Environment & Sustainability
large crowd outside in city

Philadelphia Earth Week, Fifty Years On

Distillations Article
Image of the Johnny Horizon environmental test kit

Distilled #13: An Environmental Cowboy from the 1970s

Distillations Video
Historical photo of Philadelphia's Fairmount Water Works

How Philadelphia’s Water Pollution Problems Shaped the City

Distillations Podcast
Neodymium magnet

Forbes: Rare Earth Minerals Could Be Sourced Through Outdated Smartphones, Batteries, Wind Turbines
Media Coverage
Two women standing on street dabbing their eyes

Smith Griswold Sells the War against Smog

Distillations Article
Panelists discuss rare earth elements

UCLA Daily Bruin: Panelists Discuss Challenges Caused by Use of Rare Earth Elements
Media Coverage
Scrolling on cell phone

The Hill: R&D, Not Greenland, Can Solve Our Rare Earth Problem
Media Coverage
Silhouette of a vulture in front of a low sun.

Poison Pill: The Mysterious Die-Off of India’s Vultures

Distillations Article
miners hauling electronics that are causing pollution

Rare Earths: The Hidden Cost to Their Magic

Distillations Podcast
Periodic table with cellphones depicting US and China flags

Green Tech Media: A Strategic Approach to Rare Earth Elements as Global Trade Tensions Flare
Media Coverage
Fire in the Cuyahoga River with a firefighter boat blasting water

The Myth of the Cuyahoga River Fire

Distillations Podcast
Wizard and Prophet photo illustration

Where Lies Humanity’s Salvation—Conservation or Innovation?

Distillations Article
Vaughn Bell poses with her work Village Green.

Sensing Change Exhibition
Museum
Suburban house with electric car in driveway

Mashable: Do Something Good for Earth Day
Media Coverage
Rare earth elements

Rare Earth Elements Project
Learn
Photo collage of JFK

Making the Deserts Bloom

Distillations Podcast
Periodic table showing rare earth elements

GreenBiz: Reimagining Rare Earth Elements in a Sacrifice Zone-Free Future
Media Coverage

Nor Any Drop to Drink

Distillations Article
Roger Eadley-Pryor takes a guided kayak tour of the Schuylkill River led by Drexel chemistry professor Pete DeCarlo and University of Pennsylvania environmental humanities professor Bethany Wiggin.

Imagining a Way Forward

Distillations Article
Helitrim trimming potentiometers on the moon

The Folly of the Martian Back-Up Plan

Distillations Article

If You Smell Something, Say Something

Distillations Article

Styrofoam, a Practical and Problematic Creation

Distillations Article
Woman irritated by smog in LA in the 1950s

Fighting Smog in Los Angeles

Distillations Podcast
Man walking in forest of fall leaves

Whatever Happened to Acid Rain?

Distillations Podcast
Woman and penguins in Antarctica

Whatever Happened to the Ozone Hole?

Distillations Podcast

Imagining Philadelphia’s Energy Futures
Research

Tummy Trouble

Distillations Article
Women wearing orange yoga pants and yellow sneakers

The Yoga Pant Problem

Distillations Podcast

Anticipating the Future: Historical Narratives, Imagination, and Innovation
Visit
Detail from Sanborn map of Ambler, PA.

Studies in Sustainability
Research
Innovation and Regulation on the Open Seas: The Development of Sea-Nine Marine Antifouling Paint

Studies in Materials Innovation
Research

Here Comes the Spray Man!

Distillations Video

Concrete Solutions

Distillations Article

Greetings from Isotopia

Distillations Article

Juan Felipe Moreno

People

Simone Müller

People

Lucas Müller

People

Richard Nixon and the Rise of American Environmentalism

Distillations Article
Girl with sign at March for Science protest

The Message of the March for Science

Distillations Article

History Lab
Visit

Virtual Speaker Series
Visit
Insectoline

Beyond Silent Spring: An Alternate History of DDT

Distillations Article
A white rhinoceros in Lake Nakuru, Kenya.

Can Biotech Save the Rhino?

Distillations Article

Guided Tours
Visit
Smog in Tiananmen Square

Is the Smog Out?

Distillations Article
Crocidolite asbestos, Pomfret Mine, Vryburg, South Africa.

Flexible Meaning
Research

Student Journal (PDF)
Learn

Hearing Tracking Sheet (PDF)
Learn

The Case of Plastics: Teacher’s Manual
Learn
Arie Haagen-Smit with lab equipment, 1961

The Flavor of Smog

Distillations Article

Imagining a Postcarbon Future

Distillations Article
Frank Zelko

Frank Zelko

People
TOMS and SBUV on display at the Institute. Photo by Gregory Tobias.

TOMS and SBUV
Research
Maximilian Ringelman Smoke Charts, 1897. The Institute Collections.

Ringelmann Smoke Charts
Research
Munsell Book of Color, 1940s. The Institute Collections. Photo by Gregory Tobias

Munsell Color Charts
Research
Model 700 Dual-Column Gas Chromatograph, the Institute Collections

Model 700 Dual-Column Gas Chromatograph
Research
Liston-Becker Model 28 Exhaust Gas Analyzer, ca. 1956.

Liston-Becker Model 28 Exhaust Gas Analyzer
Research
Horiba pH meter. The Institute Collections. Photo by Gregory Tobias

Horiba-Mexa 200 CO Analyzer
Research
Hach Classroom Drinking-Water Testing Kit.

Hach Classroom Drinking Water Kit
Research
Millipore portable water-testing kit. The Institute Collections. Photo by Conrad Erb

Field Water Testing and Analysis Instruments
Research
Electron Capture Detector, 1958. The Institute Collections. Courtesy of James E. Lovelock.

James Lovelock's Electron Capture Detector
Research
Papers of Edward C. Dunlop, 1943.

Edward C. Dunlop Water Analysis, Manhattan Project
Research
Clara Esther Hartley lab notes. Special Collections, the Institute

Clara Esther Hartley Lab Notes
Research
Detail of the Beckman HC/CO tester. Courtesy of Beckman Coulter Heritage Council

Beckman HC/CO Tester, Beckman Instruments
Research

Pieter Tans
Research

A.R. Ravishankara
Research

Deb Niemeier
Research

Alastair Lewis
Research

Murray Johnston
Research

Jose-Luis Jimenez
Research

Peter DeCarlo
Research

Kenneth Davis
Research

Ronald C. Cohen
Research
Vaughn Bell poses with her work Village Green.

Village Green
Research
Uprooted by Katie Holten.

Uprooted
Research
Wind Map, created by Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg

Wind Map
Research
Calendar of Rain at the Sensing Change opening, 2013.

Calendar of Rain
Research
Diane Burko. Courtesy of the artist.

Waters: Glaciers and Bucks
Research
Roderick Coover at the Sensing Change exhibit opening, 2013

Estuary/Toxi*City
Research
Bird with Plastic

Expert on Plastic-to-Oil Recycling
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Recycling Reformer
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Artist and Anti-Waste Activist
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Representative of the Plastics Pollution Coalition
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Anti-Waste Activist and Blogger
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Scientist Investigating Biodegradability
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Bioplastics Innovator
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Plastic-to-Oil Recycling Pioneer
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Famous Inventor of Medical Equipment
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Developer of Plastic Bridges
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Polymer Scientist Interested in Innovation
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Polymer Scientist—Medical Applications
Learn

Learn
Learn
Bird with Plastic

Pro−Plastic Bag Advocate
Learn
HighWaterLine, New York City. Courtesy of Eve Mosher.

HighWaterLine
Research
Bird with Plastic

Antitoxicity Activist
Learn
Particle Falls at the Wilma Theater, 2013.

Particle Falls
Research
Bird with Plastic

Researcher and Antitoxicity Advocate
Learn
Vaughn Bell poses with her work Village Green.

Home
Research

About Sensing Change
Research

Instruments
Research
Edward Dunlea calibrating an aerosol mass spectrometer at the Storm Peak Laboratory.

Scientists
Research
Waters: Glaciers and Bucks by Diane Burko.

Art
Research