Intersectionality 2.0: Public session with Choose Action Network

Chris Kosakowski delivered a compelling presentation during a session of SUNY ESF’s seminar FOR 797: Perspectives on Career and Gender that took place on April 2, 2024. The discussion centered on feminism and environmental justice, with a particular focus on how intersecting identities can compound marginalization.  

The presentation generated conversation among attendees about the complexities of engaging with environmental activism.  One particularly compelling topic of discussion revolved around how it is often easier to focus on the negative consequences of marginalization and injustice, rather than their solutions. During the conversation, attendees discussed the reasons for this. One student expressed how this is a matter of logistics, in that it is often necessary to diagnose a problem before one can address it. Michael Mikulewicz, a co-instructor of the class, observed that people who offer solutions then need to be accountable for the consequences of those solutions, which is an immense responsibility. Ultimately, the severity of environmental degradation may feel unapproachable to address at the individual level, which poses a significant barrier toward making meaningful change through environmental activism.

The conversation also centered on how the consequences of environmental injustice are not born evenly across identity categories. Socioeconomic status is the primary driving force determining one’s vulnerability to environmental injustice, and marginalized identity categories across gender, sexuality, disability-status, citizenship status, and race can compound such vulnerabilities. Chris Kosakowski insisted that individuals in positions of relative privilege have a duty to advocate on behalf of those who are the most marginalized.

Lia Figurelli, a campus educator and advocate, also provided an overview of the resources available to students through Vera House.   

 Chris Kosakowski earned a Master of Social Work from Syracuse University. He presently serves as the Coordinator of Student Inclusion Initiatives and is the Project Director for ESF's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Grant. For more information about his work, please visit https://www.esf.edu/student-affairs/index.php. Follow esf.edu/calendar to stay updated on all public programs.

As part of the requirements for FOR 797, Perspective on Career and Gender students share  responsibility of reporting on a subset of class discussions, including this public session with the Choose Action Network. The preceding was prepared by Taylor Wegner, MS student in the Department of Sustainable Resource Management

A New View on Interviews, ESF’s Dr. John Turbeville Gives Advice

Dr. John Turbeville, the assistant dean of Student Affairs and director of Career Services and Corporate Engagement at SUNY ESF, met with ESF’s Perspectives on Career and Gender class to discuss interview statistics and provide advice on interviewing. Dr. Turbeville also discussed the resources offered by the Office of Career Services, and an overview of the career services offered at ESF.

Coaching students on careers and coaching men’s golf, Dr. Turbeville helps drive ESF students to success in the job market and the green. Dr. Turbeville, Meredith Chase, and the Peer Career Ambassadors provide a variety of services to ESF students, helping with resume building, Linkedin profile development, job search strategies, graduate school applications, internship fairs, networking with employers, and a broad range of other programs and resources. 

75% of employers ask Behavioral Based interview questions, which focus on how a candidate responds to situations that highlight skills related to the position. These questions can ask about past experiences, such as when you faced a difficult situation with a colleague, or what you did when a project didn’t work out well. When faced with a behavioral based interview question, Dr. Turbeville suggests describing the situation and context, what your goal was in that situation, what you did to achieve that goal, and the result of the situation. 

Dr. Turbeville’s advice for a successful interview is to “Take any opportunity to make your skills tangible and connected to the position”, and to remember that interviews are a two-way street, where you are interviewing the company just as much as they are interviewing you. “The interview starts the moment you send in your resume” he adds, citing that 79% of HR professionals have denied candidates due to social media content, making it important to keep your online presence moderated. For more interview and career advice, the Office of Career Services provides print career guides outside of their office in 105 Bray Hall, as well as online resources on Handshake, Big Interview, CareerShift, GoinGlobal, and on the ESF career services website. Appointments with career services staff can also be scheduled through Handshake at https://esf.joinhandshake.com/edu using your esf.edu email and password. 

As part of the requirements for FOR 797, Perspective on Career andGender, students share the responsibility of reporting on some of the in-class discussions. The preceding was prepared by Jacob Olichney, Ph.D. student in the Department of Sustainable Resource Management

Find Financial Freedom with John McGraw

Guest lecturer, John McGraw, provided a lively and informative talk on fiscal responsibility entitled “Getting Your Finances in Order” for the Perspectives on Career and Gender class at ESF’s Bray Hall on April 18th, 2023. 

Mr. McGraw states that good financial health is easily obtained by following a few basic rules. Mr. McGraw's tips for financial success are, establish a relationship with a bank, prepare and stick to a budget, create an emergency savings fund, insure the things you care about, save for retirement now, and don't rack up credit debt. Mr. McGraw’s straightforward and relatable lecture made it clear that active participation in financial health will ensure a comfortable life in the years to come. 

Mr. McGraw is an Accounting and Personal Finance visiting instructor at SUNY ESF. Mr. McGraw also serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors at The Landmark Theater.

As part of the course requirements for FOR797 Perspectives on Career and Gender, students share  responsibility of reporting on class discussions as well as on the speakers in the campus-wide Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series.  The preceding was prepared by Leanne Hughes, a MS student in Environmental Biology.

Decolonizing and Indigenizing Environmental Justice

Dina Gilio-Whitaker, journalist and columnist who lectures at California State University San Marcos, studies American Indian justice and environmental policy issues. She discussed Indigenizing environmental justice at ESF on Wednesday April 26, 2023.

Gilio-Whitaker analyzed environmental injustice through the lens of American Indians, explaining that the package of  "Environmental racism" centers on "racism", which has not been broad enough for Indigenous communities.  She explained:  "Native People are people as nations with a relationship to the United States... not ethnic groups, we're people with political status, with this government to government relationship."  She stressed that settler colonialism set the stage for deeming Indigenous Nations as inferior, which still has implications to Native Peoples to this day. Gilio-Whitaker broke down the role of white supremacy in driving the environmental movement,  and how history has led to the lack in accountability, human displacement, and ecocide.  She continued: “American narratives of ‘progress’ and ‘modernity’ are experiences of death for American Indians.” She strives to raise awareness on decolonizing environmental justice by recognizing Indigenous relationships to land and incorporating Tradition Ecological Knowledge through co-management practices with Native Peoples.  

 Dina Gilio-Whitaker, Colville Confederated Tribes, is co-author of "All the Real Indians Died Off": And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans (Myths Made in America) with Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and author of As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock. She is an independent consultant and educator of Indigenous policy and environmental justice related issues and is a lecturer at California State University San Marcos on American Indian Studies.

A recording is available https://video.syr.edu/media/t/1_1wbw2ama.   This event was sponsored by the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, in partnership with Adaptive Peaks Seminar Series, sponsored by the Department of Environmental Biology, and the Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series,  sponsored by the SUNY ESF and the ESF Women's Caucus.  This event concluded the 2023 AP and WiSE Professions Series.

Information on the WiSE Speaker Series can be found at http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus. Upcoming events and lectures at SUNY ESF can be found on the college’s calendar: https://www.esf.edu/calendar/ 

As part of the course requirements for FOR797 Perspectives on Career and Gender, students share  responsibility of reporting on speakers in the campus-wide Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series.  The preceding was prepared by Alyssa Colasanti, BS 2023,  Environmental Biology.

Limnology Underdogs: the local and global importance of pond ecosystems

Dr. Meredith Holgerson spoke at ESF about "Limnology Underdogs: the local and global importance of pond ecosystems" during a joint presentation of ESF's Adaptive Peaks Seminar Series  and the Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series on April 6.

Ponds are studied far less than larger water bodies, but they are globally abundant.  They are often viewed as smaller versions of lakes, but as Holgerson demonstrates, they are ecological hotspots with unique rates of interception and retention of nutrients and sediments, methane emission, and carbon storage, resulting in different functionality.

Dr. Holgerson is a freshwater ecologist and Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University.  She holds a BS from Denison University, MS from ESF (EFB; MP James Gibbs), and a PhD from Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She was previously an Assistant professor at St. Olaf Univeristy and completed a David H. Smith Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellowship

A recording is available 
https://video.syr.edu/media/t/1_wsb6ivan.   This event was sponsored by the Department of Environmental Biology, SUNY ESF and the ESF Women's Caucus.  

Information on the WiSE Speaker Series can be found at http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus. Upcoming events and lectures at SUNY ESF can be found on the college’s calendar: https://www.esf.edu/calendar/ 

Kids' Day and Girls' Summit return! Register now

Registration is now open for two pre-college pipeline programs, both on the ESF main campus.  There is no cost for either, but space is limited for both, so please register soon!

• Take our Kids to Work Day!  Kids 8-11 with an adult (parent/guardian or other relationship to child) that works or studies at ESF is invited to a special class day (Thursday, April 27, 8:15-3:15) for hands-on exploration of some ESF fields!   More information and forms are available at http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus/kids.php
• 
  Girls’ Summit.  Kids’ Day’s big sibling will return to ESF on Saturday, May 20 as 5^th-10^th graders will put hands and minds to work in different series of workshops and presentations. More information and registration for youth participants and adult volunteers at:  https://www.ywca-syracuse.org/get-involved/girls-summit/

PLEASE NOTE:  we are also looking for adult volunteers to chaperone groups during both programs; volunteers will need to complete a brief training on SUNY’s Child Protection Policy.  For “Kids Day”, contact Heather Engelman; for Summit, please visit the YWCA page.

All gender restroom now in Bray! (and a second one in Walters)

To the residents of Bray and Walters-

Consistent with ESF's commitment to diversity, to better accommodate our campus' demographics and in accordance with NYS 8 NYCRR Part 317, changes to existing toilet room designations are being made. We recognize that the changes noted below do not completely address this issue. This is a step towards improvements; additional changes will follow as more building project updates occur. The change is proposed for implementation this coming week.

 Bray Hall

The single occupant restroom at the basement level of this building will be designated an all-gender bathroom. [This restroom is not ADA accessible.]

Walters Hall

The single occupant restroom on the 4^th floor of this building will be designated an all-gender bathroom. [This restroom is accessible per ADA guidelines, as is the all gender restroom on the ground floor.  All Walters restrooms have at least one accessible stall].

Signage [has been posted will be posted shortly]  to indicate this change. This is only one step in a larger effort that will address this important issue throughout all ESF properties. 

Our campus has adopted a Bias Reporting tool that can be accessed through this link, https://www.esf.edu//ide/bias.php . The Bias Reporting System has the capability to report incidents anonymously, or not, and is a way for the campus to report incidents that occur. For your reference please see our NondiscriminationPolicy.

Questions and comments regarding these initiatives should be directed to Rex Giardine.

Erin Tochelli

Associate Director of Academic Administration
SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry 
Pronouns: she/her/hers

“The mightiest oak in the forest is just a little nut that held its ground”