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Spring
2004 Newsletter
Fall
2003 Newsletter
Present ENS Newsletter:
Hello everyone! Not much time left in the semester (or my sabbatical!),but there are some things you need to know about.
Faculty search update
We have finished our search for a new faculty member in ENS. Dr. Eugene Wahl has accepted our offer, will move to Alfred this summer and start teaching here in the fall. Dr. Wahl has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from San Diego State and a doctorate in conservation biology and quaternary paleo-ecology from the University of Minnesota. Dr Wahl is presently a post-doctoral fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. He has taught a variety of subjects at a couple of different institutions already, including ecosystem ecology, environmental ethics, environmental/ecological economics, and paleoclimatology, paleoecology, and plant biogeography of the American Southwest. In the fall, Dr. Wahl will be teaching a course on Climate Change, the junior and senior seminars, and parts of ENS 101 and ENS 240 and he will be setting up a lab for doing paloeclimate analysis here at Alfred.
Outdoor Education Center
As you may know, some of us at AU have been involved in helping the Genesee Valley Central School as it has been developing its Outdoor Education Center. Frances Knickmeyer worked on this project last summer and is still involved, and Diane Cox from the School of Art and Design has been helping out. The opening ceremony for the Outdoor Education Center will be April 22 (Earth Day!) at 12:30, and if anyone would like to come, please let me know. We’d love to have a bunch from Alfred come with us.
Seniors! Take Note!
Senior crunch time is upon us. Here are some dates and deadlines that you should be aware of:
Thursday, April 8 at 12:20: I will be giving a little session on how to make a good poster. Please come if you can so you can learn the ins and outs and some of the logistics.
Thursday, April 22 5-8 PM: Undergraduate Research Forum. If you are graduating this semester, you are required to present your senior project at this. Hopefully you all got your abstracts in. The forum will be held in McLane. This is a time to celebrate and show the world the hard work you have been doing this year. The posters will stay up until after Honors Convocation on Friday the 23rd. After that, please go get your poster, bring it up to the Science Center and put it up on the walls outside room 326. They will stay there until graduation.
Friday, April 30: Senior research papers are due by 3 PM. Bring them to me and I will distribute them to your respective advisors. Bring two copies, please, because we keep one copy on file in the department office.
Friday, May 14: 4:30 Reception and poster-session reprise for seniors and families: 3rd floor Science Center. Please bring your family and friends so that we can say “good bye” to you and so that they can see your posters.
Other important dates – mark your calendars:
Tuesday, April 13: 12:15-1 PM in Nevins. Brian Nadworny is going to talk about how he and his family utilized available technology to build an environmentally friendly off-the-grid passive solar home here in Alfred. Their house has photovoltaic panels, a wind turbine, composting toilets, on-demand water heater and many other energy saving devices incorporated into their dome home. The program is sponsored by AU’s Center for Energy and Environmental Research.
Saturday, April 24: Open House at the ENS house, 4 PM. Chrissy Campanelli will show us some of the energy savings she has accomplished in the house as part of her senior project. We will also be inviting any alumni who are here for Hot Dog Day to come by the house at that time.
Monday, May 3: 5 PM-?: End-of-year ENS picnic. ENS House (16 Park St). Please come to celebrate the end of classes and relax before finals.
FYI: The Jan 22, 2004 edition of the journal Nature contained an article entitled “Mapping Opportunities”. In that article, “geotechnology”, including GIS, was identified as “one of the three most important emerging fields”. The article complimented the role of GIS professionals in combating SARS, fighting fires, and other natural resource disasters. The article states that “job opportunities are growing and diversifying as geospatial technologies prove their value in ever more areas”. Emily DeRocco, assisstant secretary at the US Department of Labor’s employment and training division says that the $5 billion world-wide geospatial market will grow to $30 billion by 2005, a dramatic increase that is sure to create new jobs.
We are offering Introductory GIS this semester and will be offering the course again in the fall. We also expect to offer the Advanced GIS course next spring.
Preregistration!
It’s that time of the semester again… We will be having our customary group preregistration again on Monday evening, April 5 at 7:30 PM in room 326 Science Center. All ENS majors are strongly encouraged to attend. At this meeting, I will talk to the group about what you should think about taking next semester and then speak with you individually about scheduling. This is a good opportunity for you not only to talk to me, but also to talk to your fellow students to find out the “inside scoop” about classes that they might have taken. In the meantime, here are some thoughts and suggestions for next semester for first, second, third and fourth year students, and then a few words about some new courses or other courses that we want to draw your attention to:
If you are currently a freshman: You should take ENS 240: Research Methods I. If you haven’t had ENS 101 yet, you should take that as well. You may also want to consider ENS 220: Intro to GIS, ENS 300: Changing Climates, GEO 201: Surficial Geology, and, if you need a social science elective, you might want to take EGL 293: A Place in the Universe or SOC 376: Technology, Values, and the Environment.
If you are currently a sophomore: If you haven’t taken ENS 101 or ENS 240 yet, you should take those. Also, you must take ENS 365: Junior Seminar. You may also want to consider ENS 220: Intro to GIS, ENS 300: Changing Climates, GEO 201: Surficial Geology, and, if you need a social science elective, you might want to take EGL 293: A Place in the Universe or SOC 376: Technology, Values, and the Environment.
If you are currently a junior: You must sign up for ENS 465: Senior Seminar and if you haven’t had ENS 240 for some reason, you must take that. You may also want to consider ENS 220: Intro to GIS, ENS 300: Changing Climates, GEO 201: Surficial Geology, and, if you need a social science elective, you might want to take EGL 293: A Place in the Universe or SOC 376: Technology, Values, and the Environment.
New Course: Dr. Wahl will be teaching a course entitled
ENS 300: CHANGING CLIMATES: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.
This course will examine changing climate over long periods of past earth
history, over very recent times (the last 1000 years), and in scenarios
of climate change for the next 1000 years. Emphasis will be put on the
best data and projections that exist, and on both natural and human factors
that have influenced and can influence climate. The course will use lectures,
targeted readings, and discussion.
A final word:
As most of you know, I’ve been otherwise occupied for most of this
last month, since my husband’s heart attack. I want to thank
you all, especially the students, for your patience with me,
willingness to work with me over e-mail instead of in person, many offers
of help (such as offering to shovel snow, etc.!) , and numerous messages
sending good thoughts our way. So far, Larry is recovering well from a
pretty scary experience for us both. -Michele
This newsletter was printed on recycled paper
