Researchers from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs found detectable levels of microcystin, a toxin produced by several common species of cyanobacteria, in 68 percent of a sample of Indiana lakes and reservoirs. That's higher than twice the rate at which microcystin was found in a nationwide survey conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The NonProfit Alliance of Monroe County and the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs will present the Nonprofit Toolkit, a symposium designed to develop the skills of managers, employees and volunteers with community organizations, on Nov. 6 at Bloomington City Hall.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Indiana University a $5 million grant to continue a project that measures levels of airborne toxic chemicals being deposited in the Great Lakes. The Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network project is led at IU by Ronald Hites, Distinguished Professor, and by Ilora Basu, a research scientist in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

A climate-change bill now before Congress is "ill-considered legislation aimed at a worthy objective," write Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs Dean John D. Graham and a co-author in the October 2009 SPEA Insights.

A diverse panel of Indiana University professors will speak on the issue of health care reform Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Whittenberger Auditorium at the Indiana Memorial Union. This free, open-to-the-public event is co-sponsored by the Indiana Memorial Union Board and the Teachable Moments Committee of the Commission on Multicultural Understanding.

The European Union Center and other academic units at Indiana University will sponsor a lecture and a day-long conference this week aimed at strengthening ties and communication between Indiana and the 27-nation European Union.

Indiana University professor Elinor Ostrom has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced today (Oct. 12). Ostrom is the Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington. She is co-founder and senior research director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at IU.

Indiana University students will learn about global environmental issues and develop their Russian language skills and IU faculty members will find opportunities for research collaboration with Russian scientists and scholars under a new, federally funded project. The project, a partnership with Russia's Tyumen State University and Tyumen State Agricultural Academy, is funded by a three-year, $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

John D. Graham, dean of the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, announced today (Oct. 5) the establishment of the SPEA Dean's Advisory Council, a group of respected leaders from business, government and the nonprofit sector. The 21-member panel will provide advice on strategic directions, serve as ambassadors for the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and assist with resource development.

Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Paul H. O'Neill will visit Bloomington and Indianapolis Sept. 15-16 as a guest of the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. O'Neill, who has a Master of Public Affairs degree from Indiana University, has also been a widely respected leader in the business and nonprofit sectors.

Congress may approve health reform legislation this year, but it remains to be seen whether the changes will stem the rising tide of health-care costs that is threatening the U.S. economy, an Indiana University expert writes in a new policy brief. Eric Wright, director of the IU Center on Health Policy and professor and associate dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, writes in the August 2009 issue of SPEA Insights.

Building on the foundation of a successful academic program and Conservation Law Center, the Indiana University Maurer School of Law has appointed Carolyn Waldron as director of its Environmental Law Program. Waldron, a 20-year veteran of environmental advocacy, will lead a new program to strengthen partnerships and bridge the academic resources of IU to better serve today's emerging environmental challenges.

The often-used one-size-fits-all approach to policies aimed at achieving sustainable social-ecological systems needs to be updated with a diagnostic tool to help scholars from multiple disciplines better frame the question and think through the variables, asserts Indiana University social scientist and political economist Elinor Ostrom in an article appearing in a July 24 special section of Science.

A new publication from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs will help students and visitors better understand what makes the IU campus special. Titled The Woodland Campus, the glossy, pocket-size brochure includes information on the history, management and future of the quintessential urban forest, along with a "historic walking tour" focused on mature trees near the core of campus.

This issue of Book Marks features the first volume of an encyclopedia of Nazi Germany's camps and ghettoes, published by Indiana University Press; an IU professor's explanation and defense of slang as the poetic expression of the every day; an IU Press book on Hoosier Impressionist T.C. Steele; and IU faculty members' books on distrust and civic institutions, filmmaking in the new South Africa, and the history of the religious doctrine of predestination.

Leading experts on climate change, the auto industry, nuclear and fossil-fuel energy and other topics will share their insights and recommendations this month in a national energy policy conference sponsored by the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The conference, titled "The Search for a Wise Energy Policy," will take place all day Thursday, June 11 in Washington, D.C.

In Distrust, American Style: Diversity and the Crisis of Public Confidence, Indiana University faculty member Sheila Suess Kennedy discusses recent research suggesting that Americans have become less trusting of each other, and the resulting implications for public organizations. Kennedy is professor of law and public policy at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI.

Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, is a promising tool that may help the United States meet future energy needs while controlling emissions of greenhouse gases linked to climate change, Indiana University researchers say in a new policy brief. But CCS presents policy and technical challenges that must be addressed if the nation is to make effective use of its plentiful supplies of coal, write A. James Barnes and Kenneth Richards.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today (April 17) that it intends to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Faculty experts at Indiana University express different reactions but agree that the decision could and should put pressure on Congress to take action on greenhouse gases.

Bedbug outbreaks across the United States require a proactive approach, according to Marc Lame, clinical assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs and an expert in pest management. Lame says operators of housing that is susceptible to infestations -- such as hotels, college dorms, apartments and shelters -- should make plans for preventing and responding to the problem.

Filmmaker John de Graaf will show and discuss his latest film, What's the Economy for Anyway?, on Monday, April 20, as part of Earth Week activities sponsored by the student Environmental Management Association at Indiana University Bloomington. The screening will be in IU Fine Arts 015, with doors opening at 7 p.m. and the film starting at 7:30 p.m.

Scientist and environmental leader Anthony Cortese will discuss issues of campus sustainability in a keynote lecture this Thursday (April 16) for Indiana University Bloomington's 10-day environmental initiative SustainIU. The student-led initiative runs this week through Earth Day (April 22).

Faculty members in the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs comment on the the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which Congress has approved and President Barack Obama is expected to sign soon.

Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs graduate students and local contributors will host the fourth- annual SPEA Auction and Gala on Friday, April 3. The auction will raise funds to support internships and research pursuits that students may otherwise find unattainable because of financial constraints.

The School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington today (March 3) announced the first five recipients of a new undergraduate scholarship, the SPEA Academic Admission Award. The award, created for the school's highest-achieving newly admitted students, is based on students' IU cumulative grade point average.