Dear Environmental Studies Students:
Please see this week’s announcements below. Please note the course announcements for next semester. Have a great Thanksgiving!
Spring 2013 Courses
1. Message from Professor Snyder about Spring 2013 Courses
2. SC 350 – Black and Green: Race and Urban Ecology
3. EC 278 – Environmental Economics
4. IN 261 – Indigenous Rights and Natural Resources
5. UN 256 – Environmental Law and Policy
ESP News
1. ESP Minor to attend UN Climate Conference in Doha, Qatar
Upcoming Conference and Forum Opportunities
1. Bridgewater State University: 11th Annual Undergraduate Symposium on Sustainability and the Environment – 12/1
2. Call for Submissions: Whole Terrain – Due 12/31/12
3. Colby College Conference on Students as Catalysts for Large Landscape Conservation – 3/1
Internship Opportunities, Travel Opportunities and Graduate School Presentations
1. Green Corps
2. Northwest Connections: Montana Field Programs – Application Due 2/1/13
3. Jobs with U.S. PIRG
4. Volunteer in Africa
5. WAVES for Development Internship
6. Environment Massachusetts
7. Environment America Fellowship Program
Best,
Kevin
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B. Kevin Brown
Graduate Assistant, Environmental Studies
617-552-2477
Devlin 213
Office Hours: Monday 12:00-4:00pm, Tuesday 9:30am-3:30pm, Thursday 10:00am-2:00pm, and Friday 12:00-2:00pm
message from professor snyder about spring 2013 courses
Please read Professor Snyder’s letter here.
This course is listed as being restricted to Sociology majors only. Seniors, if you would like to take the course and there is still room, please email Jean Lovett at jean.lovett@bc.edu and explain that you are a ESP minor looking to take the course. Juniors, please wait until it is your time register; at that time, if there is still room and you would like to take the course, please do the same.
We have reserved some slots in Environmental Economics (EC27801) on TTh at 12 pm for ES minors. Traditionally this popular course has filled with Economics majors, so this is a great opportunity. If you want to take EC278 next semester, please indicate this in a reply email as soon as possible. Note that EC278 has EC131 as a prerequisite. EC278 fulfills the Policy Foundation requirement for ES minors in the classes of 2015 and 2016.
What roles do indigenous peoples play in conflicts over natural resources? This seminar course will examine conflicts between indigenous peoples, governments, and corporations in order to better understand why these events occur throughout the world. Whether it's hydro-electric dams in Brazil and Laos, mines in Peru and Guatemala, or tourism in Panama, struggles between indigenous groups and forces of “development” are ubiquitous, and the frequency of these conflicts is on the rise. Through case studies, an interactive negotiation simulation, and an academic mini-conference, we will explore indigenous rights and natural resources issues through a variety of lenses.
Please see the attached syllabus.
Course gives undergrads insight into law and legal fields
Published in the Thursday, November 13, 2008 Edition of The Heights
By Kelly Cupo
As registration for spring semester approaches, some students might think they have their schedule mapped out. A little-known course (taught on Main Campus through the Law School) offers a different choice for undergraduates interested in law, and environmental law.
The Environmental Law course was brought to Boston College’s campus in 1991 by BC Law School professor Zygmunt Plater, and is designed to introduce students to the legal system and the analytical thinking behind its practice.
Each of the four sections is taught by a pair of law students handpicked by Plater. Covering everything from statutes to policy, the course first helps students develop a general law background, then apply the technical knowledge to specific cases in the field of environmental law.
Undergraduates of various majors who take this course are coming away with recommendations, a window into law, and in certain cases, job opportunities.
Plater’s environmental law program is unique at BC because it is the only law-school-like class offered to undergraduates that is taught by current students of law. After the graduate students are selected, they are trained during the fall semester under Plater to become effective instructors. The students come from BC Law, Harvard Law School, and Boston University Law School. Right now, the eight teachers are preparing the curriculum for Spring ‘09 on their own.
Historically the result is a curriculum infused with guest speakers and mock trials. Currently, Environmental Law teacher Ari Sommer, BC Law ‘09, said of next semester, “I know that we plan to give a broad overview of the structure of government, how to read cases, how disputes become law, and how the legislature works, all before really delving into the various environmental protections.”
Each class is organized in a different way, since the grad student pairs are given great flexibility. This flexibility is a result of Plater’s belief in leaving the course’s organization up to the teachers.
In regard to his being more involved in the instruction, Plater recalled his years of teaching only grad students. “They know better what undergrads will know and not know. So this way they can tailor-make a law course that will be best, since they instinctively know better than I do what the students need,” he said.
The experience of taking a class led by law students was highly valued by past student Amber Slattery, A&S ‘10, because of the grad students’ relevant insights into the exploration of law after college. “You can’t get better perspective on the realities of law school than from a third-year law student just a few weeks away from graduation,” Slattery said.
Slattery also noted that the accessibility of the grad students prevented her from being intimidated by new and dense information, because she always felt they were there to help. The relationship between undergraduates and grad students, which Plater stressed could never involve dating, could yield certain valuable advantages for students.
For example, Bradley Roberts, a section instructor last year and BC Law ‘08, was described in his student reviews as approachable.
At the end of the course, Roberts linked a student in his Environmental Law class to a job at the U.S. Justice Department, where he worked. Another past teacher, Mandy Eckhoff, BC Law ‘05, said that recommendations provided by the teachers of this course could be very helpful for students applying to law school.
This class also offers the ability to take law courses from BC as an undergraduate. Many students who have excelled in Environmental Law have been able to take certain classes such as International Environmental Law.
It is Plater’s philosophy that the unique opportunity the environmental law class brings is not at all exclusive to the pre-law track. He strongly recommends the class to any type of major.
“Everyone with a liberal arts education ought to understand laws in civil society. Everyone will have to know how to work with and get around lawyers,” he said.
Plater said that this course is especially beneficial to this end, since it is the nature of Environmental Law to cover many aspects of law.
Former teacher Jason Gagnon, BC Law ‘08, agreed, and said, “The course isn’t just for those people considering a career in the law. It teaches that environmental law impacts us all, indeed we interact with it on a daily basis.”
Another value of this course stems from growing opportunities in environmental law practice and relative industries.
Eckoff said that policy will have to be made in coming years to decrease new forms of pollution. Further, Sommer said, “My guess is that companies and corporations will need to hire more environmental lawyers into their in-house counsel’s office to consider possible environmental liabilities of current and future operations.”
In light of the recent election, Roberts said the need for a background in environmental law will increase because of President-elect Barack Obama’s intention to focus on environmental issues on a national scale.
The value of this program to undergrads is matched by its value to the grad students who make it possible. Eckoff, Sommer, Gagnon, and Roberts agreed that engaging with students and having to teach law made them stronger lawyers. Their knowledge was reinforced through teaching, and they were able to pursue their passions for environmental law.
“For me, the semester I spent teaching environmental law was the most rewarding experience I spent at BC Law, and that is saying a great deal,” Gagnon said.
Joseph Manning (A&S '14) will be representing the Sierra Club at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Doha, Qatar. The convention (popularly referred to as COP18) will take place from November 26-December 7, 2012, and will serve as a major stepping stone to achieving an binding internationally agreement that will include all major greenhouse gas emitters.
Anyone interested can learn more about the progress of these negotiations by following Joseph on twitter (@joseph_manning) or by liking our Facebook Sierra Student Coalition- International page. Joseph can also be contacted by email (joseph@ssc.org).
Additionally, if you want to help have a positive influence on the negotiations you can join the Sierra Club's Rapid Response Network. By join the network you will receive updates and calls-to-action which will help amplify our message for a fair and binding climate change treaty! Sign up today at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG9xT3NsVXpkSldQMGJkREFRekJxdEE6MQ#gid=0
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Bridgewater State University
Bridgewater State University
Conant Science & Mathematics Center
Guest speaker: Dr. Joshua Hamilton, Ph.D., Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, "Molecular and mechanistic basis for the effects of arsenic as an endocrine disruptor"
Undergraduate research posters related to sustainability and the environment, in all disciplines are welcome! Please encourage your research students or students in your classes to submit an abstract and give a poster presentation. Abstracts must be submitted by Wednesday, November 21st through the Symposium web page: http://www.bridgew.edu/Environmental/. Please note that the project can be proposed, in-progress, or completed work, and may also include classroom projects by individuals or teams of students. The Symposium provides an informal forum for the discussion of campus sustainability and environmental issues that cuts across multiple disciplines. Each fall we host 40-50 undergraduate posters and over 100 students, faculty and guests representing public and private colleges and universities from the New England region.
A $15 registration fee will be collected at the door as cash or check. Please note that all students, mentors and guests must pay the registration fee. A continental breakfast and lunch are included.
Call for Submissions: Whole Terrain 2012/2013
Volume 20: Heresy
The English word heresy is derived from the Greek hairesis, meaning “to choose.” Although it is now defined as a thought that challenges prevailing orthodoxy, its root simply describes the expression of free will. As such, heresy has the potential not only to dismantle traditions and institutions, but also to forge new ones.
As environmental practitioners, we are often viewed as heretics by the culture at large. However, we also cultivate our own share of unyielding dogmas, which we defend against all comers. Some involve tenets considered inviolable until they are disproved via the scientific method. Other, more unspoken rules may be cultural, philosophical, or ethical in nature.
For instance, the suggestion that financial resources be withdrawn from management of popularendangered species, such as the Giant Panda or Piping Plover, and allocated to lesser-known species with better chances of recovery, upsets many widely-held assumptions about the moral responsibility of conservationists. Proposed strategies for curbing exponential human population growth have elicited even more fevered responses both from within and outside the resource management field. Fundamental religious notions about the relationship between humans and the natural world continue to drive debates on the role and relevance of environmental stewardship that extend into economics, evolutionary biology, even warfare.
Insofar as we, as environmental professionals, share the same basic objective of promoting, maintaining, and protecting a healthy planet, how do we remain open to heretical ideas that seem counterintuitive, but may ultimately prove beneficial? To that effect, how can we become better heretics? Volume 20 of Whole Terrain seeks challenging, insightful, and original explorations of the theme of Heresy that encompass the full range and scope of environmental practice.
We welcome personal essays, investigative journalism, short fiction, creative non-fiction, visual art, graphic novel excerpts, and poetry that investigate all aspects of Heresy. Prose submissions are limited to 2,000 words and should be double-spaced, with pages numbered and word count noted. Poetry submissions may contain up to three pertinent poems. Electronic submissions to wholeterrain@antioch.edu are strongly encouraged. Feel free to be heretical.
Reading period ends December 31, 2012.
Inquiries and submissions may be sent to:
Editor, Whole Terrain
Antioch University New England
40 Avon Street, Keene, NH 03431-3552
Phone: 603.283.2377
Fax: 603.357.0718
Email: wholeterrain@antioch.edu
Web: www.wholeterrain.org; Blog: www.wholeterrain.com
Students as Catalysts for Large Landscape Conservation
Colby College
March 1, 2013
The Environmental Studies Program at Colby College, in conjunction with partner universities, colleges, and research institutions, is hosting a conference on March 1, 2013 in Waterville, Maine, that will focus on students as catalysts for large landscape conservation.
This conference will provide students, practitioners, and scholars with the opportunity to network with, and learn from, peers and leading experts from North America and beyond working in the field of large landscape conservation.
One feature of the conference will be a conservation innovation contest for students. Undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit essays or creative contributions, such as videos. Authors of winning contributions will receive travel reimbursements to attend the conference up to $500. One essay will be considered for inclusion in a forthcoming book on large landscape conservation to be published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Additional essays will be considered for publication in an issue of an international conservation journal. Students unable to attend the conference are encouraged to attend via web conferencing.
The organizers also are soliciting student posters for display and presentation at the conference. These posters will not be considered as part of the conservation innovation contest for students.
For additional information about the student essay contest, registration, and other conference details, see: http://web.colby.edu/landscapeconservation/
For questions about the conference, please contact: landscapeconservation@colby.edu
GREEN CORPS
Green Corps The Field School for Environmental Organizing
Green Corps is looking for college graduates who are ready to take on the
biggest environmental challenges of our day.
In Green Corps year-long paid program, you¹ll get intensive training in the skills you¹ll need to make a difference in the world. You¹ll get hands-on experience fighting to solve urgent environmental problems ‹ global warming, deforestation, water pollution, factory farming and many others ‹ with groups such as Sierra Club and Food and Water Watch. And, when you graduate from Green Corps, we¹ll help you find a career with one of the nation¹s leading environmental and social change groups.
For more information, read below or visit our web site: www.greencorps.org.
In your year with Green Corps:
You¹ll get great training with some of the most experienced organizers in the field: Green Corps organizers take part in trainings with leading figures in the environmental and social change movements: people such as Adam Ruben, political director of MoveOn.org, and Bill McKibben, author and founder of "350.org".
You¹ll get amazing experience working on environmental issues across the country: Green Corps sends organizers to jumpstart campaigns for groups such as Rainforest Action Network and Environment America in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and dozens of other places in between.
You¹ll have a real impact on some of the biggest environmental problems we¹re facing today: Green Corps organizers have built the campaigns that helped keep the Arctic safe from drilling, that led to new laws that support clean, renewable energy, that convinced major corporations to stop dumping in our oceans and much, much more.
You¹ll even get paid: Green Corps Organizers earn a salary of $23,750. Organizers also have a chance to opt into our health care program with a pre-tax monthly salary deferral. We offer paid sick days and holidays, two weeks paid vacation and a student loan repayment program for those who qualify.
And when you graduate from the program, you¹ll be ready for what comes next: Green Corps will help connect you to environmental and progressive groups that are looking for full-time staff to build their organizations and help them create social change and protect our environment.
In the next few months, weŒll invite 35 college graduates to join Green Corps in 2013 -2014. We¹re looking for people who are serious about saving the planet, people who have taken initiative on their campus or community, and people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work for change over the long haul.
If you think you¹re one of those people, visit www.greencorps.org to apply to join the 2013-2014 class of Green Corps¹ Field School for Environmental Organizing.
Green Corps¹ year-long program begins in August 2013 with Introductory Classroom Training in Boston, and continues with field placements in multiple locations across the U.S. Candidates must be willing to relocate.
For more information, visit http://www.greencorps.org or contact Aaron Myran, Recruitment Director, at jobs@greencorps.org.
biggest environmental challenges of our day.
In Green Corps year-long paid program, you¹ll get intensive training in the skills you¹ll need to make a difference in the world. You¹ll get hands-on experience fighting to solve urgent environmental problems ‹ global warming, deforestation, water pollution, factory farming and many others ‹ with groups such as Sierra Club and Food and Water Watch. And, when you graduate from Green Corps, we¹ll help you find a career with one of the nation¹s leading environmental and social change groups.
For more information, read below or visit our web site: www.greencorps.org.
In your year with Green Corps:
You¹ll get great training with some of the most experienced organizers in the field: Green Corps organizers take part in trainings with leading figures in the environmental and social change movements: people such as Adam Ruben, political director of MoveOn.org, and Bill McKibben, author and founder of "350.org".
You¹ll get amazing experience working on environmental issues across the country: Green Corps sends organizers to jumpstart campaigns for groups such as Rainforest Action Network and Environment America in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and dozens of other places in between.
You¹ll have a real impact on some of the biggest environmental problems we¹re facing today: Green Corps organizers have built the campaigns that helped keep the Arctic safe from drilling, that led to new laws that support clean, renewable energy, that convinced major corporations to stop dumping in our oceans and much, much more.
You¹ll even get paid: Green Corps Organizers earn a salary of $23,750. Organizers also have a chance to opt into our health care program with a pre-tax monthly salary deferral. We offer paid sick days and holidays, two weeks paid vacation and a student loan repayment program for those who qualify.
And when you graduate from the program, you¹ll be ready for what comes next: Green Corps will help connect you to environmental and progressive groups that are looking for full-time staff to build their organizations and help them create social change and protect our environment.
In the next few months, weŒll invite 35 college graduates to join Green Corps in 2013 -2014. We¹re looking for people who are serious about saving the planet, people who have taken initiative on their campus or community, and people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work for change over the long haul.
If you think you¹re one of those people, visit www.greencorps.org to apply to join the 2013-2014 class of Green Corps¹ Field School for Environmental Organizing.
Green Corps¹ year-long program begins in August 2013 with Introductory Classroom Training in Boston, and continues with field placements in multiple locations across the U.S. Candidates must be willing to relocate.
For more information, visit http://www.greencorps.org or contact Aaron Myran, Recruitment Director, at jobs@greencorps.org.
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Hello,
As a graduating senior, you are no doubt trying to decide what you will do next year, or even for the next 5 years. Consider a job with US PIRG. www.uspirg.org/jobs.
When I graduated college, I was eager to put all my academic understanding of social problems and passion for politics into action. I discovered US PIRG as one of the few major organizations that commits to training college graduates to be full time organizers. As an organizer at UMass-Dartmouth, I have trained students to run a record-breaking voter registration drive while also working on poverty alleviation and environmental advocacy.
If you’re like me, you look around and see too many problems in our country to sit back and do nothing. With U.S. PIRG, you can actually get paid to take on and solve the problems our country faces; from advocating for policies that will protect consumers from big bank and credit card rip-offs, to educating citizens and students about energy efficiency, and increasing participation in democracy.
US PIRG is a federation of state-based public interest advocacy groups. And working together we have a much greater opportunity to make a difference. We have a 40-year track record of organizing on these issues, and, we’re hiring graduating seniors to jump right in and make a critical impact as a campus organizer or in our fellowship program.
We will be holding an information session and interviews on campus the week of November 12-13th. I encourage you to find out more and apply!
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Rucker
Campus Organizer, MassPIRG
volunteer in africa
One Heart Source is currently accepting applications for our 2013 Volunteer Programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and the next deadline is November 2nd! Upcoming deadlines are as follows:
December 7th, 2012
January 4th, 2013
February 5th, 2013
As an OHS Volunteer, you will:
* Live with a host family and be an active member of their household.
(Zanzibar only)
* Work with primary school students through a mentorship program focused on building strong Math and English foundations while empowering students.
* Work closely with members of the community to create social uplift.
* Lead after-school programs in non-traditional subjects like dance, debate, art, and sports.
* Work with a small, dynamic team of international university students.
We at One Heart Source believe in creating lasting social change through education and human connection. We encourage you to take a step towards a more socially just future for the youth of some of the most marginalized communities in the world.
APPLY NOW FOR OUR SUMMER PROGRAMS!
For more information and to download the program application, please visit:www.oneheartsource.org/volunteer
One Heart Source is currently accepting applications for our 2013 Volunteer Programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and the next deadline is November 2nd! Upcoming deadlines are as follows:
December 7th, 2012
January 4th, 2013
February 5th, 2013
As an OHS Volunteer, you will:
* Live with a host family and be an active member of their household.
(Zanzibar only)
* Work with primary school students through a mentorship program focused on building strong Math and English foundations while empowering students.
* Work closely with members of the community to create social uplift.
* Lead after-school programs in non-traditional subjects like dance, debate, art, and sports.
* Work with a small, dynamic team of international university students.
We at One Heart Source believe in creating lasting social change through education and human connection. We encourage you to take a step towards a more socially just future for the youth of some of the most marginalized communities in the world.
APPLY NOW FOR OUR SUMMER PROGRAMS!
For more information and to download the program application, please visit:www.oneheartsource.org/volunteer
WAVES FOR development internship
WAVES for development is an NGO operating in Lobitos, Peru. One of their current projects is to design a simple, effective, low cost, and easy to maintain water storage, purification and grey water irrigation system for families without access to clean water. WAVES is looking for teams of undergraduate students to design such a system, submit it for judging, and come assist WAVES with a pilot install over the summer of 2013. (See attached PDF.)
Interested in taking on the lead role for this project? Contact Tim Rowse, developing director of WAVES: rowses2003@yahoo.com
Environment Massachusetts has a number of internship opportunities posted on their website. For more information, please visit http://environmentmassachusetts.org/page/jobs or contact Alison Giest, Environment Massachusetts, New England Federal Field Associate, at agiest@environmentmassachusetts.org or 813-215-3604.
Each year, Environment America hires recent college graduates with the passion, the commitment and the talent it takes to stand up to polluting industries, organize support and fight for our environmental values.
This year, we are recruiting to fill 35 fellowship positions with our state affiliates across the country and in Washington, D.C. Every Environment America fellow will organize, advocate and fight for the environment while gaining the responsibility, training and experience you’ll need to make a difference – now and for years to come.
Our Fellowship Program is a two-year immersion in the nuts and bolts of environmental activism, organizing, advocacy and the type of organization-building necessary for the long haul.
To learn more and to apply: https://jobs.environmentamerica.org/programs/amr/become-environment-america-fellow
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