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Spread the word: 2018 Switzer Fellowship applications now being accepted!
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Fellows, as our best ambassadors of the Switzer Fellowship Program, we need your help in spreading the word to potential candidates!
Fellowship a
pplications are due January 8, 2018. If you know of an emerging leader in environmental science, technology, or policy, please make sure they know about us! We particularly want to make sure we're reaching students of color, first generation graduate students, or those from traditionally underrepresented groups who may not have heard of us. Please forward the news to any appropriate students, professors, advisors, student associations, and let
Erin know if you think it's a contact we should have for all of our outreach. You can download and forward the
Call for Applications here, and refer people to the
guidelines on our website. We're looking forward to another amazing pool of applications! Thanks for all that you do.
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Switzer Foundation Fall Retreats: Reflections and responsibilities
This year's fall retreats in New England and California offered Fellows and the Foundation an opportunity for new learning and thinking about leadership, and what it means to lead with respect for difference as we define our common ground for the common good.
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Honoring Elizabeth Farnsworth, 1962-2017
We are sad to report that the Switzer Network has lost a vibrant and committed member. Elizabeth Farnsworth, 1990 Fellow and Senior Research Ecologist at the New England Wildflower Society, passed away unexpectedly at her home in Amherst, Massachusetts on October 27th. Elizabeth conducted important and widely publicized research in plant ecology all over the world in a vigorous and distinguished career spanning more than three decades. She will be greatly missed. Her obituary is posted
online.
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Discussion group on race and equity in environmental work?
An idea that arose out of our fall retreats this year is formation of a discussion group for Fellows interested in doing some reading on race and equity in environmental work, spanning historical to current times. Interested Fellows would have access to a list of readings, and we would schedule periodic meetings to discuss what we've read, in an effort to help us all put our environmental work into historical context and what it means for the conversations we have going forward. We could do this via simple conference call, or perhaps with video conferencing. If you are interested in this idea, please email
Lissa. Once we have an idea whether there are enough folks interested, we can formulate next steps. We will share the reading list with the Network in any case.
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Leads on anti-oppression trainings or workshops
And on that note, if anyone has any direct experience with a particular trainer or workshop on anti-oppression, please let Erin or Lissa know. We are keeping a list of resources of available information and trainings on topics related to building greater social equity and justice for environmental leaders, and we want to be able to include workshops and trainings as part of this.
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Fellow Gatherings
It's time for some Fellow gatherings! We are looking for volunteers, wherever you are, to be the point person on organizing a hike or a happy hour with your fellow Fellows! Erin will be actively recruiting volunteers in our major hubs, but don't feel you need to wait to be tapped for that, and don't feel you need to be in a major hub to get together! Please contact
Erin if you'd like to arrange a meet-up.
And if anyone is attending the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in New Orleans in December, also let Erin know. We can try to get Fellow attendees together!
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Looking for Fellow expertise
We would like to hear from Fellows whose work is directly involved with environmental disasters (e.g., wildfires, floods, emergency preparedness). If you work in that realm, please contact
Lauren!
In addition, we would like to hear from Fellows who have had direct experience with federal censorship on climate change. Again, please contact
Lauren.
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In a time of hurricanes, we must talk about environmental conservation
Ayana Johnson says the time after a natural disaster is exactly the time to talk about environmental conservation. Conservation protects lives and property, and makes places like Puerto Rico far more self-reliant when disaster strikes.
Read more
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Hurricanes' contaminated floodwaters might crest next wave of climate change litigation
Dena Adler writes that recent storms could usher in a wave of climate change-related lawsuits. Dena's legal research discusses the sticky issue of climate change attribution, in which facilities and municipalities are liable for failing to undertake adequate preparatory, safety, and control measures without needing to prove a link between global climate change, the particular storm, and actual harms suffered.
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Amanda Subalusky: From mass death, life
When thousands of animals die during mass migrations, ecosystems accommodate the corpses and new cycles are set in motion. Amanda Subalusky and her colleagues have been studying the mass drownings of wildebeest and their impact on the Mara River in Africa.
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Jisung Park: Making sense of climate costs
At a time when there is much attention on rising sea levels and extreme weather events, Jisung Park eagerly took on the challenge of developing a greater understanding of the correlation between long-term economic vitality and rising temperatures due to global warming.
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Fracking moves closer to homes and schools in the Marcellus Shale region
Under a recent Switzer Network Innovation Grant, Evan Hansen and Lara Cushing explored whether gas production has become more prevalent near where people live, work, and play, increasing the potential for human exposure to contaminants associated with drilling and natural gas extraction.
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Building bird-friendly communities and climate-resilient initiatives in South Carolina
Heather Hulton VanTassel and Audubon South Carolina teamed up under a Switzer Leadership Grant to develop programs to build bird-friendly communities, and to advance climate-resilient initiatives that focus on native plants, community outreach and education, and community-based conservation activities.
Read more
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Upcoming Events
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Switzer Fellows Networking Call: Job Searching and Preparing for Tenure Track Positions
Wednesday, November 29 - 12:30 pm ET
For more information
Switzer Fellows Networking Call: Conservation Science and Biology
Wednesday, December 6 - 12:30 pm ET
Switzer Fellows Networking Call: Environmental Justice
Wednesday, January 24, 2018 - 12:30 pm ET
Switzer Fellows Networking Call: Strategies for Community-based Research
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 - 12:30 pm ET
For our full calendar of events, please visit the
Events section of our website.
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Fellows in the News
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Carolina Prado is a recipient of the Environmental Fellows Program administered by the University of Michigan.
Lisa Micheli was named a Local Hero by Bay Nature for her efforts to foster understanding and preservation of the natural integrity of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Paul Steinberg directed a documentary in Los Angeles on how to build bike-friendly cities.
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Fellow Job News
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Linwoood Pendleton is now the Global Lead for Ocean Science at the World Wildlife Federation.
Ayana Johnson has launched Ocean Collectiv, a new consulting firm that includes scientists, political strategists, and designers who have come together to tackle complex ocean problems for clients from corporations, to governments, to philanthropies, to non-profits.
Miriam Solis has been hired as an assistant professor by the University of Texas at Austin's School of Architecture as part of its Race and Gender in the Built Environment Initiative.
Shrayas Jatkar is now a Research Analyst with the California Workforce Development Board.
Dena Adler joined the Sabin Center at Columbia University Law School as the new 2017-2019 Climate Law Fellow. |
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A vibrant community of environmental leaders
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