For Alumni & Friends of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison FALL 2010

Burned in the Gulf The uneasy marriage of nature, culture, and offshore oil

YOUTH MOVEMENT ‘HOPE IS BUILT INTO US’ REALITY CHECK CLASS OF 2010 Undergraduate education Earth Day conference evokes Q&A with Nelson Two recent graduates takes a higher profile in reflection, resolve Institute alumnus who inspired us the Nelson Institute Triet Tran AROUND THE NELSON INSTITUTE

CONTENTS Director’s interim appointment extended Gregg Mitman will continue to to increase community engage- Around the institute 2 lead the institute at least through ment. He currently leads the Beyond the spill 6 the end of 2011. UW–Madison campuswide Sustainability Task Pondering the long-term chancellor Biddy Martin and Force, a group charged with impacts of the Deepwater provost Paul DeLuca extended integrating education, research, Horizon disaster. his appointment earlier this and campus operations toward Youth movement 14 year until a permanent director increased environmental, eco- The rising profile of is identified through a national nomic, and social responsibility. undergraduates in the search set to begin in the spring. He holds a joint appoint- Nelson Institute. An environmental histo- ment in the departments of ‘Hope is built into us’ 22 rian and historian of science, History of Science and Medical Earth Day conference Mitman has been interim direc- History and Bioethics and is the evokes reflection, resolve. tor of the Nelson Institute since William Coleman Professor of September 2008. During that History of Science. His research Reality check 26 time, he has worked to increase interests lie at the intersections Q&A with Nelson Institute alumnus Triet Tran. undergraduate opportunities of ecology, health, nature, and Gregg Mitman and diversity in the institute and American culture. Class of 2010 28 Two recent graduates who inspired us. Institute honors first Community Fellows Alumni notes 30 Many government agencies, International Crane Foundation; at Madison Gas & Electric non-profit organizations, busi- Sue Jones, watershed manage- Company. Nature as art 31 nesses, and grassroots groups ment coordinator at the Dane “I offer our deepest thanks With the outdoors as your work with faculty, staff, and stu- County Office of Lakes and to every one of you — and to canvas, who needs brushes and paint? dents in the Nelson Institute to Watersheds; Randle Jurewicz, all of our dedicated community accomplish mutually beneficial conservation biologist at the partners — for your continued goals. Wisconsin Department of support,” Mitman told the new Interim director Gregg Natural Resources; and Lynn fellows. “Our work is not pos- In Common is published by Mitman cited six of their leaders Hobbie, senior vice president sible without you.” the Nelson Institute for in April as the institute’s first Environmental Studies at group of Community Fellows. Retired editor honored the University of Wisconsin– “Our new Community Madison. Funding for Fellows Program honors leaders Emily Earley, a program coordinator and production and distribution is technical editor for the Nelson Institute provided through the generos- from the community who are for 15 years, joined an elite group ity of our alumni and friends. allies of the Nelson Institute and In Common is available online champions of the environment,” with her induction this year into the in PDF format at nelson.wisc. said Mitman. “Our first group of Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame. edu/community/alumni. Community Fellows is typical of The group’s 68 inductees include such Tom Sinclair, Editor those with whom we have the notables as John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Gaylord Nelson. Nancy Rinehart, Designer privilege of working. Their com- Earley, who lives in Madison and is now 94, retired from the Jenny Klaila, Production Editor mitment forms the backbone of Nelson Institute in 1986 but has remained active in conserva- Nelson Institute our partnerships.” tion. She joined the board of trustees of the new Wisconsin for Environmental Studies The six are Jorge Mario chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 1964 and worked 30B Science Hall to ensure that the chapter took an active role in managing the 550 N. Park St. Garcia Sierra, New Routes Madison, WI 53706–1491 Adolescents coordinator lands it acquired. She also created and chaired the chapter’s (608) 263–5599 at Centro Hispano of Dane Stewardship Committee for 10 years and led volunteer efforts [email protected] County; Nathan Larson, to accomplish land management projects. Earley also served on the founding board of the Sigurd COVER PHOTO: education program director Olson Environmental Institute, a public outreach program at U.S. COAST GUARD for Community Groundworks at Troy Gardens; Anne Lacey, Northland College in Ashland, and as a charter member of sandhill crane and whooping 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, a statewide group that promotes crane projects manager at the wise land use.

2 In Common AROUND THE NELSON INSTITUTE

Tracey Holloway (right) presents awards to a student team in the second Climate Leadership Challenge.

Climate Leadership Challenge sparks more student creativity A device that would help the Global Environment, which doctoral students Sage Kokjohn, system that integrates feedback provide electricity efficiently staged the contest. “The purpose Derek Splitter, and Reed Hanson and incentives into social gam- and at low cost in rural areas of this competition is to make an $15,000 as the “most innova- ing to reduce personal energy of developing countries took impact on climate change.” tive technical solution.” use, by doctoral students the top prize — $50,000 — in The six finalists exhibited at SnowShoe, a smart phone David Zaks (environment and the second Climate Leadership the Nelson Institute’s Earth Day application that would enable resources) and Elizabeth Bagley Challenge at UW–Madison. conference, where the winners shoppers to check the car- (environment and resources/ The “microformer” was the were announced. bon footprint of any item in a educational psychology). brainchild of Jonathan Lee, Dan The runner-up for the grocery store by scanning its With prizes totaling more Ludois, and Patricio Mendoza, “most action-ready idea” was a bar code, won $15,000 as the than $100,000 in value, the all graduate students in electri- proposal to promote the use of “most innovative non-technical second Climate Leadership cal engineering. Besides cash, oil from Jatropha curcas plants solution.” Graduate students Challenge was believed to be they received a promotional trip to fuel special cooking stoves in Claus Moberg (atmospheric and the most lucrative college or worth $5,000 and an option places like Haiti. Seniors Eyleen oceanic science), Jami Morton university competition of its kind for a free one-year lease in the Chou (mechanical engineering), (environment and resources), in the country, according to University Research Park’s new Jason Lohr (electrical engineer- and Matt Leudtke (civil and Holloway. A local group called Metro Innovation Center on ing), and Tyler Lark (biomedical environmental engineering) the Global Stewards Society has Madison’s east side. engineering/mathematics) won submitted the idea. funded the annual competi- Judges selected the micro- $10,000 for their scheme to Other finalists were tion, which is open to all UW– former as the “most action- reduce deforestation by lower- REDCASH, a plan to recycle Madison students. ready” idea of 22 submitted by ing demand for wood charcoal desalination wastewater for car- The third Climate Leadership UW–Madison students. as a cooking fuel. bon sequestration and hydro- Challenge is currently underway, “We really want to see CORE Concept, a technology gen fuel production, by doctoral with plans for five winning teams implementation of the best ideas that would cut emissions from student Eric Downes (biophys- and one grand prize winner to offered,” said Tracey Holloway, internal combustion engines by ics) and senior Ian Olson (phys- present their climate solutions director of the Nelson Institute using a greater variety of fuels, ics/engineering physics); and at the Nelson Institute’s 2011 Center for Sustainability and won mechanical engineering Switch, an energy management Earth Day conference.

Fall 2010 3 AROUND THE NELSON INSTITUTE

EcoHealth site links climate change, public health Bryson scholarship Whato d climate change, urban Patz and a group of col- news,” says Patz. And because sprawl, and globalization have laboratorst a the Johns Hopkins its i reviewed for accuracy and in common? All are forms of Bloomberg School of Public fairnessy b science, health, and environmental change that can Health first developed the environmental experts in a wide trigger public health problems. EcoHealth Web site as an rangef o specialties, the site “is What people should know, educational complement to a a reliable resource for sorting and what they can do, about PBS television mini-series called the science from the sound these problems is explored in “Journeyo t Planet Earth.” Actor bites.” a newly redesigned Web site, Matt Damon hosted and nar- Major funding for the An endowed scholarship “EcoHealth: Environmental rated the program, which aired EcoHealth site has come fund has been established Change and Our Health,” aimed in 2003 and 2004. from private donors, the New in honor of Reid Bryson, at middle school students and Although the series ended, York Community Trust, U.S. founding director of the their teachers as well as the gen- the site lived on, highlighting Environmental Protection Nelson Institute and eral public. The site’s address is issues raised by global warming, Agency, Overbrook Foundation, its Center for Climatic www.ecohealth101.org. stratospheric ozone depletion, Consortium for Conservation Research, who died in “When forests are cut conflicts between humans and Medicine, Wildlife Trust, 2008. downr o our climate is altered nature, agriculture and drinking Johns Hopkins Technology Trained as a meteorolo- by emissions from fossil fuel water, and globalization and dis- Transfer Seed Grant Fund & gist, Bryson was an early combustion, human health is at ease. Along with an abundance Center for a Livable Future, and and ardent advocate of risk, along with resultant envi- of issue-specific information, UW–Madison. interdisciplinary teach- ronmental degradation,” says the site, now managed at UW– Other partners in the venture ing and research. His own Nelson Institute faculty member Madison, offers news, games, include the World Health scholarship ranged across Jonathan Patz, also a professor video clips, a glossary, and Organization, the Pan American the fields of limnology, of population health sciences. lesson plans for teachers. With Health Organization, and the meteorology, climatology, “We’ve shown these links in a single click, users also can Wildlife Disease Information archaeology, and geography our research and are obliged to translate the content into nearly Node, a cooperative unit of during an academic career translate this knowledge to the 50 different languages. UW–Madison and the U.S. that spanned six decades. next generation of problem solv- “EcoHealth helps provide Geological Survey housed in the Scholarships from the ers: our children.” the context for today’s headline Nelson Institute. fund will support UW– Madison graduate students interested in interdisciplin- ary research on climate and Nelson Institute professor directs Morgridge Center weather. Contributions are Nancy Mathews, a professor of environmental studies and recent welcome. To give online, chair of the Nelson Institute’s Conservation Biology and Sustainable visit the UW Foundation’s Development Program, became faculty director of the university’s secure Web site Morgridge Center for Public Service in July. (supportuw.org), select The Morgridge Center develops and promotes civic engagement, “Making a Gift,” choose strengthens teaching and learning, and facilitates collaborative part- “Give Online,” then enter nerships through public service, academic service learning, communi- “Reid Bryson Scholarship ty-based research, and engaged scholarship. Fund” in the large blank “Professor Mathews is a skilled organizer and has a strong strategic box. Or print a gift form vision for where the center can go,” says UW–Madison provost Paul from the Web site and DeLuca. “We anticipate that under Nancy’s leadership the Morgridge Center will achieve new mail it to the foundation prominence as an outstanding source of academic translational activities into communities.” with your contribution. While service learning and engagement have been the hallmarks of the center since its Contributions are tax- creation in 1996, Mathews says it has a new role to consider in advancing public scholarship deductible as allowed by over the next decade. She has been involved in many administrative leadership activities at law. UW–Madison, directing the two-year Reaccreditation Project completed in 2009 and serving currently on the Biological Sciences Divisional Committee.

4 n I Common AROUND THE NELSON INSTITUTE

Gaylord Nelson and Earth Day Web site a definite hit The Nelson Institute’s If you build it they will pages and 500 Adrian Treves and Vincent come. original documents, Smith were among That line, immor- images, quotes, 29 faculty members talized in the movie video clips, and and graduate students “Field of Dreams,” audio media from campuswide inducted into could be said to apply Nelson’s three terms UW–Madison’s Teaching as well to the Web as a U.S. senator Academy last spring. Treves, site launched by and his subsequent an animal behaviorist and the Nelson Institute advocacy work ecologist, is an assistant and the Wisconsin for the Wilderness professor of environmental Historical Society Society. studies. Smith is a doctoral earlier this year to mark the 40th Council posted prominent links The Nelson Institute’s student in environment and anniversary of Earth Day. to the site, which drew visitors William Cronon and Gregg resources. “Gaylord Nelson and Earth from 126 nations. Mitman and Penn State Established in 1993, Day: The Making of the Modern All of which is a credit to its University environmental the Teaching Academy Environmental Movement” creators, Brian Hamilton and historian Adam Rome served as promotes effective teaching (nelsonearthday.net) registered Melanie McCalmont. Hamilton, advisors on the project. and learning by encouraging nearly 800,000 hits dur- a UW–Madison doctoral student If you haven’t yet visited innovation, experimentation, ing the peak month of April. in history, selected the histori- the site, good news: It remains and dialogue among faculty Organizations including the cal content and wrote the text, online as a permanent tribute to and instructional staff U.S. Environmental Protection which webmaster McCalmont the man from Wisconsin whose members and teachers of Agency, Wilderness Society, fashioned into a stunning online novel idea helped launch a the future. and Natural Resources Defense presentation of more than 200 worldwide movement.

In Memoriam

It was, perhaps, fitting that Harold Among other things, Jordahl was earned his bachelor’s (physics) and with his family and raising alpacas. “Bud” Jordahl’s last public appear- instrumental in creating Wisconsin’s master’s and doctoral (meteorology) He also was a member of the town ance came at the Nelson Institute’s Outdoor Recreation Act Program degrees at the university. He joined of Oregon planning commission for 40th anniversary Earth Day confer- (ORAP), the precursor to the current the faculty in 1965 and oversaw 21 years, acting as chair for 15 of ence in April, where he took part in state Stewardship Program, and in the Nelson Institute’s Instructional those years. a panel that recalled the first Earth the federal designations of the St. Program from 1972 to 1974. Day. Croix and Namekagon as national Stearns taught many courses on Lori Rappé, former development Jordahl was a close associate and wild and scenic rivers and the weather, climate, and atmospheric director for the Nelson Institute personal friend of Gaylord Nelson, Apostle Islands as a national lake- dispersion/air pollution during his at the University of Wisconsin who founded Earth Day, and the con- shore. At UW–Madison, his invalu- career. His research took him to Foundation, died of brain cancer ference paid tribute to Nelson and able “real-world” experience earned the most remote place on Earth, earlier this year at age 54. his brainchild, which Jordahl helped him a place first as a part-time Antarctica, where he explored A native of Hillsboro, Illinois, and organize. He died May 11, at age 84, lecturer, then as full-time professor, weather and climate and guided the 1978 graduate of UW–Madison, after a brief illness. of urban and regional planning and installation and operation of auto- Rappé, loved movies and music, Jordahl was an influential environmental studies. His signature matic weather stations for almost gardening, animals, riding her horse, conservationist in his own right at course, a seminar in resource policy 30 years. Chance, and spending time in north- both the state and national levels issues, shaped many of his students’ The National Science Foundation ern Wisconsin and the Caribbean. and an inspirational mentor to many careers. He retired from the faculty honored Stearns in 1982 for his She was a friend and mentor to students inside and outside the in 1989. scientific achievement under the many, a rescuer of lost animals, a Nelson Institute. Unlike Nelson, the U.S. Antarctic Research Program. pianist, vocalist and member of the Minnesota native and University of Charles “Chuck” Stearns of Oregon, He was elected a fellow of the Madison Symphony Chorus and a Michigan graduate typically worked Wisconsin, the first chair of the American Meteorological Society in firm believer that one person could behind the scenes, in places like the Nelson Institute’s academic pro- 2004. He received the Goldthwaite make the world a better place. Wisconsin Conservation Department gram, died unexpectedly in June. He Polar Medal posthumously at the fifth She worked at the UW (now the Department of Natural was 85. Antarctic Meteorological Observation, Foundation for more than 20 years Resources) and the U.S. Department An emeritus professor of atmo- Modeling and Forecasting Workshop and was a volunteer and board of the Interior, often in support of spheric and oceanic sciences and a in Columbus, Ohio, in July. member of many nonprofit organiza- Nelson’s initiatives as governor of senior scientist in the Space Science His personal interests included tions, especially organizations related Wisconsin and then U.S. senator. and Engineering Center, Stearns working on his farm, spending time to animals.

Fall 2010 5 Beyond the spill Pondering the long-term impacts of the Deepwater Horizon disaster BY TOM SINCLAIR

A shrimper from Chauvin, Louisiana, holds part of the day’s catch just days after the opening of the commercial shrimp season in August. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill’s long-term impacts on commercial fishing in the gulf are yet to be seen.

6 In Common Beyond the spill Pondering the long-term impacts of the Deepwater Horizon disaster BY TOM SINCLAIR U.S.

COAST “Only here!”

GUARD declares Rob Moreau with a mix of amusement and pride.

Only in southern Louisiana, he means, would you find an event like the one celebrated this past Labor Day weekend in Morgan City: the 75th Annual Shrimp and Petroleum Festival.

“South Louisiana has this unbelievable connection between its culture, its economy, and its environment,” he says. “They are one and the same. They are all intertwined.”

oreau should know. He was born and Recession. And this year, just as many raised in the so-called Cajun Triangle. Louisianans were beginning to think the tide MHe returned to make his home and had finally turned, the latest calamity — the his living there after earning a doctorate in gulf oil spill. land resources from the Nelson Institute There was, of course, personal tragedy in 1996. And he wouldn’t dream of being when a massive explosion and fire killed 11 anywhere else. workers on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig 50 “My in-laws are from Seattle, and they miles off the Louisiana coast before bringing look at me like, Why do you people live down the giant structure itself in an oily down there? When are you going to figure pool of flame. Then the agonizing, seem- out that it’s just crazy?” he explains in a soft, ingly endless struggle to stop the gusher of lilting accent that affirms his southern roots. crude more than a mile beneath the sea that “That’s never going to happen. People spewed oil ever outward across the gulf. who live here, it’s their life. You know, people Nearly three months and an estimated in cities like Seattle and Madison, they think five million barrels of leaked oil later, BP in different terms: Where is the best place finally capped the damaged well and the to move for economic opportunities? The crisis appeared to be over. By mid–August safest? The best schools for kids? That’s the federal government reported that more a totally different mindset from people in than 75 percent of the oil was already gone Louisiana. This is their home, their culture. from the gulf, either siphoned, skimmed, They’ll fight to the death to preserve it and to burned, evaporated, or biologically broken stay here.” down. Some independent scientists were While it may be the best place in their skeptical. They pointed to evidence of a eyes, it surely hasn’t been the easiest massive plume of crude floating half a place to live in recent times. First came mile beneath the surface. Other scientists Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Then the Great claimed microbes had already consumed

Fall 2010 7 much, if not all, of the plume. Yet another U.S. As of mid–August, according to Moreau,

COAST said much of the remaining oil had settled, the most obvious impact was on oysters, intact, on the ocean floor. GUARD which, because of where they dwell off- Along the coast, most people clung to the shore, were hit harder than other shellfish. hope that their lives might finally get back Much of the harm actually resulted from to normal. Tens of thousands of businesses attempts to push the oil back by increasing and individuals hurt financially by the outflow from the Mississippi River. “All that catastrophe filed claims for restitution. Yet a fresh water ended up killing a lot of the oys- huge unknown cast a shadow over all: What ters,” he said. Yet another case of bad luck. would be the long-term fallout from the larg- Meanwhile, the spill’s impacts on coastal est offshore oil spill in U.S. history? A local fisherman discusses concerns of the marshlands were mixed. seafood industry with government officials “I’ve heard that in some places the A different story at a meeting with members of New Orleans’ marshes are dying back, but plant grow- Vietnamese community in August. ers down here who grow wetland plants for “I know there’s still some oil out there. the road, where does this pop up? In the nurseries have told me that they’ve seen Everybody knows that,” says Moreau, who food chain, for instance, in the soil — that’s lightweight crude actually help certain spe- manages an environmental field station near going to be the big issue. I think the biggest cies grow,” says Moreau. “That’s certainly the western shore of Lake Pontchartrain, question on everyone’s mind is how is it not true for most plants. Obviously, we don’t northwest of New Orleans, owned by going to impact all the different marine spe- want one drop of oil in the marsh because Southeastern Louisiana University. cies in the gulf over the long term? No one nine times out of 10 it’s going to be some- “The big question is, ecologically, down has an answer to that yet.” thing that’s negative. And the marsh is so U.S.

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Brown pelicans gather on an oil containment boom surrounding Queen Bess Island a few miles north of Grand Isle, Louisiana, in late August. The island is a sensitive nesting area for the birds.

8 In Common fragile, we can’t really clean out a marsh as U.S.

COAST we can a sandy beach or rocks or things we can drive up to and use pressure hoses on GUARD and that kind of thing.” Nevertheless, he adds, “as freaked out as we all get about oil spills because of what we saw in Alaska, this is very different. The gulf is warm water, and it’s a lightweight crude. This is totally different from the Exxon Valdez, where they’re still finding oil under the rocks because it’s cold and that was a heavy crude. If we had a heavy crude satu- rating the marshes here, I’m sure it would be a different story.”

Drilling moratorium

Of course, the gulf spill had almost imme- diate national repercussions. For one, it derailed President Obama’s announced plan to lift restrictions on drilling off the East Coast and Alaska. Five weeks after the Deepwater Horizon collapsed, the Obama administration ordered a six-month morato- rium on deepwater drilling. When a federal court struck down the ban in June, the administration countered with a revised mor- atorium on most deepwater drilling activities, set to expire in the fall. But Greg Nemet, an assistant professor in the Nelson Institute and the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW–Madison, says the long-term implications of the spill for U.S. energy and environmental policy are far from clear. “If you look at energy or environmental issues, when a crisis happens it’s often considered a focusing event and a lot of the existing rules are changed and there’s a lot of momentum to make something happen,” says Nemet, who specializes in energy policy. “One question now is, are we going to see that? The Deepwater Horizon oil spill had a lot of characteristics of other focusing events. It was very large, it was very dra- The damaged blowout preventer from the Deepwater Horizon emerges from the sea during matic, there were a lot of images that were salvage operations in early September. The equipment will provide a key piece of physical well captured, with impacts on humans, on evidence as the investigation continues into the causes of the rig’s failure. ecology, and wildlife.” The spill certainly focused attention ly let oil and gas companies in the gulf regu- But Nemet says that once BP capped on the Interior Department’s Minerals late themselves, with predictable results. the gulf well, there were few signs of a politi- Management Service, the federal agency Obama promised a swift overhaul of the cal groundswell against further deepwater charged with regulating offshore oil explora- agency, beginning with its new, more mus- drilling, let alone offshore oil and gas explo- tion and production. Its director resigned cular name: the Bureau of Ocean Energy ration in general. amid criticism that the agency had essential- Management, Regulation, and Enforcement. “One way I’ve tried to think about this is,

Fall 2010 9 Is it likely to have an impact like the Three U.S.

COAST Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979, which basically was the nail in the coffin for the GUARD nuclear industry in the U.S. for at least 20 or 30 years?” he says. “Or is it likely to be more like the Exxon Valdez, which was similarly striking? That had a lot of imagery, it was in this pristine area, and yet the reaction was much more modest. The biggest change was probably a technical improvement. We switched to double-hulled vessels, making it much less likely that the same kind of accident could happen again.” (Across the border in Canada, he notes, there is no moratorium, and the same com- panies on hold in the United States continue to probe for deep oil and gas deposits, although Canadian government officials are requesting much more data up front on the safety and reliability of the drilling.) “It seems like we might be in for more of that type of reaction now, where we improve the regulation and safety monitoring of these types of rigs,” says Nemet. “And there need to be better regulations and monitoring because this is not something that’s going to go away. There’s intense pressure to extract oil in more dangerous, hazardous places — or in places such as Africa, where you’ve got political unrest. There are a lot of reasons to believe that the risks of this happening are getting higher rather than lower.”

Moral questions

Over the phone one imagines, from the tone of his voice, John Francis raising his eye- brows and shaking his head at the irony. Just hours before a faulty blowout preventer on the Deepwater Horizon failed on April 20, Francis was speaking to about 1,000 people in Madison’s Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center. It was the opening day of the institute’s conference Oily waste coats the shoreline of Elmer’s Island, just west of Grand Isle, Louisiana, one month after marking the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded 50 miles offshore. Francis was explaining to the crowd how, as an idealistic man in his mid–20s, he had justice. His non-motorized lifestyle lasted 22 ships. Afterward, the U.S. Coast Guard hired stopped using all motorized transportation years; his silence, 17. him to help develop methods of assessing following a 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Along the way, Francis earned a Ph.D. natural resource damage from oil spills and Bay. A few months later, to end recurring in land resources in 1991 from the Nelson to manage a study of the risks of spills in arguments about the power of personal Institute, communicating entirely through his deepwater ports. actions, he had taken a vow of silence. Thus own form of sign language and by writing. At Monona Terrace on April 20, nobody began his unique personal odyssey as a He wrote a dissertation on the costs and suspected that while they celebrated four proponent of environmental protection and legal conventions of managing oil spills from decades of earth-friendly progress, one

10 In Common U.S.

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Aircraft dropped hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemical oil dispersants into the gulf while critics questioned the wisdom of their use. of the biggest environmental disasters in “The buck doesn’t stop can. In that way we’re also responsible for American history was unfolding a thou- driving that engine. So the buck doesn’t sand miles to the south. In the months that with BP. It includes stop with BP. It includes the government, it followed, Francis, like most Americans, the government. It includes the consumer, it includes all of us. watched the incident from afar as it raised includes the consumer. It includes me as well, and it will until I do questions that hit close to home. something to try to stop that in a real way in “Some people say we ought to stop It includes all of us.” my own life.” drilling for oil in the gulf. Personally, that’s responsible for what happened in the gulf. Reminded that he shunned motor my gut reaction, too,” he says. “But looking “The CEO of a corporation has a vehicles for more than two decades, Francis around me, I realize it’s impractical for us to mandate to make as much money for replies, “Yeah, but, you know, the planet stop because look at all the oil we use. So I the stockholders as possible. It can be by says, ‘What have you done for me lately?’” say, what do we have to do if we really want skimping on safety regulations. It can be to change what’s going on offshore as far by not checking on various things that we Multiple failures as oil is concerned? What kind of life do we should check before we go ahead but will have to move or aspire towards? And who’s mean more money if we don’t. It’s a gamble, Back in the gulf, Rob Moreau is more willing going to help us do that? Is the government and those kinds of things which are in our to fix blame on the British oil giant without going to give communities subsidies for liv- mindset and in our culture to do can lead to generalizing to the industry. ing a green lifestyle, for going to alternative exactly what happened in the gulf,” he says. “Most of the offshore oil drilling that’s energy?” “It’s really all of our responsibility. We done here is relatively safe,” says Moreau. As Francis sees it, although BP is as consumers and stockholders actually “Most of these companies do a pretty good highly culpable, the oil company is not solely want to get oil as fast and as cheaply as we job. We don’t have many major accidents

Fall 2010 11 like this. I think it’s very obvious that BP was OAST U.S. that are plentiful and relatively accessible

C cutting all kinds of corners and not doing but “incredibly dirty in terms of air pollu-

G

what they were supposed to be doing. And UARD tion, toxics, water, and for greenhouse gas thiss i not the first accident they’ve had.” emissions.” Greg Nemet believes lax federal oversight was the ultimate culprit. ‘It’s here’ “This really was a regulatory failure. The government was not doing its job in Moreau believes it will take at least five to termsf o monitoring who had contracts and 10 f years o scientific monitoring to deter- checking for safety,” he says. “The Minerals mine the gulf oil spill’s impacts on the food Management Service was in charge of chain.e H worries about how that kind of leasing these areas, which are owned by Fireboats battle the blazing remnants of the uncertainty will affect the thousands of resi- the government, and also was in charge of Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig on April 21 dents who depended on healthy fisheries in ensuring safety and compliance with safety before it collapsed and sank. the gulf and, for that matter, their distinctive regulations, and they weren’t doing the job. seaside culture. They were kind of a rubber stamp for the oil “Buts a we’ve seen, there are costs to these “The economy and the environment will industry.” accidents, as well.” recover eventually,” he says. “What recov- e Still, h reasons that the damage to BP’s The real long-term goal, he believes, ers much more slowly, if at all, is culture. reputation and, ultimately, to its bottom line shouldeo b t seek alternatives to petroleum Because when you change the culture of may provide powerful incentives of their own as a transportation fuel. a region with some dramatic, catastrophic for all oil and gas companies to think twice “It looks like there are some possibilities event like this, then sometimes it doesn’t about taking the kinds of chances that might with biofuels. And electric vehicles, whether come back. All of these people in coastal permit another incident like the Deepwater through batteries or fuel cells, are making Louisiana who for generations have made Horizon disaster to occur. progress. More exotic technologies like algae their living off of the sea, off of the marshes “Oil and gas exploration and production look expensive but could be scalable and — you know, crabbing, shrimping, the in s general i inherently risky, and there will importantn i the future,” he says, caution- oyster fishermen, all those people — if they alwayse b pressure to reduce costs, and ing against a shift toward alternatives like are f all o a sudden thrown into a different there are costs to being safe,” says Nemet. tar sands, coal-to-liquids, and gas-to-liquids life, they might never come back.” This, despite their traditional embrace

OAST U.S. of what, anywhere else, might seem like

C inconsolable differences.

G “The oil and gas industry is the backbone UARD of the state’s economy, and the commercial fishing industry is its soul, and everyone loves the environment because they like to recreatent i i and fish and hunt,” explains Moreau. “You don’t see fishermen going bal- listic, screaming at the oil industry, because mostf o them work tfor i during the fishing offseason. So the culture, the economy, and the environment here are almost like a marriage that’s a little on the rocks now, but it has survived rocky periods before, and they’re going to stick together for the kids.” After all, he adds wryly, “it’s not about going out and finding the next best place. We know where the best place is. It’s here.”

Rob Moreau hosts a video about the gulf oil spill at www2.selu.edu/ thesoutheasternchannel/programs/ community/backyardwonders/?item=0 Contract crews use a special vacuum to pull oil from the marshes around Bay Jimmy, northeast of Grand Isle, Louisiana.

12 n I Common TURTLE MEMORIES .L.C. P ©

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P

Kelly Schultz (right) helps steady a rescued loggerhead sea turtle as veterinarians weigh it at a wildlife rehabilitation center in July.

f all the things that made an student traveled to New Orleans water, examined by vets (many of impression on Kelly Schultz sa a in early June with a group led by them volunteers from universities and Ovolunteert a a wildlife rehabilita- Professor Herb Wang (geosciences/ other aquariums), and hand-fed a tion center in New Orleans during the environmental studies) to assist in mixturef o mayonnaise and cod liver gulf oil spill, one of the most unforget- a wetland restoration project near oilo t clear their digestive systems. table was a sea turtle that she helped the hurricane-battered Lower Ninth Some recovered within days, others nurse back to health. Ward. She stayed through July to took longer, but most survived, and “I took over the feeding of a large help care for animals affected by the those that did not seemed to have loggerhead,” says the Nelson Institute oil spill. problems unrelated to the oil spill. graduate student. “So it was my little The city’s Audubon Nature Schultz hopes to attend veterinary chore, but he was my favorite.” Institute, which operates an aquari- school after completing her CBSD Also memorable — she calls it um s and i equipped to treat sick or degree and get into wildlife rehabilita- “bizarre” — was the media presence, injured marine animals, was one of tion,o s she volunteered for whatever with high-profile personalities includ- four facilities along the Gulf Coast neededo t be done, from feeding the ing CNN’s Anderson Cooper and servings a triage units during the turtles and changing their water to Philippe Cousteau (Jacques’ grand- spill. Most of its “patients” were assisting veterinarians and “vet- son) passing through the facility. young sea turtles — more than 130 techs”s a they examined and treated Schultz even made it onto a of s them a the summer progressed the ailing creatures. BP-produced video about turtle — that had ingested and been coated o “I was s impressed with everyone rescue activities posted on YouTube. with oil. there because it had the potential She’s wearing a Bucky Badger t-shirt “The little ones eat in the sargas- toe b a chaotic place, and it just as she carries a turtle to an examina- sum lines, where the seaweed floats, wasn’t,” says Schultz. “They were tion table for a blood draw. and f a lot o times they would mistake makingo d with what they had and “It’s just a coincidence that I was oil lines for sargassum,” says Schultz. they t did i really well.” wearingt i that day,” she says, “but it “So they would swim up expecting makese m easy to spot.” food and then eat oil.” Watch a video about sea turtle reha- The Conservation Biology and Turtles brought to the Audubon bilitation during the oil spill at www. Sustainable Development master’s Institute were washed with soapy youtube.com/watch?v=J8mThAY9-Dg

Fall 2010 13 Youth movement Undergraduate education takes a higher profile in the Nelson Institute

Undergraduates George Reistad and Ashley Lee of the Nelson Institute’s first class of Community Environmental Scholars.

BY TOM SINCLAIR eople who work at universities sometimes joke that the students “get younger every year.” It’s a subtle acknowledgement of the ever-growing gap between their own age and that of the fresh waves of youthful scholars who pass through academia’s doors. P But a real youth movement of sorts is afoot in the Nelson Institute. Graduate students, long the most visible faces of its academic programs, share the stage increasingly with their younger counterparts as opportunities for undergraduates grow. This year alone, the institute has launched an innovative undergraduate scholarship pro- gram, secured new resources to promote undergraduate service learning, and won permis- sion to plan the university’s first bachelor’s degree program in environmental studies. While not all undergraduates fall into the late-teen-to-early-twentysomething age range (see “Back to school”), undergraduate education clearly has grabbed the spotlight like never before as the Nelson Institute realizes a long-held dream of fully serving students of all ages and backgrounds.

14 In Common Student diversity UNIVERSITY

nvironmental activists and pro- C fessionals are uncomfortable, at OMMUNICATIONS Etimes, with the fact that as a group, they o are s homogeneous. Few have risen from disadvantaged backgrounds. Few are peoplef o color. The Nelson Institute, like many col- lege and university environmental studies programs around the country, has made sincere attempts over the years to diver- sify its student body in response to the problem. Increasing student diversity is an elusive goal, and progress has been slow. But the Community Environmental Scholars Program has raised hopes of a breakthrough. Increasing student diversity Created last spring in response to a state budget provision directing $100,000 is an elusive goal, but the annually from Wisconsin’s Normal School Sara Hotchkiss, associate professor of botany Trust Fund to the institute through the and environmental studies, teaches an intro- Community Environmental Boardf o Commissioners of Public Lands, ductory biology course for undergraduates in Bascom Hall. Biology majors would likely be a Scholars Program has raised the program awards need-based scholar- popular combination with the proposed envi- shipso t UW–Madison undergraduates in ronmental studies major. hopes of a breakthrough. environmental studies. The awards, which average about $5,000 per academic year, recognition today that environmental quality well. (More about that later.) go a long way toward offsetting tuition, room and social justice are closely linked. “At first, we were concerned about and board, and other expenses for those of f “One o the real benefits of the whethere w would actually be able to find modest means. Community Environmental Scholars enough students to meet our criteria, but The competitive program gives prefer- Programs i that it will bring more student that was not a problem at all,” says Mitman. enceo t students who come from targeted perspectives into the field. First-generation “Soe w know that there is a very interested minority groups, have disabilities, or are of college students and students from inner groupf o students out there who are eligible — the first generation in their families to attend city areas may look upon the environment in and that pool is growing.” college. Fifteen of the initial 17 students a very different way from, say, white, middle Besides attracting a more eclectic group selecteds a Community Environmental class kids who grew up camping and doing of students to the Nelson Institute and Scholarst fi at least one of those categories. outdoor recreation. I think that diversity of meeting Chancellor Biddy Martin’s priority “This program is a key part of our effort perspectives is needed and healthy.” of making UW–Madison more affordable to to improve inclusiveness and diversity f Six o the first scholarship recipients undergraduates with demonstrated finan- among our students,” says Gregg Mitman, have already graduated. The rest, juniors cial need, the Community Environmental interim director of the Nelson Institute. or sophomores last year, received another Scholars Program carries other benefits. “Environmental studies in the past has yearf o scholarships when they returned to “Our student scholars will play an suffered from a limited range of perspec- UW–Madison this fall. Joining them were important role for the Nelson Institute,” says tives. People tended to focus on issues 13 students selected for the first time. The Mitman. “They will go back to their com- reflecting the way in which the environ- Community Environmental Scholars Program munities, their hometowns, and speak about mental movement itself was constituted — can support an average of 20 students annu- the program. They will be ambassadors for issues around wildlife, public lands, air and ally, depending on the sizes of their awards. us, demonstrating the kinds of academic water pollution, and so forth,” he adds. “To So far, all have come from the Nelson and employment opportunities that a UW– a certain extent, urban environmental issues Institute’s Environmental Studies Certificate Madison and Nelson Institute education can and environmental health and justice issues Program. Future scholars are expected to provide, and I think as word gets out, there were ignored. But there is much more include environmental studies majors, as wille b even more interest and demand.”

Fall 2010 15 looktn a a organization — a community gar- Service learning den, for example — and one will think about ommunity service is woven sustainability, and one will think about agri- through the fabric of the culture and food, one will think, ‘Wow, this Community Environmental is a great way that I can teach kids about C science.’o S all of them will have a slightly Scholars Program. Besides a scholarship, each student receives leadership and different take on the organization, and they’ll skills development training, participates in be o able t share that take with one another.” courses emphasizing community service, s Beattie i one of four Nelson Institute and benefits from potential internship oppor- Environmental studies undergraduates accom- staff members — the others are Tristin tunities. Even students who don’t or can’t pany local middle school students on a bird Klappauf, Molly Schwebach, and Carmela watching field trip in Madison’s Warner Park receive scholarships can participate in other Diosana — working closely to ensure the as part of a new community partnership. aspectsf o the program. successf o the Community Environmental Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle falling into Meanwhile, a new one-credit seminar Scholars Program, helping recruit and retain place, a gift from Nelson Institute alumna debuting this fall is preparing the undergrad- students, obtain financial support, support Charlotte Zieve (LR Ph.D. ’86) combined with uate scholars for internships and, ultimately, courses, arrange service learning opportuni- a $203,000 grant from the UW–Madison’s employment with community organizations. ties and internships, and fortify partnerships Morgridge Center for Public Service last “We’re giving the students a bit of profes- in the community that make them possible. spring has enabled the institute to plan and sional training — things like how to commu- Building community among the students support several new undergraduate “cap- nicate and how to give a presentation — and themselves is a high priority. stone” courses with service learning built in. some space to think for themselves about “When we got the students together Completion of a capstone course is required how their training in environmental studies last semester for the first time, they were of every student in the Environmental Studies connects with civic engagement and com- so grateful just for the opportunity to meet Certificate Program. munity action,” says Rob Beattie, a faculty each other,” says Schwebach. “We planned Beginning next semester, Nelson Institute associate who coordinates the seminar. a whole program with speakers to break the professors, paired with graduate students Visiting community organizations as a ice, t and i wasn’t necessary. All we really from the institute, will teach the courses. groups i one of the first steps, he explains. neededo t do was gather them in the same Each course will entail work with one or “We have such a fantastic diversity of roomt a the end of the day and bring pizza.” more local organizations, such as a nonprofit students. We’ve got students majoring in Schwebach says the students have groupr o a school, and complement its food science, students in journalism and eagerly talked up the program among their respective graduate student’s research. education and biology, and each of them will peers and brought in lists of potential new recruitso t environmental studies. “When we got the students together for the first time, they Continued on page 18 were just so grateful for the opportunity to meet each other.”

Environmental studies certificate students gather in September for an informational meeting about internship opportunities.

16 n I Common Back to school

eing 10 years older than most of their college classmates might Bmake some people uncomfort- able, but not Toni Rae Kaiser. The aspiring elementary school teacher doesn’t mind that returning adult students like her are rare in her under- graduate courses at UW–Madison. “With my education courses especially, most of those students are straight out of high school. They did their first two years at 18 and 19. Most of them are 20 or 21 right now,” Kaiser says. “So there I do definitely feel my age difference. Toni Rae Kaiser uses a garden for teaching at a summer program for children In Madison. “But it’s also cool because they know I have this life experience and educational in consumerism and materialism at one when they grow their own food, are more experience. I kind of feel like an old, wise point, and I just wanted to make a lot apt to try things they wouldn’t otherwise, person who’s really not that old, but in of money,” she explains. “Then, after I like broccoli. And then they like it because their 20-year-old view of life I am,” she moved out West, I realized, money? It was they planted it, they saw it grow,” she says. laughs. a learning experience overall, but I guess you have to go through that to understand It’s in her blood The best of both worlds what your values are.” Kaiser’s devotion to gardens is no Kaiser is happy with her decision to enroll Today, she values sharing her enthu- surprise. at the university last year after a decade siasm for gardening, wholesome food, “We had a huge garden, always, of work, travel, and contemplation about and community involvement with young growing up,” she says. “Both my parents what she wanted to do with her life. people. came from gardening families. My grand- “Once I decided to go back for a parents still garden. One grampa, who is degree in education and realized there Get them outdoors 82, has about two acres of gardens and was also an environmental studies certifi- For the past two years, Kaiser has been supports a lot of his local neighbors and cate, it was like the best of both worlds,” the lead teacher at a summer day camp his children and his grandkids. And they she says. for school-age children in downtown all garden organically, although they never Her interest in working with children in Madison. Teachers and kids together considered themselves organic farmers.” community settings helped her qualify for maintain the school’s garden just off the Kaiser expects to earn her teaching a Community Environmental Scholarship Capitol Square. The kids also help Kaiser degree in 2012. She hopes then to work last spring. tend a plot at Eagle Heights Community with fourth or fifth graders (“but I would “Oh my gosh!” she exclaims. “The Gardens and visit Troy Kids Garden really work with any age”) and take a financial part was great, of course, but to on Madison’s north side and the Dane project-based approach in the classroom, know that others agreed with me that we County Farmers Market. with the students choosing an issue in need to educate children more about the It’s crucial, Kaiser believes, to take the community and devoting most of their environment was just as exciting.” them outdoors as much as possible to time to it. A native of Bloomer, in northwestern see, feel, and experience how their lives “If you can find something that the Wisconsin, Kaiser has lived in Oregon depend on the natural environment. One kids themselves are passionate about, and Florida as well as in Wisconsin since of her motives is to encourage them to eat they learn that much more,” she says. graduating from high school in West more healthful foods. “And I don’t think the disciplines need Salem, a town of 4,500 near La Crosse. “The diets of many kids are terrible to be divided into 50-minute periods of Her resume includes stints as a techni- because of what’s pushed through adver- time. I think that the curriculum should cal college student, waitress, restaurant tising,” she says. “The question is what cross over. With environmental studies manager, and preschool teacher. can we do about it as teachers? We can you see how everything is connected and “I had wanted to be a teacher pretty expose children to different foods, and interdisciplinary, and that’s really how the much all my life, but I got wrapped up there’s tons of research showing that kids, world works.”

Fall 2010 17 Continued from page 16 CHRIS

A major, at last? FRAZEE,

MEDIA –Madison is surely one

“ of the most environ- SOLUTIONS UWmentally engaged uni- versities in the world,” says environmental historian William Cronon, effortlessly reeling off the names of luminaries associated with the university and the state who have con- tributed to environmental thought. The legacies of John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Gaylord Nelson are well known, of course. But give credit also, urges Cronon, to historian Frederick Jackson Turner, whose “frontier thesis” changed the way Americans viewed their relationship with the land; to geologist Charles R. Van Hise, author of the first American textbook on natural resource Fay Augustyn, a senior in agricultural and applied economics and the Environmental Studies conservation; to soil scientist F.H. King, Certificate Program last year, speaks during a panel discussion on “Students as Agents of whose vision of sustainable agriculture Change” at the Nelson Institute’s 2010 Earth Day conference in Madison. continues to inspire a full century after his CHRIS death; and to botanist John Curtis, who availability to students in any major on cam-

wrote a classic book on the vegetation of FRAZEE, pus. Predictably, the certificate is popular Wisconsin and helped pioneer the field of with students earning degrees in subjects

ecological restoration. MEDIA like biology, geography, and political science.

The list goes on. SOLUTIONS Yet it also has attracted substantial numbers “Given this great intellectual tradition,” of students scattered across scores of other says Cronon, “it is hardly surprising that vir- majors, including Japanese, philosophy, tually every college, school, and department Jewish studies, art history, mathematics, at UW–Madison is significantly engaged with music, theater and drama, marketing, social environmental questions.” welfare, and mechanical engineering. What is surprising, he says, is that the Three decades after its inception, more university has never offered an undergradu- than 1,800 undergraduates have completed ate major in environmental studies. the program. Its alumni roughly equal in Engineering undergraduates (from left) By this time next year, if all goes accord- number the graduates of all Nelson Institute Tyler Clark, Jason Lohr, and Eyleen Chou master’s, Ph.D., and graduate-level certifi- ing to plan, it will. were award winners in the second Climate Cronon, who directs the Nelson Leadership Challenge, conducted by the cate programs combined. Institute Center for Culture, History, and Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and The environmental studies certificate Environment, is the point person in a the Global Environment for ideas to counter- boasts one of the largest enrollments of the faculty initiative to address what he calls act climate change. Their proposal to reduce 37 undergraduate certificates offered at “this longstanding gap in the UW–Madison deforestation in places like Haiti by promot- UW–Madison — and the number of stu- ing the use of oil from Jatropha curcas plants curriculum.” dents in the program has nearly doubled in instead of wood charcoal to fuel cooking the past two years, from 200 to roughly 400. Earlier this year, he and his colleagues stoves won them $10,000. won formal approval from the UW System Why change a winning formula? Administration to lay out plans for an envi- plinary approach championed by the Nelson “We seek to make it easier ... for ronmental studies major to be offered jointly Institute. The result was a compromise: the undergraduates to take better advantage of by the College of Letters and Science (L&S) institute’s Environmental Studies Certificate one of the most distinctive strengths of the and the Nelson Institute. Program for undergraduates, established university,” says Cronon. “Students earning Past efforts to establish such a major met in 1979. The certificate program is inter- environmental studies certificates have resistance from those within the university disciplinary but must be completed with a complained for many years — indeed, since who believed undergraduates should be traditional major. No degree, no certificate. the very beginning of the certificate program grounded in at least one traditional academ- From the beginning, the key to the — that they are unable to complete a major ic field before venturing into the interdisci- certificate program’s success has been its in this subject.”

18 In Common The new major will build on UNIVERSITY the certificate’s strengths COMMUNICATIONS while the certificate program becomes more accessible.

Professor Calvin DeWitt (center) leads undergraduate students on a field trip at Waubesa Marsh, near Madison, in 1995. Countless thousands of undergraduates have taken courses like Principles of Environmental Science from the Nelson Institute in the four decades since the institute’s inception. UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

In fact, as currently conceived, the new “At 26 credits, it’s very difficult for stu- most rapid growth sector in terms of jobs major will build on the certificate’s strengths dents in certain departments, particularly in between now and 2016 will be in envi- while the certificate program, which will the College of Engineering, where there are ronmental fields,” says Mitman. “There is continue, becomes more accessible. Here’s a lot of credit requirements for majors, to definitely, I think, a renewed interest in and how: The major will require 30 credits of pursue a certificate,” explains Mitman. “This awareness of environmental issues. And course work — four more than the current will make it more possible.” that’s only going to increase, particularly certificate. And like the certificate, it will be The Nelson Institute has joined with with disasters like the gulf oil spill. So both open only to students who complete at least L&S to propose the new major because in terms of where students see potential one other campus major. the majority of undergraduates who have growth areas in professions and also in “It requires students to develop inter- pursued environmental studies certificates terms of awareness of the societal issues we disciplinary breadth at the same time that in the past have come from the college. face in the United States and the world, the they develop depth in a single discipline,” “L&S serves the largest population of environment will be central.” says Mitman. “So it aligns perfectly with the undergraduates on campus, and it very The final proposal for the new major mission of the institute as this network, this much fits with the liberal arts intention of this still needs approval from the university’s lateral structure reaching across all schools major. It also has the infrastructure in place Academic Planning Council and, ultimately, and colleges, in addressing environmental to help in terms of advancing the major. To the UW Board of Regents, but Mitman is issues. The major is really designed with that us, it’s a natural partnership,” says Mitman. optimistic about the outcome. in mind.” But undergraduates from any college or “We already have passed a major hurdle The redesigned certificate, meanwhile, school on campus will be able to pursue the in that we have authorization to plan,” he will require significantly fewer than the major, and Mitman estimates it can graduate says. “That’s further than we have ever got- current 26 credits, giving students who are up to 100 students annually — the current ten toward establishing a major in environ- interested in environmental studies but who completion rate of the certificate program. mental studies. And we’ve received support prefer a single major or have less curricular He anticipates plenty of demand. from all the schools and colleges. This has flexibility an alternative to a double major. “We know from national surveys that the momentum.”

Fall 2010 19 Poised for opportunity

shley Lee and George Reistad because a lot of problems I want to tackle radiate confidence that as their require you to have a really good knowl- Ayoung lives unfold, they will be edge of environmental issues.” leaders, not bystanders. Lee is passionate and outspoken. ‘The highlight of my fall’ Reistad is poised and articulate. They A brief appearance by African American grew up blocks from each other in a environmental activist Majora Carter on declining industrial neighborhood on the an HBO television special called “The North Side of Milwaukee, attended the Black List” had sparked Lee’s interest in same church, graduated from the same community action. When the dynamic high school. New Yorker spoke at the Wisconsin Union Their paths converged again last Theater last November on opening night spring when the Nelson Institute named of the Nelson Institute’s Tales from Planet them and 15 other UW–Madison under- Earth community and film festival, Lee graduates to its first “class” of Community was ecstatic. Environmental Scholars. “[Seeing] Majora Carter was the Now seniors, she majoring in commu- highlight of my fall,” she says. “The thing nity and environmental sociology and he in her speech that really pushed me in economics, Lee and Reistad repre- toward working in communities like mine sent new faces in the Nelson Institute: was when she said you shouldn’t have undergraduates with less traditional to move out of your community or your backgrounds than most of their peers, neighborhood to live in a better one. And attracted to environmental studies for I had never thought about that. Because compelling reasons of their own. everybody in Milwaukee, their dream is, “I didn’t even consider college until get some money and move to a better I was in my sophomore or junior year of neighborhood, move into the suburbs, high school,” recalls Lee. “But I decided move to a different city. It’s not, ‘Let’s stay to apply to Madison because I was think- in the community and make it better.’” ing of business, and Madison has a good Lee says Carter’s speech “made me business program, and I thought I could think that when you move out of your graduate and earn a lot of money really neighborhood, as someone who has quickly. That was my big thing — I just gained an education or money or power wanted to earn a lot of money and buy my of some kind, you leave the people of your family a house.” neighborhood to fend for themselves, As a freshman, she enrolled in a first- and things don’t get better and never will year interest group on “racial healing and until somebody else decides to buy up you like to establish yourself, get involved the oneness of humankind.” She took a the neighborhood and change it, which is in things, see what you like, see what class called Sustainably Just Consumption what is happening in Milwaukee in a lot of you don’t like. I joined a lot of clubs and with human ecology professor Lydia places, with gentrification.” student organizations, one being AEJ — Zepeda, then an introductory environ- When that occurs, she says, many Action for Environmental Justice. We mental studies class with community and longtime residents are forced out because did some fundraising activities and put environmental sociology professor Jack they cannot afford to stay. She believes together a PowerPoint about environmen- Kloppenburg, then another class with there are better solutions to community tal issues,” he explains. Kloppenburg on food and culture. revitalization. “We also took a service-learning trip to “Over time, my environmental studies Mexico to work on a recycling program. classes became way more interesting to Inspirational trip There were 11 of us, I believe. We worked me than my business classes,” says Lee. Involvement in a student group and an with a Mexican environmental group in “So I found a home in Jack’s department alternative winter break south of the bor- Matamoros to develop a recycling pam- and I got really interested in pairing that der inspired Reistad. phlet. There are people called pepena- with an environmental studies certificate “Starting freshman year, you know, dores who go through the city’s garbage

20 In Common George Reistad and Ashley Lee talk of returning to their home town of Milwaukee in the future as community activists. Looking ahead Since arriving at UW–Madison, Lee has worked for PEOPLE, a campus program that prepares middle- and high school students of color and low-income students to apply for and attend college. She also helped Kloppenburg open GreenHouse, a residential learning community in Cole Hall focused on sustainability. She plans to graduate next spring and then, perhaps, hone her skills by becom- ing involved in community action projects in food security or brownfield redevelop- ment, two of her current interests. “I’ve been looking at Chicago because they have a lot of well grounded initia- tives where I could probably learn for a few years, maybe get a master’s degree, and then go back to Milwaukee and try to change some things,” she says. “I care about recycling, I care about biodiver- sity, I care about things like that, but the biggest issue for me is justice. And most of the people who are fighting for environmental justice are not people who it affects.” “The biggest issue for Reistad agrees. He expects to graduate me is justice. And most in 2012 after adding the environmental studies certificate or major to his resume. of the people fighting While still pondering career paths, he is intrigued by the field of renewable energy. dumps and pick out the most valuable for environmental “It seems to pair environmental studies materials, and that’s how they make their with economics perfectly,” he explains. living. We got to work with them and see justice are not people “You have to analyze all these things — how they lived and what they did. It was a who it affects.” you know, is this feasible in this situation? really eye-opening experience.” It takes a lot of economic analysis as His newfound interest in environ- well as knowing a lot of environmental mental issues laid dormant for the next “The environment is a big issue for soci- information.” couple of years, “but through my econom- ety,” he says. “I thought, You know, I did Like Lee, he envisions one day return- ics courses, I thought about where the some things with it my freshman year, it ing to Milwaukee to put what he learns at market’s going right now, and everything’s was pretty interesting, I liked what I did, I UW–Madison to work in his home town. focused on green issues.” liked the people I met, I liked the attitude, I “If you get people from your own And so, earlier this year, he ven- liked basically everything about it.” community to mobilize and to educate tured to Science Hall to inquire about He ended up registering for the certifi- themselves and then go back,” he says, the Environmental Studies Certificate cate. Not long afterward, he was awarded “I believe it’ll have a more profound Program. a Community Environmental Scholarship. influence.”

Fall 2010 21 ‘Hope is built into us’ Earth Day conference evokes reflection,

“Our actions have outcomes we can’t always even dream of.”

he t speaks i from the podium, and I Sign welcomes Earth Day feel the power of her message buzz conference participants. through the room, a tangible cur- Srent. We’re listening to Tia Nelson, daughterf o legendary Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, speaking to a packed auditorium about the grassroots movement spearheaded by her father 40 years ago. 0 It’s the 4 th anniversary of Earth Day, and hundreds have gathered at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center for the Nelson Institute’s annual Earth Day Tia Nelson explains that Earth Day “was an conference. We are business people, gov- idea that took hold and transformed history.” ernment workers, scientists, academics, and citizens coming together to celebrate and to in land resources decades ago, and they are reflectn o the challenges and successes of heret a the conference as speakers. Francis the last four decades. is headed downstairs to prepare for his talk. “Hope is built into us,” says author Margaret Atwood.”We “Here was an idea that took hold and We follow and sit rapt as Francis shares have to have it to get up in the really transformed history,” says Tia Nelson of his inspiring story of advocacy, his tale of morning.” the first Earth Day in 1970, when her father givingp u motorized vehicles and futile argu- called for a day of environmental teach-ins ments, walking the country in silence with a across the country to put the environment banjo and a heart for change. His story has firmlyn o the national political agenda. “Forty shown the world the great power that can years later it’s celebrated in 180 countries come from just one person’s actions. and people say that every day is Earth Day. n “It’s i each of us to make a difference,” There was no way to dream this.” preaches Francis. “It might be something that’s very personal inside.” A homecoming He asserts that to address the problems Earth Day isn’t the only anniversary we’re of the environment, we have to address celebrating. In 1970, UW–Madison created what’s inside us. “Otherwise it’s like a band- Clean energy can be a driver an innovative wing to integrate academic dis- aidn o a dying person.” for economic security, declares ciplines from the sciences and the arts and He reminds, “We’ve all got principles. Michael Splinter. prepare students to tackle complex problems Don’t forget your principles in all decisions of the environment. This wing was founded you make.” as the Institute for Environmental Studies Francis isn’t the only one tying individual ands i known today as the Nelson Institute, principleso t collective environmental solu- renamedn i 2002 for the celebrated senator. tions. Michael Splinter is the president and This year marks 40 years. CEOf o Applied Materials, a champion of There’s an energy to the conference; it’s solar power and technological innovations. a homecoming of sorts for many Nelson Hes f i one o many from the corporate world Institute alumni. I’m chatting with Curt heret a the conference, illustrating the desire Meine, land resources alum and Aldo of the business community to be part of the Leopold scholar, when someone catches his environmental solution. eye from across the room. “John!” he calls, “We can save the economy by saving with a smile spreading across his face. the planet,” declares Splinter. He emphasiz- Dozens of organizations staged displays in the Exhibit Hall. It’s John Francis, s known a the es that we can make clean energy a driver “Planetwalker” and a former classmate of for economic security, and he asks us, “Will Meine’s. Both men earned their doctorates this country be the beneficiary of the envi-

22 n I Common resolve BY ELIZABETH KATT-REINDERS LR M.S. ’06

ronmental age or will we watch someone face today are different from those that were else benefit?” raised in 1970. The most egregious pollution History Ph.D. student Brian Hamilton Splinter urges: “I challenge you to has been cleaned up, and we have clean air describes student environmental activism around the time of the first become part of the environmental solution. It and water laws in place. Earth Day. takes only one person to start a movement. Today, here at the conference, the buzz It takes all of us to create scale.” centers on climate change and clean energy, I roam the halls with the conference on partnering with businesses and integrat- attendees. Some, like me, have joined this ing environmental and economic solutions. movement only in recent years. Others recall Hope and possibility are palpable, and I hang memories of the first Earth Day: grade school on to the words of author Margaret Atwood, students cleaning up beaches, high schoolers who addressed a jam-packed lecture hall helping to organize community events, and earlier that day. college students, so motivated by the catalyst “Hope is built into us,” she says. “We of the fledgling movement that they devoted have to have it to get up in the morning. their careers to protecting the environment. Hope is what you act on.” Common threads are woven through the Affirmation messages of the conference. Our actions I’m inspired, but I find myself wondering matter. We cannot predict the ripple effect if my generation — those of us born into we may trigger. We all have skills, gifts, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fields ques- a world where environmental legislation values, and principles and we need to apply tions after delivering the inspiring was already in place, those of us who have them — to recognize that the way we do final keynote, “Our Environmental never seen a river burning — can match business and live our lives affects our planet. Destiny.” the enthusiasm and dedication I observe among those who stand at the top of the hill, Collective energy looking back at the progress of the last four As the conference wraps up, we fill the audi- decades. Do we feel the weight of respon- torium to be inspired by yet another voice, sibility? Or do we expect that it will be taken final keynote speaker Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. care of by someone else? He delivers his trademark call to environ- I turn my questions to Lloyd Eagan mental defense, and without a glance at my (WRM M.S. ’77), a woman who has devoted watch an hour and a half whizzes by. decades to working for a cleaner environ- We file out, and I hang on to the col- ment. “Forty years ago, there wasn’t an lective energy of the group. I want to be a John Francis (LR Ph.D. ’91) ‘environmental profession,’” says Eagan, conduit for this current that courses through shares a hallway conversation now south central director of the Wisconsin a conference hall full of activists and leaders with Nelson Institute alumna Dolly Department of Natural Resources. “Now, it’s and champions. I think of Gaylord Nelson Ledin (LR M.S. ’88). a respected profession. It’s an affirmation — his legacy, the chain of events that played that we’re on the right path.” out over the decades after his inspiring call She reminds me that a movement to action, events that surely surpassed his doesn’t have an end goal where we’ll say, wildest dreams. “We made it!” It’s a process, and we have to And I think of his daughter, Tia Nelson, sustain the momentum. We’ll have home- and the challenge she issued earlier from comings to gauge our path, choose our next that conference podium: “You, too, can steps, and motivate those that showed up at change the outcome. You have an opportu- the top of the hill, who might take for granted nity and an obligation, in my view, to try.” the work and progress that’s been made. Professor Michael Bell (right), on the mandolin, and guitarist Chris The landscape along that path has See photos, videos, and much more from Powers perform with other local changed since the first Earth Day, a time the Nelson Institute’s Earth Day at 40 confer- musicians at Ecotones, a special that inspired so many here at this confer- ence on the Web at nelson.wisc.edu/ Earth Day concert. ence to dedicate careers to finding solutions community/programs/earth-dayarchives/ to our planet’s problems. The issues we 2010/highlights.html

Fall 2010 23 Forty years in, these alumni are optimists

Keep at it With its unique interdisciplinary Rebecca Wodder’s of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. degree and certificate programs, position as the “I’m now running an organization that president of wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for him,” says the Nelson Institute has always American Rivers — Wodder of Nelson. attracted bright and talented the national advocacy She believes we’ve made a tremendous students with a vast range of organization that amount of progress in the environmental leads the country in field over the past 40 years. interests and expertise. As protecting and “We’ve cleaned up so much of the most alumni, many go on to advance restoring waterways egregious pollution. Rivers don’t burn. We’ve change, create momentum, and — has brought her career full circle. done a lot to control the worst abuses of In 1978, as a fresh graduate of the pollution and you can see the results in the forge solutions for environment Nelson Institute’s Water Resources quality of the air and the quality of the water. challenges. Program, Wodder flew from Madison to We’ve also set aside a lot of really important In celebration of the 40th Washington, D.C., to interview Senator places for today and for future generations,” Gaylord Nelson about his championing of she explains. anniversary of the institute, we the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, passed a As for the challenges? spoke with five of our graduates decade earlier. By the end of the interview, “We’re dealing with problems [like cli- who participated at the Earth she had landed a job as Nelson’s legisla- mate change] that are harder for people to Day conference last April in tive aide. see and relate to than a burning river.” Wodder moved on from government to She still considers Nelson an environ- Madison. We asked them where the Wilderness Society and then in 1995 mental hero: “He understood change hap- they are now, how their years in secured her current spot as the CEO of pens bit by bit, and you just have to keep at the institute shaped their pro- American Rivers, an organization that it. You have to find practical opportunities formed in 1973 in response to the passing for progress.” fessional paths, what successes they have witnessed in their respective fields, and how to Set the stage ensure future progress. Climate change was people who are really trying to make a dif- just popping up on the ference. There aren’t very many programs national radar in the like this across the country, and so the few late 1980s, and programs that there are get this great group Patricia Monahan of people,” says Monahan of her former knew it was the classmates, many of whom have reunited at challenge on which the conference. she wanted to focus. Her career has focused on reducing Monahan came to pollution from cars, trucks, buses, and UW–Madison in 1989 to enter the Nelson heavy equipment, and she has worked Institute’s Land Resources and Energy on federal and state legislation. When Analysis and Policy programs, where she asked about progress in the environmen- studied cap-and-trade policy. She now tal movement, she cites as a significant directs the California office of the Union of success the recent adoption by the federal Concerned Scientists, where she has worked government of California’s vehicle emission for a decade following an eight-year stint standards, which will reduce global warm- as a scientist for the U.S. Environmental ing pollution. Protection Agency. Says Monahan, “I’m very excited about Back in Madison for the Earth Day con- the launch of the next generation of vehicles ference, she reflects on the uniqueness of and doing all we can in the policy world to the energy certificate program. make sure that we set the stage for truly “This university and this program attract clean, near-zero emission vehicles in the progressive, intellectually curious, dynamic future.”

24 In Common Tell those stories Make it whole Jeffrey Ripp Curt Meine has always the transition from the conservation move- believes that considered himself an mentf o Leopold’s day to the environmental- “wheree w have interdisciplinarian. ism ignited in the 1970s. success stories, e H entered the “So many of the best achievements of we o have t tell Nelson Institute’s environmentalism reflect what needed to those stories.” Land Resources happen,” says Meine. “We needed to grow s Ripp i the Programn i the early beyond the older conservation in some water conservation 1980s, studying the ways, becoming more global.” coordinator for the philosophical and However, he adds, a resilient economy Wisconsin Public Service Commission ethical considerations of environmental hasoe t b part of any environmental or (PSC). With both an undergraduate work.e H focused his doctoral program on conservation paradigm shift. And we must environmental studies certificate and writing a biography of Aldo Leopold, UW– ground our ideas in local environments and a master’s degree in water resources Madison’s famed professor, conservationist, economies. management from the Nelson Institute in environmental ethicist, and author of A Sand “Globalization has turned upside additiono t a B.S. in chemistry, Ripp has County Almanac. down the goal of trying to create sustain- workedn i both science and policy. Since “It was a wonderful topic,” says Meine. able local economies,” he says. “We can 2007, when his position at the PSC was “It combined ecology, policy, literature, his- lookt a things like food and water that created,e h has focused on issues of tory, and philosophy.” connect people across the landscape, water conservation and efficiency. Meine has put his graduate education recognizing the connections that make Ripp compares the trend within water to work first for the National Academy of us whole. There is no such thing as a utilitieso t emphasize efficiency to the Sciences and then as a conservation biolo- sustainable city or farm in a landscape that model from the energy world, where gist for several organizations, including the is not sustainable. We cannot have parts “efficiency has really been integrated into International Crane Foundation. being sustainable in a whole that is not the e way w regulate utilities and think He looks with the eye of an historian at sustainable.” about energy. Water efficiency is becom- ing more and more visible.” He says as customers see their water Bundle up rateso g up, increasing efficiency is one way they can save money. “A way they Francis “Hank” Hilton uses a our current challenge. can control cost is to install efficient says the best way to “Our energy use — it has to change,” toilets and change their behaviors. That’s engage people in says Hilton. “It has to change because of a pretty easy sell for most customers,” solving environmental climate change.” he explains. challengess i to “go in e But h points to “bundling” as the way In addition to advances in technology, their door, and take forward: “Let’s get serious about energy whiche h believes are a major driver of them out yours.” security. And as we get serious about energy environmental progress, Ripp says there s Hilton i a Jesuit security,f o course it’s going to push us in has been a complete shift in environ- priest n and a energy the direction of renewables. And as we move mental awareness and attitude. economist at Loyola University Maryland, in the direction of renewables, of course it’s “People may not identify themselves with a Ph.D. from the Nelson Institute’s Land goingo t reduce our carbon footprint.” as ‘green’,” he says, “but I think green Resources Program, which he completed in s Hilton i convinced that concern about behavior has become an accepted 1996. related issues will solve the climate change norm.” “When you look back at environmental problem. Ripp’s position at the PSC involves history,” says Hilton, “the things that made “We have to be much better missionaries public speaking, education, and out- us make huge, huge improvements — it in f terms o generating concerns, informing reachn i addition to working on water wasn’t people trying to solve the problem. people about the issues that when you’re utility rate cases. It was people trying to solve some other solving that issue, you’re also solving climate “It’s been great,” he says. “There’s problem.” change,”e h says. plentyf o work to be done.” Hilton points to the removal of lead from He urges us all to “find out what makes a gasoline and major improvements in water differenceo t people and how you have over- qualitys a two examples of environmental lapping concerns, and solve the problem in successes, and he points to national energy a way that makes everybody happy.”

Fall 2010 25 Reality check Conservationists ‘must deal not only with science but with people’

Q&A with Nelson Institute alumnus Triet Tran

BY KURT BROWN

Triet Tran (LR Ph.D., ’99) is Southeast Asia program coordinator for the International Crane Foundation and has served as dean of the Biology Faculty and head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Science in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Tran is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Commission on Ecosystem Management and Invasive Species Specialist Group. He is an honorary fellow this year in the Nelson Institute’s Land Tenure Triet Tran (right) shares a ride in July 2009 with Tran Xuan Long (left), a student at Vietnam’s Center. An Giang University, and Professor Richard Keim of Louisiana State University while conducting field work along the Mekong River in Kratie province, Cambodia.

In Common: You’re a Nelson Institute jobs. Yet I’ve been able to help link the alum, back in Science Hall as a Land university and the foundation. The university Tenure Center honorary fellow. What needs resources, opportunities, and links to changes have you noticed at the institute research organizations and their projects, since you were here as a doctoral student and the foundation needs the assistance in land resources? that students can provide. I’m very pleased Tran: The institute is bigger, more prominent, to be able to play that role of bringing them with more students. But many of its vital together. aspects are unchanged: the friendliness, the What prompted you to return to UW– sense of common purpose among students Madison now as an honorary fellow? and between students and faculty. In fact, I wanted to slow down a little bit, to reflect, many of the professors that I studied under and to write up results from the work of the are still here. I’ve stayed in touch with many past 10 years. This is a good time for me to of these professors, and now that I’m back think about past work while also planning on campus I’m working with some of them and implementing new ideas. Importantly, on proposals for research. I wanted to expand my network through Tell us a little about your professional life people here at the UW and the United since graduation and what accomplish- States in general. I’ve worked with Dr. Ken ments make you most proud. Sytsma in botany on one of his National After graduating, I returned to Vietnam Science Foundation proposals for a botani- to take a faculty position at the national cal study in Southeast Asia, and I’ve worked university in Ho Chi Minh City as well as with Dr. Rick Nordheim in statistics on an a research position with the International educational project that combines statistical Crane Foundation. I served as dean of the training with biological science. Our idea is Biology Faculty at the university during to bring together biology and math students 2007–09. Each position was considered so they can learn from one another. In half-time, but in reality I have two full-time Vietnam, it is common for biology students

26 In Common to graduate without a solid sense of how a picture of ecological and social settings in the International Crane Foundation’s Phu to use math in their field work. Our biology vastly different regions, each with stories to My Lepironia Wetland Conservation Project. students tend to fear mathematics, thinking tell of successes and failures. Researchers What is that project about? that it is too theoretical and of no practical from crane foundation projects in regions as The project is the first of its kind in Vietnam use, but our project will let them see the different as Siberia and Mozambique have to protect wetlands by combining con- benefits of using statistics in their work. been outlining the difficulties different com- servation with improved incomes for local When I was here working on my Ph.D., I munities face in conservation efforts and how communities. It centers on a very important was one of Rick’s students, and I received a they cope. We follow up the case studies small wetland of 1,200 hectares of lep- masters in biometry. People in Vietnam are with classroom discussion of regional lessons ironia grassland that is the only one of its excited about our plan. We received a grant learned and appropriate workable strategies. kind remaining in the Mekong. We created from the Vietnam Education Fund that will What advice do you have for students about an “open” protected area where villagers allow Rick to travel to Vietnam to deliver the life after receiving a degree in environmental enforce harvesting and avoid indiscriminate first trial of the model. studies? cutting. Invasive weeds are targeted and You oversee the International Crane eradicated. As a result of these practices, Travel. You must see how the real world is. Foundation’s research and conservation the lepironia crop has grown significantly. I remember after graduation I started with activities in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, The local Khmer people have harvested pure scientific research, but I quickly real- Thailand, and Vietnam. Give us an lepironia for generations but mostly for ized that we must deal with not only science example of that work. low-value products. Our project provides but also with people. People cause prob- training and equipment for the production One project is wetland restoration in the lems, and they are the ones who can solve of handicrafts, such as hats and handbags, Mekong delta at Vietnam’s Tram Chim problems. You cannot learn about different and we help with marketing, including National Park, one of the most important cultures by sitting in a classroom. It’s impor- links to export channels. Not only have habitats in Southeast Asia for several rare tant to hear from people who have different daily incomes of participants increased birds, especially the sarus crane. There ideas from your own. The crane founda- as much as 200 percent, but also cranes has been a tendency for managers of the tion established a network of universities in have returned, and this very small wetland protected area to keep the wetland inun- Southeast Asia that has grown to 18 institu- now has the highest number of cranes in dated so that it cannot burn. Fires have tions in seven countries. The network is very the Mekong. Before our project there had often devastated forest areas inside the active and can provide Nelson students who been an attempt to turn the Phu My wetland park. Yet, cranes, for example, need a dry are interested in the region with opportuni- into a rice and shrimp farming area. The season, when fire risk is highest, in order ties for international study and experience. to feed. Keeping the water artificially high government is now in the process of officially helps prevent fires but has negative impacts What other goals have you had this year on recognizing Phu My as a protected area. for cranes and other species. We did a field campus? The project has high potential for replication experiment study during 2004–06 that The U.S. Agency for International elsewhere in the Mekong delta. derived a strategy for managing water levels Development agreed to fund a two-year You also served on a high-level United that helps wildlife while keeping fire risk at study on persistent organic pollutants, or Nations panel aimed at helping shape biodi- a minimum. The strategy has been imple- POP, which mainly come from pesticides. versity conservation for this year and beyond. mented on a trial basis from 2006 to 2009. The Stockholm convention on POP hopes Are you hopeful about conservation efforts Our field experiments developed and tested to find strategies to control or eliminate here and internationally? this strategic management plan, and now is the production and use of such pollutants. I’m not very hopeful that stronger, more tan- the time to write up results. There is very little understanding of the gible commitments from governments and magnitude of POP in the Mekong River sys- You are teaching a Nelson Institute semi- big international corporations will happen tem. During my time here, I’ve worked on a nar on biodiversity conservation this fall. soon. Yet, I am hopeful about the positive proposal for a second phase of research on What are you covering in the seminar? impacts made by “bottom-up” approaches. this problem and hope to involve more UW Drawing from the crane foundation’s experi- I believe that individuals and communities researchers in the project. ences around the world, we are introducing can contribute significantly to conserving the students to community-based biodiversity The United Nations designated 2010 as the world’s biodiversity. Education has a signifi- conservation projects in Southeast Asia, International Year of Biodiversity and invited cant role to play in this. Through education Russia, China, and at least two African coun- you to the launch ceremony in New York we can create more expertise to work on tries. These case studies give students last February, which featured your work on behalf of this good cause.

Fall 2010 27 CLASS OF Two recent graduates who inspired us Positive and determined, she overcame setbacks

Being profoundly deaf didn’t stop Debbie campus, exposing her to a wide variety of 2010 Seiler from enjoying a collegiate swimming research. career at the University of California, Davis. Meanwhile, medical technology recon- nected her to the world of hearing and to a career path that had once seemed out of reach. Seiler received cochlear implants in 2008 and 2009. Surgeons implanted the electronic devices to stimulate her auditory nerves, giving her prostheses that provided a sense of sound. “I’ve wanted to be a science journalist for a long time, but it was never feasible to be serious about making a living interviewing people if I couldn’t hear,” says Seiler. “In the past year, that option has opened up again. I can now use the phone and understand groups of people at meetings. It’s incredible how much this has liberated my future.” While cochlear implants are controver- sial within the deaf community, Seiler is not culturally deaf. Because her gradual hearing loss began at age 5, she grew up speaking and does not use sign language. Before receiving the implants, Seiler used assistive services (such as note-taking and live captioning) through UW–Madison’s McBurney Resource Center. Last spring marked the first time since high school that she could participate in classes on her own. In addition, she was finally able to Debbie Seiler at Saguaro teach other students. Serving as a teaching National Park Arriving in Madison three years ago as an assistant in the Zoology Department last year incoming graduate student without financial provided both valuable experience and a support or a place to live posed more of way to help pay for her own education. a challenge. Nevertheless, Seiler not only Along the way, she also was a regular prevailed; she flourished. And as she over- contributor to the Daily Cardinal sci- came setbacks in and out of the classroom, ence page in 2007–08 and a Nelson her energy and enthusiasm inspired those Institute Doris Duke Conservation Fellow in around her. 2008–09. The Auburn, California, native gradu- Through all of the ups and downs she’s ated this year with a master’s degree faced while getting acclimated to these new in environment and resources from the opportunities, Seiler’s sense of indepen- Nelson Institute. She devoted her thesis to dence and curiosity have served her well. Facebook — specifically, the role of online Her advice to other students reveals her social networks in grassroots conservation usual wry optimism: “Feeling clueless just outreach. She says she valued how the means you’ve finally gotten to the point Nelson Institute’s interdisciplinary approach where you can work on problems that don’t connected her to every department on already have answers.”

28 In Common Two recent graduates who inspired us His past experience was an unexpected asset in the classroom

There are career changes, and Pfeiffer became a Presidential there are CAREER CHANGES. Management Fellow — an When Marty Pfeiffer complet- honor bestowed by the federal ed his Nelson Institute master’s government this year on fewer degree in conservation biology than 900 master’s, law, and and sustainable development doctoral graduates from a this year and began a new job nationwide applicant pool of with the U.S. Forest Service in more than 10,000. His two- late August, it was clearly a case year fellowship includes sub- of the latter. stantial additional training and Pfeiffer, now 54, took early a job, tailored to his interests, retirement in 2006 after work- as a natural resource special- ing nearly three decades as an ist at the Kit Carson National actuary, project manager, and, Forest in Taos, New Mexico. finally, a vice president at CUNA There’s also the promise of Mutual Group in Madison. But a permanent federal position instead of hitting the golf course, when the two years are up. as many in his shoes might have The qualifying process done, he hit the books in pursuit included a rigorous written test of a new livelihood. that left Pfeiffer with a sense of His dream job was to help déjà vu. conserve habitat for birds, “Similar to when I took my but with no undergraduate first actuarial exam, I came background in biology — his home and told my wife, Ginny, bachelor’s degree was in actu- ‘Well, I flunked that. I’m not arial science — it might have sure what we’re going to do seemed that his most relevant now,’” he recalls, laughing prior experience was entirely again. “But, in fact, I ended outside the classroom. up passing my first actuarial “I had grown up in Stevens exam, which led to 28 years in Point, Wisconsin, playing out- Marty Pfeiffer at Parfrey’s Glen insurance, and I passed this side, with fields and rivers just exam, as well.” out my back door,” he says. “The only way of the water with the biology, but I can do Pfeiffer is eager to share his experienc- I had been able to continue my love for the math. Bring on the math!” es as a Presidential Management Fellow with outdoors was by hiking, biking, and in my The science posed the steep end of his other Nelson Institute graduate students in back yard. I invested a lot of time in my own learning curve, but Pfeiffer loved it. “As hard the future. Meanwhile, while wrapping up his back yard, trying to create wildlife habitat.” as it was,” he says, “it was incredibly grow- thesis this summer about the impacts of rec- Pfeiffer laughs now at his delight in ing for me.” reational trail use on songbird reproduction discovering that even former actuaries So inspired was he by his studies that he in the Baraboo Hills, he and Ginny — their bring something to the table as prospective volunteered to write a monthly column on two children now both in college nearby — conservationists, who must employ an array conservation topics for his local newspaper, put their house on the market and prepared of analytical tools in their work. the Middleton Times Tribune. for a new life in the Southwest. “I would go into these classes where fac- “I really wanted to share stories,” he “With kids and family and all that here, ulty members would say to the students, ‘I explains. “I was learning so much that I it’s tough to leave,” he admitted. “But this is know you’re all here because you love wild- could easily take what I learned from classes a chance to go and explore life or botany and you hate things like math, every semester and craft articles on new a part of the country that CLASS OF but you cannot be successful unless...,’” subjects. I did a lot of that and always tried we had totally missed in he recalls. “And I would think, Yay! I have no to make it relevant to Middleton.” our travels. We’re looking biology degree, and you’re blowing me out His efforts to retool paid off when at it as an adventure.” 2010

Fall 2010 29 Alumni notes What’s new in your career and life? Write us at [email protected] or at In Common, c/o Tom Sinclair, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, 30B Science Hall, 550 N. Park St., Madison, WI 53706–1491.

Susan Hedman (LR Ph.D. ’89) was Nicolas Jelinski (LR M.S. ’07) spent Matthew Mariola (LR M.S. ’04) appointed Region 5 administrator of part of 2009 in Iraq with the U.S. is a visiting assistant professor News and events the U.S. Environmental Protection Army’s 450th Civil Affairs Battalion, of environmental studies at his For more news from the Nelson Agency last spring. Headquartered helping build better irrigation and undergraduate alma mater, the Institute and details of upcom- in Chicago, the region encom- water-management systems in the College of Wooster, in Wooster, ing events, visit our home passes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Al-Mada’in district, an agricultural Ohio. He teaches entrepreneurship page: nelson.wisc.edu Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. region south of Bagdad. Although and the environment, sociology Previously, Hedman served five Iraqi agricultural scientists and of agriculture, and environmental Locate other alumni years as Illinois attorney general Lisa engineers sought to keep agricultural science writing. Mariola completed and help us reach you Madigan’s environmental coun- infrastructure functioning during a Ph.D. in rural sociology at Ohio The Wisconsin Alumni sel and senior assistant attorney wartime, until recently they lacked State University in 2009. While at Association offers a free general, playing a role as chief access to the latest technology the Nelson Institute, he was the online service to help locate negotiator for litigation and legislation and data. “They were particularly first recipient of the Gaylord Nelson UW–Madison graduates. Visit relating to environmental protection, interested in using satellite remote Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, uwalumni.com and log in to energy efficiency, renewable energy, sensing and GIS to learn about in 2002–03. the Alumni Directory. Use the carbon capture technology, and how cropland is changing and ES = Environmental Studies “Update Profile” page to keep associated consumer issues. Her water is being used,” says Jelinski. Undergraduate Certificate Program; your own listing and mailing experience in environmental protec- He sought assistance from UW– CBSD = Conservation Biology and address current. This helps tion dates back to the early 1980s, Madison professor Mutlu Ozdogan, Sustainable Development Graduate ensure that you continue to when she taught environmental who has helped produce global- Program; EAP = Energy Analysis receive In Common. policy courses at Northland College scale crop maps based on satellite and Policy Graduate Certificate; in Ashland, Wisconsin. Her positions imagery at the Nelson Institute Networking online ER = Environment and Resources in environmental law and policy Center for Sustainability and the Graduate Program (after 2007); LR = Nelson Institute alumni can have included those of senior policy Global Environment. “What Mutlu Land Resources Graduate Program find opportunities for social adviser on energy and recycling at has brought to the table is a tremen- (through 2007); WRM = Water networking on Facebook. the Illinois Department of Commerce dous opportunity for our Iraqi friends Resources Management Graduate and for professional and Economic Opportunity; staff to network with the outside world, com Program attorney for the Environmental Law which they have been cut off from networking on LinkedIn.com. and Policy Center; first legal officer for the last 20 years,” says Jelinski. Visit nelson.wisc.edu/ for the United Nations Security community/alumni and click Council team charged with analyzing For more alumni notes or to leave a note of your own, visit the on the appropriate links. environmental damage from oil fires Nelson Institute alumni Facebook site. Look for the Facebook link at in Kuwait; and research director for nelson.wisc.edu/community/alumni. the Center for Global Change at the

University of Maryland. UNIVERSITY

Bryan Huberty (ES ’02) conducts

prairie, oak savanna, and wetland COM restorations for the Wisconsin Your gift makes a difference MUNICATIONS Department of Natural Resources and private landowners in southern Gifts are a crucial source of financial support for the Wisconsin and northern Illinois as Nelson Institute. owner of Ecological Restoration Private contributions enable us to provide more Service, a business he started in scholarships, fellowships, internships, and special Madison six years ago. He also is opportunities for students; offer innovative commu- a marathon runner. “Running and nity programs; launch new research initiatives; and restoration go hand-in-hand,” he much more. says, “because they both require Please support the Nelson Institute. You can setting goals, having patience, work- ing hard, and then feeling a great contribute through the University of Wisconsin sense of satisfaction once they are Foundation, the official fund-raising organization for completed.” UW–Madison. Contributions are tax deductible, as allowed by law. For more information or to give online, visit our Web site at nelson.wisc.edu/about/giving.

30 In Common NATURE AS ART

Children from several Madison elementary schools fashioned works of art from nature last spring in celebration of Earth Day. Guiding them were Nelson Institute undergraduates Fay Augustyn and Diane O’Brien, who were inspired by the work of artist Andy Goldsworthy. “We utilized his philosophy of creating art from nature to educate elementary students about the importance of the natural surroundings and gave them a way to connect with their environment,” says Augustyn. Photographs of the art were donated to the Aldo Leopold Nature Center in Monona.

Fall 2010 31 The Nelson Institute For Environmental Studies UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–MADISON

What’s this? See page 31.