John Guerin is the Vice President of Operations and Sales at EOS Ventures. EOS Ventures works to develop and own renewable projects. They work in wind energy, solar energy, cogeneration, and thermal storage. Guerin spoke specifically about the conception of the Pownal Racetrack Solar Field and Renewable Project and the… Continue reading »
Aseem Shrivastava is an environmental economist, activist, and a freelance writer. He is also the co-author of Churning the Earth: The Making of Global India. Shrivastava began his Log Lunch talk by describing the concept of money as a form a debt that is a claim against the Federal Reserve… Continue reading »
Jon Piasecki is a landscape architect who specializes in trying to reconnect people and the land. He is the recipient of the 2004 Prince Charitable Trust Rome Prize awarded by the American Academy in Rome. Within his lifetime, Piasecki has witnessed the landscape alter drastically which motivated him to design… Continue reading »
Leslie Brunetta is the co-author of Spider Silk: Evolution and 400 Million Years of Spinning, Waiting, Snagging, and Mating. In the book, Brunetta and her co-author, Catherine Craig, wrote about the different types of spider webs and the story of spider evolution and natural selection. Although Brunetta studied a mostly… Continue reading »
Two recent Williams alumni spoke about their current careers related to the agriculture industry after romanticizing the idea of farming as Williams students. Continue reading »
Not long after Uttarakhand’s formation in 2000, the Uttarakhand government adopted policies to promote organic agriculture as part of its rural development and poverty-fighting programs. Continue reading »
Dr. James Carlton, Director of the Williams-Mystic Program and Professor of Marine Sciences, presented on “Coming to America: Marine Biology and Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris” at Log Lunch on April 12. Focusing on the story of four large docks dislodged from the port of Misawa in Japan, Carlton discussed the… Continue reading »
Professor Michelle Joffroy of Smith College presented a Log Lunch talk on April 5 entitled “The True Cost of Justice: Imagining Ecological and Social Debt in Latina Fiction.” Arguing that cultural expressions allow us to examine questions of environmental justice with greater creativity and to take more risks in critiquing… Continue reading »
The Center for Environmental Studies welcomed professor Kim Fortun of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a lecture on “Late Industrialism: Characterizing a Historical Moment and its Political-Scientific Challenges” on April 4. Dr. Fortun discussed the need to understand industrialism as a culture with its own set of norms and assumptions that… Continue reading »
USGS research oceanographer Peter Howd has made great strides in actually quantifying the relationship between tropical storms and a warmer planet. Continue reading »
Today’s log lunch featured Williams College’s Rosenburg Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology Hank Art speaking about his travel winter study course to California. Students in the course experienced a broad range of agricultural practices from the vineyards of San Luis Obispo County to winter vegetable and livestock operations in… Continue reading »
Climate change, energy supply, and obesity are three major dilemmas in America today. As a prominent cyclist, commentator, and activist, Richard Fries believes that creating an American bike culture could be a big part of the solution. Continue reading »
At Friday’s Log Lunch, Chris Varrone ‘84, president of Riverview Consulting, claims that the wind industry will beat fossil fuel prices within seven years. Continue reading »
Bruce Winn, president and co-founder of Berkshire Environmental Protection Team (BEAT), discusses the power of grassroots activism. Continue reading »
Log Lunch on October 19 featured presentations on student summer research and internships. Amelia Simmons ’13 researched “The Secrets of Italian Salumi” with a Wilmers travel fellowship, using the Slow Food network of “endangered” local and traditional “presidia” breeds and food products to connect with small-scale meat producers in Italy. Continue reading »
Professor Sarah Gardner, Sam Murray ’14, David Nolan ’13, Cary White ’13, and Emily Ury ’13 talk about their summer researching the challenges and opportunities for farmers in Berkshire County. Continue reading »
Jesse Brackenbury '97 discusses his role as Director of Operations at the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Continue reading »
Kathleen Merrigan, Williams class of 1982, kicked off the 2012-2013 Log Lunch season speaking about her role as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Continue reading »
Paulette Goudge, director of the Mariposa Spanish School and Eco-hotel in San Juan de la Concepcion, Nicaragua, discussed the trials and benefits of running an eco-tourism business. Continue reading »
Hanna Saltzman, Williams class of 2012, spoke of the spiritual dimensions of local food to a fascinated log lunch crowd on April 27th. Hanna’s yearlong thesis explores the assumption that local food is healthy food: “People believe it to such an extent that they take it as common sense.” There… Continue reading »
About 5,000 to 7,000 species are currently in motion around the world in the ballast water of cargo ships. For the last lecture of this spring’s Oceans Symposium, James T. Carlton, director of the Williams Mystic Program, described the effects of these invasive species on the Atlantic Coast, and throughout… Continue reading »
“Landscape Architecture Needs You!” cried Nina Antonetti, Professor of Landscape Studies at Smith, at March 9th’s log lunch. Antonetti made an appealing case for liberal arts students to consider landscape architecture, but her real story was about one very talented individual: Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. Oberlander, winner of the International Jellicoe… Continue reading »
Donald Campbell, the Southwest Regional Director for the Vermont Land Trust, pickle-maker enthusiast, and Williams College alum, provided his log lunch audience with his version of “Land Trusts 101” on April 5th. Land Trusts are meant to preserve land for society’s future needs, in terms of community and economy, thereby… Continue reading »
A quarter of the carbon dioxide emissions from human systems enters the ocean. There is no scientific doubt that intakes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere have caused a pH increase in the acidity of the Earth’s oceans. On March 6th, Scott Doney, a chemist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic… Continue reading »
On February 27th, as part of the interdepartmental Oceans Symposium, students, faculty and Williamstown residents gathered to view a “A Sea Change: Imagine a World Without Fish,” followed by a question and answer session with Elizabeth Kolbert. Kolbert is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a visiting professor… Continue reading »