Robert Johnson joined NOVA in October 2012 as the College’s first Environmental Sustainability Officer.  He is focused on developing a Sustainability Strategy for the College, completing its first greenhouse gas inventory, implementing projects to reduce the College’s carbon footprint, and educating future generations about environmental sustainability. He was most recently a Department of Defense contractor in the DC area focused on air and missile defense analysis for the U.S. Navy.  Prior to that, he served in the Navy for 5 years.  As a graduate student intern and research assistant, he assisted George Mason’s Office of Sustainability in completing their first Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Climate Action Plan.  He has a breadth of experience in project management, data analysis, modeling and simulation, environmental education, and sustainability initiatives.  He holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics from the United States Naval Academy and a Master’s of Science in Environmental Science and Policy from George Mason University.

“Do you practice what you preach?”

That was one of the questions from the audience at Northern Virginia Community College’s (NOVA’s) 5^th Annual Climate Change Symposium.  Held this year on Earth Day, it was my first such symposium.  I am the College’s 1^st Environmental Sustainability Officer, (I started last October) and was happy to see that this, among others, was a recurring event.

(from left to right) Joe Witte, Bonnie, Ram, Joan Rohlfs, and Jim Lyon address questions at NOVA’s Climate Change Symposium
Photo Credit: Rob Johnson

We had four speakers from the area:

- Joe Witte, an accomplished meteorologist

- Jim Lyon, National  Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Vice President of Conservation Policy

- Joan Rohlfs, Environmental Resources Program Director, Metropolitan Washington Council on Governments (MWCOG), and

- Bonnie Ram, President of Ram Power, LLC and Associate Director & Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Carbon-Free Power Integration (UDEL)

Keeping with the local theme, each spent a few minutes talking about climate change within their areas of expertise and how it would impact the local, DC-Baltimore metro region. They highlighted sea-level rise; more rapid warming because of ice-melt; species, habitat, and biodiversity loss; increasingly catastrophic weather events; and public health issues all caused or significantly influenced by changing climate. Despite a dire outlook, they were hopeful that the understanding of climate science and development of science-based technology solutions would help reduce future greenhouse gas emission to them lessen or reverse the impacts of climate change.

An audience of about 125 students, staff, and faculty listened, and watched, Joe Witte talk about climate change science and human impact.  Then, Jim Lyon talked about federal policies, or lack thereof, improving land-use and building policies, and using community colleges as centers of excellence for hands-on learning, demonstrations, and training.  With Jim’s comments as intro, Joan Rohlfs addressed the role of local governments, individuals’ influence on those governments and their representatives, and the need to enact real changes on the ground, like installing electric vehicle charging stations to reduce commuting emissions.  Finally, Bonnie Ram provided ideas about how to start a social transformation and systemic overhaul to create a renewable energy future.

Joe Witte uses an inflatable globe to talk about climate science
Photo credit: Rob Johnson

Earth Day’s been around my whole life, but this is the 1^st year I can say I’m working to do what I hope Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes intended when they started this in 1970.  With this Symposium, and other events like it, I hope that NOVA will become a go-to source for climate change education, practical ideas for what we can do to reduce our climate impact, and a training hotbed for future solvers of climate issues especially as we continue to become more aware of our environmental impact.

“The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent NOVA’s positions, strategies or opinions.”

Photo by Axel Ramirez

We are happy to announce our 2013 call for proposals for our Campus Ecology Fellowships (open to current undergrad and graduate students) as well as our NEW Emerging Leader Fellowships (open to young professionals age 21-35). Fellows serve a 15 month term and are awarded a $2,000 stipend. To learn more and access application materials visit NWF.org/fellows. Applications are due March 31, 2013. 

Student fellows have organized town hall forums to discuss the local effects of energy practices, initiated composting programs, conducted educational outreach, created campus and community bike programs and reintroduced native plant species on and around their campuses (to name a few). NWF’s Campus Ecology Fellowship program has provided students with the tools necessary to tackle conservation issues while fostering leadership development.

Reflecting on her Fellowship experience, Emma Gaalaas Mullaney, a 2005 Campus Ecology Fellow at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, had the following to say:

 The NWF Campus Ecology Fellowship gave me one of my first opportunities to take a formal leadership role in political debates about environmental issues that I was studying in school. It was a formative moment in applying my passions for research and activism in service of a lifelong dedication to the health of social and ecological justice.

To build on the success and momentum of the Campus Ecology Fellowship program, this year  NWF’s Emerging Leaders Initiative has teamed up with Campus Ecology to offer an extension to NWF’s Campus Ecology Fellows Program to include a young professionals track. The new Emerging Leaders Fellowship track will offer Fellowships to post-graduate, young professionals (ages 21-35) interested in career development and leadership opportunities within the conservation movement. Young professionals interested in career development and leadership building opportunities will apply to be part of this 15-month program. Throughout the fellowship term, selected applicants will be provided with leadership opportunities through NWF and our state affiliates, seed funding for their entrepreneurial efforts, additional leadership and skills training, and a diverse support network of peers and mentors.

Photo by Ian Johnson

To apply for either of these programs, visit NWF.org/fellows>>

“Outsiders” at the San Francisco Outdoor Nation Summit 2012
Photo Credit: Outdoor Nation

At the San Francisco summit, Patricia Tillmann, an Emerging Leader working as a Research Associate at NWF in the Seattle office described the training as “youth engagement done right”. Patricia had this to say about what went well for her:
“For me, the North Face Ambassadors were really inspiring. We had a campfire in the evening and the Ambassadors humbly shared their stories. Most of them came from at-risk backgrounds and shared exceptionally powerful stories about the role of nature in turning their lives around. I felt very emotional during their stories and reconnected to the positive power of nature in all our lives. “

Patricia’s group devised a project idea that will be funded by Outdoor Nations. Her project mission is to inspire a lifetime in the outdoors and bridge the gap between interest and action – one video at a time. They will accomplish this by increasing youth access to the outdoors by creating and showing a video of their favorite outdoor activities to high school students (at least 1,750 students in the first year). They will also create pamphlets with information on gear rental, training, and excursions, emphasizing free and low-cost options in their area.

Photo Credit: Outdoor Nation

“The weekend focused on devising a plan for encouraging outdoor activities and the attendees represented a very diverse mix of public and private groups who all helped with the envisioning process. More importantly, the event was very helpful to my diverse group of students from three colleges; it encouraged collaboration and introduced them to the larger movements beyond their campuses.”

Overall, the ELC Outdoor Nation participants enjoyed their weekend with fellow outsiders. Many of them are already considering bringing a new delegation of outdoor enthusiast to a summit next year!

Blog by Jacquie Ayala, Florida Organizer, Southern Energy Network

Wow. What an incredible weekend.

Over 300 young people converged at Florida A&M University for the Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference (SSREC) this weekend, coming together to learn the skills they need to fight big polluters and take action on climate change in their campuses and communities. Young clean energy activists from all over the southeast converged to learn from each other through a series of workshops, speakers, and trainings, and to share with their communities all over the region.

But it didn’t stop there.

We knew this year was a special year right away. Not only was SSREC being hosted in Tallahassee, Florida – the Capitol of a very important swing state – but this year’s SSREC had a renewed energy and spirit that you could feel in the air. With the help of the incredible FAMU Green Coalition, climate activists at SSREC organized an amazing march and rally to call on the candidates to break the silence on climate change and promote true clean energy solutions.

The march started with a rally on the FAMU campus, where we called on each other to take what we’ve learned and go back to our communities to take action for climate justice. Once we were riled up, we marched the streets downtown to the Florida Supreme Court, where an important hearing on the future of nuclear in Florida would be decided. Floridians and activists from the Southeast rallied at the Court to say that nuclear is NOT the solution to the climate crisis, and what we need is SOLAR in the Sunshine State.

When we, the youth voters, arrived at the State Capitol, we put masks over our mouths to represent the “climate silence” and then ripped them off to declare that the youth vote will “Break The Climate Silence” and demand President Obama and Mitt Romney break the silence too by laying out climate plans that move us beyond fossil fuels, to clean energy.

And it gets even more epic than that. Not only did we break the silence on climate change, but while we were on the steps of the State Capitol, we asked an important question, and want the moderator of the second presidential debates to ask it too. “Young people in Florida, and across the country, are working to move beyond dirty energy like coal, fracking & nuclear — what will your administration do to move beyond fossil fuels and address our generation’s greatest challenge, the climate crisis?”

So here’s where you come in: VOTE for our question before Tuesday – let’s take this debate into our OWN hands. We did it at SSREC, but now we’ve got to come together as a movement. Let’s do this!

The guide is designed to take students behind the curtains of American politics and policy development to shed light on the handful of fossil fuel-based companies that are pouring money into Congress and the media in an attempt to undermine America’s ability to confront the climate change crisis.

The report describes how the energy industry bankrolls the campaigns of incumbent Congressional representatives holding key energy and environment committee assignments. The guide also covers how political action committees (PACs), super PACs, so-called nonprofit “social welfare groups” and other entities contribute to campaigns and run independent expenditure ads, some without public disclosure of donors. 

This guide also puts out a call to action for students to push back against the huge influence of big oil, gas and coal money and demanding a clean and just energy future by staying informed, learning about the positions their elected officials take and their votes on key environmental and energy legislation and asking that they stop taking handouts from the dirty energy industry.

Report highlights include:

• A closer look at how the fossil fuel industry influences U.S. energy policy
• Top Congressional funders from the oil and gas industry
• What students can do to take action

The report is being released in conjunction with Energy Action Coalition’s Power Vote National Day of Action on which students and youth activists across the country will join together in calling for the end of dirty money political contributions by big polluters. More than 50 events, including rallies and voter registration drives, have been registered on the Power Vote website, and thousands have signed the Power Vote pledge promising to vote for a clean energy future in this election.

“Young voters are mobilizing in record numbers with the Power Vote campaign to use their people power to confront Big Polluters’ dirty money and demand the clean energy and climate solutions that our generation needs,” said Maura Cowley, Executive Director of Energy Action Coalition, the youth coalition running Power Vote.

Since its inception in 1989, NWF’s Campus Ecology program has earned respect as a national leader in the campus sustainability and climate action movement.

Check out more resources for students at CampusEcology.org.

This years’ Annual Meeting Emerging Leader Delegation stemmed from NWF’s larger Emerging Leaders Engagement Initiative which was launched at last year’s 75th Annual Meeting with the Young Leaders Assembly. The goal for the Delegation this year was to have a smaller group of Emerging Leaders, who have an existing relationship with their state affiliate,  to more fully integrate them into the business of the Annual Meeting and adopt further leadership roles within their affiliates in the future.

2012 NWF Annual Meeting Emerging Leaders Delegation

The Emerging Leaders Delegation this year were an impressive group of young leaders eager to continue forging their path in the conservation/environmental movement. They are full of energy and passion and we look forward to continuing to engage them in NWF’s important work.

Look for personal posts for our Emerging Leaders coming soon!

Youth Panel Speaks at White House Youth Sustainability Challenge Launch

The Challenge opened on May 2 and closes on June 1, 2012, in the lead up to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development that month. Through the online video challenge, the Obama Administration is calling on young people to tell the world what they are doing on their campuses and in their communities to foster sustainability and help create “an America built to last.” Winning videos will  be shown at the Rio+20 Conference and winners will be recognized at an exclusive White House event.

At the White House launch, a panel of senior-level government officials spoke about the importance of youth taking action. They stressed that young people have the power to help shape a sustainable future and that as future leaders, young people’s innovation, creativity, and mastery of new connection technologies can help demonstrate the fundamental link between economic, social and environmental progress.

Bob Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency remarked that “America’s youth have the power to inspire their communities,” and he called on young people to “challenge the U.S. and the world to do more.”

A panel of local college student leaders also spoke at the launch, telling of their experiences being change-leaders on campus. They stressed that sustainability is the defining challenge of this generation, and that the key to creating change is working with others, knowing how you fit into the puzzle and how others do as well.

You can view a video from the launch event on YouTube, here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I was happy to participate in the conference on behalf of Campus Ecology and present a workshop with my colleague Jen Fournelle on “Linking Campus Sustainability to Hands-On Training.” Through our presentation, we showcased four specific examples of how campus sustainability efforts are offering opportunities for students to gain valuable hands-on skills training.

image credit: Lansing Community College

For LCC students, this represents an important opportunity for a true hands-on laboratory in planning and executing sustainable construction practices. The Technical Careers Division at LCC is focusing on more project- and problem-based learning and this effort is a step in that direction. This project also elevates LCC in the community, and demonstrates what is possible when academia, government, and non-profits collaborate.

This year alone, the project will involve over 300 LCC students in hands-on learning and the program has the means to continue to be a part of the curriculum in the future, as long as there are homes in the area that are eligible for the project.

image credit: Lansing Community College

Our full presentation on Linking Campus Sustainability to Hands-on Training will be available on the Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference website.

Conference participants take part in solar tour at University of Minnesota, Morris.

This past weekend, the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability, UMACS, held its 5^th Annual regional conference, Creating Change Together. The event brought together 180 students, faculty and staff from two dozen campuses in three states: Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa with the focus of forging new partnerships, expanding diversity, and using campuses as teaching tools and learning laboratories for campus sustainability. The two day conference included roughly 50 presentations by students, faculty and staff including topics around renewable energy, sustainability curriculum, climate neutrality, and how to use social and traditional media to further campus and community sustainability.

National Wildlife Federation has supported campus innovation and student leadership through Campus Ecology in the Midwest continuously for over two decades and in that tradition had a strong presence at this year’s conference. Julian Keniry, Campus Ecology’s Senior Director of Campus and Community Leadership, was one of the two  keynote speakers, presenting on “Why Campuses will anchor community sustainability and resilience in the 21^st Century: Reflections on Priorities Moving Forward” and also led and open meeting session on civic engagement strategies that tie campus sustainability to the regional policy process. Juliana Goodlaw-Morris, Campus Ecology’s Field Manager, served as a lead coordinator of this year and last year’s conference and is also an important fixture in UMACS and the Midwest Campus Sustainability scene.

Another key player in this year’s conference was Joseph Hartmann, a 2011 Campus Ecology Fellow from the University of Minnesota, Morris. The focus of Joseph’s Fellowship was to help facilitate the conference as well as to incorporate a green energy tour into the conference as an introduction to the Green Ambassadors program, a student led program that will provide students, community members, and visitors with an in depth perspective of the sustainability project development at Morris, especially their renewable energy work. About 10 potential ambassadors are in training to conduct the tours. Joseph will use the Fellowship specifically to develop, refine, and codify the green tour protocol.

Campus Ecology's Julian Keniry, Keynote at 2011 UMACS Conference

To learn more about UMACS, and their annual conference, visit: www.UMACS.org

Learn more about Campus Ecology Midwest Climate Action Networks, here.

NWF’s Campus Ecology Program and affiliate Indiana Wildlife Federation (IWF) have joined forces to support a Fellow to help promote IWF’s Phosphorus-Free Campaign within the higher Ed system in Indiana.

Katherine Wright, IWF’s first Campus Ecology Fellow, is a senior at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN majoring in Biology with a minor in French.

As the NWF- Indiana Affiliate Fellow, Kate is working to unite students, faculty, and staff at local Indiana universities and colleges to establish a network of support for the phosphorus-free campaign, leading to legislative action. The Indiana Wildlife Federation campaign focuses on education and advocacy to restrict phosphorus in an effort to conserve local wildlife habitats and improve drinking water quality in Indiana. Kate’s Fellowship began in May of 2010 and will continue until May 2011.

Kate has researched colleges and universities in the region and their commitment to environmental efforts, ultimately creating a target list of 21 institutions in which IWF has communicated their phosphorus initiative with and opened a dialogue of information sharing and guidance for the universities looking to improve their current grounds-keeping efforts to incorporate phosphorus-friendly practices.

In addition to outreach, Kate has been crafting a Campus Plan that outlines five main categories for campus grounds sustainability – lawn maintenance (including fertilizers), pesticides and herbicides, water conservation and recycling, native plants, and removal of invasive plants. The Plan is formatted along the lines of the LEED certification program for buildings, in that in order to achieve each level of certification; a school must complete a certain number of initiatives from multiple categories.

Most recently, Kate has been reaching out to student environmental organizations at each of the target schools and communicating with them about the P-Free Campaign in a hope to get students interested in encouraging their administrators and grounds keeping staff to adopt more sustainable lawn care practices.

Finally, Kate hopes to see a relationship between these schools and IWF grow because of the work of the campaign, she notes that as a student she “did not know much about IWF before applying for this fellowship, and as a member of a student environmental organization I wish I had known about and utilized the IWF earlier. I see the P-Free Campaign as a way to connect environmentally minded students with the resources and experience provided by established environmental organizations in Indiana, hopefully leading to more effective campaigns within schools to increase campus sustainability.”

Kate Wright, NWF Indiana Affiliate Fellow

Kate serves as treasurer of DePauw’s Environmental club and editor of “Green Piece” for DePauw’s literary magazine, The Cauldron. Katherine participated in a study-abroad program in Madagascar where she was able to study environmental topics with local experts, performed ecological field research and carried out an independent study project on conservation and local communities. Katherine also served as DePauw’s Environmental Policy Project Intern where she compiled information on Indiana legislators and legislative history, researched state-specific environmental issues with a focus on green building and confined feeding operations and testified at the Indiana State House and met with Indiana legislators to discuss environmental issues.