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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM

NEWSLETTER

December 4, 2006

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this

issue:

** Upcoming ES Program Events: ES Club sponsors: Pub Night this Tuesday, Bio 493 Public

Presentation Thursday

** Campus Sustainability: Focus the Nation -- get involved!

** ES Program News: Still space in Spring Courses

** Beyond Colby: EPA closes libraries, destroys documents

** Grad Programs: UCLA, University of Toledo

** Jobs and Internships: Student Conservation Association, Vermont Youth Conservation

Corps, Canyonlands Field Institute

====================================================================================================

** Upcoming ES Program Events:

ES Club sponsors: Pub night Tuesday

This Tuesday December 2nd from 7-9 enjoy a casual PUB NIGHT to get to know Environmental

Studies faculty, majors, and minors! (Especially before some juniors go abroad!)

The ES Club will be picking up the tab for pizza and non-alcoholic drinks, but if you're

of age feel free to bring your ID (and cash).

We want to know how many pizzas to order, so please RSVP to Elisa (eachinia@colby.edu) or

Elizabeth (earose@colby.edu) or email them if you have questions.

Sponsored by the Environmental Studies Club!

Colby Researchers to Present Findings in Long Pond North Study

A semester-long study of Long Pond North and its watershed was prompted by the Maine

Department of Environmental Protection's (MDEP) placement of Long Pond on the impaired

lakes list. Colby students will present their findings at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, December

7, at the Center for All Seasons gymnasium, located south of Belgrade Lakes Village on

route 27. The presentation is open to the public and should last about one and a half

hours.

Students will report on the current water quality of the lake and environmental factors

that influence it. In addition, students will make recommendations for maintaining water

quality and discuss the nature of the watershed and land-use patterns, past and present.

In recent years, students in the upper-level biology and environmental science course

"Problems in Environmental Science" have studied many lakes in central Maine, including

Great Pond, East Pond, Togus Pond, and China Lake. Each year, they present their

findings to the public and provide a formal report to the MDEP, town officials, lake

associations, and other interested parties.

The MDEP and local lake associations have come to depend on the students' data in their

efforts to protect and improve lake water quality, MDEP officials said. Past research

groups from Colby have recommended changes to reduce the amount of phosphorus entering

the lakes from overland runoff and sediment release. Lake associations have funded

follow-up activities to help implement recommendations to abate phosphorus runoff, which

leads to algal growth and degrades water quality.

Professors David Firmage and Danielle Garneau oversee the lakes research conducted by

senior Biology: Environmental Science majors. This year, 8 Colby seniors participated in

the research project.

** Campus Sustainability:

WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

A student group is forming to bring "Focus the Nation" to Colby. This national effort on

campuses to raise consciousness about Climate Change involves a series of commitments and

events focused on early 2008. For details see the web site http://www.focusthenation.org/

The group is forming to organize the Colby effort and to coordinate with lots of other

schools. They could use the help of all interested parties. If you are interested in

leading or joining please see Justine Scott (email: jascott@colby.edu) or Samantha

Given-Davis (email: sngivend@colby.edu). The group will be supported by the Energy

Subcommittee of the Environmental Advisory Group.

** ES Program News:

Seats available in spring Environmental Justice Courses

Please note that the following two spring courses still have space available They are

being taught by Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Environment and Justice, Christopher Thoms,

here at Colby until May. They can count for credit in the Humans and the Environment

section of the ES requirements.

*ES298 Introduction to Environmental Justice */Four credit hours./

Explores the relationship between environment, ideas of justice, and social inequity.

Students will examine how racial, economic, and cultural background can affect people's

access to a clean, safe environment and productive natural resources. Through readings,

videos, current news reports, class discussions, and guest lectures, students will

consider examples of how people's environmental rights are threatened or violated

locally, nationally, and globally. Students will examine how globalization and other

economic transformations affect the relationship between poverty and the environment, as

well as some of the mechanisms being used to secure environmental rights and promote

environmental justice. Expands the traditional boundaries of environmental justice from

its origins in environmental health to include issues of natural resource access. /

Prerequisite: /Environmental Studies 118

Can be taken before ES 118

*ES398 Conservation, Development, and Social Justice */Four credit hours./ *I.*

Explores social justice issues and implications of biodiversity conservation by examining

the social construction of nature and considering the debate over community-based versus

traditional protectionist approaches to biodiversity conservation. The preservation and

protection of biodiversity is critical, but can we justify excluding people who are

dependent on natural resources from living near and utilizing those resources? Can

community-level action play a role in solving environmental and social problems that are

global in scale? What is the relationship between global environmental crises and local

problems? Begins with a brief exploration of the state of biodiversity and conceptions of

wilderness. Students will examine conceptions of social justice and examples where

conservation has led to injustice. They will explore community-based conservation that

simultaneously addresses both social justice and preservation needs as a viable

alternative to strict protectionist approaches. / Prerequisite: /Environmental Studies 118

Fills International Diversity requirement

** Beyond Colby:

The EPA Closes Its Libraries, Destroys Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun closing its nationwide network of

scientific libraries, effectively preventing EPA scientists and the public from accessing

vast amounts of data and information on issues from toxicology to pollution. Several

libraries have already been dismantled, with their contents either destroyed or shipped

to repositories where they are uncataloged and inaccessible.

The scientific information contained in the EPA libraries is essential to the agency's

ability to make fully informed decisions that carry out its mission of protecting human

health and the environment. Members of Congress have asked the EPA to cease and desist

dismantling these libraries.

Please call EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson at (202) 564-4700 either today or Monday

and tell him how much scientists rely on data and literature. Urge him to immediately

halt the dismantling of the library system until Congress approves the EPA budget and all

materials are readily available online.

Michael Halpern

National Field Organizer

Scientific Integrity Program

<http://ucsaction.org/campaign/12_1_06_EPA_Library_Closures/w3dens74y5ik6je?>

Simply click "Take Action" to let us know you called. You can also use the space provided

to tell us the details of your call.

<http://ucsaction.org/campaign/12_1_06_EPA_Library_Closures/w3dens74y5ik6je?>

Take Action!

Background:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains a nationwide network of 27 libraries

that provide critical scientific information on human health and environmental

protection, not only to EPA scientists, but also to other researchers and the general

public.

The libraries represent a unique and invaluable source of scientific knowledge on issues

from hazardous waste to toxicology to pollution control. Additional benefit to scientific

researchers is gained from the expertise of a dedicated library staff, who field more

than 100,000 database and reference questions per year from EPA scientists and the

public.

<http://ucsaction.org/campaign/12_1_06_EPA_Library_Closures/w3dens74y5ik6je?>More...

<http://www.ucsusa.org/ucs/join/>The Union of Concerned Scientists relies on individuals

like you

to support our research and advocacy.

Join us to promote practical, science-based environmental and security solutions.

Grad Program:

The University of Toledo

Department of Environmental Sciences

Toledo, OH, USA

http://www.eeescience.utoledo.edu/

A position is available at either the Master’s or PhD level to study ecological networks

in the Great Lakes using quantitative modeling methods. My lab conducts research on the

application of systems theory to understand linkages between natural and human systems.

A research assistantship for 2 years is potentially available pending support to examine

contaminant flow, specifically PCBs, through the food web in the Detroit River and its

linkage to trigger-levels of fish consumption advisories. This project is in

collaboration with researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems

Research and the University of Windsor. Other projects

may include research on food webs or other ecological networks to study the

sustainability of ecosystem services in the Great Lakes area. Support is also available

through teaching assistantships, which require additional work that rarely exceeds 10

hours per week. Research will primarily focus on developing models using previously

collected data. The graduate student will be expected to collaborate with researchers in

other departments and agencies. Start dates of May 2007 or August 2007, depending on

project.

Salary: up to $22,000 per year plus tuition waiver.

Qualifications: Strong quantitative and computer skills, programming experience a plus.

Bachelor’s degree in Ecology, Environmental Science, Natural Resources, or related

field. For a PhD, a Master’s degree in related field is also required. Minimum

academic requirements for the program are an undergraduate GPA of 2.7 (Master’s) or 3.0

(PhD) and a GRE score of 1050 (Master’s) or 1100 (PhD). Please send an electronic

version of a cover letter (with GRE scores), names and contact information of references,

and curriculum vitae/resume (Email: akrause@utnet.utoledo.edu) or a hardcopy of these materials to Ann E. Krause, Department of Environmental Sciences Mail Stop #604, The

University of Toledo, 2801 West Bancroft St., Toledo, OH 43606. Position will remain

open until filled.

Graduate program announcement - UCLA

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Los

Angeles invites applications for graduate study. With current faculty expertise in

behavioral ecology, conservation biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, marine biology,

paleobiology, plant biology,physiological ecology and tropical biology, the department is

in the midst of an exciting phase, including ongoing faculty hires over the next several

years. PhD students receive a 5-year support package. Qualified doctoral students will

be considered for our GAANN Fellows program which provides up to $30,000/year salary and

research support. Full information about our program, along with the on-line

application, can be found at www.eeb.ucla.edu. Applications are due 15 December.

** Jobs and Internships:

Student Conservation Association -- multiple positions

Restoration efforts need to be both reactive and proactive, and no one knows this better

than SCA. We are currently looking for eager and qualified individuals to join our

partners in their restoration efforts. Whether it's performing precribed burns to lessen

the efffects of future wildfires in the West, or removing invasive salt cedar in the

Mid-Atlantic, SCA is restoring our lands coast to coast. To find out how you can get

involved, check out the positions below and visit our website to apply online.

4029 The Nature Conservancy FL Invasive Plant Intern

ASAP-11/26/07

4220 Shenandoah National Park VA Volunteer Leader Intern

03/04/07-05/27/07

3709 Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR LA Fire Effects Monitor

ASAP-08/07/07

3610 Naval Air Station Whiting FL Forestry/Wildlife

Intern 01/13/07-11/13/07

4183 Lake Meredith National Rec. Area TX Fire Effects Monitor

04/30/07-07/30/07

3017 Fredricksburg & Spotsylvania Natl. VA Restoration Intern

01/29/07-07/29/07

2926 Southeast Exotic Plant Mgmt. Team NC Botany Intern

ASAP-05/11/07

2549 Spirit Creek Educational Forest GA Environmental Ed Intern

01/02/07-06/04/07

www.sca.org for details

Vermont Youth Conservation Corps Advertisement:

Outdoor Leaders Wanted! The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) seeks highly

motivated, well-organized individuals to train and supervise small teams of high school

and college-age crew members in our conservation work and education programs. As a VYCC

Leader you will build a cohesive team while completing high-priority conservation

projects and facilitating educational activities. VYCC Crews work on trail construction

and watershed restoration projects across the state of Vermont, as well as in a number of

Vermont State Parks in both day and residential settings. Benefits include a salary of

$430 - $500 per week plus the potential for an AmeriCorps Education Award, room and board

(depending on position), and compensated staff training. VYCC leadership positions span

from four to ten months in length and have start dates beginning in late March through

mid May. Visit our website www.vycc.org today for more information or to apply on-line

or call us at: (800) 639-8922/(802) 434-3969. The VYCC is proud to be an AmeriCorps

program.

Canyonlands Field Institute

Contact: Karla VanderZanden

Email: info@canyonlandsfieldinst.org

Accepting applications until January 15 for

Canyonlands Field Institute 2007 seasonal hiring. SEE OUR WEBSITE for details and how to

apply. www.canyonlandsfieldinst.org

River Apprentice/Internship March 16 to April 30 with naturalist-guide employment to

follow through July 5, 2007; for outdoor educators seeking to gain basic river running

skills. In town shared housing provided.

Naturalist-River Guide to start March 22 through mid- October 2007. Seeking experienced

outdoor educators, familiarity with Colorado Plateau, Utah River Guide license or

equivalent (experience with oar and paddle rafts, class 1-III/IV rivers.)

Camp Cook/Operations assistant for spring and fall, 2007. Previous camp or outfitting

cooking and light duty maintenance skills required; valid driver license and good driving

record. Tipi and beautiful camp setting provided.

Public Relations Internship, 8-12 weeks next position available for spring, 2007.

Administrative internship to develop skills in press release, fund appeal and grant

writing, data base management. In town shared housing provided.

Field Coordinator, March 1 through October 31, 2007 with two week July break; Field crew

supervision, curriculum,warehouse, purchasing and other support services for field

programs.

Location: Moab, UT

Compensation: See descriptions or email for details.

Application Procedure: Please apply by mail, fax or by email, no telephone calls please;

we will contact applicants for interviews in December and January.

Canyonlands Field Institute

PO Box 68

Moab, UT 84532

Fax: 435-259-2335

info@canyonlandsfieldinst.org

www.canyonlandsfieldinst.org

Deadline: January 15, 2007

................................................................................................................................................................

Beth Kopp

Coordinator, Environmental Studies Program

Colby College

4846 Mayflower Hill

Waterville, Maine 04901-8848

207.859.4846

fax 207.872.3474

Office: 221 Lunder House

bkkopp@colby.eduGraduate program announcement - UCLA