Volume 1 Issue 3 Jan. 28, 2009 Eco-facts: Allowing your car to idle for more that 10 seconds actually uses more fuel than restarting the engine.
Spotlights: • •
Welcome Rachael Shwom, expert in climate change and society Good Luck Sarah Wise - Beginning research in the Bahamas for her Ph.D.
EPIB’s Global Reach: • •
Global PACT and Study Abroad Interview with EPIBer Anna Blank: All about her experience in Costa Rica with Global PACT.
Special Events: • •
Job Expo in D.C February 5 NJ Water Fowl—See for yourself on a guided walk of Sandy Hook February 21
Save the dates: • •
March 7 - 13th Annual Land Conservation Rally in New Brunswick April 4 - NJ Environmental Federation’s 23rd Annual Conference Clean, Green, and Working
Fun Stuff • • • •
Tips for Saving Heat and the Environment Organic Fair Trade Shopping Link for a Green Valentine Dr. Clark’s Weird Tales
Thanks to Andrew Pleasant, George Clark, Jon Wargo, Janine Oman, Martin O’Hare , Anna Sweeney for their input and edits in this issue.
My name is Rachael Shwom and I am excited to join the Rutgers faculty as an assistant professor at the Human Ecology department specialized in climate and society. I earned my Ph.D. in Sociology with a specialization in Environmental Science and Policy at Michigan State University in 2008. My dissertation research focused on how different governmental, business, and environmental organizations sought to influence U.S. policies on appliance energy efficiency over the past three decades. I am interested in energy efficiency policy because it is often identified as an important and politically feasible step for reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. I have also researched formation of public opinions on climate change, social science’s role in enabling decision-makers to act on climate change under uncertainty, and media’s coverage of climate change. In the future, I will continue my research on environmental and energy advocacy organizations and the factors that influence their decisions.
Good Jobs, Green Jobs Expo 2009 - Washington, D.C. February 5, from 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the Marriott Wardman Park. Visit over 85 booths from academic institutions, manufacturers, nonprofit agencies, corporations and governmental agencies highlighting interactive and dynamic displays that portray a multitude of career options in the emerging green economy. Visit www.greenjobsconference.org for more info. Winter Waterfowl Wonderland Saturday, February 21, at 2 p.m. Join a naturalist from NJ Audubon on a walk along various points off Sandy Hook Bay to see many water birds including loons, grebes, ducks, and with luck, even spot a harbor seal. For more information call Sandy Hook visitor center at: 732-870 -5970
Anthropology graduate and T.A. for Intro to Human Ecology, Sarah Wise, is off to the Bahamas at the end of the month to begin field research on her dissertation project: Fluid Boundaries and Shifting Ideologies: Conservation, Enclosure and the Language of Ownership. Supervised by Dr. Bonnie McCay, Sarah will explore the social effects of enclosure of a marine commons in Andros Island, Bahamas.
An interview with Anna Blank Hear about traveling abroad straight from a peer. Here’s some excerpts from an interview with Anna Blank, Sophomore EPIB major, who just returned from Costa Rica with Global PACT
Manfredi Giliberti: ...So what compelled you to take this trip? Anna Blank: I’ve always been interested in traveling… I stumbled on the flyer, and being interested in sustainability and eco-tourism I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn more. MG: So the application process isn’t difficult? You just sign up, pay and go? AB: Right; you sign up online, go to a few meetings where you meet everyone who will be on the trip, fill out an application and some forms online, you pay for it and you’re good to go. MG: What was the purpose of the trip? AB: To learn about eco-tourism, which is expanding really fast in Costa Rica. They’re also trying to develop sustainably at the same time. They’re also attempting to preserve the rain forest and provide jobs. It was an educational trip but also fun. MG: So what was your typical daily routine? AB: We got up around 7 or 8, then we would all walk down a dirt road to the Monteverde Institute. We’d have Spanish lessons in the morning for two or three hours, then a break… We went on a guided tour of the rainforest one day, had a lot of lectures, met an original Quaker, founder of Monteverde. We also had a free day; we went to Adonell, which is an active volcano. Then we’d head home for dinner and go back out… There were a lot of bars, a lot of fun, and a lot of salsa dancing. MG: You mentioned you were involved with the Monteverde Institute. What is it? AB: It’s a small educational institution. Monteverde is a small town, so there were students from other districts there, learning about sustainability and environmental activism. MG: Which experience was most valuable? AB: I met so many people and made a lot of friends. I now have contacts with people in Costa Rica, and I plan on going back and getting involved in the community. MG: Considering your future plans, where do you think you can apply this experience? AB: I plan to go into an activism field, or teach environmental issues and how important they are. MG: Would you recommend this trip to EPIB majors? AB: Definitely. MG: What do you regret most about your trip? AB: Regret? Um… Not asking enough questions. MG: OK, and last question: what’s one word would you use to describe the experience?
AB: Fantastic! A special thanks to Anna for finding time at the beginning of a busy semester to share her experience and advice with us.
Tell us what you think! What can we do better? Send comments, questions. and concerns to Kristen Drusjack at: drusjack@aesop.rutgers.edu or 732-932-9153, 301
In 2006, The Nature Conservancy proposed the West Side National Park (WSNP) on Andros, changing the scale of institutional management from local control to national and international governance. Drawing on the methods of ethnography and linguistic anthropology, Sarah’s research asks: How do people negotiate “rightful” access to contested space in an area undergoing change from a locally-valued commons to a globallyvalued protected area? “My preliminary research suggests that the WSNP has already led to increased controversy over local versus foreign ownership of and access to resources, questions of national identity, and disputed authority over resource decision-making” said Sarah. She has also found that there appears to be a stark divide in the ways conservation agents, government officials, and island residents think and talk about the marine environment. Land and sea tenure in the Bahamas seems indecipherably complex at times and are constantly shifting to accommodate new claims. It remains to be seen whether and how managing the area as a national park will affect property claims and natural resource use. In the end Sarah had this to say : “...after three and a half years of grueling studies and long cold winters, I will be spending the next year in the tropics, talking to people about their livelihoods and eating lobster whenever humanly possible”. GOOD LUCK SARAH! We wish you the best, from EPIB faculty, staff, and students!
Traveling through exotic communities, experiencing new cultures, grasping complex foreign problems are an integral part of being an EPIBer. Experiences abroad can change perspectives and enrich comprehension of global issues, ultimately allowing development of better solutions. Where can students go to acquire these skills? The Global Partnerships for Activism for Cross-Cultural Training (Global PACT) enables students to travel, grow, and problem solve in a foreign setting. The program is a nonideological and non-partisan international training practice for people who want to learn skills for bringing positive change to their communities and the world. During the training, students are challenged to identify an issue, develop a project, and design the blueprint of an organization. The lessons learned are applicable to future projects beyond Global PACT for work with any organization. One of the Global PACT’s latest initiatives was a trip to Costa Rica’s Instituto Monteverde. Led by David Mislan, political science faculty member here at Rutgers, participants were put face to face with the locals and the leaders of an ongoing conservation effort to save Costa Rican cloud forests from irresponsible development. Also featured in this issue are impression and thoughts from one EPIB students that recently returned from the trip (see EPIBers Around the World). For more info on Global PACT visit www.globalpact.org . Also available for questions are: G-PACT director Paul Kuehn at kuehn@globalpact.org , and David Mislan at mislan@polisci.rutgers.edu . Global PACT not up your ally? Also available to Rutgers students is www.studyabroad.rutgers.edu . The site has descriptions, requirements, and general info on travel abroad through the university.
Keep cold air from seeping in through windows by sealing cracks with tape. Install a nylon door sweep or roll up a towel and place it at the base of your door to prevent heat loss. On a sunny day open your drapes, solar energy can increase room temperature by 25%. Don't heat an empty house. Lower your thermostat when you’re out during the day. 65 degrees is a most environmentally excellent temperature. Planning a party? Turn the thermostats down. Each guest is the equivalent of a 175-watt heater, and a large group will warm up the place without the furnace or the heating units in operation. If you adjust your ceiling fan so it rotates counterclockwise, it will push the hot air from the ceiling down into the room. A clockwise rotation will do just the opposite causing the heat to leave the room.
If our heat saving tips weren’t enough to help you keep warm, a cup of coffee or hot cocoa will definitely do the trick. Check out www.greenmountaincoffee.com . Green Mountain Coffee Company sells fair trade and organic certified products. Stop in the Student Lounge in the Cook Office Building room 201 to sample a cup of Green Mountain hot cocoa before your purchase. GREEN IS THE NEW RED THIS VALENTINE’S DAY!! For ideas on giving your sweetheart thoughtful eco-friendly Valentine’s Day gifts check out: www.treehugger.com/green-valentine
Recently, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources has been seeking 75 volunteers to be trained in listening to frogs so that the state can complete its annual frog survey. Georgia has 31 frog species, each with distinctive ribbits and croaks. Surveyors, after practicing detection, will monitor frog habitats to help officials measure population trends. Tracking season begins this week. A restaurant owner in Routino, Italy (near Salerno), told police in November that as he was negotiating over the building's lease with his landlords, one hit him in the head with a chair and two others kicked him repeatedly in the stomach. The landlords were not from La Cosa Nostra but were a priest and two nuns from the local Catholic order that owns the building. Karma: A few animals were rescued from an early morning fire at a Humane Society shelter in Oshawa, Ontario, in December, but cats suffered heavy casualties, with nearly 100 perishing. The Fire Marshal's office said the blaze was probably started by mice chewing through electrical wires.
13th Annual Land Conservation Rally 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 7 Hyatt Regency New Brunswick Hosted by Nature Conservancy of New Jersey, speaker Charles Jordan, member of the conservation Fund’s board of directors, will inspire attendees to diversify conservation. Over 30 roundtables and workshops will be available, for more info visit: www.njconservation.org/rally . NJ Environmental Federation's 23rd Annual Conference: Clean, Green, and Working 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday, April 4, 2009 (with reception to follow) Rutgers University School of Law, 123 Washington Street, Newark, NJ Visit www.cleanwateraction.org for more info.