The theme of the Fall 2025 NRT seminar series is about the impact of circular economies on human and global health. Topics will include policy and/or technology that mitigate medical device waste, reduces pollutants in air or water, or lowers the carbon footprint of hospital equipment and infrastructure.
Friday, September 19, 2025, 1:00-2:00pm
Title:
Speaker: Audrey Tran Lam
Description: Audrey’s work is mostly in the agrochemical space, focusing on downstream impacts of the concentrated Midwestern agricultural system, examining possible solutions, and framing the entire system as an important topic to public health. This talk will touch on the picture of ag in Iowa, the associated agrochemical harms (including pesticides), the non agrochemical harms, and the agronomic research that's been done to mitigate their application and runoff. The talk will conclude with updates on what Audrey works on at the University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Energy & Environmental Education and some of the boards she serves on as well.
Location: Civil Engineering Building, room 210
Wednesday, October 1, 2025, 12:00-1:00pm, see STEP Seminar Series for more information
Title: Healthcare Sustainability: Caring For Communities In and Out of Hospitals
Speaker: Kristin Sako, Sustainability Data Analyst at Allina Health and Circularity NRT and Humphrey MS-STEP alumni
Description: Kristin Sako will talk about what she learned as a student in the MS-STEP program at the Humphrey School studying healthcare sustainability, and she will expound on her experience as an intern and now Sustainability Data Analyst at Allina Health.
Location: Humphrey School's Josie Johnson Room
Friday, October 24, 2025, 1:00-2:00pm, Environmental Engineering Seminar Series
Title: Embodied Ecologies: Art, Healing, and Circular Thinking in a Time of Climate Crisis
Speaker: Dr. Angelica Walton, Clinical Assistant Professor at UMN School of Nursing
Description: This seminar will explore how ecofeminism, holistic healing, and planetary health intersect to reimagine care for people and the planet. Through storytelling, art, and systems thinking, Dr. Angelica Walton invites participants to consider how embodied ways of knowing can inform regenerative design and circular economies. The seminar connects medical care, environmental justice, and creative practice to challenge extractive models and cultivate resilient design. Participants will leave with new perspectives and practical frameworks for integrating ecological, artistic, and healing approaches into their work across disciplines.
Location: Civil Engineering Building, room 210
Friday, November 14, 2025, 2:00-3:00pm
Title: Sustainability through Decentralization: A Case Study in Dialysis Fluid Production
Speakers: Natasha Wright and Carolyn Bernemann
Description: Up to 7 million people die annually from a lack of access to dialysis, the life-saving treatment for kidney failure. The global burden of kidney disease is growing, with the number of patients unable to access dialysis expected to reach 9 million by 2030. Dialysis is a water- and energy-intensive treatment, directly using more than 265 billion liters of water and 1.62 billion kWh of energy each year. Sustainably expanding access to dialysis requires innovative solutions. In this seminar, Prof. Natasha Wright and Carolyn Bernemann will describe the development of technology for decentralized peritoneal dialysis fluid production aimed at increasing access to home dialysis in resource-constrained communities globally. Leveraging stakeholder insights from >200 interviews and using Life Cycle Assessment methodology, they will demonstrate the technology’s potential to reduce the direct and embodied environmental impacts of dialysis while also addressing economic and social barriers to kidney health. Finally, applications of decentralization to address other global health challenges, including clean drinking water and food insecurity, will be highlighted.
Location: Civil Engineering Building, room 210