VMBS Professor Recognized As Sustainability Champion
Story by Megan Bennett, VMBS Communications
Dr. Weihsueh Chiu, a professor at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS), has received a 2024 Sustainability Champion Award from the Texas A&M Office of Sustainability & Campus Enrichment.
The Sustainability Champion Awards recognize students, faculty, staff, and team members who have demonstrated exemplary effort, dedication, and leadership throughout the year in fostering a campus culture of sustainability.
Chiu was the sole winner in the faculty category.
He was nominated for his role in developing the Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI), the most comprehensive screening tool of its type, showing how, why, and where climate risks threaten communities throughout the U.S.
“The launch of the CVI represents a significant leap forward in our understanding of the cumulative impacts of climate change,” Chiu said in a release about the CVI. “By offering a comprehensive framework to evaluate the multi-dimensional susceptibilities of communities to climate-related risks, this new tool provides a template for addressing local-scale climate and environmental justice around the globe.”
The CVI allows users to search by location to view their overall climate vulnerability and the conditions that shape it — from quality of housing and access to supermarkets to proximity to toxic waste sites and number of deaths from air pollution.
The CVI was created in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, and was also supported by the Texas A&M Superfund Research Center and the Texas A&M Center for Environmental Health Research.
Chiu was presented with his award at the 10th Annual Sustainability Breakfast and Awards ceremony on April 10.
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Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu, 979-862-4216
