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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.

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Post Date: 06-18-2026

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February 2024

02-28-2024

Bard College Continues Switch to Geothermal

Bard College has commenced construction of a new state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling project that will replace the aging, fossil fuel–fired system currently in operation in the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Library. “Bard College has been an early adopter of geothermal, with some systems on campus dating to the late 1980s. It is the default for all new construction projects, and nearly 38% of the campus building area utilizes the technology. However, converting the rest of the existing building stock is an entirely new set of challenges, especially when infrastructure is 50 to 100 or more years old,” said Bard Energy Manager and Special Projects Coordinator Dan Smith. “We are excited to partner with Brightcore and to tap its technical and financial expertise for this crucial step on Bard’s path to achieve carbon-neutrality.” Brightcore is serving as the turnkey provider of the 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 Stevenson Library’s new geothermal heating and cooling system further progresses Bard’s mission-driven focus on sustainability efforts. Through its Office of Sustainability, the College has pledged to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2035 and has made significant and measurable progress in meeting that commitment.

Full Story in BusinessWire

Read More at ABC News

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 |

02-20-2024

Bard College Institute for Writing and Thinking Hosts Conference on “Climate Change in the Classroom: Embracing New Paradigms” on April 26

Bard College’s Institute for Writing and Thinking (IWT) will host its annual April Conference and welcomes educators of all disciplines on Friday, April 26 from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. This year’s IWT conference will focus on “Climate Change in the Classroom: Embracing New Paradigms.” The conference will be hybrid, and participants can join online or in person at Bard’s Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, campus. Participants can learn more about the conference and register here.

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 |

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