Happy Earth Day 2012 everyone! On this Earth Day, I have decided to center a post around an important environmental issue of our time: clean waterways. Understanding the connectedness of nature is vital for taking on a “deep ecology” mindset. A great way to explain the connectedness of our natural systems is through our waterways. […]
I’ve been home in Long Valley, New Jersey on spring break from the University of Delaware for a week now. Long Valley can only be defined as the epitome of Suburbia. The American Dream at its finest can be found here. A town 97.6% white, with single family housing sitting on individual plots of land […]
I do not have to go as far as the mountains of West Virginia or shale country in Pennsylvania to see environmental classism. Back home in New Jersey, after it rains, all of the lower areas that are quick to flood out are all inhabited by low income and often minority communities. The rich, white […]
The Restorative Power of Nature
Last semester, I went on a field trip with my Environmental Humanities class to Muddy Run Recreational Reservoir in Lancaster County, PA. We went canoeing, tested the water quality, and did the “Macro Shuffle” to find macro-invertebrates in a nearby stream. My friend Nikki and I found a fairly large crayfish during our shuffling. Finding […]
On Public Lands Day 2011, my friend and I spent some time in White Clay Creek State Park. As we walked through the park, a few female Mallard ducks flew over the creek. We found a few large spiders in vernal ponds and a grasshopper jumping around through the weeds. We could not, however, identify […]
Bottled Water Awareness on Campus
The mission of the Delaware Environmental Institute is to conduct research and coordinate partnerships that integrate environmental science, engineering, and policy in order to provide solutions and strategies that address environmental challenges. As their intern, one of my responsibilities is to chair the Student Programs Committee (SPC), a group of 8 undergraduate UD students that […]
Climate Change Education
Below is my perspective on climate change education. I gave this speech at the MADE CLEAR (Maryland and Delaware Climate Change Education, Assessment and Research) Climate Change Education Summit at the University of Maryland on September 19, 2011. I felt honored to be one of four panelists, and the only undergraduate student, that spoke at […]
In college, I spent two summers working for Hunterdon County Parks in New Jersey as a Summer Nature Program leader. I created my own week nature program and repeated it eight times throughout the season to over 70 third and fourth grade campers. The age group was referred to as the “Pioneers.” My goal was […]
Hydrocarbon spillages, solvents, pesticides, heavy metals, tributyltins, and asbestos. These are all typical pollutants found on Brownfield sites, an abandoned or underused industrial and commercial facility available for redevelopment, often times contaminated by the agents above. The EPA highlights success stories from 16 states across the nation, but perhaps the most well-known area in the […]
Ethanol is Not the Answer
With oil at $104/barrel, it seems only logical to invest in alternative sources of fuel for our cars in the United States. The increase in oil prices has led to the apparently beneficial act of diverting grain from food supply to ethanol production. Ethanol is an alcohol made by fermenting sugar components of plant materials, […]