Tag: 3BL

The Royal Mint’s new Precious Metals Recovery facility uses the PlantPAx® DCS (distributed control system) from Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) to manage and control the gold extraction process.

After two years of design and manufacture, the plant is now operational and provides a strong foundation for further expansion of this technology to support the world’s challenges with electronic waste, which is simply discarded electrical or electronic devices. The World Health Organization says it’s the fastest growing solid waste stream in the world, increasing three times faster than the world’s population.

The PlantPAx DCS at The Royal Mint’s facility is used to monitor and control a chemical extraction process that can remove gold from e-waste such as printed circuit boards found in discarded mobile phones and laptops. The extraction technology, which was only at lab scale a few years ago, has been successfully scaled and is now operational at its site in Llantrisant, Wales.

E-waste is a major sustainability challenge across the globe, and technologies like this are essential towards carbon reduction and material re-use.

According to Statista, electronic waste is one of the world’s fastest-growing waste streams. With 62 million metric tons generated across the world in 2022, the volume of discarded electronic material has nearly doubled since 2010. With e-waste generation forecast to exceed 80 million metric tons by 2030, improved recycling and recovery infrastructure will be needed.

Tony Baker, director of manufacturing innovation at The Royal Mint, said: “The successful collaboration with Rockwell and the deployment of its DCS solution allowed us to demonstrate the technical viability of the technology to operate at scale. This puts us firmly on the road to our 4,000-ton per annum target, and discussions are already well underway with regards to usage of the recovered materials, as are the plans to expand the technology further.”

Learn more about Rockwell’s work to support customers and boost the circular economy.

Building Birmingham Businesses

Supporting the communities in which we live and work is a cornerstone of PNC’s pragmatic approach and empathy-leading philosophy. In 2023, we expanded our previous funding of REV Birmingham, a place-based revitalization and economic development organization working to make the city of Birmingham, Alabama, a more vibrant place for all. Our support is helping to launch the Building Birmingham Businesses Program, which is focused on low- and moderate-income business owners. The program’s goal is to meet entrepreneurs’ unique needs at three different stages of business, from those who have reached their first sale, to those whose sales have grown to the point that they need a physical presence, to businesses already operating with a physical presence. The program will address the businesses’ needs at all three stages, which might include financial education, marketing, accounting expertise, assistance with inventory sourcing, understanding real estate, securing business improvement funding and operational support.

Our Community Affairs group is responsible for the overall corporate strategy for charitable giving from the PNC Foundation and for PNC Grow Up Great® and other volunteerism opportunities. In collaboration with PNC’s Regional Presidents organization and the Community Development Banking team, the Community Affairs group provides guidance and assists with local efforts to implement our strategy.

In 2023, PNC provided critical grant funding supporting various nonprofit organizations across the country, including:

Dallas, Texas: The North Texas Food Bank’s Feeding Children initiative provides nutritious foods to children in need throughout the school year and summer months. The Food Bank works with schools and social service programs throughout a 13-county service area.Chicago, Illinois: Ravinia Festival Association’s Music Discovery program enables teaching artists to provide interactive instruction to elementary students in Chicago Public Schools that will help them develop musical knowledge, appreciation and skills.Miami, Florida: Florida Memorial University’s Center for Entrepreneurship was established to serve as a learning hub and solution center for entrepreneurs and help prepare students to be competitive in a rapidly evolving business world.San Diego, California: Just In Time for Foster Youth’s Financial Fitness initiative was designed to provide financial education workshops and encourage saving behavior to aid those in the foster care system to achieve financial stability and self-sufficiency.

Helping Our Youngest Neighbors Grow Up Great

Since the program’s inception and through the end of 2023, PNC Grow Up Great supported 10+ MILLION CHILDREN

Since the program’s inception and through the end of 2023, PNC Grow Up Great has supported more than 10 million children through grants and educational programs. We provided more than $247 million in grants to organizations championing high-quality early childhood education, and enlisted PNC employees to volunteer more than 1.1 million hours to the cause.

Supporting Early Childhood Education

High-quality early childhood education is the very foundation of a bright and promising future for individuals and society at large. We recognize the significant role educators, caregivers and parents play in early childhood education. That’s why we’re committed to supporting educators and caregivers in giving children the opportunity to Grow Up Great. This initiative was built on the understanding that education is a powerful means for economic and social mobility.

Early this year, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of our signature PNC Grow Up Great initiative. Since 2004, we’ve supported early childhood education through this $500 million, multi-year, bilingual initiative. Our goal is to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and in life, with particular emphasis on underserved communities. Through a comprehensive approach that includes grant funding, employee volunteerism, awareness and advocacy efforts, PNC Grow Up Great supports families, educators and community partners. This provides innovative opportunities that enhance learning and development for our youngest community members, setting a path for success that lasts a lifetime.

Since the program’s inception and through the end of 2023, PNC Grow Up Great has supported more than 10 million children through grants and educational programs. We provided more than $247 million in grants to organizations championing high-quality early childhood education and enlisted PNC employees to volunteer more than 1.1 million hours to the cause.

In 2023, we continued our efforts to promote high-quality early learning opportunities in collaboration with PNC Grow Up Great partners. Some examples of the impact on early childhood leaders, organizations and communities working with PNC Grow Up Great include:

PNC’s continued support of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health at the University of Chicago, a research institute that translates science into tools and strategies to help parents, organizations and communities meet the developmental needs of children. In 2023, the TMW Center expanded its reach by building on the success of a PNC-funded study confirming that parents’ knowledge of brain development contributes to improved language skills later in life by increasing the quantity and quality of talk with their children. These findings have helped to inform the growth of a bilingual, group-based community program, 3Ts-Let’s Talk, which reinforces parents’ understanding of the critical role their talk and interactions which reinforces parents’ understanding of the critical role their talk and interactions play in their children’s foundational brain development, and shares research-based strategies to enhance that development. To date, PNC Grow Up Great has provided support for 3Ts-Let’s Talk in six PNC markets, with three additional markets planned for 2024, benefiting nearly 400 families.As part of our nearly two-decade partnership with Sesame Workshop, the global impact nonprofit behind Sesame Street and so much more, we created new financial education resources for young children and the parents and caregivers who support them. Sesame Workshop’s mission is to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger and kinder. With financial stability remaining a top concern for families with young children, these resources teach foundational financial skills so children can understand the value of money and learn to make wise financial decisions as they grow. The new resources, which include free bilingual videos, activity guides and articles, are distributed by Sesame Street in Communities, a program created to support national and community providers who serve families and help children face challenges big and small.Building on PNC’s longtime collaboration with Fred Rogers Productions, nearly 50 Be My Neighbor Day community events were hosted across PNC markets throughout 2023 in cooperation with local public television stations. More than 46,000 attendees, primarily families with young children, participated in these community events. Participants learned about high-quality early childhood resources and learning opportunities in their neighborhood while participating in fun, engaging hands-on activities. In addition to the Be My Neighbor Day community events, PNC Grow Up Great support of Fred Rogers Productions has sustained sponsorship of the PBS television show Alma’s Way, including PNC Grow Up Great recognition for more than 3.2 million viewers during the year. Alma’s Way, a bilingual, animated series, provides positive representation of Hispanic and Black children. It focuses on critical thinking, responsible decision-making and self-awareness. Now in its second season, the show has won back-to-back Imagen Awards for Best Youth Programming and the Kidscreen Award for Best Inclusivity–Preschool Programming. PNC Grow Up Great support also affords a variety of educational awareness efforts, such as custom-branded video content aired on various media channels. Alma’s Way episodes, digital games and resources provide parents and teachers tools to support the development of early childhood critical-thinking problem-solving skills and self-awareness.The PNC Grow Up Great Mobile Learning Adventure (MLA), a mobile early learning experience, visited all 54 PNC markets in 2023, interacting with over 197,000 children and families. The MLA provides an opportunity for parents and caregivers to learn about the importance of early childhood education while engaging in fun activities with their children. Through a series of hands-on activity stations, and together with their families, children learn new words while they explore various careers and professions. This ignites their imaginations for what they hope to be when they grow up.

Volunteerism

Our communities are not simply places where we do business. They are home to our employees and our customers. At PNC, we’re committed to making a difference in these communities, not only with our products and services, but with our time. We share our employees’ passion for our communities and support that passion by empowering volunteerism and participation in our volunteer grant program.

In 2023, PNC employees volunteered a total of 83,433 volunteered hours and earned $400,000 in volunteer grants. A total of 122 organizations have been approved as volunteer partners across 51 of our markets.

To support and encourage our employees’ community commitment, our paid volunteerism policy provides up to 40 hours of paid time off each year to volunteer with approved organizations.

Engaging our community partners across our markets is an important part of our community efforts. For the past seven years, we’ve invited our PNC Grow Up Great nonprofit partners to participate in SkillShare, a unique volunteer program that helps solve some of our partners’ biggest issues, such as donor tracking and electronic inventory systems. This 12-week experience provides an opportunity for teams of employees to enhance their skills, demonstrate leadership capabilities and learn more about the nonprofit world. In 2023, SkillShare expanded to include a racial and social justice cohort and engaged 70 volunteers, providing a total of 2,619 volunteer hours and earning $64,500 in volunteer grants.

PRO BONO PROJECT

PNC Legal Department’s Pro Bono Project offers PNC attorneys and legal professionals an opportunity to provide free legal services to individuals and organizations in their local communities who need, but cannot afford, legal assistance. The program enables PNC attorneys and legal professionals to develop new skills and fulfill practice requirements by working with local legal service providers to do good for the community.

The project is run by a committee of PNC lawyers who periodically approve new pro bono opportunities and encourage their fellow Legal Department colleagues to participate. Now in its eleventh year, the Pro Bono Project continues to grow in participation and expand opportunities to help in PNC communities where PNC employs internal lawyers, and across the U.S. through virtual volunteer opportunities.

In addition to providing pro bono opportunities throughout the year, PNC attorneys participate in the annual “Pro Bono Week” each October, during which the Pro Bono program offers seminars, training sessions and pro bono opportunities across PNC’s footprint. Previous opportunities during Pro Bono Week included assisting with veteran discharge status reviews for the Veterans Consortium and drafting wills for low-income or disabled clients. There’s also a partnership with the PNC Foundation, encouraging volunteering with Sky’s the Limit, an online mentoring platform that matches business professionals as volunteer advisors and mentors to underrepresented, young adult entrepreneurs across the U.S.

The PNC Pro Bono Project continues to partner with the Pro Bono Institute (PBI) on larger projects, including Financial Institution Pro Bono Day, which has grown out of a joint initiative between PNC and PBI to now include more than 40 different financial institutions across the U.S. and parts of Europe. During Financial Institution Pro Bono Day, each financial institution’s legal departments volunteer on pro bono projects on the same day. Some opportunities during Financial Institution Pro Bono Day in 2023 included refugee clinics for children, pardon clinics and name change clinics.

Between 2021 and 2023, 550 PNC volunteers have logged more than 1,600 volunteer hours

SkysTheLimit.org

For young, underrepresented entrepreneurs, nonprofit Sky’s the Limit makes mentoring connections with business professionals seeking skills-based volunteer opportunities through their proprietary digital platform at SkysTheLimit.org. PNC supports that mission by providing opportunities for our employees to take part in support of our racial and social justice volunteer program.

Sky’s the Limit’s young entrepreneurs (generally 18 to 29 years old) are seeking support to develop and launch their own businesses. Participants are 80 percent people of color, 70 percent women and 90 percent low income. Between 2021 and 2023, over 550 PNC volunteers have logged more than 1,600 volunteer hours and earned Sky’s the Limit 10 volunteer grants totaling $28,000.

View the full 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report. 

Water influences every part of our lives. From the drinking water in our taps to distant glaciers and ice sheets, through the waterways contouring our communities and connecting us to expansive watersheds, access to clean water promotes public health, food security, and economic prosperity. The wide-ranging impacts of pollution, population pressures, and extreme weather define what can now be considered a global water crisis. In this climate-changed era, our collective practice of responsible water management must evolve to meet these complexities.

SCS Global Services has published a new eBook, Eight Strategies to Become a Better Water Steward, whicih speaks directly to these challenges and stands as a comprehensive guide designed to help organizations of all sizes navigate the most vital components of responsible water management and stewardship.

The eBook will help global companies to:

Learn about nature-based solutions and innovative technologies that can transform water management practices.Gain insights into water-conscious business operations that can support biodiversity and enhance climate resilience.Discover the differences between achieving net-zero and net-positive water use.Understand the relationship between improving water quality and supporting community development.Access additional resources and frameworks for effective water stewardship.

Download eBook

Announces first scope 3 goal, a milestone for a diverse, global company with thousands of products Refines scopes 1 and 2 near-term targets for 2030 in alignment with the 1.5° C trajectory of the Paris Agreement

3M announced today that its near-term, science-based emissions reduction targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as being in line with the 1.5° C trajectory of the Paris Agreement. This milestone reaffirms 3M’s ongoing commitment to climate action, decarbonization of its operations and portfolio of products and continual innovation on behalf of customers around the world. 

“3M has a long history of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. The validation of our targets by SBTi reflects years of collaboration and dedication by 3Mers working on a detailed action plan to innovate across our portfolio to decarbonize industry, accelerate our climate solutions and improve our environmental footprint,” said Gayle Schueller, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer at 3M. “We will continue to drive innovation in our products and our processes, empowering customers to reach their sustainability goals, and working together to contribute to a low-carbon economy.”  

The SBTi provides a framework for companies to set targets according to climate science. SBTi offers standards, guidance, and tools for establishing emissions reduction targets. The SBTi has validated the following near-term targets for 3M: 

Reduce absolute scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse-gas emissions by 52.6 percent by 2030, from a 2019 baseline. Reduce absolute scope 3 emissions by 42% by 2030 from a 2021 baseline. 

 “Not only has 3M been an early adopter of setting targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, but we have also helped evolve the science of measurement and accounting for supply chain emissions (Scope 3), which are particularly challenging for a diverse, global company like 3M.” Schueller continued, “For years, we have focused on demonstrating our math, path and plan and we will continue to leverage that on behalf of our customers.” 

The announcement of the 3M’s first scope 3 GHG emissions target – validated by SBTi – is a milestone in the company’s journey to account for a portfolio that spans across industries including automotive, protective safety, energy, consumer packaged goods, and electronics. 3M has been documenting and reporting scope 1 and 2 inventory since 2002 and has been developing its scope 3 emissions inventory since 2011 in line with the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard. For more than a decade, 3M has been collaborating with customers to provide the data and solutions to meet their sustainability goals.  

More information about 3M’s sustainability strategy, goals and progress can be found on the company website and in the 2024 Q1 Global Impact Summary. 

Climate Week NYC is not one event, but a collision of more than 900 events at multiple venues across the New York metro area. Sustainability leaders in business, governments, civil society and the academic community all gathered to discuss the most pressing issues in the fight against climate change under the theme: “It’s Time!” We asked Nate Pepper, Vice President of Communications at Veolia North America, to summarize his first impressions and key takeaways. Here’s what he had to say:

Addressing the Elephant in the Room 

No sustainability gathering could take place in 2024 without addressing the context of global conflicts, the upcoming U.S. elections and ESG investing and DEI policy debates. These topics set the tone for many Climate Week events. Despite the headlines, the research is clear.

88% of Americans approve of companies that have a positive impact on their communities and 82% want companies to take a public stance on climate change.

When it comes to investing, sustainable investment funds grew 15% last year, and more than half of investors plan to boost sustainable investments in the coming year. A decade of research by McKinsey on more than 1,200 companies shows that more diverse organizations financially outperform their peers. Sustainability remains a critical priority, and the participants at Climate Week NYC were fully committed to advancing it.

AI Promises Progresses, But at a Cost

While generative AI presents many opportunities for progress, it is increasingly clear it will come at an environmental and human cost. Climate Week NYC events included sessions on the promise of AI to help advance technology and progress. Accenture launched their Generative AI for the Global Goals white paper at the UN Global Compact. At the same time, I heard as many questions about AI ethics, and an increasing concern about the energy demand of AI computing.

Forbes estimates that AI will double the demand for data center energy consumption by 2028 in an already energy-stressed world. Microsoft announced plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant to support their data center growth, as well. To capture the benefits of generative AI, organizations will also need to plan energy and water strategies to address the resource demands created by its use.

Water and Climate Risk are Inextricably Linked

Water access, conservation and quality was a strong secondary theme that ran through every Climate Week event. Jason Morrison, the head of the CEO Water Mandate, spoke persuasively about how that water is no longer “just” a sustainability topic. Climate change and water scarcity is making it an acute community resilience and risk management priority. He urged companies to build collaborative partnerships at a community and basin level to protect water resources.

Reporting Requirements Continue to Converge, Just Not Yet

With Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) implementation deadlines on the horizon, representatives from all the major sustainability reporting frameworks spoke about the need for alignment, convergence and more consistent and comparable reporting between companies. However, there is still a lack of clear, actionable guidance for reporting companies. Regardless of which reporting framework becomes the industry standard, the trend will surely be towards greater transparency, more third party verification, and a more digital reporting approach.

From Slide Decks to Spreadsheets

The time has arrived for credible plans and actions on climate change. It was clear that sustainability and decarbonization are becoming more operationalized at major companies with a higher expectation of verification and documentation. With this shift the expectation for sustainability professionals is to become more operational, more action-oriented and more data-driven. The focus will also extend beyond operational fencelines to encompass supply chains and product end-of-life.

Don’t worry, CSOs, more audit and legal help is on the way! In a recent podcast, Ellen Weinreb talked about the rise of the ESG Controller role within corporations, which can help with compliance, data governance and regulation.

Nate Pepper is Vice President of Communications at Veolia North America. He writes, speaks and teaches about the intersection of communications, sustainability and technology. Through his career he has led sustainability communications and reporting for global industrial companies. His work in sustainability and corporate social responsibility reporting has led to improved ratings and multiple awards for his clients.

At Jazz, our team members are the driving force behind our success. Together, we are dedicated to developing meaningful products that address serious unmet medical needs.

We are deeply committed to living our purpose, values and being a high-performance organization. We pride ourselves in being a great place to work. Each career we build reflects the difference we aim to make in the world.

From the beginning, vibrant enthusiasm has defined our culture at Jazz. We embrace the power of flexibility, the importance of diverse ideas, and the trust that comes from mutual respect in everything we do.

We understand that art and science thrive on improvisation and collaboration within a structured environment. When exceptional talents come together in a setting like this, anything is possible.

Learn more about careers at Jazz Pharmaceuticals here.

In 2024, Wesco launched its support of United Way of Calgary and Area digital equity and inclusion approach to community outcomes. This new and innovative approach to community outcomes leans into digital hardware and the lifelong skills required to use it for underserved community members.

In 2023, United Way of Calgary and Area hosted TechConnect at Platform Calgary, an incubator for the tech industry. United Way of Calgary and Area initiated a call to action to partner in their pursuit of digital equity and inclusion and narrow the digital divide for equity deserving folks.

A lack of access to technology and the lifelong learning required to use it means that many vulnerable community members cannot benefit from the economic, educational, political, social and health potential that connection to our online community offers. Low-income families, older adults, Indigenous populations, racial and ethnic minorities, newcomers, persons with disabilities, women, LGBTQ+, and single parents are most affected by digital inequity. Digital equity empowers vulnerable Calgarians to connect conveniently to support services and opportunities for an improved quality of life.

“United Way of Calgary and Area is dedicated to fostering digital equity and inclusion for vulnerable communities. Our goal is to bridge the digital divide by empowering individuals and organizations with access to digital technology, resources and education. It’s partners like Wesco, who invest in our approach to outcomes across all our work areas, that make change possible.”

– Savera Hayat-Dade, Director Community Strategies

United Way of Calgary and Area is promoting connectivity and amplifying outcomes by building the fastest path to impact – making direct corporate-to-community partnerships and stepping up to build long-term community digital transformation.

Wesco is a foundational partner in United Way of Calgary and Area’s approach to digital equity. As a foundational partner, Wesco is investing in United Way of Calgary and Area’s first initiatives for youth and digital transformation of the social sector and is supplying 75 Calgary area students with the tech tools needed for high school completion, through the Better Back to School program.

A Better Back to School was launched from the youth priority set by the collaborators. United Way of Calgary and Area worked with two Calgary School Boards to identify the back-to-school supply list students needed to support high school completion. No longer just pens and pencils – now laptops, tablets, headphones, graphing calculators are basic school needs.

Additionally, Wesco supplied tablets and related hardware to all six of United Way of Calgary and Area’s Community Hubs, launching a digital transformation of the social sector. This program connects community members to build social inclusion and spark community economic development. All six of the Hubs sites were previously using paper intake forms, which posed problems for transcription and efficient connection.

As part of the fastest path to impact, United Way of Calgary and Area is also looking to match a community organization with Wesco University. This free, self-paced training program supports equity seeking individuals in finding new career opportunities.

Wesco has also invested in this work through United Way of Calgary and Area’s Community Impact Fund, which tackles urgent and emerging issues. Digital Equity and Inclusion is an emerging issue which United Way of Calgary and Area, along with their Collaborators are tackling through prevention and intervention to narrow the divide and improve the quality of life for many Calgarians.

Learn more about Wesco’s commitments to giving back to our communities visit Wesco.com. 

Modern human activities are partly responsible for rising temperatures, carbon emissions, and declining biodiversity.

The construction industry is building and renovating more and more sustainably to deal with the climate crisis and scarcity of natural resources. With these innovative solutions and new construction methods, we have a whole new vocabulary that this podcast is going to decipher for you!

On this episode, learn how within twenty years, two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities. Metropolises worldwide continue to grow along with all the challenges they face including fresh and wastewater management, carbon emissions, and unaffordable housing. To solve issues associated with new growing urbanization, cities must adopt new construction methods.

Listen here, M… for Massive Urbanization, a Saint-Gobain Podcast

About Saint-Gobain

Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonization of construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The Group’s commitment is guided by its purpose, “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME”.

€47.9 billion in sales in 2023 
160,000 employees, locations in 76 countries 
Committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050

October 3, 2024 /3BL/ – Headquartered in New York City, Malk is a leading environmental, social and governance (ESG) Advisory firm specializing in sustainability management services to private market investors and their portfolio companies. Malk’s expertise spans private equity, growth equity, venture capital, credit, real estate, and infrastructure asset classes. 

Founded in 2009, Malk’s mission is to help steer capital to more responsible investors and investment with innovative ESG solutions tailored for private market investor clients. Malk’s reputational thought leadership runs throughout the investment cycle across firm and fund-level advisory, due diligence, portfolio company monitoring and value creation services. Today, Malk serves more than 200 private markets investment firms.

Bradley Andrews, SLR Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are delighted to be welcoming Malk to the SLR team. Malk adds complementary geographic exposure and client solutions that enable us to expand and differentiate our consulting and advisory market offering throughout the U.S. and Europe. With our shared commitment to supporting clients in mitigating investment risk and making the positive impact across economic, environmental and social sustainability pillars, we are confident Malk is a strong fit with SLR.”

Andrew Malk, Founder and Chairman of Malk Partners, comments, “After 15 years of building a first of its kind responsible investing consultancy, joining forces with SLR allows us to take our services global and deepen our client engagements with a vast team of subject matter experts.  It’s an opportunity to accelerate our growth with access to many new investors and portfolio companies around the world. SLR has an outstanding culture and values, and we are excited for our teams to combine in Making Sustainability Happen.”   

Max Hong, Chief Executive Officer of Malk Partners, added “We’ve listened to our clients about serving their investments globally and deepening core capabilities in climate solutions. Together, SLR and Malk creates a differentiated ESG advisor to the private markets. We can’t wait to harness the collective energy and shared cultures to serve our investor clients and portfolio companies to reduce risks and create value from ESG.” 

The transaction is expected to close in early October 2024. This further demonstrates the commitment SLR has to Making Sustainability Happen for its clients and broader community.

BELLEVUE, Wash. and CHARLES CITY, Va., October 3, 2024 /3BL/ – The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rice Rivers Center is using the power of 5G to transform conservation for the federally endangered Atlantic sturgeon. Today, T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) announced that VCU Rice Rivers Center is using T-Mobile 5G to protect this prehistoric species, while setting a new benchmark for environmental preservation along the James River.

Once fished to near extinction, the James River sturgeon population near Richmond, Virginia, still faces an ongoing threat from power plant cooling water intake systems. But thanks to advancements in tracking technology using telemetry receivers, particularly with tagged female sturgeon, the Center can notify the plant when these fish enter their spawning habitat to lay eggs. This allows the plant to decrease or stop water intake, helping safeguard this vulnerable species.

T-Mobile’s award-winning 5G network plays a pivotal role in the Center’s conservation efforts by linking acoustic receivers to an aquatic hub, enabling real-time tracking of sturgeon movements, even in remote areas of the James River. Additionally, T-Mobile’s IoT Control Center empowers VCU to streamline SIM card management in the receivers, optimizing data transmission, reporting and device oversight. These capabilities enhance both research accuracy and operational efficiency for more impactful conservation outcomes.

“The work we’re doing with T-Mobile has digitally transformed how we protect the endangered Atlantic sturgeon,” said Matt Balazik, Ph.D., Research Faculty, VCU Rice Rivers Center. “Real-time data allows us to make critical, well-informed decisions that directly safeguard the species, while also educating the next generation of environmental stewards.”

“At T-Mobile, we believe in the power of technology to create powerful outcomes, and our collaboration with VCU is a perfect example of that,” said George Fischer, SVP of Sales, T-Mobile Business Group. “By powering secure real-time data transmission, we’re helping to safeguard critical habitats and educate future generations. Together, we’re setting a new standard for environmental sustainability and ensuring that these ancient fish thrive in the James River for years to come.”

Enhancing Education and Outreach

The Center’s project, currently the largest real-time acoustic telemetry system on the East Coast of the U.S., is making a global impact. To offer a model for conservation that can be widely adopted, the Center showcases its telemetry data to researchers worldwide, including at institutions like the ZSL (Zoological Society of London), as well as local schools, where students are introduced to conservation efforts through live demonstrations of sturgeon-tracking data.

VCU is also developing a website that will allow students and educators to access past telemetry data, incorporating it into lesson plans and projects. This initiative will provide all schools with the ability to contribute to the growing field of environmental research.

Looking to the Future with AI

The Center is exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data and predict sturgeon movements more accurately. While current predictions can only forecast a day or two in advance, future AI developments could give power companies additional time to adjust water intake flows and better protect the sturgeon population.

This forward-looking approach, connected by T-Mobile, ensures the project will continue to evolve, further helping to protect the sturgeon’s future in the James River.

To learn more about the VCU Rice Rivers Center, go to: www.ricerivers.vcu.edu

For more information about T-Mobile IoT, visit www.t-mobile.com/business/solutions/iot

Follow @TMobileNews on X, formerly known as Twitter, to stay up to date with the latest company news.

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See 5G device, coverage, & access details at T-Mobile.com.

About VCU Rice Rivers Center

The VCU Rice Rivers Center, part of VCU Life Sciences, is VCU’s River Campus, supporting scholarship and student instruction across diverse disciplines, including water resources, climate science, wildlife conservation and wetlands restoration.

Located midway between Richmond and Williamsburg, Va., along the historic James River, America’s founding river, our 360 acres of riparian marshes, tidal creeks and mature forests represent a unique outdoor laboratory for important applied research and innovative, experiential classes.

The center’s modern facilities offer offices, classrooms, laboratories and overnight lodging for students, faculty, visiting scholars and community groups. State-of-the-art technologies are deployed onsite to collect information on air and water quality, fish and avian migrations, changing sea levels, and a host of other critical data sources. Our ongoing partnerships with state and federal natural resource and earth science agencies provide significant training opportunities for student scholars.

About T-Mobile

T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) is America’s supercharged Un-carrier, delivering an advanced 4G LTE and transformative nationwide 5G network that will offer reliable connectivity for all. T-Mobile’s customers benefit from its unmatched combination of value and quality, unwavering obsession with offering them the best possible service experience and undisputable drive for disruption that creates competition and innovation in wireless and beyond. Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands, T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile and Mint Mobile. For more information please visit: https://www.t-mobile.com