Are you a previous ENVIR 240 or ENVIR 280 student who couldn’t get enough of the course content? Apply to be a TA for either class for Spring quarter 2024! See the flyer above for quick details, and check out this link for a complete job description. If you think you’d be a good fit and are eager to gain experience in a supporting instructor role, apply at this link.
Job hunters! Check out these two positions down in Olympia with the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Both will be aiding in floating kelp research through data collection and analysis.
Nearshore Ecologist 2: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/washington/jobs/4333883/nearshore-ecologist-natural-resource-scientist-2-nrsci2
Nearshore Ecologist 3: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/washington/jobs/4334209/nearshore-ecologist-natural-resource-scientist-3-nrsci3
Apply by 1/31/24 (final deadline) or 1/11/24 (first application review) to be considered.
Please see link for details:
State of Washington Job Opportunities | Work that Matters (governmentjobs.com)
Sustainability Program Coordinator
Job Title: Sustainability Program Coordinator
Organization: Seattle 2030 District Location: Seattle, Washington Type: Full-Time
About Seattle 2030 District:
The Seattle 2030 District is a collaborative initiative dedicated to fostering urban sustainability
and resilience in the heart of Seattle. Established as a private-public partnership, our mission is
to create vibrant, environmentally conscious urban areas by 2030 through innovative strategies and
community-driven efforts.
Position Overview:
We are seeking a dedicated and dynamic Sustainability Program Coordinator to lead and coordinate
sustainability initiatives within the Seattle 2030 District. In particular, this role will focus on
the 2030 goal for stormwater and implementation of Green Stormwater Infrastructure projects. The
Sustainability Program Coordinator will play a pivotal role in driving the implementation of
sustainable practices, engaging stakeholders, and monitoring progress toward ambitious
environmental goals.
For more information please visit website.
Application Process:
Please submit your resume and cover letter to Seattle@2030Districts.org by January 1st for priority
consideration.
Location: Seattle, WA
Type: Part-Time
About the Seattle 2030 District:
The Seattle 2030 District is a collaborative, high-performance building community in Seattle, Washington, focused on fostering urban sustainability and resilience. Established in 2011, the 2030 District operates as a private-public partnership aiming to create vibrant, environmentally conscious, and economically competitive urban areas.
Please visit the link for more details: Job Opportunities – Seattle (2030districts.org)
Congratulations to our PoE students recently awarded College of the Environment (CoE) scholarships and funding for the 2023-2024 academic year! These prestigious scholarship awards are selected by the CoE Dean’s office. We are very excited to recognize the following PoE students honored this year!
Vontver Environment and Human Health Endowed Scholarship
Dr. Lou Vontver was fortunate to have career changing experiential learning opportunities while serving as a flight medical officer with the U.S. Air Force in the Far East. He saw the effect of poverty, demography and environment on human health and well-being. Those experiences led him to a career he had never imagined during medical school. He finished a reproductive endocrinology fellowship, a residency in Obstetrics-Gynecology, a Master of Education, and became a faculty member of the UW School of Medicine. He tried to impress on students the importance of poverty, demography, and environment on human health. He was also a member of the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR). He is now an active member of WPSR’s task force on climate change and has
learned even more about its effect on human health. With this endowment Dr. Vontver hopes to give students in the College of the Environment opportunities for experiential learning such as he had, which hopefully will inspire them to pursue studies on the environment and human health.
The 2023-24 Recipient of the Vontver Environment and Human Health Endowed Scholarship is:
College of the Environment Scholarship
This scholarship is made possible by the generosity of donors. The scholarship was created to support
both undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in the College of the Environment.
Program on the Environment Recipients:
Learn more about the College’s undergraduate scholarship program here.
Article Contributor: Ian Oates, Program Coordinator, Taiwan Studies
The second iteration of the UW Taiwan Studies Program and UW Program on the Environment summer study abroad course, Exploring Environmental and Social Resilience, concluded two weeks ago.
This year’s program included eighteen UW students, ranging in academic discipline and undergraduate year. Led by Dr. Yen-Chu Weng, Lecturer in the UW Program on the Environment, the group spent 4 weeks journeying throughout Taiwan. Navigating the cities of Taipei, Changhua, and Kaohsiung, and exploring the Taiwanese countryside. The program’s mission was to gain first-person experience into the evolving environmental and social challenges facing Taiwan, while also investigating how Taiwan’s success in addressing these issues may have global applications.
To achieve these goals, each week of the program addressed a specific theme which connected students to leading scholars and universities, NGOs, and community organizations. Week 1, the “Eco-City,” allowed students to explore the ways in which Taipei engages with and protects its natural environment. Week 2, “Food and Society,” united UW and NTU students to explore agricultural and ecological projects tethered to Taipei’s urban sprawl. Week 3 began with joint UW-NTU student presentations addressing the themes of the program. After presentations, the program traveled to Changhua to pursue the theme of “Renewable Energy and Community Revitalization.” This theme engaged students in conceptualizing and experiencing how economic shifts and climate change affect community development outside the Taipei metropole. Week 4, “Eco-Tourism and Aboriginal Communities,” continued exploring aspects of Week 3 while focusing students on engaging with how indigenous Taiwanese communities navigate changing societal thinking about the environment and how to derive success therein. Highlighting their appreciation for the program’s time in Kaohsiung, one student shared how the visit to the Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples Culture Park provided them “a better sensitivity to Taiwan’s cultural history.”
Students co-authored a daily blog to document their journey which is currently being constructed. You can learn more about our trip here: https://sites.google.com/view/uw-poe-taiwan-2023/blogs
The success of the program continues to come from valued collaboration between Taiwanese universities: National Taiwan University, National Changhua University of Education, and National Kaohsiung Normal University. UW students on the study abroad program had the opportunity to share unique perspectives and work collaboratively with students from every university. Multiple UW students emphasized how the program’s partnerships with Taiwanese universities enriched their experiences: “partnering with the Taiwanese universities in each city was a highlight of the trip. [Getting] to know the students… greatly improved my experience in every city.” Faculty and staff from each university also accompanied the UW study abroad group during various stages of the program, sharing their expertise with students.
We look forward to Dr. Weng guiding the program again in the future. More details about the program can be found on our courses page here. We encourage UW students to consider taking part in this special opportunity during the next installment!
In the final week of Program on the Environment’s Taiwan study Abroad Program, we went to Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, to explore topics of eco-tourism and indigenous communities. We were greeted by our partners in the Geography Department of National Kaohsiung Normal University. Dr. Lih-Der Ho shared his research on limestone caves in Shoushan National Nature Park and discussed the dilemma of having a nature area that is very close to a major city and impacts from tourism. In the afternoon, President Yung-Sen Chen of National Pingtung University shared the cultural and natural beauty of Pingtung and his research on the policies and ramifications of relocating aboriginal communities to the lowlands for safety reasons. Next, we went to National Sun Yat-sen University to learn about the natural history and ecology of Kaohsiung and Shoushan from Dr. Chia-Hao Chang-Yang. The afternoon walk along Si Zhi Bay showed us the extreme environments of the coastal natural system and impacts of marine pollution firsthand.
We had two full day field trips in Week 4. First, we visited Shoushan National Nature Park, which has a complex history of land uses and restoration efforts. The hike in the Nature Park was quite adventurous – we learned about the diverse plant species, explored a limestone cave, and encountered a few wild monkeys (Formosan macaque). On the final day in southern Taiwan, we went to Pingtung and visited the https://www.tacp.gov.tw/. Students participated in several cultural activities such as bead-making, archery, and dance performance to learn more about the diverse cultures of the indigenous tribes in Taiwan. Students brought home a handmade glass bead keychain from Dragonfly Beads Art Studio and were full of great memories of Taiwan.
Students will share their journey on this blog and please check back in August for updates. Thank you! https://sites.google.com/view/uw-poe-taiwan-2023/blogs
Check out this new Special Topic Course ENVIR 295 B: Rivers in the Environmental Humanities. This 5 credit course will run during A- Term (June 20 – July 19) and only has 20 spots available, so register soon! The course will fulfill the integrating discipline requirement for Environmental Justice or Values and Cultures.
Check out the full course description here
Summer Quarter is also a great opportunity to take a Core Environmental Studies class (ENVIR 100, ENVIR 302), fulfill an integrating discipline requirement, and take exciting and new Environmental Studies courses only offered in the summer (ENVIR 295 A and 295 B).
For more details about Environmental Studies and pre-approved integrating discipline courses offered this summer, see this PDF: SU23 ENVIR Courses
The Program on the Environment stands in solidarity with the staff of UW’s Intellectual house and the entire Native American community at the University of Washington, whose wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House was recently vandalized for the third time in almost as many days. While it is easy to dismiss this vandalism as a randomly smashed window or just a few rocks thrown, we see these utterly inexcusable and cowardly acts as reminders of the long and ongoing history of violence faced by our Native American community in a settler colonial society. We appreciate the generosity with which our Native American community and the staff of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House have continued to actively enrich our campus community, in spite of continued acts of aggression against them. We express our support for the staff and student workers at wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House, and we strongly condemn all ongoing acts of oppression and violence against them, as we strive to be good neighbors on these Coast Salish lands and waters.