News and Events

Bard College is one of five local institutions that are leading the way in environmental education and on-campus sustainability initiatives.

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)

The annual prizes recognize student stories focusing on innovative business solutions that advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Extending the definition of food loss to include inefficient dietary choices, a new study quantifies the benefits of plant-based diets versus animal-based diets for food security.

Extending the definition of food loss to include inefficient dietary choices, a new study quantifies the benefits of plant-based diets versus animal-based diets for food security. The study, published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), is coauthored by Bard College Research Professor Gidon Eshel. Animal based foods require more resources per unit product (gram, calorie, or gram protein) than plant-based foods. Since resources allocated to feed production for livestock yield less human food compared with what they could have yielded if they were instead used for plant-based food production, allocating resources to animal-based food production constitutes an effective food loss. Alon Shepon and colleagues quantify this “opportunity cost” by estimating the amount of food that could be produced if animal-based items were replaced by nutritionally at least comparable plant-based items in the U.S. diet.

The authors found that plant-based replacements could produce 2- to 20-fold more protein per acre than beef, pork, poultry, dairy, or eggs. The authors further estimate that replacing all animal-based products in the mean American diet with plant-based alternatives would allow increased food production sufficient to feed approximately 350 million additional people, or 110 percent of the current U.S. population. This putative added food availability handily exceeds potential food availability gains by elimination of conventional food losses, mostly spoilage, leaky supply chains, or post-retail waste.

Gidon Eshel is research professor in environmental science and physics at Bard College. He earned a BA from Haifa University and MA, MPhil, and PhD degrees from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.

More coverage at Phys.org: “Food waste: The biggest loss could be what you choose to put in your mouth”
 

Professor Eshel’s latest study shows that a single change in food habit could dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has awarded Bard College a $64,000 grant to help develop a campus energy master plan (EMP). Working with Ecosystem Energy Services, Bard will evaluate its current and future energy footprint and create a roadmap for achieving the College’s goals of campus net-zero energy and carbon neutrality by 2035. A key goal of the plan will be to evaluate how to contain and/or reverse the rise in consumption, costs, and emissions, with a focus on the opportunity to convert equipment that is due for replacement with high-efficiency alternatives. The plan will review Bard’s existing geothermal systems and their potential expansion to existing buildings and new construction. The grant, through NYSERDA’s REV Campus Challenge Technical Assistance for Roadmaps Program, includes $4,000 to support an internship for a graduate student from the Bard Center for Environmental Policy.

“For more than two decades, Bard has been using geothermal systems to access the stable temperatures in the ground for heating and cooling buildings. We are grateful to NYSERDA for the chance to evaluate how we've been doing, whether we can convert existing buildings to using ground-source heat pumps, and how to wisely incorporate them into future buildings,” said Laurie Husted, chief sustainability officer in the Bard Office of Sustainability (BOS).

Dan Smith, BOS energy manager, added, “geothermal systems use electricity but are much more efficient and sustainable than conventional systems that consume fossil fuels, and we can further reduce electricity consumption by adding complimentary renewable energy sources—something NYSERDA has helped us with through funding for solar panels and, more recently, through funding our investigation into the use of micro hydropower.”

“Colleges and universities play a pivotal role in helping the state meet its ambitious energy goals set by Governor Cuomo,” said Alicia Barton, president and CEO, NYSERDA. “Investments like these made through the REV Campus Challenge help ensure campus and community resiliency and build a cleaner, more sustainable energy future for generations to come.”

For more information about sustainability initiatives at Bard, visit bos.bard.edu/energy-facilities-and-climate.

NYSERDA’s REV Campus Challenge promotes clean energy efforts by recognizing and supporting colleges and universities in New York State that implement clean energy projects and principles on campus, in the classroom, and in surrounding communities. For more information, visit nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/REV-Campus-Challenge.

Ecosystem Energy Services, based in New York and Boston, is an award-winning engineering firm focused on the design and delivery of high-performing energy projects. For more information, visit ecosystem-energy.com.

Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,000 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with concentrations in more than 40 academic programs; graduate degrees in 11 programs; nine early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 158-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to the liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.

In 1957, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. posed the idea that “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” In that spirit, 230 Bard students volunteered with Hudson Valley organizations for the College’s Eighth Annual MLK Day of Engagement on Saturday, January 13. The day’s events, organized by the Bard Center for Civic Engagement, take place as part of the nationwide Day of Service that marks the King holiday.
 
Bard students worked at more than two dozen sites, ranging from Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and the Tivoli Public Library to the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center. Students also participated in an E-Waste project in which the Town and Villages of Red Hook and Tivoli, together with the Red Hook Conservation Advisory Council and Bard Office of Sustainability, hosted an electronic waste collection day for their residents. Members of the TLS program initiatives Brothers@Bard and CultureConnect engaged local elementary and high school students in hands-on (and messy!) science projects, and volunteers and engagement fellows from the Center for Civic Engagement prepared lessons in conjunction with other student-led science activities taking place throughout the month in local school districts.

Volunteers also teamed up with Columbia County Habitat for Humanity on its latest “Women Build” sustainable housing project, canvassed local neighborhoods for grassroots organizer Citizen Action, and took part in a workshop on how Planned Parenthood uses education, art, and advocacy to promote reproductive justice.

Read more about the day’s events on the MLK Day of Engagement blog.

Actress Megan Boone is getting her MBA in sustainability at Bard.

Sara Xing Eisenberg grew up in Manhattan and attended the Bard High School Early College (BHSEC). After four years immersed in BHSEC's advanced curriculum, she knew Bard was the next step. “I already had a sense of the academic life, with the small classes at BHSEC and great professors, so I wanted to continue that type of education.” All of Sara’s credits transferred to Bard, which opened up opportunities in her course schedule and even allowed her to work on her Senior Project abroad. Sara is now completing a joint major in Environmental and Urban Studies (EUS) and Asian Studies.

Sara chose EUS in part because she grew up in a sustainably conscious, vegetarian household. “Protecting the environment has always been present and important in my life." She wanted to connect her interests in the environment, Chinese language, and Asian cultures. Undertaking the joint major allowed her to take classes in all these areas.

When asked what surprised her the most about Bard, Sara spoke about the prominence of the international population. “I really love that there are so many international students. I have so many international friends. Being a person who loves to travel, it is helpful to have friends all over the world!” Even coming from Manhattan, she was struck by the diversity of Bard's campus. Sara credits Bard for her newfound independence and sense of responsibility. She reflects, “The most rewarding part of Bard is the freedom I have to write what I want to write and do the projects I want to do, both inside and outside of the classroom.”
 
Sara has participated in a number of clubs, activities, and programs during her time at Bard. During winter break of her first year, Sara joined the tropical ecology program on the Caribbean island of Montserrat with Bard College at Simon's Rock. While there, she was able to delve into her love for fieldwork and a hands-on approach to learning, while exploring the outdoors through hiking and snorkeling. She has been active in the Harvesting Justice TLS project, which aims to help small farms in the Hudson Valley by working with the Freedom Food Alliance to address social inequalities. She also held internships with Hudsonia, an environmental research group based in the Hudson Valley, and with the Jane Goodall Institute in Beijing, China. Additionally, she has competed as a member of the soccer, track, equestrian, and rugby teams at Bard.

Sara’s Senior Project expands on Professor Chris Coggins's research on the culture, landscape, and wildlife of the Southeast Uplands in China. She credits her biology courses at Bard for giving her the blueprint to create her Senior Project. Her research explores the species richness in four dominant habitat types in Meihuashan Nature Reserve in Fujian Province. Her project also investigates the land use management, forest composition, and hunting regulations in the reserve. She set up 20 camera traps to collect data on the number of individual species detected within each habitat type and the relative abundance of each species. She is simultaneously interviewing local villagers and reserve officials in order to collect data on the cultural ecology and local perceptions of hunting and wildlife in Meihuashan.

Sara hopes to live in China after graduating from Bard. After interning there twice, she wants to return and become fluent in Chinese. She looks forward to continuing her environmental work and expanding her knowledge of Chinese culture.

Professor Felicia Keesing's research on tick-borne illnesses with fellow ecologist Rick Ostfeld appeared in two of the 10 most popular global health and development stories of the year.

Bard Professor Gideon Eshel is the lead author on a new study published in Nature that provides a model for sustainable U.S. beef production.

In Iowa and elsewhere, runoff from fertilized fields pollutes drinking water and creates dead zones. Yet straightforward solutions exist.

The Hudson River Watershed Alliance (HRWA) has honored Bard College with its 2017 Watershed WaveMaker award for an organization working to protect, conserve, and restore Hudson River water resources. The alliance cited Bard for its commitment to launching and organizing the Saw Kill Watershed Community to draw attention and awareness to protection of the Saw Kill, use of the Bard Water Lab to improve the understanding of regional water quality issues, leadership in implementing the Hudson River Subwatershed and Tributary Research Network (THuRST), and academic excellence demonstrated in the College’s Environmental and Urban Studies Program and Center for Environmental Policy. Bard will be presented with the award at HRWA’s Toast to the Tribs Awards Benefit on Tuesday, December 5, at The Falcon in Marlboro, New York, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit hudsonwatershed.org.

Working to study, protect, and teach others about the Saw Kill Creek and its watershed, the Saw Kill Watershed Community (SKWC)is made up of Bard faculty, staff, and students; members of the conservation advisory councils of the towns of Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and Milan; local, county, and state officials; representatives of the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Hudson River Estuary Program, and Cornell Cooperative Extension (Dutchess County); and several nonprofits, including Riverkeeper, Scenic Hudson, and the Hudson River Watershed Alliance. For more information, visit sawkillwatershed.wordpress.com. Another water quality initiative at Bard is the Bard Regional Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project, which transformed a compacted gravel parking lot using a low impact development approach to manage more than 10 acres of storm-water runoff. The project, which received funding support from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation and design inspiration from a graduate student in the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, serves as a living lab for Bard students. In addition, Bard is currently working with the private sector and environmental organizations as part of a NYSERDA grant to evaluate the feasibility of very small hydropower systems on dams located on campus. Over the next year, this work will be available on a public website that starts to answer the intractable question of how various stakeholders can sustainably approach the more than 7,000 dams across the state. Bard students are contributing to this work. For more information on sustainability initiatives at Bard, please visit bard.edu/sustainability.

The Hudson River Watershed Alliance (HRWA) has honored Bard College with its 2017 Watershed WaveMaker award for an organization working to protect, conserve, and restore Hudson River water resources. The alliance cited Bard for its commitment to launching and organizing the Saw Kill Watershed Community to draw attention and awareness to protection of the Saw Kill, use of the Bard Water Lab to improve the understanding of regional water quality issues, leadership in implementing the Hudson River Subwatershed and Tributary Research Network (THuRST), and academic excellence demonstrated in the College’s Environmental and Urban Studies Program and Center for Environmental Policy. Bard will be presented with the award at HRWA’s Toast to the Tribs Awards Benefit on Tuesday, December 5, at The Falcon in Marlboro, New York, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit hudsonwatershed.org.

The Saw Kill Watershed Community brings together Bard College students and area residents to protect the watershed through science, education, and advocacy.

Eban Goodstein discusses how the Bard MBA in Sustainability operates at the forefront of training the next generation of leaders in sustainable business.

The study, "Trojan Females and Judas Goats: Evolutionary Traps as Tools in Wildlife Management," brings together the science from the pest-control, eco-evolutionary, and conservation communities to create a conceptual framework by which evolutionary traps can be repurposed as tools of deception to eliminate or control target pest species.

Warren Wilson College students in environmental studies can now enroll in a dual bachelor’s and master’s program with Bard College’s Graduate Programs in Sustainability.

A project by Bard College and the Saw Kill Watershed Community is among 19 Hudson River Estuary plans to share about $1.1 million in funding from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.