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. Her talk was fittingly titled, “Stop the Flush, Pee the Change: Social Research on Nutrient Systems-Based Agricultural Interventions.” The Rich Earth Institute aims to establish a community-wide urine recycling program that would allow for conservation of water in treatment plants in addition to accessing a readily available, nutrient-rich resource. Ella showed photos of the urine-diverting toilets that the Institute builds, which are then collected by the “pee truck” and pasteurized before being sent to local farms. Ella mostly worked on the community-facing side of the job, interviewing farmers, organizing community events, and gaining many skills in scientific communication.
Next was Ry Emmert ’26, who investigated cyanobacteria algae blooms in Maine lake systems with Dr. Ewing, a professor of Bates College. Cyanobacteria blooms pose a hazard to public health, as they can still produce toxins at dangerous levels to lake ecosystems. Ry helped to conduct investigations at Sabattus Pond, a lake near her home in Lewiston, ME. Her team traveled by boat and took algal samples from the pond, using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) techniques to assess the lake’s vulnerability to algal bloom. They found that increased pH and temperature may worsen cyanobacteria algal blooms, particularly in the summer months. More than anything else, Ry said she “enjoyed learning by doing” in her research this summer and being able to study an ecosystem near her own home.
Marta Symkowick ’25 spoke third, telling the audience about the history of the Dakota Access Pipeline. She explained how the pipeline was meant to transport crude oil form North Dakota to Illinois. In 2016, its construction was planned to cut directly through water sources in neighboring Lakota tribes. Protestors camped near Standing Rock Reservation to bring awareness to this issue, and a judge temporarily halted construction. It was later discovered that construction was still taking place on a local Lakota burial site. Protestors showed up once again, and law enforcement retaliated with force, setting attack dogs on the peaceful citizens. The movement against the pipeline exploded afterwards and has continued since as the pipeline continued to be constructed. Law enforcement has tried to halt the movement by controlling the main highway; they even built a blockade across the highway and only allowed white townspeople to pass through. Recently, the Thunderhawk v. the County of Morton case arose, persecuting the sheriff and local law enforcement for these injustices. Marta worked remotely to analyze data for this case, but couldn’t share the details of this analysis at Log Lunch for confidentiality reasons. She did, however, share that her work allowed her to see that data collection and analysis can be used to advance justice and solve important issues.
Finally, Abby Murphy ’25 presented her research on the environmental history of the Civil War Forts in Washington DC. Abby looked specifically at the history of deforestation at these forts, using newspaper archives to learn about the stories of tree valuation throughout the region. The city became essentially treeless in order to establish the Civil War forts in the 1800’s–
surrounding trees were cut also down to prevent enemy soldiers from hiding and shooting from behind them.
After use of the forts, freed Black Americans moved there and established communities. Afterwards in the 20th century, the National Parks system came in to displace those communities and create recreational, protected parks. This past exemplifies what Abby called the “tension at the core of American environmental history: in order to create green space, people of color are removed from their lands and their communities are destroyed.” Today, these forts have an environmental history that contains dark truths of displacement and racism, but the preservation of these spaces within a contemporary cityscape has allowed for DC
DC to maintain evenly distributed green space.
The Log Lunch cooks prepared a delicious meal of chickpea butternut squash curry, using squash from Shania’s farm; a lemony slaw with cabbage and parsley from Bigfoot Farm; some garlic naan with cilantro and garlic butter, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for dessert.