Amanda Smith

@[email protected]
270 Followers
259 Following
313 Posts

Scientist at a nonprofit, studying and modeling that portion of the natural environment we call the #BuiltEnvironment.

Enjoy thinking about thermodynamics and reading Ursula K. Le Guin.

"There's nothing inevitable about any of this."
– Graeber and Wengrow, The Dawn of Everything

🏳️‍🌈Ⓥ🇺🇸

pronounsshe/her
linktreehttps://linktr.ee/amandadsmith
Amanda SmithMar 2, 2024

Job alert for part-time #BuiltEnvironment #STEM #ClimateSolutions work!

Work with our interdisciplinary, all-virtual team of scientists studying climate solutions.

Do you have scientific research experience in #climate +
#GreenElectricity #ElectricitySystems
#industry
#transportation #ElectricVehicles
#urbanecology #UrbanDevelopment
#construction emissions
engineered #carbonsink
or reducing emissions from fossil fuel sector?

Read this and consider applying by March 15: https://drawdown.org/careers/research-fellow

Research Fellow | Project Drawdown

Our mission is to help stop climate change as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible.

Project Drawdown
Amanda SmithFeb 5, 2024

This Wednesday I'm talking buildings, emissions, and climate solutions (10am Pacific/1pm Eastern).

I want to give some examples of a climate paradox: Each problem contains the kernel of a possible solution, and each solution contains the kernel of another environmental problem.

This event is for everyone—no special knowledge of buildings required, although I hope you will leave with a new interest in learning more!

Register FREE: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Lrwse--tQeSzpmX1Sfrs2g#/registration

#BuiltEnvironment #ClimateSolutions

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Built This Way: Why residential and commercial buildings are key to addressing climate change. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

How much do residential and commercial buildings contribute to climate change? And what can we do to reduce their impact? We know buildings must reduce fossil fuel use to move toward a healthier planetary future. However, until now we’ve lacked clarity on how we need to transform our buildings to alleviate environmental problems. In our first Drawdown Ignite presentation of 2024, Amanda D. Smith, Project Drawdown senior scientist for the built environment, will explore how buildings contribute to climate change – including processes you may not have connected to the buildings around you. Smith will explain why climate solutions and climate problems are tricky to untangle in this sector. And she’ll offer suggestions for choosing and implementing solutions that can help dramatically reduce emissions while also keeping us healthier, more connected to each other, and more connected to the earth. Whether you are an architect, construction professional, building manager, homeowner, or renter, you’ll come away with a better ability to judge how your actions will reduce buildings’ greenhouse gas emissions. And if you live, work, eat, sleep, or recreate indoors, you’ll come away with a new understanding of how buildings came to be the way they are, why they’re driving our climate crisis, and what we can change. ----- This webinar is part of Project Drawdown’s monthly Drawdown Ignite webinar series. Drawdown Ignite provides information and inspiration to guide your climate solutions journey. Visit drawdown.org/events for updates on future webinars.

Zoom
Amanda SmithSep 21, 2023

This Saturday I'll be in conversation with Iana Aranda of ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and Steve Chisholm of Boeing about the intersection of engineering and sustainability.

Will cover emissions basics--what are we emitting now? what needs to change? -- and talk about what it means for our profession.

This is part of ASME's #EFestCareers w/ lots of activities taking place all day.

Find the schedule and register FREE at https://bit.ly/EFC-2023

#ClimateJobs #engineering

PheedLoop

PheedLoop: Hybrid, In-Person & Virtual Event Software

Amanda SmithJun 30, 2023

"It’s not yet clear whether vertical farming is an overhyped, premature, expensive business model that can still help change the world someday, or whether it’s just a dumb and impractical idea."

– Michael Grunwald
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/food-and-farms/why-vertical-farming-just-doesnt-work

Isn't the problem that dumb and impractical ideas are the feedstock for overhyped, premature, expensive business models in the American economy?

We don't need the world changed "someday." We need to do what we know how to do that will protect the planet now.

Why vertical farming just doesn't work

Vertical farms save water, prevent pesticide pollution and avoid extreme weather — but their Achilles' heel is their massive electricity use.

Canary Media
Amanda SmithJun 29, 2023

Pedestrian deaths in the US are higher than they have been in my lifetime.

We don't seem to care.

This line rings true for so many of the crises we face right now:

"We have all the answers – we just don’t have the political will to implement them."

– @arwam

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/27/car-road-deaths-rising-pedestrians-cyclists

#transportation #cars #cycling

The car is king in the US – and pedestrian deaths are rising. Where is the outrage?

Pedestrian deaths are at a 40-year high and the number of cyclists hit by cars has increased since the pandemic. The most astounding part? These are preventable tragedies, says Arwa Mahdawi

The Guardian
Show threadAmanda SmithJun 28, 2023
@Satori I ❤️ this spot pattern! What a face.
Show threadAmanda SmithJun 28, 2023

@jenniferjordan Open educational resources—yes! 💪 And thanks for writing about your experiences as a female working class LatinX person in academia.

I really love White Space—so much in there! and A Fossil Record—have only spent a week in ABQ but it seems to be saturated with the place.

Show threadAmanda SmithJun 28, 2023

@jenniferjordan It has been life-changing for someone I know; I haven't had any major magic happen. But it's something to do to shake things up.

For work, I write nonfiction about climate/sustainability, particularly for buildings (e.g. https://www.drawdown.org/news/insights/net-zero-is-bigger-than-any-one-building-but-every-building-can-help-us-get-there). For myself, occasional poetry. I'm a recovering academic trying to unlearn a lot of dull and defensive writing habits.

What do you write?

Net Zero is bigger than any one building, but every building can help us get there | Project Drawdown

Instead of making every individual building net zero, we should focus on how we can use the buildings sector more broadly to achieve deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

Project Drawdown
Show threadAmanda SmithJun 28, 2023

@jenniferjordan I have never been part of a Twitter writing community, or one in real life for that matter.

But I did make some connections with new folks on Mastodon who were doing #TheArtistsWayAtWork / #TheArtistsWay or were otherwise on some kind of creativity journey and it was great.

I want to do more essay writing and happy to connect on that with you or others. Hope you find the right connections to support your writing dreams!

Amanda SmithJun 28, 2023
The War on CarsJun 28, 2023

"It’s not hard to discover why American roads are so deadly, particularly for pedestrians. There are too many cars and trucks that are too heavy and tall, driving too fast on streets that are too wide, with too many points of conflict."

Via @ryanlcooper

https://prospect.org/infrastructure/transportation/2023-06-28-death-cult-american-car/

The Death Cult of the American Car

It’s obvious how to make the roads safer for cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike. We just don’t do it.

The American Prospect