Bendz Speaks About Environmentally Friendly Computers

As part of the course requirements of FOR 496/797 Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions, students share the responsibility of reporting on our speakers for distribution to co-sponsors and the Knothole.  The following press release was prepared by by Nicole Kadey and Susan Tumwebaze.

Diana Bendz returned to her alma mater (ESF Chemistry ’68) to discuss the growing concern and importance of “Environmentally Friendly Computers: New Concepts of Design, (Re) Use and Recycle.”  Ms. Bendz is a Senior Location Executive for the IBM Corporation in Endicott, New York. 

Ms. Bendz’s discussion focused on the digital revolution and its environmental considerations, industry response, and challenges ahead.  The digital revolution included many applications of communication, knowledge access and E-business and E-commerce, distance learning, intelligent buildings, intelligent transportation and entertainment of demand.

Environmental considerations concern the disposal of an overabundance of process waste, the use of excessive energy in recycling, and the tremendous use of PC products and materials by consumers.  Consumers are scrapping computers more than recycling them. The U.S. has not implemented any federal regulations on CRT landfill restrictions as the individual U.S. states still control regulation.  The industry’s response has been primarily concerned with computer design issues, and secondarily with recycling issues. There is an increased awareness in the designing computers for the environment (DfE) and a change in how they are recycled.

There are many challenges ahead for the industry.   There must be a continuance in DfE initiatives that include upgrade-ability, maintenance and repair, material selection, use of recycled material, and design for disassembly and recycling.   Costs must be lowered by creating logistical networks that reduce transportation and processing costs -- an increasing percentage and value of recovered parts -- and by improving the collaboration and harmonization of take back programs initiated by the federal government.  There must be an increased investment in technology with more demand for recycled materials, an improved computer materials separation process, the ability to identify parts for interchangeability and reuse, an industry standard classification for used or certified parts, and an increased ability to reuse packaging material.  There needs to be an improvement in the economy of recycling computers and their parts, and a more effective public/private partnerships which may be coordinated by federal programs, federal R&D initiatives, and responsible policy initiatives. 

Ms. Bendz has been with IBM for 34 years, beginning as a process engineer during the early days of semi-conductor production. Through the years, she filled diverse roles throughout the company until named an executive in 1991. In this position, she developed IBM's much-duplicated program for the design, manufacture, and disposition of environmentally conscious products.

This presentation was jointly sponsored by the ESF Faculty of Chemistry, the Graduate Student Association and the ESF Women’s Caucus.  Only one speaker remains in the 2004 Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series.  GM’s Christine Sloane will address “Sustainable Transportation:  Hydrogen and Fuel-Cell Cars” on April 6.  For more information about the series, visit:  http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus.

Henderson Discusses Women’s Leisure at ESF

As part of the course requirements for FOR 797 Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions, students share the responsibility for reporting on our speakers for distribution to co-sponsors and the Knothole.  The following press release was prepared by Mary Joyce G. Sali.

Dr. Karla A. Henderson, Professor and Chair of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented a lecture entitled Leisure and the (Secret) Lives of Women and Girls on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 as part of SUNY-ESF’s Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series for Spring 2004. 

            Dr. Henderson discussed the meaning of leisure and five social factors that influence it. She emphasized that leisure is not only freedom to do certain things that a person likes but also freedom from doing certain things such as work-related activities. She also tackled how having a family affects the leisure choices of women. She specifically mentioned that for women who are mothers, the ethic of care often takes precedence over personal leisure needs.

            She discussed that the most significant obsession of our culture is focused on a woman’s body. Media plays a big part on our perception of body image and the issues of eating disorders. She also spoke on how fear and violence in American culture constrains women’s pursuit of leisure.

            The speaker inspired everyone when she discussed seven habits for a highly successful leisure life: be conscious of the myriad of choices, do something you love each day, be open to new things, make leisure a priority, savor all aspects of life, enjoy and challenge yourself, and find an activity partner. She ended her lecture by emphasizing two things- leisure is a right and leisure is a gift.    

Dr. Henderson received her B.S. in Physical Education Chemistry and her M.S. in Education (Major in Guidance and Counseling) from Iowa State University. She finished her Ph.D. in Recreation, Park, and Leisure Studies from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.  She has authored and co-authored several books and has published in several journals. Her research endeavors focus mostly on women’s leisure and social psychology of leisure behavior. She has been a recipient of numerous awards such as the NCSU “RPTM Partner” Award, University of Illinois Allen V. Sapporo Research Award, the Julian Smith Honor Award, the NRPA Roosevelt Award for Research, and the JB Nash Scholar Award.

The lecture was sponsored by the Faculty of Forest and Natural Resources Management, the ESF Women’s Caucus, and the ESF Graduate Student Association.  It was also funded by The Kaleidoscope Project, a diversity initiative between the Division of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs to broaden the understanding of diversity and promote healthy dialogue about related issues at Syracuse University.

For more information about this or upcoming speakers in the Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Seminar Series, please visit  http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus.

Press Release: Swackhamer and Estrogen Mimics

As part of the course requirements for FOR 797 Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions, students share the responsibility for reporting on our speakers for distribution to co-sponsors and the Knothole.  The following press release was prepared by Karen Howard.

Dr. Deborah L. Swackhamer, Professor of Environmental Chemistry in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, presented her research on Estrogen Mimics and Sex Education for Fishes on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 as part of SUNY ESF’s Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Spring Seminar Series.  The Faculties of Chemistry and Environmental and Forest Biology, the Graduate Student Association, and the ESF Women’s Caucus jointly sponsored the seminar. 

            Dr. Swackhamer discussed a variety of endocrine disrupting compounds in the environment (also called EDCs) that mimic endogenous hormones.  Examples include synthetic hormones, organohalogens, pesticides, detergent components, and plasticizers.  These compounds bind to estrogen receptors in organisms.  The effects of these compounds on organisms and the levels of exposure required to cause effects are still widely unknown. 

Attention was first focused on EDCs through observations of their effects in the field.  Colonial nesting birds around the Great Lakes have been greatly affected by DDT (through eggshell thinning) as well as PCBs and dioxins, which cause developmental deformities resulting in early death.  Nearly 50% of the beluga whales in the St. Lawrence River exhibit hermaphroditic characteristics thought to be caused by organochlorine exposure.  These and similar cases led Congress in 1998 to enact regulations requiring the screening of all commercially available chemicals for endocrine disrupting ability.  This screening has been delayed to date by the lack of validated assays.

            Within Dr. Swackhamer’s research group, studies have been conducted to determine the effects of EDCs on walleye and carp.  They have found that wild fish captured during the spawning season in the discharge channel from a sewage treatment plant exhibit high levels of estradiol, low testosterone levels, smaller gonads than reference fish, and a lack of milt.  However, a controlled laboratory study exposing fish directly to the effluent from the treatment plant produced no reduction in sperm quantity or quality but did indicate a behavioral failure to compete for females during spawning.  Current and future research is focused on the identification of an appropriate indicator compound that could be used in the field to identify populations affected by EDCs.

Dr. Swackhamer received her B.A. in Chemistry from Grinnell College, and her M.S. in Water Chemistry and Ph.D. in Oceanography and Limnology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.  She serves as co-director of the Water Resources Center at the University of Minnesota.  She sits on the Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission of the U.S. and Canada, and serves on the Advisory Board for the National Undersea Research Program of NOAA for the North Atlantic-Great Lakes Region.

For more information about this or upcoming speakers in the Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Seminar Series, please visit http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus.

Game night!

Are board games gender neutral?  We divied up a pack of trivia cards from a popular board game, and based on first impression of the question and answer, divided them into piles:  feminine, masculine, neither, need closer look.  We discussed the final category, and added these cards to the rest of the piles.  The masculine pile was the largest at the end of the evening.

Support for working Families

Imagine what you could do if you had 9 more weeks a year to do what you wanted/needed to do.   Take Back Your Time Day is  "a nationwide initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment."   The date is nine weeks before the end of the year, representing the 360 hours more each year that workers in the U.S. put in on average than Western Europeans do.  Nine weeks! This is part of campus Take Back your Time Day Teach-in.  Visit www.timeday.org to hear about the National effort. For more information,  read www.prospect.org/print/v12/1/gornick-j.html. 

Balancing work and family

Ironically, family issues kept a number of interested parties away last night, so I have summarized our discussion. and have provided a preview of the October program (Thurs. Oct. 23, 5-7 pm, Nifkin Lounge, family friendly potluck supper!)

So, what does it take to balance work and family?  Participants reported:  organization, flexible scheduling, a sense of humor, family planning, reliable child care, a supportive partner, and good friends or family with whom you can share some adult conversation while the kids play (which we witnessed first hand, as our three youngest participants alternately colored quietly and ran laps around the Lounge!).  We also noted the trend of parents waiting longer to start families, both here and abroad, and touched on the continuing trend of teen parents, and speculated on the class and educational differences between the two groups.

The discussion focused most heavily on social support of child-rearing, which is much advanced in Scandinavian countries, just starting in Korea where birth rates have been declining, and actually somewhat ahead of the US.  The Korean system permits a small stipend for parental leave during the first year (currently about 20% of the average salary); only 78 dads took advantage of the program last year while thousands of moms used their maternity leave.  The next version of this policy looks toward making the leave a percentage of income rather than a flat rate.  In the US, the leave permitted by the Family Leave Act is unpaid, and thus is only really available to those of higher income.  European models are far more family-friendly and either support parental (maternal or paternal, often the family's decision) care for children during their first year or longer or adequately funded daycare facilities until children reach school-age. 
 

We'd like to thank Heejae Kim, who took the time to look up the statistics of the new Korean programs and the Sadler Memorial Garden Committee for letting us scavenge for produce for the potluck.  As a result of your generosity and JoAnne Ellis's creativity, we enjoyed ratatouille and a platter of delicious sweet peppers and beans.  Cooperation in action--how fitting for a balancing themed semester!

The Dynamics of Cities as Ecosystems and Places: The Challenge of Integrating Ecological Knowledge into Urban River Corridor Design, Planning, and Policy

Shana Ederer

On February 25, 2003, Dr. Laura Musacchio discussed her research in urban planning and riparian-corridor restoration in the America’s Southwest with a crowd of SUNY-ESF students, faculty members, and community members.  She focused specifically on recent projects, including (1) an analysis of the Salt-Gila riparian corridor in Phoenix, Arizona, and (2) an ecological study and pilot restoration project of the Rio Alamar Riparian corridor in the Tijuana-San Diego metropolitan area.  The Phoenix metropolitan area, she explained, has undergone rapid expansion (at a rate of 0.5 to 1.0 miles per year!) since the 1970s. Her long-term study in Phoenix involves monitoring variables such as habitat and water quality, flood risk, and differences between channelized and unchannelized areas along an urban-rural gradient, as well as developing GIS-based models.  Phoenix city planners hope Dr. Musacchio’s work will help them cope with challenges such as limited ground water, high rates of evaporation, and the continued threat of extended drought, as well as plan for future efforts in development and conservation.

            In the rapidly-developing Tijuana River watershed similar planning efforts are being made.  However, this area differs from Phoenix in its relative lack of infrastructure and lack of a greenway system; also, management is complicated by the presence of temporary human settlements within the floodplain and by industrial effluents.  Some residents favor channelization of the river, which offers enhanced opportunities for development; others favor an approach that does not involve structural changes.  Given that the United States and Mexico have jurisdiction over different parts of the watershed, Dr. Musacchio noted, “Binational planning is a big challenge,” and stressed the need for a collaborative approach.  Her research in this area involves ecological analysis of the watershed, as well as a pilot project that will better define effective modes of ecological restoration along the river.  Dr. Musacchio suggested that such multidisciplinary research could enable scientists and planners to do “ecological forecasting,” noting that such research-based “. . . alternative scenarios . . . are actually [development] trajectories that communities can envision for themselves.” 

           

Unstable Oceans and the Long Memory of Coral Reefs.”

by Ryan Chatfield and Heather Whittier

On Tuesday April 16, 2002 Ellen Druffel spoke on “Unstable Oceans and the Long Memory of Coral Reefs.”

Ellen Druffel spoke about how we can use the ocean as an indicator of climate change.  Her primary research objectives are to be able to parameterize future climate change.  She began by discussing that the ocean fluctuates on interannual and interdecadal cycles. El Nino is an example of the interannual cycles that occur while the Pacific decadal oscillation is an example of the interdecadal oceanic fluctuations. Corals develop annual bands that contain varying concentrations of isotopes.  Her research involves sectioning corals and using radioisotopes and stable isotopes in the corals to determine fluctuations in ocean temperature and salinity.  Some of the questions are how has climate varied during the past few hundred years, how does this compare with recent climate change,and has cycling of CO2 between air and sea been affected as a result of changes in climate.  Druffel’s research findings from the Galapogos Islands reveal that over the last four centuries oceans have been becoming warmer.

Professor Ellen R. M. Druffel is Professor of Earth Systems Science, University of California, Irvine, CA with a joint position at  Scripps Institution of Oceanography.   Dr. Druffel is internationally known in the area of earth systems science. Her research interests include the cycling of organic carbon between the surface and deep ocean, and determination of past changes in circulation and ventilation in the upper ocean.

Dr. Druffel earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego in 1980. She has formerly served as a member of the National Academy of Science's Ocean Studies Board, as a participant of numerous scientific voyages, and as a scientist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She is an Associate Editor of Oceanography, a Councillor of The Oceanography Society, and chair of the new Honors and Recognition Committee of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Dr. Druffel's visit was sponsored by SUNY ESF, the Faculty of Chemistry, and the ESF Women’s Caucus.

Facing the Future: Meeting the Information Challenges for Natural Resources Management.

As part of the course requirements for FOR 797 Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions, students share the responsibility for reporting on our speakers for distribution to ESFWOMEN listserv, co-sponsors, and the Knothole.

Farnsworth Memorial Lecture and Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Campus-Wide Seminar April 9, 2002 

Facing the Future:  Meeting the Information Challenges for Natural Resources Management.

Dr. Susan Stafford, Colorado State University

Summarized by Heather Engelman

In meeting the information challenges that face resource managers, one might consider Dr. Susan Stafford’s subtitle “Do unto data before it does unto you”.  The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network of 24 sites serves as an example of concurrent diligent data collection and management of ongoing studies coupled with exciting new research possibilities.  The network relies on continuous measurements of existing, long-term studies and analysis for the integration and synthesis of results, generalization of these results for broader use across disciplines, cultures and spatial and temporal scales.  LTER aims to better science that challenges technology.

Dr. Stafford discussed the H.J. Andrews Experimental Site (AND) and the Shortgrass Steppe (SGS) sites to demonstrate the goals of understanding, synthesizing, and disseminating information.  In particular, she talked about the change in focus of research projects over time from efficient management of AND in the 1940s to the interaction of its forests and streams to old-growth/spotted owl to its current focus of global change.   SGS research has also evolved from the sustainability of rangelands to ecosystem interactions and productivity to landscape issues and nutrient cycling to both global issues and local praire dogs.   Information technology has dramatically progressed during this period as well from field books to mainframe computers to personal computers with FTP, e-mail, LAN, and WWW capabilities, to a common ecological metadata language (EML) useful across all 24 research sites.

LTER sites must share date with the scientific community within 24 months (with some exceptions, such as thesis/dissertation completion or additional measurement required).  Two additional challenges are to determine how the limited available funds can be best spent, and to train the “next batch of scientists.”  LTER successes at site and network level are numerous: collaborations with other organizations, substantial databanks, dynamic web pages, school yard long term ecological research (SYLTER) programs for K-12, network information systems (NIS), the development of EML and increased access to data and cross-site transfer of such.  The network also has fostered an increased sense of community among and between the research sites.

Stafford earned a B.S. in Biology and Mathematics at Syracuse University in 1974, a M.S. in Quantitative Ecology at ESF in 1975, and a Ph.D. in Applied Statistics at ESF in 1979.   She was part of Oregon State University’s Quantitative Sciences Group for 19 years, with 1-year assignments as a Faculty Associate to the Provost (1987-1988) and as a Division Director of Biological Infrastructure for the National Science Foundation (1994).  Since 1998, she has been the Forest Sciences Department Head at Colorado State University. Dr. Stafford's research interests include research information management, applied statistics, multivariate analysis and experimental design, scientific databases, GIS applications, and other data management topics.

Stafford was the keynote speaker of the Annual C. Eugene Farnsworth Memorial Lecture and Fellowship Ceremony, sponsored by the Faculty of Forest and Natural Resources Management.   Stafford’s lecture was also part of the Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Seminar Series organized by the ESF Women’s Caucus. The prestigious Farnsworth fellowships honor the memory of Dr. “Gene” Farnsworth and his many contributions to professional forestry nationally and internationally, and in particular to his contributions to forestry education.   By modest count, he influenced the lives of 1500 forest technicians and 4000 professional forestry students in the 52 years he was affiliated with ESF and its forest technology program at the NYS Ranger School.  The fellows for 2002 are John Munsell, a MS student in Forest Resources Management, policy and administration, and Eric Greenfield, a PhD candidate in the Forest Resources Management area.

Alternative Economies in a Forested Landscape: Non-Timber Forest Products.

Karis McFarlane and Emera Bridger

On Tuesday February 19, 2002, Dr. Marla Emery, a research geographer for the USDA Forest Service Northeastern Research Station, spoke on “Alternative Economies in a Forested Landscape: Non-Timber Forest Products.”  Dr. Emery was thoroughly excited to share her work with students and faculty at ESF.   Her belief in the importance of her work was immediately evident.

For the purposes of her studies, Dr. Emery defined non-timber forest products as any plant or fungal product other than wooden boards or paper.  Her scope did not include wildlife or timber harvested on any scale for any use.  She described four categories of use for NTFPs including: sale in raw form, sale in processed form, personal consumption, and gift giving.  She went on to describe the role of NTFPs in human-forest interactions including the economic and the ecological.

Dr. Emery explained that the majority of NTFPs harvested are not used for market-based sale.  In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, for example, NTFPs are only used for sale 40% of the time.  This means that traditional Neoclassical economics acknowledges the contribution of NTFPs to harvesters livelihoods less than half of the time.  Alternative economic uses of NTFPs include personal consumption of edibles and medicinals by a harvester’s household, ceremonials, and decoratives not sold for a profit. The use of NTFPs is especially important on the household economy level.  They supplement other earnings, bridge income gaps, and provide a flexible commodity for times of special need.  NTFP harvesting allows people to maintain their livelihood in areas where traditional employment opportunities are scarce.  Individuals’ needs change over their lifespan as do their dependence and use of NTFPs.  Non-timber forest products also support local microenterprises such as a monastery-based jam and jelly business that Dr. Emery provided as an example.

NTFPs also provide people with a detailed and localized knowledge about the forest and it’s plant and fungal species.  They contribute to community and household values.  Provide for the intergenerational relationships and knowledge transfer.  They also allow households an alternative to government assistance and help people to stay in areas where employment opportunities are few.

The common assumption in popular ecology is that productive human activity degrades ecosystems.  Dr. Emery argued that different types of human activity effect the environment in different ways and at different levels.  Most harvesters of NTFPs are aligned with conservation efforts.  They are very concerned with management practices, as these practices have an immediate impact on non-timber species and their ability to harvest them.  NTFPs provide alternative economic development opportunities as well as alternative human-environment interactions.

During the questions that followed Dr. Emery’s talk, she expressed concern over the increasing commercialization of the floral and herbal medicinal industries.  Another source of concern is the trend of the closing of the commons.   As land continues to be transferred into private hands and regulations over the use of public land increase, NTFP harvesters may find it more difficult to harvest and use NTFPs as they have used them in the past.  This could have large impacts on the ability of NTFP harvesters to support themselves, eliminate this aspect of the human-nature relationship, and lead to the loss of vast amounts of local knowledge.