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William J. Donlon Visiting Professor of Environmental Communication 
Kirk Emerson joined the Department of Environmental Studies as the distinguished William J. Donlon Visiting Professor of Environmental Communication in Spring 2009. Dr. Emerson is recent past Director of the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution at the Morris K. Udall Foundation in Tuscson, Arizona. She is a nationally renowned scholar and practitioner in the field of collaborative environmental governance and conflict resolution. Her current research interests include a focus on collaborative governance to address the human and environmental impacts of climate change. See Dr. Emerson's William J. Donlon Public Lecture, "Collaborative Governance and Global Warming: Can We Change More than the Climate?" on YouTube, or by double-clicking on Track 1 of "Visiting Minds" on ESF's iTunes U site, under "Courses" (iTunes software required).
Development Sociologist Leads Examination of Payment for Ecosystem Services
William D. Sunderlin, Senior Researcher at the Rights and Resources Group, in Washington, DC, joined the Department of Environmental studies as Randolph G. Pack Visiting Fellow in March 2009. Sunderlin contributed to a new graduate seminar entitled "Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation through Payment for Forest and Other Ecosystem Services", co-taught by Jack Manno (ES) and Valerie Luzadis (FNRM). The course explored the challenges of designing sustainable development strategies that include payments to communities and landholders for protection, management and restoration of ecosystem services, with an empahasis on forests and watersheds. Sunderlin is author of Ideology, Social Theory and the Environment (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003) and many scholarly journal articles and book chapters. He is also Senior Researcher at the Center for International Forestry (CIFOR), in Bogor, Indonesia.
Visiting African Scholar Discusses Sustainability and Natural Resources
Lotsmart Fonjong, Senior Lecturer of Geography and Gender Studies, and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, at the University of Buea, Cameroon, was Randolph G. Pack Visiting Fellow with the Department of Environmental Studies in November 2008. He presented a public lecture on "Challenges to Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in Cameroon".
Conference: Conversations on the Land: Indigenous and Scientific Principles for Sustainability
Two Environmental Studies faculty members, Jack Manno and Sharon Moran, were co-organizers of a SUNY 'Conversations in the Disciplines' conference at ESF in November 2008. This exchange brought together scholars from a range of perspectives and indigenous thinkers and leaders from across the region to think and work together about ecological sustainability. Participants explored possibilities for bringing the power of two great intellectual traditions to bear for greater environmental sustainability. For further information, click here.
McGann Drescher Fellowship
Sharon Moran is recipient of a Dr. Nuala McGann Drescher Fellowship for Spring 2009. Awarded by the New York State/ United University Professions Affirmative Action/ Diversity Committee, the award supports her efforts to complete an article on water policy; write up findings from a research grant, "Technologies for Sustainable Water: Innovations and Architects"; and conduct follow-up studies on water management policy in Poland. Moran will be on professional leave during this period.
Society and Natural Resources Editorial Board
David Sonnenfeld has been appointed to the Editorial Board of Society and Natural Resources, one of the leading North American journals of social science, natural resources, and the environment. The journal is published by the International Association for Society and Natural Resources and Routledge Press.
Coordinating Stakeholder Involvement in NY Coastal Conservation
Susan Senecah is serving as Stakeholder Involvement Coordinator for the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council, based in the NY Department of State’s Coastal Resources Division in Albany. She is responsible for developing and launching a statewide, multi-faceted program to actively engage the full range and diversity of interests in implementing the State’s commitment to Ecosystem-based Management (EBM). EBM includes humans in all ecosystems, and recognizes that it is as much about humans managing themselves as it is about managing an ecosystem. EBM calls for integrating local and traditional knowledge with scientific; and building collaborative, long term alliances. See www.nyoglecc.org for more information. Senecah wants to include students as much as possible in this initiative; she is on leave from ESF until January 2010.
National Merit Award Winner: Steven Brechin, ES Adjunct Faculty
Steve Brechin, ES Adjunct Faculty member, and Professor of Sociology at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs atSyracuse University, received the 2008 Merit Award from the Natural Resources Research Group (NRRG) of the Rural Sociological Society (RSS). The award is given annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of natural resource sociology. It can be given to recognize a lifetime of achievement, or to celebrate a particularly significant research, education, outreach, or service achievement. Reviewers cited Brechin's "insistence on the importance of organizational dynamics in understanding the ways in which people manage natural resources" and his work on "resident peoples in parks, and the ethical and economic dilemmasentailed in establishing" and managing protected areas. (Adapted from a note by Prof. Steven Wolf, Cornell University.)
ES Students Publish Op-Ed Essay on Global Economic Reform
Students in Jack Manno's course, EST 426/626, Concepts and Principles of Sustainable Development, published an op-ed essay, "For a Sustainable World Economy, in the Sunday, November 16, 2008, edition of the Syracuse Post-Standard newspaper. In their essay, the students propose "a new economic paradigm that gives priority to investing in sustainable development ... A new set of rules [that] encourage[s] nations to be stewards of their natural resources for the long term and invest in the welfare of their people ... [and] investments in conservation, alternative energy, sustainable agriculture and green buildings." To read the complete essay, click here.
Environmental Discourse and Advocacy Speaker Series
Fall 2008, Visiting Faculty member, Zac Moore, and the Department of Environmental Studies presented a speaker series on "Environmental Discourse and Advocacy". Guests included Professor Thomas Boudreau, Syracuse University, talking on "The Curse of Prometheus? Political Discourse and Climate Catastrophe at the United Nations"; Dr. Richard Grossman, speaking on "Why Shouldn't Nature Have Constitutional Rights?: A Report from the Front Lines"; Zac Moore and Louise Poindexter, discussing "Environmental Justice with or without Environmental Experts?"; Sabrina Wells, Citizens Environmental Coalition, examining "Organizing Zero Waste Initiatives in New York"; and Andrew Boyd, cultural artist and activist, presenting "Culture Jamming 101: Saving the Planet".
Syracuse Post-Standard Picks Up ES Master's Project
On September 29, 2008, the Syracuse Post-Standard published the first issue of a new, bimonthly Green magazine, including several articles featuring ESF. The magazine is an outgrowth of GPES/ ES alumnus Khristopher Dodson's master's project, the publication of a prototype regional, environmental magazine, entitled Envi. Khris has a nice centerspread article in the first issue of Green, alongside a profile of ESF President Cornelius Murphy. An online version of the new magazine supplement is available at: http://www.syracuse.com/green/.
Awards and Scholarships for ES Students
During the 2007/2008 school year, 40 outstanding Environmental Studies students received awards and scholarships. Eight awards went to five graduate students, and 35 undergraduate students (more than 1:4 of all Environmental Studies majors) were recognized with 40 honors. The Environmental Studies Department enthusiastically celebrates the achievements of these students.
Report on Modeling in Great Lakes Decision Making
"The Use of Models in Great Lakes Decision Making, An Interdisciplinary Synthesis," a report by Environmental Studies faculty, Jack Manno and Richard Smardon, with help from graduate students Emily Cloyd and Susana del Granado, and Joseph DePinto of Limno-Tech, Inc., examines how computer simulation models were used in environmental decision making in four case studies in the Great Lakes. The publication came out of a New York Sea Grant funded project. For the full press release, issued in May 2008, click here. Anyone wishing to obtain a copy of the publication should contact New York Sea Grant at 631-632-9124 or view the pdf here.
Land Claims and Governance in West Africa: a Conversation with Dr. Sara Berry
On Tuesday, May 20, 2008, Dr. Sara Berry, Professor of the Economic and Social History of Africa, and Fellow of the Center for Africana Studies, at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, visited SUNY-ESF and engaged with us in a conversation on "Changing Processes of Claiming Land and Local Governance in West Africa". The discussion focused on "how these processes have (and have not) changed in 25 years of neoliberal policy initiatives; and what these changes imply for sustainable management of natural resources, particularly forests". For a list of recommended readings and further information, click here. Sponsored by the Dept. of Environmental Studies and the Randolph G. Pack Environmental Institute.
ES Student Wins National Renewable Energy Essay Contest
In an Earth Day, April 22, 2008, press release, the Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy announced that Craig Lazaar, an ESF Environmental Studies senior, was one of three winners of a $10,000 educational prize in a national renewable energy student essay contest. Click here to read Craig's award-winning essay, "Energy Independence: A Five-Point Practical Energy Plan for America". His advisor is Professor Mark Meisner.
Climate Action: Mini-Series of Brownbag Lunchtime Talks
Spring 2008, the Department of Environmental Studies and Randolph G. Pack Environmental Institute hosted a mini-series of brownbag lunchtime talks, "Climate Action: Sociological Perspectives on the Challenges of Environmental Governance". Featured speakers included Professor Arthur Mol, Wageningen University, the Netherlands; Professor Thomas Rudel, Rutgers University, New Jersey; and Professor Karen O'Neill, also from Rutgers University. For further information, click here.
The Second Environmental Studies Summit @ Syracuse
In June 2007, the Department of Environmental Studies co-hosted a summit of Environmental Studies faculty and students from across North America. For more details, see the Summit web site.SUNY Conversations in the Disciplines: The Feasibility of a New York State Energy Conservation/ Global Warming Consortium
SUNY hosted a consortium in September 2003 on the ESF campus: "Conversation in the Disciplines Event: The Feasibility for a New York State Energy Conservation/Global Warming Consortium". Experts explored hot topics that revolve around creating a consortium in New York state. Issues such as energy conservation, global gas reduction, climate change and atmosphere research were actively debated in a forum with a variety of policy makers and researchers from the SUNY system.
