Environmental Education: Holding Space for Queerness

By Henry McKenna, Environmental Studies '25.

Environmental education has long provided spaces for personal growth and identity exploration, particularly in residential summer camps. On February 25, 2025, Alexandra Walls and Dr. Michael Mikulewicz presented ‘Queering Camp’ during a combined Science Corps Workshop and Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series event. This presentation explored the role of summer camps and outdoor learning programs in supporting queer youth and fostering inclusive environmental education spaces.

"I prefer to be a realist," said Walls, in reference to the current administration that is enforcing dangerous policies for the LGBTQ+ community. A former camper turned camp educator, Walls pointed out the lack of understanding on queerness in environmental education overnight camps. Walls gave an enlightening perspective on how to “queer
” your thinking, by changing things like housing in order to provide a more comforting experience for students and campers. 

Mikulewicz, an assistant professor of Environmental Studies at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), uses queer theory and critical geography to examine the inequalities embedded in climate impacts and responses. Together, they challenged traditional frameworks in environmental education and advocated for spaces where all identities are affirmed. Mikulewicz defined gender and queerness brilliantly, while providing a digestible definitions to complex ideas.  He explained that the term “Queering” started “with heteronormism being questioned by theorists, scholars, activists, etcetera” but has come to mean “decentering anything from the norm” or the binaries upon which society is built. 

The concept of queer eco pedagogies involves questioning underlying assumptions in environmental education, overcoming harmful binaries, and being attentive to intersectionality.  Walls and Mikulewicz argue that these ideas and values are not at all limited to queer learners or teachers, but rather are universally applicable.

For more information on upcoming public ESF events, visit www.esf.edu.   

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 those that are part of the Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series (WiSE Professions).

Fire can heal you!

Nisogaabokwe Melonee Montano,a graduate student at University of Minnesota, who works as a TEK Outreach Specialist and for the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, spoke at ESF about collaborating the natural and technical world's resources in order to save the land.

Montano discussed the connections between knowledge, cultures, climate change, and fire which can result in revitalization and healing. Montano illustrated the importance of and approach taken to weaving together Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Western Science for Climate Change focused work at Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission. This work led to a similar approach being used when analyzing fire research on cultural lands of the Ojibwe people, and the unexpected outcomes.

Montano believes it is important to balance all aspects of life, and her work symbolizes the importance of being open minded when problem solving and looking for solutions.

About the speaker: Nisogaabokwe – Melonee Montano, is a mother, grandmother, and an enrolled member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Outreach Specialist for Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) where she helps assess climate change impacts on treaty resources and potential threats to Ojibwe culture and lifeways. She is also a Grad Student at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in the Natural Resources Science & Management Program under the Forestry Department. Prior to GLIFWC she was Red Cliff’s Environmental Programs Manager where she has also served on various committees including EPA’s Regional Tribal Operations Committee, Alliance for Sustainability, Treaty Natural Resources, the Integrated Resources Management Plan, and is currently serving on the Great Lakes Compact Commission. She holds a B.S. degree in Healthcare Administration with a Native American and Environmental Studies emphasis. Lastly and most importantly, she is a lifelong student of her cultural ways.

The presentation was jointly presented by the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, the Adaptive Peaks Seminar Series (sponsored by the Department of Forest Biology), and the Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series (sponsored by the ESF Women's Caucus).

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 those that are part of the Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series (WiSE Professions). The preceding was prepared by Liv Grogan, Ph.D. student in environmental chemistry.

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”

ESF Alumni Provide Career Advice for Women in STEM

With diverse careers and unique backgrounds, ESF alumni provided advice and inspiration in a virtual panel focused on women working in STEM fields. The 2023 Women in STEM Careers Alumni Panel, a virtual event held on Thursday March 2, 2023, featured four outstanding female graduates of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry: Dr. Danielle Berry, Senior Research Specialist with Dow Performance Silicones; Jocelyn Gan, Energy and Sustainability Specialist with NYU Langone Health; Meghan Hazer Álvarez, City Planner at the Baltimore City Department of Public Works; and Dr. Kerry Ryan, Attending Veterinarian at ViaGen Pets. The event was hosted by the ESF Office of Alumni Relations in honor of Womens’ History Month; Debbie Caviness, Director of Alumni Relations, moderated.  This event opened the 2023 Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series, with additional support of the Offices of Career Services and Admissions and the ESF Women’s Caucus.    

The discussion centered on experiences the alumni had at ESF that set them up for their current careers, as well as advice they could share for current college students, especially women looking to enter traditionally male-dominated STEM fields. All of the
panelists mentioned the importance of communication in their roles, speaki
ng up against stereotypes that scientists tend to be “lab rats” with “limited social skills.”  “A lot of times in my job, I am talking to people who don’t really speak my language, my jargon,” Berry said. “Being able to be a translator for science is very rewarding.” The women also noted that networks have been an especially rewarding and vital part of their careers, and discussed the importance of support systems in building their confidence within fields where they might be the only woman or person of color in the room. “Finding your voice is really important,” said Ryan, “and then once you’ve found it, it’s about helping others find theirs.” The alumni credited some of their confidence to the hands-on, real-world problems they were able to work on while at ESF, as well as to the open-minded community they found while in school there. “There’s no ego at ESF,” said Hazer Álvarez, “Everyone’s just focused on what we can do to move the world forward in a better way.” This mission was echoed by the other panelists, who noted that they’ve enjoyed seeing the world of science evolve over their time in the industry, and that they look forward to being some of the next-generation leaders who will continue to create space for future women, people of color, and other minorities in STEM careers.

Each of the four speakers is a graduate of SUNY ESF who has gone on to use her education, skills and passion in a unique and rewarding career. Berry graduated from ESF with a B.S. in Chemistry in 2015, and later pursued her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas. After completing her Ph.D., she joined Dow Performance Silicones in the fall of 2020, where she now works as a Senior Research Specialist with a focus on application development for thermal management materials. Gan received an M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University after graduating from ESF with a B.S. in Environmental Science in 2013, and now works as an Energy and Sustainability Specialist with NYU Langone, supporting its initiatives around sustainable food services, waste reduction, energy and resiliency management, and more. Hazer Álvarez received her B.A. in Landscape Architecture from ESF in 2006, and in 2013 received both an M.S. in Public Health from ESF and a Masters of Public Health from SUNY Upstate Medical University. She has worked on a variety of public and private projects relating to green infrastructure and public health and now serves as a City Planner for the city of Baltimore. Ryan graduated from ESF in 2006 with a degree in Environmental and Forest Biology before receiving her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Cornell University, and she now works as an Attending Veterinarian with ViaGen Pets, the global leader in pet and endangered animal cloning.

Current students can avail themselves of the services of Career Services and networking and mentorship opportunities with the ESF Women’s Caucus, student chapters of professional societies and cultural-based clubs, as well as leadership and other trainings through Student Affairs, Choose Action Network and the Office of Inclusion Diversity and Equity. Visit https://engage.esf.edu/events for upcoming student-centered programs. Prospective students can talk with advisors in Admissions or schedule a campus tour at https://www.esf.edu/admissions.

For more information about the ESF Alumni Association, please visit https://www.esf.edu/alumni. Information regarding upcoming public events within the ESF community can be found on ESF’s College Calendar, at 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 Sara Dreibelbis, M.S. student in Natural Resources Management, anticipated graduation May 2024.

To view the full recording, click below