News on environmental initiatives at W&L
Check out this blog: http://wlbioinyellowstone.blogspot.com. Dr. Bill Hamilton and the students in Biology 332 – Plant Functional Ecology will be blogging about their trip to Yellowstone. Elk and bison and wolves oh my!
See http://www.wlu.edu/x30906.xml for information on Bill’s research in Yellowstone.
Lisa Greer, Assistant Professor of Geology, has been studying the dramatic population decrease in Caribbean populations of staghorn coral (Acroporoa cericonis) that began in the 1980s. Fossilized specimens of the coral indicate that the die-off may not be caused solely by climate change. The fossil record indicates that warmer temperatures have had little effect over the last 500,000 years that staghorn has been a major reef builder.
Greer hopes to be doing research this summer on the causes of the die-off in the Caribbean with W&L students in the R.E. Lee Research Program.
March 23, 2009
The Center for International Education (CIE) at Washington and Lee University has announced the recipients of the 2009 Woolley Fellowships, provided through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Paul Woolley in honor and memory of their son, Erik.
Each fellowship provides up to $3,000 toward travel and living expenses to support an educational internship experience overseas. Proposals must demonstrate how projects will prepare students better for deeper global engagement, foster learning within an international professional practice and deepen students’ understanding of another culture.
Gaby Bucheli of Quito, Ecuador, will be interning in Manaus, Brazil, working on a project that examines the economic valuation of the environmental impact of oil extraction procedures. A member of the W&L class of 2011, Bucheli will be working with a multinational and multidisciplinary group of professionals from the fields of economics and geology, including Professor Jim Kahn, professor of economics and Director of Environmental Studies at Washington and Lee.
Upon the recommendation of the University Sustainability Committee and with the approval of President Ruscio and the President’s Council, the University is embarking on a program to reduce energy consumption through temperature regulation in University facilities. The settings for all buildings will be 68 degrees maximum during the winter months and at 74 degrees minimum through the summer months.
Maintaining these temperatures will conserve energy, save money, and reduce the University’s carbon footprint. The success of this program depends on participation of all students, faculty and staff. If the temperature is exceedingly cold or hot in your space, please contact Facilities Management at extension 8490.
Washington and Lee has been awarded a grant to pay for a two year post doctoral fellowship position in Environmental Studies. Funding for the position is being provided by a grant to the Associated Colleges of the South by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The role of the postdoctoral fellow will be to enhance the treatment of sustainability in the Environmental Studies curriculum and to further integrate the environmental studies program with our other interdisciplinary programs, such as the Shepherd Program in Poverty and Human Capability, the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, the Women’s Studies Program, and the African-American Studies Program. For more information contact Dr. James R. Kahn, Director, Environmental Studies Program, at kahnj@wlu.edu.
Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society founded at W&L in 1914, held its annual inductions as part of the convocation ceremony. ODK was the first college honor society of a national scope to give recognition and honor for meritorious leadership and service in extracurricular activities and to encourage development of general campus citizenship.
Mackenzie Elise Brown of Kingwood, W.Va, ‘09, Environmental Studies major, along with twenty-six other students, both law and undergraduate, as well as two local community members were inducted at the convocation on Monday, Jan 19, at 11:45 a.m. in Lee Chapel on the campus of Washington and Lee University.
Sustainability: The Journal of Record is now available on line through Leyburn Library here. If you are interested in looking at the contents (and articles) of the current issue go here. There are three articles relating to higher education including: “Make Love, Not CO2.” There is also an editorial by Amory Lovins, Co-Founder, Chair and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute who is scheduled to speak at this years Environment Virginia conference at VMI. The theme this year is: Sustainability – The Nexus of Economic Prosperity and Environmental Stewardship. The 20th annual EV will be held March 31 – April 2, 2009.
Please share your favorite electronic sustainability information sources. There is too much information and, as you probably know, not much time.
Recyclemania is an annual 10 week effort of colleges and universities across the country to maximize recycling after minimizing waste. Recyclemania 2009 will run from January 18th to March 28th.
Washington and Lee has signed the Presidents Climate Commitment which requires participation in the waste minimization component of Recyclemania. Although it is great to have a high percentage of waste resources diverted form the trash to recycling it is better to reduce the total amount of waste (trash plus recycling).
Please think about what you purchase and what you throw in the trash in relation to how much energy and natural resources are being wasted. Be mindful of the future. REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
Your comments and ideas for conservation are always welcome at recycling.wlu.edu.
Check out a Blue Bike at Leyburn. See http://library.wlu.edu/services/Bikes.asp or contact Chris Wise at
X8253 or jwise@wlu.edu
Campus Sustainability Week at Washington and Lee University, Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, is an educational and awareness event to bring sustainability to the forefront of the consciousness of W&L students, faculty and staff and the Lexington/Rockbridge community. All events are open to the public.
Eco-Events @ W&L