On Friday, November 10, the Log Lunch community welcomed State Senator Paul Mark to discuss the Massachusetts Community Climate Bank, the state’s first “green bank.” With $50 million in state funding from the Department of Environmental Protection that is available to municipalitie, the goal of the initiative is… Continue reading »
To round out the October Log Lunches, Williams students, parents, and community members were joined by Grace Weatherall ’16, a current Attorney Advisor at the EPA. After graduating from Williams with a double major in English and Environmental Studies, Grace studied at Harvard Law School before working as a legal… Continue reading »
At the most recent Log Lunch, diners heard from four students about their summer work, funded by grants from the Center for Environmental Studies. First off was Ella Ball ’25, who worked at the Rich Earth Institute in Brattleboro, VT to advance human waste as an organic resource for fertilization. Continue reading »
On October 6, the Log Lunch community heard from three student speakers, all of whom had received summer funding from CES to work on farms. Sarah Gardner explained that the summer is the peak of growing seasons for farmers, meaning many are looking for extra help over these… Continue reading »
For the last Log Lunch of September, the Williams community welcomed Alanah Keddell-Tuckey, director of the office for Environmental Justice at the New York Department for Environmental Conservation (DEC). Alanah began her talk by defining Environmental Justice as the constant and meaningful involvement of all people “in the… Continue reading »
On September 22, the Log Lunch community welcomed Theresa Ong ’09 as the first guest speaker of the year to discuss her research regarding socioecological constructions of community in urban gardens. Theresa, who now serves as an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society… Continue reading »
At the penultimate Log Lunch of the semester attendees were joined by Williams Mystic professors Sofia Zepeda and Tim Pusack, who gave a collaborative talk discussing the story of invasive lionfish species. Zepeda, a professor of American Maritime History at Mystic, kicked off the talk with a brief… Continue reading »
On April 28, the Log Lunch community welcomed Liz Gleason ’08 to speak about her work as the director of the Vermont Farm and Forest Viability Program, part of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB). During her time at Williams, Liz was a cook for Log Lunch… Continue reading »
This week, Log Lunch goers were joined by Annapurrna Xochiestentli, a current sophomore at Williams who traveled to Egypt for COP27 this past year. Her professor Brittany Meché introduced Annapurrna as an advocate, writer, creator, and “trouble-maker in the best ways.” Annapurrna struck Meché and her audience with… Continue reading »
On April 14, the Log Lunch community gathered to learn from Eban Goodstein ’82 and Masha Zabara about their experiences in climate activism. Eban worked as an economics professor for 20 years, at Lewis & Clark and Skidmore Colleges, led the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions at… Continue reading »
Log Lunch returned from Spring Break with a talk by Allison Cross Carter, who leads a team at WWF (World Wildlife Fund) dedicated to solving some of the world’s biggest conservation challenges for wild-caught fish and marine wildlife. She has helped over 50 fisheries on six continents engage in efforts… Continue reading »
This week the Log Lunch community welcomed back Chris Varrone ’85 to speak about his work in carbon capture and storage technologies. Varrone currently serves as Managing Director of Pickwick Capital Partners. He graduated from Williams with a degree in political science and went on to get a… Continue reading »
On March 3, the Log Lunch community gathered to hear from Paul Gallay ’81 about coastal resilience planning in New York City. Paul serves as the director of Columbia University’s Center for Sustainable Urban Development’s Resilient Coastal Communities Project (RCCP), a partnership between the Columbia Climate School and… Continue reading »
At this week’s Log Lunch, the Williams community gathered to hear from Sarah Cooperman ‘17 about her wildlife rehabilitation work. Sarah expressed her life-long love for wildlife protection; growing up she had big dreams of becoming a marine biologist, but her passion for wildlife underdogs eventually led her… Continue reading »
Williams College students, faculty, and community members gathered for the first Log Lunch of the spring semester to hear from Jeff Thaler, a Williams graduate from the class of ‘74. Thaler wears many hats in the world of environmental law and policy—both figuratively and literally, as he sported… Continue reading »
On January 20th, the Log Lunch community had the privilege of hearing from local farmer, chef, florist, entrepreneur and activist Tu Le. Over a delicious meal of North African soup with lentils, beans, and millet, Moroccan flatbread, Lebanese slaw and rice flour cookies made with produce from Mighty… Continue reading »
Just-Zero has four main goals: changing how solid waste is processed, ending landfilling, keeping compost clean, and reducing single-use items. Solid-waste disposal often uses dangerous methods and there is a lack of investment in real solutions. One false solution is incineration, often disguised by nice-sounding terms… Continue reading »
When Gavin McCormick ‘05 began his PhD in Environmental Economics at Berkeley, he anticipated spending years developing new methods to quantify and evaluate greenhouse gas emissions. What he didn’t anticipate, however, was that his ideas would revolutionize climate science and transform global climate policy. As he spoke to… Continue reading »
At the final Log Lunch of the semester, three students from the Environmental Planning Class presented their findings on Williams College’s potential for solar polar generation. Caroline Ro, Isabelle Zollinger, and Cole Whitehouse (all from the class of 2023) worked with two clients—Tana Srebotnjak, the Director of Zilkha Center Environmental… Continue reading »
On December 2nd, Abe Noe-Hayes of the Rich Earth Institute called the Log Lunch community to consider an important question: what is one of the most nutrient rich, easily created, and easily wasted substances in the world? With a talk entitled “Rethinking Urine: A Solution for Climate, Water, and Agriculture,”… Continue reading »
At the final Log Lunch of November, the Williamstown community gathered to learn from Norris Guscott, an Equity Policy Networks Manager at the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative and Food Security Task Force Leader in the city of Lynn, MA. Guscott began his career in community organizing in neighborhood… Continue reading »
On an unseasonably warm November 4th, the Log Lunch community gathered over a delicious meal of slow roasted tomatoes, kale pesto orzo, cabbage apple slaw, collard chips, and a salad with collard greens, chickpeas, and apple to learn about offshore wind power from Megan Higgins. After majoring in environmental studies… Continue reading »
The season of homecoming and harvest is in full swing in Williamstown, and what better way to celebrate these traditions than hearing from past Williams students while enjoying a locally-sourced meal? This Friday, October 28th, Log Lunch welcomed back Sara St. Antoine ‘88 to speak about environmental change… Continue reading »
After celebrating Mountain Day on the 14th, the Log Lunch community came together to hear Jenae Rassmussen ‘23 and Caitlin Murphy ‘24 reflect upon their exciting summers on October 21st. Both students were funded by Center for Environmental Studies summer research grants. The community enjoyed butternut squash risotto… Continue reading »
On October 7, students, faculty, and community members gathered at the first Log Lunch of the month to hear from students Angela Hsuan Chen ’23 and Jahnavi Kirtane ’24. Both Angela and Jahnavi received Center for Environmental Studies grants to pursue research opportunities over the summer, and both were well-prepared… Continue reading »