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. 

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. 

The Program on the Environment Alumni Council provides Environmental Studies alumni resources for networking and professional development, and opportunities for community building.
This year, the council has re-envisioned its purpose and onboarded new members from recent cohorts to join in efforts to connect, celebrate and support alumni and build lasting relationships. 

Examining the impact of human behavior and actions on the environment is a focus of both Program on the Environment and the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at UW. To further highlight the interdisciplinary teaching and research of both units, we are co-hosting a monthly Rabinowitz Speaker Series: Society’s Role in a Changing Environment, featuring a different faculty member each month. 

This quarter’s newest addition to the teaching team is Thao Huynh, a graduate student at School of Marine and Environmental Affairs who is teaching our popular Sustainability Studio course.
Welcome, Thao! 

Last week, friends of Tikvah and the Program on the Environment came together to celebrate the new Sustainable Learning Space on the north end of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, to honor Tikvah’s memory and spend time in the garden.

This Spring, a vibrant outdoor learning space, located on the northern side of the School of Aquatic and Fisheries lawn was built.
The garden space, adorned with nature-themed quotes, hand-crafted wood benches, native plants, a bioswale and rain garden is the result of a tremendous team effort by students, faculty and staff across campus.

Sword ferns in Seattle's Seward Park are disappearing and nobody really knows why. UW's Tim Billo, Paul Shannon and national fern experts are investigating the phenomenon.

Sword ferns provide valuable ecosystem benefits, holding soil in place to prevent erosion and invasive plant growth. They also provide a habitat for forest birds such as the Pacific wren, and a food source for wildlife, such as mountain beavers. 

For Jasmmine Ramgotra, dance is a way to engage with the community, and a means to express tough social and environmental issues we face in today’s society. She’s looking to shift the culture of dance away from abstraction, in order to lead the way for a more connected and inclusive tomorrow.