Environmental Studies Mellon Grant Goals

• The recruitment of an Environmental Studies Coordinator to strengthen the program by providing a central resource and assistance for faculty and students. The coordinator should possess appropriate academic credentials and an extensive knowledge of the environmental policy community in the New England area.

Strengthen Connections with the Career Services Office

• Working closely with both the Career Services staff and the Colby Internship Director, share resources and build expertise on environmental opportunities within the Career Services office.
• Establish an Environmental Resource Corner within the Career Services library dedicated to providing information on internship opportunities with an environmental focus.

Environmental Studies Internship Program

• Expand the development of key relationships that lead to interesting and challenging internship experiences for our students.
• Create service learning opportunities for off-campus work, either in the field or in the community by identifying off-campus contacts and targeting opportunities.
• Use the website as a primary tool for assisting students in locating environment-oriented internship opportunities as well as providing a link to the online Colby Internship database being developed by Career Services and other and web-based resources.

Expand Opportunities for Student Research

• Expand a vigorous program of faculty-student research by increasing the number of summer or academic assistantships available to Environmental Studies Program students - both for environmental science and for environmental policy.
• Create research opportunities for off-campus work, either in the field or in the community by identifying off-campus contacts and targeting opportunities.
• Incorporate internship experiences into the on-campus research experience
• Increase the numbers of students participating in independent research with their faculty mentors.
• Use student faculty research as an essential component of our "active learning" approach to education to improve the quality of teaching effectiveness and student learning.

Visiting Lecturers

• Establish a biweekly lunchtime speaker series during the academic year where faculty, students, experts in the field, and activists are invited to speak on timely environmental issues and research.
• Create an active visiting lecture series to address issues of concern or interest to the Environmental Studies Program.

Campus Greening

• Help establish a campus environmental advisory group composed of faculty, staff, and students broadly representative of the campus to address issues of campus greening and environmental education.
• Incorporate campus greening projects into the environmental studies senior seminar course that will culminate with presentations to this advisory committee.

Enhance Program Communication and Community Building

• Create a hub for the activity of environmental studies majors, essentially establishing a sense of community or "place" for the Environmental Studies Program.
• Design and develop an Environmental Studies Program website to help disseminate program information.
• Publish an Environmental Studies Newsletter for distribution at the beginning of each academic year to help reconnect with students, faculty and alumni and report on recent faculty and student accomplishments and activity occurring within the program.
• During the academic year, publish and send a weekly email newsletter to students discussing new internship opportunities, upcoming speakers, and other program events.
• Establish a Student Advisory Committee to serve as a sounding board and provide advice and feedback to the faculty and staff of the Environmental Studies Program.

Strengthen ties to Environmental Studies Alumni

• Collaborate with Alumni Relations to identify alumni currently working in the environmental field as well as alumni who are interested in a continuing relationship with the program by returning to campus as speakers, offering internships, and providing student career mentoring.
• Increase the number of Environmental Studies alumni visiting campus each year to speak to students about their experiences working in the environmental field.
• Use the website to provide a link to alumni through an online newsletter.

Program Outreach

• Strengthen the mutually beneficial link between the Environmental Studies Program and the local community, including government, nonprofits and even some businesses. The students will gain both from the research experience and from the reinforcement of analytical skills developed in the classroom. The local community gains from the insights derived from the analysis.
• Establish relationships for the program with relevant government agencies, both state and federal
• Strengthen contacts with other Environmental Studies Programs to facilitate information exchange.