Archived News

August 25, 2011:
The following Experimental College course has been approved for Track ENVS credit:

• EXP-0027-F: When the Snow has Not Frozen: Damage and Resilience in the Arctic
  1.0 credit, Letter-graded, Call #04210
  Thursday, 6:00-8:30 PM, Miner 112
  
  Global Warming. Real or not? Doesn't matter! Something very strange and ominous is actually taking place in the Arctic where climate-induced changes in the Arctic can't be overstated.
  
  This class will begin with an examination of the extreme changes in temperature, sea ice events, sea level rise, and animal species shifts that the Arctic is currently experiencing. We will then consider the circumstances of indigenous Inuit populations who are negotiating changing hunting grounds, novel sea ice conditions, and an altered food-sharing culture – all of which is critical for annual subsistence. Finally, we will turn our attention to complex political and economic arenas as diminishing ice spurs international resource interest in previously inaccessible areas.
  View PRELIMINARY course syllabus >
  
  Nathan Stewart has spent the last five years conducting research in the Arctic on ice-mediated nearshore systems and has participated in two film expeditions on sea ice and the Inupiaq Inuit. He is an advanced Ph.D. candidate in Marine Biology at the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

August 24, 2011
The ENVS program's BIO7: Environmental Biology videos are making headway and they are continuing to educate the public on science topics online. Congratulations to the BIO7 students Alexa Rosenthal, Marnie Kingsley, Sarah Lockwood, and Rosario Dominguez! Your "Antiobiotic Resistance" video has been published on the blog Culture of Science.

July 2011
Call for 2012 Tufts Energy Conference Executive Team Members

The Tufts Energy Conference is the university's stand-alone conference dedicated to energy is looking for directors of finance, operations, content, sponsorship, marketing, showcase, energy challenge and a webmaster. Positions are open to undergraduate and graduate students and incoming/new students.

Going into its 7th year, TEC features a two-day format program with multiple conference features including numerous panel discussions and keynotes with leading energy experts from the public, private and nonprofit sector, a showcase event which spotlights businesses, nonprofit groups and research and action projects undertaken by Tufts students in the energy space and the Tufts Energy Challenge, a two track (action and research) energy competition for Tufts undergraduate and graduate students. For more information, visit the 2011 website.

Applications are due by Friday, July 22, 2011. If you have trouble downloading the application, contact Katie Walsh, the 2012 Tufts Energy Conference Chair at: katherine.walsh@tufts.edu.

June 6, 2011
Lunch & Learn Series lecturers, Michael Davis, Jeff Hake and Marisol Pierce-Quinonez will be offering courses this coming fall at the Experimental College. Both of these courses count toward the Science and Society Track of the Environmental Studies major.

• EXP-0020-F: Architecture and Climate Change: Policy, Power, and Principles with Michael Davis
  How are buildings related to climate change? How has "sustainability" influenced how architects design buildings? And how has greenhouse gas reduction policy in Massachusetts changed the regulatory climate for architects and real estate developers? The course begins with an overview of current thinking about sustainable design, explores the design process and how scientific and technological challenges are being addressed by the practice, and elaborates on the complex and changing relationship between policy, energy, regulation and construction.
  
  Progressive topics like the LEED Rating System, the "2030 Challenge", the "Living Building Challenge", "Net Zero Energy Buildings", distributed generation, and building-integrated renewable energy will be covered. The course will also feature a field trip to a high-performance "green building" and guest presentations from a building science engineer, a clean energy policy advocate, a regulator or government official, and a design educator.
  1.0 credit, Letter-graded
  Monday, 6:00-8:30 PM
  
  Michael R. Davis, FAIA, LEED®, is a Principal and Vice President at Bergmeyer Associates, Inc. Mr. Davis specializes in sustainably designing new and adaptively-reused high-performance multi-family mixed-income housing, commercial buildings, and university residence halls. He advises the Boston Redevelopment Authority as acting Chair of the Boston Civic Design Commission, Co-Chairs the AIA Massachusetts Government Affairs Committee, and is Public Policy Commissioner on the Board of the Boston Society of Architects. Mr. Davis has served on Mayor Thomas Menino's Green Building Task Force for the City of Boston and Governor Deval Patrick's Net Zero Energy Building Task Force for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Mike is also an Overseer and a member of the Faculty at the Boston Architectural College and currently teaches Graduate Research and Writing. In 2002, Mike was given the second annual Award for Excellence in Teaching from the BSA Members of the AIA College of Fellows. Mr. Davis holds a Bachelor Degree in Architecture from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Architecture from Yale University.
   
• EXP-0026-F: Introduction to Sustainable Food Systems with Jeff Hake and Marisol Pierce-Quinonez
  Modern agriculture is the source of a great majority of our food. In recent years industrial agriculture has been indicted as a root cause of many of modern society's woes: hunger, obesity, disease, environmental degradation, climate change, economic injustice, and physical and mental estrangement from the land. With these problems as a backdrop, alternative food systems have emerged. Some are the simple revival of "antiquated" practices while others apply agricultural principle to technological innovation. Cities and communities are becoming active players in these new systems, and food is being "slowed down". This course attempts to outline some of these emerging food systems, providing theoretical background and discussion as well as practical, hands-on tools for becoming a part of these new systems.
  
  Jeff Hake is in the final semester of his Masters program, receiving a degree in Agriculture, Food and the Environment at Tufts University. Jeff likes growing marigolds in pots, tomatoes on strings, and corn in rows, and he thinks that the bicycle tractor he's working on could be helpful for each of those. Visit Jeff's blog.
  
  Mari Pierce-Quinonez is currently working towards a dual Masters in Urban Planning and Agriculture, Food & Environment at Tufts University. Mari has found that she is best at dreaming up great ideas that rarely get turned in to real projects, which is probably a big part of the reason why she is pursuing a career in Urban Planning. Visit Mari's blog.

May 16, 2011
Congratulations to Our ENVS Graduates!

We are proud to celebrate our seniors as they enter into a new phase of their lives. Some will enter into new jobs, while others will continue on to advanced degrees and research. Congratulations also to Adrian Dahlin for being awarded a Compton Mentor Fellowship and the Nancy W. Anderson Award for Environmental Sustainability. There are 32 undergraduate Environmental Studies graduates this year:

May 2011

From: TEA@TIE Quarterly Newsletter
It is an exciting time for the Environmental Studies Program (ENVS). Below I highlight three of the exciting new developments that have occurred this Spring 2011 semester.

First, Ann Greaney-Williams and I instituted, with support from TIE, a new Lunch & Learn Program that meets every Thursday at noon and has featured Tufts Alumni (Tom Gloria - A94, A00; Eric Friedman – A94), Tufts Faculty (Jack Ridge, Geology), Tufts Grad students (Jeff Hake and Marisol Pierce, among others), and non-Tufts experts (Mike Davis, a local architect and Tim McGivern, a local engineer). We are lining up an exciting slate of speakers for next year. And, we were able to create the capacity for students to earn course credit for what will now be ENV 95 (Special Topics in Environmental Studies). We hope you will join us.

Second, ENVS is teaming up with the Julie Dobrow, Director of the Communications and Media Studies Program, to initiate a new track in Environmental Communications. The response of alumni has been outstanding and so many have offered to assist us. For example, Sheril Kirshenbaum, A02, teamed up with Colin Durrant, A98, to lead a roundtable discussion on environmental communication. Their presentation highlighted the opportunities and challenges of new media.

Finally, the A&S administration stepped up to support the program in a powerful way. At the beginning of March, the Deans of Arts and Sciences proposed that A&S should support cluster hires in an interdisciplinary field, and chose Environmental Studies to pilot the initiative. Next year, three new faculty will be hired in three different departments (one in the Arts and Humanities, one in the Social Sciences, and one in the Natural Sciences). The faculty will contribute to the teaching and the research mission of Environmental Studies. I look forward to welcoming them to Tufts.

April 12, 2011
Tufts to implement cluster-hiring program next fall. View article on Tufts Daily.

March 31, 2011

From: ENVS Newsletter
It has been exciting these past few months for the Environmental Studies Program. At the beginning of March the Deans of Arts and Sciences announced that the support of Interdisciplinary Studies is a key mission for Tufts. With this, they proposed that A&S should support cluster hires in an interdisciplinary field and they chose Environmental Studies Program to pilot the initiative. During the summer of 2011, Tufts will begin the efforts necessary to hire new faculty within a department that contributes to the Environmental Studies curriculum.

They chose Environmental Studies for several reasons. First, our program builds on existing strengths within A&S and across the entire university. Second, student interest in the field is strong and likely to get even stronger as time progresses. Finally, those working in environmental studies work in the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences so any department within A&S can participate. The Deans of Arts and Sciences expect to make one hire in the Arts and Humanities, one in the Social Sciences and one in the Natural Sciences.

I am so pleased that ENVS was selected to pilot this initiative and look forward to welcoming the new faculty to Tufts University. As I imagine the many ways these faculty will engage students in their research and in the classroom, I cannot help but feel that this will be viewed as an historic event in the Environmental Studies Program.

February 17, 2011
Students in the BIO7: Environmental Biology course were given an unusual assignment this past Fall 2010. Their task was to create a video project, using open-source materials that described a current topic in environmental biology. Students integrated images, narrative and music with the goal of using knowledge gained within the course to become teachers to other students and the general public. Learn more >

January 2011
Undergraduate Environmental Studies Program Expands, Adds Staff
Learn more >