Check out Campus Ecology's new website! 

We have a huge searchable case study database that can help you get ideas on how to get your program off the ground!  We have podcasts to listen to on sustainability topics!  You can enter Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming, NWF's second annual national competition!  Not to mention much much more!

Get yourself and your campus involved with Campus Ecology today!

The deadline for National Wildlife Federation fellowship applications is fast approaching! We are looking for undergraduate and graduate students committing to finding global warming solutions. Deadline for submissions is January 31, 2007.

* If you have a creative idea about how to motivate students on campus but lack the funds to get your idea off the ground – NWF Fellowships provide up to $3,000!

* If your student group wants to expand a solar project on campus, a NWF Fellowship is exactly what you are looking for!

We want enthusiastic, motivated students ready to step up and actual do something about global warming! Fellows receive training, project support, recognition for their accomplishments, and other perks. Fellows also participate in NWF’s Annual Meeting (with expenses paid for by NWF), which will be held in Washington DC this year and is a great opportunity to network and meet key environmental leaders. Apply today to really make a difference on your campus! Go to www.nwf.org/campusecology for more details!

NWF is looking for undergraduate and graduate students dedicated to confronting global warming on campus to become our 2007 Campus Ecology Fellows. We encourage sustainability task forces, environmental committees, or similar groups to nominate one or more student applicants for the Fellowship. NWF’s Campus Ecology Fellows receive modest stipends, training, networking opportunities, and national recognition. NWF is especially seeking applicants from campuses interested in stepping up leadership to confront global warming.

Projects may cover a range of approaches to confronting global warming, including transportation, energy, habitats, and planning. Fellows receive up to $2000 to offset project expenses. Additional funds up to $1000 for meeting expenses may be requested if the applicant’s nominating committee or other affiliated group commits to working with the fellow to convene teams from 3-5 other campuses or other community organizations to share climate action strategies.

Deadline for submission is January 31, 2007.

Check out our website for more information!

"Sea-bed plan to store carbon", a recent BBC News article, details the theory that storing carbon dioxide under the sea could help to reduce global warming and will probably pose no threat to marine life. Like this one, there are many solid solutions being used to slow global warming: purchasing renewable energy, using biodiesel in vehicles, installing energy efficient lighting, switching to geothermal power, etc. And U.S. colleges and universities have taken the lead.

At Bemidji State University an NWF Campus Ecology Fellow gained the support of the student body and encouraged the administration to purchase wind energy, Cape Cod Community College has installed a 1.5 kilowatt wind turbine, and Mount Wachusett Community College is heated primarily by a biomass plant which has helped the college cut its electricity use by more than 23 percent in the past two years.

Photo Credit: University of Southern Maine, Sarah Ferriter, 2004 Biodiesel Demonstration Week

My friend, Justin, just climbed Denali and the official expedition name was "Big Guy and the Monster". And Denali is, indeed, a monster! Seeing Justin's amazing summit pictures made me realize that I will never, ever, become a mountaineer. Denali National Park is one of the most beautiful and diverse places I’ve ever seen but the thought of climbing at altitude is just not appealing to me. But I am wicked jealous of Justin’s experience.

Hearing about his trip also made me start thinking about global warming. How are temperature changes going to affect Denali and the Arctic region? Climate change is affecting the poles of the earth more than anywhere else. What is going to happen to the web of life if temperatures continue to change in that region? Anyone who has seen An Inconvenient Truth knows that the Arctic is in trouble. The entire way of life for Arctic Tribes is in trouble. And it all comes back to our carbon consumption.

It’s a tough problem we are facing, but people are working on it. From scientists at the University of Alaska – Fairbanks to NWF Fellow Bree Jambor, who is attending Sheldon Jackson in Sitka, Alaska and working on ways to improve her school’s energy efficiency.

I really hope that everyone has the opportunity to see the Arctic at some point in their life. And I hope we find a way to save such an amazing place.

Photo credit: Justin Fantasia

The most obvious culprits of global warming are transportation and energy, but what exactly does that mean? If we all change our light bulbs and buy a hybrid the problem is solved? That certainly would help, but we have to start thinking about things that use a lot of energy. One of the biggest energy hogs is the food industry. Think about it. Farms are usually located in rural areas and the food that is grown there is planted, watered and harvested with the aid of machines. And food has to be transported by train or truck or even air to get onto local grocery shelves. That uses a lot of energy and transportation. But we need to eat, so what is the solution?

Yes, it’s that simple. According to a study conducted over 22 years by the Rodale Institutes Farm Systems organic farming increases soil carbon storage 15-28%! Organic farming also uses 37% less fossil fuels energy inputs. Buying food that is grown in your region and them making sure that it was grown organically makes a big impact. And NWF Fellows have known this for awhile.

Fellow Daniel Feinberg from the Class of 2001, started a project at Occidental College in Californiato encourage use of organic produce in the dining halls on campus. In 2004, Philip Aroneanu instituted a small-scale composting system in Middlebury’s greenhouse using food waste from on-campus dining halls. The composting system produced fertilizer for campus and community organic gardening. Buying locally and buying organic are one of the healthiest ways to fight global warming. So treat yourself to something organic!

NWF’s mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future. The National Park Service was created to preserve natural resources. So it would be logical to assume that the park service and NWF have similar interests. And we do. We both know how important land conservation is. We both want to preserve outdoor spaces and educate people about nature and show that we can live in harmony with the great outdoors. Parks are essential in maintaining wildlife habitat, curbing sprawl, and educating people and getting them excited about the Earth. But our nation’s parks are in trouble.

In parks across the country, cell phone towers are starting to go up, suburbs are pushing closer and closer to park boarders, and funding to maintain parks is disappearing. And then there are the impacts of global warming - drought, increased forest fires, increased pollution, temperature variations and new invasive species. Putting a strain on these immensely important resources threatens wildlife and will be incredibly hard to reverse. The more we stress our national parks, the more important conservation will become.

Conservation and habitat restoration are areas that NWF fellows have worked on in the past and are currently working on this year as well. Melissa Fries and Edi Sonntag, both 2006 Campus Ecology Fellows, are working on habitat conservation projects. Melissa is working to protect fragile vernal pools around the Ohio State campus while Edi is completing an intensive survey of amphibians and reptiles on the Michigan State campus. As wild land encounters more man-made threats, this type of habitat work will become more and more important.