Being Green

Apply for the Green Fund Committee Chair — Apps due 4/27

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Students,

I am writing to inform you that we are now accepting applications for the Green Fund Committee Chair for the 2012-13 academic year. The Green Fund is a student-financed and student-managed fund for sustainability projects in the campus community financed by an opt-out $15 per semester fee. The Chair oversees and facilitates the workings of the committee and serves on the Wesleyan Student Assembly as a member of the Finance and Facilities Committee. The application can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/a/wesleyan.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?om=true&richtext=false&formkey=dEg5SmdWYzhBQUpVb0FwMF9kb2J2MlE6MA#gid=0

If you have more questions about the position, the responsibilities, or the Green Fund in general, please feel free to email the current chair at eweber@wesleyan.edu.

We look forward to reviewing the applications which are due on Friday April 27th at 5 PM.

Best, The Appointments Committee–Evan Weber, WSA Finance and Facilities Committee Chair & Green Fund Committee Chair, Arya Alizadeh, WSA Coordinator, and Meherazade Sumariwalla, WSA Vice President

COE Internships for Summer and Fall 2012 — Apps due 2/20

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The College of the Environment is pleased to announce Summer and Fall 2012 Internship for Wesleyan University Students. All details and the application are posted on the College of the Environment Website (www.wesleyan.edu/coe). Please download and complete.

The deadline for applications is due on or before Monday, February 20, 2012, allowing us to announce internship candidates by Friday, March 9th, prior to spring break. Student applications are to be delivered to Ms. Valerie Marinelli, Administrative Assistant, College of the Environment, 284 High Street.

Green Fund Proposals — Due April 9

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Dear students,

If you have an idea to improve sustainability in the campus community but need funding, write a proposal to the Green Fund today. This semester, proposals to the Green Fund are due by Monday, April 9th. The proposal page can be found here: https://greenfund.wsa.wesleyan.edu/applying-for-funding. It is helpful to be as detailed as possible but we understand that you may not initially know all of the exact details. We will work with you to refine the proposal if necessary. The 2012 Spring Semester promises to be an exciting one, with several large sustainable projects in play, and all kinds of small scale projects as well. 

Here are projects that we have funded so far this year: installation of water bottle refilling stations around campus (should be in place soon) as part of an effort to remove bottle water from campus; a biochar landscape experiment at the College of the Environment; signs above laundry machines that provide instructions of how to do your laundry in an environmentally friendly way; assistance for the food salvage program; a hydroponic system in Earth House; a “real” food calculator program that audits all food purchases made by Bon Appetit qualitatively addressing ecological, local, and humane requirements, and we have also agreed to help finance a new sustainability fellowship position at Wesleyan.  

Projects potentially in play include: a bike share program in Middletown, a permeable pavement parking lot, bicycle-powered battery generators, and a photovoltaic powered performance stage.

Exciting stuff. Think you can do better?  Send us your proposals!

The Green Fund Committee:  Evan Weber, chair; Julia Jonas-Day, Adam Brudnick, Delphine Starr, & Zander Nassikas

Environmental Law – VT Law School — 2/9, 12:15 p.m.

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Andrea McNight ’00, Esq. will talk about the Masters  and J.D. Programs at Vermont Law School for careers in the environment or the law this Thursday, Feb 9, at 12:15pm in 41 Wyllys, room 114.

Vermont Law School is the number one environmental law school in the U.S., and it also offers a great one year Master of Environmental Law & Policy degree.  

Alumna Andrea McKnight – an attorney and career counselor at Vermont Law School — will explain how VLS grads work all over the U.S. and internationally. Internship and clinical programs prepare students to hit the ground running in their career field.  Find out how to put your values to work!  

Free pizza for lunch!  

Date/time/location: Thursday, 12:15pm-1:00pm, 41 Wyllys, Room 114, first floor.

 

Green Fund Application

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Hi students,

Just wanted to remind you all that the fall semester application deadline for Green Fund proposals is Friday December 9th at 9pm. The application can be found at https://greenfund.wsa.wesleyan.edu/applying-for-funding/

If you have any questions about the application process or the Green Fund in general feel free to contact me.

Good luck with finals and the end of the semester,

Evan Weber, Green Fund Committee Chair, eweber@wesleyan.edu

If you are leaving for Thanksgiving Break…

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Hi everyone, 

If you’re leaving campus for Thanksgiving Break, take a few minutes to reduce energy consumption and save the school some money. Here are some suggestions: 

Unplug electronics and appliances (TVs, computers, chargers, microwaves, etc.).

Turn off your lights and alarm clocks before you leave.

Close your windows.

Turn down your thermostats, if you can.

Unplug and clean out your fridge, because your food will likely go bad anyways. You can donate your food to the Middletown Chapter of Food not Bombs by emailing this address: fnbmiddletown@lists.riseup.net, or give your food to your friends that are staying on campus.

Have a great break!!  WSA Sustainability Task Force 

Any questions, comments:  Rebecca Rubenstein ’15, rrubenstein@wesleyan.edu,  WSA Sustainability Task Force Chair

 

Lecture: Environmental Monitoring & Good Policy Decisions — Today, 4:15 p.m.

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Chasing Storms and Stalking Mercury:  How We Can Use Environmental Monitoring To Make Good Policy Decisions

Rachel Allen, Environmental Analyst from the San Francisco Estuary Institute will present SFEI’s unique model for a research organization, discuss the history of water quality and water quality monitoring in the Bay and illustrate some of the ongoing challenges and current efforts in the San Francisco Estuary. 

November 17    4:15 p.m.    PAC 001

Snacks will be provided.

Sponsored by The College of the Environment.  For more information, please contact Valerie Marinelli at vmarinelli@wesleyan.edu

 

Where On Earth Are We Going? Symposium

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Where on Earth are We Going?

Saturday, November 5, 2011
Two Presentations: 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
Exley Science Center, Tishler Lecture Hall 150

The Energy Puzzle Will Not Be Tweetable: the energy puzzle in more than 140 characters

  Lisa Margonelli directs the Energy Policy Intiative at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. She is the publisher of The Energy Trap (http://energytrap.org) and blogs frequently at The Atlantic web site. Her book Oil On the Brain: Petroleum’s Long, Strange Trip to Your Tank follows the oil supply chain from the gas station to oil fields around the world.

The Future of Nuclear Power: following the fukushima disaster

  Paul Gunter is a lead spokesperson in nuclear reactor hazards and security concerns. He acts as the regulatory watchdog over the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the nuclear power industry. He is a 2008 recipient of the Jane Bagley Lehman Award from the Tides Foundation for environmental activism for his work on the nuclear power and climate change issue. Mr. Gunter was a cofounder of the antinuclear Clamshell Alliance in 1976 to oppose the construction of the Seabrook (NH) nuclear power plant through nonviolent direct action that launched the U.S. antinuclear movement. An environmental activist and energy policy analyst, he has been an ardent critic of atomic power development for more than 30 years.

Free and open to the public.

Earth Day & COE Students and Faculty! Panel and Performances, Fri., April 22

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Come experience the College of the Environment’s inaugural think-tank on the topic: Vulnerability of Social, Economic and Natural Systems to Environmental Stress. Reports by Bryan Bannon (College of the Environment), Jeremy Isard (College of Social Studies), Helen Poulos (College of the Environment), Dana Royer (Earth And Environmental Sciences), Phoebe Stonebraker (Biology) and Gary Yohe (Economics) with an introduction by College of the Environment Director Barry Chernoff.

Featuring an excerpt of the CFA commissioned music performance Dear Mother Earth: An Environmental Oratorio by Glenn McClure and a multi-media performance Fascinating! Her Resilience by Gina Athena Ulysse (Anthropology) in collaboration with audio sculpturist Val-Inc.

Free admission with a reception at intermission.

Co-sponsored by the College of the Environment and Center for the Arts with suppport from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

http://www.wesleyan.edu/coe
http://www.wesleyan.edu/cfa
860-685-3355