CES Newsletter
August 30, 2010
Welcome back! I hope you have all had a great summer and are looking forward to the start of an exciting academic year.
We have had a few changes over the summer that I want to let you know about.
Steven Hamburg retired from his position as Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology to continue full-time in his capacity as Chief Scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund. We thank Steve for his many years of service to Brown and CES and we will be hosting a celebration of his time with us later this fall.
Also Betsy Barlow has resigned from her position as Administrative Assistant. She and her husband have relocated out of the Providence area. We will all miss her very much.
Moving forward, here’s what’s happening this week:
CES News
- CES Fall Seminar Series begins Thursday, September 2
- Courses for you to consider
- CES courses
- Courses in other departments
Off-Campus
- Arpin Renewable Energy and Cardi's FurnitureUnveil First Electric Car Charging Station in Rhode Island
- Tapping into Solutions: Leading Water's Future
- Master Composter & Recycler Training Program Fall 2010
Internships & Opportunities
- Fronteir
CES FALL SEMINAR SERIES BEGINS THIS THURSDAY
Thursday, September 2, UEL 106, noon
Guy Edwards
“Oil or Eco-tourism? The threats and opportunities for cultural survival of the Huaorani indigenous group of the Ecuadorian Amazon"
Guy is a research fellow at Brown University and writes the blog, Latino Cambio, which focuses on Latin America & climate change.
*****
CES COURSES
ANNOUNCEMENT RE. ENVS0510
Problems in International Environmental Policy
SEM I MWF 11-11:30
Instructor: C.Karp, Environmental Studies
ENVS 0510 - Problems in International Environmental Policy has moved to the fall semester and a new time. [SEM I MWF 11-11:50]
It is a fascinating time to take a fresh look at international environmental policy. Early on, the Obama administration declared its intent to reconsider the U.S. role in international agreements on climate, the law of the sea, conservation, and free trade. Secretary of State Clinton discussed binding emissions limits with leaders of China and India in preparation for the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December 2009, and President Obama instructed the USEPA to develop regulations addressing CO2 emissions as “pollutants” under the U.S. Clean Air Act. However, the U.S. Senate decided to abandon its efforts to enact comprehensive energy and climate change legislation in 2010. So, what has been accomplished since the Earth Summit of 1992? Has the Millennium Development Program accomplished its goal of alleviating poverty and protecting the environment? What resulted from the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December 2009? What roles do international institutions, and state and non-state actors play in addressing international and trans-boundary environmental problems? In what ways do development assistance and free trade affect the environment? In what ways does environmental degradation present national security issues?
If these questions interest you, take a look at ENVS0510. We will explore these issues and examine the basis of U.S. positions on major international environmental agreements. In addition, the class will negotiate several issues regarding mitigation of CO2 equivalent emissions and climate adaptation strategies as the international community considers how to move forward following the Copenhagen Accord of 2009.
*****
Dear Environmental Studies Students,
I invite you to enroll in Working with Communities - Cultural Competence and Ethics, ENVS 1700A for environmental studies research that you may conduct nationally or internationally. Many new environmental studies research projects are being conducted with community-based or collaborative approaches. Many CES students also have had to apply for Institutional Review Board approvals for their research projects. Informed consent requirements do now affect environmental researchers, particularly for personal interviews and focus groups. Culturally-diverse groups constitute many of the communities where students may carry out environmental interventions. Cultural appropriateness and cultural sensitivity approaches are critical to effective environmental interventions. In this course, we review community-based theory, ethical theories, and cultural competence theories for their application to environmental studies. In many new case studies, we review new collaborative and qualitative research methods to prepare students for conducting research with culturally-diverse and geographic community/neighborhood groups. The Brown University CES is one of the very few environmental studies programs in the US that offers this training to students.
*****
This semester's ENVS 1350 (Environmental Economics and Policy) will again cover pressing issues in the current debate over environmental policy. The course begins by developing students' understanding of how environmental degradation can arise, and then continues by exploring the efficacy of various policy options to confront degradation. The last half of the course involves detailed applications to air, water, and waste issues, as well as a final application to climate change. In contrast to previous years, the textbook will be more accessible to a wide range of students, covering the fundamental economic concepts but leaving more formal details to lectures. As before, the pre-requisite of ECON 1110 is suggested, but not required. I strongly encourage you to contact me (Sriniketh Nagavarapu, ssn@brown.edu) if you're interested in taking the course, but do not have the pre-requisite.
*****
Welcome back students!
Thinking about how the environment affects our health? Interested in learning about how we evaluate exposures to environmental toxicants and influence policy to ensure thatpublic healthis adequately protected? I welcome you to join me this Fall in ENVS 1710, Environmental Health and Policy, where we will focus on environmental health scientific methods and their application to policy and regulation. You will learn the main tools of environmental health science, including toxicology, epidemiology, exposure and risk assessment, the framework of major environmental health regulation, and the scientific basis for regulatory process and decisions. Traditional environmental health concerns (air and water pollution, waste management) will be discussed, as well as more recent problems, including urban health, climate change, and emerging toxicants and health issues (e.g. endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, health disparities). Case studies will be used throughout the course to critically examine important and current environmental health issues, and we will use each lecture to learn environmental health tools and to expand our critical thinking and discussion abilityregarding theseissues. My background is in toxicology and human health risk assessment, and I am interested in susceptible populations, risk variability, toxicological methods, and the emerging area of cumulative risk assessment. Recent research includes an evaluation of pesticide exposure for children living in urban, low-income housing, focusing on risk variability factors (e.g. genetic, behavioral), and method development for evaluating cumulative risk and cancer susceptibility factors. I look forward to meeting you! Please contact me with any questions.
Susan Wason, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, CES
*****
COURSES OF INTEREST IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS
PPAI: 1701 G - Seminar on Science and Technology Policy in the Global South (Senior Seminar)
Prof. Geri Augusto
Tues/Thurs, 10:30 - 11:50 a.m. (J.W. Wilson, 403)
Overview. Using both theoretical ideas and empirical examples, this seminar will explore the relationships among science, technology, society, and public policymaking in the Global South, in places where local science and global science often collaborate and sometimes clash. The class will investigate, from a variety of perspectives, how the governance of science and technology in various parts of the Global South is influenced by their past experiences, forms of public science organization, systems of knowledge and belief, civic epistemologies and regulatory frameworks, strategic agendas for development, and tensions in power and social relations. The challenges of ethics, justice and democratization, as well as of technological innovation, will be recurring motifs. We will also consider how the concerns and practice of institutionalized science in the Global South, and differing capacities to negotiate interests, affect global research networks and international collaboration. In doing so, the seminar will help build a bridge between public affairs, public policy and science and technology studies, as well as bring a more internationalized perspective to the study of science and technology governance.
(note from Professor: As it so happens, this year the theme that our Brazilian counterparts have suggested for our joint video conference is...garbage (lixo), i.e. the environmental justice aspects of public policies around garbage in pluralistic, highly unequal societies.)
ANNOUNCING GE-1130: BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES IN THE OCEAN
MWF MacMillan 101 2-2:50 p.m.
This course should be of interest to all students interested in the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle. We examine the interaction of ocean physical processes and biological cycles that lead to the observed patterns of the major biologically utilized elements in the ocean. In particular, we examine the ocean's role in regulating long-term levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. We will examine evidence for major past variations in the ocean carbon cycle that can be tied to natural variations in atmospheric CO2, and also look ahead to the ocean's role in taking up CO2 released by human activities, along with significant issues such as ocean acidification and coastal eutrophication that come from human activity.
*****
INVESTING IN SOCIAL CHANGE: THE PRACTICE OF PHILANTHROPY
Sociology 1870A · Fall 2010
Co-taught by Prof. Ann Dill, Sociology; and Roger Nozaki, Director, Swearer Center for Public Service and Associate Dean of the College
Philanthropy – “giving away money” – sounds attractive and simple. But the very acts of contributing and receiving resources affect dynamics and relationships among all involved, and philanthropic strategies often require trade-offs between competing goals. To address complex social issues and facilitate sustainable impact, one must bring a solid understanding of the specific field of interest and its local context, skills in relationship-building with a range of stakeholders, and knowledge of evaluation methods.
This course will include an overview of philanthropy and social change, and a range of concepts and approaches to financial investments for social change. Students will also work in teams to develop strategies for the investment of actual grant dollars: investigating a particular community concern, identifying a focus and approach, inviting proposals, recommending grantees, and setting up the means to evaluate the outcomes of that investment.
Course participation is by application only. Interested students must attend the first class session on Thursday, September 2, and submit their applications by email to the course instructors no later than 4:00 pm on Friday, September 3, 2010. Students will be notified of their acceptance into the class by Monday, September 6.
Information and application at http://swearercenter.brown.edu/new/news/fall-course-on-philanthropy
*****
Off-Campus
Arpin Renewable Energy and Cardi's Furniture Superstores have teamed up to provide drivers of plug-in electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars with the first public car charging station in Rhode Island. The charging unit, provided by Coulomb Technologies, is expected to be followed within a year by a new design called ARC (Auto Recharge Center), currently being developed by an Arpin Renewable Energy affiliated partner.
For more information, Click here
*****
TAPPING INTO SOLUTIONS: THE FUTURE OF WATER
Tapping into Solutions: Leading Water's Future is an online conference bringing together a diverse group of leaders from industry, government, not-for-profit organizations (Foundations and Non-Government Organizations), and academia to explore water's complex role in society. Please join us as we bring together diverse perspectives to explore and debate these complex water issues, identify the leadership needed to manage the resource, and offer a framework to illuminate potential solutions.
Dates: September 28-29, 2010
Location: Web-based, may be accessed from anywhere with a phone line and a high-speed internet connection. (Registrants will receive more detailed access information.)
Cost: $75 for a one-day pass
$100 for a full two-day pass
STUDENT RATES: $30 for one day; $50 for the full two days
FOR MORE INFORMATION and to REGISTER, click here.
*****
FALL 2010 MASTER COMPOSTER & RECYCLER TRAINING PROGRAM
The University of Rhode Island Outreach Center
This training program covers waste management, recycling, vermicomposting (composting with worms), large scale composting, compost as a biogas, urban composting and much more.
Classes take place on Thursday's in October (except October 28th) from 6-8pm at URI's Kingston Campus and 3 Saturday field trips (one Saturday class can be missed).
View class details at
http://library.constantcontact.com/doc204/1102238942925/doc/p6AL6OEEs0Cmfawj.pdf
The $75 fee covers all books and handouts for the class. Register at
http://www.uri.edu/cels/ceoc/documents/registrationbrochure.pdf
*****
Internships & Opportunities
Frontier was established in 1989 as a non-profit conservation and development non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem integrity and building sustainable livelihoods for marginalised communities in the world’s poorest countries. Originally focused largely on scientific and conservationresearch, Frontier’s mandate soon evolved into one that combinedcommunity development,capacity building, ecosystem protection, economic growth, and the development of civil society. This reflected our fundamental belief that the only way to create a mutually-beneficial relationship between man and the environment is to address both human and environmental needs.
For a listing of several opportunities open with Fronteir, please check our website at
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Environmental_Studies/links/InternshipsandOpportunities.html