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Program News: Week of April 27th

This is the final newsletter of the term - have wonderful summer adventures everyone!

EVST End of Year Celebration - Wednesday, April 29th! We hope everyone will join us for appetizers, soccer and great company from 4:00 - 6:00 in the Kroon Hall Courtyard on April 29th.  We look forward to a relaxing event, celebrating the end of another great year here at Yale, sending students off to summer adventures with good cheer, and congratulating our soon to be graduates!  Join us - all are welcome!

Plan for Next Fall: Campus RainWorks Challenge  The EPA recently announced the winners of the 3rd Annual Campus RainWorks Challenge.  EPA invited teams of undergraduate and graduate students to design an innovative green infrastructure project for their campus to show how managing rainfall ina  more natural way can benefit campus community and the environment.  This contest will open again in the Fall of 2015 - keep this in mind over the summer and come back in the fall with great ideas!

Winning teams earned a student prize to be divided evenly among student team members, as well as a faculty prize to support green infrastructure research or training. Click here to see the 2014 Challenge Winners!

E-Waste Collection This Week E-Waste will be collected on Tuesday, April 28th and Wednesday, April 29th from 10-2 in Ingall's Rink.  Students can drop off non-Yale purchased items for recycling including: computers, laptops, printers, fax machines, monitors, tvs, cell phones, tablets, video game machines, VCR and DVD players, remotes, keyboards, mice, batteries, other small appliances.  No smoke detectors or hazardous materials are allowed.

Events

Monday, April 27th

What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming | Per Espen Stoknes, Psychologist, Economist, Former Yale World Fellow | 12:30 | Room 24, Sage Hall

Tuesday, April 28th

New Directions in Environmental Law: Conference Planning Meeting | 12:00 | Room 321, Kroon Hall | Read about this year's conference here

Wednesday, April 29th

EVST End of Year Celebration!! | 4:00 | Kroon Hall Courtyard | All Welcome | Rain Location: Bowers Auditorium, Sage Hall

 

Opportunities

Entries Invited for Yale's e360 Video Contest The second annual Yale Environment 360 Video Contest is now accepting entries. The contest honors the best environmental videos. Entries must be videos that focus on an environmental issue or theme, have not been widely viewed online, and are a maximum of 15 minutes in length. Videos that are funded by an organization or company and are primarily about that organization or company are not eligible.

The first-place winner will receive $2,000, and two runners-up will each receive $500. The winning entries will be posted on Yale Environment 360, and winners must agree that their video will not be re-posted on other websites for a 60-day period.

The contest judges will be Yale Environment 360 editor Roger Cohn, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and e360 contributor Elizabeth Kolbert, and documentary filmmaker Thomas Lennon. Videos should be uploaded on the contest entry form, and entries must include a valid contact email address. Send any questions to e360@yale.edu. The deadline for entries is June 15, 2015.

University Pathways to Science - Summer Jobs  Yale Pathways to Science is looking for undergrad/graduate students who have a love of and ability in STEM, a diversity of talent, enthusiasm, ability to communicate and an interest in mentoring New haven high school students.

Pathways to Science Summer Scholars Teaching Assistant: Program Associates will be a part of a team of five undergrad/graduate students who will serve as teaching and lab assistants for the new two-week Summer Scholars Day Program. Ninety local high school students will participate in the program offering workshops in coding, biology, neuroscience, astronomy, engineering, and college prep.  $12.50/hour, July 13-24, part time or full time. 

Pathways to Science Scholars Program Associate:  Program Associates serve as residential advisors and teaching assistants, as well as mentors for students participating in the two-week residential Summer Scholars Program. Program Associates live and work with Scholar students to make lasting impressions on local youth. Students take workshops in STEM and receive college prep programming.  $1,250 stipend + Room/Board, July 8-25.

Please contact maria.parente@yale.edu if you are interested in learning more about the Pathways Summer Scholars Day & Residential Programs. You can apply for the position(s) at the Yale Student Employment website (www.yalestudentjobs.org).

Internship with CIRENAS  CIRENAS - a nonprofit organization on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula -- is seeking interns for their growing campus and permaculture program. CIRENAS is a research and learning center in the Ario watershed that seeks to provide simple and replicable solutions for water management, food security, and healthy ecosystems. Located on a 1,800ha working ranch, CIRENAS demonstrates science-based, regenerative and productive ecological practices for the local community and beyond.  They are seeking applicants for a permaculture internship program that will be a great opportunity for those interested in getting summer experience with field work, place-based education, and the environment.  If you have questions or are interested in the internship program you can directly email jobs@cirenas.org.

Farm to Pantry Intern: Farm Trips 2015  Just Food’s mission is to empower and support community-led projects that increase access to locally and sustainably grown food, especially in underserved NYC neighborhoods. Just Food provides training, technical assistance, and education to community leaders to start Community Supported Agriculture groups (CSA); community-run, urban agriculture-based farmers’ markets; urban chicken projects; and farm to food pantry initiatives. Just Food also trains community members to provide education in fundamental cooking and sustainable urban agriculture skills for their neighbors and to advocate to make their corner of New York City a healthier and more sustainable place to live and eat.

POSITION DESCRIPTION: Farm-to-Pantry Intern: Farm Trips 2015 (May – October) Just Food’s Farm-to-Pantry program connects local, family farmers with emergency food providers in order to bring farm-fresh produce to food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the city. In 2014, we worked with 8 regional farmers and 49 emergency food programs in all 5 boroughs to deliver over 280,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables to the city’s most vulnerable residents. In addition, through initiatives like our Farm Trips, Just Food creates opportunities for food pantry staff, volunteers, and clients to learn new cooking skills, develop relationships with regional farmers, and participate in a local, sustainable food system.

Just Food is currently seeking an intern with the capacity to:

  • Design and create program materials (flyers, posters) for Farm Trips
  • Conduct outreach at food pantries (requires travel throughout New York City)
  • Attend 6 Farm Trips (full day events that require travel outside of New York City)
  • Provide general assistance to staff before and during Farm Trips
  • Collect Farm Trip surveys and record feedback
  • Provide administrative support as needed

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Strong oral and written communication skills
  • Extremely outgoing personality; ability to converse with diverse groups of people
  • Reliable, punctual, and able to work independently as well as collaboratively
  • Flexible, fun, and energetic
  • Spanish language and graphic design skills a plus

TIME FRAME

  • Middle of May – middle of October 2015
  • 10-20 hours a week (flexible)

This position reports to Sonya Kharas, Farm-to-Pantry Manager. Please send a statement of interest and resume tosonya@justfood.org with the subject line “Farm Trip Intern” by Friday, May 1, 2015.

Turtle Trax Internships Turtle Trax S.A. manages international and national volunteers on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica’s southern Nicoyan Peninsula. Turtle Trax offers interns and volunteers the opportunity to get involved with sea turtle conservation, hands-on volunteer work, community projects, and locally based tourism. Turtle Trax offers programs to current undergraduate and graduate students, recent graduates, and those interested in getting experience with field work, place-based education, and the environment. For more information, please visit their website.

Summer Youth Coordinator with Friends of Edgewood Park - Apply By May 2!  The Friends of Edgewood Park and the New Haven Land Trust are looking for part-time coordinators to create and implement five week environmental youth work programs for summer of 2015.

Coordinator Work and Program Description:  For each organization, a Coordinator will supervise five to eight New Haven youth ages 14 – 19 who will be carefully selected to participate in New Haven’s Youth@Work Program.  Young people in the New Haven Land Trust program will work 20 hours per week.  Youth in the Edgewood Park program will work 25 hours per week.  The supervisor will plan and oversee the young people’s work, sometimes in their own groups and sometimes alongside community members and volunteers, to help them create and implement environmental projects and learn valuable long-term work skills.

In our Youth@ Work programs the young people will focus on:

  • At Edgewood Park: infrastructure improvements, such as trail maintenance, tree planting and care, and trash clean up.  In the Land Trust Community gardens: infrastructure improvements such as building raised garden beds, planting and harvesting,
  • Environmental education – learning about ecosystems and park/plant stewardship,
  • Work skills development – attendance, punctuality, attitude toward work.

Coordinators:  We are looking for two people who are:

  • Excited to work with youth and diverse community members
  • Have youth leadership skills
  • Are creative, flexible, and autonomous, yet collaborative.  They should be comfortable taking initiative. The work requires collaboration with Youth@Work, and community members; for Edgewood Park: working with the New Haven Parks Dept., and Friends of Edgewood Park; for the Land Trust: collaborating with its leadership team..

We can offer you:

  • $3000.00 for 25 hours/week - Jul 6 – Aug. 7 plus 20 hours pre-program planning) for the New Haven Land Trust or
  • $3500.00 for 30 hours/week - Jul 6 – Aug. 7 plus 20 hours pre-program planning) for Edgewood Park.
  • A base of diverse and passionate community members to help you design and implement the program.
  • Some financial support for implementation of the project (Reimbursement for education materials/tools, etc.).
  • Administrative support.
  • A fascinating summer experience where you gain valuable insight into working with the City of New Haven, community members and youth on environmental education and justice.

If you want to learn more about these two positions, please email: Stephanie FitzGerald, sfitzgerald1@comcast.net for Friends of Edgewood Park or Justin Elicker justin.elicker@newhavenlandtrust.org for the New Haven Land Trust.

How to Apply Please submit the following items by email:

  • Cover Letter
  • Resume

Send these two items to Sarah Morrison at sbmorrison515@gmail.com with “ATTENTION: SUMMER YOUTH COORDINATOR 2015” as the subject.  The deadline for applications is May 2nd.  We will begin the initial review of applications on May 3rd and may solicit further information from some candidates.  Finalists will be invited for an interview the second week of May.

Internship Positions with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy This intern position will support ACEEE-led outreach and communications efforts by the Energy Efficient Code Coalition, local governments supporting sustainability policies and other stakeholders to educate local governments and code officials around technical code issues that improve the energy efficiency of the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The intern's main duties will be to update information supporting an outreach and communications campaign in the run-up to the Final Public Comment Hearings in the fall of 2016. The intern in this position will gain an understanding of how public policy is implemented in the current national model energy code development process.

*Duties and Responsibilities*

  • Development and maintenance of local government outreach and contact information, as well as fundamental local government statistics such as population data, organizational memberships, etc.
  • Prepare periodic reports on local government participation in the model code process and customized reports and data products for coalition members and campaign participants.
  • Research, gather and organize contact information (email and postal mailing addresses) of local government code officials for local, regional and national outreach efforts.
  • Compile and maintain schedules of events, meetings and conferences related to the outreach effort.

*Skills/Qualifications*

  • Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, preferably working towards an advanced degree in a relevant academic area.
  • Interest in and familiarity with a range of energy efficiency policies and/or local level sustainability policies strongly preferred.
  • Familiarity with energy-efficient technologies preferred, but not required.
  • Familiarity and experience with outreach and information campaigns, policy advocacy and issue campaigns, or political campaigns.
  • Strong Internet and interview-based research ability.
  • Strong writing and oral communication skills required.
  • Self-motivation and ability to manage multiple assignments (as needed), work efficiently, and meet deadlines.

*Timing * This is an internship of flexible duration (3-6 months) starting around June 1, 2015. The project will require a time commitment of 20-40 hours/week depending on the successful applicant's academic schedule and availability.

*To Apply* Please send a resume with cover letter and brief (1-2 pages) writing sample to interns@aceee.org. Please use "Building Code Intern" in the subject header. We do not accept calls about our internships.

Forest and Grassland Business Challenge - $100K in Prizes The National Forest Foundation (NFF) is accepting pre-proposals for the 2015 Barrett Foundation Business Concept Challenge beginning today. This annual challenge provides an opportunity for teams to compete for $100,000 in prize money for innovative, market-based solutions to natural resource challenges.

The Barrett Foundation Business Concept Challenge seeks to match innovative market strategies to the pressing needs of America’s 193-million-acre National Forest System. Managed for multiple public values, these lands often generate controversy as natural resource managers face challenges not contemplated when the first National Forests were established over a century ago.

Sponsor Craig R. Barrett, former Chairman and CEO of Intel and current Chairman of the NFF Board of Directors, described the purpose of this competition as “stimulating new ideas and cultivating the next generation of entrepreneurial natural resource and business leaders.” He added that winning entries will demonstrate a significant commitment and ability to take an idea forward to implementation.

Barrett’s experience at the helm of Intel Corporation influenced his decision to devote substantial resources to encourage the development of market-based solutions that solve forest restoration challenges: “In four decades as a business leader, I’ve seen a lot of innovative ideas, but almost none of them have been directed at the challenges facing our National Forests. As a Board Member of the NFF, I saw an opportunity to channel this intellectual energy towards solving our nation’s critical natural resources challenges.” The competition offers a $75,000 cash award to the winning submission and a $25,000 cash award to the first runner-up.

The NFF recently announced the Challenge’s 2014 winners in Washington, DC. The 2014 winning proposal seeks to grow a commercial agricultural market for biochar, a soil amendment that can be made from low-value woody biomass left over from forest restoration projects. The winning team will use its $75,000 in prize money to invest in growing their business.

Following a pre-proposal review, up to ten finalists will make presentations to a judging panel of distinguished national experts and receive feedback on the feasibility of their projects.

The Challenge is open to teams from for-profit and nonprofit organizations, tribal entities, and students, staff, or faculty at nationally accredited colleges and universities.
Business ideas developed for the Challenge should be original and not substantially financed by others. Consistent with Barrett’s keen interest in generating ideas that can and will be implemented, the judging panel will look for concepts that clearly articulate a specific natural resource challenge and apply market-based strategies to address that challenge in a way that will benefit the National Forests and Grasslands.

“We’re excited to see what new business ideas are generated through this year’s competition,” said Adam Liljeblad, the NFF’s Conservation Awards Director. “This is an exciting competition that is bridging forest restoration and market-based innovation. As previous applicants have demonstrated, there are a lot of great ideas out there that need some support and the Barrett Foundation Business Concept Challenge provides that. We are deeply appreciative of Dr. Barrett’s continued support for this unique program.”

Qualifying pre-proposals must be submitted by 11:59 pm MDT, Monday, June 15, 2015. For information on the Barrett Foundation Business Concept Challenge, visit this site.

Call for 2015 Byron Fellows  The Byron Fellowship is a transformational experience and community of generative leaders co-creating a flourishing world.  Our program empowers the next generation of emerging leaders to engage their unique abilities in leading generative efforts within their own communities.

We are requesting your support identifying 20 exceptional upper class undergraduates, graduate students, or recent graduates - entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and social entrepreneurs who are both making a profound difference in their own communities and keenly attuned to the challenges we share globally.

The 2015 Fellows will convene from August 1st - 6th at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina.  To learn more visit this site, and email sara.smileysmith@yale.edu if you wish to be nominated.

Maine Conservation Corps Positions Available The Maine Conservation Corps (MCC) is seeking applicants for the Field Team and Environmental Steward Programs.  As part of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry, the MCC's four-fold mission is to: accomplish conservation projects, create conservation employment, provide conservation education and engage conservation volunteers.

Field Teams with the Maine Conservation Corps are composed of three to six members, serving to construct and improve recreational trails in the mountains, along the beautiful coastline and in communities all over the state of Maine.

Environmental Stewards bring expertise and focused effort toward creating and improving sustainable recreational trails, planning conservation projects as well as developing, training and building a sustainable community volunteer base.

The MCC is accepting applications for Environmental Stewards and Field Team Members until positions are filled.  Start dates for the programs are May 11th and May 18th, respectively.

To learn more about the MCC program, qualifications, benefits and how to apply, go to this site.

Impact Initiatives Challenge - Aug 10-15, 2015 Impact Initiatives Challenge 2015 is a Start-Up Week for the next generation entrepreneurs, pathfinders, innovators and change-makers. The programme combines an incubator, a leadership programme and summer fest in a magnificent mountains’ location, an hour from Geneva. We aim at inspiring, equiping and connecting participants to launch new solutions, projects, ventures and initiatives that will build a better, just and sustainable tomorrow.  For more information, visit this website.

Summer Institute on Sustainability & Energy - Univ of Illinois at Chicago - August 6-18, 2015  Our office would like to invite students to apply to our 5th annual Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy to be held August 6-18 in Chicago.  All applicants accepted into the program receive lodging support for the duration of the 2-week program. Many will receive partial support for travel costs.

We are now accepting applications and will continue to do so until July 1.  We welcome all graduate students and senior-level undergraduates from all academic disciplines to apply. Applicants will need to submit an online application form, resume, and two recommendation letters for consideration. All this information can be found at our website.

Job Opening: Global Scholars Fellow for the Yale Young Global Scholars Program  The Yale Young Global Scholars Program is an academic enrichment and leadership training initiative at Yale for talented high school students from around the world, who apply through a competitive application to study on the Yale campus in the summer. Read more at this site.

The Global Scholars Fellow will:

  • Analyze data (marketing, admissions, and program reviews)
  • Advise the YYGS leadership team on program content throughout the year, to include personal teaching in the summer sessions depending on interest and availability
  • Draft and disseminate program materials on the YYGS website and in social media
  • Review applications of high school students from around the world applying to YYGS, to include participating on the admissions committee and making admissions decisions
  • Recruit and interview undergraduate and graduate students to serve as summer instructors in YYGS, organize their training, and help review their proposed teaching curricula
  • Develop the YYGS alumni network online and organize an inaugural alumni conference for past YYGS participants in fall 2016
  • Coordinate logistics for up to six two-week YYGS sessions on Yale’s campus during the summer, to include liaising with Yale Conferences & Events and YYGS summer staff
  • Assist the YYGS leadership team with the administration of the summer program, to include developing the program schedule and a staff rotation to ensure full coverage of teaching content and supervision of participants
  • Manage communication with prospective applicants and their parents through email, phone, and website; and develop programming for the summer residential life part of YYGS, to include mentorship sessions and other structured activities available on Yale’s campus for participants

Qualifications:

Required education and experience:

  • Bachelors Degree, knowledge of Drupal,  website design, and social media communication
  • Experience working with and/or teaching high school students
  • Experience organizing conferences at Yale
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills
  • Knowledge of working with number and basic-level statistics

Preferred education and experience:

  • Recent Yale College Graduate
  • BA in a field relevant to the academic content of YYGS, to include the social sciences, humanities, or science, technology, and medicine (STEM) fields

Apply Now: Visit this site, and search Requisition # 29831BR