The two hand-shaped maps of the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan cup the hydrological corridor that links Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The whip-sawed waters of this passageway contain some of the mightiest currents in the Great Lakes, which intermittently thrash around a volume of water ten-times that which flows over Niagara Falls. The powerful Straits of Mackinac reach a 3.5-mile distance at their widest width and a 295-foot range at their deepest depth.
In this episode of It’s Hot In Here, we catch up with some SNRE students who attended the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. a few weeks ago.
Hosts Malavika and Chris sat down with special guests Jillian and Emily to talk about attending the march, the aftermath of it, and how they want to keep the discussion going.
With topics including from environmental justice in the new administration, feminism, and what it means to be a part of a movement, this is a must-hear episode for anyone who considers themselves socially conscious.
We hope you enjoy this edition of It’s Hot in Here, and keep tuning in Fridays at noon on 88.3 WCBN-FM Ann Arbor!
This week, in honor of Martin Luther King Day, “It’s Hot in Here” brings you in-depth discussion of the state of diversity in the environmental movement and the University of Michigan. We kicked off the show with a brief review of the findings of the recently released report, “The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations: Mainstream NGOs, Foundations, and Government Agencies,” spearheaded by Dr. Dorceta Taylor (SNRE) and the Green 2.0 Working Group.
Guests Beatriz Canas and Samantha Shattuck talk us through the implications of the report’s conclusion that, despite increasing racial diversity in the US, minorities remain underrepresented across the spectrum of environmental organizations. As a result, diversity tends to decrease as responsibility increases, with the “Green Insiders Club” remaining overwhelmingly white. Continue reading Diversity Matters: The State of the Environmental Movement→
Today’s show was about how to end the war against the planet! We brought together activists from the 1960’s anti-war movement and the modern environmental movement to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the first Teach-In against the Vietnam War right here at the Univeristy of Michigan in 1965. In the studio our hosts, Sam Molnar and Andrea Kraus were joined by guests; Tom Hayden, Richard Mann, Ellen Loubert, and Joanna Theilin. Our mission was to find out what can the young learn from the elders? What can the elders can learn from the young? And how to stop war and climate change in one fall of the axe.
On this week’s show, our hostsRebecca Hardin, Whitney Smith and Nicholas Bruscato discussed Growing Authentic Leaders from Communities Most Impacted by Environmental Injustice and Climate Changewith the distinguished Dr. Robert Bullard– “The Father of Environmental Justice” and current Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University.
What is Environmental Justice?
Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies (Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). The Principles of Environmental Justice can be viewed here
It is 2015 and we are back! To kick off the new year on It’s Hot in Here, our hosts Rebecca Hardin and Sam Molnar discussed Agroecology with Dr. Marney Isaac, Assisant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Agroecosystems & Development at the University of Toronto.
Bio:Dr. Marney Isaac, Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Agroecosystems & Development, conducts interdisciplinary research on plant strategies and the nutrient economy of agroecological systems while concurrently charting the human dimension of agroecosystem management. Her research provides mechanistic insights into the ecological principles, nutrient cycles, and plant-soil interactions that govern the structure and function of agricultural landscapes, with particular attention on identification of strategies for environmental services, system resilience and sustainable livelihoods. Her research approach makes use of a diverse set of technical tools and employs various temporal and spatial scales: from mechanistic manipulative trials at the rhizosphere scale to large agroecosystem dynamics. She also supervises an international research program investigating agrarian management networks and environmental governance, with an emphasis on understanding innovation in large social-agroecological systems. She has published widely in environmental science, agronomic and multi-disciplinary journals including Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Agronomy for Sustainable Development and Ecology and Society.
In addition to agroecology, we followed up with the SNRE MS students after their trip to Peru for the international climate negotiations at the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP20) in Lima, Peru. The SNRE students that we had on the show included second-year graduate students from the School of Natural Resources and Environment COP20 student delegation. We discussed their exciting experiences at one of the most prominent climate talks in the world.
Our show this week maintained a theme of innovation and taking new approaches to protect the environment and manage land. This segment was a wonderful start to the new year and we are excited for all that 2015 has to offer.
We start off the show with an old feature, “What’s in season?”, and discussions of kale, squash, fresh herbs and even some late-season tomatoes! Sam Molnar, second-year Environmental Informatics and Environmental Justice master’s student at the School of Natural Resources and Environment, joins us for the show and tells us about a vegan squash soup he made recently. Sam lets us in on his recipe (that sounds amazing) so as Rebecca advised us, “squash soup it up, people!” Continue reading Environmental Contamination in Iraq→
In September of 2013 (just as the ’13-’14 season of It’s Hot In Here was kicking off) Traverse City-based oil and gas company West Bay Exploration performed seismic tests west of Ann Arbor to map out potential sites for oil extraction. Eight months later, 300 people stood side by side to partake in an informational forum on oil exploration in Scio Township. As West Bay actively seeks out the necessary mineral leases from Scio homeowners in order to drill, concerned residents are uniting to learn about oil leasing and empower fellow homeowners to fully explore their options before turning over drilling rights to the company. Continue reading Michigan Black Gold (Season Finale)→
Growing Hope, an Ypsilanti-based nonprofit, helps people improve their lives and communities through gardening and healthy food access. Using a strengths-based approach, the Growing Hope team works to build peoples’ capacity to use community and school gardens as vehicles for positive social, economic, environmental and neighborhood change. They advocate for healthy food, manage an urban farmers’ market, and train youth and adults to make positive investments in their future.
“It doesn’t take much reading about current events to find articles detailing the plight of migratory songbirds and butterflies like monarchs. Due to a variety of circumstances, but especially the loss of suitable feeding and breeding habitat, numbers have dropped significantly and there is no reason to believe that that course will be reversed unless we do something about it.
Fortunately, individual property owners can do something about it. Using a variety of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants in your yard will help to provide resting and feeding spots for these critters, even if your yard is small.Continue reading Growing Our Native Knowledge→
