Center for the Environment

____________________
____________________

In addition to Georgetown University, local organizations that have presentations that regard our environment include those listed below under December. Just google their names to learn more. Local embassies, other universities, and other groups also have environmental presentations.
____________________
____________________

January 2011

What: Seventh International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability
When: 5–7 January 2011
Where: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
Cost: —
Notes: Full details of the conference, including an online proposal submission form, may be found at the conference website - http://www.SustainabilityConference.com/.
Contact: Michael Cameron, Department of Economics/Population Studies Centre, University of Waikato, Common Ground Support <support@SustainabilityConference.com>
More information: Hamilton is the fourth largest city in New Zealand, set in a landscape in which issues of sustainability are paramount. This conference aims to develop a holistic view of sustainability, in which environmental, cultural and economic issues are inseparably interlinked. It will work in a multidisciplinary way, across diverse fields and taking varied perspectives in order to address the fundamentals of sustainability. The conference will include numerous paper, workshop and colloquium presentations by practitioners, teachers and researchers. We would particularly like to invite you to respond to the conference call-for-papers. Presenters may choose to submit written papers for publication in the fully refereed International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and social Sustainability. If you are unable to attend the conference in person, virtual registrations are also available which allow you to submit a paper for refereeing and possible publication, as well as access to the Journal. Whether you are a virtual or in-person presenter at this conference, we also encourage you to present on the conference YouTube Channel. Please select the Online Sessions link on the conference website for further details. We also invite you to join us on Facebook thtp://www.facebook.com/pages/On-Sustainability/103820819662974 and Twitter http://twitter.com/onsustainabilit.
____________________

February 2011
____________________

What: Marmota monax (Groundhog) Day
When: 2 February 2011, daylight hours
Where: Canada and the U.S., throughout.
Cost: Free
Notes: According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a Marmota monax emerges from its burrow on 2 February, it will leave its burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If it is sunny, the M. monax will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and winter will continue for 6 more weeks.
____________________

What: Georgetown University premiere showing of the BBC documentary The Dolphins of Shark Bay
Who: Psi Chi (International Honor Society in Psychology) and Professor Janet Mann
When: Thursday, 3 February 2011, 6:30 p.m.
Where: 208 White-Gravenor, GU
Cost: Free, open to the public.
Notes: Refreshments after the presentation.
Contact: Margaret Massimo
More information: The Dolphins of Shark Bay will air around the globe throughout 2011, and will be officially shown in the U.S. in late 2011. The documentary includes unusual footage of a newborn Dolphin Samu’s life in Shark Bay, Western Australia, including Samu's early attempts at catching fish. The intricacies and challenges of Dolphin family life are highlighted in this beautifully shot film. A long-term research project in Shark Bay involves Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops species). GU’s own Professor Janet Mann, a leading Dolphin researcher, will introduce the film.
Sponsors: Psi Chi and the Center for the Environment
____________________

What: An Optimist's Tour of the Future
Who: Mark Stevenson, author, comedian and futurologist.
When: Tuesday, 8 February 2011, 5:30–8:00 p.m. Please note that this presentation will take place on the second Tuesday of the month.
Where: The Front Page restaurant, near Ballston Metro. Located at 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22203 on the ground floor of the National Science Foundation (NSF) building. Parking is available under the NSF building or at Ballston Common Mall.
Notes: Free, open to the public. Register at http://www.arlingtonvirginiausa.com/registration_forms/event_detail_web2lead.cfm?event_ID=5912 . Please come early to order table service and socialize. Special half-price burgers start at 5:30 p.m. The presentation begins at 6:15 p.m. followed by Q&A. No science background is required — only an interest!
Café Scientifique is free and open to the public.
More information: One curious man sets out to answer “What’s next?” He traveled over 60,000 miles across four continents, talked to over thirty geniuses, met four robots and had two terrible conversations with a computer in search of answers. Mark explored the looming realities of genome sequencing, synthetic biology, sociable machines and carbon scrubbing. Drawing on his singular humor and storytelling to explain these discoveries in a way that is simple to understand without being simplistic, he paints a picture of the world we grew up in and explains why it is exciting rather than scary.
____________________

What: 2011 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference
Who:
When: 8–10 February 2011.
Where: Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Cost:
Notes:
Contact: For more information on the 2011 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference and the Request for Proposals, visit www.greenjobsconference.org.
More information: Washington, D.C., will focus on putting into practice the ideas and strategies for a new green economy - and creating good, green jobs - around the country. We will highlight successful state and local initiatives, emerging and growing green sectors, efforts to create a Green Infrastructure Model through smart transportation and urban development, successful work development programs, model partnerships between government, the private sector and local interests - all demonstrating the breadth of the coalition working to build a green economy and to create the good jobs that come along with it.
____________________

What: Seminar. The changing environment of Puerto Rico: Results of long-term
ecological research; with a Few Words on the Maya Forest
Who: Dr. Nick Brokaw, Ecologist, University of Puerto Rico
When: Monday, 28 February 2011, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
Where: McGhee Library, 3rd floor, ICC, GU
Cost: Free
Notes: Goals of the Luquillo Long-term Ecological Research Program (LTER) are to record environmental change, understand its causes, and predict its consequences for society in northeast Puerto Rico, including the city of San Juan. LTER uses observations, experiments, and models to understand the present and project the future in Puerto Rico and similar tropical places. The main drivers of change in Puerto Rico are land use and climate. The island has passed through stages of deforestation, urbanization, re-forestation, and suburbanization, which are influencing local climate, hydrology, and biological communities. Global climate change overlies these local trends, and “peak oil” may drastically alter this import-dependent island. The changing environment of the ancient Maya in Meso-America, and its long-term legacy, will also be discussed.
Contact: Professor Tm Beach, beachtp@gmail.com
Sponsors: GU Center for the Environment (GUCFE); GU Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA)
____________________

What: Talk: Owls — Birds of Mystery and Majesty
Who: Mr. John Spahr
When: Wednesday, 2 March 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Huntley Meadows Visitor Center, 3701 Lockheed Boulevard, Alexandria, Virginia 22306; 703-768-2525
Cost: Free, open to the public
Notes: Mr. Spahr will share his knowledge and some amazing images of Owls. He will cover some of their unique and special adaptations, behaviors and "lifestyles" and offer some facts about common Eastern U.S. owls. A retired pathologist, Mr. Spahr has observed birds on most continents. In 2010, he traveled 54,000 air miles and 33,000 miles by car throughout the U.S. and counted 704 species of birds, “an exhausting and exhilarating” experience, he says.
Sponsor: Friends of Dyke Marsh, the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia and the Northern Virginia Bird Club
____________________

March 2011
____________________

What: Film: Black Wave: The Legacy Of The Exxon Valdez (Canada, 2008, 99 minutes
Who: Welcome by Edward Barrows, Director, Center for the Environment, Georgetown University. Introduced by Jasmina Bojic, Founder and Executive Director, United Nations Association Film Festival.
When: Friday, 18 March 2011, 6 p.m.
Where: Edward B. Bunn, S.J., Intercultural Center Auditorium, GU Main Campus, 37th & O Sts., NW.
Cost: Free, open to the public
Notes: Robert Cornellier is the director, and Robert Cornellier and Paul Carvalho are the producers.
Contact:
More information: In the early hours of March 24, 1989, the oil supertanker Exxon Valdez, en route from Valdez, Alaska to Los Angeles, California, ran aground, discharging millions of gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska. The incident became the biggest environmental catastrophe in North American history. For 20 years, Riki Ott and the fishermen of the little town of Cordova, Alaska have waged the longest legal battle in U.S. history against the world’s most powerful oil company — ExxonMobil. In this film, they review the environmental, social, and economic consequences of the black wave that changed their lives forever. Directed by Robert Cornellier. Produced by Robert Cornellier and Paul Carvalho. Sponsors: Evironmental Film Festival; GU Biology Club; GU Bookstore; GU Center for the Environment (GUCFE); GU Department of Biology; GU Outdoor Education; GU Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA); Sigma Xi
____________________

What: Film: The Stinking Ship (Ivory Coast and the U.S., 2010, 27 min)
Who: Welcome by Edward Barrows, Director, Center for the Environment, Georgetown University. Introduced by Jasmina Bojic, Founder and Executive Director, United Nations Association Film Festival. Discussion with Jasmina Bojic and filmmaker Bagassi Koura follows screening.
When: Friday, 18 March 2011, 8 p.m.
Where: Edward B. Bunn, S.J., Intercultural Center Auditorium, GU Main Campus, 37th & O Sts., NW.
Cost: Free, open to the public
More information: This film chronicles the odyssey of a toxic oil waste shipment on board the Probo Koala, a ship used by Trafigura, the world's largest oil and commodities trading company, as a floating refinery to process dirty oil bought from Mexico. One of the biggest environmental disasters of the decade occurred on August 19, 2006 when the ship’s toxic cargo was unloaded and dumped at waste dumps and roadsides across the city of Abidjan, the Ivory Coast’s largest city. In recollection interviews, residents describe how a strange stench filled the city and the unprecedented health catastrophe that followed. Using archival footage and confidential documents, the film investigates the scandal. It also examines how a corporation with revenues twice as large as those of the Ivory Coast was able to hold ransom the local government while successfully preventing British media from reporting on the disaster and the company's cover up. Directed and produced by Bagassi Koura.
____________________

What: Seminar. Megafloods and the Largest Flood in Earth History.
Who: Dr. Doug Howard, Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey
When: Monday, 28 March 2011, 4–5 p.m.
Where: ECR, 7th floor conference room, Edward B. Bunn, S.J., Intercultural Center Auditorium, GU Main Campus, 37th & O Sts., NW. Cost: free
Notes:
Contact: Professor Tim Beach, beachtp@gmail.com
More information:
Sponsors: GU Center for the Environment (GUCFE); GU Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA)
____________________

April 2011
____________________

What: Environmental Festival
Who: Qatar Petroleum (QP), Tel: (+974) 44946445, Fax: (+974) 44930329, www.qp.com.qa
When: Friday–Sunday, 1–3 April 2011
Where: Doha Exhibition Center, Qatar
Notes: This is an annual festival. Each “year it’s been organized by QP for the protection of the environment and how to maintain a clean environment in all ways.”
____________________

What: Botanical Field Trip
When: Saturday, 2 April 2011
Note: For more information, see Botanical Society of Washington (http://www.botsoc.org/)
____________________

What: Lecture and discussion
Who: Ms. Alexandra Cousteau
When: Tuesday, 5 April 2011, 8 p.m.
Where: Edward B. Bunn, S.J., Intercultural Center Auditorium, GU Main Campus, 37th & O Sts., NW.
Cost: Free, open to the public
Notes: A dedicated environmentalist and GU alumna, Ms. Cousteau advocates the importance of conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of water resources for a healthy Earth and productive human societies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Cousteau). In 2008, she established Blue Legacy, an organization that continues her family's work in protecting the Earth's oceans. Since its inception, Blue Legacy has been on a mission to explore crucial water issues across the globe.
Contact: Ms. Caitlin Karniski, cbk27@georgetown.edu
More information: Refreshments will precede Ms. Cousteau’s presentation.
Sponsors: The GU Center for the Environment; GU College; GU Department of Biology; GU Lecture Fund; GU Outdoor Education; GU Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA); Sigma Xi
____________________

What: Botanical Field Trip
When: Saturday, 9 April 2011
Note: For more information, see Botanical Society of Washington (http://www.botsoc.org/)
____________________

What: Green Square 2011
Who: Georgetown student environmental groups, departments and invited vendors
Date: Thursday, 14 April 2011
Time: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Red Square of Edward B. Bunn, S.J., Intercultural Center Auditorium, GU Main Campus, 37th & O Sts., NW. The event will be in the Leavey Center in case of inclement weather.
Cost: Free, open to the public
Notes: Student Groups, campus departments, and vendors will host information tables regarding environmental topics. There will be a variety of interactive activities such as a newly-launched student environmental pledge and an electric plug-in Chevy Volt with technical experts to answer questions. Some tables will have snacks. The Center for the Environment plans to have a table.
Contact: Ms. Katie Swoboda, klswoboda@gmail.com
More information: Come and discuss our environment with others.
Sponsors: Project Hilltop, the Georgetown Sustainability Initiative, and student environmental groups
____________________

What: Biodiversity walk at Turkey Run Park, VA
Who: Led by Edd Barrows, Director of the GU Center for the Environment
When: Sunday, 17 April, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Where: Turkey Run Park, VA
Notes: The walk is limited to 25 people. We will be in a national park where it is illegal to disturb or collect anything. The hike is of medium rigor since we will walk down the zig-zag steps down a steep valleyside, walk up a hill, and cross 1–2 large rocky streams. Be prepared for different weather from light rain through a sunny day. Wear layers if needed, and bring a backpack to carry your lunch and extra clothes. We are likely to cancel our trip due to medium or heavy rain. There is a restroom in the park at the beginning and end of our walk. For forging the stream, you might find a walking stick useful. BYO lunch. At about noon, we will have lunch on the shore of the Potomac River across from Plummers Island, MD. Things to see, hear, or both, include Andrena bees, American Cancer-root, American Robins, Bladdernuts, Blue Cohosh, Canada Geese, Carolina Wren, Carrionflower, Chesternut Oak, craneflies, Dancing Whites, Eastern Sycamore, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, invasive species, Great Blue Herons, Green Ash, Mallards, Nomada bees, Pawpaws, Northern Red Oak, River Birch, Spring Azures, sweat bees, Toad Trillium, Tuliptree, Twinleaf, views of the Potomac River, Troutlilies, Virginia Bluebells, Western Honey Bees, and Woodland Geranium. This trip might occur at the height to the flowering of spring ephemerals, or later, depending on weather. An excellent field guide for our hike is Alden et al. (2008), National Audubon Society, Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States.
Cost: Free, open to the public.
Contact: barrowse@georgetown.edu, RSVP.
More information: For details and downloads, see http://www.botsoc.org/bswfieldtrips.html. We plan to meet in parking lot C1 at 9:50 a.m. A map of the Park, a vegetation map, and trip handout will be available through http://www.botsoc.org/bswfieldtrips.html.
Sponsor(s): Botanical Society of Washington; GU Biology Club; GU Center for the Environment (GUCFE); GU Department of Biology; GU EcoAction; GU Outdoor Education; GU Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA)
____________________

41st Earth Day, 22 April 2011
____________________

What: Botanical Field Trip
When: Saturday, 23 April 2011
Note: For more information, see Maryland Native Plant Society (http://www.mdflora.org/).
____________________

What: Presentation: See Raptors Close Up at Dyke Marsh, Earth Day Celebration for Children of All Ages
Who: A representative from the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia (RCV) (http://www.raptorsva.org/)
When: Saturday 23 April 2011, 9–11 a.m.
Where: Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, Fairfax County, Virginia
Cost: Free, open to the public
Notes: The RCV will show several raptor species (falcons, hawks, and owls), and you will be able to talk with the handlers about the birds. RCV speakers will also give a short program and discuss local raptor species and their habitats and other characteristics. There may also be a ranger-led wetlands walk as well.
Contact: Friends of Dyke Marsh, http://www.fodm.org/default.htm
More information: Bring your camera!
Sponsors: Friends of Dyke Marsh (http://www.fodm.org/default.htm) and the U.S. National Park Service
____________________

April 2011
____________________

What: First Poster Symposium on GU’s Ecology and Environment
Who: 43 undergraduate students in the course G-Ecology (Biol-004)
When: Tuesday, 26 April 2011, 3–6 p.m., when students will man posters. 27 April – 3 May, when the posters will remain on walls sans student teams.
Where: GU, Reiss Science Center, 1st-floor foyer and second floor.
Cost: Free, open to the public. Refreshments on 26 April.
Notes: Learn about GU’s air-quality, energy, gardens, heating-and-cooling plant, landscaping, Nature Deficit Disorder, recycling, and other parts of its environment via about 21 student posters and the 43 students who created them. Each team needs at least 5 people to assess its poster using a short form. All visitors are welcome to assess posters and discuss them with student teams. You will likely learn many things that you previously did not know about GU and environment.
Contact: barrowse@georgetown.edu
More information: The posters will be up until Tuesday 3 May 2011 for your educational pleasure. This Symposium and Green Square are major GU Earth Month events.
Sponsor(s): GU Center for the Environment (GUCFE); GU Department of Biology, Outdoor Education, Sigma Xi, STIA
____________________

____________________

May 2011
____________________

What: Agriculture at a crossroads: Which way now and why?
Who: Dr. Hans Herren of the Millennium Institute, Arlington VA.
When: Thursday, 5 May 2011, 7 p.m.
Where: Rose Room, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, 10th and Constitution Ave., N.W.
Cost: Free, open to the public. Refreshments after the meeting.
Notes: Dr. Herren’s talk will focus on insect-related agricultural concerns in developing
countries world-wide, and how agricultural practices and research must change to meet these issues head-on. Agriculture and food systems require a paradigm change to live up to the expectations of a sustainable world. The IAASTD reports offer options for action that should be implemented with urgency, given the increasing and multiple challenges our food systems will be facing in the years to come.
http://earthsky.org/food/hans-herren-says-science-can-help-the-small-farmer
http://www.millenniuminstitute.net/about/hans.html
Contact: Dr. Matt Buffington, matt.buffington@ars.usda.gov
More information: The Museum is near the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian Metro stops. At about 6:50–7 p.m., a member of the ESW can meet you in the main (north) lobby of the Natural History Museum to take you to the lecture room.
Sponsors: Entomological Society of Washington (ESW), GU Center for the Environment (GUCFE)
____________________

June 2011
____________________

July 2011
____________________

August 2011
____________________

September 2011
____________________

What: Bee Aware, the Importance of Bees in Our Environment
Who: Alonso Abugattasa, Naturalist
When: Wednesday, 14 September 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Huntley Meadows Park & Visitor Center, 3701 Lockheed Blvd., Alexandria, VA, 703-768-2525, http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/huntley/
Cost: Free, open to the public
Notes: Mr. Abugattasa is a professional naturalist and environmental educator at the Long Branch Nature Center in Virginia, master naturalist, master gardener, past officer of the Virginia Native Plant Society (including chapter president), and a co-founder of the Washington Area Butterfly Club.
Contact: Glenda Booth, President, Friends of Dyke Marsh, Gbooth123@aol.com
More information:
Sponsor(s): Friends of Dyke Marsh, Powtomack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society, Audubon Naturalist Society, GU Center for the Environment
____________________

What: Information Session
Who: Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs
When: Friday, 16 September 2011, 2 p.m.
Where: Maguire Hall, Room 101
Cost: free
Note: The Master of Public Administration Program in Environmental Science and Policy is a 12-month program that combines Columbia University’s hand-on approach to teaching, public policy, and administration with the Earth’s Institute’s pioneering thinking about the environment and sustainability, educating today’s environmental leaders for a sustainable tomorrow.
Contact: Sarah Tweedie, st2745@columbia.edu
Sponsor: Columbia University
____________________

What: Maryland Native Plant Society. 2011 Annual Conference. A Delightsome Land. Natural Communities of Southern Maryland. Talks and field trips.
Who: Maryland Native Plant Society
When: Saturday–Sunday, 24–25 September 2011
Where: College of Southern Maryland, La Plata, MD
Cost: Please see http://www.mdflora.org/. The student registration rate is a big bargain.
More information: http://www.mdflora.org/
Sponsors: Maryland Native Plant Society and The College of Southern Maryland Biology Department
____________________

Saturday, 24 September 2011
Moving Planet Annapolis Rally
http://www.moving-planet.org/events/us/annapolis/547

____________________

Saturday, 24 September 2011
Green Living Expo
http://greenlivingdc.org/
____________________

October 2011
____________________

Sunday–Wednesday, 9–12 October.
What: Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), 2011 Conference: Creating Sustainable Campuses and Communities
Who: Many presenters
When: Sunday–Wednesday, 9–12 October
Where: Pittsburg, PA
More information: http://conf2011.aashe.org/
____________________

What: Green Corps information session
Who: Ms. Mara Schechter, GU Alumna
When: Thursday, October 2011, 7 p.m.
Where: 211 Car Barn
Cost: Free
Notes:
In Green Corps’ year-long paid program, you’ll get intensive training in the skills you’ll need to make a difference in the world. You’ll get hands-on experience fighting to solve urgent environmental problems — global warming, deforestation, water pollution and many others — with groups such as Sierra Club and Food & Water Watch. And, when you graduate from Green Corps, we’ll help you find a career with one of the nation’s leading environmental and social change groups.
Contact: mara@greencorps.org
More information: greencorps.org
Sponsor: Green Corps
____________________

November 2011
____________________

What: Visions for a Sustainable Georgetown
Who: A steering committee of environmentally-minded students
When: Monday, 7 November 2011, 6–8:30 p.m.
Where: McShain Lounge, GU
Cost: free, open to GU students and staff
Notes: Visions for a Sustainable Georgetown will be a 2-hour workshop hosted by a student steering committee. Father O'Brien will speak and dinner will be served. The workshop will provide a forum for students with new ideas to brainstorm with students and employees who are experienced in campus sustainability. The goal of the workshop is to generate a study with recommendations that will inform a new concrete, measurable sustainability strategy for Georgetown.
Contacts: Claire Austin (EcoAction), Jessie Robbins (GUSA)
More information: Register at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KQZXGRB
Sponsor(s): The event is hosted by a steering committee of environmentally-minded students, including representatives from EcoAction, GUSA, the Meditation House, and Georgetown Energy. Audrey Stewart, Georgetown's Sustainability Coordinator, provided valuable guidance. We're grateful for support from the GU Center for the Environment, STIA, GUSA, the Facilities Office, the Center for Student Programs, and Campus Ministry as well as our co-sponsors from student leadership: the College Democrats, Georgetown University Legislative Association, MeCHA, the Black Student Alliance, GU Pride, Club Filipino, Georgetown Community Garden, the SIPS Fund, and the Chinese Students Association.
____________________

What: Seminar “Twentieth-century French Historians and the Environment”
Who: Prof. Genevieve Massard-Guilbaud, École des Hautes Études en
Sciences Sociales ("School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences), Paris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_for_Advanced_Studies_in_the_Social_Sciences
When: Monday, 7 November 2011, 4–6 p.m.
Where: Intercultural Center 450, GU
Cost: Free open to the public
Notes: A reception will follow.
Since 2006 Geneviève Massard-Guilbaud has been a professor of History at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France. Her chair is the first chair in environmental history created in France. She is also a researcher at the Centre de Recherches Historiques (Centre for Historical Research). In this centre, she heads the Groupe de Recherche en Histoire de L’Environnement Urbain (Urban Environmental History Group), created in 2008 and which involves a dozen of researchers. A founding member of the European Society for Environmental History, she has been a member of its Board since its creation in 1999 and the President since June 2007. She also originated, in common with Christoph Bernhardt, Berlin, the so-called Roundtables in Urban Environmental History, which have met bi-annually since 2000. From 1999 to 2007 she was a member of the Société Française d’Histoire Urbaine Board (French Society for Urban History Board). Since 2008 she has been a member of the Steering Committee of the British Urban History Group. She is also a member of the Historical Committee of the Ministry of Ecology and sustainable Transport and Planning Scientific Council, and a member of the editorial board of several journals, including Histoire Urbaine, Urban History, Les Annales de Mines, Responsabilité et Environnement, and Global Environment. Originally trained as a demographic, social and economic historian, she is a specialist of cities and industry in 19th and 20th centuries. Her recent research has dealt with industrial pollution in nineteenth-century France. Her last book, A Social History of Industrial Pollution, 1789–1914, is forthcoming at the Presses de École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. She is currently involved in a comparative study on the beginnings of industrial regulation in matter of nuisances in Europe and beyond. Other current fields of interests include social and environmental inequalities and injustice, municipal and labor movement attitudes toward industrial nuisances, law and environment in history. http://www.globalenvironment.it/guilbaud.html
Contact: Ms. Kathy Gallagher, kbg22@georgetown.edu
Sponsor(s): Georgetown Institute of Global History; GU Center for German and European Studies; GU Center for the Environment (GUCFE); GU Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA)
____________________

What: Distinguished Lecture: Climate, Oceans, and Cholera: A New Paradigm for Vector-borne Diseases

Who: Dr. Rita Cowell
When: Monday, 21 November 2011, 4–5 p.m.
Where: Gonda Theatre, GU
Cost: Free, limited to Georgetown University students, faculty and staff. Contact: GU Department of Biology, 687-6247

More information:

Since the mid-1980’s, when utilization of satellite sensors to monitor land and oceans for purposes of understanding climate, weather, and vegetation distribution and seasonal variations became possible, refinement of the inter-relationships of the environment and infectious diseases was accomplished, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Seasonality of diseases like malaria and cholera, which had been documented by epidemiologists, but the new research yielded knowledge of the very close interaction of the environment and distribution of many infectious diseases. With satellite sensors, these relationships could be quantified and comparatively analyzed. Recent studies of epidemic diseases provide models, both retrospective and prospective, for understanding and predicting those disease epidemics, notably those that are vector borne, the best examples of which are Malaria, Black Plague, and many viral diseases. These can now be tracked effectively. Cholera can be predicted reasonably well by monitoring environmental parameters, including sea salinity, surface temperature, and chlorophyll (as a proxy for phytoplankton abundance which often precedes zooplankton in abundance in coast and river waters). Zooplankton carry Cholera bacteria as their natural symbionts. These studies and new findings are beginning to be used to provide an early warning system for public health and, more importantly, for measuring effects of climate change on public health.

Dr. Rita Colwell, a former GU professor, is Chairman of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc. and Distinguished University Professor both at the University of Maryland at College Park and at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her interests are focused on global infectious diseases, water, and health, and she is currently developing an international network to address emerging infectious diseases and water issues, including safe drinking water for both the developed and developing world. Dr. Colwell served as the 11th Director of the National Science Foundation, 1998-2004. In her capacity as NSF Director, she served as Co-chair of the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council. One of her major interests include K-12 science and mathematics education, graduate science and engineering education and the increased participation of women and minorities in science and engineering. Dr. Colwell has held many advisory positions in the U.S. Government, nonprofit science policy organizations, and private foundations, as well as in the international scientific research community. She is a nationally-respected scientist and educator, and has authored or co-authored 16 books and more than 700 scientific publications. She produced the award-winning film, Invisible Seas, and has served on editorial boards of numerous scientific journals. Before going to NSF, Dr. Colwell was President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology at the University Maryland. She was also a member of the National Science Board from 1984 to 1990. Dr. Colwell has previously served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology and also as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Washington Academy of Sciences, the American Society for Microbiology, the Sigma Xi National Science Honorary Society, and the International Union of Microbiological Societies. Dr. Colwell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. Dr. Colwell has also been awarded 40 honorary degrees from institutions of higher education, including her Alma Mater, Purdue University. Dr. Colwell is an honorary member of the microbiological societies of the UK, France, Israel, Bangladesh, and the U.S. and has held several honorary professorships, including the University of Queensland, Australia. A geological site in Antarctica, Colwell Massif, has been named in recognition of her work in the polar regions.
Born in Beverly, Massachusetts, Dr. Colwell holds a B.S. in Bacteriology and an M.S. in Genetics, from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Washington.
Sponsor(s): GU Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), GU Center for the Environment (GUCFE); GU Department of Biology; GU Lecture Fund; Science, Technology, and International Affairs Program, School of Foreign Service; Sigma Xi, the International Science Honor Society
____________________
____________________

December 2011
____________________
____________________

Botanical Society of Washington (http://www.botsoc.org/)
Chespeake Bay Foundation (http://www.cbf.org/Page.aspx?pid=1000)
Dumbarton Oaks, Garden and Landscape Studies (http://www.doaks.org/research/garden_land
scape/)
Entomological Society of Washington (http://www.entsocwash.org/)
Environmental Film Festival (http://www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org/)
Friends of Dyke Marsh (http://www.fodm.org/)
Maryland Native Plant Society (http://www.mdflora.org/)
Potomac Conservancy (http://www.potomac.org/site/)
Sierra Club (http://dc.sierraclub.org/)
The Nature Conservancy (http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/maryland/)
Virginia Native Plant Society (http://www.vnps.org/)
Washington Area Butterfly Club (http://leplog.wordpress.com/washington-area-butterfly-club/)
____________________

Happy Holidays!
____________________
____________________