UM has decided to go carbon neutral, and the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality (the PCCN) is charged with recommending a plan to accomplish that for all three UM campuses (Ann Arbor, Dearborn, & Flint). The PCCN was announced in Fall 2018, and December 2, 2019 marked the arrival of its second Interim Progress Report. This week, hosts Isabelle Brogna and Prachiti Dhamankar figure out what’s in the report and what the PCCN has accomplished so far by speaking with Kristen Hayden and Larson Lovdal, students from the University of Michigan who serve on the PCCN. Kristen is on the Student Advisory Panel as well as a member of Climate Action Movement, a coalition group pushing UM to set an ambitious deadline for carbon neutrality and holding it accountable. Larson is on the “Energy Consumption Policies” Internal Analysis Team, one of eight such teams on the PCCN determining where carbon emissions are emitted on campus, how the school can offset or eliminate them, and under what deadline. The conversation ranges from the surprising effect of natural gas leaks on campus emissions, to the impact of DTE’s decision to go carbon neutral by 2050, transparency and accountability concerns, and a detour to talk about composting toilets.
This week, the five co-chairs of the upcoming Community of Food, Society, and Justice Conference joined host Bella Isaacs to talk about what attendees can expect from that conference, which will take place on Friday, October 18 and feature keynote speaker Tracie McMillan, lunch prepared with produce from the campus farm, and four panels that will “explore the multiple definitions of soil, seeds, farmers, and food.” Those interested are also encouraged to attend a talk given by environmental artist Lauren Bon on Thursday, October 17 as part of the Penny Stamps Speaker Series. Click here to find the conference’s full schedule. Continue reading The Community of Food, Society, and Justice Conference→
In this episode, we spoke with movers and shakers in Southeast Michigan’s local food and land conservation scene. With the 8th Annual Homegrown Local Food Summit recently behind us, we discussed its growth over the years, and its developing importance to the community. Lindsey Scelera shared with us some of this year’s food victories as well as the victories that have come about in years past, including current Ann Arbor staples like Mark’s Carts. Keith Soster tells us more about U-M’s goals for locally sourced food and what they’re doing to get there, as well as how students can get involved.
We also learned about the importance of preserving Michigan farmland and helping our threatened farmers with succession and business planning to hand their farms off to the next generation of food growers, instead of losing them to development. Legacy Land Conservancy is just beginning a program called FarmNext to accomplish just that.
Join Keith Soster, Director of Student Engagement for UM Dining Services, Robin Burke, Land Protection Manager at Legacy Land Conservancy, Lindsey Scalera, MI Farm to Institution Campaign Manager from the Ecology Center, Nathan Wells, Master’s Candidate and food warrior at SNRE, and your hosts, Andrea Kraus and Alex Truelove for the love of food.
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→
This week’s show gave our listeners insight into the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21), a conference of world leaders under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Our hosts, Harry Rice, Ed Waisanen, Bailey Schneider, and Rebecca Hardin were joined in studio by members of the University of Michigan Climate Change Delegation and the ground control team that’s supporting them at the climate negotiations in Paris. We were also joined by V Epshteyn and Ellen Loubertfrom UM Divest and Invest to hear about some local action that is taking place on the University of Michigan campus and in Ann Arbor.
COP 21 just wrapped up its first week in Le Bourget, Paris and will extend until December 11. The goal of the conference is to reach a legally binding and universal agreement to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Over 50,000 participants including government leaders, environmental advocates, NGOs, UN agencies, and academics will be in attendance.
The Michigan Team heading to COP 21
The participants are categorized as negotiators or delegates. Ten University of Michigan and faculty members will participate as delegates. The UM delegates are given the duty to report on what happens at the conference and to ensure that the negotiations are transparent. The UM delegation is part of an elite group of universities that can attend the COP conference. You can follow them on twitter. Continue reading Ceci n’est pas une négociation du climat: the COP Paris Climate Talks→
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
On this week’s show, we discussed current environmental news, climate change with Alexandra (Lexi) Brewer(MS ’15), Tu B’shevat (Birthday of Trees) with Nick Bruscatto (MS ’16), and the SNRE Food Olympics with Rebecca Baylor. We also discussed the upcoming and exciting events happening around SNRE and the University of Michigan!
Today’s show features Jimmy Chin, renowned North Face team Climber and Photographer, Will Weber, Founder of Journeys International and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, and Benjamin Morse, SNRE MSc. student (2016) and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
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.
“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→
