about participating in the Student Board? In this issue
we talk a little bit on what it means being a member of the board.
Here you will also find information and calls for next conferences, job opportunities, and news from students from all over
the world. You can submit your own stories and pictures for the
next newsletters by writing us at isiestudentchapter@gmail.com.
Yours,
Moana, Felipe, Alessio, Maryam, Carla, Éléonore, and Ignes
The Student Community Board of 2015-16
INSIDE THIS ISSUE

The students events
in the ISIE Americas

IE Gordon Research
Seminar and Conference

Upcoming conferences

News from the student board

Around the world

Jobs and research
opportunities
THE STUDENT EVENTS IN BOGOTA:
THE FIRST ISIE AMERICAS MEETING WAS A GREAT
SUCCESS!
Strong students’ presence in the 1st ISIE Americas Regional Meeting: Industrial
Ecology and Green Transformation, held in Bogotá, Colombia from Wednesday
25 to Friday 27 May 2016. The ISIE Student Community Board and Universidad de los
Andes (the conference host) planned and carried out the following student events:
Half day Pre-Conference Workshop on Tuesday 24th with a panel discussion with
three renowned panellists from the field:
- Dr. Reid J. Lifset - Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Industrial Ecology (US)
- Dr. Jeroen Guinée - Associate Professor of Leiden University (Netherlands)
- Dr. Bart Van Hoof - Associate Professor of Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)
Over 20 industrial ecology students, early career researchers and young professionals
from all over the world, who enrolled in active and inspiring discussions with the expert panel.
An informative presentation by Judy Crocker, from the ISIE Administration (Yale University), about the society and memberships.
One of the ISIE Student Board members, Felipe Vásquez, as panel moderator and who
also provided the assistants with general information about the Student Community
Board and the next board elections.
At the end of the workshop the students joined the conference’s welcome reception.
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THE STUDENT EVENTS IN BOGOTA
The Student Poster Competition was held on Thursday 26th, with some of ISIE’s
elite doing the judging and Dr. Chris Kennedy (President of ISIE) awarding the the
winners. Two students, Andrés Esteban Acero and Julia Helena Díaz, were jointly
awarded the prize for the best poster during the Conference in Bogotá. Congratulations!
Winner of the best poster:
Andrés Esteban and Julia Helena
Poster Title: “Microenterprises going green: Learning and green measurement in Cundinamarca region”
Andrés Esteban and Julia Helena are both PhD students from Universidad de los
Andes (Colombia). Andrés holds a bachelors’ and a masters’ degrees on Industrial
Engineering from the same institution, and his research includes natural resources
management and green transformation of small business. He is the co-founder of the
research group on complex adaptive systems and social network analysis in Colombia.
Julia received a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in industrial engineering also from Universidad de los Andes. Her areas of interest are social
partnerships in emergent economies, green transformation of small business and organizational learning.
Special mentions were also given to Sebastían Arévalo Ribón from Universidad
de los Andes and to Stjin van Ewijk from University College London for their outstanding participation in the poster competition.
The four students received winning certificates during the conference’s closing session
and were acknowledged with free ISIE memberships. Then, the students joined the
closing cocktail (with dance included) to later head out for one of the best city restaurants/bars.
The first America’s regional meeting was a
great success, so were the student events at
it. All the activities provided a successful initial platform and set the bar quite high for
the next regional meeting in two years, to be
held (likely) in Mexico.
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GORDON RESEARCH SEMINAR
The Gordon Research Seminar and Conference were great!!
The seminar entitled Transparency and Interdisciplinary Collaboration on
Popular Approaches to the Environmental Crisis in a Critical Decade was
organized by Dominik Wiedenhofer & Heidi von Korff and had the participation
of about 50 young researchers and very interesting presentations!
Menga Tao from the University of California in Santa Barbara was elected the chair
for the next Gordon Seminar. Morgan Edwards from MIT will be the co-chair. Congratulations!!
My name is Mengya Tao and I am extremely honored
to be selected as the Chair of 2018 Gordon Research
Seminars Industrial Ecology. I sincerely thank all of
you for your trust and confidence in me. Currently, I
am a PhD student at the Bren School of Environmental
Science and Management and a Master’s student at
the Probability and Statistics Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara - UCSB. I hold an
MS in Environmental Science and Management from
UCSB, as well as a BS from Tongji University, China.
It was my first time attending GRS/GRC, which took place in Stowe, Vermont in June,
but it was indeed my most favorite and enjoyable conference. At GRS, the welcoming
and supportive atmosphere highly motivated me to be engaged in every presentation
and discussion. Most importantly, we not only learned the cutting-edge research from
our peer scientists, but also built close friendship through the amazing networking experiences. I hope we will keep those exceptional characteristics of previous GRS and
expand efforts into bringing in more excellent scholars from around the world. I will
seize this incredible opportunity to work with you and our co-Chair Morgan Edwards
jointly to make our next GRS cutting-edge, engaging, and memorable.
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GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE POSTER WINNER
Winner of the best student poster:
Tamar Makov
Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
Reuse and the Useful durability of Consumer Electronics:
Utilizing big data to examine what enables used products to preserve value
The fast pace at which consumer goods are currently replaced conflicts with the pursuit of a sustainable society. The environmental and public health challenges associated with the ‘throwaway culture’ are particularly evident in the case of consumer electronics who typically underlive their environmentally optimal lifespan. Though consumers often report feeling uncomfortable disposing of functioning products, and a general dissatisfaction with current replacement rates, yet it
remains unclear what factors encourage reuse and enable products to maintain usefulness over time.
In my research I wish to fill this gap by analyzing both macro and micro level data to
assess what I term the useful durability of products. I derive useful durability
by analyzing changes in the market prices of used goods in relation to the price of the
same goods sold new. For the purpose this research, I have compiled a large database containing over 550,000 listings
for used smartphones offered for sale
in 2015 on eBay.com. I calculate the average
useful durability for each specific model and
use it as a proxy for use-phase duration and
sustainability.
Examining real sales data and relying on a
demand based indicator such as useful
durability allows me to side step methodological issues in the field of sustainable
consumption, such as social desirability bias and the attitude-behavior gap. Drawing
on my findings I explore a range of potentially influential factors, including
repairability, brand and original price, to identify if and what role these
play in determining a products’ longevity.
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
Nagoya University will be the host of the 12th Socio-Economic Metabolism section onference, and the 5th Asia-Pacific conference. The main conference will take place on 28
-30 September 2016, and a special day for students and young professionals,
organised by the ISIE Student Community Board, in collaboration with the local Students’ Organising Committee, is scheduled for the morning of Tuesday 27 September.
The theme of the day will be “A career in Industrial Ecology – Thoughtful plan
or fortuitous coincidence?”, and participants will have the honour of listening to
the talks of Tim Baynes (CSIRO, Australia), Jonathan Cullen (University of Cambridge, UK), Marina Fischer-Kowalski (Alpen-Adria University, Austria), Yasushi
Kondo (Waseda University, Japan), Stefan Paulik (University of Freiburg, Germany),
Sabrina Spatari (Drexel University, USA), and Xin Tian (Beijing Normal University,
China). After the speakers’ addresses, students will have the possibility to privately talk
with them in small groups, having a unique and friendly opportunity to interact with
some of the most prominent members of our society.
Throughout the conference students of Nagoya University will organise social gatherings, so that everybody will have the possibility to bond with fellow industrial ecologists, and experience a slice of Japanese nightlife.
Students who will participate with a poster will have the chance to compete for best
poster competition, and take home, beside of a nice certificate, a special prize.
Up to now over 80 people has signed for participating in the Students’ Day, and we are
hoping to increase this number. If you still have not done it, you can sign in while registering for the main conference. In the case you already registered to the conference,
but missed the registration to the Students’ Day, you can contact the conference organisers, who will happily add you to the list of attendees.
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UPCOMING CONFERENCES
NEXT ISIE CONFERENCE
ISIE 2017 BIENNIAL CONFERENCE CHICAGO
JUNE 25-29, 2017
The next ISIE biennial conference will be held in Chicago from June 25-29 2017 organized by Prof. Thomas Theis from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and
Prof. Weslynne Ashton from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).
The Student Community Board of the International Society for Industrial Ecology
(ISIE) will be organizing The Fifth Symposium on Industrial Ecology for
Young Professionals (SIEYP V), focusing on helping students and young professionals to improve their communication skills and disseminate their research. The
symposium also provides the opportunity for networking and integration for young
professionals prior to the conference date.
SAVE THE DATE!!!
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NEWS FROM THE STUDENT BOARD
New resources on the website
We have new resources on the Website!
You can keep an eye on the “Resources” in the student’s section of the ISIE website.
We publish tools, data, GitHubs, and more which are made by students and/or relevant for students and young professionals. If you have anything you would like to add
there, send us an e-mail, and we will include it!
New communication channels
During the first semester of 2016 we expanded our communication channels!
Mailing list
Following the recommendation from the students in the IV Symposium of Industrial
Ecology for Young Professionals in July 2015 at the University of Surrey, UK, we created a mailing list for the student community. The mailing list is open for all students
and young professionals who want to share ideas, collaboration opportunities, research or job opportunities, or discuss any issue regarding industrial ecology! You
don’t have to be an ISIE member to join!
To join the mailing list, you can sign in here: http://www.freelists.org/list/isiestudentcommunity
To send an e-mail to the mailing list, you just need to write your e-mail to
isie-studentcommunity@freelists.org (note that you need to be registered to the mailing list before you can send a message).
Facebook group
The existing Facebook group “Industrial Ecology Students and Graduates” is now administrated by the ISIE-SC board! We encourage all ISIE students to join and participate in making this group alive and dynamic, and most of all relevant for young industrial ecologists all around the world. The aim of this group is to share information related to IE jobs and projects in a more informal way than in the official ISIE Facebook
group.
8
NEWS FROM THE STUDENT BOARD
Elections for the 2016-17 Student Board
The election period is coming up again soon and it will be time to say goodbye to three
of our board members and welcome three new ones... So keep an eye on your emails as
there will be a call for nominations in September 2016, followed by a voting period in
October and then final results will be announced in the last week of October. For those
interested in being part of the student board we encourage you to start thinking about
why and how you might contribute to helping the student community as you will be
asked to write a personal statement (to be sent around the end of September).
Congratulations for the new chairs of the EEIO section!
Congratulations to the new board of the Environmentally-Extended Input-Output
(EEIO) section!
Richard Wood and Tommy Wiedmann are the new co-chairs of the section, and Alexandra Marques and Joao Rodrigues were elected as board members.
Are you a member of the EEIO section or of any other ISIE section? Sections provide a
small community within the ISIE through which members can exchange ideas and
form collaborations.
AROUND THE WORLD
NEWS, REPORTS, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE MEMBERS OF ISIE
Quantitative evaluation of data quality in regional Material Flow
Analysis
Oliver Schwab (Vienna University of Technology, Austria)
Discussions at this years’ GRS and GRC identified data
quality issues as typical problems of virtually any socioeconomic metabolism study. A new method proposes
that data quality in MFA often is a “lack-of-knowledgeproblem” (epistemic uncertainty) rather than a
"variability problem" (aleatory uncertainty). Check it
out: “Quantitative evaluation of data quality in regional Material Flow Analysis” (Schwab, Laner,
Rechberger – available in JIE soon).
Data Visualizations in Urban Metabolism Research
Metabolism of Cities Team (Aris, Gabriela, Rachel and Paul)
There are many ways to visualize results in urban metabolism research, and it is a challenge to design a
map or diagram that is both clear and appealing while
capturing the full extent of the dataset. Should you
use Sankey diagrams, maps, or other visual representations? What software should you use? How can it
look professional without spending a lot of time on it?
At the Metabolism of Cities website we want to enlist
your help to answer those questions! We are setting
up a Stakeholders Initiative and invite everyone to join the discussion. Data Visualizations will be our first topic of discussion, running from August-October 2016. In this
time period, we will publish blog posts (guest contributions are welcome), host online
discussions, take stock of work in this field, and build upon open source software that
can help develop data visualizations.
To join the discussion please visit http://metabolismofcities.org/datavisualizations
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AROUND THE WORLD
An open source tool repository for industrial ecology
Moana Simas (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)
In June, Prof. Edgar Hertwich led a Workshop in Prospective
Modeling at Yale University in with the participation of students, researchers, and professors from various countries. After two days of discussion, the participants concluded that a
framework for building scenarios in industrial ecology would
require new perspectives on the theory and research questions,
an integration of methodologies and tools, and the need for
sharing data and modeling tools in the industrial ecology community.
The IndEcol GitHub offers a collection of open source projects relevant for industrial
ecology students, researchers, and practitioners. This repository is collaborative, and
everyone can access and contribute with it. The GitHub collection provides links to repositories useful for input-output analysis, material flow analysis, life cycle assessment, and other resources to make your codes (and your life!) easier. Feel free to join
and share open source tools with the industrial ecology community!
The link to the IndEcol GitHub is also available on the student’s Resources section of
the ISIE website.
The Journal of Industrial Ecology is now available in the Apple
Store!
The JIE now has an app for iPhones and iPads! It can be downloaded
at the Apple app store: bit.ly/JIE-app . We’re expecting an Android
version very soon!
11
AROUND THE WORLD!
An industrial ecologist’s report from the
annual input-output conference in Seoul,
South Korea
Carl-Johan Södersten (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)
Living in the country with the most expensive taxi fares
in the world, I have an inherent aversion to taking cabs. Nevertheless, on this particular Monday afternoon, when the Korean weather could have won an Oscar for its brilliant performance as a Belizean tropical storm, I did not think twice about hailing one
for the 5min drive to Yonsei University. What I should have thought twice about is the
specific drop-off point once there; the university turned out to be larger than the average Norwegian city. Needless to say, when I reached the massive Daewoo Hall after a
15min hike through torrential rain, shoes drenched beyond recognition, shirt glued to
the chest and with the sex appeal of a sad, wet dog, I wasn’t in the best of moods. Ironically, the first thing I received upon registering was a brand new umbrella.
I did not know what to expect of my first IO conference, but it turned out to be an altogether very good experience. As an engineer and mathematician doing environmental
research, I was technically out of my league at an economic conference, but I felt that
the environmental applications of IO were given an important role nonetheless: one
fourth of the sessions were primarily focused on topics related to industrial ecology,
and some of the most prominent researchers in our field were present. In a young and
relatively unknown field such as IE, spreading the messages across other, more established fields is something I believe is crucial to increase the recognition of IE as one of
the central and decisive science fields of the 21th century.
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JOB AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
EXTRACTED FROM THE ISIE LISTINGS WEBPAGE
For more information about job opportunities, please refer to the ISIE web page, LinkedIn
group and Facebook group. We also would like to invite you to post job and research
announcements on them. Thanks!
PostDoc position in Innovation/Sustainability/Quality Management at IQD/JKU,
Austria
Title: Postdoctoral candidate
Institution: Institute for Integrated Quality Design (IQD), Johannes Kepler University,
Location: Linz, Austria
Deadline: August 25, 2016
EICC Environmental Manager
Title: Environmental Program Manager
Institution: Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition
Location: Washington, DC/ Alexandria, and VA USA
Deadline: until position is filled
PhD position at IFP Energies Nouvelles
Title: PhD position available in the field of Life Cycle Assessment and biomaterials.
Institution: IFP Energies Nouvelles
Location: Montpellier and Rueil-Malmaison Cedex - France
Deadline: September 5, 2016
PhD Position at IFP Energies Nouvelles
Title: PhD position
Institution: IFP Energies Nouvelles, http://www.ifpenergiesnouvelles.com/
Location: Montpellier, France
Deadline: September 5, 2016
15 Marie Curie ITN PhD positions on Circular Economy Research
'Circ€uit' (deadline - 15 August 2016)
Title: Marie Curie ITN PhD positions (15)
Institution: Leiden University-CML
Location: Leiden, The Netherlands
Deadline: August 15, 2016
13
JOB AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
EXTRACTED FROM THE ISIE LISTINGS WEBPAGE
For more information about job opportunities, please refer to the ISIE web page, LinkedIn
group and Facebook group. We also would like to invite you to post job and research
announcements on them. Thanks!
Edge Environment - Our Sydney office is hiring
Title: LCA Team Member
Institution: Edge Environment
Location: Sydney, Australia
PhD Position, ETH Zurich
Title: Doctoral Student
Institution: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich)
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Deadline: August 2, 2016
LCA Researcher
Position: Life Cycle Assessment Researcher
Institution: Amazon Corporate LLC
Location: Seattle, Washington, US
Research Opportunity with German Institute of Food Technologies
Position: Scientific Researcher
Institution: German Institute of Food Technologies
Location: Quakenbrück, Germany
Senior Researcher in Bioeconomy, Systems Analysis & LCA
Position: Senior Researcher in Bioeconomy, Systems Analysis, and Life Cycle Assessment
Institution: Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation
Location: Pulawy, Poland
Postdoctoral Researcher in Bioeconomy, Systems Analysis & LCA
Position: Postdoctoral Researcher - Bioeconomy, Systems Analysis, and Life Cycle Assessment
Institution: Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation
Location: Pulawy, Poland
14
JOB AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
EXTRACTED FROM THE ISIE LISTINGS WEBPAGE
For more information about job opportunities, please refer to the ISIE web page, LinkedIn
group and Facebook group. We also would like to invite you to post job and research
announcements on them. Thanks!
PhD Student in Bioeconomy, Systems Analysis & LCA
Position: PhD Student - Bioeconomy, Systems analysis, Life Cycle Assessment
Institution: Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation
Location: Pulawy, Poland
Professor in Industrial Ecology
Position: Professor in Industrial Ecology
Institution: Aarhus University - Department of Environmental Science
Location: Aarhus, Denmark - The department is co-located at Risø Campus with part of Department of Bioscience in Ro
ters west of Copenhagen. In 2021 the departments will move to new buildings at Emdrup Campus in Copenhagen.
Urban Metabolism & Environmental Impacts Internship
Position: Urban Metabolism & Environmental Impacts Internship
Institution: TNO
Locations: Utrecht, Netherlands
Life Cycle Analyst (Food Industry)
Position: Life Cycle Analyst - Food Industry
Institution: Selerant
Location: Milan, Italy
PhD student - Nutritional Combined Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
Title: PhD student - Nutritional Combined Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
Institution: Department of Health Sciences and Technology at ETH Zurich
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Sustainability Analyst
Title: Sustainability Analyst
Institution: Quantis
Location: Boston, MA, US
15
JOB AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
EXTRACTED FROM THE ISIE LISTINGS WEBPAGE
For more information about job opportunities, please refer to the ISIE web page, LinkedIn
group and Facebook group. We also would like to invite you to post job and research
announcements on them. Thanks!
Material and Product Recycling Design Engineer at Apple
Title: Material and Product Recycling Design Engineer
Institution: Apple
Location: Santa Clara Valley, California, US
Opportunity for LCI Practitioners within a UK institution
Title: Research Position for LCA Practitioner
MSc or PhD Research on Hybridization of Life Cycle Assessment
Position: MSc or PhD Research on the Hybridization of Life Cycle Assessment and Economic
Input-Output Analysis
Institution: Ciraig Poyltechnique
Location: Montreal, Canada
Research Opportunity for PhD Candidate
Research Project Title: Towards a metric for the resource effectiveness of circular economy
strategies
Institution: TU Wien, Austria and VITO, Belgium
Industrial Ecology-related PhD positions in Pescara (Italy)
Title: Doctoral student
Institution: University "G. d'Annunzio"
Location: Prescara, Italy
Deadline: August 3, 2016
Scientific Officer in the field of life cycle-based methods and indicators at the European
Commission - Joint Research Centre
Title: Scientific Officer in the field of life cycle-based methods and indicators
Institution: The European Commission - Joint Research Centre
Deadline: August 22, 2016
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ISIE STUDENT COMMUNITY
GOT NEWS?
We would love to hear from you about your work and life. Please keep
us updated with student news, potential funding information, research
opportunities, and other announcements to the student community at
isiestudentchapter@gmail.com. We also would like to invite you to
share the above information on the ISIE LinkedIn group, the ISIE Facebook group, the Industrial Ecology Students and Graduates Facebook
group, and the mailing list. We will put them in the next newsletter.
More information about the student community can be found at http://
www.is4ie.org/students
TO BECOME AN ISIE MEMBER
Do you know that since the official integration of the student chapter
the yearly membership fee for students has dropped considerably?
To learn more about ISIE membership and become a member, please
visit
The Student Community of the
International Society for Industrial Ecology (ISIE Student
Community) was formed in
June 2002 at the Gordon Research Conference on Industrial
Ecology. The ISIE Student Community has evolved from an
informal network of IE students
into an official extension of the
ISIE, with an established organizational structure and charter
and a significant student membership base around the globe.
The goals of the ISIE Student
Community are to provide students with opportunities for
networking, research collaboration and career development, to
ensure that students play an
active role in the advancement
of the ISIE and to facilitate student participation and contributions at ISIE.
http://www.is4ie.org/join
The Student Community of the International Society for
Industrial Ecology
Thanks to the contributions from Moana Simas, Luis Felipe
Vasquez Correa, Alessio Miatto, Carla Caldeira, Éléonore
Lebre, Maryam Arbabzadeh, Reid Lifset, Paul Hoekman,
Oliver Schwab, Mengya Tao, Carl-Johan Södersten
& Tamar Makov
Editor for this issue:
Carla Caldeira
E-mail: isiestudentchapter@gmail.com