Smith College

Environmental Science and Policy News

Mark Your Calendar- ES&P Events

2

Mountain Top Removal 3

GreenSmith– A Community Garden for Smith? and the MA Power Shift Conference

5

Focus the Nation at Smith

6

Climate Change: Science and Solutions

8

Meet the ES&P Interns 9

Meet the New ES&P Faculty

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Earth Day: A History 4

Policy Solutions to Climate Change

7

Afloat for the Summer– in a Classroom

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Environmental Science and Policy Program

Smith College Northampton, MA 01063

Joanne Benkley, Coordinator Bass Hall Room 107

enviro@email.smith.edu

T here is something about bats that makes

most people cringe. Myths about bats being blood-thirsty vampires or dirty little “rats with wings” just waiting to entangle them-selves in your hair abound. But Sylvia Vega (‘09), who spent last semester in Aus-tralia assured me, “They are actually really cute- the small little bats.” She would know, after having spent weeks studying native bats in Australia.

S ylvia, a Biological Sci-ences major and Envi-

ronmental Science and Pol-icy minor, hadn’t been all that interested in field work before studying abroad, but she had an incredible ex-perience. For a full semes-ter, she and two dozen other students in the School for Field Studies program (SFS) lived and studied deep in the heart of the Australian rainforest. Les-sons took on a whole new meaning for the students since most classes were taught outside in the very environment they were studying.

F or the final month of the program, the stu-

dents were divided into groups to conduct research on the wildlife in the region. Sylvia’s group stud-ied skinks, a type of small

lizard, and bats. While at first she was a bit uneasy about studying bats, she was com-forted by their small size. The student group focused on several species of minibats, which measure a few inches

in length, as opposed to megabats, which can grow over a foot long.

D uring the day, Sylvia and the other research-

ers would walk through the rainforest setting harp traps to

catch the bats. After an ani-mal was caught, the research-ers would determine the spe-cies and take measurements of each individual. As Sylvia

explained, the animal’s wing-span can reveal a lot about where it lives and the type of environment it needs to live. For example, bats with smaller wingspans live in areas of dense trees, whereas those with larger wings likely live in more open regions.

T his determination can be an important one in ar-

eas of Australia where cattle ranching has destroyed large tracts of land, leaving patches of forest in varying states of plant density. While Sylvia and her fellow students stud-ied bat ecology, another group focused on a manage-ment issue: the impact of cat-tle ranching on forested habi-tat. That group, together with local ranchers, investigated potential land-use compro-mises which would allow ranchers to continue ranching while also preserving more forested landscape for bats and other creatures.

I n speaking with Sylvia it was clear that while she

enjoyed the academic portion of the SFS program and the exciting research she was able to participate in, the highlight of her semester was living in a rainforest among its animal inhabitants. She and the other students lived in a cabin in the forest proper. They regularly saw flocks of wild cockatoos, hopping kangaroos, and the

(Continued on page 10)

Photos this page: Sylvia Vega (‘09)

Above:: Orange-thighed tree frog.

Upper middle: Close-up of a minibat in the study.

Bottom middle: Sylvia with a bat.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: This is Bat Country

By Alana Miller (‘10)

SPRING 2008

Page 2

Mark your calendar for upcoming ES&P Events !

Smith Women in the Environment: An alumnae symposium and tea Wednesday, April 9 at 4:15 p.m. in Campus Center Room 205

Four women who work in the environment and policy fields return to Smith to discuss their career paths, offer advice, and answer questions for students interested in an environmental career.

They work in very different areas of the environmental field, including:

∗ environmental policy and analysis ∗ ecology ∗ environmental entrepreneurship ∗ sustainability ∗ natural resources and land conservation ∗ the media ∗ education ∗ environmentally and socially responsible investing Some of the organizations these women represent(ed) include: Duke University, the U.S. Department of Defense, IceStone, LLC., Easthampton High School, U. S. Department of the Interior, National Public Radio, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Verité. Alumnae participants pictured are:

above left, Miranda Magagnini (‘82), above right, Laurie Sanders (‘88), left, Elizabeth Callaghan (‘04).

Environmental Science & Policy Program Lunchbag(s) …about things environmental

Environmental Science and Policy Program seminar (EVS 300) Final Project Presentations

Two Tuesdays!

April 22nd AND April 29th

12:15- 4 p.m. Campus Center 205

Come for lunch and stay as long as you can…

SPRING 2007 Page 3

T he Industrial Revolution marked the beginning of a new era for the Western World. With a boom in industry and production, society turned to coal as the energy source for heat, metal work and transportation. In order to keep up

with the endlessly growing demand, more cost-effective procedures of coal mining have been developed and techniques have “advanced” from tunnels, to surface mining, to the newest Mountain Top Removal (MTR) system. This method, while cost-effective, has had devastating consequences for the environment.

C urrently the United States gets over half of its electricity and nearly a quarter of its energy from coal. Unfortunately, coal-fired power plants are the largest emitter of CO2, the principal global warming pollutant, and many other pollut-

ants, including sulfur dioxide, which causes air pollution, soot and acid rain (Sierra Club).

I t isn’t just the burning of coal that we should be worried about, but also the method of extraction. Mountain top re-moval involves clear cutting the forests on top of a mountain (or several mountains) and often removing topsoil as

well. Explosives are then set into the earth, blasting off between 800 and 1000 feet of the mountaintop to reveal a thin seam of coal. If you think of a mountain as being like a layer cake with the coal as the icing, they throw away the cake, get the icing, throw away the cake, and get the icing, until its all gone” is how Vernon Haltom, Co-director of the grassroots organization Coal River Mountain Watch described the process in an interview on Democracy Now. The blasting leaves thousands of tons of debris and rubble from the former mountain, which huge machines then dump into adjacent valleys. This waste creates a “valley fill” in which entire valleys are completely filled in- entire ecosystems and anything in them destroyed in one fell swoop- including the rivers or streams that ran through them. (Mountain Justice Summer).

T here are clearly numerous environmental implications in this process of coal mining including deforestation, air, land and water pollution, as well as

dangers to people living in the area or working in the mine itself. The Environ-mental Protection Agency’s (EPA) assessment states that between 1985 and 2001, 7% of Appalachia’s forests were destroyed by MTR. The EPA also esti-mates that valley fills have covered more than 1,200 miles of streams in Appala-chia and another 1,000 will be filled within the next decade. Dams holding back the sludge water from filled-in streams are hazardous for nearby residents, who also are at risk to health problems from pollution and toxins.

D espite many reports on the negative environmental effects associated with MTR legislation regulating the mining process seems to only get more

lenient. In August of 2007 alone, the Bush administration proposed, “exempting coal mining wastes from a 1983 regulation known as the Stream Buffer Zone

which prohibits mining activities from disturbing areas within 100 feet of streams”. The government claims that with such changes they seek only to clarify existing laws. The reality, however, is that without the restrictions currently in the law, the amount of damage MTR operations can inflict upon the earth will go unchecked.

L oosening legislation in favor of big coal companies and environmentally devastating technologies is not looking to-wards America’s future, but rather her past. Even ignoring mountain top removal’s horrible impact on the environ-

ment, coal’s role in global warming should turn us towards other energy sources. Instead of focusing on short-term, quick-fixes to address our energy needs, which will leave us with the added burdens of environmental degredation and pollution, we need our government to re-focus and begin investing in other, possibly renewable, energy sources, which could eventually be even more profitable than coal. Countries like Canada, the UK and Germany are leading the charge by turning towards cleaner fuels like natural gas and wind energy. Between 1990 and 2001 alone, “Germany cut coal use by 41 percent” and the UK by 40 percent (Earth Policy Institute 2003). As one of the wealthiest, most powerful nations in the world, we have the technology needed to replace coal; it is just a matter of where we invest our money and re-sources. Let’s be sure to let our policy makers know that we want them to look towards the future- our collective future together on earth– when they make those decisions.

Like Taking Icing Off a Cake: Mountaintop Removal By Alana Miller (‘10)

Mountain top removal in Appalachia www.

sierra

club.o

rg/si

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/coal/

learn

more

.asp

Page 4 SMITH COLLEGE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLICY PROGRAM NEWSLETTER

EARTH DAY: A History Excerpted with permission- www.earthday.net

E arth Day -- Each year April 22 marks the anniversary of the birth

of the modern environmental move-ment in 1970. Among other things, 1970 in the U.S. brought with it the Kent State shootings, the advent of fiber op-tics, Apollo 13, the Beatles' last album, the death of Jimi Hendrix, the birth of Mariah Carey, and the meltdown of fuel rods in the Savannah River nuclear plant near Aiken, South Carolina -- an inci-dent not acknowledged for 18 years.

I t was into such a world that the first Earth Day was born. Earth Day

founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest "to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. It was a gamble," he recalls, "but it worked." At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through mas-sive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.

E arth Day 1970 turned that all around by motivating 20 million

Earth Day at Smith College Join us Tuesday April 22nd for lunchtime and afternoon festivities in celebration of our Earth:

Food, arts & crafts, games, activities and more!

Chapin Lawn. Rain location– Davis Ballroom. Organized by Smith Environmental Coalition (SEC):

Agricultural Activists, Bike Kitchen, Engineers for a Sustainable World, Gaia, Hillel, MASSPIRG, Recycling For more information or to help plan the events, contact Alana at amiller@smith.edu

Americans to take to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and uni-versities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesti-cides, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values. Earth Day 1970 also achieved a rare political align-ment, enlisting support from Republi-cans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environ-mental Protection Agency and the pas-sage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

T wenty years later a group of envi-ronmental leaders asked Denis

Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobi-lizing 200 million people in 141 coun-tries and lifting the status of environ-mental issues on to the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped

pave the way for the 1992 United Na-tions Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero.

A s the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead an-

other campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. For 2000, Earth Day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. By the time April 22nd rolled around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries. Events varied: A talking drum chain traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, for example, while hundreds of thousands of peo-ple gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., USA. Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world 'round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy.

T he fight for a clean environment continues today. We invite you

to be a part of this history and a part of Earth Day. Discover energy you didn't even know you had. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come. Join your fellow citizens at an Earth Day celebration this April!

Page 5

Putting Down Roots: The Hopeful Beginnings of a Community Garden at Smith By Caroline Henderson (‘11) and Hannah Dunning (‘09)

SPRING 2007

Page 5

GreenSmith: Join the Coalition! Working towards a just, sustainable future

www.smith.edu/green

F ortunately, most students now understand the science and consequences of global warming and are ready to do something to stop it. Last November over 6,000 students

from around the country met in D.C for Power Shift—the first ever national conference on climate change. That was just the beginning, and this April, Massachusetts Power Shift (MAPS) will rock the capitol as hundreds, if not thousands, of students come together and demand a just, sustainable future. The goal of MAPS is the passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act, a historical bill that would make Massachusetts a leader in fighting climate change, as it sets carbon reduction targets deemed necessary by scientists—a 20% reduction by the year 2020, and an 80% reduction by 2050 (see pg 7 ). A series of workshops, panels and speakers on Saturday and Sunday April 12 and 13th will lead up to a massive lobby day on Monday April 14th, where students will meet with their Representatives and demand strong legislation to stop global warming!

Here at Smith we hope to bring 50 students to the conference! Join us for this exciting summit -contact Alana Miller (amiller@smith.edu) to get involved. www.masspowershift.org

Massachusetts Power Shift (MAPS): April 11-14th By Alana Miller (‘10)

A bout a year ago, a group of students began conversations about starting a community garden somewhere on Smith Campus. Those conversations have turned into concrete plans; there is now a dedicated group of students trying

to establish a garden on the Smith campus. Our group aims for the garden to be a practical academic tool, an outlet for community engagement, and a model of sustainability. These priorities will culminate in an educational experiment, allowing us to put Smith’s commitment to sustainability into practice and mobilize the community to promote cohesion and continuity. This garden will revive the historical tradition of students growing victory gardens, while giving it modern-day relevance.

The popularity of community gardens has spread across the country, especially on college campuses. Mount Holyoke recently celebrated a successful first year of their garden. Other small, liberal arts private schools like Yale, Bowdoin, and Dickinson Colleges have invested resources and energy into successful community gardens.

The Smith garden project will serve several purposes on campus. It will be an educational resource for a variety of de-partments and programs on campus, including Anthropology, Biology, Engineering, Environmental Science and Policy, Geology, History, Landscape Studies and Sociology. Plants will be both utilitarian and decorative, such as edible orna-mentals. The garden will tangibly connect us with our landscape, allowing us to partake in it, to learn about, and interact with natural systems that support and enrich our lives. It also has great potential as a model of sustainable land use.

We plan to make the best of our short New England growing season by growing seedlings in the Spring for an early start and planting late-harvesting crops such as root vegetables and squash. Ideally two or three students will remain on campus over the summer, managing the garden and engaging volunteers. Crops we harvest, both during the summer and the fall semester, will be stored and prepared for a Harvest Dinner at the end of October.

We’re working hard to secure a garden site and the approval of the Botanical Gardens and Campus Planning Commit-tee and hope to begin gardening this semester. At this point, the project needs your support! If you would like to view our proposal, volunteer, or have any comments, questions or feedback, please send us an email at smithgarden@gmail.com.

Have you Heard? This fall Smith College brought its new website

GreenSmith online!

Conceived of as THE place to go for information

related to the environment and sustainability at Smith, the site features a regularly updated events page, info about campus sustainability initiatives, relevant academic programs and research and

much, much more!

Check it out at: www.smith.edu/green

Focus the Nation at Smith College

SMITH COLLEGE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLICY PROGRAM NEWSLETTER

Page 6

B ack in Fall 2006, the Environ-mental Science and Policy Pro-

gram hosted a lunchtime lecture by Eban Goodstein, professor of eco-nomics at Lewis and Clark University titled “Seen Inconvenient Truth? Now What?”. Goodstein’s talk at Smith was one of the first of many given at campuses around the coun-try to raise interest in a national ini-tiative called Focus the Nation; a na-tional teach-in designed to engage people all across America on January 31, 2008, in a conversation about how the U.S. can best address the very real problem of global warming.

I n the brief year since that talk it seems many more people under-

stand that climate change will likely be the defining issue of their lifetime. Ordinary citizens “get” that for the first time actions they take or do not take will directly affect the future of the planet. It was this sense of ur-gency that inspired a group of fac-ulty, staff and students to work to-gether during the Fall 2007 semester to organize Smith’s Focus the Na-tion- a day of events designed to en-gage as many members of the Smith community as possible in the discus-sion of global warming solutions.

S uccess! On January 31st, 2008, over 1,900 colleges, universities,

schools, faith organizations, civic groups, and others held events as part of the Focus the Nation cam-paign. By conservative estimates, more than a million people joined in this civil engagement, holding con-versations about real solutions and their possible consequences with politicians at all levels of local, state and national government, college presidents, scientists and each other.

H ere at Smith the day started with a keynote presentation on climate

change and human conflict by Michael Klare, Five College Professor of Peace and World Security Studies. Klare’s talk was followed by two series of concur-rent breakout sessions, in which hun-dreds of campus and Northampton community members attended work-shops led by faculty, staff, community organizers and students. Participants engaged in constructive discussion about

a broad number of topics relating to global warming solutions, including how race and class relate to a sustainable fu-ture; to the psychology behind activism; to climate change on the U.S./Mexico border. These topics allowed partici-pants to step beyond the basic facts about greenhouse gas emissions and contemplate the innumerable ties be-tween climate change and our society.

O ther events throughout the day were designed to engage commu-

nity members in the conversation about global warming solutions in other ways. These included a bike-to-battery set up

in front of the Campus Center where passers-by could listen to music and drink fresh apple juice made by machines pedal-powered by students from the Bike Kitchen; a fun game of “The Climate in Jeopardy” between teams of administra-

tors, faculty, staff and students; a voter registration table, complete with fact sheets on presidential candidate platforms on global warming; and a reading of part of the original play “Winter Requiem” written by Rachel Lerner-Ley (‘08).

T he sunny, energy-filled day culmi-nated with a legislative roundtable

where the ideas and policy solutions com-piled during the day’s sessions were pre-sented to those most able to act upon them. The panel was moderated by Smith Provost Susan Bourque, and included Smith College President Carol T. Christ, David Dionne (Green Rainbow Party), Northampton Mayor Mary Claire Hig-gins, Isaac Mass (Republican State Com-mitteeman), and Senator Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst).

E ach of the twenty breakout sessions came away with solutions partici-

pants believe should be implemented as soon as possible in order to fight global warming. Below are some of the pro-

(Continued on page 12)

The “Climate in Jeopardy” teams get to know each other before the game begins.

Community members talk about the issues in the morning break-out session about race and class.

“For days afterwards, I heard people across campus sharing what they learned in the break-out sessions and the other events.”

-Rouwenna Lamm, ‘08

Policy Solutions to Climate Change By Alana Miller (‘10) and Rosalie Ray (‘10)

SPRING 2007 Page 7

I t is going to take a lot of effort to avoid the worst effects of climate

change, but we already have the tech-nology and knowledge of how to achieve a sustainable future- now we just need the political will to enact and enforce the policies to guarantee it. Some of these policy solutions are being implemented now- everything from individual actions and College policy to local initiatives and State and Federal policy. Two policies you should know about are the College and Uni-versity President’s Climate Commit-ment (CUPCC), a pledge recently signed by President Christ for Smith College, and the Global Warming Solu-tions Act, a historic piece of legislation currently moving through the Massa-chusetts legislature.

O ver the past several years, numer-ous individuals, communities and

organizations have stepped forward to help fight climate change- mainly in response to the growing sense of ur-gency from the scientific and environ-mental communities and the lack of political leadership in government. Col-leges and universities, often impelled by dedicated students, faculty and staff, have begun to realize the important leadership role they play in this sphere - to promote ecological literacy, help develop solutions, and provide a model of sustainable living. This realization has led presidents of many institutions to sign the CUPCC, a groundwork plan for schools to eventually become car-bon neutral.

T he CUPCC states that through a series of steps each campus will

completely reduce its production of greenhouse gas emissions. The plan includes: * Taking an inventory of greenhouse emissions

* Setting targets and milestones to achieve cli-mate neutrality

* Choosing from short-term actions to quickly reduce emissions * Incorporating sustainability in the College curriculum

T he College has already started down the path towards carbon

neutrality. Following the start of the College’s partnership with Clean Air-Cool Planet in 2004, the first campus-wide greenhouse gas emissions inven-tory was taken. The inventory report, written by Elizabeth Thomas (‘05), can be found on the GreenSmith website. (www.smith.edu/green) Since then, Smith College has been in the process of trying to reduce its greenhouse gas emis-sions, most notably with the installation of a cogeneration plant. The plant, scheduled to come online later this year will reduce Smith’s greenhouse gas emis-sions by an estimated 35%.

T his spring, members of the student group Engineers for a Sustainable

World (Najia Ahmed ('09), Margo Kul-karni ('10), Rosalie Ray ('10), Jessica Wil-barger ('08), and Elisabeth Wolfe ('10)) will update the greenhouse gas inventory and use the data in a special studies pro-ject with engineering Professor Donna Riley. The inventory update will help the College evaluate whether the various campaigns to reduce electricity use in the dorms have been effective, and pro-vide detailed guidance for future steps we might take to reduce more emissions. The inventory process also dovetails nicely with the City of Northampton’s efforts at updating their own greenhouse gas inventory, as part of their ongoing Sustainability Plan.

W hile so much activity to reduce emissions on the Smith campus

is very exciting, it is also critical that

similar policies pass on a larger scale. Action to stop global warming must ultimately be mandated at a federal and international level, but for now a num-ber of states are taking the lead. Cali-fornia, Hawaii, New Jersey and Florida have stepped up to reduce their green-house gas emissions to levels scientists conclude necessary to avoid the worst effects of global warming— specifically cutting emissions 20% by the year 2020, and 80% by the year 2050.

H ere in Massachusetts, a ground-breaking bill called the Global

Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) would limit Massachusetts’ emissions to those scientific levels and set up a series of committees and studies to determine how to meet these standards. This bill would make Massachusetts a world leader in stopping climate change and provide a model for the national legisla-tion we need.

T his bill has lots of momentum and in March we hope to have it

pass favorably out of the Senate! Students across the state are working to make sure it gets through both the Senate and House as a strong bill that includes the above mentioned targets of 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. We hope this bill will pass by Earth Day and have been lobbying our representa-tives to help make it happen.

P lease join us in some of our many efforts on campus, and most

importantly, come to MAssachusetts Power Shift (MAPS) in April -a state-wide conference in Boston dedicated to the passage of the GWSA. (Please see page 5 for more information about MAPS).

Page 8

Climate Change: Science and Solutions 8th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment

By Maribeth Kniffin, ‘08

F rom January 16th–18th 2008, I attended the National Council for

Science and the Environment’s 8th annual conference in Washington, D.C. titled “Climate Change: Science and Solutions.” This conference was exceptionally well organized as it brought together a great diversity of speakers and participants. While the conference speakers mainly consisted of professional and academic scientists ranging from climatologists, biologists, geologists, and engineers (to name a few), they also included policy makers, an indigenous woman from the Arctic Circle, and student activists. Such diversity incorporated a wide range of ideas in the three-day discussion concern-ing the “civilizational challenge” of cli-mate change.

T hroughout the conference, I had the opportunity to attend numerous

keynote and plenary presentations as well as breakout sessions, all of which were provocative and encouraged active in-volvement in climate change solutions. In the first breakout session I attended, Eban Goodstein, professor at Lewis and Clark University and project director of Focus the Nation, described Focus the Nation, the national climate change teach-in that took place on January 31, 2008. He also led a discussion about what we as a nation can do after the event to mobilize the masses of our country to participate in the necessary steps to re-duce our national carbon footprint.

A second notable speaker was Mohan Munasinghe, vice chair of the UN

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and chairman of the Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND). Munasinghe described the chal-lenging process of formulating the IPCC’s reports, including the 4th Assess-ment Report that received the 2007 No-bel Peace Prize along with Al Gore for work on climate change. His presentation outlined the irony of how developing nations contribute the most CO2 emis-

sions, yet many poor coastal nations and island communities are the ones which now suffer, and will continue to suffer the most, unfairly penalizing the poor. During his talk Munasinghe provided methods for developing solutions to cli-mate change that embrace economics, and include environmental and social interactions of local and global communi-ties.

O ne particular highlight of the con-ference for me was a speech by

Sarah James, an indigenous woman from the Arctic Circle who has served on the Alaskan Gwitch’in Steering Committee and is a Goldman Environmental Prize Awardee. Working against the threat of oil development in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge, she strives to educate the public and policymakers on the need

to protect the Gwich’in Nation’s sacred territories. Although she is not a scientist, she exhibited vast knowledge about the astounding signs of climate change within her community and its surroundings, such as the Arctic’s melting ice that has affected fishing availability and the result-ing change in wolf behavior. Knowledge of the land is embedded within her as a result of generations of her people having depended upon the natural world, espe-cially the Caribou, for survival. The dy-namics between her profound knowledge and that of the countless scientists’ at-tending the conference were a grand ex-ample of the varied forms of expertise in the world.

T he three day conference was packed full of amazing people and discus-

sions. The final day incorporated a panel of representatives from each of the De-mocratic presidential candidates (Republican candidates were invited but

chose not to participate), including can-didate Dennis Kucinich himself. Other inspiring speakers included Thomas Lovejoy, president of the H. John Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment; Jessy Tolkan, campaign director of the Energy Action Coalition; James Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy Corporation; and Stephen Schneider, world renowned climatologist from Stanford University. I also had the op-portunity to act as the volunteer note taker in a breakout session titled Climate Change and Forest Management.

The overarching theme of the conference was two-fold. First, it ech-oed that we as a global nation need to take urgent action to limit amount of CO2 emissions. In fact, several speakers stated that we need to “do with energy what we did in space,” while others claimed that we need to have an “arms race on energy efficiency.” The second theme articulated that improving the communication between scientists and the public is an integral part promoting action among the masses. The confer-ence left me in awe of the job our gen-eration has before us and motivated to do something about it.

I t was an honor to attend this confer-ence as a representative of Smith

College. I thank the Environmental Science and Policy Program for the financial support which allowed me to participate in this exciting national discussion in Washington, D.C. I also encourage other Smithies to take advan-tage of this annual national conference in future years. It may change your life.

SMITH COLLEGE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLICY PROGRAM NEWSLETTER

The conference left me in awe of the job our generation has before us

and motivated to do something about it.

The ES&P program regularly supports students who wish to attend relevant conferences. Contact Joanne Benkley for more information or an application. Next year’s NCSE conference topic is Biodiversity. Go to NCSEonline.org for details.

SPRING 2007 Page 9

HANNAH BELSKY (‘10) is an Economics major and Study of Women and Gender minor. As a member of Smith College's MassPIRG, Hannah helps mobilize students to fight climate change. Before coming to Smith, Hannah served on the Environmental Justice Com-mittee of the Sierra Student Coalition, where she worked to ensure the youth environmental movement's commitment to anti-oppression. Hannah is also interning at Verité this semester, a labor auditing and research non-profit in Amherst, MA. She is an avid cross-country skier, hiker, and (amateur) filmmaker. Hannah plans to study abroad in Israel in the Fall. Hannah has helped develop and maintains the GreenSmith website. Officially hired to work for the College Committee on Sustainability, she is supervised by Joanne Benkley in the ES&P office.

RACHEL NEURATH ('09) is currently in Mystic, Connecticut with the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program, which she highly recommends. At Smith, Rachel stud-ies geology and environmental science with a self-designed major in Earth and Environ-mental Science. Yes, she likes rocks. But her real interest is in climate change. Last semes-ter, Rachel studied Holocene climate change at Kampoosa Bog in Stockbridge, Massa-chusetts with Professor Robert Newton of the Geology Department. This semester she is looking at sea-level change at a salt marsh near Mystic. When she is not tromping through bogs and marshes, Rachel loves backpacking, canoeing, and baking bread.

ALANA MILLER ('10) is a Latin American Studies major, ES&P minor. Her academic concentration is social revolutions in Mexico. She plans to study abroad in Puebla in the Spring of 2009. Alana is active in the climate movement and involved in several organizations both on and off campus dedicated to stopping global warming. She focuses primarily on coordinating MassPIRG's global warming campaign, working to engage students to make Smith more energy efficient, and to help pass statewide legislation. She is active in the growing Massachusetts climate movement and hopes to see schools across the state working together to reach the same goals. Outside of those interests, she spends some time everyday at Smith's barn with her horse, Tango. Alana plans to take next semester off to work in New Mexico to help make climate change a key issue in the November Presidential elections.

MEET THE ES&P INTERNS

As the Web Intern for the Environmental Science and Policy department, ALEXANDRA GORIN (’08) melds her HTML knowledge with her passion for the environment to produce the department’s newest face. Her studies in economics and engineering science have allowed her to integrate technical comprehension and business understanding. Over this past Inter-term, Alexandra traveled to Peru to study both the organic and fair trade coffee markets, and traditional agricultural techniques; culminating in an analysis of the role these markets play in Peru’s overall economic develop-ment. She is currently working on a study of wind turbine technology in the context of present energy markets to determine their viability as a commercial energy source. As a native Californian, Alexandra enjoys snowboarding in the Sierras and hiking in Yosemite. After graduating this year, she hopes to pur-sue a career working in energy market technological development.

Afloat for the Summer -in a Classroom By Marie McLane, ’08

Page 10 SMITH COLLEGE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLICY PROGRAM NEWSLETTER

A fter my first year at Smith I wanted to find a job or internship

near my hometown in the Pacific Northwest. In particular, I hoped to find something that involved sailing or that was environmentally related. When I came across the Sound Experience program it matched all my interests; working on a tall ship sailing around Puget Sound in Washington, and teach-ing marine science to youth and the public. Since that first summer I have spent several weeks each year volun-teering with the organization, and plan to work with them again next fall.

S ound Experience is a non-profit organization that operates the tall

ship Adventuress; a schooner that is 133

feet length over all, and with 5,478 sq. feet of sail. Built in 1913, it was origi-nally designed to sail to the Bering sea

to capture whale specimens for the Smithsonian. However, one disaster after another led the schooner to be abandoned in San Francisco where it was refitted and used as a bar pilot for many years. The Adventuress is now a national historic landmark, and is used to educate the public about the natural science and history of the Puget Sound.

T he mission of the program is to “help people discover Puget Sound

and learn from its majesty and vulner-ability.” As a deckhand/educator aboard the Adventuress my job is to help sail the ship, lead a watch, and teach basic marine science. The groups that sail on the Adventuress range from ele-mentary classes, to city councils, to youth in drug rehab, to homeless kids from the Seattle area. The programs vary from a quick 3-hour sail to a full week on the water. All groups are taught about watersheds and the Puget Sound, plankton and marine mammals, and nautical skills such as navigation and sail theory.

M ost groups have very little knowl-edge of marine life or the Puget

Sound environment, and being on the swaying, tilting sailboat can be very dis-tracting to the younger children, so as educators we are always trying to make lessons as interactive as possible. For example, skits and dances about the life-cycle of a barnacle are common, and large canvas posters with paintings of

The Adventuress under sail.

diatoms and dinoflagellates are used together with a microscope to identify the catch from the plankton tows.

W ith 30-40 people living together aboard the boat, life can be very

difficult at times, yet it is also very pow-erful and rewarding. The boat is used as a miniature earth in which we are aware of how many gallons of water and waste and how many pounds of food we are using every day. The kids have often never thought of the earth as a closed system and it is amazing to watch them adapt and change through-out even a few days aboard the ship.

T he sailing season aboard the Ad-venturess runs from March through

November, and staff are generally hired for 2-3 month positions, although month long internships are available and volunteers are more than welcome. More information can be found at www.soundexp.org.

Shipmates: Marie (middle) and two friends at the Tacoma Tall Ships festival, 2005

(cont’d from page 1) occasional platypus as they went about their daily business. At night they often heard animals rustling in the bushes - usually a small kangaroo-like marsupial called a Red-legged Pademelon.

W ould Sylvia recommend a se-mester abroad with SFS?

Absolutely! If you are interested in an experience of a lifetime, you too should Beautiful Australia. Photo: Sylvia Vega (09)

consider one of the many exciting study abroad options available to Smith students.

The School for Field Studies is just one of many approved study abroad

options with an environmental focus offered at Smith.

For more information, please visit: www.smith.edu/studyabroad/

programs.html

SPRING 2007 Page 11

MEET THE ‘NEW’ FACULTY HELPING STEER ES&P NATHANAEL FORTUNE

N at Fortune is an Associate Professor in the Physics Department. His environment-related research has recently been focused on a solar energy test site located on the

roof of McConnell Hall. This Spring he and his Physics 100 students are looking at different types of solar devices that have been producing hot water for McConnell hall since they were installed in the fall; they are interested specifically in how well the devices work under different weather conditions. Professor Fortune hopes that this project will both help track energy use on campus and examine what types of solar devices would work best on different buildings at Smith in the future. He is also interested in creating small, portable energy efficient buildings that can be manufactured and put together locally, without highly special-

ized equipment or labor. Professor Fortune is Co-chair of Massachusetts’ Green Rainbow Party and sits on the Energy Committee in his hometown of Whately.

• The United States produces and uses 1/3 of the world’s paper supply. • Forests in the southeastern U.S. now supply a quarter of the total global amount of paper. • Producing one tom of paper requires 2-3 times its weight in trees. • Making paper from recycled content creases 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution.

DID YOU KNOW...

WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE RECYCLING

MICHELLE JOFFROY

M ichelle Joffroy is an Associate Professor in the Spanish Department. She is also affiliated with both Latin American Studies and the Study of Women and Gender. She currently

teaches two classes related to the environment on the U.S/Mexico border, both pre- and post-NAFTA. In her classes she looks at environmental degradation from development around maquiladoras (factories making goods for export), and the resulting air, water and soil pollution- contamination that affects not only the health of workers in the maquiladoras but also the people living in the colonias, or very poor settlements, nearby. Professor Joffroy’s motivation for being involved in ES&P is rooted in her interest in Latin America and the global South. She believes that questions of how we view ourselves here in the U.S and how we address global issues like climate change and sustainability must include a Southern perspective. In Spring 2009 Professor Joffroy will teach a class on women and activism in Latin America with a focus on the environment.

PAUL VOSS

P aul Voss is an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Program. He teaches courses on air pollution, continuum mechanics, and co-teaches the intro engineering course, which this Fall

incorporated a design project on solar houses. His research focuses on the atmosphere, including the climate, pollution transport and miniature flight vehicles. He has developed state-of the-art balloons that can measure various atmospheric features like pollutants, temperature, wind and air quality. He recently released such a balloon in arctic Norway, and has done similar projects in the U.S and Mex-ico. He is currently helping develop a specialized research station at Smith’s Whately property, look-ing at chemistry-climate connections by measuring air quality through ozone and aerosols.

Environmental Science and Policy Program Smith College Bass Hall 107 Tel: 413.585.3951 Fax: 413.585.3786 enviro@email.smith.edu

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The Environmental Science and Policy Program is an interdisciplinary program that ties together the natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences with a faculty steering committee from across these disciplines. Each semester, the ES&P program hosts a variety of events, ranging from film screenings to lectures.

SoWho’s Involved in the Program? Interim Director, SP08: Amy Rhodes (Geology) Program Coordinator: Joanne Benkley Spatial Analysis Lab Coordinator: Jon Caris Steering Committee/ Faculty Advisers: Donald Baumer (Government) Nathanael Fortune (Physics) Maureen Fagan (Chemistry) Elliot Fratkin (Anthropology) Andrew Guswa (Engineering) Virginia Hayssen (Biology) Shizuka Hsieh (Chemistry) Michelle Joffroy (Spanish and Portuguese) Leslie King (Sociology) David Newbury (History) Robert Newton (Geology) Paulette Peckol (Biology) Jeffry Ramsey (Philosophy) L. David Smith (Biological Sciences) Paul Voss (Engineering) Gregory White (Government) Focus the Nation at Smith: Students and staff enjoy

the sunny day and ‘pedal’ some fresh juice at a stand sponsored by the student group Bike Kitchen. Stand-ing is the group’s leader, Elisabeth Wolfe (‘10).

posed solutions which were presented to political leaders and the President of the College at the evening panel:

1) Take dramatic steps to reduce CO2 emissions on all possible fronts– including transportation, housing, technology develop-ment, conservation & efficiency.

2) Require better economic accounting of the costs of CO2 emissions and other contributors to climate change. All options need to be considered. Some ideas were full cost accounting, carbon tax, and cap and trade systems.

3) Many countries, states, communities and institutions have already made positive strides to slowing climate change. We need to look to these models.

4) Dramatic increase in research, development, and implementa-tion of renewable energy technologies is necessary and we support increased government funding for new energy, building, and transportation technologies.

(Continued from page 6)

ES&P Student Editor: Alana Miller ‘10 We’d love to hear from you! Send comments and contributions to us at the address below left.