ESPP Alumni Newsletter

SENIOR THESES 2015

ALUMNI LETTER | DECEMBER 2015

ESPP in New Mexico “This was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I learned beyond what I could have ever imagined, and so much through simple observation. My presentation skills genuinely did improve and I enjoyed such a great group of people that I got to know.” — ESPP Concentrator In January 2015, thirteen concentrators traveled to the Sevilleta Field Station, operated by the University of New Mexico and located in central New Mexico (60 miles south of Albuquerque). The station lies at the junction of several major ecosystems, and students had access to a broad diversity of habitats to conduct fieldwork and research projects on the diverse ecological and biological landscape of the American Southwest. The trip was led by Professor Richard Forman, Research Professor of Advanced Environmental Studies, and Alicia Harley ’08, PhD candidate at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Congratulations to the ESPP Senior Theses Writers Camara Carter, “Reversing the Diabetic Conundrum: Can the Answers Lie in the Wild?”

Lydia Gaby, “Rebuilding by Design: Conceptualizing Sustainable Development in the New York Metropolitan Region” Ekta Patel, “Voices of Vulnerability: Shock, Stress and Well-Being from Climate-Induced Floods in Surat, India” (photo above courtesy of Ekta) Matthew Ricotta, “Species, Stands and Skyscrapers: Carbon Impacts of Wood Variation in mass Timber Construction” (photo below courtesy of Matthew)

Students spent the first half of the weeklong course conducting ecological field projects and presenting their finding during evening ecosessions to each other and invited local experts. These activities helped students see the power of systematic observation to understand the dynamics of a natural eco-system even in a limited time period. The second half of the course was spent creating conceptual land-use plans for the city of Socorro and its surroundings. The students were tasked with designing their own plans in small teams that met the needs of Socorro’s residents while taking into account the preservation of Socorro’s natural resource base. The students presented their land-use plans on the final day to a realworld review jury including panelists from the Chamber of Commerce, local zoning officers and professors of biology, ecology and geology from nearby universities.

One memory all trip participants will take with them for years to come was our visit to the Acoma Sky City Pueblo. The pueblo, which sits atop a 367-foot sandstone bluff was built in 1150 A.D. and is the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America.

Students were awed both by the majestic beauty of the Pueblo and its surroundings as well as the kindness and hospitality of the Acoma who guided us on a tour of the Pueblo and shared their history and culture with our group.

Alumni Letter ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & PUBLIC POLICY CONCENTRATION

DECEMBER 2015

Dear Alumni: I am pleased to present you with our third edition of the Environmental Science and Public Policy Alumni Newsletter.

It was wonderful to see so many of you at our alumni reunion event last spring. Enclosed on page 2 is a copy of the Harvard Gazette article and a sample of photos from the event.

It was clear from the reunion that there is a strong desire—among alumni, faculty and students alike—to be connected with the broader ESPP community. As a result, we are pleased to announce a new social media hub that we have set up to help facilitate this. This website, powered by SocialGo, offers a number of unique tools that allow alumni, current students, and ESPP faculty to connect, network and communicate. Please see the sidebar at right for details on how to join and get connected with the ESPP community. Once you visit the website, please enter your contact information and include a description of your professonal/personal endeavors, to allow other users to search for you. From there, alumni can “friend” other members, send messages to those in the network, post a job or other opportunity, or start a group for those that wish to make a sub-community on the site (i.e. based on geographic region or former field trip experiences). We hope to make this site as useful as possible; consequently, we welcome any feedback or suggestions you may have.

Additionally, as a result of the reunion, we are planning to host an ESPP event at the Harvard Club of New York in the spring. We hope that this will be another way that alumni and students can connect. Please stay tuned for details.

In this issue there is also a feature on last year’s winter-session field trip to New Mexico where ESPP concentrators spent a week with Professor Richard Forman and Alicia Harley ’08 conducting fieldwork on the ecological and biological landscape of the Southwest. Finally, we are pleased to feature Andy Frank ’05 in our alumni profile.

I hope that you enjoy the newsletter and best wishes for the holiday season.

Paul Moorcroft, Chair On behalf of the ESPP Board of Tutors

ESPP Launches Alumni Network ESPP has launched a new social media website to engage current and former students. This website, open only to our community, can be accessed at: WWW.HARVARD-ESPP.NETWORKMAKER.COM/ Visit the site to sign up and create your online profile. Other users can search the site based on keyword, so please use as much detail as possible. In the description field, please enter a short biography about your career and post-graduate education (if an alumnus) or your academic interests, research, or ESPP classes (if a current student). Please note that the “Nickname” field should be your full first and last name.

If you are amenable to being contacted by current or former students, no need to adjust your privacy settings; however, you have the option of controling which part of your profile is public.

Please then explore the features of the site, which include an Opportunities Board as well as a Group section. Additionally, all of the photos from the recent Alumni Reunion are available to view on the Photos tab. Feel free to upload your own photos from the ESPP program or field trips.

Please contact Lorraine Maffeo (maffeo@fas.harvard.edu) with questions or feedback about the site.

ESPP ALUMNI PROFILE

ALUMNI LETTER | DECEMBER 2015

REUNION AND REASSESSMENT Seventy-five attend Environmental Science and Public Policy alumni reunion

By Alvin Powell, Harvard Gazette (excerpted)

Preparing for the Future “ESPP prepared me for my career in business more than I could have imagined. The biggest thing I took away was how all systems are ultimately interrelated, and you can’t really solve any given problem with a narrow lens. ESPP also gave me a unique perspective on the scale of our climate challenges, which helped focus my career path towards energy efficiency.

As I build my company, Sealed, I find myself relying on the same multi-disciplinary approach that ESPP focused on. In order to reduce home energy use, I have to combine an engineering, statistics, psychology, and policy lens, all at the same time.

As painful as it was to take Organic Chemistry, ESPP was the right decision for me.

I started Sealed because I saw that the tremendous environmental and economic potential for energy efficiency was being held back because people didn’t believe the savings. Sealed solves this problem by guaranteeing the savings, solving the biggest challenge to the largest carbon reduction opportunity. And, shameless plug, if you are an ESPP undergrad or alum, come work at Sealed!”

–Andy Frank ‘05, Founder and President, Sealed

For George Reed, the weekend was like coming home. Nearly 16 years after he graduated from Harvard with a concentration in Environmental Science and Public Policy (ESPP), Reed was back, talking with fellow ESPP concentrators and faculty members he had worked with as a student.

“For me, it was a little bit of a Harvard family reunion,” Reed said of the gathering. “It was a pretty small concentration, 30 or 40 people, so there was a good sense of community within the group. We had close relationships with the professors because of the small size.”

Caroline DeFilippo, a New York-based physician who graduated with an ESPP concentration in 2001, said she also felt a strong connection with other attendees at the event, which began with an evening reception on March 27 and ran through the afternoon of March 28.

“They were people who think like me; we share the same dreams,” DeFilippo said.

The idea for the reunion came from Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Paul Moorcroft, the concentration’s head tutor. Appointed in 2012, Moorcroft has worked with his colleagues on the ESPP Board of Tutors for the past two years to modernize the concentration’s requirements, the secondary’s requirements, and to create a secondary field in Energy and Environment in collaboration with the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

As part of that effort, Moorcroft sent out a survey to alumni and was surprised when he received 250 replies, many of them very enthusiastic about the concentration and its relevance to the respondents’ current careers, which were highly diverse. He had been thinking that connections with alumni should be strengthened, so a reunion was planned.

“The purpose was to bring together alumni, students, and faculty, and I believe we were successful in achieving that goal,” Moorcroft said. “The feedback I’ve received from alumni, students, and faculty has been truly heartwarming and inspiring.”

In addition to the Friday night reception and dinner, Saturday’s program included two panel discussions, one looking at the concentration’s past and present, and another examining the broader issues of environmental science and public policy in this century.

The day also included three break-out groups in which alumni, faculty, and students had more focused discussions about environmental issues: the ecology of human and natural landscapes, environmental politics and policy, and the intersections of climate, energy, food, and water.

The day ended with a slideshow by Richard Forman, research professor of advanced environmental studies in the field of landscape ecology at the Graduate School of Design, about the recently implemented ESPP field trips that he and Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography James McCarthy led during the January break.

“I’m very proud of what happened,” said Mike McElroy, Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies, who, at the launch of the concentration nearly 20 years ago, was chair of both the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the then-University Committee on the Environment. “The reunion turnout was just astonishing.”

Photos, Page 3 (clockwise, starting at top left): Professors James McCarthy, Michael McElroy, and Sheila Jasanoff participate in a panel discussion with moderator and ESPP Head Tutor Paul Moocroft; Professor Richard Forman leads a wolf call to conclude the ESPP field trip slideshow; Jacob Barton ’17 (left) and Austin Chang ’17; ESPP alumni and current students gather at the afternoon luncheon; Vanessa Melendez ’99 (left) and Caroline DeFilippo ’01; Claire Broido Johnson ’95 talks with Professor William Clark after delivering an alumni address at the opening reception; an audience view of the attendees. To see more Reunion images, visit our Alumni Network site, www.harvard-espp.network-maker.com.

ALUMNI LETTER | DECEMBER 2015

ESPP ALUMNI PROFILE

ALUMNI LETTER | DECEMBER 2015

REUNION AND REASSESSMENT Seventy-five attend Environmental Science and Public Policy alumni reunion

By Alvin Powell, Harvard Gazette (excerpted)

Preparing for the Future “ESPP prepared me for my career in business more than I could have imagined. The biggest thing I took away was how all systems are ultimately interrelated, and you can’t really solve any given problem with a narrow lens. ESPP also gave me a unique perspective on the scale of our climate challenges, which helped focus my career path towards energy efficiency.

As I build my company, Sealed, I find myself relying on the same multi-disciplinary approach that ESPP focused on. In order to reduce home energy use, I have to combine an engineering, statistics, psychology, and policy lens, all at the same time.

As painful as it was to take Organic Chemistry, ESPP was the right decision for me.

I started Sealed because I saw that the tremendous environmental and economic potential for energy efficiency was being held back because people didn’t believe the savings. Sealed solves this problem by guaranteeing the savings, solving the biggest challenge to the largest carbon reduction opportunity. And, shameless plug, if you are an ESPP undergrad or alum, come work at Sealed!”

–Andy Frank ‘05, Founder and President, Sealed

For George Reed, the weekend was like coming home. Nearly 16 years after he graduated from Harvard with a concentration in Environmental Science and Public Policy (ESPP), Reed was back, talking with fellow ESPP concentrators and faculty members he had worked with as a student.

“For me, it was a little bit of a Harvard family reunion,” Reed said of the gathering. “It was a pretty small concentration, 30 or 40 people, so there was a good sense of community within the group. We had close relationships with the professors because of the small size.”

Caroline DeFilippo, a New York-based physician who graduated with an ESPP concentration in 2001, said she also felt a strong connection with other attendees at the event, which began with an evening reception on March 27 and ran through the afternoon of March 28.

“They were people who think like me; we share the same dreams,” DeFilippo said.

The idea for the reunion came from Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Paul Moorcroft, the concentration’s head tutor. Appointed in 2012, Moorcroft has worked with his colleagues on the ESPP Board of Tutors for the past two years to modernize the concentration’s requirements, the secondary’s requirements, and to create a secondary field in Energy and Environment in collaboration with the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

As part of that effort, Moorcroft sent out a survey to alumni and was surprised when he received 250 replies, many of them very enthusiastic about the concentration and its relevance to the respondents’ current careers, which were highly diverse. He had been thinking that connections with alumni should be strengthened, so a reunion was planned.

“The purpose was to bring together alumni, students, and faculty, and I believe we were successful in achieving that goal,” Moorcroft said. “The feedback I’ve received from alumni, students, and faculty has been truly heartwarming and inspiring.”

In addition to the Friday night reception and dinner, Saturday’s program included two panel discussions, one looking at the concentration’s past and present, and another examining the broader issues of environmental science and public policy in this century.

The day also included three break-out groups in which alumni, faculty, and students had more focused discussions about environmental issues: the ecology of human and natural landscapes, environmental politics and policy, and the intersections of climate, energy, food, and water.

The day ended with a slideshow by Richard Forman, research professor of advanced environmental studies in the field of landscape ecology at the Graduate School of Design, about the recently implemented ESPP field trips that he and Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography James McCarthy led during the January break.

“I’m very proud of what happened,” said Mike McElroy, Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies, who, at the launch of the concentration nearly 20 years ago, was chair of both the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the then-University Committee on the Environment. “The reunion turnout was just astonishing.”

Photos, Page 3 (clockwise, starting at top left): Professors James McCarthy, Michael McElroy, and Sheila Jasanoff participate in a panel discussion with moderator and ESPP Head Tutor Paul Moocroft; Professor Richard Forman leads a wolf call to conclude the ESPP field trip slideshow; Jacob Barton ’17 (left) and Austin Chang ’17; ESPP alumni and current students gather at the afternoon luncheon; Vanessa Melendez ’99 (left) and Caroline DeFilippo ’01; Claire Broido Johnson ’95 talks with Professor William Clark after delivering an alumni address at the opening reception; an audience view of the attendees. To see more Reunion images, visit our Alumni Network site, www.harvard-espp.network-maker.com.

ALUMNI LETTER | DECEMBER 2015

SENIOR THESES 2015

ALUMNI LETTER | DECEMBER 2015

ESPP in New Mexico “This was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I learned beyond what I could have ever imagined, and so much through simple observation. My presentation skills genuinely did improve and I enjoyed such a great group of people that I got to know.” — ESPP Concentrator In January 2015, thirteen concentrators traveled to the Sevilleta Field Station, operated by the University of New Mexico and located in central New Mexico (60 miles south of Albuquerque). The station lies at the junction of several major ecosystems, and students had access to a broad diversity of habitats to conduct fieldwork and research projects on the diverse ecological and biological landscape of the American Southwest. The trip was led by Professor Richard Forman, Research Professor of Advanced Environmental Studies, and Alicia Harley ’08, PhD candidate at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Congratulations to the ESPP Senior Theses Writers Camara Carter, “Reversing the Diabetic Conundrum: Can the Answers Lie in the Wild?”

Lydia Gaby, “Rebuilding by Design: Conceptualizing Sustainable Development in the New York Metropolitan Region” Ekta Patel, “Voices of Vulnerability: Shock, Stress and Well-Being from Climate-Induced Floods in Surat, India” (photo above courtesy of Ekta) Matthew Ricotta, “Species, Stands and Skyscrapers: Carbon Impacts of Wood Variation in mass Timber Construction” (photo below courtesy of Matthew)

Students spent the first half of the weeklong course conducting ecological field projects and presenting their finding during evening ecosessions to each other and invited local experts. These activities helped students see the power of systematic observation to understand the dynamics of a natural eco-system even in a limited time period. The second half of the course was spent creating conceptual land-use plans for the city of Socorro and its surroundings. The students were tasked with designing their own plans in small teams that met the needs of Socorro’s residents while taking into account the preservation of Socorro’s natural resource base. The students presented their land-use plans on the final day to a realworld review jury including panelists from the Chamber of Commerce, local zoning officers and professors of biology, ecology and geology from nearby universities.

One memory all trip participants will take with them for years to come was our visit to the Acoma Sky City Pueblo. The pueblo, which sits atop a 367-foot sandstone bluff was built in 1150 A.D. and is the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America.

Students were awed both by the majestic beauty of the Pueblo and its surroundings as well as the kindness and hospitality of the Acoma who guided us on a tour of the Pueblo and shared their history and culture with our group.

Alumni Letter ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & PUBLIC POLICY CONCENTRATION

DECEMBER 2015

Dear Alumni: I am pleased to present you with our third edition of the Environmental Science and Public Policy Alumni Newsletter.

It was wonderful to see so many of you at our alumni reunion event last spring. Enclosed on page 2 is a copy of the Harvard Gazette article and a sample of photos from the event.

It was clear from the reunion that there is a strong desire—among alumni, faculty and students alike—to be connected with the broader ESPP community. As a result, we are pleased to announce a new social media hub that we have set up to help facilitate this. This website, powered by SocialGo, offers a number of unique tools that allow alumni, current students, and ESPP faculty to connect, network and communicate. Please see the sidebar at right for details on how to join and get connected with the ESPP community. Once you visit the website, please enter your contact information and include a description of your professonal/personal endeavors, to allow other users to search for you. From there, alumni can “friend” other members, send messages to those in the network, post a job or other opportunity, or start a group for those that wish to make a sub-community on the site (i.e. based on geographic region or former field trip experiences). We hope to make this site as useful as possible; consequently, we welcome any feedback or suggestions you may have.

Additionally, as a result of the reunion, we are planning to host an ESPP event at the Harvard Club of New York in the spring. We hope that this will be another way that alumni and students can connect. Please stay tuned for details.

In this issue there is also a feature on last year’s winter-session field trip to New Mexico where ESPP concentrators spent a week with Professor Richard Forman and Alicia Harley ’08 conducting fieldwork on the ecological and biological landscape of the Southwest. Finally, we are pleased to feature Andy Frank ’05 in our alumni profile.

I hope that you enjoy the newsletter and best wishes for the holiday season.

Paul Moorcroft, Chair On behalf of the ESPP Board of Tutors

ESPP Launches Alumni Network ESPP has launched a new social media website to engage current and former students. This website, open only to our community, can be accessed at: WWW.HARVARD-ESPP.NETWORKMAKER.COM/ Visit the site to sign up and create your online profile. Other users can search the site based on keyword, so please use as much detail as possible. In the description field, please enter a short biography about your career and post-graduate education (if an alumnus) or your academic interests, research, or ESPP classes (if a current student). Please note that the “Nickname” field should be your full first and last name.

If you are amenable to being contacted by current or former students, no need to adjust your privacy settings; however, you have the option of controling which part of your profile is public.

Please then explore the features of the site, which include an Opportunities Board as well as a Group section. Additionally, all of the photos from the recent Alumni Reunion are available to view on the Photos tab. Feel free to upload your own photos from the ESPP program or field trips.

Please contact Lorraine Maffeo (maffeo@fas.harvard.edu) with questions or feedback about the site.