Environmental Education

Fellow Story

Beal guides student work with hands-on research on clam flats

Anyone driving over the causeway on Friday, May 3, near low tide likely would have seen more than a dozen high school students all over the clam flats, participating in a research experiment. The hands-on science work is a precursor to the Marine Studies Pathway that will launch at the high school next year and will teach a wide ranging curricula based on marine studies.
May 22, 2013
Fellow Story

Lessons for Homeowners from Green Affordable Housing (Switzer Foundation Webinar Series)

Are you a homeowner, interested in finding ways to make your home or investment property more sustainable? Then listen to Beverly Craig (1994) discuss lessons learned from six years working on improving the water and energy performance of multifamily affordable housing with Homeowner's Rehab, a nonprofit that owns over 1,000 units of affordable housing in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
March 19, 2013
Fellow Story

Innovative Weatherization in Chicago

Kristen Pratt is the Program Coordinator for the Chicago Conservation Corps (C3) at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. One of the group's most successful projects has been the Community Weatherization Action Teams (CWAT) program, which helps volunteers plan weatherization events and campaigns all over the city. Over 25,000 homes have been weatherized through the city program and with their assistance.
March 19, 2013
Fellow Story

Orenstein publishes environmental history of Israel

The environmental history of Israel is as intriguing and complex as the nation itself. Situated on a mere 8,630 square miles, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf, varying from desert to forest, Israel's natural environment presents innumerable challenges to its growing population. The country's conflicted past and present, diverse religions, and multitude of cultural influences powerfully affect the way Israelis imagine, question, and shape their environment. Zionism, from the late nineteenth onward, has tempered nearly every aspect of human existence.
February 19, 2013
Leadership Grant Grant

Delivering Grassroots Conservation Initiatives Internationally, Year 2

Global Diversity Fund, Inc. (GDF), received a $30,000 second-year grant to continue funding for Susannah McCandless's position as International Program Director. GDF is an international community-based conservation organization focusing on...
January 7, 2013
Foundation News

Do the Math - fossil fuel divestiture gains steam

A month ago I was pleased and proud to be in attendance at the Portland, Maine stop for Bill McKibben’s “Do the Math” tour. His month long series of rallies helped build a campaign that is rapidly gaining attention – to recognize that if we...
December 13, 2012
Network Innovation Grant Grant

How Filmmakers and Conservationists Connect People, Nature and Climate

Switzer Fellows Kristy Deiner and Matt Hamilton developed a workshop for the 2012 Society for Conservation Biology annual meeting of the North America section, held in Oakland, CA. The workshop focused on educating conservation...
October 17, 2012
Fellow Story

Sensenig's ecology class sampling water using new app

Goshen Dam Pond is becoming an outdoor laboratory for a group of 60 students who are sampling water to learn about the pond's health. Assistant professor Ryan Sensenig's ecology class at Goshen College has started a five-week project with the help of local environmentalists and a new mobile application developed by a Goshen company.
October 16, 2012
Fellow Story

Carlisle-Cummins on igniting interest in plant breeding with peppers

Peppers in an array of colors, shapes, sizes and flavors grown at the UC Davis Student Farm are igniting interest in plant breeding and the astonishing botanical diversity of the Capsicum genus, to which all peppers belong. “Fifty-two varieties is a wonderful candyland for me, but it’s just a few of the many varieties in the world,” said graduate student Ildi Carlisle-Cummins, who works on a partnership project between the Student Farm and researcher Allen Van Deynze.
October 15, 2012
Fellow Story

Geller leads bike tour of Portland's central city

Last night was the annual Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) facilities tour. The BAC is a volunteer group of citizens who advise PBOT on how transportation policies and projects impact bicycling. Each year, they leave their usual City Hall meeting room to get an up-close look at bike infrastructure. Last year we explored east Portland, and this year the focus was on downtown and the inner eastside — a part of town the city commonly refers to as the central city.
September 25, 2012