Monday, June 2nd, 2008
Happy June! This newsletter will come to your email box on the first Mondays of the summer months rather than every week. We will resume the weekly schedule in September.
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CES News
- Community Garden Goodness
- The UEL in the Providence Journal!
- The Future of the UEL
Internships & Opportunities
- Carbon Footprinting Study
- Toxic Chemical Identification
- Watershed Monitoring, Mexico
- EPA Energy Star Intern
- Department of Justice
- Communities for a Better Environment
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CES News_________________________
Community Garden Goodness
Say hello to the brand new UEL Community Garden! Three weeks after getting approval for its rebuilding, the fence is up, the beds are built and all that’s left is to pretty-up the walking paths and get planting.
This week the community gardeners will come together again to celebrate and divvy up the plots and to plant tomatoes, eggplant, peas, flowers and much more. Feel free to stop by and smell that delicious compost! By the way, if you need some, we’re selling. Email Marie-Laure_Couet@Brown.edu if you’d like to buy for your own garden.
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The UEL in the Providence Journal!
Thursday, May 8th, the ProJo ran a story about our lovely home.
David Brussat: How to preserve Brown’s spirit
http://www.projo.com/opinion/columnists/content/CL_brussat8_05-08-08_7LA16AI_v21.39c96dd.html
Friday, May 23rd, the paper writes about the Providence Preservation Society (http://www.ppsri.org/) listing of the UEL on the 2008 Most Endangered Properties List
Group releases endangered properties list
By Daniel Barbarisi
http://www.projo.com/ri/providence/content/MC_HISTORIC_05-23-08_NNA84TC_v11.3582d18.html
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The Future of the UEL
Monday 9th June 2008 from 2:00 to 3:30pm
UEL Classroom
Pam O'Neil would like to give an update on the status of our building to the CES community and to friends of the UEL and garden. Pam, Mike McCormick and Cliff Resnick will hold an information session. We hope you can join us.
Internships & Opportunities_______
Researchers for Ground-Breaking Carbon Footprinting Study
Cooler is a for-profit social venture whose mission is to connect every consumer purchase to a solution for global warming. We are looking for a few researchers to work on a carbon footprinting project that involves some of the world's biggest companies. We'll be adapting existing theoretical and empirical work to the specific conditions they face in managing their inventory and transactions and are forming a research team of experienced researchers and/or advanced graduate students. The team will interact with each other, Cooler's senior management, as well as a handful of senior managers from the companies with which we'll be working.
Key qualifications include prior knowledge of (and preferably, experience in) climate change, calculating carbon footprints, excellent quantitative abilities including demonstrated mastery of Excel and statistical software, some knowledge of Input-Output analysis and/or process-based lifecycle analysis, and excellent writing and presentation skills.
If you are available 15 hours/week or more and interested, please e-mail a resume, writing sample, and 2 references to dan@climatecooler.com
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Toxic Chemical Identification Volunteer
About 5 years ago, a diverse group of individuals including staff from several State agencies, colleges and non-profits created a committee to improve the safety of high school science laboratories. A regulation was promulgated restricting the use of over 800 hazardous chemicals in schools. The Committee obtained a small amount of grant funding to help schools remove any of these 800 chemicals as well as other chemicals that were unwanted.
To get the funding, schools had to provide us with inventories and identify which chemicals were slated for disposal. These disposal inventory data could be the basis for a student project. About half these data were entered into a simple EXCEL spreadsheet.
Currently, no one conducts compliance checks to ensure these chemicals haven't reappeared in schools science labs. It is impractical to ask our community partners (e.g., fire marshal) to check against a list of 800 chemicals. A student could help by completing the data entry for the chemical disposal inventories, and identifying those that are most common, most flammable, most toxic. These identified chemicals could be part of a fact sheet on the topic, to engage partners in performing compliance checks.
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Field Intern for Watershed Monitoring, Guerrero State - Southern Mexico
The EcoLogic Development Fund is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to bottom-up, participatory conservation and development in Latin America. Its mission is to advance conservation of threatened ecosystems in rural areas, where poverty is extreme, by promoting sustainable livelihoods that affirm local cultures and by strengthening community participation in natural resource management. The intern will serve EcoLogic’s partner, the Regional Council for the Sierra de Guerrero, and a team of Mexican (and potentially US-based) university professors/professionals to engage rural communities upstream of Acapulco, Mexico in watershed characterization, monitoring, and conservation planning along the Papagayo River. This is an opportunity to bring fresh ideas to an exciting project and learn from local communities about development and conservation issues.
Prior to assignment in Mexico, the intern should spend at least one forty hour work week assembling samples of available forms/methods to assist in basic data collection, descriptive river analysis, river bank analysis, and wildlife & stream corridor conditions and establish contact with Mexican university counterparts through EcoLogic’s Regional Office management team. The intern will then travel to southern Mexico and work as part of a team to build a constituency for the protection and management of two microwatersheds within the larger Papagayo River watershed. The intern is charged with collecting baseline data, which includes determining point and non-point pollution sources, locating erosion-prone areas and identifying critical habitat, and other information/indicators that emerge as relevant as the work unfolds. The intern is expected to work with university counterparts to help design a water monitoring program; help support the training of teams of local foresters and community council leaders; support action planning with local participants for watershed cleanup that encourages alternatives to poor land use practices; and author a report on the status of the river/streams to share with local constituents, EcoLogic, and others. The intern will also bring back photos and other firsthand data to EcoLogic’s Cambridge headquarters as well as generate a document for EcoLogic which accurately describes the social, geographical, and institutional framework of the watershed to assist EcoLogic in its efforts to restore the Papagayo River. Ideally, the intern will make a presentation to EcoLogic staff and supporters in Cambridge at the conclusion of the internship.
Job Location: Guerrero, Mexico and Cambridge, MA
Compensation: Small stipend, travel expenses, and basic lodging provided by EcoLogic
Hours: No less than a total of 500 hours (Field work will be 6 days per wk, 10 to 16 hours per day)
Duration: 2 months in summer 2008, potential 1-2 week return trip in Dec. 08/Jan. 09
Start Date: As soon as possible
Contact Name: David Kramer
Title: Program Officer, Institutional Development
Address: 25 Mount Auburn Street, Suite 203 Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone Number: (617) 441-6300
Email: internships@ecologic.org
Submit cover letter, resume and contact information for two references.
How to Apply: Email or mail application materials
Nondiscrimination Policy: yes
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Employment Opportunity with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Energy Star Commercial and Industrial Branch
Program Analyst, Washington, D.C.
GS 11/12/13: $54,272 - $100,554 per year
EPA’s ENERGY STAR Commercial and Industrial Branch seeks an energetic individual to help design and implement creative approaches to improving energy efficiency in commercial and industrial buildings. He or she would be responsible for a range of analytical efforts to support this highly successful program that works with buildings in diverse sectors including commercial real estate, hospitality, retail, healthcare, education, and government. Duties include, among many others, providing assistance to building partners in the use of ENERGY STAR technical tools.
For more information about the ENERGY STAR commercial buildings program, visit http://www.energystar.gov and select “Buildings & Plants.” To express interest in this position, please send a resume and cover letter to Leavia Wright by e-mail (wright.leavia@epa.gov). NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.
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Intern Position Available
U.S. Department of Justice
Environment and Natural Resources Division
Law and Policy Section
The Law and Policy Section (LPS) advises and assists the Assistant Attorney General on legal and policy issues. Working with the Office of Legislative Affairs, LPS coordinates the Environment and Natural Resources Division's legislative program. LPS also represents the Department of Justice on interagency groups of a variety of issues that relate to the mission of the Division. LPS also litigates amicus cases and undertakes other specially assigned litigation projects at the trial and appellate levels. Other duties include monitoring citizen suits; responding to citizen mail, congressional, and FOIA requests; and serving as the Division's ethics officers. LPS attorneys also coordinate the Division's activities on international environmental matters and environmental justice matters.
Duties of the unpaid undergraduate intern position include: attending congressional hearings and reporting on environmental legislation; researching legal and policy issues; and providing support for the section's amicus litigation. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, pass a mandatory background check, and be willing to commit for a period of at least ten weeks. Applicants should be either enrolled as undergraduates during the internship, or planning on returning to their school in the time period following the conclusion of the internship. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis but must be received no later than the following application deadlines:
- For Fall Internships (Sept- Nov/Dec 2008, dates flexible): July 3, 2008
- For Winter Internships (Jan- Mar 2009, dates flexible): November 7, 2008
To apply, please fax a cover letter, resume, unofficial transcript, and 3-5 page writing sample (may be an excerpt from a longer paper on any topic) to Jacob Lipson at (202) 514-4231, or mail the above to:
Jacob Lipson
Environment and Natural Resources Division / LPS
P.O. Box 4390
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, DC 20044-4390
For more information, please call (202) 305-0641.
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Communities for a Better Environment
Title: Staff Researcher, Los Angeles
Terms: Temporary Part Time (July 1 – December 15, 2008)
Status: Non-Exempt
Reports to: Southern California Program Director
Pay Grade: $20-25/hour (D.O.E)
Effective Date: Immediately
Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) is an environmental health and social justice non-profit organization promoting clean air, clean water and the development of toxin-free communities. The mission of CBE is to achieve environmental health and justice by building grassroots power in and with communities of color and working-class communities. For more information, please visit www.cbecal.org.
The Staff Researcher will carry out various research tasks necessary to support CBE’s environmental justice campaigns. The Staff Researcher will work in teams with other CBE researchers, organizers, attorneys, and community members towards realizing the strategic goals of CBE. Pending future funding, the position may become permanent and/or full time upon completion of this term.
Undergraduate or graduate degree in Environmental Studies, Urban Planning, Public Policy, Geography, Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Public Health or other related fields in social and/or physical sciences.
Requires previous work-related or university level research experience
Solid understanding of and commitment to social justice
Ability to engage a broad spectrum of people representing various social, cultural and professional backgrounds
To apply, send résumé with cover letter and include three references with phone numbers. Send email to bfazeli@yahoo.com and/or mail to the address below:
Communities for a Better Environment
Attn. Bahram Fazeli, Research & Policy Analyst
5610 Pacific Boulevard #203
Huntington Park, CA 90255
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Please send questions, comments and stories to:
CES Newsletter Editor, Marie-Laure Couët
marie-laure_couet@brown.edu
Thanks!