This month’s Rabinowitz Speaker Series: Society’s Role in a Changing Environment, co-hosted by Program on the Environment and School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, is next week, Wednesday, March 7.
Please note the date change! Join us from 4:30–6pm in Wallace Hall Commons. Faculty talks are followed by Q&A and time for mingling. Light refreshments served.
Our March speaker is Program on the Environment lecturer Dr. P. Sean McDonald. The title of his talk is: Lost in translation? Making marine ecology more relevant to environment-related decision making.
Dr. McDonald will discuss the value of translational ecology and interdisciplinary environmental studies in addressing marine resource issues in fisheries, aquaculture, and conservation. In particular he will discuss tools and approaches to support decisions in natural resource management using three recent case studies in social-ecological systems centered around geoduck aquaculture in south Puget Sound, invasive green crab in NE Pacific estuaries, and Pribilof Island blue king crab recovery.
Bio
Sean is a faculty member in the Program on the Environment where he teaches environmental communications and directs the Capstone activities of Environmental Studies students (2010-present). Twice nominated for the UW Distinguished Teaching Award, Sean strives to connect his student’s classroom learning with real-world professional experience and research.
In addition to his teaching and research, Sean is passionate about linking people and science. As co-PI of Washington Sea Grant’s CrabTeam, he’s helped develop an extremely successful citizen science monitoring program for Salish Sea pocket estuaries. He also spearheads SciCommSwarm, an initiative developing a platform to connect scientists and journalists, and he co-organizes and Emcee’s Climate Science on Tap, a monthly science communication event for the public.
Sean earned a B.S. in biology (Marine emphasis) from Western Washington University, and a doctorate in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences from the University of Washington. He has served on the governing board for the Pacific Coast Section of the National Shellfisheries Association for more than a decade. His research interests center on marine ecology and natural resource issues, in which he focuses on applying ecological principles to problems involving exploitation, cultivation, and conservation of aquatic species in a changing global landscape. In particular, he is interested in responses to major agents of ecosystem change, such as climate change and invasive species, in human and natural systems.
Last quarter, students in Program on the Environment’s Sustainability Studio class worked with the Special Olympics team to strategize ways to green the games, set to take place in Seattle this summer. This winter quarter, ENVIR 480 students explored the theme of Environmental Wellness and Health.
Today, humankind has quite the reputation for harming our natural surroundings, whether through resource exploitation or pollution. On the flip side, our built environment may not be the best thing for our health either, given declining air quality in big cities and the adverse effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Can we create healthy surroundings that benefit both people and the environment? The ENVIR 480 class, taught by Thao Huynh, is exploring this possibility by working with Miller Hull Architects, the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, and UW Livable City Year on a range of projects.
Please join the students next week, on March 8, as they present about microplastics in UW’s water supplies, managing green open spaces in Tacoma, mapping pollution along the Duwamish River, and more.
How does funding affect access to state parks in Washington? How can more people get to the parks using public transportation? Environmental Studies major Shelby Logsdon is on a mission to find out, through her senior Capstone project.
Shelby is interning with Washington State Parks Foundation to collect and analyze data comparing Washington’s state parks to parks in other states, looking at how funding plays a part in facilitating community access and keeping parks well managed.
Read on to learn more about Shelby’s project and WA State Parks Foundation.
This month’s Rabinowitz Speaker Series: Society’s Role in a Changing Environment, co-hosted by Program on the Environment and School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, is next week, Tuesday, February 6. Join us from 4:30–6pm in Wallace Hall Commons. Mingle with colleagues after the talk (5:30pm).
Our January speaker is Dr. Ken Jennings. The title of his talk is Sustainable Urbanization.
Ken’s talk will summarize the focal areas underpinning a movement to make cities, which will be where most of the world lives before 2050, more livable and less impactful on the environment. In addition to sharing several principles, Ken will showcase cities that are examples of sustainable urbanization.
Bio
Dr. Ken Jennings is an adjunct professor of Environmental Management at the University of Maryland University Center with over 30 years experience in government (the U.S. EPA Headquarters); industry (Amoco, Shell and Microsoft Corporations) and consulting. His areas of expertise include compliance, sustainability, energy and climate change. He has consulted many governments on environmental matters including Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Guyana and Haiti. He wrote a policy brief for the Global Environment Facility (UNEP) on Sustainable Urbanization and accompanied the GEF CEO and delegation to the EcoCity World Summit in Nantes 2013.
His recent presentations include:
Energy Africa Conference “Innovative Approaches to Financing Energy Projects”, Golden, Colorado, October 2015
MicroGrid World Forum in Irvine, California on the opportunity and imperative of micro grids in Africa , September 2013
Webinar – “Doing Business in a Regulated Africa” for Compliance and Risks Ltd – August 2013
Advised the Government of Guyana on its governance of the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions – December 2012
US UK Niger Investment Forum, London 2012
African Presidential Center Roundtable on Energy Security, Johannesburg 2012
African Energy Indaba, Johannesburg 2012
African Presidential Center Roundtable on Energy, Mauritius, 2011
International Conference on Recycling, Madrid, 2008
Dr. Jennings earned a B.S. in geology and geophysics from Yale University, a Masters in Geology from the University of California Santa Barbara, and a Doctorate in environmental science and engineering from UCLA.
On a quest to better understand sustainability in a global context, two Program on the Environment students, Tyler Ung and Olivia Scott have joined the UW’s Grand Challenges Impact Lab for its pilot program in Bangalore, India. The students are there for Winter Quarter, immersing themselves in a unique learning lab that uses design thinking to address complex societal problems.
Program on the Environment students Olivia Scott and Tyler Ung at a train station in India during the GCIL.
What are Grand Challenges?
“Grand Challenges are the big problems facing humanity – things like food security, clean water, and climate change.” The Grand Challenges Impact Lab (GCIL): India is a new UW study abroad experience that empowers students to learn about Grand Challenges and propose and test solutions to them. The program, established by UW College of Civil & Environmental Engineering professor Julian Marshall, offers an active, hands-on learning laboratory where multidisciplinary teams slowly “chip away” at grand problems that require a systems and design thinking approach.
To prepare for the immersive study abroad experience, the students attended a one-hour seminar every week last quarter where they read books, watched videos, had deep discussions and participated in group exercises. Assigned books included The End of Karma, Poor Economics and The Guide to Human Centered Design. Students also listened to faculty lectures and will have faculty mentors throughout the quarter. The first part of this experience will include gleaning insights from local professionals, and the second part will involve students designing solutions that meet the needs of the community.
India bound
Tyler Ung is “beyond excited” to be in India, and this experience will build upon his intended senior Capstone project with UW Center for Creative Conservation, which will use his exploration of three powerhouse countries (US, China, India) to explore how environmental art can be an effective medium to promote sustainability and develop an environmental consciousness. Tyler will pair photographic images with line art to tell different stories of conservation, culture, and environmental knowledge.
“I believe that environmental work is a strong proponent towards equity. Examining different cultures, narratives and environments is a powerful tool to address the big challenges of our time, at home and abroad.” – Tyler Ung
Olivia Scott was drawn to the idea of going to India and this GCIL opportunity to immerse herself in the country’s culture, environment and challenges fulfills her dreams of studying abroad and expanding her perspective and understanding of what it means to live sustainably in today’s world. Olivia was an Environmental Studies Leadership Scholar last year and used part of her scholarship money to fund this study abroad trip.
The Project
Tyler and Olivia are working on a team together with two students from UW civil engineering. They will work with Hasiru Dala, a local organization in Bangalore focused on promoting equity for waste-pickers through sustainable municipal waste management. The team will work on one of two proposed projects: implement a design package for more sustainable housing or standardize eco-hub waste sorting facilities.
Wilderness means different things to visitors of the country’s national parks and wild lands. For Program on the Environment alumni Emily Noyd, who was featured in REI’s Keepers of the Outdoors series, being outside and helping people navigate relatively untouched lands is an incredibly rewarding experience.
Emily is currently a backcountry ranger in Yosemite National Park, where 94 percent of the park’s land is wilderness. In this job, she helps others experience the awe and understand the importance of protected lands. Her passion for protecting wild places and park service work flourished after an impactful summer climate change fellowship while studying at UW. She kept building the skills she learned that summer and found her curiosity and interest in engaging with people made her a good fit for the job she has now.
“I think it’s really special to be part of something that’s bigger than myself. That’s why I go outside.” – Emily Noyd
Read more about Emily’s role in the full story, written by Program on the Environment alumni, adventure writer Charlotte Austin!
Have you been itching to take Tim Billo’s popular Natural History of the Puget Sound (ENVIR 280) course but stuck because you need more Earth Systems credits and can’t fit it in?
Your problem is solved. Environmental Studies majors can now also use the ENVIR 280 course to count towards an Earth Systems Literacy credit. The course can be used to fulfill your Biological Systems (per usual) OR Earth Systems Literacy credits.
View the course requirements page for a refresher and email Ana if you have questions.
This month’s Rabinowitz Speaker Series: Society’s Role in a Changing Environment, co-hosted by Program on the Environment and School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, is next week, January 9. Join us from 4:30–6pm in Wallace Hall Commons.
Our January speaker is Cleo Woelfle-Erskine. The title of his talk is Extinction’s Affects: Relational politics for field ecologists.
Bio
Dr. Cleo Woelfle-Erskine
Dr. Cleo Woelfle-Erskineis an ecologist, hydrologist, writer, and scholar of water, working with mentor Karen Barad to explore queer, transgender, and decolonial possibilities for ecological science. In July 2017, he joined the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington as Assistant Professor of Equity and Environmental Justice.
Cleo’s research focuses on ecological and social dimensions of human relations to rivers and their multi-species inhabitants. Trained in ecology, hydrology, geomorphology, critical social science, and feminist science and technology studies, he facilitates collaborative research in partnership with tribes, agencies, citizen scientists, and local community members.
His PhD work in the energy and resources group at UC Berkeley involved a collaborative of scientists and local residents who are experimenting with storing winter rain to increase summer streamflow. He is developing research projects on hydro-ecological and social effects of beaver relocation in eastern Washington, and environmental justice dimensions of fishing and shellfishing in urban Puget Sound. As a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Feminist Studies at UC Santa Cruz, Cleo explored queer, transgender, and decolonial possibilities for ecological science. His manuscript in progress, Underflow: Transfiguring riverine relations, imagining queer-trans ecologies considers the lingering presences of Manifest Destiny (ecological, socio-scientific, and psychological) and the ways that this injurious “destiny” can be transfigured and overturned to renew human-water-fish relations.
The topic of Cleo’s talk next week will present case studies that examine the affective dimensions of studying species extinction.
Talk summary: Extinction’s Affects: Relational politics for field ecologists
Ecologists are on the front line of the sixth mass extinction, as intimates die at alarming rates. What radical politics and transformative potentials can arise from witnessing these transgressive intimacies, even or especially among more-than-human others dying because of human (in)action? I search for signs of resistant ‘world making’ (Munoz) in ephemeral moments where scientists were able to speak their grief at extinction and love for their study species, through three cases: (1) scientists’ field photos and captions circulated during a twitter #cuteoff, (2) my own encounters with dead salmon during ecological field studies, and (3) “Tell A Salmon Your Troubles,” an interactive performance in which scientist confessed their troubles about data, habitat loss, and extinction to a silent yet responsive salmon character. I explore resonance between queer and trans theory and indigenous theory that foregrounds multispecies ethics and relational practices, and consider how field ecologists can challenge settler ontologies and epistemologies embedded in scientific and environmental management practices.
Join us every first Tuesday from January – April 2018, from 4:30–6pm in Wallace Hall Commons. Faculty talks are followed by Q&A and time for mingling. Light refreshments served.
Last week’s Capstone Symposium presenters did not disappoint. With an array of oral and poster presentations showcasing work with business, campus, nonprofit and government partners on topics ranging from global conservation to implementing sustainable practices in corporations, choosing winners was tough.
Riley Smith, Shruti Parikh, Sydney Barnes-Grant and Lola Behrens with Capstone Instructor Sean Mc Donald.
The results are in though (thanks to faculty and alumni judges), and the winning presenters have bragging rights for life. Congratulations to Riley, Shruti, Sydney and Lola!
The Environmental Studies Capstone highlights students work resulting from a three quarter long course series that encompasses an internship with partner organizations at UW and across Seattle.
Here’s a look at the four winning Capstone projects.
Lola Behrens
Project Title: Cultivating Food Security
Best Poster Presentation
Lola’s Capstone internship with Good Cheers Food Bank & Thrift Stores focused on learning how to mitigate food insecurity. Good Cheers is located on South Whidbey Island and is committed to providing healthy locally sourced food to residents in need. The organization provides resources to sustain healthy eating habits and contribute towards the long-term health outcomes of its community.
Through her research Lola learned that in 2016, 12.3% of households in the United States were food insecure, (these households were unable to obtain enough food to adequately feed every member of the family). She observed and interviewed food bank users, and supplemented her research with a review of relevant literature:
“I found that three important factors (pillars of Good Cheers) in mitigating food insecurity include: the adoption of health-oriented point systems by food banks, the advocacy and facilitation of food sovereignty, and a deliberate effort to develop a sense of community within local food systems.”
Lola Behren’s Capstone poster.
Sydney Barnes-Grant
Project Title: Optimization of urban waste design Best Oral Presentation
Sydney worked with the U.S. EPA, Region 10 to address the issue of aquatic trash. During her research, Sydney found that most people take less than two seconds to determine where they dispose of their trash and that land sources are responsible for 80 percent of trash in oceans.
A snapshot of Sydney’s Capstone work.
As part of her internship for the EPA’s Trash Free Waters program, Sydney wanted to build a public waste management tool to deal with land-based trash. She created a protocol based on California’s Urban Rapid Trash Assessment methodology to locate and track urban litter hotspots. Using ArcGIS technology, Sydney mapped litter hotspots in three water adjacent neighborhoods in Seattle, WA.
This type of monitoring can be used to inform city planning to optimize waste receptacle locations, using smarter design and strategic placement near litter hotspots. Sydney will continue her good work with the EPA in ongoing efforts to keep trash out of our waterways.
Riley Smith
Project Title: Greener than thou: Impacts of environmental and social sustainability certification on the Alaska fishery Honorable Mention Poster Presentation
Riley worked with the Pacific Seafood Processor’s Association to examine the impacts of environmental and social sustainability certification on Alaska fisheries. He researched the effectiveness of eco-labels as marketing tools to ensure equitably grown food, and identified side effects that certifications can have.
Riley found that in fisheries, the leading eco-label is that of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which focuses on fisheries management and environmental sustainability, yet excludes human rights and labor standards for certification. This revealed to him a gap that needed addressing.
“The issues of human rights and sustainability in fisheries is what catalyzed my Capstone research!” stated Riley, who measured the adherence of the Alaska Salmon and Pollock fisheries to the environmental, human rights and labor standards of the Responsible Fishing Scheme. His research and review of governing regulations found third-party certification is often biased towards industrialized, large-scale fisheries and places the burden of cost for certification on the producers.
Riley graduates this quarter and will work as a contract researcher on a grant with the Alaskan Fisheries Development Foundation and NOAA on the topic of socially responsible practices on vessels.
Riley Smith’s Capstone poster.
Shruti Parikh
Project Title: Using plant-microbe partnerships to help salt-impacted crops
Honorable Mention, Oral Presentation
Shruti knows a lot about endophytes (beneficial bacteria that live in plants) and has been working in Sharon Doty’s UW Lab for two years to test the potential of the microbes to reduce plant stress caused by high salinity.
A snapshot of Shruti’s Capstone work.
High salinity is a type of abiotic stress that effects crop productivity and quality. Through her research, Shruti found that in 2010, about half of the world’s cropland was facing salinity stress. There are very few plants that can tolerate high levels of salt however, the Doty Lab looks at endophytes that live within plants as potential allies to help plants tolerate these stressors in a more natural way.
The goal of Shruti’s study was to isolate and test endophytes to determine whether they colonize other plants and help the plants cope with high salinity conditions. She tested the initial stress tolerance of various crop plants, and performed plant studies to demonstrate whether the endophytes improve plant growth. The results showed visible signs of higher stress tolerance in poplar plants inoculated with a certain endophyte, SSP8. Big picture potential: by improving plant growth, these bacteria will help promote sustainable agricultural practices and bioenergy production.
Shruti received a Mary Gates Scholarship earlier this year for her research on using plants to purify air and reduce pollutants such as arsenic. Her research interests continue to expand!
The Office of First Year Programs is seeking student leaders to help freshmen transition to college. Gain valuable leadership experience AND earn course credits with this opportunity!
FIG leaders and Orientations leaders develop professional-level leadership skills, give students practical resume-building experience, and increase program visibility. If you’re interested in giving back to freshmen, these opportunities are for you!
Details
The FIG program is looking for students from all departments who are UW-Seattle undergraduates with strong organizational skills and a genuine interest in working with freshmen as they face the challenges and opportunities presented to them as new students. For more information visit the FIG Leader page or email figs@uw.edu. See info sessions below.
Orientation Leaders play a vital role in the orientation process, working closely with new students and their families on a wide variety of topics including academics, student involvement, housing options, and more. Orientation Leaders work during Spring/Summer quarter and are paid. Please email uwao@uw.edu or come to one of the information sessions below with any questions.
What is the difference between the two positions? See a helpful breakdown on this website.
Sean is a faculty member in the Program on the Environment where he teaches environmental communications and directs the Capstone activities of Environmental Studies students (2010-present). Twice nominated for the UW Distinguished Teaching Award, Sean strives to connect his student’s classroom learning with real-world professional experience and research. 
