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On View from May 17-31, 2013

Granoff Lower Lobby

Stop by and view the installation and "soft launch" of the Providence Foodshed Justice Mapping Project website.

This site represents the course-based research and engaged scholarship of nearly 300 Brown University students over the span of 3 years, for the course "Sustenance and Sustainability."

As part of this project, we've explored some questions together: What does it mean to map a food system?Is there a landscape of food justice? How can Providence citizens foster a more ecologically, socially, and economically resilient food system, in the face of societal trends that encourage homogenization over diversity; industrialization over environmental health; and concentrated profits over social justice and equity?

While we do not answer these questions, we explore them in myriad ways. And while the site is not a comprehensive representation of all the tremendous work and effort of all 300 students, it is a condensed, distilled version of many of our key findings and cases that embody our work and what we've learned together.

VIEW POSTER

Kirsten Howard, a Brown ’09 alum and recent graduate from the University of Michigan’s master’s program in Environmental Policy and her colleague are traveling around the United States for three months this summer to find stories about small towns and cities using their wits and resources to adapt to the impacts of climate change. An unstable climate has and will create many problems, but it also creates opportunities–opportunities to develop new energy technologies, to produce less waste, to create new business models, to forge new partnerships, and to come together in our communities.

Kirsten and her graduate school colleague, Allie Goldstein, aim to use stories to bridge the gap between existing research on climate change adaptation planning and the often-overlooked, practical adaptive technologies already being used by people all over the country, including farmers, city officials, foresters, fishermen, scientists, and many more. Technology can be a physical tool that functions on its own, such as permeable pavement or drought-resistance crops or coastal protection structures. But it can also be more of a social process, like training community members as environmental leaders or rethinking land use.

Read the stories they find at www.adaptationstories.com (be sure to ‘join the trip’ via email) or follow them on Twitter @kirstenandallie. And if you have an idea for an adaptation story in your hometown, email them at adaptationstories@gmail.com. They might just pay you a visit.

Professor Dov Sax has been named the Director of CES and Kurt Teichert has been named the Associate Director of CES, both effective July 1. Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin says, "I have every confidence in Dov and Kurt, and know that the Center will be in excellent hands." Congratulations Dov and Kurt!

Read the new concentration requirements here. Check back to the website for more details.

Professor Kurt Teichert received the William G. McLoughlin award for Excellence in Teaching in the Social Sciences.

Professor Teichert was recognized for his exceptionally well developed, current course materials. His courses are routinely over-subscribed, and attract a wide range of students. Along with ENVS concentrators, there are Biologists, Geologists, Engineers, Poets, Writers, Computer Scientists, etc. Kurt’s reputation for outstanding teaching of a unique and timely subject matter, is to be credited for the success of these courses. Teichert imparts to his students, a deep understanding of the challenges of building an environmentally responsible society.

Students in ENVS 1420, Environmental Journalism, have been refining their writing and producing increasingly polished drafts of their essays, profiles, and news articles. One article from each of the twelve students will be showcased on the class blog, Green by Brown, with new content being posted every couple of days through Commencement weekend.

Environmental Studies Student Lauren Behgam '15 was one of the thirteen Brown students selected to attend this year's Clinton Global Initiative University.

Lauren is part of the Food Recovery Network, which is a national nonprofit that unites and supports university students across the country to start food rescue programs on their campuses. Students rescue safe, edible food that would have otherwise been thrown away and transport it to those in need.

Read Article

Learn more about the Food Recovery Network

The Center for Environmental Studies is proud to announce ENVS concentrator Rebecca Rast has been selected to receive a Joslin Award.

The Joslin Awards recognize a small group of seniors who have contributed in a very significant way to the quality of student life at Brown. Award winners generally demonstrate a wide breadth of involvement during their campus years as well as substantial depth in one or more areas.Through their leadership and involvement they have not only enhanced their own liberal education, they have also provided services, programs and other opportunities for involvement to their peers, thus enhancing the learning environment for all students.

Dear Members of the Brown Community

We write to thank you for your feedback regarding the proposed revisions to the Environmental Studies and Environmental Science (ENVS) concentrations, and to bring you up to date on the latest curricular revisions.

The Committee to Review the Environmental Studies concentration was convened in August as part of the ongoing review of concentrations by the College. A group of twelve faculty, student, and staff members worked through the fall semester to reconsider the concentration’s curriculum in light of national trends and new faculty strength at Brown. The committee members read articles, consulted curricula at peer schools, conducted focus groups, and eventually sketched out a draft plan, which appeared in a report circulated to the community in February. The committee’s goal was, from that point, to turn to additional faculty and students from the Center for Environmental Studies (CES) and the Environmental Change Initiative (ECI) to make the draft more coherent and complete. This is exactly what happened, and we are pleased that the recent weeks of vigorous discussion and debate have resulted in a new proposal, now posted on the CES website. Please follow this link to read the new set of recommendations.

The proposed new curriculum is a structured, flexible program designed to enhance opportunities for students to work with faculty on key environmental problems and issues. Students will be able to channel their interests through a number of organized tracks; among them is a track on “Land, Water, and Food Security,” which has been refined and renamed directly in response to student demand. A mechanism for creating additional tracks has been suggested; we anticipate that all these pathways will continue to evolve as the curriculum is implemented and new faculty are hired. CES has been a strong proponent of what is sometimes called “engaged” scholarship—work that bridges the classroom and the community—and we are pleased that this feature has been highlighted in the revised concentration. The proposal includes notes on a program that can serve as a model for other departments. The new curriculum, which must be approved by the College Curriculum Council, will affect only those students who declare the concentration next year (academic year 2013-14). 

We want to thank the committee for its hard work throughout the fall semester, and the faculty in CES and ECI for their persistence and dedication in refining the committee’s recommendations. And we want to thank the many thoughtful and passionate members of the Brown community who responded to the draft report, spoke out in forums, and wrote letters expressing their views during the past several weeks. Through this collective conversation, a program has emerged that reflects both the practical necessities and the highest ideals of our diverse community.

Yours,

Katherine Bergeron, Dean of the College

Janet Blume, Associate Dean of the Faculty and Interim Director, Center for Environmental Studies

In March of 2011, undergraduate students presented a proposal to the Brown University Community Council encouraging the University to develop a Sustainability Strategic Plan. The Sustainability Strategic Planning and Advisory committee was convened by the Provost’s office in Fall 2012. The group was charged with creating a draft proposal, for consideration by the Provost and the President, for a Sustainability Strategic Plan for Brown University.

CES Lecturer Kurt Teichert and CES alum Kai Morrell, serve as members of Brown's Sustainability Strategtic Planning & Advisory Committee.

LEARN MORE

READ INTERIM REPORT