February 14, 2001
Environmental Council Meeting Minutes
February 14, 2001
Le Chateau B
Chair: Nan Jenks-Jay
In attendance: Nan Jenks-Jay, Kathy Morse, Amy Seif, Pete Ryan, Story Parker, Ben Wessler, George McPhail, Mike Snow, Krista Siringo, Charlie Sargent, Jon Isham, Brittany Gill, Timothy McCahill, Kaitlin Gregg.
Absent: Caitlin Hicks, Erik Skovsted, Tom Kelly
1. The meeting was called to order at 4:20 p.m.
2. Introductions
The new student members - Brittany Gill '01.5, Timothy McCahill '03 and Kaitlin Gregg '03 - introduced themselves to the Council.
3. Follow-up to Meeting with President McCardell
A. Environmental Grant Funding :
The Council thanks President McCardell for his support of the Environmental Grant Program with $25,000 for next year's program.
B. Connecting to Town and Region:
Several of President McCardell's suggestions dealt with connecting Council activities with the town and region. The Council should keep this in mind when planning initiatives, and we should get better at communicating our efforts to the President. An opportunity to connect with Spirit in Nature on global warming issues exists. A good suggestion from the President was to give signed certificates to those people who have been "heros" for environmental affairs.
C. Transportation Planner :
The Council's interest in hiring a transportation planner to develop a Transportation Demand Management program for Middlebury College was approved by the President on condition that we develop a plan and present it to the selectboard. Recent data from the Parking Study Committee suggests that there will soon be more cars on campus than parking spaces and that there is hardly any expansion potential for new lots. By Fall '02, a transportation demand management plan needs to be in place to alleviate pressures stemming from lack of faculty/staff spaces. Bill Hegman and students may be able to help gather information via GIS.
D. Integrating "Issue of the Year :
If the Council is to integrate the issue of the year into the academic program, we need to be methodical about it and decide on an issue during the spring semester of the year before. By happenstance, global warming as an issue is being covered by several departments this year. Speakers have covered this topic, and Pete Ryan's ES 401 class also dealt with the topic. Amy will get in touch with Geonomics to see if Bill Moomaw from Tufts will have time on his visit to address global warming. The Council would like to bring a well-known speaker to the college for Earth Week to discuss global warming. EQ is also focusing efforts on global warming this year.
4. Earth Day Event Planning
The Walk Through Time exhibit was considered, but rejected due to cost and on the grounds that it deals with evolutionary issues, not global climate change. For an Earth Day speaker, Mario Molina of MIT was suggested. David Orr is another possibility. Information and statistics on global warming will be presented to the community during Earth Week. The Council will see if Ben & Jerry's can bring peace pops to the lecture. At Russ's Rockin Earth Day BBQ, Monument Farms will be presented with an award. The Council will also hold our annual trail clean-up during Earth Week. The Council can show the CNN video on the state of the earth. Amy will advertise all Earth Day events happening on campus.
5. Update on Environmental Grants
A. Grants Given this Year:
The Environmental Council has awarded twelve grants this year, with one application still being decided on. The new grant awards have gone to Ben Wessler for the Environmental Impact of Outdoors Orientation, Cathy Vincent for Going Digital in Photography, Brian Guercio for Art to Raise Awareness, Ron Schildge for Biodiesal Research and Outreach, and to Andrew Corrigan for Low Impact Photography. May 2, 2001 is the date for presentations by recipients.
B. Completed Grant Projects:
Two grant projects have just about been completed. Dane Springmeyer's project on a campus tree inventory is being extended by other students. Katinka LoCascio's project to study heating a greenhouse through heat generated by compost has resulted in a senior thesis report. Also, Katinka and Rich Wolfson are trying to get their research published in a journal. The people who work in the Intervale may utilize Katinka's research in their composting business.
6. Clean Air-Cool Planet Visit
A. Next Meeting Agenda:
Clean Air-Cool Planet from Portsmouth NH will be visiting with the Council to talk about who they are, what a climate action plan is, a possible internship, and they will assist us in finishing our greenhouse gas emissions inventory.
B. Data for Emissions Inventory:
We have most of the data collected for 1999, but we still need data on the CVPS electric mix (Amy), commuter miles traveled (ITS), and methane produced by the landfill (Charlie). Story will develop a survey to find out information on student driving.
7. Other Business
A. Winter Carnivale:
Russ Hulst will be showing a slide show at Winter Carnivale which will feature global warming as an international issue.
B. David Orr:
David Orr spoke at UVM on Feb 15. Amy attended the talk.
C. Announcement :
Amy Seif announced that she will be resigning from her position as Environmental Coordinator on May 2 to pursue other career interests. Amy will have worked for the college for three years at that point. A national search will be conducted to find a replacement.
8. Sub-Committees
The Environmental Peak and State of the Environment Report Sub-Committee met.
Minutes respectively submitted by Amy Seif on February 19, 2001.
