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ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER
MARCH 10, 2009
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** UPCOMING ES PROGRAM EVENTS: Soren Hermansen, Time Magazine’s Environmental Hero, on campus TUESDAY
** BEYOND CAMPUS:    6th Annual Maine Climate Summit at U Maine Farmington,  Support Land for Maine's Future Funding, National Ecovillage Expert to Speak in Belfast
** CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY: Help us reduce energy on campus!!
** JOBS & INTERNSHIPS: ES Program Assistant, Stewardship Coordinator — Blue Hill Heritage Trust, ESRI at MIT
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** UPCOMING ES PROGRAM EVENTS:
SAMSO: Denmark's Renewable Energy Island

Please join the Goldfarb Center and the Environmental Studies Program on March 10 at 7pm in Ostrove Auditorium, as we welcome Time Magazine's 2008 Environmental Hero of the Year,
Soren Hermansen, to campus.  Dessert reception to follow.
Hemansen's green initiatives in the Danish Island of Samso resulted in the island of 4,300 becoming Denmark's showcase for sustainable power and eventually went carbon-free.  Hermansen now runs the Energy Academy, a research center for clean power.  He will discuss the success of Samso and how it serves as an example that significant environmental change can occur as a result of individual's efforts.  

 
** BEYOND CAMPUS:    
As most of you may know, the 6th Annual Maine Climate Summit will be hosted by the University of Maine at Farmington and the dates for the summit are April 4th and 5th, 2009.  We at UMF are very excited to be hosting all of you for a fun filled weekend as well as an educational one with plenty of panels, group discussions, and enthusiastic speakers. You will be staying here on campus with us and we will be providing meals – all you need to do is register, show up, and enjoy!
Registration Info:

Ferro Alumni Center c/o Sustainable Campus Coalition
University of Maine Farmington
242 Main Street Farmington, ME 04938
Or if need be, money can be brought to us on registration day.
Hopefully everyone is excited to network face to face with everyone again and UMF cannot wait to see everyone!
Sincerely,
University of Maine at Farmington’s Sustainable Campus Coalition
Expected Topics:
Local Foods in Maine
Take Back the Tap (Campaign against bottled water)
Environmental Health
Climate Change and Regional Security in West Africa
Coral and Ocean Warming
Our Future
Creating a Budget Friendly Campus Sustainability Group
Geology and CO2 Sequestration
Sea Level Rising
Renewable Energy
Please contact Sarah Sorenson if you have questions or want to attend <jssorens>

Support Land for Maine's Future Funding
The Legislature’s Appropriations Committee has scheduled a public hearing to consider bond funding for the state’s Land for Maine’s Future program. The LMF Bond Coalition is supporting $87.5 million over 4 years.
When: March 10 at 9:00 a.m (I realize this is now passed, but it seemed worth including)
Where: The Appropriations Committee is in Room 228, on the second floor of the State House in Augusta, near the Hall of Flags.
If you aren't able to attend the hearing, please contact your legislators and ask them to urge Appropriations Committee support for a significant Land for Maine’s Future bond this year.
The Land for Maine's Future (LMF) program invested its last dollar in July of 2008. That is why a diverse coalition of more than 235 organizations and a broad, bi-partisan list of legislators have come together in support of a land bond to ensure the Land for Maine’s Future program can continue conserving Maine's working farms, forestlands, and rich natural heritage.
LMF plays an important role in maintaining and enhancing Maine's natural resource-based economy by conserving working farms and forestland, guaranteeing access for hunting, hiking, fishing and many other uses, and protecting over 1,000 miles of shorefront. LMF has protected treasures in all sixteen counties and voters have overwhelmingly passed previous bonds: most recently, in 2007 more than 63% of Maine voters supported LMF.

Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage Presents ECOVILLAGES
What They Are, What They're Doing, Why They're Important
Friday March 20th, 7-9pm
Univeristy of Maine Hutchinson Center
Belfast, Maine
Featuring 400 slides from 30 ecovillage projects worldwide presented by

Diana Leafe Christian author of Finding Community: How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community and Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities

$5 donation appreciated (waived for families) For more information contact 338-9200 or info@mainecohousing.org

National Ecovillage Expert to Speak in Belfast
Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage presents “Ecovillages: Where They Are, What They’re Doing, Why They’re Important”, a slide presentation and discussion by Diana Leafe Christian,  on Friday, March 20th from 7:00-9:00 pm at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast. Author of Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities (2003) and Finding Community: How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community (2007), Christian’s talk will feature the ecological, economic, social and cultural aspects of sustainability, with over 400 photos of 30+ ecovillage projects worldwide.  The presentation will explore how finding community is as critical as obtaining food and shelter, since the need to belong is what makes us human. The isolation and loneliness of modern life have led many people to search for deeper connection, resulting in a renewed interest in intentional communities. These intentional communities and ecovillages are an increasingly appealing choice for like-minded people who seek to create a family-oriented and ecologically sustainable lifestyle. Ecovillages that thrive do so because of the combined skills and resources of their members.
  

** CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY:
Help us reduce energy use on campus!!
The ES Program and EnviroCO  are concerned about the amount of electronic items left on when unused. In the hopes of getting a handle on the extent of the problem we would like to conduct a survey of wasteful energy use in academic buildings at night. The survey would count the number of offices, bathrooms, and classrooms with lights left on, windows open, and computers running. We’d like to survey Bixler, Olin, Keyes, Arey, Eustis, Lovejoy and Diamond. We can do this with as few people or as many as want to join, and we'll go around in teams so no one is on their own late at night. Once we establish some students willing to do this, we will meet and strategize the survey and hopefully do 1-2 surveys before spring break! If you are willing to help out with this, please send me an email <beth.kopp>  The ES Program will complete a summary report of all surveys as well as a shorter report that we can distribute electronically to faculty and staff and/or pin up in the academic buildings.  **Keep in mind, we are not trying to “out” anyone in particular, the survey will reflect the # of lights left on in a building, not track who is the guilty party :).  When our general announcements come out, hopefully that will be the reminder!

** JOBS & INTERNSHIPS:
Environmental Studies Program Assistant

Summer assistant to work on several ES program initiatives.  This student would work for 10 weeks at 35 hours per week during the summer. Beth Kopp and Russ Cole will supervise this student.  The person will should have training in ecology/environmental studies and possess strong computer skills.  This person will work on two projects. The first project involves working on ongoing sustainability initiatives on campus.  In addition to helping advance campus greening efforts, this project will involve data gathering and report writing.  We are considering hosting a campus greening conference and this person would help with the preliminary planning for this event.  The second project involves identifying and pursuing partnerships with potential internship sponsors within Maine.  This project would include updating, organizing, and expanding our internship library.
Start Date: 06/01/2009 End Date: 08/14/2008
If you are interested, please send your resume and a statement of interest to <beth.kopp> no later than March 20, 2009.
 

JOB DESCIPTION: STEWARDSHIP COORDINATOR
Job Summary: The Stewardship Coordinator will work closely with the Executive Director, as well as the Board of Directors, members and volunteers, to steward the lands owned by the Trust and to monitor the conservation easements held by the trust on privately owned properties. This position is supervised by the BHHT’s Executive Director.
Job Term: This is a part-time, temporary position, from the hiring date through the remainder of 2009. There is a possibility that this job might develop into a permanent position.
Job Requirements: This position requires initiative, flexibility, problem-solving, an ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds, a positive attitude, excellent communication skills, outdoor skills, interest and ability to work both alone and with volunteers in an office setting as well as on out-of doors-projects, and a commitment to conservation. It also requires a reliable vehicle (reimbursement is provided on a per mile basis). The ideal candidate would have a college degree, successful work experience in conservation or a related field, mapping (GIS) skills and have knowledge of and a commitment to the Blue Hill peninsula.
Job Duties: This position will include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following duties. Priorities will be determined by the Executive Director based on the Trust’s annual goals and long term strategic plan, and will shift during the year according to seasonal influences on various aspects of the work. A willingness to “pitch in” when and where needed and be part of a team is an essential attribute of the person filling this position.
1.
Stewardship. (a) Organizing and managing the regular monitoring of conservation easements held by the Trust, including recruiting and working with volunteer monitors, visiting properties, communicating with landowners, assuring accurate monitoring records are kept; (b) Assuring that baseline data records for each conservation easement held by the Trust are complete and appropriately stored; (c) Organizing and implementing various land management tasks on properties owned by the Trust, including boundary marking and trail maintenance; (d) Organizing volunteer opportunities that advance the stewardship program and recruiting volunteers to assist with the work; (e) Assisting with fundraising activities that support the stewardship program.
2.
Other. (a) Assisting with other aspects of the Trust’s work as requested by the Executive Director; (b) (c) Representing the Trust in a positive light in all encounters with the public.
Compensation: Negotiable. Flexible schedule. Training opportunities. Satisfaction of contributing daily to a great cause as part of a small but ambitious community based organization.
The Blue Hill Heritage Trust is a community-based, non-profit, charitable conservation organization dedicated to conserving the special land and water resources on the Blue Hill peninsula. The Trust was founded in 1985 by local residents and today has 500 members whose annual financial contributions support its work. The Trust currently owns over 1800 acres of conservation lands and holds conservation easements on more than 3200 acres of privately owned land. The organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and relies on volunteers to assist the organization in advancing its mission. The organization’s staff currently includes an Executive Director and a part-time administrative assistant/membership coordinator.
Interested applicants should send Cover Letter and Resume by March 26th to: info@bhhtmaine.org
or to: Blue Hill Heritage Trust
P.O. Box 222
Blue Hill, ME 04614
ORION internships
Environmental Education Internships, Summer 2009 <http://jobs.oriongrassroots.org/r.php?id=b6232caff8110d2c>
Teton Science Schools
Jackson Hole, WY (Teton Nat'l Park)

Green Infrastructure Coordinator <http://jobs.oriongrassroots.org/r.php?id=0483ebf669f0c95e>
Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
Buffalo, NY
 
outdoor trip leaders <http://jobs.oriongrassroots.org/r.php?id=ac585513395a393f>
Camp Glen Brook
Marlborough, NH

Corpsmember June-December 2009 <http://jobs.oriongrassroots.org/r.php?id=fd55157f4482d33d>
EarthCorps
Seattle, WA

Back-country Specialist <http://jobs.oriongrassroots.org/r.php?id=a78816791494ff1f>
EarthCorps
Seattle, WA

Field/Logisitics Specialist <http://jobs.oriongrassroots.org/r.php?id=559a8f76fb7426bb>
EarthCorps
Seattle, WA

Summer Intern ESRI at MIT
Hours: 8 hours per day, Monday-Friday, cannot exceed 40 hours
Location: Danvers, MA
Region: Boston Regional Office
Time Period: 10-12 weeks
Department: Sales
Pay: Hourly (DOE
Description:
Are you looking for a unique way to spend your
summer ∑ an experience that will allow you to
learn and earn at the same time? After months
of lectures, homework, and exams, you’˙d
probably like to escape to an exciting location
for a much-needed break. But why not get a jump
start on your career by spending your summer as
an ESRI intern? Pay is just one of the benefits
of being an ESRI intern. An internship with us
is an opportunity to be associated with the
World’s leading developer of GIS software and
work alongside top-notch staff. You’ll gain
personal and professional skills that will give
you an edge in the workplace after graduation.
ESRI benefits from being able to spot potential
talent, train and bring up to speed, and potentially hire a future employee.

Qualifications:
Working knowledge of CAD software and newer BIM
 packages like Revit as well as other 3D and
visualization packages like Sketch-up, 3D
Studio, etc. Schooling in engineering, civil or
architectural preferred with interest/skills in
programming. The most successful intern will
have a strong desire to produce quality work
and achieve great results. We seek students who
excel at working on individual projects as well
as collaborating in a team environment. Weâ•˙re
looking for the best and the brightest.
All applicants must be currently enrolled
students living in the Boston, MA area or have
the ability to relocate for the summer.

Internship Description:
The goal for this position is to work with
customer data to develop (edit, convert,
analyze, visualize, serve) sample ╲virtual
City’s•ˇ data sets and the workflows to
exchanged data from common packages with ArcGIS
for 3D & 4D building, city, and campus data.
The individual would be testing our latest
development releases of 9.4 as part of the
work. The learning objectives for the intern
would be a strong working knowledge of ESRIâ•˙s
3D data types, temporal capabilities, tools (3D
Analyst, Data Interoperability) and workflows,
and how to integrate/interoperate with other industry tools.
More information on the ESRI Summer Internship Program in general can be found at www.esri.com/grads.
To apply, submit a resume and cover letter to Michael Johnson, ESRI Internship Program Manager, at interns@esri.com



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