Bard students advocating for the health of Tivoli Bays during the March (Marsh) for Science.
Bard engages in sustainability efforts on multiple fronts.
The College offers an undergraduate concentration in environmental studies, and masters programs in environmental policy, climate science, environmental education and in business. Bard students, faculty, and staff work locally and nationally toward a future where we can thrive. Initiatives coordinated by the Bard Office of Sustainability (BOS) are taking the Annandale campus closer to its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035.
Upcoming Events
1/29
Wednesday
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Online Event
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability -- Virtual Open House
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds virtual open houses for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds virtual open houses for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
During these open houses, prospective students have the opportunity to meet with alumni and faculty from their program of interest. It's the perfect way to connect with the Bard GPS community, and get any questions answered about the student experience directly from those who know it best - the faculty and alumni of the programs.
WHAT WE COVER:
Overview of graduate program offerings
Student experience
Alumni career outcomes
General admissions and financial aid information
A $65 application fee waiver is available to those who participate in the webinar.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds virtual open houses for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds virtual open houses for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
During these open houses, prospective students have the opportunity to meet with alumni and faculty from their program of interest. It's the perfect way to connect with the Bard GPS community, and get any questions answered about the student experience directly from those who know it best - the faculty and alumni of the programs.
WHAT WE COVER:
Overview of graduate program offerings
Student experience
Alumni career outcomes
General admissions and financial aid information
A $65 application fee waiver is available to those who participate in the webinar.
What Is Your Why? Laurie Husted Talks about Sustainability Work on Campus and Off
Why do civic engagement leaders get involved in the work they do? What keeps them going in the face of challenges? In this series, What Is Your Why?, the Bard College Center for Civic Engagement highlights campus and local changemakers. In this episode, Chief Sustainability Officer Laurie Husted talks with Vice President of Civic Engagement Erin Cannan about her roles at Bard and in the Town of Red Hook. She discusses the transformative, newly passed federal climate legislation, and how ocean and climate scientist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson inspires her to find purpose and joy.
What Is Your Why? Laurie Husted Talks about Sustainability Work on Campus and Off
Achieving climate solutions can feel like a daunting task. Where does one start? Read this article from Generation 180, featuring the venn diagram created by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, which Laurie Husted mentioned in her interview.
Bard students prepare a meal at the Montgomery Place Campus for Food Days, one of a series of food sustainability events held at Bard every autumn. Photo by Sarah Wallock ’19
Bard Sustainability by the Numbers
2nd
in the nation for small colleges, compost!
20K lbs
food grown annually on Bard Farm
500+
sustainability kits distributed annually
40%
geothermal heating + cooling on campus
On-Campus, Local + Regional Sustainability Initiatives
Bard College Farm: This student-run organic farm sells produce to Bard Dining, hosts a weekly on campus farm stand in season, works to educate students about food systems, and connects Bard to the local community.
BardEATS: This partnership among Bard students, dining service, faculty, and staff aims to increase food purchasing transparency, reduce waste, promote food access, and support local farms.
Sustainable Communities Program: a working group of Red Hook Together was certified 9/24 in recognition of outstanding efforts to foster environmental awareness and good stewardship
C2C Fellows Network
The C2C Fellows Network at the Bard Center for Environmental Policy involves students across the nation in conversations about climate solutions with elected officials.
Environmental stewardship is a core element of Bard’s emphasis on civic engagement and social responsibility. The College offers rigorous, interdisciplinary training in environmental studies and ensures that all undergraduate students receive science education. Undergraduate and graduate dual-degree programs are available with the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, as are grad programs in environmental policy and environmental education, climate science and policy, and the Bard MBA in Sustainability.
Stevenson Library Converts to Geothermal Heating and Cooling
The library’s geothermal conversion will eliminate burning approximately 14,000 gallons of fuel oil and reduce 127 tons of carbon emissions per year.
Stevenson Library Converts to Geothermal Heating and Cooling
Ribbon-cutting for the Stevenson Library's new geothermal and HVAC system. Photo by Joseph Nartey ’26
Bard celebrates the completion of a major project to convert the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Library’s outdated fossil fuel–fired heating system to a state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling system. A leader and early adopter of geothermal technologies, Bard College has ground source heat exchange systems on campus dating to the 1980s. Almost 50% of buildings on the main campus utilize geothermal technology for heating and cooling, and it is the default for all new construction projects on campus including the north campus residence buildings and the Maya Lin Performing Arts Studio.
The geothermal and HVAC renovation of the 60,000-square-foot Stevenson Library is Bard’s first conversion of an existing building from fossil fuels to geothermal. The College partnered with Brightcore as the turnkey provider of the library project, delivering a full scope of services, from the feasibility and design, drilling and ground loop installation, mechanical connections, incentive procurement, and upon completion, ongoing system performance monitoring. The library’s geothermal conversion will eliminate burning approximately 14,000 gallons of fuel oil and reduce 127 tons of carbon emissions per year. This conversion, along with Bard’s other sustainability-driven initiatives including its commitment to renewable solar and hydro energy, LED lighting, and LEEDs certifications, are significant steps toward fulfilling the College’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
Stevenson Library's new geothermal and HVAC system. Photo by Joseph Nartey ’26
Post Date: 11-26-2024
Film by Steve Bonds-Liptay MS ’10 Valve Turners Wins Climate Action Award
The film asks: “As the climate emergency escalates, at what point should citizens take action into their own hands to protect their families and communities?”
Film by Steve Bonds-Liptay MS ’10 Valve Turners Wins Climate Action Award
Still from Valve Turners. Photo courtest of Climate Film Fest
Valve Turners, a documentary feature film directed and produced by Steve Bonds-Liptay MS ’10, premiered and won the Climate Action Award in this year’s Climate Film Fest. Valve Turners follows a small group of activists from the Pacific Northwest as they turn the valves and halt the flow of five oil pipelines entering the United States from Canada to spotlight the climate emergency. Facing felony charges, they defend their actions as necessary in light of decades of political inaction and urgent warnings from climate scientists. The film festival called Bonds-Liptay’s feature “riveting and incisive.” Bonds-Liptay graduated from Bard’s Graduate Programs in Sustainability with a masters degree in environmental policy.
Post Date: 10-29-2024
Discover Magazine Speaks with Biology Professor Bruce Robertson About Evolutionary Traps
“Traps will cycle populations toward extinction extremely rapidly,” Robertson says. “They’re like demographic black holes.”
Discover Magazine Speaks with Biology Professor Bruce Robertson About Evolutionary Traps
Associate Professor of Biology Bruce Robertson. Photo by Karl Rabe
Evolutionary traps are problems, most often human-created changes to the environment, which animals encounter and are not prepared for through natural selection. For example, toxic plastics that look like food or artificial lights that mimic stars in the night sky but have no navigational value. Animals lack the behavioral tools to handle them and thus make maladaptive choices that make it difficult for them to survive. Discover magazine talks to Bard Associate Professor of Biology Bruce Robertson and cites his research on some of the most concerning evolutionary traps, such as sea turtle hatchlings heading inland instead of into the water due to being confused by beachfront lights or Australian death adders poisoning themselves by preying on non-native toad species. “Traps will cycle populations toward extinction extremely rapidly,” Robertson says. “They’re like demographic black holes.”
