Fall 2009 Events

Species and space constraints: the continuing fight for Africa's wildlife
A lecture by Mellon Global Scholar Evans Mwangi  Evans mwangi
Thursday, Nov. 19 7:30 PM
Main Lounge, Moulton Union

For most species, practical difficulties of carrying out censuses lead to temporal and spatial inconsistency, limiting the reliability of population estimates. Suitability of habitats on a continent-wide scale is even less well known. A recent study used the most recent and authoritative surveys to determine the distribution of elephants and suitable habitat throughout Africa. Critical habitats were mapped for the species - areas within which prospects for conservation benefits were deemed to be highest for the species. Some of these were also highlighted for their uniqueness, most significantly as potential ‘sources' for repopulating areas that may be identified as ‘sinks' in a ‘megaparks concept' that provided the main motivation for the study. The critical habitats represented what is needed to guarantee continued viability of populations and existence of the species. Because of its keystone role, they also define minimum requirements for success in the conservation of Africa's large mammals. Protecting them provides huge benefits for most, if not all, African biological diversity.

Evans Mwangi teaches conservation biology at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. He is also an environment and natural resources expert specializing in the conservation and management of biological diversity, human-ecosystem dynamics and climate change. His work experience spans academic, scientific, international development, governments and intergovernmental bodies. Previous work engagements include as adjunct faculty for St Lawrence University; regional advisor in the UN-Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; program officer at the United Nations Environment Program and; senior scientist for Kenya Wildlife Service. Dr Mwangi holds Ph.D and M.Sc and B.Sc from the University of Nairobi. Evans is currently the Mellon Global Scholar in environmental studies at Bowdoin College, and is teaching a course on biodiversity conservation in Africa during the Fall 2009 semester. 

The Amazing Chickadee Brain: Stem Cells and Adult Neurogensis
Friday, Nov. 20 12:30-1:30
Main Lounge, Moulton Union

Diane Lee is an associate professor at the California State University Long Beach, and is the Coastal Studies Scholar at Bowdoin, Fall 2009 where she is teaching an advanced seminar in behavioral neuroscience. Professor Lee investiages how animals have evoled to use higher order learning skills to solve ecologially meaningful tasks. Dr. Lee studies food storing (caching) birds, their behavior in the wild and laboratory, and the neuroanatomy of the brain structures invoved.

Hummingbirds: Magic in The Air
Tuesday, Dec. 1 7:30 pm
Smith Auditorium, Sills Hall

Hummingbirds: Magic in The Air  is a 60 minute documentary made for Nature/PBS that explores the world of the hummingbird. Hummingbirds represent one of nature's most interesting paradoxes: they are the tiniest birds, yet they are some of the toughest and most energetic creatures on the planet. New knowledge gained from scientists making great breakthroughs in hummingbird biology make this a perfect time to focus on these shimmering flashing jewels of the natural world. Stunningly beautiful high definition, high speed footage of hummingbirds in the wild combined with high tech presentations of their remarkable abilities help us to understand the world of the hummingbird like never before.

Ann Johnson Prum ‘82 is a science and natural history producer and cinematographer based in New Haven, CT. Ann's company Coneflower Productions produces programs for television including National Geographic, Discovery Channel and PBS. Ann produced and shot  Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air for Nature/WNET and has recently returned from shooting another Nature program Cuba: An Accidental Eden.
Free and Open to the Public.
Co-sponsored by the Bowdoin Scientiic Station on Kent Island, the departments of Film Studies and Biology, and the Environmental Studies Program

Basking with Humpbacks: Tracking Threatened Marine Life in New England Waters
Thursday, Dec. 3 7:30 pm
ES Common Room, Adams Hall

Science & nature writer, Todd McLeish, will discuss his new book, "Basking with Humpbacks: Tracking Threatened Marine Life in New England Waters" (published in 2009 by the University Press of New England).   McLeish will talk about some of the most vulnerable marine species inhabiting our local waters, to explain the science of conservation, and to introduce the people working on the front lines of threatened species research and conservation.    
In 'Basking with Humpbacks', Mr. McLeish describes his encounters with these threatened species in their natural habitats and gives the reader an intimate insight into the professional lives of the scientists and conservationists dedicated to saving them.


London 2012, Olympic Legacy and the Challenge of Sustainable Urbanism
Thursday, March 4, 2010 7:30 pm
Kresge Auditorium
 
John Gold, a well known urban studies scholar based inBritain will speak about the Olympics and their long-lasting impact on the host city, addressing his subject broadly and with historical reference, though with particular focus on London 2012.   At the heart of its bid for the 2012 games, London promised to offer the first ‘sustainable' Games, setting new standards for the world to follow.  The design of the Olympics--to be carried out by a number of leading international figures in the realm of architecture--will maximize sustainability through its buildings and infrastructure, through the staging of the games themselves, and into the future.   Olympic Park--located in an area of East London in dire need of regeneration-- will be transformed into the one of the largest urban parks created in Europe in the past 150 years.   While all this sounds terrific, it has not unfolded without controversy.

Archive of Fall 2009 Events

Tuesday, Sept. 15 7:00 pm sharp (doors open at 6:00 pm)
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center
Hurricane Season

Bowdoin College, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and Defending Water for Life in Maine are excited to announce "Hurricane Season " a theatrical performance incorporating spoken word, video, shadow art, and a sound collage that touches on a wide range of issues related to Hurricane Katrina.  

Almost exactly four years ago, hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast taking lives and devastating the communities of New Orleans and gulf coast Mississippi.  Inspired by ongoing social commentary surrounding this event and many other issues of social injustice, the two performers, Naima and Alixa, discuss many of the social inequalities that Katrina revealed, whether it was in the unequal preparations for the disaster, the hurricane's socially differentiated impacts, or the inequalities embedded in the relief efforts pursued by government agencies.   

At Bowdoin this event is sponsored by: the Africana Studies Program, the Environmental Studies Program, the Department of Theater and Dance, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the McKeen Center for the Common Good, and the Lectures and Concerts Committee.

Welcome Back ES Social
Who:    ES Majors and Students Interested in the ES Major
When:  Thursday - Sept. 17 6-8
Where: ES Commons Room - first floor Adams Hall

The ES program invites you to a Welcome Back Social in the ES Commons Room, first floor of Adams Hall.  This is a great chance to meet or reconnect with ES majors and ES faculty/staff. 

Jackie Feinberg National Grassroots organizer for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 pm
Schwartz Outdoor Leadership Center

"The mission of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is the preservation of the outstanding wilderness at the heart of the Colorado Plateau, and the management of these lands in their natural state for the benefit of all Americans.

SUWA promotes local and national recognition of the region's unique character through research and public education; supports both administrative and legislative initiatives to permanently protect the Colorado Plateau wild places within the National Park and National Wilderness Preservation Systems, or by other protective designations where appropriate; builds support for such initiatives on both the local and national level; and provides leadership within the conservation movement through uncompromising advocacy for wilderness preservation."

Greenhouse gas inventories for Brunswick and Topsham
Thursday, October 1 7:30 pm
Smith Auditorium, Sills Hall

This semester, students in the ES 301 course (Environmental Capstone Project) are working with the towns of Brunswick and Topsham to develop a greenhouse gas inventory and climate action plan.  Next Thursday, the first community-wide conversation on the greenhouse gas inventories for Brunswick and Topsham will take place.  The project presentation the students will make represents the first estimate of this inventory, and they will spend the next five weeks refining the analysis.  This is the community's opportunity to come see what the results look like so far and to offer feedback on ways to improve the analysis in preparation for the eventual climate action plans.
The event is free and open to the public.

President's Science Symposium
Saturday, October 3
Welcome and Keynote, 12:45-1:45 pm, Cleveland 151
President Barry Mills
Keynote: Tyrone Hayes
"FROZEN FROGS, 100‐EYED GIANTS, AND HERMAPHRODITES: MY PATH THROUGH BIOLOGY"
Student Presentations 2:00-3:30 pm, Cleveland 151
Student Poster Presentations 3:45-5:00 pm Daggett Lounge, Thorne Hall
Open to the Bowdoin Campus Community

The World's Energy Needs: An honest assessment of very real problems and the surprisingly realistic solutions.
Nick O'Grady '00, Plural Investments
Monday, October 5  7:30 pm
Main Lounge, Moulton Union
Dinner- 5:30 South Dining Room, Moulton Union

- Where we are: The current state of America's needs for electric power and transportation Fuels, and those of the growing world around us
- Myths vs. Reality: A look at media's influence on our views of energy, honest assessments of alternative fuels, environmental problems, and the world's energy supply
- Solutions: surprisingly easy solutions to the world's needs in a way that will not destroy our way of life or our competitive position in the world
- Navigating these views as a hedge fund manager and how it all works

Sponsored by Bowdoin's Finance Society, Green Global Initiatives, Women in Business, Environmental Studies and Career Planning.

What is Google Doing to Avert Climate Change?
A conversation with Dan Reicher, Director of Climate Chnage and Energy Initiatives, Google, Inc.
Thursday, October 8, 2:30-4:00 pm
ES Common Room, Adams Hall

Dan Reicher has over 25 years of experience in energy and environmental technology, policy, finance and law, including serving as Assistant Secretary of Energy, for Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Clinton Administration. He recently was an advisor to the Obama campaign on energy and climate issues and a member of the Presidential Transition Team where he focused on the energy portions of the stimulus package. Mr. Reicher joined Google in 2007 where he serves as Director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives for the company's venture called 'Google.org' which was capiltaized with more than $1 billion of Google stock to make investments, advance policy and develop products in the areas of climate change and energy, health, and global development, Mr. Reicher is also a board member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, a member of General Electric's Ecomagination Advisory Board, co-chairman of the board of the American Council on Renewable Energy, and a member fof the board of the American COuncil for an Energy Efficient Economy. 
Free and open to the public.

Policy and Advocacy Work in Maine and Beyond
A Conversation with Nicole Witherbee, Ph.D., Maine Center for Economic Policy
McKeen Center Common Room, 4:00 PM
Thursday, Ootober 8

Nicole Witherbee specializes in social policy and management, and will discuss how policy works, some of the major policy issues facing Mainers, and how to become involved in effecting policy as a citizen.

Interested in Architecture, Landscape Design, Sustainable Design, or Heritage Conservation & Restoration?
Wednesday, October 14 7:00-8:30
ES Common Room, Adams Hall
Join Steve Weeks of the University of Minnesota College of Design for pizza and information on graduate programs.

~Earth System Science Lecture~
Balancing Earth's Energy Budget - Pay Now or Pay Later
Thomas Moore, Professor Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University
Friday, October 16 3:00 PM
Druckenmiller Hall, Room 20
Anthropogenic climate change is a problem facing humanity that is no less significant than war, famine, disease, the plight of refugees and the guarantee of human rights across the lands.  Because climate change is inextricably linked to energy production and use, our mandate is convergence of Earth's develpmentally diverse peoples to sustainability.  Biological energy transduction processes offer examples of elegant machinery, made of earth-abundant materials, that operate efficiently and essentially isothermally.  Moreover, biological systems exhibit repair, self-assembly and replication - features that so far remain elusive to human-engineered devices.  Biological mainstream processes that might be advantageously incorporated into emerging energy technologies include catalysts for O2/H2O,H+/H2,CO2/CH2O redox reactions, reactions involving making/breaking carbon-carbon bonds, the redox chemistry of nitrogen, and many others.  Focusing on solar energy conversion, photosynthesis inspires us to imagine technologies that would convert solar energy to fuel at rates commensurate with human use.  Aspects of photosynthetic machinery that are important to future solar technologies include energy transfer, photoinduced electron transfer at molecular heterojunctions, protective mechanisms, and control networks.  In addition to the design, synthesis and assembly of constructs that carry out such processes, artificial photosynthesis can define the design parameters to be used in the nascent filed of synthetic biology to make vast, much needed improvements in the energy yield of photosynthesis.

ES Pre-majors Meeting
Thursday, October 22 7:30 pm
ES Common Room, Adams Hall

Join us for ice cream and cookies and meet faculty and current majors to learn more about the program, study abroad and internship opportunities.   For second year students in particular, this is an opportunity to find out about how ES works with study abroad opportunities.  If you cannot make the meeting and have questions about the major or want to discuss study abroad options before the Nov. 2 deadline, contact Eileen Johnson at ejohnson@bowdoin.edu 

Changing Environments, Changing Societies
Communities Responses to Environmental Uncertainty
A symposium supported by the Mellon Symposium
Saturday, October 24 9:00-4:00
Smith Auditorium, Sills Hall

The symposium will provide an opportunity to explore how communities will respond and interact during the transition to a changing climate, and will include speakers and case studies from the Polar North, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the eastern United States.
This event is free and opne to the public.

For more information, and to register, see the webpage:
http://www.bowdoin.edu/environmental-studies/symposia/climate-adaptation-2009/index.shtml

Journeys of a Global Change Scientist Phil Camill
Thursday, October 29 7:30 PM
Public Lecture by Phil Camill, Environmental Studies and Biology
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center

Phil Camill is a global change ecologist and a leading expert on climate change in boreal and arctic ecosystems. He joined the Bowdoin faculty as the Rusack Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies in July 2008 and is the director of the Environmental Studies Program. At Bowdoin, Camil is involved in developing collaborative teaching and research opportunities in earth system science, coastal studies, race and environment, campus sustainability, and environmental literacy. Before coming to Bowdoin, Camill was at Carleton College, where he conducted a National Science Foundation-funded research program on the impacts of climate warming on terrestrial, wetland, and lake ecosystem dynamics. His research has been featured in both Science and Nature, and he has published extensively in professional journals. In this lecture he will describe being on the front lines of global change research over the past 15 years and what that has meant personally and professionally. Using research examples from his work and the broader natural and social scientific communities, he will show how human impacts and the study of global change are changing rapidly, and opening a critical need for interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship.

Race, Power and the Environment: An Interdisciplinary Experience

  • Taytu's Feast: Cuisine and National Identity in Ethiopia, 1887
    A seminar with James McCann    , Professor of History, Boston University
    Wednesday, Nov. 4 4:00 pm
    ES Common Room, Adams Hall

    James McCann is Professor of History and Director and ad interim, of the African Studies Center at Boston University. He is the author of Maize and Grace: Africa's Encounter with a New World Crop, 1500-2000, which was the winner of the George Perkins Marsh Prize for Best Book in Environmental History. Professor McCann will lead a seminar drawn from his forthcoming book Stirring the Pot: A History of African Cuisine. (Ohio University Press, 2009). Free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by the Africana Studies Program and Environmental Studies Program
  • Illustrated Lecture: Tourism in Eeyou Istchee: Cree Cultural Identity and Economic Development in Quebec
    Dr. Kreg T. Ettenger. Professor, University of Southern Maine
    Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 pm in Beam Classroom, VAC

    The Cree or Eeyou people of northern Quebec have engaged for decades in a struggle with the state over land, resources, and political sovereignty. They have also wrestled with the issue of cultural change and identity as their economy has shifted away from land-based subsistence to wage employment within settled, modern communities. Tourism development is a recent strategy designed to provide income to families and communities while helping them preserve links to the land and traditional heritage. This talk gives an overview of tourism development in the region, its challenges, and how it could support or undermine Cree efforts to preserve their cultural identity and heritage.

    Kreg Ettenger has worked in the Cree communities of northern Quebec since 1994 on projects including land claims, impact studies, oral history documentation and training, and the establishment of protected areas. He has also taken undergraduate students to the region for archaeology and ethnographic field courses.
    Free and Open to the Public. Co-sponsored by the Environment Studies Program and The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum

      

Brunswick and Topsham -- A Report on GHG Emissions From the Two Communities
Thursday, Nov. 5 7:30 PM 
Topsham Public Library, Foreside Rd, Topsham

As part of a senior seminar course, students will be presenting the results of an analysis of how transportation, heating, electricity and other factors contribute to greenhouse gas emissions for Brunswick and Topsham. The results will be used to draft a Climate Action Plan for the two communities. Free and Open to the Public.

Local and Global Connections to Africa
Friday, November 6, 12:00-1:00
McKeen Center,Common Room

Join Evans Mwangi, Bowdoin's Mellon Global Scholar in Environmental Studies, and faculty who have experience working and living in Africa for a lunchtime conversation about study and work opportunities in Kenya and other African countries. Please e-mail Janice Jaffe (jjaffe@bowdoin.edu) by Wednesday, November 4, to let us know if you plan to attend so we can ensure that we have enough food.  

Sunlight, sea ice, and water: climate change and the Arctic sea ice cover
Kibbe Symposium with Dr. Donald Perovich
Thursday, November 12 7:30 pm
Cleveland 151

Sea ice covers much of the Arctic Ocean. Climate models indicate that this extensive, but thin, floating ice cover is both a harbinger and an amplifier of global climate change. Observations demonstrate that the Arctic sea ice cover is in decline. The areal extent of the ice cover has been decreasing for the past few decades and the ice has been thinning. The observed reduction in Arctic sea ice is a consequence of such factors as overall warming trends, changes in cloud cover, shifts in atmospheric circulation patterns, increased export of ice out of the Arctic Basin, and enhanced solar heating of the ocean. These changes are likely accelerated by the ice-albedo feedback.. The diminishing Arctic sea ice has implications not only for the Arctic, but also for the global climate system, creating social, political, economic, and ecological challenges.

Dr. Don Perovich received a Ph.D. in Geophysics from the University of Washington. He is a Senior Research Geophysicist at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover New Hampshire and an Adjunct Professor in the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College. His primary research interest is understanding the role of sea ice in the global climate system, with an emphasis on the heat budget of sea ice and the ice albedo feedback. He has participated in numerous Arctic field experiments including serving as the Chief Scientist of SHEBA, a large international program studying the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean. During SHEBA an icebreaker was frozen into the Arctic ice pack for a year-long drift experiment. He also conducted sea ice studies during a 2005 trans-Arctic icebreaker expedition to the North Pole. He is the author of over 120 scientific articles on sea ice properties and processes. He has received the National Science Foundation Arctic Service Award and the Department of the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award and is a member of advisory committees regarding Arctic icebreakers, Arctic system science, and environmental Arctic change.