Sustainability News by Date
Results 1-20 of 425 
June 2025
06-10-2025
Joining the platform offers Hudson Valley residents the option to subscribe to “favorite” monitors based on locale. Subscribing enables users to receive updates on their phones when air quality reaches unhealthy pollution levels so people can take precautions and protect their and their family’s health. This feature will also include guidance on ways people can help to reduce local air pollution levels during that time. For example, community members can know when to avoid wood burning or to limit car and other exhaust.
Large swaths of the United States, especially in rural regions like the Hudson Valley, have been identified as air quality monitoring deserts, relying on remote data from monitoring sites, which may be located far from the actual locations where people are living. This can result in misleading data that can be harmful to public health. People make day-to-day decisions that impact their health, like whether to exercise or wear a mask outdoors, based on inaccurate air quality readings.
The new Hudson Valley Community Air Network x JustAir platform provides far more accurate readings using validated, real-time data from Bard College Community Sciences Lab’s four Regional Air Quality Stations located at the Stevenson Library on Bard campus in Red Hook, Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center in Kingston, Adriance Library in Poughkeepsie, and Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh. These stations are equipped with sensors from PurpleAir and QuantAQ which measure particulate matter concentrations in the air. The weather stations also collect weather data on rainfall, barometric pressure, temperature, wind direction, wind speed, and solar radiation.
Each regional air quality station will host a launch event where local community members can join and learn more about the impacts of air pollution on their lives. Event dates and details are listed below.
Since 2020, Bard College Community Sciences Lab has worked to establish Bard’s Hudson Valley Community Air Network (HVCAN), an outdoor air quality monitoring network of 45 street-level sensors spanning from Albany to Newburgh that capture data on a hyperlocal neighborhood level. Through the support of municipal, private, and community sponsors, Bard plans to implement the next phase of the JustAir platform resulting in the complete onboarding of HVCAN’s hyperlocal sensors, which will serve as a model for air quality monitoring that is functional for community needs and free from national-level tampering. The City of Kingston and Ulster County have already committed to sponsoring several street-level sensors, and more municipal involvement across the Hudson Valley is anticipated. The localized data provided through this app will be the first ground truthing—assessing the accuracy of remote sensing data—of air quality in the Hudson Valley.
“Knowledge is power, and access to real-time air quality data gives people the tools they need to protect their health and the health of their families,” said Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger. “This new platform empowers Hudson Valley residents to make informed decisions about their daily activities, whether it’s choosing when to exercise outdoors or taking precautions on high-pollution days. Ulster County is proud to be a partner in this initiative and we look forward to bringing our street-level sensors online so residents can access even more local data. Expanding air quality monitoring across the region is a crucial step toward ensuring cleaner air and a healthier future for all.”
“The City of Kingston has been proud to partner with the Bard College Community Sciences Lab and to host air quality monitors on one of our most prominent buildings in Kingston,” said Julie Noble, Project Manager and Sustainability Coordinator of the City of Kingston. “The new JustAir platform is going to be so valuable to our residents and continues to help us advance our sustainability as well as health and wellness goals for the City.”
“Introducing this seamless public access to real-time outdoor air quality comes after years of unique collaborations between Bard College and Hudson Valley leaders. Although we often don’t think about it, clean air is a precious resource that needs to be protected in the same way we protect our beautiful waterways,” stated Eli Dueker, Associate Professor of Bard Environmental Studies and Director of the Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities. “Bard students and faculty are thrilled to participate in ongoing community work to equitably address both indoor and outdoor air quality in our region – forming the Hudson Valley Community Air Network is a big step in this process.”
“In Newburgh, we face serious environmental challenges and often lack the information needed to protect our health. This platform changes that. It gives our community real-time air quality data so families can make informed decisions. At Outdoor Promise, we believe knowledge leads to action, and this partnership with Bard and JustAir puts that power in the hands of the people,” said Ronald Zorilla, cofounder and CEO of Outdoor Promise in Newburgh.
“The Poughkeepsie Public Library District is thrilled to be part of this important quality-of-life program offered through a collaboration with Bard College. Public libraries play a critical role in providing information, and this is another innovative way in which we can bring the information to our residents,” said Tom Lawrence, director of the Adriance Memorial Library in Poughkeepsie.
“The Just Air app is an exciting next step in our collaborative efforts to protect air quality, residents' health, and the health of our environment,” said Lorraine Farina, coordinator of HVAQ. “During these times of increased wildfire activity, knowledge is increasing that fine particulate matter, from wildfires and from local wood burning, are major challenges to these goals. This app will make it more apparent and easier for people to keep track of their air quality and to recognize we have control of local contributions to poor air quality.”
“We at JustAir are proud to be partnering with Bard College's Community Sciences Lab to publicly launch the Hudson Valley Community Air Network,” said Darren Riley, cofounder and CEO of Just Air. “In this project, our platform will support the work that residents and researchers with the Hudson Valley Air Quality Coalition have been doing in their communities for years. We expect this data will further encourage community science and provide a basis for actions to improve residents’ health. We look forward to where this partnership will lead.”
Bard College Community Sciences Lab’s work is conducted with the idea that academic institutions can be powerful community partners in developing climate resilience locally. One focus of the lab is quantifying and tracking energy-related aerosols linked to activities such as commercial and residential heating, construction, and transportation at the local scale. Bard collaborates with communities by providing them the data they need in order to move forward on the development and implementation of unified community response to pollutants that may pose a public health concern. The JustAir Bard College Community Sciences Lab platform builds on prior projects including the Kingston Air Quality Initiative (KAQI), which released a four-year air quality study report with the city of Kingston last year.
Bard College is grateful to work in partnership and collaboration with Hudson Valley Air Quality Coalition, Outdoor Promise, City of Kingston, Poughkeepsie Adriance Memorial Library, Mount Saint Mary’s College, Ulster County, Kingston Air Quality Initiative, Town of Red Hook, and all of the libraries participating in the Hudson Valley Library Air Quality Network.
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JustAir Bard College Community Sciences Lab Launch Events
Poughkeepsie JustAir Launch Event
Tuesday, June 24
5:30 to 7:30 pm
Adriance Memorial Library
93 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Newburgh JustAir Launch Event
Wednesday, June 25
5:30 to 7:30 pm
Desmond Center at Mount Saint Mary College
330 Powell Avenue, Newburgh, NY 12550
Kingston JustAir Launch Event
Thursday, June 26
5:30 to 7:30 pm
Andy Murphy Midtown Neighborhood Center
467 Broadway, Kingston, NY 12401
Photo: Bard Community Sciences Lab Manager Desiree Lyle installs an air quality monitor for the Poughkeepsie Regional Air Quality Station (Adriance Memorial Library). Photo by Julia Beeman
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH),Community Science Coalition,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH),Community Science Coalition,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
06-10-2025
Photo: Director of the Bard MBA in Sustainability Eban Goodstein.
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bard Graduate Programs,Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Center for Environmental Policy |
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bard Graduate Programs,Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Center for Environmental Policy |
April 2025
04-08-2025
Photo: Over 40 volunteers showed up for the campus-wide Spring Cleaning event. Photo by Julián Donas Milstein
Meta: Type(s): Event,Faculty,Staff,Student | Subject(s): Athletics,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Civic Engagement,Community Engagement,Community Events,Environmental/Sustainability,Event,Hannah Arendt Center,Student | Institutes(s): Hannah Arendt Center |
Meta: Type(s): Event,Faculty,Staff,Student | Subject(s): Athletics,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Civic Engagement,Community Engagement,Community Events,Environmental/Sustainability,Event,Hannah Arendt Center,Student | Institutes(s): Hannah Arendt Center |
04-02-2025
Once the current architectural rehabilitation phase at Blithewood is complete, the Stuart-Smith team will help reimagine the garden and the surrounding landscape to fit seamlessly into the space. The team will coordinate with the preservation architect and review historical records, photographs, and prior reports to inform the new design. They will also work with Bard College to integrate educational and opportunities for students and the broader community throughout the process. Once complete, Blithewood’s landscape will be Stuart-Smith’s only public garden in the United States.
“After almost a decade of planning for Blithewood’s return to glory, I’m thrilled to be collaborating with Tom Stuart-Smith’s team to rethink and refresh Blithewood’s plantings,” said Amy Parrella, director of Horticulture and Arboretum at Bard. “Gardens are dynamic living art works that are at their best when they are reinterpreted from a current lens, while still maintaining their cultural and design integrity.”
“The most enduring historic gardens continue to evolve,” said Pamela Governale, director of preservation at the Garden Conservancy. “By engaging the renowned landscape practice of Tom Stuart-Smith, we are embracing a living future for Blithewood—one that honors its past while reimagining its plantings for challenges of the decades ahead. This is preservation not as stasis, but as cultural continuity. The restoration of Blithewood Garden is a powerful example of what happens when visionary institutions and world-class designers come together to steward a nationally significant landscape.”
Blithewood Garden is considered a nationally significant Beaux Arts, Italianate garden with significant connections to the evolution of American landscape design and is one of the few intact Hudson River estate gardens that remain from the Gilded Age. Situated on a steeply sloping bluff approximately 130 feet above the Hudson River, Blithewood is a 45-acre section of Bard’s campus that was once part of a historic estate comprising a manor house, outbuildings, drives, gardens, lawns, and meadows. Bard College has partnered with the Garden Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and share America’s gardens, on the restoration of Blithewood Garden.
Blithewood Garden is open to the public from dawn to dusk every day. For more information, visit https://www.bard.edu/arboretum/gardens/blithewood/
Meta: Type(s): Faculty,Staff | Subject(s): Arboretum and Horticulture,Campus and Facilities,Environmental/Sustainability,Faculty,Levy Economics Institute | Institutes(s): Levy Economics Institute |
March 2025
03-31-2025
The purpose of this symposium is to facilitate public discussion informed by science, environmental law, and best citizen advocacy practices and to explore how members of the community can effectively address and work together to curtail these threats. Morning presentations will be followed by an afternoon panel and public discussion. Members of the Hudson Valley community are welcome to attend for all or part of the symposium.
Key speakers include writer, filmmaker and adventurer, Jon Bowermaster; Associate Director of Government Affairs at Riverkeeper Jeremy Cherson MS ’15, who is working to advance Riverkeeper’s priorities in Albany and Washington; Senior Staff Attorney at Food & Water Watch and Bard faculty member Erin Doran; public health physician and Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at SUNY Albany David O. Carpenter; and lawyer Florence Murray, whose practice specializes in traumatic brain injuries and wrongful death actions, civil rights violations with severe injuries, trucking collisions, and railroad derailments—such as the one in East Palestine, Ohio.
“The Fate of the River” symposium is the first in a series of public discussions entitled Environmental Injustice Across the Americas that focuses on state-sanctioned pollution, the poisoning of water, destruction of the commons, and the fight for justice. “The Fate of the River” is cosponsored by Bard College’s Human Rights Program, Center for Civic Engagement, Center for Environmental Policy, Environmental Studies, and the Office of Sustainability.
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“The Fate of the River” Symposium Schedule
Friday, April 11, 2025
Olin Hall, Bard College
10:00–10:10 am Introduction to “The Fate of the River” symposium
10:10–10: 35 am Introduction and screening of Jon Bowermaster’s film A Toxic Legacy about General Electric’s contamination of the Hudson/Mahicantuck River
10:40–11:00 am Jeremy Cherson, Associate Director of Government Affairs, Riverkeeper
11:05–11:25 am Erin Doran, Faculty in Environmental Law, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, and Senior Staff Attorney, Food & Water Watch
11:35–11:55 am David Carpenter, Director of Institute for Health and the Environment, SUNY Albany
Noon–1:00 pm LUNCH BREAK
1:05–1:25 pm Eli Dueker, Associate Professor of Environmental and Urban Studies, and Director of Bard Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities
1:25–1:40 pm Introduction to and screening of Jon Bowermaster’s film Bomb Trains
1:40–2:00 pm Jeremy Cherson, Associate Director of Government Affairs, Riverkeeper
2:00–2:20 pm Florence Murray, Partner of Murray & Murray Law Firm, represents stakeholders affected by the toxic aftermath of the 2023 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio
2:20–2:40 pm COFFEE BREAK
2:40–4:00 pm Panel and Public Discussion: “Next Steps Toward a Healthier
River”
Refreshments graciously provided by Taste Budds and Yum Yum of Red Hook.
Photo: Hudson/Mahicantuck River. Photo by Jon Bowermaster
Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Bard Graduate Programs,Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH),Civic Engagement,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability,Human Rights,Interdivisional Studies | Institutes(s): Bard Center for Environmental Policy,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Civic Engagement,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Bard Graduate Programs,Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH),Civic Engagement,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability,Human Rights,Interdivisional Studies | Institutes(s): Bard Center for Environmental Policy,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Civic Engagement,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
December 2024
12-17-2024
Photo: Violacein, a purple pigment produced by bacteria, which Jude discovered in a water sample from the Hudson River Valley watershed and studies in her labs. Photo by Karl Rabe
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Biology Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Biology Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
November 2024
11-26-2024
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.
Further reading:
Bard College Continues Switch to Geothermal
Stevenson Library's new geothermal and HVAC system. Photo by Joseph Nartey ’26
Photo: Ribbon-cutting for the Stevenson Library's new geothermal and HVAC system. Photo by Joseph Nartey ’26
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability |
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability |
October 2024
10-29-2024
Photo: Still from Valve Turners. Photo courtest of Climate Film Fest
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Alumni/ae,Bard Graduate Programs,Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Center for Environmental Policy |
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Alumni/ae,Bard Graduate Programs,Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Center for Environmental Policy |
September 2024
09-30-2024
Photo: Associate Professor of Biology Bruce Robertson. Photo by Karl Rabe
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Biology Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability,Mind, Brain, and Behavior | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Biology Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability,Mind, Brain, and Behavior | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
09-24-2024
The Stone Barns Center funds will be used to study and document the impact of frost on the nutritional value of raw and fermented cabbage. Perron and Jain will also be investigating how frost impacts the microbial communities developing during fermentation, which affects the probiotic qualities of fermented cabbage (e.g. sauerkraut). This project will be conducted in collaboration with farmers at Stone Barns, chefs at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and Bard College researchers Perron and Jain. Former Bard student Pearson Lau ’19, who recently published his Senior Project on the effect of chlorination on sourdough starter cultures, will also be part of the research team. Professors Perron and Jain plan to involve current Bard undergraduates in their research project. This collaboration has also made it possible to bring students from Bard and Bard NYC to visit Stone Barns and Blue Hill at Stone Barns as part of their respective classes.
“We are very excited about this wonderful collaboration with farmers and chefs in our local community. This work will help us in addressing important questions related to nutrition and the overall health of our food ecosystem,” said Swapan S. Jain.
Photo: Bard College Food Microbiology class visits the Stone Barns Center.
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Biology Program,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH),Chemistry Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Biology Program,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH),Chemistry Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
June 2024
06-18-2024
The Burpee Trial Garden at Montgomery Place campus gives Bard students the opportunity to learn how to design, plan, and execute a planting schedule, develop skills to maintain display-quality working gardens, and interpret them for visitors on a public site. This opportunity further instills a passion for plants in students, inspires their commitment to nurture their environment, and opens up knowledge of plant-related careers.
“We are thrilled that the Burpee Foundation will help Bard restore and revive the historic formal gardens at the Montgomery Place campus, since they have been left fallow for decades. The new Burpee Trial Garden will showcase various varieties of vegetables and flowers that will be open to the public and act as a unique educational opportunity for students interested in research, horticulture, agriculture, and ecology. We are very excited to begin work on enhancing and using the gardens and reporting and sharing the results. Additionally, the grant award allows Bard to show their unwavering commitment to the stewardship of the campus landscape with a dedicated arboretum director and additional gardener positions,” said Bard’s Director of Horticulture and Arboretum Amy Parrella ’99.
Comprising more than 1000 acres along the historic Hudson River, the Bard Arboretum serves as both a place for enjoyment as well as a living classroom. Working to promote environmental and social justice, the Arboretum engages with the ecological and horticultural biodiversity of the Hudson River Valley as well as the political narratives that have shaped the land.
The Burpee Foundation is committed to reducing hunger and promoting well-being through investment in horticultural and agricultural projects across the US and around the world. The Foundation was established in 2003 by George Ball ’73, when he became the sole owner of W. Atlee Burpee Company, the innovative and iconic American horticultural company whose beautiful mail order catalogues, along with Sears Roebuck’s, were the mainstays of American farms and homes during the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries. Since its inception, the Foundation has made approximately $6.5 million in gifts consistent with its mission to more than 75 charitable organizations.
Photo: Bard students in the Montgomery Place greenhouse. Photo by China Jorrin ’86
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Arboretum and Horticulture,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH),Environmental/Sustainability,Grants | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Arboretum and Horticulture,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH),Environmental/Sustainability,Grants | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
April 2024
04-16-2024
Photo: Visiting Associate Professor of Writing Susan Fox Rogers (third from left) is leading Monday morning birding walks. Photo by Emily Sachar
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): American and Indigenous Studies Program,Division of Languages and Literature,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability,First-Year Seminar,Literature Program,Written Arts Program |
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): American and Indigenous Studies Program,Division of Languages and Literature,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability,First-Year Seminar,Literature Program,Written Arts Program |
04-11-2024
Photo: Student volunteers with the Bard College Office of Sustainability.
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability |
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability |
March 2024
03-05-2024
The Bard College Community Sciences Lab will partner with the Wallkill River Watershed Alliance, Hudson River Watershed Alliance, and Riverkeeper to develop a public-facing HABs Watershed Characterization report for the Wallkill River, a Wallkill River HABs Communications Toolkit to help coordinate effective public communications about future HABs, and a broader Water Issue Communications Framework for watershed groups or municipalities across the region to guide communications planning for HABs or other emergent and emergency conditions that affect public health.
“This funding is an important investment in community-directed stewardship of Hudson River waterways, and I applaud the DEC for recognizing this,” says Bard Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental and Urban Studies M. Elias Dueker, who is also codirector of the Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities, and head of the Community Sciences Lab. “With the increased pace of climate change, current policies regarding nutrient loading, stormwater management, and wastewater treatment simply are not keeping up with the increasing likelihood of algal blooms in our waterways as temperatures rise and precipitation regimes shift. Community scientists with a true sense of connection to these resources are a vital bridge between on-the-ground, real-time realities and the capacity for regulatory agencies to keep communities local to vulnerable waterways like the Wallkill safe. Community science is key to true climate adaptation and resilience, and I am thrilled to be part of this collaboration.”
Executive Director of Hudson River Watershed Alliance Emily Vail said: “The Hudson River Watershed Alliance is excited to be collaborating with scientists, local and regional organizations, and community members on this challenging and important issue. Harmful algal blooms can put people and pets at risk, and are an emerging threat in lakes and rivers. We’re looking forward to better understanding the latest science and communication strategies to keep people informed.”
Science Director of Riverkeeper Shannon Roback said: “Harmful algal blooms can pose health problems for both humans and animals who are exposed. As climate change progresses, we expect this risk to increase as blooms become more common. Effective public communication will be essential in reducing the harms. We are very excited that the NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary Program has funded our proposal to develop strategies to improve public outreach, communication and education around HABs, which we expect to have significant impacts to public health.”
“New York State is investing in projects that will improve resiliency and protect our natural resources both in the Hudson River Valley and across the state,” Governor Hochul said. “These 26 local grants will provide dozens of communities support to improve recreation, expand river access and education, and preserve and protect this iconic river for future generations of New Yorkers.”
Now in its 21st year, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Hudson River Estuary Grants Program implements priorities outlined in the Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda 2021-2025. To date, DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program awarded 643 grants totaling more than $28 million. Funding for DEC’s Estuary Grants program is provided by New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), a critical resource for environmental programs such as land acquisition, farmland protection, invasive species prevention and eradication, recreation access, water quality improvement, and environmental justice projects. Governor Hochul’s proposed 2024-25 Executive Budget maintains EPF funding at $400 million, the highest level of funding in the program’s history.
Photo: Wallkill River showing HABs and kayaker. Photo by Emily Vail
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Biology Program,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH),Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability,Office of Institutional Support (OIS) |
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Biology Program,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH),Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability,Office of Institutional Support (OIS) |
February 2024
02-28-2024
Photo: Seth Goldfine Memorial Field and the Charles P. Stevenson Jr, Library at Bard College. Photo by Peter Aaron
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Campus and Facilities,Environmental/Sustainability |
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Campus and Facilities,Environmental/Sustainability |
02-20-2024
The rate and severity of extreme climate events can bring on a feeling of numbness and resignation rather than catalyzing responsive resilience in the classroom. How can we refocus the conversation from crisis to education and adaptation? The 2024 IWT April Conference will conduct a deep dive into layered and often contradictory pedagogies about the natural world. This day of shared writing and reflection invites participants to join together in small, interactive workshop groups in order to explore a range of written, audio, visual, and hybrid texts—on topics from manifest destiny to global climate strikes—that are creating a new ecology of education.
The day will feature a plenary conversation by two Bard colleagues on the topic of climate change in the classroom from the perspectives of the humanities and STEM, respectively. Visiting Writer in Residence Jenny Offill is the author of three novels, Last Things, Dept. of Speculation, and most recently, Weather, which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Eli Dueker is associate professor of biology and environmental and urban studies at Bard, codirector of the Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities, and head of the Community Sciences Lab.
Tuition fees are from $450 to $575, with Early Bird (before March 26) and Group discounts. Scholarships are available by application here. The IWT conference is Continuing Teacher and Leader Education 5.5 credit hours. Register here.
Photo: L-R: Bard faculty members Jenny Offill, visiting writer in residence, and Eli Dueker, associate professor of biology and environmental and urban studies, will hold a plenary discussion at the IWT April Conference “Climate Change in the Classroom: Embracing New Paradigms.”
Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Biology Program,Division of Languages and Literature,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability,Master of Arts in Teaching (Bard MAT),Written Arts Program | Institutes(s): Institute for Writing and Thinking |
Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Biology Program,Division of Languages and Literature,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability,Master of Arts in Teaching (Bard MAT),Written Arts Program | Institutes(s): Institute for Writing and Thinking |
January 2024
01-28-2024
“Bard is incredibly grateful to restore our beautiful meadow back to its prior glory. Its overall appearance and the quantity of ecosystem services it can offer will be immediately enhanced with this unique opportunity to reclaim a central landscape on the Bard campus,” said Bard’s Director of Horticulture and Arboretum Amy Parrella. “Meadows serve as important habitat and provide food for a number of pollinators and mammals; serve as natural reservoirs for water, capture and store carbon from the atmosphere, and help maintain biodiversity in our environment. Unfortunately, invasive plants tend to be aggressive and would eventually take over our meadow in a matter of a few years. This grant will allow Bard to proactively halt this invasion and reverse the damage that has already occurred.”
“We are committed to protecting New York’s waterways, forest lands, and agricultural crops from dangerous invasive species,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “This funding supports projects across the state that will help prevent the spread of invasive species in New York, protecting our natural resources, economy and public health from the negative impacts of this threat.”
This grant is supported by the NYS Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), a critical resource for environmental programs such as land acquisition, farmland protection, invasive species prevention and eradication, recreation access, water quality improvement, and environmental justice projects. Governor Hochul’s proposed 2024-25 Executive Budget maintains the EPF funding at $400 million, the highest level of funding in the program’s history.
Photo: Meadow on North Campus of Bard College.
Meta: Subject(s): Arboretum and Horticulture,Environmental/Sustainability,Grants,Office of Institutional Support (OIS) |
Meta: Subject(s): Arboretum and Horticulture,Environmental/Sustainability,Grants,Office of Institutional Support (OIS) |
December 2023
12-21-2023
Through the Community Sciences Lab within CESH, Bard will provide technical and analytical support for the project over two years for study sites in the Hudson Valley, including sites in Kingston, Red Hook, Annandale-on-Hudson, Newburgh, and Poughkeepsie. Specifically, CESH will provide and install weather stations, with air quality and meteorology sensors, at Newburgh and Poughkeepsie sites; and support Dr. Bari’s group in monitoring indoor and outdoor air quality in 40 homes in the Hudson Valley over the next three years—testing for a broad range of air pollutants, including black carbon, volatile organic compounds, ultrafine particles, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and ozone. Bard student involvement will include supporting monitoring efforts (indoor and out) and using the air quality data to assess air quality challenges in the Hudson Valley in classes.
“We are incredibly thankful to Dr. Aynul Bari and the Research Foundation for SUNY Albany for including us in this EPA grant,” said M. Elias Dueker, associate professor of Environmental and Urban Studies at Bard. “We look forward to using these funds to expand our indoor and outdoor air quality work with groups like the Kingston Air Quality Initiative and the Hudson Valley Air Quality Coalition. The right to breathe clean air inside and outside our homes is not something we can take for granted as we wrestle with important climate-based challenges, including increased wildfire smoke plumes from other parts of the country, flood-induced molding of our aging housing stock, and increased wood burning in our valley communities.”
The Community Sciences Lab (CSL) was created to support the work conducted by CESH. Built on the success of the Bard Water Lab and its partnership with the Saw Kill Watershed Community (SKWC), CSL expands CESH’s reach by allowing us to refocus our work on projects that address the interconnectedness of land, air, water, and communities. CSL projects include: Saw Kill Monitoring Program, Roe Jan Monitoring Program, Kingston Air Quality Initiative, Bard Campus Station, Hudsonia Eel Project, and Amphibian Migration.
Photo: Dr. Eli Dueker installing a MetOne 212-2 particle profiler atop the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center in Midtown Kingston. Courtesy City of Kingston
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability,Giving,Grants | Institutes(s): Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
Meta: Type(s): General | Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability,Giving,Grants | Institutes(s): Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
October 2023
10-17-2023
The principal investigators on the project, Elias Dueker, associate professor of environmental and urban studies, and Gabriel Perron, associate professor of biology, will work with students to analyze microbiological micropollution samples and then synthesize those results with historical water quality data obtained from Bard and community partnership programs that monitored the Saw Kill tributary from the mid ’70s to early ’80s, and from 2015 to present. Bard faculty members Krista Caballero, Jordan Ayala, Beate Liepert, and Josh Bardfield, who helped write the grant, will also participate in the project during its second year.
“This partnership with Hudson River Foundation allows the Bard Center for Environmental Science and Humanities to strengthen its commitment to using science as a tool for environmental and social change,” said Deuker. “We hope this unique effort to utilize and elevate community-fueled science will serve as a model for contemporary and meaningful approaches to creating climate resilient communities in the Hudson Valley.”
The research will be presented to community groups, and community member participation will be solicited. The results will be published in white papers and academic journal articles with the hopes that the information will be used to inform tributary stewardship and management decisions. Bard will partner with the Saw Kill Watershed Community and the Hudson River Water Association to disseminate the results.
The Hudson River Foundation (HRF) seeks to make science integral to decision-making about the Hudson River and its watershed and to support science-based stewardship of the river for all who live, work, and recreate there. As the primary resource and advocate for science and environmental research on the Hudson River and its watershed, the HRF connects the scientific community, policy makers, and the general public with a wealth of information and analysis. For the general public, HRF offers research results, reports, and opportunities for education regarding efforts to restore and sustain the Hudson’s waters. For the scientific community and policy makers, HRF is the gateway to scientific information, research opportunities, and dialogue about technical issues facing the river. For more information, visit hudsonriver.org.
Photo: Students who gathered water quality data during a Bard program in 2015. From left, Becket Landsbury ’16, Pola Khun ’17, Clea Schumer (Red Hook High School), Daniella Azulai ’17, Haley Goss-Holmes ’17, Yuejiao Wan ’18, and Marco Spodek ’17.
Meta: Type(s): Faculty,Staff | Subject(s): Awards,Biology Program,Civic Engagement,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability,Faculty,Giving,Grants | Institutes(s): Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
Meta: Type(s): Faculty,Staff | Subject(s): Awards,Biology Program,Civic Engagement,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability,Faculty,Giving,Grants | Institutes(s): Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
10-04-2023
Photo: L-R: Alisha B. Wormsley MFA ’19 and Maryam Monalisa Gharavi MFA ’18.
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Alumni/ae,Bard Graduate Programs,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): MFA |
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Alumni/ae,Bard Graduate Programs,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): MFA |
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