We want to hear about exciting developments or innovative programs at member schools that relate to the environment or sustainability. Send submissions to hfuchs@ncseonline.org for inclusion here and in weekly digest of announcements send to the CEDD listserv.

New Masters in Climate Science and Policy at Bard

February 4, 2010 - The Bard Center for Environmental Policy is offering a new MS Degree in Climate Science and Policy, beginning Fall 2010. This new degree will help to provide the trained workforce critical for businesses, non-profit organizations, and governments at all levels as they face the increasing challenges posed by climate change. We hope to be awarded six very generous NSF fellowships to support students entering this program in the Fall of 2010, 2011, and 2012. These Fellowships will provide 100% tuition support plus a $15,000 stipend for living expenses during the first year of study. We will receive notification of these awards in March.

Program Description

The international community has set a consensus goal of holding global warming to the low end of 2 degrees C above 1990 levels. Meeting this target will require dramatic transformations of energy, forest, agricultural, transportation and urban systems, transformations of unprecedented scale and speed. These initiatives will require a large workforce with comprehensive training in both climate science and policy. Yet, relative to this need, the number of students with an interest in climate solutions who are also receiving rigorous, in-depth graduate level education in climate science is very small.

While retaining the policy strength of our existing Masters in Environmental Policy degree, the new Masters in Climate Science and Policy program has a focus on climate science, specializing in the interactions between climate change, ecosystems and agriculture. This focus addresses the critical need for policy-makers in the areas of offset markets; biofuels; ecosystem services; forest and soil sequestration; agricultural and livestock life-cycle emissions; ecosystem and agricultural adaptation; crop, livestock and human diseases; and crop, livestock and forest management.

Bard College has developed a collaborative partnership with The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. The Cary Institute is one of the world’s premier research institutions focused on applying ecosystem analysis to policy challenges. Cary’s scientists, combined with the strengths of the faculty at Bard CEP, provide students in our new degree program with access to world-class scientific research opportunities, classroom education, and field experiences related to agricultural and ecosystem impacts of climate change. At the same time, building off our existing policy expertise, and on our signature close collaboration between natural and social scientists in curriculum design, students also gain the sophisticated graduate level training in policy solutions demanded by employers.

In the private, non-profit and public sectors, there is fast growing demand for workers with both strong climate science training, and the skills to design and implement policy solutions. The Bard CEP, in partnership with the Cary Institute, offers our new degree program to help close this gap.

FAMU's Larry Robinson Nominated for NOAA Post by President Barack Obama

January 29, 2010 - President Barack Obama announced Friday his intent to nominate Florida A&M University (FAMU) Vice President for Research, Larry Robinson, to serve as Assistant Secretary of Commerce (Conservation and Management), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.
The U.S. Senate must confirm Robinson's appointment.

"I am not surprised that he has been tapped for this position," said FAMU President James H. Ammons.  "While I am very happy for him, it is going to be a tremendous loss for the university.  Dr. Robinson has had an outstanding career and has served as a professor, researcher, vice president for academic affairs and as a vice president for research.  I am certain that he will do an outstanding job when confirmed. This nomination brings honor to not only Dr. Robinson and his family, but FAMU as well."

An administrator at FAMU since 1997, Robinson has served in various posts including Director of the NOAA Environmental Cooperative Science Center (ECSC) headquartered at FAMU since 2001, which is a multi-institutional consortium of predominantly minority-serving institutions which conducts research, education and outreach to improve the scientific basis of coastal resource management.  From 1997 to 2003, Dr. Robinson directed FAMU's Environmental Sciences Institute, where he led efforts to establish B.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in 1998 and 1999, respectively.  He served as FAMU's Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs from 2003 to 2005. Between 1984 and 1997, Dr. Robinson also served as a research scientist and a group leader at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).  He was appointed vice president of Research at FAMU in May 2009.

If Robinson is confirmed in the post, he will be seeking a leave of absence to retain his professorship in the FAMU Environmental Sciences Institute.

Robinson attended LeMoyne-Owen College in 1975, graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in chemistry from Memphis State University in 1979, and earned a Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis in 1984.

Rutgers’ Little Yellow Submarine that Could Featured on NBC News

December 10, 2009 - A little yellow submarine from Jersey crossed the sea to make a historic trip. A mini submarine launched by Rutgers University back in April finally crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Spain last week after an amazing journey. "The bear is in the igloo,” as the college kids who worked on the project would say. The code phrase describes the safe arrival of RU-27, codename “Scarlett Knight,” in Spain. At 04:04 a.m. the data-collecting underwater robot was fished out of the water by the ship “The Investigador."

Scarlett is the first mini sub to make it to Europe -- several others tried but were lost at sea. Since its deployment from Tuckerton, N.J. the unmanned sub spent 221 days in the water and “swam” about 4600 miles. The whole adventure was documented by Rutgers’ Writers House. A trailer for their upcoming documentary can be seen on their Web site. Photos of the journey can be found on the project’s flickr page and on their blog.

For full story and video, see http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Rutgers-University-Submarine-Crossed-the-Atlantic-Ocean-78996507.html

Dickinson and Ithaca Colleges at COP15

December 7, 2009 - Dickinson and Ithaca Colleges are sending delegations of students and faculty to the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen. The Dickinson students are part of a course titled 'From Kyoto to Copenhagen' and will be interviewing government and other delegates as part of a team research project. They will be blogging about their observations of the negotiations at  http://blogs.dickinson.edu/copenhagen/ and would welcome comments from your students and colleagues. The Ithaca students are part of an International Environmental Policy class and intend to bring voices of the people to the delegates and the press. The Ithaca and Dickinson students have joined up to conduct an online public opinion survey, POPCOP15. Each day of the conference (December 7 through 18) there will be a different yes/no question; results will be tallied and displayed online and at their exhibit booth at the conference. The goal is to get 1 million responses - so please visit the POPCOP15 site at http://www.popcop15.com, vote, and help publicize the poll.

Blog Launch: Climate Inc., Devoted to Business and Climate Change

Friends and colleagues,

I am starting a new blog devoted to the discussion of business and climate change. Climate Inc. aspires to be the resource for discussing the numerous ways that climate change will affect business in the coming decades. It will examine how business is (or is not) responding, the steps business can and should take, and how public policy can support action on climate change. For academics, Climate Inc. should provide a useful resource for classroom use and student research.

Climate Inc. will enhance the mission of the Center for Sustainable Enterprise and Regional Competitiveness ( SERC) at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, College of Management. SERC’s mission is to foster a transition to a clean, sustainable, and prosperous economy by engaging in collaborations among businesses, universities, and policymakers to promote teaching, research, and service.

Climate Inc. will be strive to be informative, insightful, provocative, witty, analytical, and accessible. It will bring together the views of academics, business managers, policymakers, journalists, professionals, and other thought leaders on climate change. Please contact me if you are interested in contributing a guest post.

Above all, Climate Inc. will pursue a serious exploration of the risks and opportunities created by climate change, corporate response strategies, and how policymakers and NGOs might collaborate with business to advance creative and systemic solutions. Along the journey, we’ll look at a host of topics, including: the growth of carbon markets; renewables and the clean tech sector; low-carbon technology and market strategies; government and public relations; the growth of carbon accounting, finance, and consulting; and implications for workforce training and management education.

I look forward to your participation and engagement - and please feel free to share this with others who might be interested!

Regards,

David

David L. Levy
Professor and Chair
Department of Management and Marketing
University of Massachusetts, Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, USA
http://www.faculty.umb.edu/david_levy/  
Climate Inc. - Business and Climate Change Blog

Rutgers Scholars Call for Public "Energy-Grant University System" in Science

August 7, 2009 - Paul G. Falkowski and CEDD Executive Committee Member-at-large Robert M. Goodman propose the creation of a public “energy-grant university system” devoted to energy education and research in the most recent issue of Science. An excerpt: "The landmark energy bill wending its way through congress this summer seeks to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and supports the development of alternative energies, including solar and wind power. It’s a bill that aims to create both a “green” U.S. economy and a sustainable environment. At this critical juncture, America must take an equally sustainable view toward investing in the brainpower required to confront the world’s complex energy issues."

For the full article, see http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/325/5941/655.pdf

 University of Montana Announces New Minor in Climate Change

The University of Montana announces the creation of one of the nation’s first undergraduate degree programs devoted to the challenges and opportunities global climate change presents. The new minor in Climate Change Studies will combine rigorous training in sciences with course work in ethics and policy to offer students a unique, multidisciplinary understanding of climate change. Students will examine the scientific and social dimensions of global climate change, as well as explore potential solutions.

“The climate change topic is rapidly evolving from only an earth science issue to a technological, economic and sociological issue for humanity,” said UM Regents Professor of Ecology Steve Running, who will direct the new program. “We have designed this broad interdisciplinary curriculum to reflect this expansion of focus.”

Students pursuing the minor will take an interdisciplinary introductory course and six credits in each of three areas of study: climate change science; climate change and society; and climate change solutions. The minor draws on the expertise of faculty both at UM’s main campus and the College of Technology in Missoula to teach traditional courses and develop applied learning opportunities that are the cornerstone of the program. It was initiated at the direction of UM Provost Royce Engstrom, with input from 29 faculty members from 18 departments. The new minor will begin fall, 2009.

Information about the Climate Change Studies minor is online at http://www.cfc.umt.edu/CCS/. For more information, call Program Coordinator Nicky Phear at 406-243-6932 or e-mail nicky.phear@umontana.edu.

Sustainability Externships: A service community at Colorado State University and Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

February 27, 2009 - How do you combine eagerness to learn, sustainability and National Parks? Colorado State University (CSU) just launched an exciting new partnership with the National Park Service to train incoming college freshman on issues of sustainability through experiential learning at a national park. Visit Green Buy Local! is a new program designed to provide the next generation of stewards with an understanding of the complexity of sustainability issues facing national parks, and the skills to be leaders in the emerging green collar workforce.

The Live Green community was first launched at Colorado State University the fall of 2008. The Live Green community is a residence hall space where students with a common interest are housed together. The community follows the model of a key academic community with associated activities for the students focused around a theme. It quickly became apparent that the space allocated to the students interested in sustainability was too small (the 35 slots filled immediately) and that we needed to incorporate an academic function that tied the community to a service project. We approached Great Sand Dunes National Park with the idea of having students address some of their sustainability issues and Visit Green Buy Local was started.

Visit Green Buy Local focuses on core beliefs: (1) Students learn best through hands-on experience; (2) Our National Parks are threatened by climate change and human induced environmental stresses; (3) Sustainability is a natural resource issue beyond light bulbs and green buildings; (4) Sustainability includes community. To address these core beliefs we developed a series of criteria:

• Students would work as a cohort on a problem whose solution was immediate applicable to land management in Colorado
• Students would work in teams with graduate students from other universities across the nation for “cross-fertilization” of experiences and values
• Park managers would receive a useable product while training future park stewards.
• Projects were designed as multi-year with clear steps that could be accomplished by each cohort of students.
• Community members and lead scientists would interact directly with students
• The resource would speak for itself so the class must take place at the resource.

  

PRELIMINARY RESULTS

The first cohort starts their field immersion piece in a couple of weeks but the excitement of the project is reported here:

• The staff of the National Park and US Geological Service are committing significant time and resources to spend time with the students and greatly enjoy the interactions.
• Several students have already landed summer internships with scientists and park staff.
• Community members of the valley are quite excited and will meet with the students in a community forum event at the park itself.
• Other parks have already approached the university interested in repeating the model.
  

LESSONS LEARNED

This generation of students seems very engaged in the opportunity to do service. As a land grant institution, Colorado State is particularly interested in focusing the development green collar workforce on the interaction with community and service to the people of the state. By introducing freshman to service oriented projects on sustainability that fit with the view of the rising green economy, we are providing critical skill sets at the start of the academic career. Visit Green Buy Local! is one example of teaching sustainability through service and community.

View Vodcasts of Thin Ice: An Exploration of the Bering Sea in the Age of Climate Change

February 27, 2009 - Smith College Clark Science Center Director Thomas Litwin forwarded the following announcement regarding an International Polar Year project:

Our Thin Ice vodcasts have just launched on NOVA, and I think the CEDD membership would be interested.

Go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/extremeice/, and click "On Thin Ice in the Bering Sea---Watch a short video series on how the melting is affecting Yup'ik Eskimos."

The full-screen, individual vodcasts can be seen on NOVA's You Tube
channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYvj6wvY4Vw&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWVLOeKUGIk&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT5rJtZncGc&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Csznkqvizk&feature=channel_page 

 Eban Goodstein to Head Bard Center for Environmental Policy

February 2, 2009

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that Eban Goodstein, currently Professor of Economics at Lewis & Clark College, has accepted the position of Director of the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, starting Fall 2009. Many of you know Dr. Goodstein through his work the last couple of years running The National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions (the 2009 event is upcoming on February 5th), or through his undergraduate textbook, Economics and the Environment. Eban will continue to run a national educational initiative on global warming from BCEP

There is still time to apply for admission to our Masters in Environmental Policy program for the fall of 2009. Because of Dr. Goodstein's appointment, we are extending the application deadline until March 15th. If you have students who might be interested in joining Eban in his inaugural year at Bard, please forward this e-mail along to them. For interested students who might not yet have taken the GRE, please urge them to contact Molly Williams, and discuss with her deadline dates for submitting test scores.

Here is what Dr. Goodstein recently wrote to our current applicants:

"Why am I packing up and moving my family to Bard next summer? Because your generation has a profound responsibility to see us all through to a sustainable future. By the time you reach my age (49!) you will bring an end to the fossil fuel era. You will rewire the entire planet with clean energy technologies, redesign every city on earth, re-imagine the global food system, re-invent transportation. In doing all that, you will create tens of millions of jobs, help lift billions of people out of poverty, and stabilize the global climate.

Ready?

I took the job at BCEP because I believe that to prepare for the work ahead, you need the highest quality education and training that my generation can provide. Bard has a unique, integrated curriculum: faculty with expertise in the sciences, politics and economics collaborate closely to deliver a year of intense and demanding graduate courses in environmental policy. We admit a very small class, insuring excellent access both to your professors, and to cutting-edge research. Following your course work, internships provide high-level engagement and hands-on practice. And through the thesis experience, you will leave the program with deep expertise in your field of choice.

Bottom line: BCEP is training leaders for the heroic tasks that face your generation, and I am excited and honored to be a part of that effort."

We are very pleased to welcome Eban Goodstein to the Directorship at the Bard Center for Environmental Policy.

Mara A. Ranville
Interim Director and Assistant Professor
Bard Center for Environmental Policy
Bard College
PO Box 5000 (express mail 30 Campus Rd)
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000
Ph: 845-758-7321
Fax: 845-758-7636