Environmental Studies

Building a Campaign to Conserve Canada’s Great Northern Boreal Forest
Liz Barratt-Brown, Senior Advisor to the International Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council
Liz will address why conserving Canada’s boreal forest is so critical - for Indigenous Peoples, for species like the iconic caribou, and for shielding against climate chaos. She will describe how tissue paper is literally flushing the boreal down the drain and what NRDC’s newly launched campaign intends to do about it.

Seeing the Unseen: Using Visual Feedback of Electric Consumption to Engage Students
Michelle McCauley, Professor of Psychology, Middlebury College, and Thomas Wentworth ’18, Research Assistant, University of Vermont, and Independent Contractor, Staple Health

ENVS 0401 Community-Engaged Practicum Student Presentations

“Ecosystem management, resilience and resistance. When are our mistakes reversible and how do we avoid making them?” by Dr. Indy Burke, Carl W. Knobloch, Jr, Dean, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Professor of Ecosystem Science.

“The Interspecies Dance: Confrontation and Choreography with the Animal World” by Karima Borni, Scholar in Residence, Dance Program, Middlebury College

This talk explores the process of communication with non-human species using physical listening, spatial awareness and corporeal clarity in order to develop a shared language of movement. Further, the inquiry examines how this practice can impact our embodiment of the human form as dancers, and how this can lead to a more effective choreographic encounter between ourselves and “others.”

“Living on the Wind: The World of Migratory Birds” by Scott Weidensaul, Writer and Researcher.

“Hopes Echo: Learning an Extinct Birdsong for Ecosphere Healing” by Julianne Warren, Writer, Climate Justice Community Organizer, and Fellow, Center for Humans and Nature.

“Thoreau, Katahdin, the Penobscot People and the Maine Woods” by Huey, Independent filmmaker, Portland, ME.

Huey will talk about making films and show clips from his documentary films on environmental issues including his most recent film, Henry David Thoreau: Surveyor of the Soul. His films on Katahdin and Thoreau feature Penobscots discussing their views on the environment, spirituality in nature, and Thoreau’s representation of Penobscots in his book, The Maine Woods.

MIDD-ES STUDENT REFLECTIONS ON LEARNING
Study Away Experiences

“Fighting Dirty Energy: Are We Losing On Climate Because We’re Only Fighting Half the Battle?” by Theo Spencer ‘88, Senior Policy Advocate, Dirty Energy Team, Nature Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The vast majority of money and people power in the fight against global warming has gone into cutting down on what comes out of power plants and vehicles, not what goes into them. That’s a problem we need to fix.