Monday, March 9th, 2009
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CES News
- Special CES Speakers
- Spring 2009 Seminar Series
- The Anthropology of Science and Technology:
On Campus
- Cultured Jews: The Art and Science of Jewish Ethnography
Off Campus
- Preservation Steps Out: Preserving Outdoor Places
Internships & Opportunities
- Neighborhood Parks Council (NPC)
- Northwest Connections
- Breakthrough Institute
- New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability
- D.C. Green Summer Team Leader Position
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CES News______________________
Special CES Speakers
This week and next at noon
UEL classroom
Pizza served
Tuesday, March 10th
Ami Zota
"The California Household Exposure Study: a Community-based Research Collaborative Linking Environmental Justice with Breast Cancer Advocacy"
Dr. Ami Zota is currently a postdoctoral research fellow with a joint appointment at the Silent Spring Institute, a non-profit institute that researches links between women's health and the environment, and the Harvard School of Public Health. Her research, which emphasizes air quality and environmental health disparities integrates academic research with policy-based objectives and community-based participatory research methods. Her research has contributed to a variety of environmental disciplines including: built environment, indoor and outdoor air pollution, maternal and child health, hazardous waste, environmental justice, and chemicals and consumer products policy. Dr. Zota received her doctorate in environmental health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2007.
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Wednesday, March 11th
Gregory Simon
"When conservation policy goes bad: Outdated environmental narratives and their discontents in India and the United States."
Gregory Simon is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University. He earned his PhD in Geography at the University of Washington where he also served as a National Science Foundation Interdisciplinary (IGERT) Fellow in Urban Ecology. His research examines how diverse perspectives on economic development and environmental protection influence the governance of natural resources. Gregory has a particular interest in the management of water, energy and agricultural resources in rapidly transforming urban peripheries of South Asia and the United States.
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Friday, March 13th
Samantha MacBride
"Throwing Out Our Clothes: the Relation Between Income and Textile Waste Generation among New York City Residents".
Samantha MacBride teaches Urban Environmentalism in New York University's Department of Metropolitan Studies, and is currently completing her PhD in Sociology at NYU. Her dissertation examines the history of recycling in the United States, looking at how solid waste problems and solutions have been socially constructed since the 19th century. Her research interests include composting as a municipal waste management strategy, the political ecology of textiles, and national-scale regulation of products and materials in the United States and the European Union.
Samantha is also Deputy Director for Recycling at the New York City Department of Sanitation. She received her B.A. in Biology from the Johns Hopkins University, and her Masters in Public Administration from New York University.
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Tuesday, March 17th
Kathryn De Master
"Constructing Contradictions: The European Environmental Dream and Polish Organic Farming"
Kathryn De Master is a Ph.D. candidate and lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, as well as an honorary fellow at the University of Wisconsin's Land Tenure Center. Her scholarship emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to environmental issues. Kathryn's research and teaching primarily explore local and sustainable agro-food systems, organic farming, global agriculture issues, European Union agri-environmental policies, environmental sociology and political ecology. Her dissertation, supported by the Kosciuszko Foundation and entitled "Waking Up to the European Dream: The Shifting Landscapes of Polish Organic Farming," emphasizes the socioeconomic transitions, environmental impacts, and changing policy regulations facing Poland's organic farmers, in the context of Poland's recent (2004) entry into the European Union.
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Spring 2009 Seminar Series
Thursday, March 12th at noon
UEL Classroom
Shuying Tan
Epigenetic Inactivation of SFRP1 and SFRP2 Genes as Biomarkers of Invasive Bladder Cancer
Josh Morrison
Sustainable Urban Revitalization in Communities of Blight
Pizza served for $1/slice
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The Anthropology of Science and Technology:
A Special Speaker Series to Continue Throughout 2009
Tuesday, March 10th at 4:30pm
MacMillan 115
The “Microbiopolitics” of Raw Milk Cheese in the U.S.
Come hear Anthropologist Heather Paxson, MIT, now working on an ethnographic study of American artisanal cheesemakers:
Heather Paxson is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at MIT. Her work explores how people grapple with changing socioeconomic conditions and new bioscientific knowledge through everyday ethical practices, especially those having to do with reproduction and food. Her earlier work, based in Athens, Greece, examined changing ideas about motherhood and fertility control. “Making Modern Mothers: Ethics and Family Planning in Urban Greece,” was published in 2004 by University of California Press. She is now studying the 'renaissance' in American artisanal cheese production, investigating the legal, moral, and community politics that organize food production, distribution, and eating in the U.S.
Sponsored by: The Committee on Science and Technology Studies and members of the Anthropology Department
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Tuesday, March 17th at 4:00pm
MacMillan 115
“Alien Ocean: Life at Sea”
Anthropologist Stefan Helmreich, MIT, will discuss contemporary marine biology and changing scientific portraits of the ocean:
Stefan Helmreich is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at MIT. His research centers on contemporary biologists and their ideas about the conceptual and technical boundaries of the category of life itself. He has written extensively on Artificial Life, a field dedicated to the computer simulation of living systems, notably in Silicon Second Nature: Culturing Artificial Life in a Digital World (University of California Press, 1998). As part of his new research on contemporary marine biology, he is looking at how scientific portraits of the oceans are transforming as marine biologists reimagine the sea through the language and techniques of genomics, bioinformatics, biotechnology, biodiversity mapping, and systems modeling. His latest book, “Alien Ocean: Anthropological Voyages in Microbial Seas,” was published in January 2009 by University of California Press.
Sponsored by:
The Committee on Science and Technology Studies
Members of the Anthropology Department
The Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women
The Marshall Woods Lectureship
On Campus______________________
Cultured Jews: The Art and Science of Jewish Ethnography
April 5th-7th, 2009
Brown University
This conference brings together an international group of social scientists who study Jewish life across the globe. The conference will have three components, including a presentation of new scholarly research, a discussion of disciplinary theory and a major public lecture. Please see the conference website for more details:
http://brown.edu/judaic/ethnography
This conference is sponsored by the ADVANCE Program at Brown University, which is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 0548311, The Ruth and Joseph Moskow Endowment in the Program in Judaic Studies, The Herbert Goldberger Lectureship, Department of Anthropology, History Department, Cogut Center for the Humanities, Department of Religious Studies, and the Center for Latin American Studies.
Contact judaic@brown.edu for more information
Off Campus____________________
Preservation Steps Out: Preserving Outdoor Places 24th Annual Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation Conference Saturday, April 25, 2009 from 8:30am – 6pm URI Kingston Campus |
Steve Taylor, dairy farmer and former New Hampshire Agriculture Commissioner, will deliver the keynote address, “Cows, Countryside, and Community: Can the Working Landscape of Rural New England Be Saved?” He will present what is working and what more can be done to preserve New England’s rural landscape and the delicate balance of forest, farms, and development.
The conference will explore the preservation of outdoor places—historic farms, woodlands, shorelines, campuses, and rural villages. The program includes three consecutive sessions on preserving working farms, historic barns and outbuildings, and open space. Always a highlight of the conference, tours will include visits to local farms, the seaside communities of Matunuck and Narragansett Pier, and the villages of Shannock, Kingston, and Wickford. We will also explore the mid-century modern residential neighborhood of Biscuit City and take a bike ride along the former Narragansett Pier Railroad, now the William C. O'Neill Bike Path.
The conference is a great opportunity to learn about new developments and to network with peers in the fields of historic preservation, agriculture, heritage tourism, and planning. The registration fee is $40, which includes morning coffee and snack, lunch, and closing reception. For more information about the conference, organized by the RIHPHC, please visit www.preservation.ri.gov/conference/, or contact Conference Coordinator Janet Balletto at 401-732-1009 or janetballetto@cox.net. Conference programs will be available in early March.
Attention students! Volunteers can attend sessions and be fed for free (save $40). Volunteers are required to arrive at the conference headquarters at 7:30am and be willing to volunteer for up to half the day—or to volunteer on Friday to set up. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Sarah at szurier@preservation.ri.gov. Check out the program, or learn more about the conference, organized by the RI Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, at www.preservation.ri.gov/conference/
Internships & Opportunities______
Neighborhood Parks Council (NPC)
A project of Urban Resource Systems, Inc.
Summer 2009 Internship Opportunities
Title of Positions: GIS/Graphics Intern; Communications Intern
Number of Open Positions: 1 GIS/Graphics Intern; 1 Communications Intern
The San Francisco Neighborhood Parks Council (NPC) is a nonprofit that advocates for a superior, equitable and sustainable park and recreation system. The Neighborhood Parks Council is also heavily involved in park advocacy and urban planning. Specifically, NPC is dedicated to improving civic commitment to parks and filling the gaps in our open space system so that every neighborhood has the parks and playgrounds it needs and deserves. We are currently involved in two city planning processes—Open Space 2100 and the Blue Greenway. The first is an initiative to develop a 100-year open space network vision that will complement San Francisco’s predicted growth and density, promoting exceptional quality of urban life, biodiversity, healthy air and water and strong communities. The second is an initiative to create a 13-mile waterfront trail along the Bay shoreline, which will complete San Francisco's portion of the Bay Trail.
GIS/GRAPHICS INTERN:
16-20 hours/wk. for 10-12 weeks, unpaid Internship
We are looking for a college student to intern with us for the summer of 2009. The GIS/Graphics intern will be an integral part of our urban planning and park advocacy work by helping us create compelling and effective visual materials such as maps and graphics that illustrate park and open space issues. Past interns have created gap maps that show which areas of the city are underserved in terms of access to parks and open space. They have also helped design collateral and education materials for the organization.
Additional Responsibilities: Attending community functions, workshops, and NPC events.
Possible Projects: This intern will be primarily working on our Open Space 2100 and Blue Greenway initiatives.
The ideal candidate will:
Be proficient in GIS and have experience working with InDesign or similar programs
Have well-developed phone and written communication skills
Be well organized and have the ability to handle multiple projects at once
Be outgoing, friendly, and eager to interact with community members
Have a passion for parks, open space, community development, and public policy
COMMUNICATIONS INTERN:
20-40 hours/wk. for 10-12 weeks, unpaid Internship
We are looking for a college student to intern with us for the summer of 2009. The Communications intern will be an integral part of NPC’s development and outreach work by helping us maintain quality content on our website and create unique and attractive collateral materials such as brochures and flyers. The intern will work closely with our Development Director and our outreach staff to produce effective tools for attracting new donors, supporters, and volunteers. The intern will also write web content, newsletter articles, press releases, and other materials as needed.
Additional Responsibilities: Attending community functions, workshops, and NPC events.
Possible Projects: This intern will be involved in all NPC projects.
The ideal candidate will:
Be an excellent writer
Have web development experience
Be interested in fundraising, marketing, and outreach
Be well organized and have the ability to handle multiple projects at once
Be outgoing, friendly, and eager to interact with community members
Have a passion for parks, open space, community development, and public policy
HOW TO APPLY: Please email a resume and cover letter to:
Sunya Ojure NPC Program Assistant & Brown ‘07 sojure@sfnpc.org (415) 621-3260
Applications will be accepted until April 15th, 2009.
Please visit www.sfnpc.org for more about Neighborhood Parks Council.
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Northwest Connections
http://www.northwestconnections.org/landscapeandlivelihood.html
Northwest Connections' Landscape and Livelihood Fall Field Semester immerses a small group of students in an intensive two-month, field-based educational program focused on ecology and community-based conservation. The program offers 15 semester credits from the University of Montana. Students learn experientially, while living in the wild landscape and rural community of the Swan Valley. Base camp for the semester is the historic Beck homestead, on the Swan River, nestled between two wilderness areas, 50 miles south of Glacier National Park.
Northwest Connections' instructional philosophy recognizes the value of hands-on learning outside of the traditional academic model. Students spend every day of the semester outdoors, in the field, gaining tangible skills. With the Swan Valley as their classroom, students have the opportunity to work with land managers and rural citizens towards an understanding of the common ground between the needs of the land, rural communities and local economies.
Landscape and Livelihood's residential program operates seven days per week, creating time for classroom lecture, field work, reading, reflective writing, journaling, and involvement in community activities. Fifteen semester credits are earned from the University of Montana in five separate courses through the College of Forestry and Conservation; the Departments of Environmental Studies; and Geography.
The Field Semester runs from August 31st - October 29th, 2009. Cost includes:
* Tuition
* Wilderness First Aid certification
* Room and board
* All course materials
* Transportation during the semester
Check out the NwC website for further information and to find out how to apply at http://www.northwestconnections.org/
For more information, please contact:
Maureen 'Mo' Hartmann
Program Director
Northwest Connections
Box 1309 Swan Valley, MT 59826
(406) 754-3185
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Breakthrough Institute
Seeks Nation's Top Young Thought Leaders
For Paid Summer Fellowship
The Breakthrough Institute, a public policy think tank, is seeking up to ten of the country's top young writers and thought leaders for a paid fellowship in Summer 2009 as part of its young leaders initiative, Breakthrough Generation. Fellowships are highly competitive -- in 2008, 10 percent of applicants were accepted -- and involve cutting-edge writing, research, and analysis on energy/climate, national security, the economy, health care, and other issues. Previous Breakthrough Fellows have published in the Harvard Law & Policy Review, San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, Huffington Post, and Alternet.
Fellowships pay $300 per week and are awarded to individuals aged 18-25 who will be closely involved with Breakthrough's high-level work. Activities and projects include writing short articles and op-eds, researching and writing policy white papers, and conducting interviews with the nation's top political and policy experts. Fellows will work 40 hours per week for ten weeks during Summer 2009 from Breakthrough's central office in Oakland, CA. Selected Fellows are expected to attend a two-day introduction summit during a weekend in late April or early May 2009, for which all travel expenses will be covered.
To apply, submit a cover letter, resume or CV, and three writing samples to fellowship@thebreakthrough.org. Applications are due by 5:00pm PST on March 15th, 2009. Writing samples should include at least one op-ed-style piece and one research paper (these do not have to be published). Personal recommendations are welcomed but not required. For more information, contact Teryn Norris at teryn@thebreakthrough.org
This announcement is also available online at http://thebreakthrough.org/action.shtml
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New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability
Internships are available in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability during the summer of 2009.
The New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability is responsible for the implementation of the initiatives outlined in PlaNYC, the City’s comprehensive sustainability plan. To learn about the PlaNYC, please visit: www.nyc.gov/planyc2030
Internships will be available to work on policy areas related to climate change, transportation, energy, green buildings, and air and water quality.
Under the direction of the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Long Term-Planning and Sustainability, internship responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
Project management and implementation – in coordination with City and non-City agencies and private entities, responsibilities include data acquisition from a variety of sources and management of large, complex datasets Analysis and advice – perform and make recommendations on qualitative and quantitative assessments of proposals and projects in order to understand a variety of impacts, including feasibility
Overall support and management – research, writing, meeting planning and management, resident outreach, data compilation and analysis, and legislative analysis. Internships in the New York City Mayor’s Office during the summer are full-time, unpaid positions.
Qualifications:
Although not required, the successful applicant will likely have one or more of the following academic or professional experiences: economics, environmental policy, environmental science, finance, public policy and/or administration, urban studies or urban planning, political science, transportation policy and/or engineering.
Applicants must have a proven record demonstrating management, analytical, and leadership skills. Compelling examples of these skills could include managing complex projects; analytical work balancing bold ideas with attention to detail; successfully gaining the support of independent stakeholders; and examples of leadership in the applicant’s current field of work. Applicants must be able to balance the pursuit of ambitious, large-scale projects with simple, targeted changes that offer the potential for significant impact. Proven written, verbal, and presentation communication skills are critical.
To apply: Email a brief cover letter and resume to Aaron Koch at akoch@cityhall.nyc.gov. Please highlight aspects of your experience that are relevant for this position, including volunteer service, and explain why you are interested in working with this organization.
Applications will be accepted until March 13, 2009.
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D.C. Green Summer Team Leader Position
Project 20/20 is a student-run initiative based out of Providence, RI, started in March of 2008. So far we've re-lamped over 2,300 low-income residences with high efficiency CFLs. Through our work, we have saved residents over $700,000 in reduced electrical bills and offset over 4,000 tons of CO2 over the next five years. Project 20/20 has been one of the first successful large-scale programs of its type.
In the summer of 2009, Project 20/20 (www.proj2020.org) will be contracting with the District of Columbia Department of Environment and their Green Summer program. DC youth, ages 14 to 21, will be employed in citywide initiatives to reduce energy consumption by DC residents. In our DC initiative, we are proud to help build the future of green jobs in America by hiring local youth and offering comprehensive training in energy-efficiency and conservation.
Project 20/20 is now seeking responsible, energetic and resourceful applicants to supervise teams of 10-12 teenagers for the duration of the summer program.
Position Essentials:
-Program dates are June 18, 2009 to August 21, 2009
-Team Leaders will be expected to start on June 8, 2009 for training.
-DC summer residency is recommended.
-Team Leaders will work 40 hours a week and be paid $11/hr.
Position Responsibilities:
-Work closely with fellow Team Leaders and Program Managers to developand lead the training of the Green Summer participants;
-Lead the day-to-day activities and insure the work site safety of your team while motivating students to pursue careers combating climate change;
-Either install thousands of energy-efficient light bulbs and/or work on a weatherization/energy
TO APPLY: Send the following to proj2020@gmail.com by MARCH 13 (applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis): Resume, A short description of relevant experiences with youth populations (14-21) (up to 300 words), A short description of relevant environmental conservation experience or education (up to 300 words).
Fill out this application: http://www.green.dc.gov/green/cwp/view,a,1233,q,461520.asp
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Please send questions, comments and stories to:
CES Newsletter Editor, Marie-Laure Couët
Thanks!