Indoor Urban Farming: Project

Interested in learning about cutting edge environmental technologies and how to work with stakeholders from venture capitalists, environmentalists, scientists, and educators in improving everyone’s access to healthy food?  If so please read on.

In collaboration with local industries, schools, and nonprofits the Lynch School of Education Professor Dr. Barnett is starting up an indoor urban farming program with the generous support of I. A. Backmann and Associates.  The indoor urban farming project has three interrelated goals, (1) Scientific Research and Development, (2) Educational, and (3) Community Engagement. 

We have set up hydroponic and aeroponic systems in Higgins 270 and are currently starting to research the effectiveness of the different systems on growing crops and how different lighting systems effect growth.  There are nearly an infinite set of research questions that can be asked regarding the effectiveness of indoor crop growth. For example, one potential research study we envision will be determining what frequencies of light are best for growing food crops and whether the frequencies need to be shifted as the plants mature. What makes this an exciting opportunity is the current research literature in indoor food production is quite limited (i.e. lighting, type of system, natural vs. artificial light levels) regarding the conditions that impact crop yields. Therefore, the scientific research that one can conduct is not only cutting edge but also offers ample opportunity for independent research studies that will likely lead to publications. 

In terms of the educational aspect of this project we engaging high school students and their teachers in the same scientific research investigations that hydroponics researchers are currently exploring.  In addition to science education aspect of the project we also need to determine the economic feasibility of such systems and as such will also be developing studies that evaluate the cost of producing food using indoor hydroponics compared to more traditional urban gardening spaces (we will be working with a venture capitalist on the aspect of the project).  In this way, the scientific and educational aspects of the project are quite integrated and offer ample opportunities for additional research.

In terms of community outreach the food that is produced through our investigations will be either giving away to Boston College Dining Services or given away to local school children who are at or below the poverty level.  We are also exploring the possibilities of working with the Food Project in Boston and other farmer markets regarding the creation of local area farmer market where the produce will be sold and revenue generated will be used to grow and expand the program on campus.

We are looking excited individuals who are looking to work on a project that is truly interdisciplinary and with a team of scientists, educators, engineers, businesses, and nonprofits to conduct scientific research while developing a mechanism to provide healthy food to those who have difficulty to afford fresh food or do not have easy access to fresh food.  The expectation is that you will be able to work with our team and either support an existing research project or develop and implement your own research project (under the guidance of our team) with the goal of moving the project forward and to expand our understanding of how to maximize crop growth in environmental friendly ways.

We are envisioning several ways in which someone can get involved with our indoor urban farming project.  First, work on this project can take the form of course credit through independent studies. Second, we could work with you to develop an appropriate internship opportunity during the summer or during academic year or as part of independent research project that could be used to complete a thesis or other course requirement.

For more information please contact:

Dr. Michael Barnett 
Associate Professor of Science Education and Technology 
Lynch School of Education 
Campion Hall, Room 123 
cel: 781-367-2337 
e-mail: barnetge@bc.edu

Announcements April 27

Announcements: April 27

Visiting Professor Public Lecture This Thursday April 28
 3-4 pm, Devlin 201
Dr. Martha Carlson Mazur (University of Michigan):
“Ecohydrology of a Great Lakes Coastal Wetland System: Implications for Response to Climate Change”

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Real Food BC’s Garden Day (flier attached)

Come to the garden on Brighton Campus and help plant this season’s seedlings! Plus: Plant your own marigolds, listen to music, and enjoy a potluck lunch.

Saturday, April 30^th 11am-2pm

Questions? Contact Anabelle McLean : mcleanan@bc.edu

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StEP E-waste Summer School 2011

Following the huge success of the E-waste Summer Schools in 2009 and 2010, the United Nations University Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP) has announced the call for applications for StEP E-waste Summer School 2011. Now in its third edition, this year’s School will take place from 11 – 22 September in Eindhoven/Netherlands, Antwerp/Belgium and include participation in the World Resources Forum in Davos/Switzerland.

The StEP E-waste Summer School is a pioneering concept in research and education on waste electrical and electronic equipment, looking at the e-waste issue in its entirety, rather than through the lens of one specific academic discipline. The Summer School provides the foremost platform to young scientists involved in e-waste related research to share their knowledge, interact with experts and develop collaborative partnerships fostering cutting-edge scientific research on all areas related to e-waste - from policies and technologies to economics and social aspects. 

The Call for Applications is now open, deadline for applications is 1 May 2011. We are inviting applications from doctoral students, final year master students and early career post-docs currently researching on e-waste and related areas to come together and share knowledge, interact with experts and gain a holistic view on e-waste. A focus is placed on e-waste in emerging economies, thus researchers in developing and emerging economies and/or exploring the challenges and solutions of e-waste management in these countries are especially encouraged to apply.

For more information, check out the website  www.step-initiative.org/summerschool or contact us at summerschool@step-initiative.org.

Colorado Ecosystem Field Studies

* Study, hike, and camp in the beautiful foothills of the Rocky Mountains *

* Earn 3 undergraduate credits through University of Colorado at Boulder *

* Gain valuable skills in ecosystem field methods & research *

…at the private 1,200 acre Cal-Wood Education Center near Jamestown, Colorado, 30 minutes NW of Boulder)

June 20- July 5

Download a course syllabus at: www.coefs.org

Or email Steve Johnson, Course Director, at: steve@coefs.org

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Science Club for Girls

Science Club for Girls, a non-profit organization committed to increasing the self-confidence and science literacy of K-12th grade girls, now has 3 open positions. 

If you are someone passionate about mentoring and developing urban teen girls, I strongly encourage you to apply.

Please visit our website at http://www.scienceclubforgirls.org/staff.php or Idealist at http://www.idealist.org/view/nonprofit/GtgfNMK3s2fP if you would like to learn more. You can also email me for more information, I am happy to answer any questions. eobannon@scienceclubforgirls.org

Announcements April 20, 2011

Two Visiting Assistant Professor Public Lectures:

The search for a Visiting Assistant Professor in ecohydrology to be associated with the Environmental Studies Program and Earth and Environmental Sciences Department is continuing later this month. Each of the two candidates will give a public lecture on her research, and I encourage all of you to attend. Snacks will be provided at the talks.

Tuesday, April 26, noon-1 pm, Devlin 201

Dr. Christine Hatch (University of Nevada- Reno): Distributed temperature sensing (DTS) as an ecological assessment tool in stream environments

Thursday, April 28, 3-4 pm, Devlin 201

Dr. Martha Carlson Mazur (University of Michigan): Ecohydrology of a Great Lakes Coastal Wetland System: Implications for Response to Climate Change

Also— I am looking for 2-4 students to take each of the candidates to lunch. The lunch with Dr. Hatch will be 1:00-2:15 pm on April 26. The lunch with Dr. Carlson Mazur will be noon-1:30 pm on April 28. The ESP will pay for the lunches. Please let me know if you would like to participate.

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Public Talk: Natalie Jeremijenko- Environmental Health Clinic

Natalie Jeremijenko, is an artist who works at the intersection of contemporary art, biochemistry, physics, neuroscience, and engineering. Her work takes the form of large-scale public art works, tangible media installations, single channel tapes, and critical writing.

She'll be at BC on April 26th.  Her evening public talk:

The coming new entertainment system ... 
(or how pleasure, health, creative production, wonder and yumminess can organize and drive environmental performance)

Will take place in Higgins 300 at 7 pm!

Dr. Jeremijenko will also host an afternoon clinic (aka workshop) to address a local environmental health concern.  You might be making and deploying AgBags, setting up a solar chimney clinical trial, or developing "howstuffismade/ howitcanchange" documentaries (see the Environmental Health Clinic XRx site for details).  Let me know if you are interested in the clinic!

Many of Jeremijenko’s works investigate our disposition toward and impact on other species and the larger ecology. Her Uphone Sparrow Report used mobile phone networks to capture live data on the vanishing populations of sparrows around New York and London, while her robotic geese encouraged human controllers to learn about, and interact with, wild geese, instead of hunting them. Jeremijenko’s large-scale public artwork OneTree is 1,000 genetically identical micro cultured Paradox Vlach clones grown with the goal of providing a “public platform for ongoing discussions around genetic engineering.” A related software component measures the C02 in a computer’s immediate microenvironment, while Stump is a printer queue virus that counts the number of pages consumed by the printer; when the equivalent of one tree’s worth of pulp has been consumed, it automatically prints out a slice of tree.

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John Petroff Talk!

Devlin 201

Weds, April 27 at noon

Announcements April 14, 2011

Announcements- April 14, 2011
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THIS WEEKEND!
"Excelling at Sustainability: Leadership for Others,"
the first university-wide conference on sustainability, headed by the BC Energy and Environment Alumni Network (BCEEAN), will take place on campus 

Friday, April 15, and Saturday, April 16.

Join faculty, student, and alumni leaders for career reflection, alumni-student mentoring, and ground-breaking research analysis.

On Friday, BC Theology Professor, James Keenan, SJ, will lead a career reflection: "Am I Making the Difference I Set Out to Make?" Alumni will help students explore career opportunities following the talk. Internationally acclaimed pediatrician and "Children's Environmental Health Champion," Philip Landrigan '63, Chair of Mt. Sinai Medical Center's Department of Preventive Medicine, will present the latest research on how environmental contaminants impact children's health. We will conclude with cocktails and informal networking.

Saturday offers a "community showcase," moderated by BC Trustee and former Standard & Poor's President, Kathleen Corbet, in which administrators, faculty, students, and alums highlight the varied ways they are responding to the sustainability challenge. Vice President for Facilities Management Daniel Bourque will outline BC's latest sustainability initiatives. Faculty innovators will discuss their cutting-edge environmental research. Faculty and alumni business, financial, and legal leaders will explore opportunities presented by the emerging "green economy." The day will conclude with additional opportunities for informal networking and a green products and services fair.

Students can view a complete schedule of the conference by visiting the BC Career Center's calendar: http://bc.edu/offices/careers/events.html

Student can register for these workshops (for FREE) for individual and/or multiple conference sessions on Friday, April 15 and/or the morning program on Saturday, April 16 through EagleLink.  Log onto your EagleLink account using your Agora portal login information.  Click on the "Events" tab at the top of the EagleLink homepage to select individual and/or multiple sessions. Space is limited due to room size.

To register on EagleLink:  https://bc-csm.symplicity.com/students/

The BCEEAN conference is sponsored by: BC Energy and Environment Alumni Network (BCEEAN), Environmental Studies Program, Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, SustainBC, Ecopledge, Environmental Affairs Law Review, Real Food BC and UGBC.

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Two Visiting Assistant Professor Public Lectures:

The search for a Visiting Assistant Professor in ecohydrology to be associated with the Environmental Studies Program and Earth and Environmental Sciences Department is continuing later this month. Each of the two candidates will give a public lecture on her research, and I encourage all of you to attend. Snacks will be provided at the talks.

Tuesday, April 26, noon-1 pm, Devlin 201

Dr. Christine Hatch (University of Nevada- Reno): Distributed temperature sensing (DTS) as an ecological assessment tool in stream environments

Thursday, April 28, 3-4 pm, Devlin 201

Dr. Martha Carlson Mazur (University of Michigan): Ecohydrology of a Great Lakes Coastal Wetland System: Implications for Response to Climate Change

Also— I am looking for 2-4 students to take each of the candidates to lunch. The lunch with Dr. Hatch will be 1:00-2:15 pm on April 26. The lunch with Dr. Carlson Mazur will be noon-1:30 pm on April 28. The ESP will pay for the lunches. Please let me know if you would like to participate.

 ---------------------------------------------------------

Public Talk: Natalie Jeremijenko- Environmental Health Clinic

Natalie Jeremijenko, is an artist who works at the intersection of contemporary art, biochemistry, physics, neuroscience, and engineering. Her work takes the form of large-scale public art works, tangible media installations, single channel tapes, and critical writing.

She'll be at BC on April 26th.  Her evening public talk:

The coming new entertainment system ... 
(or how pleasure, health, creative production, wonder and yumminess can organize and drive environmental performance)

Will take place in Higgins 300 at 7 pm!

Dr. Jeremijenko will also host an afternoon clinic (aka workshop) to address a local environmental health concern.  You might be making and deploying AgBags, setting up a solar chimney clinical trial, or developing "howstuffismade/ howitcanchange" documentaries (see the Environmental Health Clinic XRx site for details).  Let me know if you are interested in the clinic!

Many of Jeremijenko’s works investigate our disposition toward and impact on other species and the larger ecology. Her Uphone Sparrow Report used mobile phone networks to capture live data on the vanishing populations of sparrows around New York and London, while her robotic geese encouraged human controllers to learn about, and interact with, wild geese, instead of hunting them. Jeremijenko’s large-scale public artwork OneTree is 1,000 genetically identical micro cultured Paradox Vlach clones grown with the goal of providing a “public platform for ongoing discussions around genetic engineering.” A related software component measures the C02 in a computer’s immediate microenvironment, while Stump is a printer queue virus that counts the number of pages consumed by the printer; when the equivalent of one tree’s worth of pulp has been consumed, it automatically prints out a slice of tree.

Announcements- April 6

OurEarth

This summer join the OurEarth.org community and become an intern in OurEarth.org's 2011 Environmental Leadership Program. This is a rare opportunity for you to develop as a leader and learn many of the skills that are necessary if you want to create significant environmental changes in the future. In addition to leadership training, you will work on a number of diverse environmental projects that will help the OurEarth.org organization and website expand, be in a team with students from other colleges, earn course credit, connect with OurEarth.org's large network of environmental professionals, and because OurEarth.org is still a young organization this is an opportunity to join on the ground floor of many up-and-coming initiatives. Lastly, for added flexibility, all work is done remotely so you can work from your home, campus, or anywhere else, yet you will still have very frequent contact with the OurEarth.org management and other interns via conference calls, email, webinars, and other electronic mediums.

OurEarth.org is a national 501(c)3 non-profit organization and grassroots initiative that aims to aid and develop environmental leaders, in part, by transforming the way environmental programs, activities, and information are found on the internet. A more detailed program description, the internship application, and further information about the OurEarth.org organization is available here: www.ourearth.org.

Finally, the program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. If you want to apply, act quickly since admission is done on a ROLLING BASIS and acceptances will begin to be mailed in February.

If you have any questions, please contact John Ullman at (410) 878 - 6485 or  jgu@duke.edu to get additional information.

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Common symptoms may include: nausea, depression, feelings of helplessness, and increased fear of the words "polar," "ice," and "caps." While there is as yet no cure for this condition, specialist Dr. Natalie Jeremijenko, of NYU's Environmental Health Clinic, might be able to help. 

Have you recently experienced a heightened awareness of environmental concerns? 

(No time to read all this?  Check out her TED talk, she's inspiring.)

Natalie Jeremijenko, is an artist who works at the intersection of contemporary art, biochemistry, physics, neuroscience, and engineering. Her work takes the form of large-scale public art works, tangible media installations, single channel tapes, and critical writing.

She'll be at BC on April 26th.  Her evening public talk:

The coming new entertainment system ... 

(or how pleasure, health, creative production, wonder and yumminess can organize and drive environmental performance)

Will take place in Higgins 300 at 7 pm!

Dr. Jeremijenko will also host an afternoon clinic (aka workshop) to address a local environmental health concern.  You might be making and deploying AgBags, setting up a solar chimney clinical trial, or developing "howstuffismade/ howitcanchange" documentaries (see the Environmental Health Clinic XRx site for details).  Let me know if you are interested in the clinic!

Many of Jeremijenko’s works investigate our disposition toward and impact on other species and the larger ecology. Her Uphone Sparrow Report used mobile phone networks to capture live data on the vanishing populations of sparrows around New York and London, while her robotic geese encouraged human controllers to learn about, and interact with, wild geese, instead of hunting them. Jeremijenko’s large-scale public artwork OneTree is 1,000 genetically identical micro cultured Paradox Vlach clones grown with the goal of providing a “public platform for ongoing discussions around genetic engineering.” A related software component measures the C02 in a computer’s immediate microenvironment, while Stump is a printer queue virus that counts the number of pages consumed by the printer; when the equivalent of one tree’s worth of pulp has been consumed, it automatically prints out a slice of tree.

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Metta Earth Leadership Training: Generation Now

Where:  Metta Earth Institute in Lincoln, VT
When:  July 11^th-August 7th

Credits: You may be able to earn up to six credits through your university.
Cost: $1600 (Program tuition, meals, housing, and materials are included.)
*Alternative financial arrangements and fundraising assistance may be available.

Join us for the Metta Earth Leadership Training igniting a generation of emerging leaders to bring forth a thriving, just, and sustainable world. The Metta Earth Leadership Training is a 4-week training for college aged students that takes a holistic approach to combating the rampant environmental and social justice issues facing society today by providing young people with the knowledge, skills, and experiences to be effective leaders back in their communities. Participants will build their inner and outer leadership abilities through experiential learning opportunities in topics such as: organic farming & permaculture, ecovillage planning, wilderness quests, yoga meditation, and social change organizing.  The training will be held at the Metta Earth Institute- a learning community actively committed to balancing the contemplative lifestyle with activism in Lincoln, Vermont.

Throughout this four week course, participants will:

•        Acquire practical skills and knowledge through hands on experiences in organic gardening, permaculture, ecovillage design, animal husbandry, natural living, foraging, whole foods cooking and preserving, and farmstead life-ways.

• Develop transformative social change skills - storytelling, community building and organizing, authentic communication, and personal empowerment practices - to help grow and accelerate the ‘Movement of movements’ emerging in our time.

• Deepen into your life's purpose with daily yoga meditation.

•       Reconnect, energize, and gain new perspectives in a five day Wilderness Quest while learning to lead experiences in nature.

•     Learn how to effectively facilitate the WakeUp experience (http://www.generationwakingup.org/), one of our generation's most powerful tools for raising awareness and inspiring action.

*For more information visit : http://www.mettaearth.org/gennow.php4

If you are interested in attending this training, please send a letter of interest and intent to info@mettaearth.org.  Also, please feel free to share this opportunity with others you think may be interested!

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Second Annual Communicating Science Symposium.

Next Saturday, April 9th, scientists, activists, writers, and entrepreneurs are joining us from all over the country to speak about framing science and climate change. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear and participate in discussion on how science and technology are communicated to the public and to policy makers, and issues surrounding this! This year's focus is on technological solutions to climate change and we will have a day long series of panels and discussion to answer two main questions:

- How do we ensure effective communication of science & technology between academics, the media, policymakers, and the public?

- Who is responsible for ensuring the accurate transmission of science to the public?

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO YOUR FRIENDS AND PEOPLE IN YOUR ORGANIZATIONS AND CLASSES!

YOU CAN REGISTER AT https://sites.google.com/site/wellesleycommsci

More information can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=192803474085663&ref=ts

The schedule:

8:00 am       Breakfast and registration

9:00 am       Start time

9:15 am       Introductory remarks by Kim Bottomly (President of Wellesley College)

9:30-11:00   Keynote speaker: Matthew Nisbet (Professor of Communications)

11:15-12:45  Panel 1 on Alternative Energies Featuring: Greg Watson: Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Technology; Tim Heidel: Research Director for MIT's "Future of the Electric Grid Study"; Michael Golay: Professor of nuclear science and engineering; Vladimir Bulovic: Professor of engineering and nanotechnology

12:45-1:30   Lunch

1:30-3:00    Workshops

3:15-4:45    Panel 2 on Communicating Science Featuring:

                        Vernon Asper: Professor of ocean and marine science

                        Wendy Hessler: Science writer at Environmental Health Services

                        Kate Plourd: Communications Manager of MA Clean Energy Center

                        Marcelo Mena: Air Quality Manager of CONAMA of Chile

4:45-5:00    Closing