Environmental Writing Competition!

The recently formed Web of Life Foundation – WOLFoundation - runs an annual competition looking for the best non-technical, English language writing on any subject related to environmental issues.  Deadline 15 Dec 2011.

See: http://www.wolfoundation.org/home/Competition.html

The winning entry will receive a cash prize of $1,500. A further $500 will be awarded to the second placed entry.

The top 20 entries will be published as a book of collected essays.

To enter visit our Guidelines page.

The competition is open to all and the judges are looking for ‘fresh ideas, freshly presented’ on any topic relating to environmental or conservation issues. Manuscripts must be written in English, double spaced, no longer than 3,000 words and contain no abstract, list of references or footnotes. Images are allowed as part of the manuscript. Manuscripts may have been published previously or submitted for publication.

Entries will be judged by the members of our Advisory Board.

MTR Event: Tomorrow, Tuesday Nov. 29, 8pm

ramps at au

Nov. 29: Showing of "Hawks in the City" & "Entangled"

Colliding Civilizations—Humans vs. Wildlife:

Presented by Maggie Stogner, Aditi Desai, and Kai Fang

On Tuesday, November 29 at 7 pm in the Wechsler Theater

How do our ever-increasing urbanization, population growth, and cultural traditions impact the wildlife community around us? Join us in viewing two documentaries that explore this question. Hawks in the City, presented by Executive Producer Maggie Burnette Stogner, follows the exploits of two red-tailed hawks struggling to raise a family in the concrete environs of Philadelphia. Entangled, a documentary work-in-progress by MFA candidates Aditi Desai and Kai Fang, takes a look at different perspectives on an age old annual kite flying festival in India involving joy, suffering, and death. The producers will introduce the films and answer questions.

Wechsler Theater, 3^rd Floor, Mary Graydon Center

American University

4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016-8017

Directions: http://www.american.edu/maps/

Metro: Tenleytown/AU, shuttle bus service to AU

RFF: Managing the Risks of Shale Gas - Nov. 14

Managing the Risks of Shale Gas:
Identifying a Pathway toward
Responsible Development

Hosted by Resources for the Future (RFF)
November 14, 2011

For decades, natural gas has played an important role in electricity generation, industrial uses, and heating in the United States—and with recent improvements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") of shale formations, drillers can now access a vastly greater amount of gas at lower cost than in the past.
The rapid growth in drilling and extraction, however, has resulted in tensions—from the community level to the federal policy level. Questions about the risks and safety of shale gas development continue, even as industry has improved disclosure, shared best practices, and assured the public that hydraulic fracturing techniques are safe.
Given these challenges, this year RFF's Center for Energy Economics and Policy (CEEP) launched an initiative to identify the priority risks associated with shale gas development and recommend strategies for responsible development. The CEEP research team will survey expert opinion and public perceptions to deter­mine the most significant risks and the behaviors of industry and regulators that influence those risks. Pairing these findings with analysis of existing state and federal policies and voluntary industry actions will lead to recommendations for how to improve the management of shale gas development.
Please join us on Nov. 14th for the public launch of this project, featuring members of the CEEP team and our expert advisors who specialize in petroleum engineering, geochemistry, and hydrology. The group will provide a context for the interest in shale gas, an overview of the shale gas development process, a drill-down on several potential risks, and a presentation of the initial stages of our work.
RFF is grateful to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for their generous support of this initiative and event.

A full agenda is available here.

To RSVP for this event, please visit RFF's event registration page.

This seminar will also be webcast live beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Climate Change, Water, and Conflict in the Niger River Basin - Nov. 17 at the Wilson Center

Please join the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Africa Program and Environmental Change and Security Program for a report launch on

Climate Change, Water, and Conflict in the Niger River Basin

featuring

Lulsegged Abebe, West Africa Programme Manager, International Alert

Roger Few, Senior Research Fellow, School of International Development, University of East Anglia and Member of the Tyndell Centre for Climate Change Research

Marisa Goulden, Lecturer in Climate Change, Tyndell Centre for Climate Change Research and the School of International Development, University of East Anglia

Phil Vernon, Director of Programmes, Africa and Peacebuilding Issues, International Alert

 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

5th Floor Conference Room

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004 USA

Webcast live at www.wilsoncenter.org

 Please RSVP to ecsp@wilsoncenter.org with your name and affiliation.

International Alert, the London-based conflict resolution NGO, has partnered with researchers at the University of East Anglia to examine links between environmental stress, climate change, human (in)security, conflict, and adaptation  along the Niger River. Please join us for a discussion of how the consequences of climate change and climate variability are interacting with societal, economic, political, and other contextual factors to increase human insecurity and the risk of conflict, and identify ways in which adaptation can reduce this risk.  This report launch is part of the Wilson Center’s Resources for Peace Project, a collaboration between the Environmental Change and Security Program and USAID’s Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation.

Location: Woodrow Wilson Center at the Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW ("Federal Triangle" stop on Blue/Orange Line), 5th Floor Conference Room. A map to the Center is available at www.wilsoncenter.org/directions. Note: picture ID is required to pass through security.

Rethinking pesticide-drenched, manicured lawns: TOMORROW at 7 pm in Wechsler

Walking the Talk:

Environmental Filmmaker Takes her Subject Seriously

On  Tuesday, November 8 at 7 pm in the Wechsler Theater

Catherine Zimmerman is a filmmaker and sustainable landscape designer based in the Washington, DC area. She has recently authored Urban & Suburban Meadows: Bringing Meadowscaping to Big and Small Spaces and is putting the finishing touches on a companion video. The book, video, and Catherine’s Meadow Project are her efforts to help people rethink their pesticide-ridden, manicured, monoculture lawns and return their land to beautiful, natural habitats for native plants and wildlife.

Wechsler Theater, 3^rd Floor, Mary Graydon Center

American University

4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016-8017

Topics for Second Essay

Papers Due November 21

Choose among the following topics:

1. Why is there still chronic hunger in an age of food abundance? What needs to be done so that every person can enjoy sufficient quantities of safe, sustainably produced food?

2. When people are asked to name something that might be done to tackle environmental challenges, the answer is often “education.” What does that answer even mean? What kinds of environmental education matter or are important, given the severity of the environmental situation?

3. Some commentators suggest that environmental NGOs should focus increasingly on human development and human rights concerns. Other commentators have suggested that environmental NGOs are better off focusing strictly on environmental issues. Who is right? Does it make sense politically or strategically to separate environmental and human development challenges?

4. Intergovernmental talks are scheduled in Durban, South Africa, for November-December 2011, to consider a post-Kyoto climate change agreement. Your task is to prepare a briefing paper for the US negotiating team. Consider, what is the scientific and political background to the Durban talks? What is at stake? What should the US position be on the key issues likely to emerge at the Durban negotiations?

See your syllabus for further essay guidelines. Remember, your essay should make a strong ARGUMENT; it should be carefully and completely REFERENCED; and it should show lots of evidence of deep, sustained ENGAGEMENT with the texts we’ve been using in class, and with authoritative supplementary outside sources.