News and Events

Sustainability News

Chronogram Covers Bard Community Science Lab’s New Hudson Valley Community Air Network

“We didn’t want community data to be controlled by private people or entities.”

Chronogram Covers Bard Community Science Lab’s New Hudson Valley Community Air Network

<em>Chronogram</em> Covers Bard Community Science Lab’s New Hudson Valley Community Air Network

Desirée Lyle installing an air quality monitor. Photo by Julia Beeman

Hudson Valley Community Air Network, led by Bard College’s Community Sciences Lab at the Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities, was featured by Chronogram magazine in an article about the ongoing efforts to track and trace pollution in the air of the Hudson Valley region. The article notes that for decades, the area’s environmental consciousness has been organized around water, whereas air was not tracked closely until initiatives led by Bard’s Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities. The establishment of the Kingston Air Quality Initiative, and the Hudson Valley Air Quality Coalition in 2021, paved the way for this year’s efforts by Bard and Ulster County to install 17 new street-level sensors across the county. These newest sensors are strategically placed in public areas where people gather and learn, like libraries, town halls, and community centers, to collect data that can be accessed freely by the surrounding communities. “We didn’t want community data to be controlled by private people or entities,” says Desiree Lyle, program director of Bard College’s Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities.

The Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities puts Bard’s dedication to the environment, science, and social change into practice to support the fair management of our shared natural resources. The center conducts quantitative research in the natural and social sciences, crafts communication, participates in policy making, and bridges academic inquiry with community needs. The data and insights collected through CESH related projects are applied directly back to communities, with the end goal of addressing and solving environmental problems in real time.

Bard College MBA in Sustainability Receives Top Rankings

In recent weeks, Bard’s MBA in Sustainability has received recognition by several prominent ranking and ratings systems.

Bard College Partners with Ulster County on Ground‑Level Air Quality Monitoring Network

The sensors will provide the community with real‑time information about local air pollution and offer free alerts through JustAir, a platform that notifies users when air quality becomes unhealthy and again when conditions improve.

Bard College Partners with Ulster County on Ground‑Level Air Quality Monitoring Network

a woman installs a paneled device on top of a building

Desirée Lyle installs an air quality monitor for the Poughkeepsie Regional Air Quality Station at Adriance Memorial Library. Photo by Julia Beeman

Bard College’s Hudson Valley Community Air Network (HVCAN) is partnering with Ulster County to install 17 new ground‑level air quality sensors at libraries, town halls, and community centers across the county. The sensors will provide the community with real‑time information about local air pollution and offer free alerts through JustAir, a platform that notifies users when air quality becomes unhealthy and again when conditions improve. The sensors measure fine particulate matter, or tiny particles from sources like soot, smoke, and vehicle exhaust that are small enough to be inhaled and cause serious health impacts. Because the sensors are installed roughly six feet off the ground, they capture the air residents actually breathe, which can differ significantly from rooftop or elevated monitors. “HVCAN demonstrates that science does not belong only in laboratories or universities; it belongs in communities, where people can use knowledge to support healthier futures together,” said Desirée Lyle, program director at Bard’s Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities. “The data we create encourages curiosity, dialogue, and shared responsibility for environmental health, while offering a model for how science and community engagement can grow together.”

The Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities puts Bard’s dedication to the environment, science, and social change into practice to support the fair management of our shared natural resources. The center conducts quantitative research in the natural and social sciences, crafts communication, participates in policy making, and bridges academic inquiry with community needs. The data and insights collected through CESH related projects are applied directly back to communities, with the end goal of addressing and solving environmental problems in real time.

Learn More

Post Date: 06-18-2026

Sustainability News by Date

Results 1-2 of 2

June 2015

06-24-2015

New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation Grant Funds New Green Parking Lot at Bard College

In an effort to improve and protect regional water quality, Bard College recently completed work on a green parking lot with a new stormwater management system. Funded by a $732,738 grant from New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation’s (EFC) Green Innovation Grant Program (GIGP), the Bard Regional Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project retrofits a heavily used parking lot near Olin Hall by using green infrastructure practices to mimic a natural ecosystem. Bioretention areas, a constructed wetland and permeable pavement were installed at the site to capture, treat, and infiltrate stormwater before it enters local waterways or the existing stormwater drainage system. Runoff from the existing lot at the main instructional building on campus currently enters a small tributary of the Saw Kill Creek, which supplies the drinking water for the College before flowing into the Hudson River.

“This project turns a problem area into an asset,” said Laurie B. Husted, sustainability manager at Bard. “Eliminating an impervious area and transforming it into a permeable one in the most heavily trafficked sections of the campus will provide both environmental and educational benefits.”

“EFC’s award-winning Green Innovation Grant Program has been the catalyst for dozens of unique, eco-friendly projects across the state and this regional demonstration project at Bard College is no exception,” said EFC Executive Vice President Sabrina M. Ty. “This project not only protects and improves the water quality of the Saw Kill Creek but serves as a model for the entire Mid-Hudson Region, as communities seek to leverage the multiple benefits of green infrastructure.”

The project’s goal is to create a linked series of green stormwater infrastructure practices, which will be monitored and studied to demonstrate performance. Bioretention practices help slow the speed of stormwater runoff and treats it, while porous asphalt allows water to drain through the pavement surface into a stone recharge bed, which facilitates infiltration. Working as a system, these practices will help recharge groundwater and improve and protect regional water quality. The project, completed on budget and ahead of schedule will help improve water quality and biodiversity while promoting a healthier, more resilient watershed.

As part of EFC’s Green Infrastructure Summit 2015 at Bard earlier this month, Dutchess County Executive Marcus J. Molinaro, Dutchess County Tourism President & CEO Mary Kay Vrba, and Dutchess County Legislator Micki Strawinski and other local community leaders joined representatives from municipalities across New York and Bard officials at the parking lot for a demonstration and dedication of the project.

EFC’s award-winning GIGP will have $14.8 million in grants available this year for green stormwater projects through Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council and New York State’s Consolidated Funding Application. For more information, visit www.efc.ny.gov/GIGP.

Photo: Local community leaders joined Bard College officials and project developers for a demonstration and dedication of the Bard Regional Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project. Photo by Karl Rabe
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability,Office of Institutional Support (OIS) |

06-16-2015

Results 1-2 of 2