Sustainability News by Date
listings 1-20 of 26 
December 2018
12-13-2018
Multimedia artist Julia Christensen took video cameras to Lake Erie to document the ice that keeps the lake healthy—and what its absence could mean in the future.
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Division of the Arts,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Division of the Arts,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
12-04-2018
Bard MBA student Alexandra Criscuolo was featured in Forbes for her work at Kickstarter developing a one-stop-shop of resources on how to assess and adopt sustainability efforts.
Meta: Type(s): Student | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability |
Meta: Type(s): Student | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability |
November 2018
11-07-2018
The two-story prefab, designed by MB Architecture, is home to Bard’s Center for Experimental Humanities.
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
October 2018
10-15-2018
A study of 3,588 square kilometers of privately owned land in central Kenya offers evidence that humans and their livestock can, in the right circumstances, share territory with zebras, giraffes, elephants and other wild mammals—to the benefit of all.
The study, reported in the journal Nature Sustainability, focused on Laikipia County in central Kenya.
“Laikipia County hosts 10 percent of Kenya’s wildlife, but none of the country’s national parks or preserves,” says University of Illinois entomology professor Brian Allan, who led the study with Bard College professor Felicia Keesing. “Most people depend on livestock for income and almost 70 percent of the land is devoted to large-scale ranching or pastoralism.”
As human populations increase, so does the pressure to expand agricultural and pastoral areas into grasslands now dominated by wildlife.
“This is leading some to remove traditional barriers between livestock and wildlife because there are benefits to having multiple sources of income,” she says.
There are big potential downsides to allowing livestock and wildlife to share territory, however, the researchers say. Wild cats sometimes prey on domestic animals. Wildlife and livestock may compete for water and grazing resources. They also can share diseases, including tick-borne infections like East Coast fever, Q fever, and bovine anaplasmosis.
“There is no greater diversity of tick species anywhere on the earth than in eastern and southern Africa,” Allan says. “And many of the ticks are host generalists, meaning they’ll happily feed on a cow, a gazelle or a zebra—and they’ll also bite humans.”
“We identified the ticks and sequenced DNA of tick-borne pathogens to identify infectious agents associated with the ticks,” says Keesing. The team also interviewed managers and owners of each property about the type and abundance of livestock on their land and the percentage of revenue derived from wildlife tourism and livestock operations.
The researchers found that the practice of regularly spraying cattle with acaricides, which kill ticks without directly endangering birds or other creatures that feed on ticks, dramatically reduced the number of ticks in the grazed areas.
“Reducing the number of ticks is one key part of a strategy to reduce the transmission of tick-borne diseases,” says Keesing. “These diseases can sicken and kill people, livestock, and wildlife, which is particularly devastating in a vulnerable ecosystem experiencing many competing demands.”
Livestock- and wildlife-related income accounted for more than 70 percent of revenue for the properties studied. Wildlife abundance was highest on properties with moderate densities of cattle—but not on land supporting sheep and goats, the researchers found. There was also less green grass on livestock-only and wildlife-only properties than on land shared by both, and the quality of the forage was highest on integrated lands.
These findings suggest that certain management practices can enhance the viability of livestock operations while also maximizing wildlife abundance and health on the same lands, the researchers say.
“This project demonstrates that research on the complex interactions of natural and human systems can foster innovative management strategies to preserve environmental quality and economic productivity,” says Tom Baerwald, a program director for the National Science Foundation’s Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems program, which funded the research. “The findings are applicable in many parts of the United States and in other regions around the world."
The National Science Foundation and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign support this research.
For more information, visit dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0149-2.
Photo: Bard professor Felicia Keesing with her son and colleagues in Kenya.
Photos by Felicia Keesing.
Meta: Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Photos by Felicia Keesing.
Meta: Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
10-15-2018
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
September 2018
09-28-2018
Fog transports microbes over long distances and deposits them in new environments, according to the new study.
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
09-25-2018
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
09-22-2018
Goats have worked summers since 2016 at Bard’s Blithewood Estate, preserving the scenic view by eating invasive weeds on the uneven slope.
Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
09-07-2018
“The focus of this event, regional agriculture, is of great immediacy to the Hudson Valley and surrounding communities, as well as to other areas within 150 miles of any North American urban center, potentially encompassing about 15 percent of the high-quality cropland in North America,” says Gidon Eshel, research professor of physics at Bard College and Agriculture Salon Series program curator. “The speakers, recognized leaders in their respective fields, all have interesting, unique angles on the issue. Perspectives they will bring to bear on the problem include legal, conservation/land access, financial/monetary, economic, ecological, environmental, racial/gender, and equality/justice. This one-day event looks to promote a vigorous and productive dialogue on local agriculture.”
In addition to Eshel, speakers include:
Ruth DeFries, Denning Family Professor of Sustainable Development and professor of ecology, evolution, and environmental biology, Columbia University; member, National Academy of Sciences; and 2007 MacArthur Fellow
David Gould, head of investor relations, Amerra Capital
Tamar Haspel, food and science journalist; author of the Washington Post monthly column “Unearthed”; and Cape Cod oyster farmer
Leah Penniman, codirector and program manager, Soul Fire Farm; author, Farming While Black
Eric Posner, Kirkland & Ellis Distinguished Service Professor of Law, Arthur and Esther Kane Research Chair, University of Chicago; member, Committee on International Relations
Steve Rosenberg, senior vice president and executive director, Scenic Hudson Land Trust; board member, Land Trust Alliance
Steffen Schneider, director of farming operations, Hawthorne Valley Farm; senior director, Institute for Mindful Agriculture; president, Biodynamic Association of North America
Located on River Road, Annandale-on-Hudson, Montgomery Place, a 380-acre estate adjacent to the main Bard College campus and overlooking the Hudson River, is a designated National Historic Landmark set amid rolling lawns, woodlands, and gardens, against the spectacular backdrop of the Catskill Mountains. Renowned architects, landscape designers, and horticulturists worked to create an elegant and inspiring country estate consisting of a mansion, farm, orchards, farmhouse, and other buildings. The Montgomery Place estate was owned by members of the Livingston family from 1802 until the 1980s. In 1986, Livingston heir John Dennis Delafield transferred the estate to Historic Hudson Valley, in whose hands it remained until 2016, when Bard College acquired the property. For more information, visit bard.edu/montgomeryplace.
Photo: Photo: Chris Kendall '82
Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Community Events,Environmental/Sustainability,Montgomery Place Series | Institutes(s): Montgomery Place Campus |
Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Community Events,Environmental/Sustainability,Montgomery Place Series | Institutes(s): Montgomery Place Campus |
August 2018
08-28-2018
The event, “A Celebration of Blithewood Garden: 115 Years of Beauty on the Hudson,” includes a lawn party, garden tours, and a panel discussion.
Photo: Photo: Chris Kendall '82
Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Benefit,Campus and Facilities,Environmental/Sustainability |
Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Benefit,Campus and Facilities,Environmental/Sustainability |
08-14-2018
As a Bard student, Letz traveled to five countries to study the effects of globalization on small farmers. Now she’s turned her passion for growing local and organic into the thriving Bluma Farm.
Photo: Photo: Chris Kendall '82
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Alumni/ae,Environmental/Sustainability,Politics and International Affairs |
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Alumni/ae,Environmental/Sustainability,Politics and International Affairs |
08-14-2018
Dalia Najjar ’14, general manager of Palestine-based Farouk Systems, has secured a $1 million agricultural grant for local producers/farmers to expand regional sourcing.
Photo: Photo: Chris Kendall '82
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Alumni/ae,Bard Graduate Programs,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Alumni/ae,Bard Graduate Programs,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
08-07-2018
The seasonal exhibition focuses on some of the insects and diseases that are endangering trees across the Northeast.
Photo: Photo: Chris Kendall '82
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Montgomery Place Campus |
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Montgomery Place Campus |
July 2018
07-12-2018
Kathy Hipple has coauthored the report “The Financial Case for Fossil Fuel Divestment,” which concludes that fossil fuel investment is risky and not likely to pay off in the future.
Photo: Photo: Chris Kendall '82
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Economics,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability |
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Economics,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability |
June 2018
06-28-2018
Tierney grew up all over, and has lived in New Mexico, Ireland, and Canada, among other places. Bard's programs in dance and environmental science attracted her from the start. She had always lived in cities, and was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the campus and her growing love for the Hudson Valley area.
At first, Tierney decided to pursue both dance and environmental and urban studies. But she had an eye-opening experience taking a class with Eli Dueker that focused on science accessibility. She decided to major in EUS with a focus on communications. Her academic work has centered around “how to make science accessible to people, or how to make it interesting, relatable, and transparent.” At Bard, Tierney made time to be involved with the Dance Program by taking dance classes and performing in other students' Senior Projects.
Taking the Water course with Professor Dueker cemented Tierney’s interest in science communication and environmental education. For Tierney, the class was “a perfect blend of scientific components and the various social issues around water. . . . We did group experiments, and my group worked at a farm in Red Hook. Our project was water colony testing, but then we also ended up organizing a tree planting and working with this farmer. I got to see how environmental science could be more holistic: it wasn’t just me in the lab by myself; it was a way of addressing social issues that I was interested in, kind of like this whole package."
Tierney has interned with the Saw Kill Watershed Community. There, she attended the monthly community meetings and assisted in organizing their water monitoring program. During her time at Bard, Tierney's involvement with the community helped her “understand that this whole outreach and communications side to science is ultimately what I’m really excited about.”
She also worked in the Eel Project. Every spring the glass eels migrate up into different tributaries of the Hudson. Using a net at the Bard Field Station, volunteers count the number of eels and then set them free.
Last summer, Tierney taught on the Hudson River sloop Clearwater. The Clearwater is an environmental education vessel, originally built by Pete Seeger, that sails up and down the Hudson. People go onboard to learn about the ecology and history of the river. The Clearwater focuses especially on educating young people so they’ll gain a new appreciation for the river and learn to protect it.
Tierney's Senior Project was an environmental oral history about people who work on, live near, and otherwise use the Saw Kill. She conducted interviews exploring people's relationships to the river and historical or ecological knowledge about it, and then wrote stories about the Saw Kill from these different perspectives.
In 2018, Tierney received three awards from the College: the Hudsonia Prize (shared with Elinor Stapylton), awarded by Hudsonia Ltd. to a student showing promise in the field of environmental studies; the Patricia Ross Weis '52 Scholarship, awarded to talented students in the social sciences who uphold Bard's values by ensuring a strong community; and the Rachel Carson Prize, honoring an outstanding Senior Project in environmental and urban studies that reflects Carson's determination to promote biocentric sensibility.
"The best part about Bard," Tierney observes, "is how your classes and activities connect to the community around the College. I have loved getting to know people in the Hudson Valley. Like the Saw Kill Watershed Community and the Clearwater staff—I’ve just gotten to know this group of people that’s really invested and active in this area. That has also become my community outside of Bard." She adds, "Without the professors here, I wouldn't have realized how this kind of work is really important to me. I wouldn't have known that this kind of community outreach around science exists; so it’s really exciting. . . . I love this area. The Hudson River—adore it. The fact that we can, as students, walk through the Tivoli Bays—I walked that walk every day last summer."
Tierney is now traveling through Europe with her two roommates from her first year at Bard. In the fall, she will begin work for the World Ocean School on board the historic schooner Roseway.
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Ecology Field Station,Environmental and Urban Studies Program,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
06-13-2018
Television star and Bard MBA student Megan Boone is working to transform how business is done and create a new, sustainable story about how our culture and economic system can work for everyone.
Meta: Type(s): Student | Subject(s): Division of the Arts,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability |
Meta: Type(s): Student | Subject(s): Division of the Arts,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability |
06-03-2018
The global environmental impacts of meat and dairy farming are far more damaging than previously thought, a new study shows. Professor Eshel weighs in on the results.
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability,Wellness | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability,Wellness | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
May 2018
05-15-2018
Bard College is one of five local institutions that are leading the way in environmental education and on-campus sustainability initiatives.
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
Meta: Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
April 2018
04-16-2018
Sarah Goldberg ’20 and Lucy Faulkner ’20, leaders of the TLS Project Harvesting Justice, spoke with Mariel Fiori ’05 during her show on Radio Kingston. (Starts at 1:23:30)
Meta: Type(s): Student | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability,Wellness | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Civic Engagement |
Meta: Type(s): Student | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability,Wellness | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Civic Engagement |
04-09-2018
The annual prizes recognize student stories focusing on innovative business solutions that advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bard Graduate Programs,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bard Graduate Programs,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability,Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities |
listings 1-20 of 26