Thursday, October 31, 2013

Weekly Announcements 10/31/13

Dear Environmental Studies Minors,

Please find the this week’s announcements below.

The Environmental Studies program now has a Facebook page.  Like it today at https://www.facebook.com/bcenvstudy.  We promise not to flood your newsfeed with updates will but keep you informed about both the most important ESP events and relevant local, national, and global environmental news stories.

Graduate School Opportunities
1.       Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
2.       Sustainability Fellowships at Columbia
3.       PhD Funding at the National University of Singapore

On Campus Job Opportunity and Career Services
1.       Career Center Drop-Ins

Off-Campus Lectures, Forums, and Exhibitions
1.       Tide Mill Conference – 11/8-9
2.       Bridgewater State 12th Annual Undergraduate Symposium on Sustainability and the Environment – 12/7
3.       Exhibition on Climate Change at the Harvard Museum of Natural History
4.       C2C National Climate Seminar at Bard – Biweekly Events

Internship Opportunities, Off Campus Jobs, Site Visits, and Travel Opportunities
1.       C2C Fellowship
2.       Internship with Environment America
3.       Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources
4.       Green Corps Environmental Training Program
5.       Environment Massachusetts

Best,
Kevin

--
B. Kevin Brown
Graduate Assistant, Environmental Studies
617-552-2477
Devlin 213

Fall 2013 Office Hours: Monday 9:00am-1:00pm, Tuesday 10:00am-4:00pm, Wednesday 4:00-5:00pm, and Thursday 12:00-5:00pm

Application Update
We are pleased to announce that the Fall 2014 application for admission to the Masters programs at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies is now live. You can access the application here. Please make sure to submit all of your materials no later than December 15, 2013 in order to be given full consideration for admission. 

Financial Aid Update
In order to be considered for scholarships, all applicants must submit the F&ES financial aid application by February 15, 2014. U.S. students must also submit the 2014-15 FAFSA by this deadline. Applicants who submit late or incomplete applications for financial aid will not be considered for scholarship. The financial aid application will be available in mid-October.

Anyone that submits an application for admission will also be granted access to the outside scholarship database. This is a great resource for students looking for additional scholarship support, and we strongly encourage you to look at this database before you receive your admission decision!

Admission Events
Office of Admissions representatives from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies will be visiting Boston on November 5, 2013 to meet with prospective students at a joint event with Duke, Michigan, and UCSB. We hope you will be able to join us for this great information session. Admissions officers and alumni will be available to answer questions about our respective programs and curriculum, admissions and financial aid, and what it is like to be a student. 

Big 4 Info Session with Duke, Michigan, Yale & UCSB
Where: Marriott Copley Place, 110 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA
When: Tuesday, November 5, 2013; 6:00-8:00 pm

Please visit the admission events website for more information on this event, as well as other on- and off-campus sessions around the country this fall. We look forward to seeing you there!




Apply to the Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy by November 1st, and you will be considered for a $20,000  Environmental Sustainability Fellowship! Nearly half of the students in the program receive fellowships based on merit and need.

As a graduate of the program, you would by joining alumni, such as Carolina Jaramillo, who is forging a career in international sustainable development. To hear from alumni speak about the program and its value in their careers, please watch this short video.

You can learn more by participating in an upcoming online information session:
ONLINE: Thursday, October 24, 2013 10am-12pm RSVP HERE

I also invite you to visit the campus and meet with current students and faculty. All of us would love to discuss the program with you.

Warm Regards,
Sarah Tweedie, Assistant Director
MPA in Environmental Science and Policy, Columbia University’s School of International & Public Affairs
212-854-3142


DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE


The QS World University rankings (2013) place National University Singapore (NUS) in the top 25 universities in the world and number one in Asia.  In the same rankings, the Department of Geography, NUS, is ranked in the top ten Geography programmes globally.

The Tropical Environmental Change (TEC) research group in the Department of Geography, NUS, currently comprises around 35 faculty and graduate research students whose interests focus on the dynamic nature of geo-ecological processes and the human dimensions of low latitude (tropical) regimes.  Such regimes are amongst the least studied and therefore most poorly understood on Earth.

Several fully funded scholarships (fees and maintenance) of up to four years are currently available in the TEC research group in the Department to support research and training to the award of a PhD.  Opportunities also exist to apply for additional funding to support fieldwork and laboratory costs, if relevant, to participate in international conferences and to contribute to the Department’s teaching programmes. 

Graduate research students in TEC follow a semi-structured programme, which involves a taught component in the first two years of registration.  The programme allows a PhD student to acquire and develop to a high standard both subject-specific and transferable skills, thus enabling a student to access a broad range of future employment opportunities – in business, industry, consultancy, education, research etc.  For information on how to become a PhD student at one of the world’s top universities in one of the most culturally diverse and technologically advanced cities in the world, and on enriching careers following your PhD, see: http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/geog/graduates/

Please note that there are two application deadlines each year: 1 November and 15 May (for entrance in, respectively, August and January of the year following the application deadline).  For further information, please contact in the first instance Ms Pauline Lee (email geoleepl@nus.edu.sg ).  Pauline is the administrator in the Department with responsibility for providing support to the Graduate Studies programme in Geography.

TEC faculty are particularly interested to receive applications from suitably qualified candidates (excellent performances in bachelor’s and master’s degrees in relevant subjects) that relate directly to the topics/themes listed below.  We are also happy to consider enquiries and applications within the broad field of Tropical Environmental Change from suitably qualified applicants.  In the case of the latter, applicants are advised from early in the process of writing their PhD proposal to consult with a member of TEC faculty whose research interests most closely match their own.  For further advice, including whom among the TEC faculty might be best able to help develop a proposal, please contact Professor David Taylor (geodmt@nus.edu.sg ) – Chair of TEC.






PhD topics/themes currently open to applicants
(for further details on specific topics/themes please contact the PI(s) listed):

1) Reconstruction of Palaeoflood histories on mainland SE Asian Rivers
(PI: Professor Alan Ziegler, email: geoadz@nus.edu.sg

This PhD develops preliminary work in TEC by Profs Ziegler, Higgitt, Oliver, Wasson examining river bank stratigraphies to develop a timeline of flood occurrences during the past millennia.  In particular the work will explore the possibility of a breakdown of the Indian Ocean Monsoon during the Little Ice Age, then it's restrengthening in the last 100-200 years.  Fieldwork will be conducted in at least the following countries: Thailand, Lao PDR, Myanmar.  Analyses will involve 14C and OSL dating.  Other analyses could involve hydrological modeling and comparison of the flood record against including tree ring and speleothem archives.  This work has implications for understanding potential changes in flood occurrences with plausible impending climate change

2) Linking Health and Environment- Ecology, Epidemiology and Geography of Infectious Diseases
(PI: Assistant Professor Wang Yi-Chen, email: yi-chen.wang@nus.edu.sg )

Disease transmission requires a susceptible host to encounter an infected host or vector, thereby is an inherently spatial process. Factors affecting the spatial distributions of pathogens, hosts, and vectors, and their likelihood of close encountering, are thus critical for understanding the dynamics of diseases. PhD projects under this research theme will be cross-cutting and expand the work done by both the physical and human geographers of the Department (i.e., Dr Wang, Prof Taylor, Dr Feng, Dr. Grundy-Warr, Prof Ziegler) to examine the ecology, epidemiology and geography of infectious disease (including, but not limited to, malaria, opisthorchiasis, schistosomiasis, and clonorchiasis), with the applications of GIS, remote sensing and other spatial analysis techniques. Topics may include: environmental and/or social determinants of disease prevalence and transmission; spatial analysis and modeling of disease risks; landscape influences on the spatial variation in disease prevalence; and impacts of land change on disease ecology. Interested students with ecology, physical geography, and GIS/remote sensing background are encouraged to apply.

3) Coastal hazard vulnerability in the Gulf of Thailand assessed from the Holocene frequency of high-energy inundation deposits
(PI: Associate Professor James Terry, email: geojpt@nus.edu.sg )

Scientific data underpinning coastal hazard assessments is often of poor quality or limited historical extent in the SE Asian region, where most records extend back for only the last 200 years or so.  To truly understand the coastal hazards we are exposed to we need information that extends well beyond the historical record.  Unfortunately, it is not always easy to recognize the hazards that a low-lying coastal area faces, either because there may be no previous memory of large-magnitude, destructive events from which we might learn valuable lessons, or because people are, for various reasons, unaware of the area’s geological past.

The primary goal of this PhD project is to improve understanding of the magnitude-frequency of large coastal inundation events in the Gulf of Thailand, that potentially threaten the deltaic megacity of Bangkok and other Thai coastal cities.  Occurring over centennial timescales, severe coastal floods may be generated by intense storms or tsunamis.  For teasing out the palaeo-record into the Holocene epoch, sedimentological analysis of coastal deposits remains among the most valuable approaches.

An exciting new method growing in importance is to carry out detailed examination of large coastal clasts for illuminating the characteristics of the high-energy waves that emplaced them.  This is especially applicable to tropical coastlines, where datable carbonate blocks torn up from coral reefs are thrown up onto exposed coastal platforms during storms and tsunamis.  Such types of deposits have obvious advantages in terms of identification and sampling, compared to more elusive layers of fine sands that might be difficult to locate if buried in mangrove swamps, obscured by shoreline vegetation or submerged underwater in lagoons.  Laboratory dating using Uranium-series techniques provides a timetable back through pre-history of major coastal inundation events.

The significance of obtaining such data for the Gulf of Thailand is clear to see.  Not only will the information be of value to government departments and disaster agencies tasked with assessing current coastal vulnerability, it will also help in the science of projecting risk scenarios into the future as sea levels continue rising in the region through eustatic change and deltaic subsidence.

4) Understanding human impacts on climate caused by urban development
(PIs: Associate Professor Matthias Roth, email: geomr@nus.edu.sg  & Assistant Professor Winston Chow, email: winstonchow@nus.edu.sg  )

PhD projects under this research theme investigate the broad question of how land-use and land cover changes affect local climates with a particular focus on cities and the role they play in climate change. Our group uses experimental approaches (observations in the field and application of numerical climate models) to study various aspects of the urban climate, including (i.) the development of the urban heat island (UHI) effect and its consequent impacts on exposure to thermal discomfort, (ii.) cycling of heat, mass and carbon dioxide as well as (iii.) fundamental flow and turbulence properties. Our laboratory is primarily Singapore, an increasingly important hub for urban climate research in the tropics. Findings from this research are important to improve our understanding of the physical transfer processes and energy balance in the urban environment, as well as in assessing the vulnerability of urban populations towards detrimental impacts of urban climate change. Applications include the prediction of the exchanges of energy and moisture at the surface, dispersion of pollutants, cycling of atmospheric trace species that play a key role in climate change or human thermal comfort and climate sensitive urban design.

Interested students with strong science backgrounds as well as those with prior training in atmospheric sciences, climatology or physical geography are encouraged to apply. The development and completion of own research agenda, leading to scientific publications is strongly encouraged.

5) Agent-based modeling in CyberGIS
(PI: Assistant Professor Feng Chen-Chieh, email: geofcc@nus.edu.sg )

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a powerful approach for simulating social and natural systems. It enables exploring a wide range of geographical and more broadly social sciences issues facing society. With the emergence of “spatial big data” that come in large volume and fine granularity, and CyberGIS that is capable of handling these spatial big data, it is now possible to carry out micro-simulation on a large spatial and temporal extent. ABM in CyberGIS thus makes it possible to offer researchers and policy makers more realistic rendition of spatial dynamic systems of interest and explore key trends in these systems that carry policy implications.

Projects under this research theme include the development of new ABM formalisms and algorithms in CyberGIS, techniques for handling spatial big data, and tools for visualizing high-dimensional data sets, as well as their applications various urban issues, such as urban transportation and accessibility. Interested students with strong GIS and modeling background are encouraged to apply.

6)  The role of mangroves in coastal management (PI: Assistant Professor Daniel Friess, email: dan.friess@nus.edu.sg )

Mangroves provide a multitude of important ecosystem services, supporting the livelihoods of millions of people in Southeast Asia, though are suffering rapid decline. Research in the Mangrove Lab at NUS Geography focuses on the geomorphological, ecological and social factors that affect mangrove stability and ecosystem service provision, using field-based and remote sensing techniques. We are particularly interested in research that puts mangroves into a wider coastal management perspective.

Topics may include 1) quantification and modelling of mangrove ecosystem services (e.g. carbon) under different management scenarios, 2) mangrove geomorphology and its effect on ecosystem service provision, 3) mangrove geomorphology and sea level rise, 4) geomorphological, ecological and social factors contributing to mangrove restoration, and 5) remote sensing of mangrove land cover change. Current study locations include Singapore, Sulawesi (Indonesia) and Thailand, though there is potential to expand research to The Philippines and Sri Lanka. Students will be expected to work closely with our regional University and NGO partners. Students with an interest in ecology, physical geography and/or GIS/remote sensing are encouraged to apply. For more information on current projects and students see www.themangrovelab.com

7) Determining the form and level of anthropogenic impacts on freshwater lakes in tropical Asia, and the rate and nature of past recovery phases.
(PI: Professor David Taylor, email: geodmt@nus.edu.sg )

This PhD project will utilize a largely palaeolimnological (lake sediments-based) approach at a selection of lakes in the Philippines that span a range of degrees of anthropogenic modification. Information generated by the project will provide a basis for allied research aimed at anticipating future aquatic conditions, including factors that could potentially confound recovery and efforts at restoration.

Key research questions underpinning the PhD research are likely to include:
1)      What are the principal ecological pressures linked to human activity and how have these pressures varied over the last c. 500 years?
2)      Is there evidence in the lake sediment records of past periods of ecological recovery and if so what was the context for this recovery and over what period of time did it take place?
3)      To what extent do aquatic ecological pressures, including climate change and variability, internal lake processes (e.g. lake turnover events) etc, interact resulting in synergistic effects, and do particular catchment conditions – e.g. particular soil, land cover and topographic characteristics – appear to constrain or enhance outcomes?

The research will be carried out in collaboration with researchers at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines, who are working on a major, Philippines Government-funded research programme investigating freshwater pollution, and targets an area of the aquatic sciences that is at present very poorly covered in the tropics generally and in tropical Asia in particular.  The research project includes field-based research in the Philippines.

8) Carbon cycles in large Asian rivers
(PI: Professor Lu Xi Xi, email: geoluxx@nus.edu.sg )

Riverine carbon fluxes, burial and emission (or outgassing or evasion) are an important part of carbon exchange between terrestrial, oceanic and atmospheric environment and thus must be considered in strategies to mitigate climate change. However, there is limited understanding of recent spatial and temporal dynamics of such exchange for the large Asian rivers originated from the Himalaya mountains and Tibet Plateau. Work can be focused on any of the large Asian rivers like Chao Phraya (in collaboration with Prof Ziegler, NUS), Mekong (with Dr. Matti Kummu, Finland), Red River (Vietnamese academy), Pearl, Yangtze and Yellow River (with Institute of Geology & Geophysics for the Chinese rivers).



As in the past, a representative from the Career Center (Allison Reilly) will be holding drop-in hours where students are welcome to come with questions about resumes, cover letters, internships, job search, interviews, etc. These drop-ins are open to all, but geared toward science, math, and tech students. This semester's science drop-ins will take place as follows:
  • Wednesdays from 1:30-2:30pm in Higgins
  • Thursdays from 4:30-5:30pm in Merkert
(Please note: we also have additional drop-in hours in the Career Center and online for students who have conflicts with the times above.)




Saturday, December 7, 2013
Bridgewater State University
Conant Science & Math Center

Please join us at the only symposium dedicated to undergraduate environmental research, and projects that address sustainability issues from a campus, regional, national, or global perspective. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues, and especially to students who might be interested in presenting their lab, field or classroom research related to sustainability and the environment. Undergraduate posters (research or classroom work) in all environmental disciplines are welcome.  We are also happy to include student presentations pertaining to campus sustainability projects, or regional/global sustainability issues.

Please visit the Symposium web page for a list of the 2012 poster titles and abstracts.  The “Call for Abstracts” will go out in late October with a November 20 deadline.


Climate Change: Our Global Experiment

Ongoing exhibit 
Developed in collaboration with the Harvard University Center for the Environment Climate Change: Our Global Experiment will help you separate truth from spin and provide a basis for making informed decisions affecting the future of our planet. The exhibit offers an insider’s look at the scientific study of climate, presenting the latest research from renowned experts at Harvard and around the world. Get the facts, draw your own conclusions, then take part in a unique computer simulation that allows you to choose a course of action and see the consequences for the planet.


C2C Fellows | National Climate Seminar
 
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The beginning of the semester is, for me, always a time for reflection on my purpose on the planet.  Witnessing local communities in collapse—from Syria to Detroit— it can be hard to hang on to Dr. King’s vision of a moral arc of the universe that bends, eventually, towards justice.

The picture on my mind is the literal arc of history.

The reconstructed arc of temperature is our best understanding of climate over the last 10,000 years. The entirety of human history is spanned in the arc, from the building of the first city to the I-pad. The red line is where the World Bank says we are headed, in the blink of an eye. Talk about a brick wall.

The definition of leadership we use here at Bard CEP is two-fold: taking people where they otherwise would not go, and inspiring others to lead in the same direction.

Where we are otherwise going is the top of that red line: 8 degrees F when my children are not much older than me.  Where we need to go instead is 80% reductions in emissions globally.

So what is our purpose? How do we reengage with the moral arc of the universe?  The answer is obvious: we must all lead.

Leadership requires skills that can be learned. Please help us find young people who are hungry for those skills. C2C Fellows is holding five weekend training conferences for undergrads and recent grads aspiring to sustainability leadership in business and politics.

MA (Bentley University) | October 25–27, 2013
CA   (Bay Area) | November 8–10, 2013
NY   (Bard College) | February 14-16, 2014
FL    (University of Florida) | March, 2014
IL     (Moraine Valley Community College) | April, 2014

Students can apply now. Applications are due two weeks prior to each workshop. Learn more about the benefits of becoming a Bard C2C Fellow here. Cost for the weekend trainings, including food (and lodging for those traveling more than an hour), is $30. Registration scholarships are available, and students can often apply to their student governments for travel support as well.

Next week, join us in welcoming economist Jon Koomey on The National Climate Seminar. Jon will be talking about his book Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-Based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs. The full fall schedule is below and here.

Thanks for the work you are doing.

Eban Goodstein
Director, Bard CEP & Director, Bard MBA in Sustainability

National Climate Seminar  |  Fall 2013 Schedule
 
Climate Seminar calls are Wednesdays at 12pm EST and held twice a month via conference call. Assign the calls to your students for a chance to hear top scientists, analysts, and political leaders discuss climate and clean energy solutions. Call in to (712) 432-3100 up to five minutes before each call starts and enter conference code 253385.  Have questions for the speakers? Email them beforehand or during the call to climate@bard.edu -  or listen in for the chance to ask them live!
 
Date
Speaker
Topic
Nov 6
Laurie Johnson
“The Social Cost of Carbon Just Doubled”
Nov 20
Jorge Madrid
“Latino Climate Leadership”
Dec 4
Josh Fox
“Gasland 2 and Beyond”


Sponsors
The National Climate Seminar is organized and run by Bard CEP with media partner, Island Press. And a special C2C Shoutout: check out  (and support) the Tenleytown Meat Company, a new sustainable-beef-by-bike venture started by C2C Fellow (2012) Will Mitchell. 




I’m writing to tell you about a national fellowship program and workshop that Bard's Center for Environmental Policy is bringing to Waltham, MA in October.  It’s called “C2C Fellows.”  

C2C Fellows is designed for young people who want to change the world by the time they are thirty. It is a national network for undergraduates and recent graduates who want high-impact careers in sustainable business and politics.  During a C2C Fellows’ weekend workshop students learn the leadership skills necessary to succeed, such as how to: raise money, tell a story, build their network, pitch their ideas, and know what they're good at. 

I’m writing to encourage young leaders to apply today. The Application deadline is October 11th.

Joining the fellowship is a prestigious opportunity; only 50 students from the northeast will be accepted this year. 

The workshop will be held at on campus at Bentley University from Friday (afternoon), October 25th – Sunday, October 27th


Some quick facts about the Fellowship Workshop:
·       Attendance is limited to undergrads and/or recent grads
·       Cost is only $30 (including food, and lodging for students traveling over 1 hr)
·       This will be advertised at all schools in the region


Please do not hesitate to email or call workshop director Jess Scott if you have questions or want to discuss further! Thank you!

Jess Scott
Workshop Director
C2C Fellows
Bard Center for Environmental Policy
www.c2cfellows.org
Ph: (845) 752-4514



Since 1989, the Antioch Education Abroad Brazilian Ecosystems: The Protection and Management of Biodiversity program has engaged students through in-depth field studies across a variety of biomes in Brazil. This is a Fall Semester program, with a new Summer Term option (see schedule here). All students explore the flora, fauna, and ecological characteristics of the Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic Coastal Forest, and coastal marine systems, and how environmental factors contribute to species and habitat diversity. Students enrolled in the full semester program continue their studies in Brazil to include advanced studies of the impact of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem function, a Portuguese language intensive, and an Independent Field Internship.

Unique program features:

1. Program is led by Antioch University professor Suzanne Kolb, PhD, who is assisted by Brazilian professors, research scientists, and activists, who provide local expertise on current environmental issues facing each region.

2. Fall semester students engage in a month-long field internship, working with a Brazilian scientist or NGO for individualized hands-on experience in their field of interest.

3. Students explore multiple ecosystems, allowing them to compare the ecological characteristics of each, and providing a broader understanding of ecology in Brazil.

Curriculum: The Fall Semester program offers 4 courses for 16 semester credits - Introduction to Brazilian Ecosystems; Ecology and Protective Management of  Biodiversity in Brazil; Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced PortugueseField Internship. Summer Term students enroll in Introduction to Brazilian Ecosystems for 4 semester credits. Click here to view detailed course descriptions. If you would like to review syllabi for the process of approving this program, please contact us.



Environment America interns will spend their fall semester making a big difference on critical environment issues and learning a ton, while getting the experience they need to launch a career in the environmental movement after graduation.

Read more about our internship program here. Interested candidates can complete an online application here.

Monique Sullivan
Recruitment Director
Environment America
(202) 461-2448




The MA DOER Internship Programs seeks to provide interns with exciting opportunities to assist DOER with implementing energy policies in areas such as renewables, energy efficiency, alternative transportation, energy markets, and more.  The program is open to undergraduate students, graduate students, law school students, and other individuals who are seeking experience in the energy arena.





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, you’ll get intensive training in the skills you’ll need to make a difference in the world. You’ll get hands-on experience fighting to solve urgent environmental problems — global warming, deforestation, water pollution and many others — with groups such as Sierra Club and Food and Water Watch. And, when you graduate from Green Corps, we’ll help you find a career with one of the nation’s leading environmental and social change groups.

For more information, read below or visit our web site: www.greencorps.org.

Apply online today at greencorps.org/apply

Green Corps
44 Winter St, 4th Fl
Boston, MA
02108
617 747 4302



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.




Thursday, October 24, 2013

Announcements - 10/24

Dear Environmental Studies Minors,

Please find the this week’s announcements below.  Please note that the Evening with Bill McKibben is TONIGHT and the symposium with Senator Markey is TOMORROW.

The Environmental Studies program now has a Facebook page.  Like it today at https://www.facebook.com/bcenvstudy.  We promise not to flood your newsfeed with updates will but keep you informed about both the most important ESP events and relevant local, national, and global environmental news stories.

On Campus Lectures and Forums
1.       An Evening with Bill McKibben
2.       Energy: From the Last to the Next 150 Years

Graduate School Opportunities
1.       Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
2.       Sustainability Fellowships at Columbia
3.       PhD Funding at the National University of Singapore

On Campus Job Opportunity and Career Services
1.       Career Center Drop-Ins

Off-Campus Lectures, Forums, and Exhibitions
1.       Tide Mill Conference – 11/8-9
2.       Bridgewater State 12th Annual Undergraduate Symposium on Sustainability and the Environment – 12/7
3.       Exhibition on Climate Change at the Harvard Museum of Natural History
4.       C2C National Climate Seminar at Bard – Biweekly Events

Internship Opportunities, Off Campus Jobs, Site Visits, and Travel Opportunities
1.       C2C Fellowship
2.       Internship with Environment America
3.       Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources
4.       Green Corps Environmental Training Program
5.       Environment Massachusetts

Best,
Kevin

--
B. Kevin Brown
Graduate Assistant, Environmental Studies
617-552-2477
Devlin 213

Fall 2013 Office Hours: Monday 9:00am-1:00pm, Tuesday 10:00am-4:00pm, Wednesday 4:00-5:00pm, and Thursday 12:00-5:00pm

Evening with bill Mckibben





Application Update
We are pleased to announce that the Fall 2014 application for admission to the Masters programs at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies is now live. You can access the application here. Please make sure to submit all of your materials no later than December 15, 2013 in order to be given full consideration for admission. 

Financial Aid Update
In order to be considered for scholarships, all applicants must submit the F&ES financial aid application by February 15, 2014. U.S. students must also submit the 2014-15 FAFSA by this deadline. Applicants who submit late or incomplete applications for financial aid will not be considered for scholarship. The financial aid application will be available in mid-October.

Anyone that submits an application for admission will also be granted access to the outside scholarship database. This is a great resource for students looking for additional scholarship support, and we strongly encourage you to look at this database before you receive your admission decision!

Admission Events
Office of Admissions representatives from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies will be visiting Boston on November 5, 2013 to meet with prospective students at a joint event with Duke, Michigan, and UCSB. We hope you will be able to join us for this great information session. Admissions officers and alumni will be available to answer questions about our respective programs and curriculum, admissions and financial aid, and what it is like to be a student. 

Big 4 Info Session with Duke, Michigan, Yale & UCSB
Where: Marriott Copley Place, 110 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA
When: Tuesday, November 5, 2013; 6:00-8:00 pm

Please visit the admission events website for more information on this event, as well as other on- and off-campus sessions around the country this fall. We look forward to seeing you there!




Apply to the Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy by November 1st, and you will be considered for a $20,000  Environmental Sustainability Fellowship! Nearly half of the students in the program receive fellowships based on merit and need.

As a graduate of the program, you would by joining alumni, such as Carolina Jaramillo, who is forging a career in international sustainable development. To hear from alumni speak about the program and its value in their careers, please watch this short video.

You can learn more by participating in an upcoming online information session:
ONLINE: Thursday, October 24, 2013 10am-12pm RSVP HERE

I also invite you to visit the campus and meet with current students and faculty. All of us would love to discuss the program with you.

Warm Regards,
Sarah Tweedie, Assistant Director
MPA in Environmental Science and Policy, Columbia University’s School of International & Public Affairs
212-854-3142


DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE


The QS World University rankings (2013) place National University Singapore (NUS) in the top 25 universities in the world and number one in Asia.  In the same rankings, the Department of Geography, NUS, is ranked in the top ten Geography programmes globally.

The Tropical Environmental Change (TEC) research group in the Department of Geography, NUS, currently comprises around 35 faculty and graduate research students whose interests focus on the dynamic nature of geo-ecological processes and the human dimensions of low latitude (tropical) regimes.  Such regimes are amongst the least studied and therefore most poorly understood on Earth.

Several fully funded scholarships (fees and maintenance) of up to four years are currently available in the TEC research group in the Department to support research and training to the award of a PhD.  Opportunities also exist to apply for additional funding to support fieldwork and laboratory costs, if relevant, to participate in international conferences and to contribute to the Department’s teaching programmes. 

Graduate research students in TEC follow a semi-structured programme, which involves a taught component in the first two years of registration.  The programme allows a PhD student to acquire and develop to a high standard both subject-specific and transferable skills, thus enabling a student to access a broad range of future employment opportunities – in business, industry, consultancy, education, research etc.  For information on how to become a PhD student at one of the world’s top universities in one of the most culturally diverse and technologically advanced cities in the world, and on enriching careers following your PhD, see: http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/geog/graduates/

Please note that there are two application deadlines each year: 1 November and 15 May (for entrance in, respectively, August and January of the year following the application deadline).  For further information, please contact in the first instance Ms Pauline Lee (email geoleepl@nus.edu.sg ).  Pauline is the administrator in the Department with responsibility for providing support to the Graduate Studies programme in Geography.

TEC faculty are particularly interested to receive applications from suitably qualified candidates (excellent performances in bachelor’s and master’s degrees in relevant subjects) that relate directly to the topics/themes listed below.  We are also happy to consider enquiries and applications within the broad field of Tropical Environmental Change from suitably qualified applicants.  In the case of the latter, applicants are advised from early in the process of writing their PhD proposal to consult with a member of TEC faculty whose research interests most closely match their own.  For further advice, including whom among the TEC faculty might be best able to help develop a proposal, please contact Professor David Taylor (geodmt@nus.edu.sg ) – Chair of TEC.






PhD topics/themes currently open to applicants
(for further details on specific topics/themes please contact the PI(s) listed):

1) Reconstruction of Palaeoflood histories on mainland SE Asian Rivers
(PI: Professor Alan Ziegler, email: geoadz@nus.edu.sg

This PhD develops preliminary work in TEC by Profs Ziegler, Higgitt, Oliver, Wasson examining river bank stratigraphies to develop a timeline of flood occurrences during the past millennia.  In particular the work will explore the possibility of a breakdown of the Indian Ocean Monsoon during the Little Ice Age, then it's restrengthening in the last 100-200 years.  Fieldwork will be conducted in at least the following countries: Thailand, Lao PDR, Myanmar.  Analyses will involve 14C and OSL dating.  Other analyses could involve hydrological modeling and comparison of the flood record against including tree ring and speleothem archives.  This work has implications for understanding potential changes in flood occurrences with plausible impending climate change

2) Linking Health and Environment- Ecology, Epidemiology and Geography of Infectious Diseases
(PI: Assistant Professor Wang Yi-Chen, email: yi-chen.wang@nus.edu.sg )

Disease transmission requires a susceptible host to encounter an infected host or vector, thereby is an inherently spatial process. Factors affecting the spatial distributions of pathogens, hosts, and vectors, and their likelihood of close encountering, are thus critical for understanding the dynamics of diseases. PhD projects under this research theme will be cross-cutting and expand the work done by both the physical and human geographers of the Department (i.e., Dr Wang, Prof Taylor, Dr Feng, Dr. Grundy-Warr, Prof Ziegler) to examine the ecology, epidemiology and geography of infectious disease (including, but not limited to, malaria, opisthorchiasis, schistosomiasis, and clonorchiasis), with the applications of GIS, remote sensing and other spatial analysis techniques. Topics may include: environmental and/or social determinants of disease prevalence and transmission; spatial analysis and modeling of disease risks; landscape influences on the spatial variation in disease prevalence; and impacts of land change on disease ecology. Interested students with ecology, physical geography, and GIS/remote sensing background are encouraged to apply.

3) Coastal hazard vulnerability in the Gulf of Thailand assessed from the Holocene frequency of high-energy inundation deposits
(PI: Associate Professor James Terry, email: geojpt@nus.edu.sg )

Scientific data underpinning coastal hazard assessments is often of poor quality or limited historical extent in the SE Asian region, where most records extend back for only the last 200 years or so.  To truly understand the coastal hazards we are exposed to we need information that extends well beyond the historical record.  Unfortunately, it is not always easy to recognize the hazards that a low-lying coastal area faces, either because there may be no previous memory of large-magnitude, destructive events from which we might learn valuable lessons, or because people are, for various reasons, unaware of the area’s geological past.

The primary goal of this PhD project is to improve understanding of the magnitude-frequency of large coastal inundation events in the Gulf of Thailand, that potentially threaten the deltaic megacity of Bangkok and other Thai coastal cities.  Occurring over centennial timescales, severe coastal floods may be generated by intense storms or tsunamis.  For teasing out the palaeo-record into the Holocene epoch, sedimentological analysis of coastal deposits remains among the most valuable approaches.

An exciting new method growing in importance is to carry out detailed examination of large coastal clasts for illuminating the characteristics of the high-energy waves that emplaced them.  This is especially applicable to tropical coastlines, where datable carbonate blocks torn up from coral reefs are thrown up onto exposed coastal platforms during storms and tsunamis.  Such types of deposits have obvious advantages in terms of identification and sampling, compared to more elusive layers of fine sands that might be difficult to locate if buried in mangrove swamps, obscured by shoreline vegetation or submerged underwater in lagoons.  Laboratory dating using Uranium-series techniques provides a timetable back through pre-history of major coastal inundation events.

The significance of obtaining such data for the Gulf of Thailand is clear to see.  Not only will the information be of value to government departments and disaster agencies tasked with assessing current coastal vulnerability, it will also help in the science of projecting risk scenarios into the future as sea levels continue rising in the region through eustatic change and deltaic subsidence.

4) Understanding human impacts on climate caused by urban development
(PIs: Associate Professor Matthias Roth, email: geomr@nus.edu.sg  & Assistant Professor Winston Chow, email: winstonchow@nus.edu.sg  )

PhD projects under this research theme investigate the broad question of how land-use and land cover changes affect local climates with a particular focus on cities and the role they play in climate change. Our group uses experimental approaches (observations in the field and application of numerical climate models) to study various aspects of the urban climate, including (i.) the development of the urban heat island (UHI) effect and its consequent impacts on exposure to thermal discomfort, (ii.) cycling of heat, mass and carbon dioxide as well as (iii.) fundamental flow and turbulence properties. Our laboratory is primarily Singapore, an increasingly important hub for urban climate research in the tropics. Findings from this research are important to improve our understanding of the physical transfer processes and energy balance in the urban environment, as well as in assessing the vulnerability of urban populations towards detrimental impacts of urban climate change. Applications include the prediction of the exchanges of energy and moisture at the surface, dispersion of pollutants, cycling of atmospheric trace species that play a key role in climate change or human thermal comfort and climate sensitive urban design.

Interested students with strong science backgrounds as well as those with prior training in atmospheric sciences, climatology or physical geography are encouraged to apply. The development and completion of own research agenda, leading to scientific publications is strongly encouraged.

5) Agent-based modeling in CyberGIS
(PI: Assistant Professor Feng Chen-Chieh, email: geofcc@nus.edu.sg )

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a powerful approach for simulating social and natural systems. It enables exploring a wide range of geographical and more broadly social sciences issues facing society. With the emergence of “spatial big data” that come in large volume and fine granularity, and CyberGIS that is capable of handling these spatial big data, it is now possible to carry out micro-simulation on a large spatial and temporal extent. ABM in CyberGIS thus makes it possible to offer researchers and policy makers more realistic rendition of spatial dynamic systems of interest and explore key trends in these systems that carry policy implications.

Projects under this research theme include the development of new ABM formalisms and algorithms in CyberGIS, techniques for handling spatial big data, and tools for visualizing high-dimensional data sets, as well as their applications various urban issues, such as urban transportation and accessibility. Interested students with strong GIS and modeling background are encouraged to apply.

6)  The role of mangroves in coastal management (PI: Assistant Professor Daniel Friess, email: dan.friess@nus.edu.sg )

Mangroves provide a multitude of important ecosystem services, supporting the livelihoods of millions of people in Southeast Asia, though are suffering rapid decline. Research in the Mangrove Lab at NUS Geography focuses on the geomorphological, ecological and social factors that affect mangrove stability and ecosystem service provision, using field-based and remote sensing techniques. We are particularly interested in research that puts mangroves into a wider coastal management perspective.

Topics may include 1) quantification and modelling of mangrove ecosystem services (e.g. carbon) under different management scenarios, 2) mangrove geomorphology and its effect on ecosystem service provision, 3) mangrove geomorphology and sea level rise, 4) geomorphological, ecological and social factors contributing to mangrove restoration, and 5) remote sensing of mangrove land cover change. Current study locations include Singapore, Sulawesi (Indonesia) and Thailand, though there is potential to expand research to The Philippines and Sri Lanka. Students will be expected to work closely with our regional University and NGO partners. Students with an interest in ecology, physical geography and/or GIS/remote sensing are encouraged to apply. For more information on current projects and students see www.themangrovelab.com

7) Determining the form and level of anthropogenic impacts on freshwater lakes in tropical Asia, and the rate and nature of past recovery phases.
(PI: Professor David Taylor, email: geodmt@nus.edu.sg )

This PhD project will utilize a largely palaeolimnological (lake sediments-based) approach at a selection of lakes in the Philippines that span a range of degrees of anthropogenic modification. Information generated by the project will provide a basis for allied research aimed at anticipating future aquatic conditions, including factors that could potentially confound recovery and efforts at restoration.

Key research questions underpinning the PhD research are likely to include:
1)      What are the principal ecological pressures linked to human activity and how have these pressures varied over the last c. 500 years?
2)      Is there evidence in the lake sediment records of past periods of ecological recovery and if so what was the context for this recovery and over what period of time did it take place?
3)      To what extent do aquatic ecological pressures, including climate change and variability, internal lake processes (e.g. lake turnover events) etc, interact resulting in synergistic effects, and do particular catchment conditions – e.g. particular soil, land cover and topographic characteristics – appear to constrain or enhance outcomes?

The research will be carried out in collaboration with researchers at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines, who are working on a major, Philippines Government-funded research programme investigating freshwater pollution, and targets an area of the aquatic sciences that is at present very poorly covered in the tropics generally and in tropical Asia in particular.  The research project includes field-based research in the Philippines.

8) Carbon cycles in large Asian rivers
(PI: Professor Lu Xi Xi, email: geoluxx@nus.edu.sg )

Riverine carbon fluxes, burial and emission (or outgassing or evasion) are an important part of carbon exchange between terrestrial, oceanic and atmospheric environment and thus must be considered in strategies to mitigate climate change. However, there is limited understanding of recent spatial and temporal dynamics of such exchange for the large Asian rivers originated from the Himalaya mountains and Tibet Plateau. Work can be focused on any of the large Asian rivers like Chao Phraya (in collaboration with Prof Ziegler, NUS), Mekong (with Dr. Matti Kummu, Finland), Red River (Vietnamese academy), Pearl, Yangtze and Yellow River (with Institute of Geology & Geophysics for the Chinese rivers).



As in the past, a representative from the Career Center (Allison Reilly) will be holding drop-in hours where students are welcome to come with questions about resumes, cover letters, internships, job search, interviews, etc. These drop-ins are open to all, but geared toward science, math, and tech students. This semester's science drop-ins will take place as follows:
  • Wednesdays from 1:30-2:30pm in Higgins
  • Thursdays from 4:30-5:30pm in Merkert
(Please note: we also have additional drop-in hours in the Career Center and online for students who have conflicts with the times above.)





Saturday, December 7, 2013
Bridgewater State University
Conant Science & Math Center

Please join us at the only symposium dedicated to undergraduate environmental research, and projects that address sustainability issues from a campus, regional, national, or global perspective. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues, and especially to students who might be interested in presenting their lab, field or classroom research related to sustainability and the environment. Undergraduate posters (research or classroom work) in all environmental disciplines are welcome.  We are also happy to include student presentations pertaining to campus sustainability projects, or regional/global sustainability issues.

Please visit the Symposium web page for a list of the 2012 poster titles and abstracts.  The “Call for Abstracts” will go out in late October with a November 20 deadline.


Climate Change: Our Global Experiment

Ongoing exhibit 
Developed in collaboration with the Harvard University Center for the Environment Climate Change: Our Global Experiment will help you separate truth from spin and provide a basis for making informed decisions affecting the future of our planet. The exhibit offers an insider’s look at the scientific study of climate, presenting the latest research from renowned experts at Harvard and around the world. Get the facts, draw your own conclusions, then take part in a unique computer simulation that allows you to choose a course of action and see the consequences for the planet.


C2C Fellows | National Climate Seminar
 
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The beginning of the semester is, for me, always a time for reflection on my purpose on the planet.  Witnessing local communities in collapse—from Syria to Detroit— it can be hard to hang on to Dr. King’s vision of a moral arc of the universe that bends, eventually, towards justice.

The picture on my mind is the literal arc of history.

The reconstructed arc of temperature is our best understanding of climate over the last 10,000 years. The entirety of human history is spanned in the arc, from the building of the first city to the I-pad. The red line is where the World Bank says we are headed, in the blink of an eye. Talk about a brick wall.

The definition of leadership we use here at Bard CEP is two-fold: taking people where they otherwise would not go, and inspiring others to lead in the same direction.

Where we are otherwise going is the top of that red line: 8 degrees F when my children are not much older than me.  Where we need to go instead is 80% reductions in emissions globally.

So what is our purpose? How do we reengage with the moral arc of the universe?  The answer is obvious: we must all lead.

Leadership requires skills that can be learned. Please help us find young people who are hungry for those skills. C2C Fellows is holding five weekend training conferences for undergrads and recent grads aspiring to sustainability leadership in business and politics.

MA (Bentley University) | October 25–27, 2013
CA   (Bay Area) | November 8–10, 2013
NY   (Bard College) | February 14-16, 2014
FL    (University of Florida) | March, 2014
IL     (Moraine Valley Community College) | April, 2014

Students can apply now. Applications are due two weeks prior to each workshop. Learn more about the benefits of becoming a Bard C2C Fellow here. Cost for the weekend trainings, including food (and lodging for those traveling more than an hour), is $30. Registration scholarships are available, and students can often apply to their student governments for travel support as well.

Next week, join us in welcoming economist Jon Koomey on The National Climate Seminar. Jon will be talking about his book Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-Based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs. The full fall schedule is below and here.

Thanks for the work you are doing.

Eban Goodstein
Director, Bard CEP & Director, Bard MBA in Sustainability

National Climate Seminar  |  Fall 2013 Schedule
 
Climate Seminar calls are Wednesdays at 12pm EST and held twice a month via conference call. Assign the calls to your students for a chance to hear top scientists, analysts, and political leaders discuss climate and clean energy solutions. Call in to (712) 432-3100 up to five minutes before each call starts and enter conference code 253385.  Have questions for the speakers? Email them beforehand or during the call to climate@bard.edu -  or listen in for the chance to ask them live!
 
Date
Speaker
Topic
Sept 4
Robert Stone
“Pandora’s Promise”
Sept 18
Jon Koomey
“Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs”
Oct 2
Gretchen Hofmann
“Latest Research on Ocean Acidification”
Oct 16
Jeff Goodell
“Goodbye Miami”
Nov 6
Laurie Johnson
“The Social Cost of Carbon Just Doubled”
Nov 20
Jorge Madrid
“Latino Climate Leadership”
Dec 4
Josh Fox
“Gasland 2 and Beyond”


Sponsors
The National Climate Seminar is organized and run by Bard CEP with media partner, Island Press. And a special C2C Shoutout: check out  (and support) the Tenleytown Meat Company, a new sustainable-beef-by-bike venture started by C2C Fellow (2012) Will Mitchell. 




I’m writing to tell you about a national fellowship program and workshop that Bard's Center for Environmental Policy is bringing to Waltham, MA in October.  It’s called “C2C Fellows.”  

C2C Fellows is designed for young people who want to change the world by the time they are thirty. It is a national network for undergraduates and recent graduates who want high-impact careers in sustainable business and politics.  During a C2C Fellows’ weekend workshop students learn the leadership skills necessary to succeed, such as how to: raise money, tell a story, build their network, pitch their ideas, and know what they're good at. 

I’m writing to encourage young leaders to apply today. The Application deadline is October 11th.

Joining the fellowship is a prestigious opportunity; only 50 students from the northeast will be accepted this year. 

The workshop will be held at on campus at Bentley University from Friday (afternoon), October 25th – Sunday, October 27th


Some quick facts about the Fellowship Workshop:
·       Attendance is limited to undergrads and/or recent grads
·       Cost is only $30 (including food, and lodging for students traveling over 1 hr)
·       This will be advertised at all schools in the region


Please do not hesitate to email or call workshop director Jess Scott if you have questions or want to discuss further! Thank you!

Jess Scott
Workshop Director
C2C Fellows
Bard Center for Environmental Policy
www.c2cfellows.org
Ph: (845) 752-4514



Since 1989, the Antioch Education Abroad Brazilian Ecosystems: The Protection and Management of Biodiversity program has engaged students through in-depth field studies across a variety of biomes in Brazil. This is a Fall Semester program, with a new Summer Term option (see schedule here). All students explore the flora, fauna, and ecological characteristics of the Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic Coastal Forest, and coastal marine systems, and how environmental factors contribute to species and habitat diversity. Students enrolled in the full semester program continue their studies in Brazil to include advanced studies of the impact of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem function, a Portuguese language intensive, and an Independent Field Internship.

Unique program features:

1. Program is led by Antioch University professor Suzanne Kolb, PhD, who is assisted by Brazilian professors, research scientists, and activists, who provide local expertise on current environmental issues facing each region.

2. Fall semester students engage in a month-long field internship, working with a Brazilian scientist or NGO for individualized hands-on experience in their field of interest.

3. Students explore multiple ecosystems, allowing them to compare the ecological characteristics of each, and providing a broader understanding of ecology in Brazil.

Curriculum: The Fall Semester program offers 4 courses for 16 semester credits - Introduction to Brazilian Ecosystems; Ecology and Protective Management of  Biodiversity in Brazil; Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced PortugueseField Internship. Summer Term students enroll in Introduction to Brazilian Ecosystems for 4 semester credits. Click here to view detailed course descriptions. If you would like to review syllabi for the process of approving this program, please contact us.



Environment America interns will spend their fall semester making a big difference on critical environment issues and learning a ton, while getting the experience they need to launch a career in the environmental movement after graduation.

Read more about our internship program here. Interested candidates can complete an online application here.

Monique Sullivan
Recruitment Director
Environment America
(202) 461-2448




The MA DOER Internship Programs seeks to provide interns with exciting opportunities to assist DOER with implementing energy policies in areas such as renewables, energy efficiency, alternative transportation, energy markets, and more.  The program is open to undergraduate students, graduate students, law school students, and other individuals who are seeking experience in the energy arena.





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, you’ll get intensive training in the skills you’ll need to make a difference in the world. You’ll get hands-on experience fighting to solve urgent environmental problems — global warming, deforestation, water pollution and many others — with groups such as Sierra Club and Food and Water Watch. And, when you graduate from Green Corps, we’ll help you find a career with one of the nation’s leading environmental and social change groups.

For more information, read below or visit our web site: www.greencorps.org.

Apply online today at greencorps.org/apply

Green Corps
44 Winter St, 4th Fl
Boston, MA
02108
617 747 4302



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.