Three members of the Ithaca College community were invited to present on Ithaca College; sustainability education program at the International Forum on Education for Sustainable Development, held from October 16-18th 2011, in Beijing, China. Dr. Susan Allen-Gil, professor and chair of the department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Dr. Susan Swensen, professor and chair of the department of Biology, and Marian Brown, special assistant to the provost for sustainability, represented Ithaca College and the United States at this prestigious international gathering of educators for sustainable development. This international forum - held every two years in the Asia-Pacific region - is part of the ongoing outreach and progress reporting process for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), which is overseen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  The Ithaca College delegation was invited to present a series of three linked presentations on our innovative; Committed to Change” program of sustainability education. Dr. Swensen spoke about faculty development; Brown presented on applied learning opportunities; and Dr. Allen-Gil discussed our domestic and international partnerships, including those with EcoVillage at Ithaca, Living Routes, the Center for Ecological Living and Learning (CELL) as well as offering ideas for future development of  our program. The three IC talks were consecutively translated into Mandarin Chinese for the benefit of the forum attendees. The Ithaca College delegation was the only group representing the United States at this international forum, and one of only two delegations from North America. During their visit, the Ithaca team visited the Liu Yi Primary school in Beijing, a showcase for; low carbon & sustainability education in primary grades. This marked the first time this school had entertained any international visitors, so the Ithaca team received very special attention from the entire staff and study body, with the grade-schoolers offering recycling and creative reuse demonstrations, as well as musical, dance and athletic performances.

Back in April of this year, marked the publication of a book called Citizenship Across the Curriculum. The book urges higher education institutions to implement civic engagement into their coursework while in the process making it a priority for study in every discipline. IC history professor, Michael Smith, co-edited the book with a few other professors from other universities. He also authored one of the chapters called Local Environmental History and the Journey to Ecological Citizenship. Head here to purchase the book and read some reviews on it. Kudos Professor Smith!

In partnership with AASHE, the Greening of the Campus conference took place in Indiana in late September.

"This interdisciplinary conference allows people representing diverse areas in university communities to share information on environmental issues. These areas range from the practical day-to-day management of the physical plant to "green" curriculum development and "green" utilization of campus resources. The areas are bound by common concerns for achieving environmental soundness through safe and sane management of resources. The campus community can become a "green" model for society as a whole by gathering and sharing this information."*

Our very own Stephanie Piech was there representing our campus! She presented on sustainability in dining services from an interns perspective. Topics she covered were going trayless, energy audits and compost initiatives, and how student groups and interns have taken part in making these things happen.  She also mentioned some of our resource management groups like REMP for their work on campus and SWIFT for their work with the food shelters. Great Work Steph!

*taken from the GOCVIII website.

Sarah Araldi '11 is featured on the Humanities and Sciences School website for her work as an intern with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). As the agency's market and marketing support intern, Sarah was tasked with writing much of the agency's new website and was able to contribute to energy campaigns being implemented all over the state. In addition, she worked has worked at IC on a student team to design cost-effective rain barrels for water conservation, and is pursuing her interests in environmental planning and urban design - all while minoring in art history!

Article Highlight:

"Sometimes, 13 can be a lucky number.

Ithaca College was the 13th -- and last -- school that Sarah Araldi visited during the college application process. Sarah, an environmental science major who hails from Westerlo, a town of 3,400 near Albany, wasn't sure whether she wanted to even stay in New York State at all. 'But,' she says, 'once I got here I fell in love -- with the campus, the city, the people -- everything just felt right.'"

Michael "Bodhi" Rogers, Associate Professor of Physics, received an NSF Award for Noninvasive Study of Late Bronze Age Cities in Cyrprus. Using equipment obtained by Ithaca College from a previous NSF grant, this collaborative project will conduct three, four-week sessions of geophysical surveying at two important Late Bronze Age urban centers in south-central Cyprus: Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios and Maroni. Combined with digital mapping and 3D modeling of previously excavated architecture, this work will allow the researchers to assemble complete urban plans of these sites.

This will significantly expand the dataset of Late Bronze Age architecture and, by applying analytical methods such as access and visibility analyses, provide unprecedented new insights into how the new urban environments organized social interactions that supported or undermined broader social structures.

In addition, the project will develop a geographic information system-based database of architectural and archaeological data that will be made available to any interested parties on the project website. The project will also further the development of collaborative training opportunities in archaeological geophysics for students from Cornell University, Ithaca College, and the University of Cyprus.

The results of this research will be broadly applicable as its methods and objectives are interdisciplinary in design and scope, combining social archaeology with physics, environmental psychology, architecture, planning, and urban geography. The work will be widely disseminated in a variety of media, including peer-reviewed journals, major conferences, public lectures and a project website which will serve as an important research tool. In addition, the project will forge international collaboration with research institutions on Cyprus, including the Cyprus Institute and the University of Cyprus.

Given the current importance of understanding the dynamic effects of cities on ever-growing urban populations, the research brings some much-needed time depth and historical perspective to this issue. Ultimately, this project has the potential to shed new light on a transformative period in the Cypriot past while at the same time enhancing the infrastructure for scientific research and providing several students with exciting opportunities in experiential learning.

Congrats Michael!