An organic chemist with a focus on systems-level thinking, Associate Professor Michael Wentzel is out to make science more sustainable.
“Chemistry doesn’t have to be the solution to the problems it created—it could just not create them,” he says in the June 2022 cover story in Private University Products and News Magazine.
Read the full profile to learn more about Wentzel’s path from his family’s Iowa hardware store to chairing Augsburg’s chemistry department, how green chemistry is “benign by design,” and why he’s on a mission to improve science communication.
Every day we use and benefit from resources we all share—elements of “the commons” such as water, land, technology, public parks, and even culture. How society creates, uses, and manages the commons will be the theme of The Festival of the Commons, held October 7-8 at Augsburg College.
There are three numbers you need to really understand global warming, 275, 390, and 350.
In summer 2008, Professors Lars Christiansen and Nancy Fischer led students to Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, British Columbia to explore sustainability in an urban context. The professors and students from the “Sustainable Cities in North America” course, will share insights gained in these cities and our own Twin Cities on Thursday, Oct. 16 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in Lindell 301. The event will be of particular interest to those concerned about environmental issues, cities, business practices, comparative government, and the culture of the Pacific Northwest. 
How can a major metropolitan area — with all its concrete, glass, and steel — be green? How can it be eco-friendly and implement measures that will ensure its healthy future? That is precisely what students in the Sustainable Cities summer course are attempting to discover. Sociology professors Nancy Fischer and Lars Christiansen are leading a group of students through Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, British Columbia to examine different facets of sustainability in an urban context. The course is a faculty-led seminar through Augsburg Abroad. 
With the goal of reducing our environmental impact and inspiring people to take practical action to achieve sustainability, the Neighborhood Sustainability Conference will allow community groups and more than 500 participants to discuss issues surrounding sustainability. This free event is hosted by Augsburg College and will be held at various locations around campus from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. on March 8.