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ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER

APRIL 28, 2008

In this issue:

** UPCOMING ES PROGRAM EVENTS: First International Environmental Human Rights Candidate seminar Tuesday at 4:00, ES events at the Undergraduate Research Symposium, Final ES Colloquium 5/5, End of Year Celebration 5/7, Graduation reception 5/24

** IN THE NEWS: Reducing the Amount of Juice Electronic Gadgets Consume

** ALSO ON CAMPUS: Undergraduate Research Symposium Keynote Address

** STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM: The International Honors Program (IHP)

** GRANT OPPORTUNITIES: Brower Youth Awards, Teams of Young Environmental Leaders, Greening Middle School Education

** JOBS & INTERNSHIPS: Progressive Presidential Election Campaign Job Opportunities, Island Institute

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** UPCOMING ES PROGRAM EVENTS:

First International Environmental Human Rights Candidate seminar Tuesday at 4:00

In the upcoming weeks, the ES Program, IS Program, and Government Program will welcome to campus candidates interviewing for two positions, a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in International Environmental Human Rights (ES/IS) and Visiting Professor in International Environmental Policy/Politics (ES/Gov't).

The first candidate interviewing for the joint (ES/IS), two-year appointment as a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in International Environmental Human, is Dr. Guntra Aistars from University of Michigan. Her public seminar, "Seeds of Kin, Kin of Seeds: The Production of Organic Seeds and Social Networks in Latvia and Costa Rica" will be tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29 at 4:15 in Diamond 122,

All are encouraged to attend. Students, if you attend this lecture, please see Beth for an evaluation form. Student feedback is a part of the selection process, we appreciate your input.

If you are interested in having lunch with Guntra or any of the upcoming candidates, please email Beth.Kopp for details.

Don't miss the ES Students presenting in Session III of the Ninth Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium

Environmental Studies Presentations Smith Room

Session Chair: Russell Cole

Wednesday, April 30

1:30 pm Bethany Darling ('08)

Smart Growth and Quality of Place: Options and Opportunities in Planning for Rural Maine

2:00 pm Lauren Bizzari ('09)

Nitrate Removal in Nitrex(TM) Permeable Reactive Barriers: Investigating Denitrification Using a 15NO3 Tracer

2:15 pm

Environmental Studies Honors Presentations Follow

2:30 pm Alaina Clark ('08)

Designing a Green Graduation at Colby College

3:00 pm Courtney Larson ('08)

Separating People and Wildlife: Zoning as a Conservation Strategy for Large Carnivores

3:30 pm Jamie O'Connell ('08)

Carbon Neutrality at Colby College

4:00 pm Kerry Whittaker ('08)

Using Variable Stomatal Sensitivity to CO2 in Conifers to Reconstruct Ancient Atmospheres and Predict Future Implications of Climate

Change

4:30 pm Charles Carroll ('08)

An Analysis of Carbon Sequestration Potential in Maine

Also visit: http://www.colby.edu/sturesearch/ressymposium/CWressympost_static.html for the large list of ES student posters to be presented.

The Role of Philanthropy in Changing Environmental Polices: A Look at Climate Change and Marine Conservation

Kristian Parker '94

Monday, May 5

7:30 in Olin 1

Kristian Parker is the trustee in charge of the environment program at the Oak Foundation. Danish born, Kristian Parker was

brought up in Switzerland, near and around the city Geneva. He graduated from Colby in 1994 with major in Biology and went on to do a

PhD at Duke Universities Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina. There he studied chemically mediated fish behavior and its role in

predator-prey interactions in tidal creek fish. After a post-doc at the University of Hawaii, where he maintained a biofouling testing

program for the Office of Naval Research and studied settling behavior in nudibranch, Kristian returned to Switzerland in 2003 to work full

time for the Oak Foundation. There he advises the global environment program which focuses on Climate change and marine

conservation (www.oakfnd.org ).

ES 402 credit

ES End of Year Celebration

It's that time of the year. As a way to celebrate this fun year and wish the graduating seniors well, please join the ES Program for an End of Year Dinner

WEDNESDAY May 7th

5-7 pm

Parker-Reed Room in the Alumni Center

RSVP to <emmie.theberge> with your i.d #

Looking ahead....

We will have a Graduation Reception from 2:30 - 4:30 on Saturday, May 24. Please come by with your families and have a snack.

** IN THE NEWS

Reducing the Amount of Juice Electronic Gadgets Consume

By DAVID POGUE

Published: April 24, 2008, New York Times

"Vampire power" has been bugging me ever since I first heard of it. It's the juice consumed by electronic gadgets even when they're turned off (also called phantom loads, standby power or leaking electricity). They just sit there, plugged in, sucking electricity, at a cost to you and to the environment. According to the Energy Department, vampire gadgets account for about 25 percent of total residential electricity consumption in the U.S. Now, these gadgets weren't meant to be evil; they were designed to remain semi-on for good reasons. Lots of them, like TV sets and stereos, have to remain half-awake in case you pick up the remote control and press the On button. Printers, speakers, scanners and other computer gadgets keep one eye open just in case some signal is sent to them from the computer. Hundreds of gadgets remain in standby mode so that their clocks or other status gauges remain up to date.

Nonetheless, vampire power has gone off the rails. Cumulatively, these gadgets cost us, our country and our environment way too much for what they give us. The eco-magazines cheerfully suggest that we go around our houses unplugging everything every night. That, obviously, is not a suggestion that the masses will be adopting anytime soon. You can plug certain phantom gadgets into a power strip, of course, and just turn that on or off every night. But that, too, is not a habit most people will stick to for more than about a week.

But come on. If they can put a man on the moon, surely they can come up with an *automatic* solution to phantom power.

APC has taken a healthy step in the right direction with its Power-Saving SurgeArrest surge protector power strip. You plug your computer into the master outlet, and you plug your external gadgets (speakers, printer, external hard drive, scanner, monitor) into the three outlets labeled "Controlled by Master." You can probably see where this is going: when your computer turns off, the strip cuts power to those secondary outlets as well. But does that mean that you have to shut your computer down fully every time you walk away from the desk? That would be a little silly. Fortunately, no. The APC strip detects when your Mac or PC goes to *sleep* (standby mode), too. It actually measures the amount of current being drawn by the master outlet. When it drops below 15 watts, the strip realizes that your computer has gone to sleep, and it cuts power to those slave outlets. It works perfectly on my Mac and my PC. There are also three non-controlled outlets for things that you'll probably want turned on all the time, like your cable modem or router. It's extremely magical, and satisfying, to watch this in action. At night, my desk area used to twinkle with an assortment of L.E.D. status lights, a painful reminder that all that stuff was sucking down power and polluting the air for absolutely no reason. Not any more. The lights blink off when the computer sleeps.

The kicker: the SurgeArrest goes for about $28 online. Considering you'll save about $25 per year (the company's estimate), it seems like a no-brainer for anyone who cares about money or the environment.

(Note to Mac fans: The PowerKey Pro USB goes even farther. It has six outlets that can be controlled individually through *software* -- that is, you can press a key on your Mac to turn one on or off, or according to a schedule -- or even by telephone. It's $200 at sophisticated.com.) The trouble is, of course, that these solutions are just for your computer setup. What the world needs is more smart engineering that cuts power to things like your TV setup, your chargers (iPod, camera, cellphone) and your kitchen appliances when *they* no longer need the juice. For now, though, I can't recommend the Power-Saving SurgeArrest strongly enough. It's beautifully designed, has surge-protection jacks for your phone and fax machine, comes with a $25,000 lifetime guarantee that surges won't fry your gear and pays for itself in a year. Best of all, it does something about global warming without your actually having to *do* anything. That kind of deal doesn't come along very often.

** ALSO ON CAMPUS:

Undergraduate Research Symposium Keynote Address

Wednesday April 30, 2008

7:00 p.m.

Olin 1

"Looking Backward/Looking Forward: Spaceflight at the Turn of the New Millennium"

Roger D. Launius, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum,

On March 16, 1926, reclusive Robert H. Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts. It traveled only a few feet but represented the "Kitty Hawk" of rocketry and the beginning of what would eventually become one of the most significant endeavors of the twentieth century. After a brief discussion of Goddard and his attempts to reach "extreme altitudes," this presentation will survey fifty years of space exploration. Using this historical base as a jumping-off point, the presentation assesses five core challenges for the future of spaceflight in the twenty-first century: (1) political will, (2) inexpensive, reliable access to space, (3) smart robotics for exploration, (4) protecting this planet and this species, and (5) human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

** STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM:

The International Honors Program (IHP) is pleased to introduce a new trajectory of its highly popular Health and Community program. .

IHP is now accepting applications for its summer, fall, and full-year programs.IHP is now accepting applications for its summer, fall, and full-year programs. IHP offers a unique set of theme-based, multi-country study

abroad programs. Each program is designed to give students the opportunity to explore significant social, political, and environmental issues using an innovative comparative approach. The comparative approach allows students to contrast and analyze thematic issues on a global scale. It exposes students to a wide range of communities and perspectives, requiring students to question assumptions and suspend judgments, while inquiring deeply around the thematic areas.

The new offering will run in spring of 2009, concurrent with the existing program. Both options will provide students with the opportunity to engage with today's most challenging global health issues, highlighting those of greatest importance in each country. As students begin to think about their study abroad opportunities for next year, we hope that you will encourage them to consider IHP's Health and Community programs.

Program Offering 1

Switzerland (1 Week)

India (5.5 Weeks)

China (4.5 Weeks)

South Africa (5 Weeks)

Program Offering 2

Boston, USA (2 Weeks)

Tanzania (6 Weeks)

Vietnam (8 Weeks)

The deadlines for both programs are June 1, 2008 for the early decision round and October 1, 2008 for the regular decision round. Students who apply by the early deadline will have priority for program preference. For more detailed information, please refer to our website at www.ihp.edu. If you would like to speak with someone from IHP or arrange a visit at your institution, please contact Alyssa Grinberg at alyssa@ihp.edu. Thanks so much for all of your support in advising students about IHP!

** GRANT OPPORTUNITIES:

Young Environmental Leaders

Earth Island Institute requests proposals for the Brower Youth Awards to Honor Young Environmental Leaders. This program

recognizes young leaders between the ages of 13 and 22 for outstanding activism and achievements in the fields of environmental

and environmental justice advocacy. Winners receive $3K, a trip to CA for the awards ceremony, a wilderness camping trip and access to

Earth Island Institute resources. Responses due 5/15/08. For more info, go to: http://broweryouthawards.org/article.php?id=113.

(RFP Bulletin 4/11/08)

Teams of Young Environmental Leaders

Dr. Seuss Enterprises and Ashoka's Youth Venture and the Earth Island Institute request proposals for the Lorax Challenge. This

program supports teams of young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to turn their ideas for helping to save the planet into reality.

$1K team awards, and trip to the University of Florida. Responses due 5/31/08. For more info, go to: http://genv.net/en-us/lorax.

(RFP Bulletin 4/11/08)

Greening Middle School Education

General Motors requests proposals for the Live Green Teacher Grant Program. This program provides support to middle school teachers to

develop innovative environmental and energy sustainability curriculum. $40K expected to be available, individual awards NTE

$1K. Responses due 5/15/08. For more information, go to: http://livegreen.discoveryeducation.com/. (RFP Bulletin 4/18/08)

** JOBS AND INTERNSHIPS:

For Seniors: Progressive Presidential Election Campaign Job Opportunities

On Campus Information Session - Jobs to Win Back the White House!

Wednesday, April 30th at 7pm Career Center Library (Eustis 109) at 7pm

Thursday-Friday, May1-2: On Campus Interviews

Americans are hungry for change and energized by politics like never before, and now is the time to convert that energy into concrete results. We must expand our majorities in Congress and win back the White House if we want to combat global warming, increase access to higher education, provide healthcare for all Americans, end corruption in Washington, and change course in Iraq. We also need to build people-powered organizations that will keep our elected leaders focused on solving these important problems in years to come.

Grassroots Campaigns is running a state-of-the-art voter mobilization effort in 2008 to take back the White House, expand majorities in the Senate and Congress, and work to erase the Bush legacy. Our current clients include MoveOn.org Political Action, the ACLU and the National Democratic Party. We are hiring graduating seniors with leadership experience for paid

election campaign positions nationwide. *Not a Senior?* Summer jobs available for across the country. Sarah (888)999-8852 to apply. And check out www.bringchange2008.org to find out more information.

We are looking for passionate, dedicated, responsible people who are willing to work hard to achieve positive change. We need goal-oriented, results-driven candidates with leadership ability, good communication skills, and a strong commitment to social change. Candidates need to be strategic, team players, able to work with and motivate a wide range of people, and able to tell a compelling story. Prior political field work is not a requirement; we provide apprenticeship and experience to strong entry-level candidates who are looking for a way to start making a difference through grassroots politics. However, relevant experience is an asset and may qualify applicants for additional leadership responsibility.

*To Apply, Send Resume to:*

Greysen Carlson

gcarlson@grassrootscampaigns.com

(617)-423-0407

WEBSITE: * http://www.grassrootscampaigns.com*

Island Institute

Fellowship Opportunities

The Island Fellows Program is one of the signature programs of the Island Institute, a nonprofit committed to sustaining the islands and remote coastal communities of the Gulf of Maine. Since 1999, the Island Fellows Program has placed over 50 recent college and master’s graduates in coastal and year-round island communities for one to two-year assignments addressing community-identified projects. The Fellowships provide a unique opportunity for recent graduates to use their skills and experience to help build sustainability within communities whose way of life and identity face many challenges: in the 19th century there were over 300 year-round island communities in Maine, today there are 15.

Applications must be received by Friday, May 30, 2008. However, applications will be reviewed as they arrive, and interviews and selections will be made on a rolling basis, so applicants are encouraged to apply early. Preliminary interviews are conducted in person in Maine (some phone interviews are possible). Top candidates are then sent to the host community to be interviewed on-island by key contacts who will be working with the Fellow.

Visit Island Institute's website for an application and further information: www.islandinstitute.org, or contact Chris Wolff, the Island Institute’s Community Development Director at (207) 594-9209, ext. 102 or via e-mail (cwolff@islandinstitute.org).

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

Beth Kopp

Coordinator, Environmental Studies Program

Colby College

5356 Mayflower Hill Drive

Waterville, Maine 04901

Office: 208 Diamond Building

207.859.5356