sustainability

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Spoerl Environmental Series Focuses on the “Greening” of Higher Education

A scholar on the integration of environmental studies and sustainability programs in higher education opens Lawrence University’s 2010 Spoerl Lectures in Science and Society series. The theme for this year’s three-part series is “The Greening of Higher Education.”

Nan Jenks-Jay, dean of environmental affairs at Vermont’s Middlebury College, presents “Sustainability and the Liberal Arts,” Wednesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. in Thomas Steitz Science Hall Room 102. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Nan-Jenks-Jay_web
Nan Jenks-Jay

As dean of environmental affairs, Jenks-Jay had been instrumental in raising Middlebury’s nationally recognized environmental academic program to new heights and integration. She will examine Middlebury’s success in integrating sustainability as a visible aspect of the culture of the college, present examples on how sustainability is integrated into the academic program and discuss the importance of empowering students.

For nearly three decades, Jenks-Jay has been involved in environmentally related work as an administrator, educator, ecologist and consultant. She has been associated with the two oldest undergraduate environmental studies programs in the country, spending 15 years at Williams College and the past 14 at Middlebury. She also has developed new undergraduate and graduate environmental programs for the University of Redlands in California.

Her extensive experience has earned Jenks-Jay invitations to chair external review committees for more than a dozen college and university environmental programs. She has served on several international and national committees, state governmental boards and numerous commissions and lectures frequently on topics related to the environment, sustainability and transformational change within higher education.

Other presentations on this year’s series include:

• May 18, “The Role of the Arts in Sustainable Community Development,” Amara Geffen, professor of art and director of the Center for Economic and Environmental Development, Allegheny College.

• May 19, “Education in Action for a Sustainable Future,” Debra Rowe, president, U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development and professor, sustainable energies and behavioral sciences, Oakland Community College.

The environmental lecture series is sponsored by the Spoerl Lectureship in Science in Society. Established in 1999 by Milwaukee-Downer College graduate Barbara Gray Spoerl and her husband, Edward, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on the role of science and technology in societies worldwide.

Food Presentation Examines Local Sourcing, Sustainability Issues

Dayna Burtness, a Sustainability Fellow with Bon Appétit, the management company that oversees Lawrence University’s dining services, presents “The Story Behind the Food” Tuesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Burtness is one of three recent college graduates serving as fellows for Bon Appétit who are studying best labor and sustainability practices on the farms that supply the company’s 400 cafés in 30 states across the country. The presentation will examine several Bon Appétit initiatives, including Farm to Fork, a local sourcing program and Low Carbon Diet.

Burtness is a graduate of St. Olaf College, where she was co-founder of the college’s student-run farm and served as an intern with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and later became a program associate for the Institute’s Local Foods Program.

The mission of the Bon Appétit Fellows program is to gather information that will lead to better partnerships with farms of all sizes that supply the company’s kitchens. Bon Appétit wants to help farmers build and improve on existing relationships with all their buyers to regionalize and strengthen the country’s food supply chain and improve food security and sustainability for the future.

Bon Appétit began buying direct from farmers through its Farm to Fork local sourcing program 10 years ago as a way to address the loss of flavor in food as a result of industrial agricultural practices and long shipping distances.

Following a spring 2009 visit to Florida’s tomato fields and talks with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Bon Appétit expanded the program, addressing labor issues throughout its entire supply chain. The fellows’ work is the company’s next step toward justice and fairness for farm workers.

Lawrence University Tickling Top 10 in National Recycling Competition

Lawrence University students, faculty and staff are among the best recyclers in the country based on the early returns of the 2010 RecycleMania competition.

In the competition’s Per Capita Classic category, which tracks the amount of acceptable recyclables per person, Lawrence ranked 11th nationally among 315 colleges and universities through the first two weeks of the contest, which began Jan. 17.

Lawrence had recycled 8.67 pounds per person, just a few soda cans behind no. 10 Stanford University’s average of 8.73 pounds. Colorado College was leading the category at 18.73 pounds per person. Lawrence was the top recycler among 10 Wisconsin colleges participating in the per capita category, which includes St. Norbert College, UW-Madison and UW-Oshkosh.

“This is an opportunity to see how much recycling and waste reduction we can do if we come together as a community and focus our energy,” said Jeff Clark, faculty associate to the president for Green Roots: the sustainable Lawrence initiative. “The data we get from this also helps us identify areas that we need to improve upon, so it will have lasting effects even after the competition is over.”

RecycleMania is a friendly, 10-week-long competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities.

Sponsored by the College and University Recycling Council, a technical council of the National Recycling Coalition, RecycleMania has several goals, among them increase on-campus recycling participation by students and staff, heighten awareness of a schools’ waste management and recycling programs, lower waste generated on-campus and expand economic opportunities while addressing environmental issues in a positive way.

First conducted in 2001 between Miami University and Ohio University, the RecycleMania competition has grown steadily every year since. In 2009, all 50 states were represented for the first time and in 2010, a record 607 colleges and universities across the United States, Canada and as far away as Qatar are participating. This year’s competition runs through March 27.

RecycleMania includes four primary competition categories:

• Grand Champion, which combines trash and core recyclable materials to determine a school’s recycling rate as a percentage of its overall waste generation.

• Per Capita Classic, in which schools compete to see which can collect the largest combined amount of paper, cardboard and bottles and cans per person.

• Waste Minimization, in which schools compete to see which produces the least amount of municipal solid waste (recyclables and trash) per person.

• Gorilla Prize, which recognizes schools that recycle the highest gross tonnage of combined paper, cardboard, bottles and cans during the 10-week competition, regardless of campus population.

Sustainable Lawrence Student Video Competition Produces Two Winners

APPLETON, WIS. — In the end, it was a split decision.

The tightly contested Lawrence University Sustainable Lawrence Student Video Competition produced two winners, with “Sustainable Lawrence A” video, produced by Kaushal Malde ’11, Nate Grady ’11, and Kevin Gabrielsen ’11 earning the judges’ panel vote, while “Sustainable Lawrence B,” produced by Stephen Anunson ’10, Katie Langenfeld ’10, Carolyn Armstrong ’10, Molly Preston ’10, and Oren Jakobson ’11 was the winner of the online popular vote.

Producers of “Sustainable Lawrence A” received the grand prize of $3,000 and will have their video shown on the Documentary Channel. The team that shot “Sustainable Lawrence B” was awarded $500 for winning the popular vote.

The contest’s third finalist, “Lawrence Growing Green,” produced by Tom Coben ’12 and Rosie Graber ’12, finished a close second in both the popular vote and the judges’ vote.

Serving as guest judges for the competition were: President Emeritus Rik Warch, Elizabeth Benson ’69, Joseph Brooks ’03, Tom Boldt, Mary Burns ’62, Julie Fricke, Marti Gillespie, Cal Husmann, Julie Lindemann, Brent Peterson, John Shimon, and Theodore Steck ’60.

Watch the winning videos here.

Sustainable Lawrence Student Video Competition Winner Announced Tonight

APPLETON, WIS. — The votes are in and the winner of the Lawrence University “Sustainable Lawrence Student Video Competition” will be announced Thursday evening (9/17) in a special awards ceremony at 7 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center. The event will include a public screening of the video.

Three videos were selected as finalists for the competition, which was designed to highlight the unique and innovative ways that Lawrence is working toward environmental sustainability. The winning video was selected in an online vote by

students, faculty, staff and alumni.

The winning student video team will receive a first-place prize of $3,000 and the opportunity to see their video featured on the Documentary Channel.

Voting Underway for Sustainable Lawrence Student Video Competition

APPLETON, WIS. — Lawrence University students, faculty, staff and alumni are encouraged to cast their vote for their favorite video in the “Sustainable Lawrence Student Video Competition,” which highlights the unique and innovative ways that Lawrence is working toward environmental sustainability.Video%20comp.jpg

Several months ago, three teams of students earned a chance to compete for a $3,000 prize and the opportunity to see their video featured on the Documentary Channel. Voting runs though Wednesday, Sept. 16 and the winner of this popular vote contest will be announced at a public screening on Thursday, Sept. 17 in the Warch Campus Center.

Cast your vote today here.