Bard EUS students advocating for the health of Tivoli Bays during the March (Marsh) for Science.
Bard engages in sustainability efforts on multiple fronts.
The College offers undergraduate, graduate, and dual-degree programs in environmental studies, science and policy. Bard students, faculty, and staff work locally and nationally toward a future where we can thrive. Initiatives coordinated by the Bard Office of Sustainability (BOS) are taking the Annandale campus closer to its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035.
Wednesday, October 23, 2024 | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 | Avery Art Center; Avery/Ottaway Theater
Director Natalie Zimmerman and producer Guetty Felin in attendance!
Oceania: Journey to the Center, a film by Natalie Zimmerman and Tekinati Ruka, begins on a coral atoll predicted to become uninhabitable by 2030 due to rising sea levels and temperatures brought by climate change. We are invited on a journey with a mother and her adult son as they strive to maintain their culture, freedom, and independence after decades of colonizing encounters. Join us for the screening!
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds online informational sessions for prospective students to learn more about graduate school.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds online informational sessions for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
Join us on Tuesday, November 12, 2024 at 7:00pm ET to learn about our programs directly from Director Eban Goodstein and the admissions team. There will be a time for questions at the end of the session. Register here!
WHAT WE COVER:
Overview of graduate program offerings
Alumni success and career outcomes
Admissions information
Financial aid and scholarships
Prerequisite course information
Tips for a standout application
A $65 application fee waiver is available to those who participate in the webinar.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds online informational sessions for prospective students to learn more about graduate school.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds online informational sessions for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
Join us on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 7:00pm ET to learn about our programs directly from Director Eban Goodstein and the admissions team. There will be a time for questions at the end of the session. Register here!
WHAT WE COVER:
Overview of graduate program offerings
Alumni success and career outcomes
Admissions information
Financial aid and scholarships
Prerequisite course information
Tips for a standout application
A $65 application fee waiver is available to those who participate in the webinar.
What Is Your Why? Laurie Husted Talks about Sustainability Work on Campus and Off
Why do civic engagement leaders get involved in the work they do? What keeps them going in the face of challenges? In this series, What Is Your Why?, the Bard College Center for Civic Engagement highlights campus and local changemakers. In this episode, Chief Sustainability Officer Laurie Husted talks with Vice President of Civic Engagement Erin Cannan about her roles at Bard and in the Town of Red Hook. She discusses the transformative, newly passed federal climate legislation, and how ocean and climate scientist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson inspires her to find purpose and joy.
What Is Your Why? Laurie Husted Talks about Sustainability Work on Campus and Off
Achieving climate solutions can feel like a daunting task. Where does one start? Read this article from Generation 180, featuring the venn diagram created by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, which Laurie Husted mentioned in her interview.
Bard students prepare a meal at the Montgomery Place Campus for Food Days, one of a series of food sustainability events held at Bard every autumn. Photo by Sarah Wallock ’19.
Bard College Farm: This student-run organic farm sells produce to the College dining service, works to educate students about food systems, and connects Bard to the local agricultural community.
BardEATS: This partnership among Bard students, dining service, faculty, and staff aims to increase food purchasing transparency, reduce waste, promote food access, and support local farms.
The C2C Fellows Network at the Bard Center for Environmental Policy involves students across the nation in conversations about climate solutions with elected officials.
Environmental stewardship is a core element of Bard’s emphasis on civic engagement and social responsibility. The College offers rigorous, interdisciplinary training in environmental studies and ensures that all undergraduate students receive science education. Undergraduate and graduate dual-degree programs are available with the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, as are grad programs in environmental policy and environmental education, climate science and policy, and the Bard MBA in Sustainability.
Discover Magazine Speaks with Biology Professor Bruce Robertson About Evolutionary Traps
Evolutionary traps are problems, most often human-created changes to the environment, which animals encounter and are not prepared for through natural selection. Discover magazine talks to Bard Associate Professor of Biology Bruce Robertson and cites his research on some of the most concerning evolutionary traps, such as Australian death adders poisoning themselves by preying on non-native toad species.
Discover Magazine Speaks with Biology Professor Bruce Robertson About Evolutionary Traps
Associate Professor of Biology Bruce Robertson. Photo by Karl Rabe
Evolutionary traps are problems, most often human-created changes to the environment, which animals encounter and are not prepared for through natural selection. For example, toxic plastics that look like food or artificial lights that mimic stars in the night sky but have no navigational value. Animals lack the behavioral tools to handle them and thus make maladaptive choices that make it difficult for them to survive. Discover magazine talks to Bard Associate Professor of Biology Bruce Robertson and cites his research on some of the most concerning evolutionary traps, such as sea turtle hatchlings heading inland instead of into the water due to being confused by beachfront lights or Australian death adders poisoning themselves by preying on non-native toad species. “Traps will cycle populations toward extinction extremely rapidly,” Robertson says. “They’re like demographic black holes.”
Bard Professors Gabriel Perron and Swapan Jain Receive Research Support from Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
Bard Associate Professor of Biology Gabriel G. Perron and Bard Associate Professor of Chemistry Swapan S. Jain have received $46,000 from the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture to study the impact of farming practices on the nutritional content and microbial diversity of fermented vegetables, which complements existing funds of $50,000 from Hudson Valley Farm Hub to study soil health.
Bard Professors Gabriel Perron and Swapan Jain Receive Research Support from Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
Bard College Food Microbiology class visits the Stone Barns Center.
Bard Associate Professor of Biology Gabriel G. Perron and Bard Associate Professor of Chemistry Swapan S. Jain have received $46,000 from the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture to study the impact of farming practices on the nutritional content and microbial diversity of fermented vegetables, which complements existing funds of $50,000 from Hudson Valley Farm Hub to study soil health. “Getting support from such an important organization not only enables us to continue our work on agroecology, but also gives us visibility at the national level,” said Gabriel G. Perron. Both Perron and Jain are also associated with the Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities at Bard.
The Stone Barns Center funds will be used to study and document the impact of frost on the nutritional value of raw and fermented cabbage. Perron and Jain will also be investigating how frost impacts the microbial communities developing during fermentation, which affects the probiotic qualities of fermented cabbage (e.g. sauerkraut). This project will be conducted in collaboration with farmers at Stone Barns, chefs at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and Bard College researchers Perron and Jain. Former Bard student Pearson Lau ’19, who recently published his Senior Project on the effect of chlorination on sourdough starter cultures, will also be part of the research team. Professors Perron and Jain plan to involve current Bard undergraduates in their research project. This collaboration has also made it possible to bring students from Bard and Bard NYC to visit Stone Barns and Blue Hill at Stone Barns as part of their respective classes.
“We are very excited about this wonderful collaboration with farmers and chefs in our local community. This work will help us in addressing important questions related to nutrition and the overall health of our food ecosystem,” said Swapan S. Jain.
Post Date: 09-24-2024
Bard College Receives $1 Million Grant from Burpee Foundation to Support the Creation of the Burpee Trial Garden at Montgomery Place Campus
Bard College has been awarded a $1 million grant to be paid over four years toward supporting the Burpee Trial Garden, which will be located at the Montgomery Place Campus. The trial garden will revitalize the fallow lawn beds at Montgomery Place that historically grew vegetables and flowers and will engage Bard students in horticultural research and hands-on scientific investigation with real-world applications.
Bard College Receives $1 Million Grant from Burpee Foundation to Support the Creation of the Burpee Trial Garden at Montgomery Place Campus
Bard students in the Montgomery Place greenhouse. Photo by China Jorrin ’86
Bard College has been awarded a $1 million grant to be paid over four years toward supporting the Burpee Trial Garden, which will be located at the Montgomery Place Campus. The trial garden will revitalize the fallow lawn beds at Montgomery Place that historically grew vegetables and flowers and will engage Bard students in horticultural research and hands-on scientific investigation with real-world applications. Trial gardens measure how well a specific cultivar or variety will perform in a specific area or growing condition. These trials evaluate new varieties compared to an industry standard plant from germination to maturity or from seed to harvest. Bard students will design and evaluate the cultivation of new and experimental seeds and plants and explore climate-resilient plant introductions and adaptations at the Burpee Trial Garden. Students will utilize the scientific method, plant and insect identification, pests and diseases, genetics, biology, plant breeding and propagation, and the effects of climate on plant vigor. This project will help to determine how these plants perform in our mid-Hudson River Valley growing conditions, inspire the gardening public to explore new varieties and plant combinations, and educate the professional horticulture industry and garden visitors about its findings and recommendations.
The Burpee Trial Garden at Montgomery Place campus gives Bard students the opportunity to learn how to design, plan, and execute a planting schedule, develop skills to maintain display-quality working gardens, and interpret them for visitors on a public site. This opportunity further instills a passion for plants in students, inspires their commitment to nurture their environment, and opens up knowledge of plant-related careers.
“We are thrilled that the Burpee Foundation will help Bard restore and revive the historic formal gardens at the Montgomery Place campus, since they have been left fallow for decades. The new Burpee Trial Garden will showcase various varieties of vegetables and flowers that will be open to the public and act as a unique educational opportunity for students interested in research, horticulture, agriculture, and ecology. We are very excited to begin work on enhancing and using the gardens and reporting and sharing the results. Additionally, the grant award allows Bard to show their unwavering commitment to the stewardship of the campus landscape with a dedicated arboretum director and additional gardener positions,” said Bard’s Director of Horticulture and Arboretum Amy Parrella ’99.
Comprising more than 1000 acres along the historic Hudson River, the Bard Arboretum serves as both a place for enjoyment as well as a living classroom. Working to promote environmental and social justice, the Arboretum engages with the ecological and horticultural biodiversity of the Hudson River Valley as well as the political narratives that have shaped the land.
The Burpee Foundation is committed to reducing hunger and promoting well-being through investment in horticultural and agricultural projects across the US and around the world. The Foundation was established in 2003 by George Ball ’73, when he became the sole owner of W. Atlee Burpee Company, the innovative and iconic American horticultural company whose beautiful mail order catalogues, along with Sears Roebuck’s, were the mainstays of American farms and homes during the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries. Since its inception, the Foundation has made approximately $6.5 million in gifts consistent with its mission to more than 75 charitable organizations.
