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Sustainability News

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Research by Bard Professor Gidon Eshel Featured in the New York Times

The article explored whether grass-fed beef was better for climate than grain-fed.

Research by Bard Professor Gidon Eshel Featured in the New York Times

Gidon Eshel, research professor of environmental and urban studies at Bard.

A study led by Gidon Eshel, research professor of environmental and urban studies at Bard College, was featured in the New York Times in an article exploring whether grass-fed beef was better for climate. The study, published last March in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that grass-fed beef did not hold a carbon emissions benefit compared to grain-fed beef. While grazing can store carbon in the soil, the study showed that this did not outweigh the methane that cows produce. “We wanted to see exactly how the numbers add up,” Eshel told the Times. “The bottom line answer is that they mostly don’t.”

Students in all divisions of Bard College can concentrate in Environmental Studies. The program is based on the conviction that our planet’s most urgent problems—including climate change, biodiversity loss, and the inequities of our built environments—call for holistic knowledge of both human and natural systems. The curriculum offers a grounding in core topics in environmental studies alongside cross-listed courses on topics from nature writing to urban geography, from food systems to contemporary Indigenous art, and from planetary thinking to local community engagement.

Bard Earns Two Awards in Sustainability

The College earned a STARS Gold rating and the MBA in sustainability was ranked the best green MBA by the Princeton Review.

Bard Earns Two Awards in Sustainability

A group of students sitting at tables on a wooden patio.

Bard College has recently been recognized for its commitment to sustainability by two organizations. This July, the College earned a Gold rating from the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). This nationwide group ranks colleges based on all aspects of sustainability on their campuses, from academic buildings to dining and events planning. Bard’s report included its participation in the Race 2 Zero Waste food scrap conservation program, where it placed first in the food organics Small College category.

Bard’s MBA in sustainability was also ranked the best green MBA by the Princeton Review for the fifth year in a row. The list is based on student ratings of how well their MBA “prepares them to address environmental, sustainability, and responsibility issues in their careers.” Bard’s MBA is based in New York City and utilizes a hybrid curriculum to prepare students for critical social and environmental challenges. “At a time when clean energy and climate change action, organizational justice, reducing plastics and toxic pollution, and enhancing the planet’s biodiversity are all under political attack, Bard remains the leading MBA focused on embedding sustainability as simply good business,” said MBA Director Dr. Eban Goodstein.

Bard Ranked Best Green MBA for 2025

Post Date: 08-13-2025

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Burpee Trial Garden Project at Montgomery Place Featured in the Daily Catch

The summer garden students will continue their work through August tending the plots, recording observations on iPads, and sharing their findings in real time with Burpee’s plant breeders.

Burpee Trial Garden Project at Montgomery Place Featured in the Daily Catch

Bard student Violet DiBiasio ’27. Photo by Emily Sachar, Courtesy of the Daily Catch

The Burpee Trial Garden, a seed test garden and horticultural research site at Bard’s Montgomery Place campus, has been featured in the Daily Catch. The garden, in its first season, is currently being tended to by three Bard students, Violet DiBiasio ’27, Max Frackman ’27, and Mikhal Terentiev ’26, who are undertaking horticultural research and hands-on scientific investigations with real-world applications in the Hudson Valley and beyond. “This project is helping Bard restore and revive the historic formal gardens at Montgomery Place, and help gardeners in the process,” Amy Parrella, Bard Arboretum director, told the Daily Catch. “Gardening has been proven to alleviate stress and have therapeutic and healing results. And this opportunity will help students to cultivate their passion for plants and inspire their commitment to nurture their environment.” Trial gardens measure how well a specific cultivar or variety will perform in a specific area or growing condition, and the garden at Bard is supported by a $1 million grant that is being paid over four years from the Burpee Foundation. The summer garden students will continue their work through August tending the plots, recording observations on iPads, and sharing their findings in real time with Burpee’s plant breeders.

Further Reading:

https://www.bard.edu/news/bard-college-receives-1-million-grant-from-burpee-foundation-to-support-creation-of-trial-garden-at-montgomery-place-campus-2024-06-18

Read the Full Article in the Daily Catch

Post Date: 08-05-2025

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Results 261-280 of 430

August 2014

08-01-2014

As the world's worst Ebola epidemic yet spreads through western Africa, Professor Specter calls for an improved global system to address future health disasters.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Division of Social Studies,Environmental/Sustainability,Politics and International Affairs,Wellness | Institutes(s): Center for Civic Engagement |

July 2014

07-25-2014

New research by Bard professor Gidon Eshel and colleagues indicates that beef production has a much greater environmental impact than pork or poultry.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

07-24-2014

Bard Center for Civic Engagement Announces Community Action Award Winners<br />

The Bard Center for Civic Engagement announces more than 50 winners for the 2014 Community Action Award program, which supports student efforts to engage with communities locally, nationally, and internationally by providing funding for participation in internships that address issues impacting people around the world.

Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Computer Science,Division of Languages and Literature,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Division of Social Studies,Environmental/Sustainability,Politics and International Affairs | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Civic Engagement |

07-22-2014

If you want to help the environment, cutting down on beef is a good place to start, says Gidon Eshel, lead author on a new study looking at the impacts of raising meat.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

07-21-2014

How can we explore and appreciate nature without disrupting it? Bard Environmental and Urban Studies executive administrator Tom O'Dowd offers this advice.

Meta: Type(s): Staff | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

07-10-2014

Sustainability should no longer be optional in business school curricula, writes Jeana Wirtenberg.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Economics,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability |

07-04-2014

Many weeds and invasive, non-native species are edible and sometimes delicious. Eradicate them by adding them to your diet, writes Environmental and Urban Studies executive administrator Tom O'Dowd.

Meta: Type(s): Staff | Subject(s): Division of Social Studies,Environmental/Sustainability,Wellness | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

June 2014

06-27-2014

Bard College Dedicates New Solar Installation<br />

Bard College “flipped the switch” on a new solar installation donated by the Green Mountain Energy™ Sun Club™ in a special dedication ceremony on Tuesday, June 24. The 9kW solar installation was funded by a $35,000 donation from the Sun Club. The Sun Club is a unique program enabling Green Mountain Energy Company’s residential customers and employees, including many in the Dutchess County area, to donate solar technology to nonprofits like Bard.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

06-27-2014

Biology professor Felicia Keesing discusses the results of her new research, which show that the rate of coinfection in ticks is higher than previously thought.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability,Wellness | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

06-27-2014

Lia Soorenian ’14 talks about her Davis Project in the village of Litchk in Armenia, where she is promoting sustainable beekeeping as an alternative to the local mining industry.

Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Alumni/ae,Environmental/Sustainability,Politics and International Affairs,Wellness | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Civic Engagement |

06-18-2014

Ticks More Likely to Be Infected with Several Pathogens, Says New Study<br />

People who get bitten by a blacklegged tick have a higher-than-expected chance of being exposed to more than one pathogen at the same time, according to research by Bard biologist Felicia Keesing and colleagues. The new study, published online today in the journal PLOS ONE, was conducted by scientists at Bard College, Sarah Lawrence College, and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability,Wellness | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

06-13-2014

Bard MBA in Sustainability professor Hunter Lovins and colleagues write that it is time to create an economy that works for the 100%.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Economics,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard MBA in Sustainability |

06-02-2014

Bard writing professor Susan Fox Rogers took her kayak out on North Tivoli Bay last week not expecting to see much wildlife, since the height of migration has passed. To her surprise, the trip was marked by a series of encounters, including one with a baby beaver.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Division of Languages and Literature,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

06-02-2014

Bard CEP director Eban Goodstein writes that the Obama administration's new caps on greenhouse gas emissions are a crucial step toward climate stabilization, and will have little noticeable effect on consumers.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Economics,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Center for Environmental Policy,Bard MBA in Sustainability,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Civic Engagement |

May 2014

05-26-2014

Tom O'Dowd, executive administrator in Bard's Environmental and Urban Studies Program, urges readers to explore unexpected edible plants this season in their own backyards.

Meta: Type(s): Staff | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability,Wellness | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

05-07-2014

Loss of African Wildlife Spurs Cascade of Consequences in Savannas, Says New Study Led by Bard Biology Professor Felicia Keesing

The loss of large mammals from African savannas can have unexpected and often undesirable consequences for the people and livestock that depend on them, according to a new study published in the journal BioScience. Scientists from Bard College and the University of California, Davis, experimentally removed large grazing mammals from plots of savanna land in Kenya where both livestock and wildlife are abundant. That removal set in motion a cascade of consequences. “The results of this long-term study show that preserving large mammals in African savannas can be a win-win for conservation and for human welfare,” says lead author Felicia Keesing, a biology professor at Bard.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

05-06-2014

Bard Students Finish in Top Ten in Nationwide Electricity Conservation Competition<br />

Bard College finished in the top ten for electricity reduction in Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN) 2014, a contest in which more than 265,000 students at more than 100 colleges and universities across the United States and Canada worked to conserve electricity and water. Students collectively saved over 2.2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and nearly 476,000 gallons of water in this year’s contest.

Meta: Type(s): Student | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability,Student | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Civic Engagement |

05-01-2014

Bard College Awarded $400,000 Luce Grant for Study of Environmental Issues in Asia

The Henry Luce Foundation has awarded Bard College a four-year, $400,000 Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment grant to increase and enhance the interdisciplinary study of environmental and sustainability issues in Asia across the undergraduate curricula at Bard’s campuses at Annandale-on-Hudson and Simon’s Rock, and in the M.S. programs at the Bard Center for Environmental Policy.

Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Center for Environmental Policy,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Civic Engagement,Simon's Rock at Bard College |

April 2014

04-30-2014

Bard Environmental and Urban Studies faculty member Chris Bowser received an Environmental Quality Award from the EPA regional office for his leadership in an eel monitoring program in the Hudson River Valley.

Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |

04-25-2014

Bard's sustainability initiatives have earned the college a place in The Princeton Review's Guide to Green Colleges, among the nation's top institutions for environmental programs and facilities.

Meta: Type(s): Event | Subject(s): Environmental/Sustainability | Institutes(s): Bard Center for Environmental Policy,Bard MBA in Sustainability,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Center for Civic Engagement |

Results 261-280 of 430