EnviroNews Winter 2011

THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES INSTITUTE AT SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY

Fans reach out to touch male model wearing the latest in eco-couture INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Spring 2011 Course Offerings

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Winter 2011 Seminar Series

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Internship Guide

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Learning from our Waste

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Summer Program in China

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BUG Farm Creates Buzz

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BUG and Broncos Growing Community

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Living Green

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BEAN Mixer

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STARS

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EnviroNews WINTER

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Eco-fashion Show 2011

by Laura MacArthur The first ever Ecofashion Show was wildly successful. Hundreds of people came to the event on Thursday, February 7th in the brand new Locatelli Center to admire the ingenious designs by SCU students. Students creatively transformed everyday items like issues of The Santa Clara newspaper, bed sheets and even mailing envelopes into ecocouture. As models made their way down the catwalk it was hard to tell the tulle of their dresses wasn’t actually tulle, but recycled newspaper.

The Costume Shop of the Theatre and Dance department supported students while crafting the pieces. Joanne Martin, a lecturer and Costume Shop supervisor in the Theatre and Dance department, offered a workshop on January 15th to teach students

how to work with different materials and how to use a sewing machine.

Some of the designs made by students were quite sophisticated. It would not be surprising to see these fashions in New York, Paris or London in the coming seasons. Other pieces were designed with a more practical urbanite in mind and would look fantastic on the streets of Santa Clara.

Emily Orbanek, Communications Intern from the Office of Sustainability stated, “I’m planning to wear one of the ecocouture dresses to a black tie affair later this month.

I know it will be one of a kind.”

sembles in the upcoming days. Lady Gaga phoned Leah Nakasaki-Peterson, Senior Administrative Assistant of the Environmental Studies Institute, on Monday morning to see where she might find a student designer to create a dress for an appearance at the February 13th Grammy Awards. Clearly, eco-fashion is catching on.

As the models made an encore stroll down the catwalk, the audience roared in applause. Michelle Tang, President of Green Club, followed the showcase with background information regarding the environmental impacts of the fashion industry and Chloe Fitzmaurice-Shean described the Residence Energy Challenge, a competition between dorms and offcampus residents to reduce energy consumption (see page 7).

Following the ecofashion show, a Western themed hoedown ensued with fifty students line dancing across the Locatelli Center. Lively music, Emily isn’t the only snacks, and materials for fashionista planning to repurposing clothes foswear the eco-friendly en- tered a lively atmosphere.

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Spring 2011 Course Offerings ENVS 2A: Critical Thinking & Writing II John Farnsworth, 4 Units ENVS 22: Introduction to Environmental Studies Chris Bacon, 4 Units ENVS 79: Environmental Thought Justin Eichenlaub, 4 Units ENVS 95: SLURP: Sustainable Living Undrgrd. Research Project Sherry Booth, 2 Units ENVS 120: Introduction to Environmental Law & Regulation Terry Trumbull, 5 Units

ENVS 122: US Environmental Policy Chris Bacon, 5 Units ENVS 132: Agroecology L&L Patrick Archie, 5 Units ENVS 148: Solar Revolution Stephanie Hughes, 5 Units ENVS 151: Restoration Ecology L&L Sean Watts, 5 Units ENVS 195: SLURP: Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research Project Leslie Gray, 5 Units

BIOL 158: Biology of Insects Environmental Science alum Chris Farrell works with insect net.

Biology of Insects (BIOL 158) counts toward the natural science requirement for environmental science majors. Students will engage in lab and fieldwork and learn about the extraordinary lives of insects. Quantitative surveys will be conducted at the nearby Blue Oak

Ranch Reserve to test hypotheses about biodiversity. We plan to test honeybee foraging behaviors as well as learn how and why social insects dominate major bioregions of Earth. Other projects that will be undertaken will link to Agroecology, taught by Patrick Archie. Please contact Janice Edgerly-Rooks with any questions.

ENVS 151: Restoration Ecology “How to get from train tracks to wetlands”

How are blighted landscapes restored and when do we decide restoration projects are successful?

Professor Sean Watts will cover important questions such as: - How are blighted landscapes restored?

- What should damaged areas return to?

- How do we measure success?

Course logistics: Lecture: TR 1:45 – 3:30PM Labs: T or R 3:40 – 6:25PM Prerequisites: BIOL22/23 or ENVS21

ENVIRONEWS

There will be a few Saturday trips to local restoration sites as well as a campout!

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Internship Guide Click on the title of each internship to visit the sponsoring website.

Do you like working with young students? The Living Classroom may be the internship for you!

Intern at Fort Point and learn about the San Francisco Bay Area!

Not far from Seattle, Mount Rainier is an ideal setting to complete an internship and participate in outdoor sports

ENVIRONEWS

Interpretation Intern Fort Point, Golden Gate National Recreation Area Interns will participate in a public education program Living Classroom Proregarding the park’s 200 gram years of history, from the Garden-based education in the Los Altos Native American culture to the growth of urban San School District Living Classroom interns Francisco. The internship help students in grades placement will be in the K-7 learn about life, physi- South District of the cal, and earth sciences, Golden Gate National math and social studies by Recreation Area at Fort assisting in scientific ex- Point. From the South Disperiments, making obser- trict you will overlook the vations, and working in entire SF Bay. school gardens. Hours are fairly flexible but a minimum of 5 hours per week Mount Rainier National for 2 months is preferred. Park Internships run year round. Interpretive Public Two SCU students partici- Recreational Media Intern pated as Living Classroom The intern will be placed Interns last year and with the Climbing Ranger enjoyed their experience. Division and work with the District Ranger to develop media in the forms Global Fellows Program of glossy handouts, maps, Environmentally oriented informational flyers, bulleinternships are available tins and brochures. Effecthrough the Global Feltive communication about lows Program. The prothe national park is integram offers the unique op- gral to the success of the portunity to work in Nica- national park system beragua, Indonesia and cause it affects how visiSouth America. Some in- tors perceive our natural ternational partners inresources and interpret enclude blueEnergy, Indone- vironmental protection. sian Institute to Energy Interns will also be able to Economics and the participate in snow skiing, Pachamama Alliance. snow shoeing and ice climbing.

Policy Research The Climate Registry based in Downtown Los Angeles is the leading greenhouse gas (GHG) registry in North America with an opening in the GHG accounting policy division. The Registry has developed progressive reporting and verification protocols for inventorying GHG emissions. The focus of the internship will be to provide policy analysis related to GHG accounting regulations and to develop a web-based database of GHG reporting requirements.

GIS and Climate Adaptation Research Intern, The ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, is looking for interns in the San Diego, California and Boston, Massachusetts areas that can aid the Adaption Manager in devolving visualization tools for sea level rise and conducting research on national and international climate adaption plans. Experience in GIS is recommended for this position.

For more green internships the SCU Career Center has some great resources.

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Learning from Waste Characterizations through the waste, each item is sorted into one of This month forty brave the sixteen bins, and when finished, the volumes of students from Lecturer Stephanie Hughes’ “Joy of rubbish are measured. The Garbage” class suited up results of the waste characterization are useful for in protective gear and a double layer of gloves to determining where SCU perform waste characteri- needs to improve or expand waste diversion eduzations on the dumpster contents of Leavey Event cation. During the characterization, student volunCenter, Loyola Hall and teers not only learn why O’Connor Hall. the trash is separated out Waste characterizaas such, but the science tions, coordinated by the behind why materials are Office of Sustainability categorized differently. and SCU’s Facilities deOne reason why waste partment, are useful methcharacterizations are beneods for learning more ficial for students is beabout the university’s waste stream. To perform cause it creates a deeper understanding of global the characterization, the contents of the dumpsters waste issues. In fact, many of the students stated are divided into sixteen different categories of re- they’re now more interested in learning about locyclable, reusable, comcal and global waste ispostable, and landfill sues. items. As volunteers sift

by Kaelin Holland

As for the gross factor, students were heard saying, “It’s really not that bad, once you get used to it.” The waste characterizations from this quarter will be compared to future waste characterizations to determine the success of recent initiatives such as the composting program in Benson and the faculty and staff office desk-side bin switches. You can view results of the findings on the SCU Sustainability website.

ChinaGreen ChinaGreen is a threecredit, four-week long summer environmental studies course in China.

Some of the issues confronting China that will be explored throughout the program are carbon dioxide emissions, development of alternative energy and challenges associated with a large population.

The course combines two weeks of introductory lectures and field visits in Beijing with two weeks of academic excursions throughout Northern and Southwestern China.

You will have the opportunity to learn about environmental issues from a Chinese perspective, tour a coal mine, stay with a

Chinese family, visit a giant panda reserve, climb a Taoist mountain and see how communities have recovered from a devastating earthquake.

Course credits are issued

by Loyola University of Chicago.

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Inside Story Headline

BUG Farm Produces Huge Vegetables & Brings Small Farm Buzz to SCU This story can fit 150-200 words.

The BUG Farm distributed thousands of pounds of fresh cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes throughout the community

ENVIRONEWS

A great way to add useful consoft Publisher offers a simple tent to your newsletter is to way to convert your newsletdevelop and write your own ter to a Web publication. So, One benefit of using your articles, or include a calendar when you ’re finished writing newsletter as a promotional of upcoming events or a spetool is that you canHabib reuse con- English worksheets. SCU your newsletter, convert it to

by Marsha Sayuri cial offer that promotes a new a Web site and post it. tent from other marketing students were also taught product. materials, such as press reThe Bronco Urban Gar- how to make delicious atole leases, market studies, and You can also research articles dens reports.

(BUG) program fin(aordrink) andarticles tamales (meat find “filler ” by acished its inaugural season mixture wrapped in a corn cessing the World Wide Web. While your main goal of disoperating the BUG Farm in based dough) in the Jalisco You can write about a variety tributing a newsletter might be of topics but try to keep your Hollister, California.

Since style, ¡que rico! to sell your product or service, articles short.

May,the BUG staff and SCU Now that winter is here, key to a successful newsletter is making it useful student volunteers haveto been your busyreaders. planting a diverse assortment of vegetables and flowers, knocking down tenacious weeds, and harvesting tomatoes in a variety of colors.

This season BUG donated thousands of pounds of fresh cucumbers, squash and tomatoes to Martha’s Kitchen, which serves over 2,000 meals each week through Sacred Heart Parish in San Jose. Produce from the young farm was also distributed to the Alma Senior Center and Farm Stand, Indian Health Center, and featured in Thanksgiving and Christmas meals for the youngsters at the Alma Verde Center.

The BUG farm was fertile ground for cultural exchanges as well as crop production. Participating SCU students were fortunate to have the opportunity to practice their Spanish and enjoy elotes (Mexican style corn on the cob) while helping farm workers with

Much farmers of the content put into BUG haveyoutime yourplan newsletter can also be for rest, and organize used for your Web site. Microspring.

As a member of the BUG staff, I have been using my time to aid in the planning process of the Pequenos Agricultores de California (PAC), a budding organization of small farmers in Hollister. The mission of PAC is to create auto-sustainability for current and future small farmers by providing technical and professional support so members can access human and economic resources.

Currently, most of the farmers don’t know about or don’t qualify for loans, grants, and longer term leases on their own. So an initial task for PAC is to help non-English speaking farmers secure funding and navigate county registration and organic certification processes. Having access to these services through PAC will help small farmers become economically independent and keep businesses running.

The long term vision of PAC is to develop a landscape where farming families of different cultures can be successful and nurture a vibrant and healthy farming community. As PAC develops, BUG will be exploring partnerships and roles that SCU can establish with this new organization.

If you have coursework that could benefit the development of PAC, let us know. We would love to hear your ideas! Some coursework that would be helpful might include drafting a business plan, making recommendations, developing an accounting system, policy research or a video project to increase the visibility of small farmers.

Contact Marsha if you’re interested in working with BUG or the PAC. Also, if you would like to order a CSA box of fresh, organic produce from Laughing Onion Farm, contact Laurie Laird.

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Bronco Urban Gardens (BUG) in the Community

Families transplant onions and spread mulch at a recent Family Garden Day at El Jardín de Gardner, Gardner Academy

by Annie Thomas This fall, the Environmental Studies Institute's BUG program began its second year as an or-

ganization. During its first year, the BUG crew sowed the seeds for a number of garden, nutrition and education programs in Santa Clara, San Jose and even Hollister, California! In 2011, BUG is looking forward to further integrating these programs into each community.

With the help of the community, BUG has established an educational and community garden at the bilingual elementary school, Gardner Academy. The garden is fully equipped with an outdoor classroom, sheds and tools, 12 garden beds, a perennial garden and bilingual educational signs. This academic year, the garden has already served 350 youth and adults in garden and nutrition education classes, lunchtime and after school programs and Family Garden Days.

Due to the growing excitement and

needs of the garden, a parent and community group has recently been established to help maintain the garden and harvest its bounty.

The parent and community garden group meets on the second Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to 12p.m. The garden is located on the northeast side of the campus or near the intersection of Brown and Willis Street in San Jose. Please join us for food, garden planning and garden maintenance on one of these Saturday events!

Living Green in the Neighborhood

by Hannah Slocum The Office of Sustainability has paired with the Associated Student Government to present Living Green in the Neighborhood, SCU’s first-ever sustainable house certification program.

Students living off-campus can make their own decisions about how to live with minimal impacts on the environment and society and to carry these habits with them after college. Houses or apartments are asked to sign up

by Week 2 for the program. Each participating group will receive a

Office of and Sustainability box, along with a window sign packet ofThe information a com- submit photos, videos and written has paired with Associated Student identifying as participants munity-supported agriculture pieces about them the habits they’re Government to present Living in Living Green.

Each house (CSA) box (a box of organic vege- practicing to engage other memGreen in the Neighborhood, SCU’s willofthen asked to fill out a tables delivered each week) as well bers the be Santa Clara commufirst-ever sustainable house certifisurvey regarding their sustainas a window sign to identify each nity. cation program.

Students living offable habits about water and enhouse as a participant in Living campus make their ownEach deciergy, among others. Depending Green in can the Neighborhood. sions about how to live with minihouse will then be asked to fill out on the total number of points impacts on thetheir environment each house earns, they will be amal survey regarding current and society, and to carry these habcertified as “going green”, water and energy usage, quality of its with them after college.

Houses “beyond green”, or “certified life and community involvement. or apartments are asked to sign up sustainable”, and receive a Depending on the total number of by Week 2 to sign up for the proprize. Participating houses will points each house earns, they will gram.

Eachas participating group will be encouraged to submit photos, be certified “going green,” receive agreen,” packet or of “certified information and videos, or written pieces about “beyond susa Community-supported agriculture tainable,” and receive a prize.

Par- the actions they’re taking. ticipating houses are encouraged to

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Bronco Environmental Alumni Network (BEAN) Annual Mixer On Friday, January 21st, the graduating class of ESI students threw a “Certified Sustainable” mixer. Students, alumni and professors mingled for nearly three hours and spoke about developments in environmentalism.

The annual BEAN mixer is planned and hosted by the students in the fall quarter Environmental Proseminar class. The class provides practical skills to graduating students like searching for a vocation and learning to craft a resume and cover letter. BEAN is growing and hopes to see greater participation and host larger events with each graduating class.

Seniors Marty Saunders, Lauren Romanazzi, Molly Kagel and Kaelin Holland enthusiastically meet alumni!

Logo by Alana Sampson ‘11

SCU Recognized for Sustainability SCU scored high marks and won the silver award in the STARS program, the nation’s first comprehensive sustainability rating system for universities. The impetuous for implementing sustainability on campus goes beyond monetary savings and reduction of greenhouse gases.

President Michael Engh, S.J. explains, “In all our initiatives, Santa Clara University looks at sustainability not just through an environmental lens but also in a framework of social justice, examining how sustainability can be just and economically viable.” Faculty and staff hope to foster a deeper understanding of sustainability in students and launched a new core curriculum in 2009 with sustainability as a central theme.

A youngster busily networks on Friday night

Environmental Studies Institute ...dedicated to understanding the interactions between humans and the natural world.

Visit online at www.scu.edu/envs 874 Lafayette Street Santa Clara, CA 95050 Email: lnakasaki@scu.edu Phone: 408.551.7086 Fax: 408.554.2312

Owen Watson takes notes from an alum