·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
• • • • •

The National Council for Science and the Environment invites you to join with over 600 environmental scholars and scientists who have already joined the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences.  Since its creation less than a year ago, AESS is quickly becoming the leading interdisciplinary society in higher education for people working in the fields of environmental studies and environmental science. Faculty, students, and education-minded environmental professionals and practitioners are encouraged to join.  Initial membership is only $30/year for faculty & professionals and $15/year for students. Join now by going to www.aess.info.

The Association’s first annual meeting will take place in Madison, Wisconsin, October 8-11, 2009. Go to our web site to submit your abstracts and proposals for participation. See the attached PDF for information about the conference and opportunities for participation.

AESS provides identity, collective voice and continuing education for individuals in higher education engaged in environmental research, teaching, problem solving, and service to society. The Association promotes the development of these collective concerns by

• enlarging the capacity for cross-campus collaboration, mentoring, and shared scholarship;
• creating a collegial process for networking, sharing ideas, publishing, and promoting interdisciplinary programs and conferences;
• advancing professional standards and guidelines for environmental scholars and scientists;
• supporting the career development of students and faculty members;
• promoting research, discussion, and outreach that expand public knowledge about the environment and improve environmental science, policy, and management.

AESS is envisioned as a community of environmental scholars and scientists, rather than a confederation of disciplines. Fundamental to this vision is a conviction that broad advances in environmental knowledge require disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches to research and learning. AESS looks forward to working with existing disciplinary associations and is already working with the National Council for Science and Environment, its Council of Environmental Deans and Directors, and others engaged in the vital task of linking academia, government, business, and the public on matters of environmental sustainability.

The Association employs a variety of media and venues to carry out this mission, including its web site (www.aess.info), professional newsletter, a planned flagship journal, and national and regional conferences. Additional information about these communication channels are available on the web site, including three issues of our newsletter. Plans for the launch of the AESS journal in 2010 are well underway.

Via Librarians’ Internet Index.

Companion website to this 2009 PBS NOVA documentary that “explores the pros and cons of California’s bold approach [to fighting global warming], which could be adopted nationwide during the Obama administration.” Features interviews, an online diary of one person’s attempt to reduce energy consumption, expert opinions, and other material about energy efficiency and climate change. Includes a classroom guide and related readings and links.

Healthy School Environment Resources is your gateway to on-line resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.

This guide provides local government managers with an understanding of the connections between school facility planning and local government management issues.

EPA has evaluated various emission reducing and fuel saving technologies/devices as part of grants, cooperative agreements, emissions testing, engineering analyses, modeling, demonstration projects and external peer reviewed reports.  The technologies listed on the web site have been verified by EPA to reduce emissions from diesel powered vehicles and engines.

Read the full story in the Wall Street Journal.

Even without futuristic technologies, drivers can achieve eye-popping fuel economy in their current cars with nothing fancier than their brains and some lighter feet. The idea is to maintain momentum much as on a leisurely bicycle ride: accelerating only gradually, coasting whenever possible and constantly adjusting speed to minimize the need to stop.

The challenge will be to get Americans, who love the open throttle as much as the open road, to ease up instead of variously slamming on the gas and the brakes. In the meantime, as early eco-drivers lower their own emissions, they are certain to raise some hot air from the impatient drivers around them.

Please join us at the Illinois State Museum for this exciting opportunity.

Saturday, May 16, 10-4
Cost $45 including materials and lunch

Our upcoming “Communicating Nature Workshop” is a mixture of classroom instruction, group and individual projects, and experiences in the museum environment for teachers of all grade levels. The instruction takes an integrated and cross-curricular approach, intermingling the skills of photography, sketching, and descriptive writing. The workshop is designed to provide teachers with a unique perspective on science, nature, and aesthetics, and enhance their existing approach to communicating their knowledge.

Instructors
Dr. Michael R. Jeffords, Senior Professional Scientist at the Illinois
Natural History Survey,

Susan L. Post, Research Scientist at the Illinois Natural History
Survey, UI Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability

Carolyn Peet Nixon, Technical Scientist at the Illinois Natural History
Survey, UI Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability

In celebration of National Library Week, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management suggests that Hoosiers donate unwanted books to their local libraries, rather than throwing them away. I encourage everyone from every state to do the same.