On Friday October 23rd at 2:30 PM we are having a Garden Planning Party. Everyone is invited to come and share their ideas for what should be in the garden and what it should it look like. All the drawings that students have done will be on display. We’ll use them as a starting point to collectively come up with a design for the garden that afternoon. We’ll spend the rest of the year building out the garden according to our community design. There will be lots of work parties and workshops and tons of great food and good times. Hope to see you in the garden! For more in-formation email bug@scu.edu.

ESI, working in partnership with Campus Facilities is leading the effort to build a new education and commu-nity garden for SCU on the vacant lot at the corner of Benton and Sherman streets a block north of campus. The garden will serve both the campus and the community as an educational facility, a source of healthy food, and a beautiful place to come to-gether. Students in ENVS 132 Agroecology dug the first garden beds and planted the first crops during the spring quarter. Currently, most of the lot is covered in wood chips that were diverted from the landfill (approximately 60, 15 cubic yard truck-loads!). These wood chips are part of an organic soil-building program designed to

bring the soil back to life so that it can produce lots of food and a great diversity of beautiful plants.

For the last year and a half, students in several ESI classes have participated in garden design workshops, working in small groups contributing their ideas for what they would like to have in the gar-den and how they would structure it.

Dear Friends of ESI, We are thrilled to be starting another aca-demic year at

ESI. Last year we went through a process called pro-gram review. We had two

professors visit and review our program, one from Buck-nell University and another from Dickinson College, each of which have state-of-the-art environmental studies pro-grams. One message came through loud and clear: We have been very successful in merging our academics and

programmatic offerings to enhance the learning environ-ment for the SCU campus community. At ESI, there are many opportunities for stu-dents to get involved in cam-pus and community sustain-ability through our new cam-pus garden, our

See Letter, Page 2

Students in the Spring 2009 Agroecology class tending to first crops in garden.

Help Design SCU’s New Education and Community Garden this Fall!

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

New Bug Emerges at ESI

2

GPS Data Col-lectors Needed

2

Baja 2010 Expedition

3

Office of Sustainability

4-5

Study Abroad in Costa Rica

6

Recap: Summer 2009 in Costa

7

Inside Story 8

Letter From the Director

E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T U D I E S I N S T I T U T E . . . EnviroNews

F A L L 2 0 0 9 V O L U M E X X X I

If you haven’t picked up your ESI T-Shirt yet, please stop by the ESI of-fice and get one in your size for only

$11!

P A G E 2

“With Father

Engh’s commitment

to environmental

justice and our new

core curriculum, we

feel that ESI will

play a key role in

making things

happen here.”

Leslie Gray

Volunteers Needed to Collect GPS Data

New Bug Emerges at ESI

Letter Continued from Page 1 sustainability outreach pro-gram and other innovative programs such as SLURP (Sustainable Living Under-graduate Research Project). These are just a few exam-ples of programs that pro-vide internship and praxis opportunities for students to obtain skills and training in a wide variety of areas, many of which have helped our students find jobs after graduation and develop a life-long vocation.

These sorts of co-curricular opportunities are just going to increase here at SCU. With Father Engh’s com-mitment to environmental justice and our new core curriculum, we feel that ESI will play a key role in mak-ing things happen here. One example of this is go-ing to be our new Ameri-corps program that will begin this fall. We are part of a large collaborative, collectively entitled the “Silicon Valley Health

Corps”, that will engage Americorps volunteers to improve community health and environments through gardening. This fall and winter, ESI will welcome three full-time Americorps volunteers and six part-time volunteers. They will help build our new campus and community garden and start working with community partners around gardens. Great things are blooming at ESI and we look forward to your participation!

munity-based organizations and schools to help build and nurture community and school gardens in San Jose, improving community food security and environmental literacy. BUG is hiring three full-time and six part-time

This fall ESI, with the sup-port of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Ignatian Center and the Food and Agribusiness Institute, is launching the Bronco Urban Garden (BUG) program, a new environmental justice outreach initiative. BUG will work with several com-

AmeriCorps members and is part of a major new AmeriCorps hub in the south bay called the Health Corps. The Health Corps consists of eleven organiza-tions and is hiring a total of 14 full-time and 28 part- See Bug, Page 3

lands. Faculty are develop-ing research related to both

current and historical envi-

ronmental conditions and land use practices.

No experience required, but a short training session is.

CONTACT:

Dr. Iris Stewart-Frey

IStewartFrey@scu.edu or

Dr. Lisa Kealhofer

LKealhofer@scu.edu

“Want to learn more about the Santa Clara Valley?” “Interested in internship opportunities?”

“Have wheels?” ESI is looking for volun-teers to collect GPS data related to the Guadalupe

River, green zones, quar-ries, floodzones, and wet-

E N V I R O N E W S

Look what I found!

Just another day planting in the garden

Bug P A G E 3 V O L U M E X X X I

Continued from Page 2 time AmeriCorps positions for school garden, community garden, urban farm, and farm to school programs. (see http://www.healthtrust.org/svhealthcorps/apply.php for more in-formation) BUG Americorps members will help build new gardens (including SCU’s garden) and will provide teacher train-ing, garden assistance, gardening re-sources and educational program sup-port for our community partners. We will be working in the Gardner, Wash-ington, Alma, and Alviso neighbor

hoods this year.

BUG is tied to the Arrupe Partnerships for Community Based Learning. There will be multiple opportunities starting this fall for students to do Arrupe urban gardening placements with BUG part-ners. In the winter quarter ENVS 196 Environmental Education Praxis will be focused on school gardens. Stu-dents can earn academic credit working with BUG school garden partners by enrolling in the class. For more information email bug@scu.edu

Be Part of the Baja 2010 Experience... Download a Baja 2010 Application Here: http://www.scu.edu/cas/environmentalstudies/undergraduateinfo/coursedescriptions.cfm

P A G E 4

“I help create

and facilitate

awareness,

education, and

sustainability

promotion

projects for

student

residence life.”

Cara Uy

From the Office of Sustainability: New Student Interns

Hannah Slocum

My name is Hannah Slocum and I am a Junior Environmental Studies and History major. I started working with the Office of Sustainability as the Student Initiatives intern in October of 2008. When I get back from studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I will continue working on the Student Sustainability Convergence (SSC) and I will try to expand our school’s participation in the Graduation Pledge for Social and Environmental Responsibility. I’ll also be looking for new ways to increase students’ awareness of and involvement in SCU’s efforts to be more sustainable. I love traveling, going to the beach, and just being outdoors in my free time.

Cara Uy Hi, my name is Cara and I am a junior studying Communications & Environmental Studies. I became an intern at the Office of Sustainability this past August

and am so happy to be a part of the ESI family. As the Sustainability Intern for Residence Life, I help create and facilitate awareness, education, and sustainability promotion projects for student residence life. Throughout the year, I will be developing conservation-based programming for Residen-tial Learning Communities (RLC’s) and overseeing waste-diversion programs associated with campus move-out. I enjoy being with friends and family, playing volleyball, and going on outdoor adventures. Aside from nature, I am also passionate about art and love traveling to new places.

Kristin Sterling

Kristin is a senior double majoring in Accounting and Environmental Studies. This year she is interning with the Office of Sustainability and will act as a resource for the staff and faculty on campus. Some of the projects she’s excited about include creating a Sustainable Event Planning Guide, as well as a Sustainable Office Award. Outside of school, she loves to relax with friends and family, eat, be outdoors, sleep, watch good movies, travel, and run. After graduation, she will be starting a full time position with Ernst & Young LLP in their Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services practice.

Kaelin Holland Kaelin became the Recycling Intern for the Office of Sustainability in June 2009. She is a junior and is studying English & Environmental Studies. Kaelin is currently studying abroad in Cork, Ireland and will be back next quarter to fulfill her duties, which include engaging the campus community in fun recycling-related events such as the national competition of RecycleMania.

Chris Woodhouse

Chris Woodhouse is a senior studying political science, envi-ronmental studies and econom-ics. His internship this year will include updating the Web site and blog for the Office of Sus-tainability, in addition to follow-ing the LEED certification of the new student activities building. He likes to go running in his free time and loves hiking trails in his native state of Arizona.

E N V I R O N E W S

From the Office of Sustainability P A G E 5 V O L U M E X X X I

The Forge Community Garden Design Party Friday 10/23 (2:30-4:30) Check out the Sustainability Calendar for more events! http://www.scu.edu/sustainability/calendar.cfm

Sustainability Fair Wednesday 10/21 (10am-2pm in front of the Learning Commons) Stop by and visit to learn more about SCU’s sustainability initiatives and how to get involved!

What can be composted: (anything that was once alive or is made of plant products!): food scraps, fruits, vegetables, bread, meat, fish, dairy, coffee

grounds & filters, tea bags, Bon Appétit to go containers, utensils, napkins, plates, cups, pizza boxes!

The program will roll-out campus wide over the year, so keep a look out for new compost containers!

New this Fall, the SCU commu-nity can compost their food waste! Deposit your composta-ble waste in the bright green bins in Market Square (Benson) or in the green bins in every residence hall’s exterior waste areas.

Broncos Can Compost

Campus Sustainability Week October 19-23

Mixed Recycling-New! You can now recycle plastic (#1-7), aluminum, glass, tin and paper all in one container! Any container labeled “recycling” can accept those items.

Hannah Slocum leads a recycling toss game for students during Campus Sustainability Day 2008.

Cara Uy and other RecycleManiacs show the results of a trash audit in 2008.

P A G E 6

Bridge over Rio La Suerte, LSFS, Costa Rica, Aug 2009

Study Abroad in Costa Rica Summer 2010 Field Course in Plant Ecology & Primate Behavior Second Summer Session (July 26-September 1, 2010)

The Costa Rica summer program offers a small co-hort of students the oppor-tunity to experience the biodiversity of a Costa Rica tropical rainforest. All students in the Costa Rica study abroad program will enroll in two 5-unit courses: 1) ANTH 197: Field Course: Primate Behav-ioral Ecology; and, 2) ENVS 134: Plant Ecology in the Tropics. Students have two weeks of field instruction at Santa Clara, followed by two weeks at a La Suerte Biological Field Station in Costa Rica gain-ing hands-on experience in community ecology and animal behavior. Typical days will involve fieldwork (e.g. hiking, data collection) and afternoon lectures/ dis-cussions. The final week of the course will take place at SCU and emphasizes data interpretation and presenta-

tion. Contact: Santa Clara Study Abroad: http://www.scu.edu/studyabroad/ ANTH 197: Field Course: Primate Behavioral Ecology (Michelle Bezanson: MBez-anson@scu.edu)

In this course we empha-size on-site anthropologi-cal field research with practical experience in the basic techniques of observation and field data analysis. Lectures empha-size core theoretical concepts in prima-tological research with examples from field studies of New World primates. Each student con-ducts independent data collection to produce a completed scientific paper where they are the sole author. They can use these results to present in classes, at a conference or research symposium, or to develop future projects. Great projects can be developed into publications to sub-mit to peer-reviewed journals. Students also

learn about the im-portance of the local community and how our role in research is not restricted to the academic com-munity or our study subjects. ENVS 134: Plant Ecology in the

Tropics (Sean Watts: SWatts@scu.edu) This course is primarily focused on plant commu-nity ecology; including in-struction in evolution, sys-tematics, biogeography, plant defense, and pollina-tion/dispersal syndromes… it just happens to incorpo-rate some field work in tropical rainforest. Because the course has both a Cali-fornian (mediterranean-type climate) and Costa Rican (pre-montane rainforest) component, labs will com-pare the community ecol-ogy and diversity of similar

landscapes in each region. Extensive training in field methods will prepare stu-dents for these labs and the development of each stu-dent’s proposal for final projects. After this course students should have a basic ability to distinguish mem-bers of major plant families, an understanding of the biogeographic and ecologi-cal forcs that influence plant communities and practical experience in plant field ecological methods and the development of testable hypotheses.

E N V I R O N E W S

2009 Behavioral & Plant Ecology Class at La Suerte Field Station, Costa Rica

Summer in Costa Rica 2009 P A G E 7 V O L U M E X X X I

During the summer of 2009, eight Santa Clara students at-tended the second annual ten-unit field course in primate be-havioral ecology (Michelle Bezanson, Anthropology) and tropical plant ecology (Sean Watts, Environmental Studies Institute). We began the course with a transect through the California Sierra to measure plant communi-ties for comparison to the site in Costa Rica. Students enjoyed excellent scenery, food (prepared by the foodie instructors), and better un-derstood the role of aca-demic-based research sta-tions in science, conserva-tion, and surrounding com-munities. We then traveled south to Costa Rica to ex-perience a slightly different climate. While preparing their research projects, students learned about varying ecological field methods, behavioral observation techniques, and about the field research process. When not working rigorously on their projects students had opportunities to view nesting green sea turtles, enjoy a canopy tour (i.e., zipline) and view many diverse forest creatures. Students completed exciting inde-

pendent projects and will present their results at the third-annual USES (Undergraduate Science and Engineering Sym-posium).

Student projects during summer 2009 include:

1) Bohner, Michelle (major: Bioengineering): The trend between fungal diversity, density, and forest development. 2) McNamara, Christopher (major: Anthropology): Mon

keying around: play behavior in Cebus capucinus and Alouatta palliata.

3) Morabito, Christian (major: Environmental Studies): The ecological role of native and introduced palms (Arecaceae).

4) Rieke, Kristen (major: Studio Art): Seed dispersal in a neotropical lowland wet forest.

5) Ruiz, Brendan (major: Anthropology): Diet and forag-ing strategies of juvenile Cebus capucinus and Alouatta palliata.

6) Salinas, Lily (major: Sociology): Environmental edu-cation: promoting intergenerational learning.

7) Wallis, Marianne (major: Biochemistry): A multifac-eted look at pesticide use in Primavera, Limon, Costa Rica

8) Watson, Owen (major: Environmental Studies): The intricacies and efficiency of foraging strategy of two carnivorous ant spe-cies. This year was especially exciting as we began several long-term projects at the field site in Costa Rica (thanks to partial support by URI). Four re-cent Santa Clara graduates arrived on September 3 to collect data on rain forest ecology, howler monkey vo-calizations, primate gait sequences, and primate-tree interactions. Tracey Mangin (ENVS 09) and Miranda Melen (ENVS 09) are collecting data on forest structure and howler calls until November 2009. Tinah Barnett (ANTH 09) and Shawn Hanna (COMM 08) are studying primate gait, prehensile-tail use, and tree prun-ing until December 2009. Chris Mel-isi, who participated in the field course during summer 2008, returned to collect additional data on poison-dart frog density and diversity.

2009 Behavioral & Plant Ecology Class near Sonora Pass, Sierra Nevada, California.

Owl butterfly (Caligo sp.) resting under cabin at LSFS, Aug 2009.

Environmental Studies Institute 874 Lafayette St. Santa Clara, CA 95050

www.scu.edu/envs

Phone: (408) 551-7086

Fax: (408) 554-2312

E-mail: esi@scu.edu