JOHN WALDMAN TALKS ABOUT THE CHALLENGES FACING NEW YORK HARBOR’S WILDLIFE.

New York Harbor has a long history that starts way back in the 1600s. It’s home to all kinds of species and wildlife, but throughout the 19th and 20th centuries the harbor was filled with trash and sewage sending the harbor on a downward trajectory. But now, it’s making a comeback and things are looking better. Today on the show we’re talking to John Waldman. He’s the author of Heartbeats in the Muck: The History, Sea Life, and Environment of New York Harbor which is now available from Fordham University Press.

An audio podcast of Waldman’s talk is streamable here.

JOHN WALDMAN TALKS ABOUT THE CHALLENGES FACING NEW YORK HARBOR’S WILDLIFE.

New York Harbor has a long history that starts way back in the 1600s. It’s home to all kinds of species and wildlife, but throughout the 19th and 20th centuries the harbor was filled with trash and sewage sending the harbor on a downward trajectory. But now, it’s making a comeback and things are looking better. Today on the show we’re talking to John Waldman. He’s the author of Heartbeats in the Muck: The History, Sea Life, and Environment of New York Harbor which is now available from Fordham University Press.

An audio podcast of Waldman’s talk can be streamed here.

You are invited to a public workshop and discussion about research and community planning steps for protecting and restoring trees and forests in Westchester.  This meeting is free and open to the public and is being held on Tuesday, November 12, 2019, at the Greenburgh Nature Center in Scarsdale, NY at 7:00 pm. Doors open at 6:30 pm for an informal networking session with some of the speakers and others working on these issues in the county.

BACKGROUND

Forests, trees and other green space provide a wide range of benefits for human health, environmental quality, wildlife and quality of life, and research and planning for how to protect and maximize these benefits is important for community planning and preparing for the impacts of climate change.  Dr. Andrew Reinmann, an ecologist at the City University of New York’s Advanced Science Research Center and Hunter College who focuses on forests in urban and suburban areas, is the leader of a current research project to assess certain benefits of forests in Westchester. The project will provide recommendations on where more trees can be planted, what tree species are likely to thrive in a changing climate, and how local communities can participate in restoring forest cover in Westchester.  Local partners in this project include Westchester County and the Westchester Land Trust.

TIME & LOCATION

Tuesday, November 12, 2019, at 7:00 pm; doors open at 6:30 pm for an informal networking session.

Greenburgh Nature Center, 99 Dromore Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583

Travel directions are available at this page at the Greenburgh Nature Center website.

At the workshop on November 12, Dr. Reinmann will give an overview of his research and take questions and suggestions on how this work can be useful to municipalities and other stakeholders.  Peter McCartt, the Director of Energy Conservation and Sustainability for County Executive George Latimer, and other speakers will give updates on the county’s Climate Crisis Task Force, plans for a county-wide tree campaign in 2020, and related research and community organizing activities.  Please come and share your ideas, questions, and local knowledge about how we can work together to protect and restore forests and enhance their benefits in Westchester. The project is being implemented with a grant from the NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary Program to the City University of New York Research Foundation.  Thanks to the Greenburgh Nature Center for hosting this meeting

For more information on this research, visit the project page on our website.

For more information, contact Simon Gruber, the community outreach coordinator for this project, at simon.gruber@cunysustainablecities.org, or 845-534-5622.

GREENING THE GRID: NEW YORK’S ENERGY FUTURE

Tuesday, December 5 at 6:30 pm at the Museum of the City of New York (1220 Fifth Avenue)

The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY), as part of its ongoing program New York’s Future in a Changing Climate, will present a panel discussion on the city’s future energy system.

Urban areas account for nearly three-quarters of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions. What can be done in order to mitigate the amount of emissions that New York City produces? In the face of changing demand, leaders in the industry are striving towards new forms of renewable energy. Ranging from community solar power networks to more efficient building methods – the face of energy is beginning to shift. Join innovators on the forefront of this industry for a conversation about what the future holds for NYC.

• Charles Allison, Associate Professor of Professional Practice, The New School

• Bomee Jung, Vice President of Energy and Sustainability, NYC Housing Authority

• Nilda Mesa, Urban Design Lab/Earth Institute, Columbia University

• Lawrence Orsini, Founder and CEO, LO3 Energy

• Michael Shank (moderator), Head of Communications for the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network

Register at the MCNY event page. Use promotional code FUTURE for tickets at the $15 member price.

Friday, November 9, 2018 at 7:00 PM

Hunter College, West Building, Room HW615

This page describes a past event hosted by the Institute for Sustainable Cities and co-organized by NYC H2O.  You can find more information about the event, including Adam Bosch’s slides used in the lecture, at this NYC H2O event page.  You can view video of the event at this NYC H2O Facebook page.

Adam Bosch, Director of Public Affairs for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), will discuss how DEP operates, maintains, and protects the largest municipal water supply in the United States. The talk will also include a special look at the $1 billion Delaware Aqueduct Bypass Tunnel project, the largest repair in the 176-year history of the City’s water supply.

The water supply is considered a marvel of modern engineering. Its system of reservoirs and aqueducts supplies 1 billion gallons of water each day to 8.6 million people in New York City and another 1 million people in the counties of Westchester, Putnam, Orange and Ulster. The programs that protect its reservoirs in the Catskills are considered a worldwide model for protecting the quality of water at its source.

As director of public affairs, Adam is charged with broadly sharing information about the City’s water supply with members of the public, local journalists, elected officials, and through education programs. Before joining DEP in 2012, Adam was a journalist in New York for more than a decade. His reporting earned five Associated Press awards for investigative reporting, breaking news coverage and public service.

Adam Bosch will be introduced by Dr. Allan Frei, Hunter College Professor of Geography, and Deputy Director of the Institute for Sustainable Cities at Hunter College.  Dr. Frei will discuss the ongoing climate modeling project he directs to understand the potential impact of climate change on New York City’s water system.

This free event is presented in collaboration with NYC H2O, and is open to the Hunter College community and the general public.  To RSVP for the event please click this link to the Eventbrite page.

NEW YORK LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS FORUM: GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE DELAWARE RIVER WATERSHED

Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 10:00am
Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library, 479 Broadway, Monticello, NY 12701

This policy forum will focus on the economic, social, and environmental benefits of green infrastructure (GI) as an approach to managing stormwater. We are bringing together expert speakers and panelists to provide an overview of green infrastructure vs. traditional gray approaches and how it can be used to protect and restore water quality in the Delaware River Watershed region. From innovative examples to barriers and opportunities, this policy forum will equip local landowners and municipal leaders with the information and tools needed to get involved and bring more GI to their communities.

Refreshments will be provided.

SPEAKERS/PANELISTS:

• George Schuler, The Nature Conservancy

• Freda Eisenberg, Commissioner, Sullivan County Department of Planning

• Paul Beyer, Director of Smart Growth, New York State Department of State

• Stephanie P. Dalke, Pinchot Institute for Conservation

• Bryan Quinn, Environmental Entrepreneur, founder and principal of One Nature

• Jeff Skelding, Executive Director, Friends of the Upper Delaware River

• Molly Oliver, Delaware County Department of Watershed Affairs

• Diana Weiner, Sullivan Renaissance

Register at this NYLCV event page.

THE SOCIOLOGY OF HORSESHOE CRABS AND THE HUMANS WHO USE THEM

Friday, May 11, 2018, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Hunter College West Building, Room HW615

Dr. Lisa Jean Moore of SUNY Purchase, author of Catch & Release, explores the interspecies relationships between humans and horseshoe crabs – our multiple sites of entanglement and enmeshment. Humans have literally harvested the life out of horseshoe crabs for multiple purposes; we interpret them for understanding geologic time; we bleed them for biomedical applications; we eat them as delicacies; we rescue them for conservation; we capture them as bait; and we categorize them as endangered after having once collected them for agricultural fertilizer. On the other hand, the crabs make humans matter by revealing our species vulnerability to endotoxins, offering career opportunities, profiting off of crab bodies, and fertilizing the soil of agricultural harvest for human food.

Dr. Moore’s lecture will be introduced by Dr. Elizabeth Albert of St. John’s University and author of Silent Beaches: Untold Stories of New York City’s Forgotten Waterfront; and by Matt Malina, Founder and Director of NYC H2O, our frequent collaborator for events and lectures.

This lecture is free and open to the public, but we ask that you RSVP at the Eventbrite page for the lecture.

REIMAGINING THE GOOD LIFE: SUSTAINABILITY ETHICS IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Breakfast 8:30 AM
Keynote 9:00 AM
Session I 10:00 AM
Session II 11:30 AM

Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College
47-49 East 65th Street (between Park and Madison Avenues)
New York, NY 10065

Click here to RSVP

“FEEDING THE APPLE: NEW YORK’S FUTURE FOOD SUPPLY”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18 AT 6:30 PM AT THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK (1220 FIFTH AVENUE)

The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY), as part of its ongoing program New York’s Future in a Changing Climate, will present a panel discussion on the future of the city’s food supply.

New York City is one of the world’s great food cities, brimming with culinary creativity and cuisines from around the world. At the same time, over a million New Yorkers have inadequate access to fresh, healthy food, and New Yorkers send over 2 million tons of food waste to landfills each year, while climate change threatens our food supply and the political environment imperils many agriculture workers.

How can we, as a city and as a world, transition to a more sustainable and equitable food system? What are the most far-reaching and provocative proposals for the future of food in New York? Dan Barber, chef and co-owner of two restaurants, Blue Hill in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY, joins New York Times Food reporter Julia Moskin for a conversation about how we can rethink what, and how, we eat.

A food industry revolutionary, Barber most recently spearheaded a pop-up restaurant, wastED, where he and guest chefs from around the country served meals composed entirely of ingredients destined for the garbage. From seeds to soil health to stem-to-root eating, Barber and Moskin will discuss what kind of menu will meet the challenges of the future—and do it deliciously.

Before and after the program, speak with representatives from Earth Day Initiative to find out how you can green your lifestyle through simple, impactful changes.

Register online at mcny.org/future | $20 with discount code FUTURE.

LIQUID ASSETS: NEW YORK’S WATERSHEDS & WATERWAYS

Thursday, February 22 at 6:30 pm at the Museum of the City of New York (1220 Fifth Avenue)

The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY), as part of its ongoing program New York’s Future in a Changing Climate, will present a panel discussion on the city’s watersheds and waterways.

What can New York City do to protect its drinking water supply and its recreational waters in the coming decades? How is that supply affected by climate change, and what must we do to adapt? Join us for a deep dive into NYC’s complex water systems, which powerfully illustrate our city’s dependency on – and symbiotic relationship to – its larger regional environment and economy.

• Al Appleton, former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection

• Eddie Bautista, Executive Director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance

• Paul Gallay, President of Riverkeeper

• Stacy Levy, environmental artist

• Jim Dwyer (moderator), New York Times reporter

Following the panel, the Valerie Green/Dance Entropy company will perform an excerpt from “Impermanent Landscape,” an immersive dance performance that captures the transient nature of living in an ever-changing urban environment. Impermanent Landscape is performed “in the round” in non-traditional locations, responding each time to the specific nature of the space.

Before and after the program, speak with representatives from Earth Day Initiative to find out how you can green your lifestyle through simple, impactful changes.

Register online at mcny.org/future | $15 with discount code FUTURE.

NEW YORK CITY’S STREAMS – A LECTURE BY ERIC SANDERSON

As beautiful as New York can be at times, the big buildings are as nothing compared to the humble artistry of a free-flowing stream running down to the sea. In this presentation, Dr. Eric Sanderson of the Welikia Project at the Wildlife Conservation Society and author of Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, looks back at the more 700 miles of streams that once coursed through the five boroughs.

After seven years of effort, he will share for the first time the digital elevation model of the pre-development topography his team has built, discuss why the climate and geology of the city together make our landscape conducive to streams and springs, give a borough by borough tour of ancient watersheds, and suggest how we can bring living water back to the stony city again.

Presented in collaboration with NYC H2O.  This event is free and open to the public, but we strongly encourage making a reservation at this Eventbrite site.

Friday, December 8, 2017, 7:00 to 9:00 PM, Hunter College West Building, Room HW-714

Enter Hunter College through the main entrance on the southwest corner of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue.

Eric Sanderson PhD is a landscape ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society. He is the author of Manahatta: A Natural History of NYC and Terra Nova: The New World After Oil, Cars, and Suburbs and other books.

CITY OF RISING WATERS: A SYMPOSIUM

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2017, 2:00 PM

The Museum of the City of New York will be hosting a symposium to mark the five year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, a watershed moment for New Yorkers’ awareness of the devastating impacts of climate change.  This afternoon program will examine how New York City can survive and embrace its future as a coastal city surrounded by rising waters.

This is the opening event in the new series, New York’s Future in a Changing Climate, which explores the challenges and opportunities presented in the Museum’s Future City Lab, the interactive third gallery in the New York at Its Core exhibition.

Reception and exhibition viewing to follow.

For additional information on the symposium and to purchase tickets go to the exhibit web page here.

Institute for Sustainable Cities at Hunter College supporters can receive reduced admission price for the symposium by entering the discount code FUTURE at checkout. 

SYMPOSIUM AGENDA AND DETAILS:

Conversation One | 2:00 pm
Confronting the Unthinkable
Novelist Amitav Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, joins Dr. Naomi Oreskes, author and historian of science, and Dr. Elke Weber, psychologist and social theorist, for a wide-ranging conversation moderated by journalist Andrew Revkin about the cultural and psychological context of climate change and the extreme difficulty we experience in facing the facts — and the future — head-on.

Conversation Two | 3:30 pm
Community Responses to Climate Change
In the face of inaction at the national level, cities and their residents represent the best hope for an effective response to climate change. Join a group of artists and community organizers at the forefront of these interventions for a conversation about creative approaches to climate change, from grassroots initiatives to provocative artistic projects.

Cecil Corbin-Mark, Deputy Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Mary Mattingly, visual artist and founder of Swale, a floating food forest built atop a barge
*Genea Foster, Climate Justice Policy Coordinator at UPROSE
Courtney St. John (moderator), Director of Energy Transition, Climate Nexus

**Please note that due to UPROSE’s work on the ongoing crisis in Puerto Rico, Elizabeth Yeampierre will no longer be able to participate in this event.

Schedule:
2:00 pm – Conversation One: Confronting the Unthinkable
3:15 pm – Intermission (coffee & tea)
3:30 pm – Conversation Two: Community Responses to Climate Change
4:45 pm – Reception and exhibition viewing (wine and light refreshments)
5:00 pm – Kubi Ackerman, Director of the Future City Lab, introduces the Lab
5:10 pm – Lab open for exploration; Museum guides will be stationed in the Lab to answer questions
6:00 pm – Museum closes

About the Speakers:
Cecil Corbin-Mark is Deputy Director and Director of Policy Initiatives for WE ACT for Environmental Justice in Harlem. Corbin-Mark previously worked for the Bronx County District Attorney, New York State Justice Honorable W. T. Martin, the Mellon Minority Scholars Program, and the New York Public Library.

Genea Foster coordinates the Climate Justice Center and the Protect Our Working Waterfront Alliance at UPROSE, an intergenerational, multi-racial, nationally recognized community organization that promotes sustainability and resiliency in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood.  An urban planner with expertise in environmental planning, community development, and community engagement, Foster works on projects addressing climate resiliency, sustainable energy, brownfield redevelopment, public health, and environmental gentrification.

Amitav Ghosh is the author of The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, published in July 2016. He is an award winning novelist whose books include The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines, and The Glass Palace. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages and his essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The New York Times.

Mary Mattingly is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work explores issues of sustainability, climate change, and displacement. She is the founder of Swale, a floating food forest built atop a barge that travels to piers in New York City, offering educational programming and welcoming visitors to harvest herbs, fruits, and vegetables for free.

Dr. Naomi Oreskes is Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. Her 2004 essay “The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change” (Science 306: 1686) has been widely cited, including in the Academy-award winning film An Inconvenient Truth and in Ian McEwan’s novel Solar.

Andrew Revkin (moderator, “Confronting the Unthinkable”) is Senior Reporter for climate and related issues at ProPublica. He has written on climate change for 30 years, from the Amazon to the North Pole, the White House to the Vatican. He joined the staff of the Pulitzer-winning public-interest newsroom in December after 21 years of writing for The New York Times. He has written acclaimed books on global warming, the changing Arctic, and the Amazon rain forest.

Courtney St. John (moderator, “Community Responses to Climate Change”) is Director of Energy Transition at Climate Nexus, a strategic communications group dedicated to highlighting the impacts of climate change and clean energy solutions in the United States. St. John previously held positions at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, on the U.S. Navy’s Task Force Climate Change, and as a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy. In 2015, Courtney was honored as a Climate “sHero,” one of 19 women working to advance action on climate change in New York City.

Dr. Elke Weber is the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment and Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Her research examines and models decision-making under risk and uncertainty and time delay from a psychological and neuroscience perspective, with a focus on understanding and potentially correcting the often far from rational environmental decisions we make.

Come join us October 12th to hear Alaskan Kate Troll share her stories and insights in dealing with being green in a bright red state. Most importantly Kate’s talk will focus on climate change and her “10 Points of Hope for Progress on Climate Change.”

In her new book, The Great Unconformity: Reflections on Hope in an Imperiled World, she uses the power of adventure storytelling to convey key policy insights and “hope spots” in dealing with the challenges of sustainability and climate change. To inspire and empower others, her talk highlights 10 points of hope for progress on climate change, leading to a robust discussion of the most practical ways to make a difference both personally and professionally.

Kate Troll, a long-time Alaskan, has more than 22 years’ experience in climate and energy policy, coastal management, and fisheries. She’s been elected to public office twice and is currently a regular columnist for the Alaska Dispatch News. In between, she climbs mountains, kayaks with the whales, runs wild rivers, and writes screenplays. The Great Unconformity draws in equal measure from her full career and adventurous life.

Thursday, October 12, 2017, 6:00 to 8:00 PM

Hunter College West Building, Faculty Dining Room, 8th Floor

Please note that this event is open to the public but registration through this Eventbrite pageis required.

Presented by Yale.nyc, the Yale Alumni Public Health Initiative, City Atlas and the Institute for Sustainable Cities at Hunter College.

Spend a visually engaging evening with Stacy Levy at a lecture on water, art, and ecology. Levy is an internationally known artist who specializes in creating artful, site-specific interventions and engagements with water ecology. This event will explore Levy’s collaborations with urban nature that meld art, engineering and ecology.

“Water is one of our favorite substances, yet we know very little about its ways,” says artist Stacy Levy. She explores the less visible aspects of water, from tiny microorganisms to large watersheds. This event will explore Levy’s collaborations with urban nature that meld art, engineering and ecology.

The lecture is presented in collaboration with NYC H2O, and will be held from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, Friday, May 12, 2017, in the Hunter College West Building, Room HW714.  The event is free and open to the public, but requires RSVP at the Eventbrite page.

Preceding the lecture, Levy will lead an interactive workshop from 4:00 to 5:30 PM. Workshop attendees will consider formerly visible waterways to create a temporary visualization of extinct patterns through a participatory drawing activity.

UPDATE:  There has been a change in the speaker lineup for the Gotham Center’s event on the future of sustainability in New York City.  Eric W. Sanderson of the Wildlife Conservation Society who recently spoke at an event hosted by the Institute will be speaking, as well as Denise Hoffman Brandt, Director of the Graduate Program in Landscape Architecture at the Spitzer School of Architecture, CUNY City College.

The Gotham Center for New York City History presents the panel discussion: Is New York’s Future Sustainable? Measuring the Historical Impact of Growth, and Planning for More.

Eric W. Sanderson, Senior Conservation Ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, founder of the Welikia Project, and author of Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, discusses the historical impact of development on the environment of New York City, and how we can restore the city’s ecology.

Denise Hoffman Brandt, Director of the Graduate Program in Landscape Architecture at the Spitzer School of Architecture, CUNY City College, reimagines the ideas of “city” and “nature” to make New York City greener and more sustainable.

Nilda Mesa, director of urban sustainability and equity planning at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, reflects on her experiences as NYC’s first Director of Sustainability, and the political challenges ahead.

Janet Babin, Economic Development Reporter for WNYC, moderates.

Wednesday, April 19th, 6:30 – 8 PM

The Graduate Center, CUNY

Elebash Recital Hall (Ground Floor)

Click here for more information.

A multi-disciplinary conference to imagine the potential for Green Infrastructure to act as a catalyst in driving urban design into the 22nd century.

The Institute for Sustainable Cities at Hunter College joins the City College of New York Student Chapter of the America Society of Landscape Architects to invite students and professionals from design, planning, engineering, and environmental fields to attend a day-long symposium and charrette to identify opportunities and strategies to expand the scope of green infrastructure.  This is an opportunity for the next generation of urbanist thinkers to catalyze and interdisciplinary and protracted approach to urban design.

The conference will take place on Friday, April 14, 2017, from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM in the Hunter College West Building, Room HW714.

Landscape architecture professional attendees of the conference will be eligible for 3.0 continuing education credits for attending the conference and participating in the design charrettes.

Advanced registration is required.  Click here to register.  Registration is $10 for students and $25 for professionals and the public.

Schedule:

Keynote  9:30 to 10:15 AM
Mark A. Focht, Deputy Commissioner & Chief Operating Officer, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation

Panel 1: How Can We Design Green Infrastructure with Greater Impact?  10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Rebecca Hill, RAFT
Alex Renner, E-Design
Thomas Reeves, FXFOWLE
Andrew Lavallee, Siteworks (moderator)

BYO Brown Bag Lunch  12:00 to 1:00 PM

Panel 2: How Can Green Infrastructure Engage More People and Places?  1:00 to 2:30 PM
Shaun O’Rourke, Green Infrastructure Director, The Trust for Public Land
Jason Smith, Biodiversity Ecologist, NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection
Lindsay Campbell, USDA Forest Service, NYC Urban Field Station
Thomas Rainer, Co-author, Planting in a Post-Wild World
Andrew Lavallee, Siteworks (moderator)

Gowanus Blue Charrette: Designing for Zero CSOs

Introduction  2:45 to 3:15 PM
Andrea Parker, Executive Director, Gowanus Canal Conservancy

Workshop  3:15 to 4:15 PM
Break into interdisciplinary groups to address design challenge.

Conclusion  4:15 to 5:00 PM
Presentation of designs and final remarks.

Creating Sustainable Cities: Pathways to Action, a half-day conference focusing on the science of urban sustainability for high school and college students.

Institute for Sustainable Cities at Hunter College, in collaboration with the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute and Duro UAS, will be hosting Creating Sustainable Cities: Pathways to Action, a half-day conference on Friday, March 10, 2017, from 1:00 to 5:00 PM in the Hunter College cafeteria on the 3rd floor of the West Building.  The conference will provide a unique platform for students, organizations, and employers to meet and learn about exciting opportunities in fields related to urban sustainability.

Topics will include local ecosystem restoration and resilience, urban transportation, tools for urban sustainability, avenues of community involvement, and the rise of citizen science. The goal of the event is to introduce high school and college students to the concept of urban sustainability and create awareness for opportunities to get engaged.

Conference participants will include representatives from:

• Institute for Sustainable Cities at Hunter College

• Women’s Environment and Development Organization

• Billion Oyster Project

• Regional Plan Association

• NOAA-CREST (CUNY City College)

• Science and Resiliency Institute at Jamaica Bay (CUNY Brooklyn College)

• City Atlas

• Mechanical Gardens Bike Coop

• Duro UAS

About our conference collaborators:

Bella Abzug Leadership Institute: BALI utilizes the signature leadership skills of the late New York Congresswoman Bella S. Abzug (1920-1998) to mentor and train middle and high school girls and college age women in the development of confidence and the critical skills needed to become effective, dynamic and visionary 21st century leaders as well as active and creative participants in civic, political, corporate and community life.

Duro UAS: Duro builds unmanned autonomous systems for environmental research and sustainable development applications, i.e. eco-drones. Duro’s mission is to create sustainable cities through better data collection.

If you are interested in the free event you can RSVP through the conference Eventbrite page.

E.E. Cummings once wrote, sitting near the long-since forgotten edge of Minetta Water in Greenwich Village,

…For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
it’s always our self we find in the sea.”

In this talk, Dr. Eric W. Sanderson of the Wildlife Conservation Society will attempt to find the part of the soul of New York City in its waterways, some missing, others less so.  We will wade into the braided streams of different disciplines, geology, hydrology, cartography, literature, ecology, as the Welikia Project does, to reconstruct the historical streamscape of New York. We will also flow forward to make visions of future waters through the Visionmaker Project. Sanderson will discuss latest findings from a new book about the Prospects for Resilience for Jamaica Bay, with special relevance to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers $3.8 billion plan to stabilize the Rockaway Peninsula and reduce flooding with a system of tidal gates.

Eric Sanderson, Ph.D. is a landscape ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society. He is the author of Manahatta: A Natural History of NYC and Terra Nova: The New World After Oil, Cars, and Suburbs  and other books.

This event is presented in collaboration with NYC H2O.  The presentation is free and open to the public, but please RSVP through this link.

The Institute for Sustainable Cities at Hunter College is pleased to host this presentation by Eric W. Sanderson, Ph.D. on Friday, December 9, 2016 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at Hunter College, West Building, Room W615.  Please enter Hunter College through our main entrance on 68th Street at Lexington Avenue.  Our campus is most easily accessed via the number 6 MTA subway line, 68th Street – Hunter College Station.

Friday, November 20, 2015, 7:00 – 9:00 PM

Room 714 Hunter West Building

The Institute for Sustainable Cities at Hunter College is pleased to present “Bringing Back New York’s Oysters”, a presentation by Pete Malinowski, Director of the Billion Oyster Project, to discuss the Project’s efforts to rebuild the oyster reefs that once populated New York Harbor.

“Oysters were once the dominant habitat type in New York Harbor. When Europeans first arrived, over 200,000 acres of reef provided food and habitat to hundreds of species of fish and invertebrates. Without its reef, the bottom of New York Harbor is flat with nowhere to hide and nothing to eat. At the Billion Oyster Project we are working to restore oysters to the Harbor, and with them the ecosystem services they provide. By working with public school students, we are working to connect a generation of New Yorkers with the ecosystem and to empower them with the knowledge that New York Harbor can be a healthier and more bountiful resource for all of us.“

Damian Griffin, an educator at MS 118 in the Bronx and citizen scientist, will describe how the Bronx River oyster reef was started in 2006 by a partnership with the NYC Parks Department and the New York Harbor School. It is now the largest, most successful reef in NY Harbor to date.  Says Griffin, “It is incredible that such an amazing ecosystem exists right below the surface; out of sight but not out of reach.”

This presentation is produced in partnership with the Billion Oyster Project, NYC H2O, a New York City based environmental education group, and the National Park Service.

Learn more about NYC H2O

Learn more about the Billion Oyster Project

Coverage of the launch of the Billion Oyster Project from the New York Environment Report

This event is free and open to the public, but we urge you to RSVP

Photo courtesy of the New York Environment Report

THE ETHICAL AND ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS OF INDIGENOUS RESILIENCE PLANNING
October 21st, 6:30-8:30pm, CUNY Graduate Center, Room C198 (Basement)

“RENEWING RELATIVES: INDIGENOUS RESILIENCE PLANNING”
-Kyle Pows Whyte, (Philosophy, Timnick Chair in the Humanities; Michigan State University)

INDIGENOUS ECOLOGICAL PATTERNS OF LANDSCAPE RESILIENCE IN THE NEW YORK CITY REGION: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE VISIONMAKING
-Eric Sanderson (Wildlife Conservation Society; www.visionmaker.us/nyc)

*Sponsored by the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department (CUNY GC), hosted by the Economic Democracy Project, and co-sponsored by the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay (www.srijb.org) and Students for a Democratic Alternative (SODA/CUNY).

These two talks address the importance of indigenous perspectives in making rural and urban areas more ecologically sustainable and socially resilient.  Kyle and Eric will discuss how current planning practices (from GIS to multistakeholder processes) can benefit from a long view of ecological history and the integration of contemporary indigenous knowledges and practices in the context of municipal, state, national and international planning for climate change that addresses economic inequality and the demands of democracy.
-contact: morphospace@gmail.com

ABSTRACT for “Renewing Relatives: Theories, Cases and Experiences of Indigenous Resilience Planning” by Kyle Pows Whyte:

Indigenous peoples have long standing planning practices that their communities relied on since time immemorial. The resurgence of these planning practices is a major way in which Indigenous peoples in North American and beyond are addressing a range of sustainability issues, from climate change adaptation to environmental justice. This presentation covers the background theories and ideas that inform Indigenous planning practices and some key cases. Dr. Whyte will draw on his own experiences working on Tribal climate change planning in the Great Lakes region as well as on U.S. climate policy issues that affect Tribes. A key part of the presentation will be the exploration of Indigenous concepts of resilience and their relationship to the planning efforts of Indigenous communities and nations.

BIO for KYLE POWS WHYTE
Kyle holds the Timnick Chair in the Humanities in the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University. He is a faculty member of the Environmental Philosophy & Ethics graduate concentration and serves as a faculty affiliate of the American Indian Studies and Environmental Science & Policy programs. His primary research addresses moral and political issues concerning climate policy and Indigenous peoples and the ethics of cooperative relationships between Indigenous peoples and climate science organizations. He is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. His articles have appeared in journals such as Climatic Change, Sustainability Science, Environmental Justice, Hypatia, Ecological Processes, Synthese, Human Ecology, Journal of Global Ethics, American Journal of Bioethics, Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics, Ethics, Policy & Environment, and Ethics & the Environment.

Kyle’s work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Climate Science Center, Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center, Mellon Foundation, Sustainable Michigan Endowed Program and Spencer Foundation. He serves on the U.S. Department of Interior’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science and is involved in the Climate and Traditional Knowledges Workgroup, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Everybody Eats: Cultivating Food Democracy, Humanities for the Environment, the Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and the American Philosophical Association Committee on the Status of Indigenous Philosophers.

ABSTRACT FOR: INDIGENOUS ECOLOGICAL PATTERNS OF LANDSCAPE RESILIENCE
IN THE NEW YORK CITY REGION: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE VISIONMAKING

When Henry Hudson arrived on September 12, 1609, the long narrow wooded island called Mannahatta represented an ecological development millions of years in the making and housed an indigenous people, the Lenape, who were only the latest in a human history that stretches back nearly 8000 years in the New York City region.  The Mannahatta Project, on the historical landscape ecology of Manhattan, encouraged New Yorkers not only to take to heart the indigenous past, but to think forward about what the next 400 years might bring to the city. Over the last six years, two further projects have grown out of Mannahatta.  The Welikia Project explores the historical ecology of the rest of New York City in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island; and Visionmaker.nyc gives all New Yorkers a free, web-based tool to develop and share visions of future sustainability and landscape resilience.  Dr. Sanderson will describe the latest finding from the Welikia and Visionmaker projects and connect them to current efforts to protect, restore, and cherish the nature in New York City.

BIO for ERIC SANDERSON
Eric W. Sanderson is a Senior Conservation Ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the author of two books:  Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City (Abrams, 2009) and Terra Nova:  The New World After Oil, Cars, and Suburbs (Abrams, 2013).  He also teaches periodically at Columbia University and New York University (NYU) and serves on the board of the Natural Areas Conservancy, a public/private organization committed to supporting New York’s 10,000 acres of wild lands, and the executive council of the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay.  Trained as an ecosystem and landscape ecologist, Sanderson is committed to helping cities understand their critical role in the conservation of nature, starting with his home in New York.  WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.

The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) at Hunter College will be holding a biking event at Poses Park this Thursday, Oct. 8, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm to promote the new bike racks and tire pump funded through a TGIF grant. The event will have a bike repair demonstration from a local bike shop, a presentation on safe biking from NYC Department of Transportation, a presentation from a biking advocacy group, and discussion of creating a student biking group here at Hunter. TGIF funding is available for other biking related proposals and we will have information on how you can apply.

Also, free pizza and giveaways like bike lights and repair tool kits!

If you are a member of the Hunter College community and want to promote biking on campus we look forward to seeing you at Poses Park on Thursday!

When: Friday April 10, 2015, 7:00pm 

Where: Hunter College Room 714 (West Building)

It can be argued that using chlorine in drinking water created the biggest improvement in public health in modern history. Typhoid fever was not eradicated in the U.S. until the widespread use of water disinfection was realized.

Michael McGuire, PhD, is the author of The Chlorine Revolution. McGuire will recount the story of how chlorine first got introduced into municipal drinking water supplies and its ensuing critical impact in advancing 20th century public health.

Anne Seeley, M.P.H., is Section Chief of Health Assessment & Policy Coordination for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Seeley will talk about how NYC treats its water and why the city has such excellent quality drinking water.
Tickets are free but reservations are required.

Click here to RSVP.

When/Where: Friday March 13 at 7pm – Hunter College West Building Room HW714

The High Bridge is slated to reopen as a walkway in summer 2015. Come hear Bryan Diffley, the Project Manager of the renovation, speak about NYC’s oldest standing bridge. An engineering treasure, the High Bridge was built in 1848 to bring water from the Bronx into Manhattan via the Croton Aqueduct, and remained in use for the Croton system until 1955. Its deck was used as a pedestrian bridge until the 1970’s when it was closed due to vandalism. The city began restoring the bridge in 2012.

The High Bridge was designed by John B. Jervis, Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, modeled on the great aqueducts of the Roman Empire.  In fact, the Croton was the longest aqueduct built since the Roman era!

Tickets are free but reservations are required. Click here to RSVP.

More on NYC H20When/Where: Friday March 13 at 7pm – Hunter College West Building Room HW714

The High Bridge is slated to reopen as a walkway in summer 2015. Come hear Bryan Diffley, the Project Manager of the renovation, speak about NYC’s oldest standing bridge. An engineering treasure, the High Bridge was built in 1848 to bring water from the Bronx into Manhattan via the Croton Aqueduct, and remained in use for the Croton system until 1955. Its deck was used as a pedestrian bridge until the 1970’s when it was closed due to vandalism. The city began restoring the bridge in 2012.

The High Bridge was designed by John B. Jervis, Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, modeled on the great aqueducts of the Roman Empire.  In fact, the Croton was the longest aqueduct built since the Roman era!

Tickets are free but reservations are required. Click here to RSVP.

More on NYC H20

HUNTER COLLEGE’S EAST HARLEM ART GALLERY AND INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES AT HUNTER COLLEGE PRESENTS:

OCEANS OF TRASH: TACKLING MARINE PLASTIC POLLUTION

A PROGRAM IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE EXHIBITION WASHED UP: TRANSFORMING A TRASHED LANDSCAPE, PHOTOS BY ALEJANDRO DURÁN.

Saturday, January 31, 2015
2:30 – 5PM with reception to follow
Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work
Auditorium
2180 Third Ave at 119th Street
New York, NY 10035

Speakers include:

5 Gyres
The 5 Gyres Institute conducts research and communicates about the global impact of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. 5 Gyres employs strategies to eliminate the accumulation of plastic pollution in the five subtropical gyres. 5 Gyres founders Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins will present on their most recent research.

Alejandro Durán
Artist Alejandro Durán’s fascination with collecting and rearranging trash on the shores of Mexico’s Sian Ka’an region led to his ongoing project, Washed Up. As an educator, filmmaker, and artist, Alejandro’s work promotes awareness of ocean pollution and advocates for change.

Carson Farmer 
Carson Farmer is Associate Director of the Center for Advanced Research of Spatial Information (CARSI) where he works on a number of urban issues, ranging from transportation to human impacts on the oceans. Recently, Carson has begun to examine sustainability issues surrounding urban impacts on the worlds oceans from a quantitative and policy perspective with Dr. Tim Stojanovic from St Andrews University in Scotland.

Plus more exciting participants and practitioners.

Supported by the American Chai Trust and Hunter College Arts Across the Curriculum program sponsored by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

For more information, please contact ehartg@hunter.cuny.edu

Download a PDF flier for the event.

In 2001 the MTA retired its fleet of Redbird subway cars. It gave the trains to states on the Atlantic coast to serve as artificial reefs for fish. The program has been successful in supporting the web of undersea life and attracts game fish, which in turn draws sport fishermen and scuba divers to the reefs. New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia have “reefed” about 1,000 subway cars in all from the MTA.

Come hear Bob Martore, the Artificial Reef Manager from South Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources, explain how subway cars help provide homes for marine life.

When:  Friday, November 14, 2014, 7-8:30 PM

Where: Hunter College, Room 714 West, Entrance on 68th Street and Lexington Avenue (6 Train to 68th Street / Hunter College)

Please Click Here to RSVP.

John Waldman is the author of the new book, Running Silver: Restoring Atlantic Rivers and Their Great Fish Migrations.  Prior to being a professor of biology at Queens College, he worked for 20 years at the Hudson River Foundation.  His talk will explore the historic abundance of fisheries in the Hudson River Watershed, including the Moodna Creek, and discuss what can be done to restore them.  Fee includes appetizers, special prix-fixe three-course dinner, networking and book signing opportunity. Cash bar. Space is limited.  Cost $25.00 paid at the dinner. RSVP required by Friday, June 27 at 1 pm – call (845) 615-3868 orecruz@orangecountygov.com. Location:  Brookside Grill in Highland Mills, NY. www.brooksidegrillny.net

The Moodna Creek Watershed Intermunicipal Council and its Education and Outreach Committee and Science and Data Committee are made up of designated representatives from 15 municipalities within the Watershed, the OCWA, as well as non-governmental organizations and individuals. The Council and its Committees will work cooperatively to address priority issues of the Moodna Creek and its watershed. The creation of the Council was an outcome of the Moodna Creek Watershed Conservation and Management Plan. Benefits of forming the Council include increased eligibility for many grants, due to intermunicipal partnership, improved communication across municipal boundaries and more effective solutions to water resource issues due to comprehensive (watershed) approach and coordination of organizational efforts.

Information about the Council and other educational events this month can be found at:

http://waterauthority.orangecountygov.com/moodna_council.html

Experts from the City University of New York, public and nonprofit sectors, and city government discuss lessons learned from the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy.

SESSION TOPICS:

1) Science, Climate, and Storm Prediction

2) New York City Natural Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response

3) Public Health & Health Care Services Post-Sandy

SESSION 1 – SPEAKERS:

Dr. William J. Fritz

Dr. William Solecki

Dr. Frank Buonaiuto

Dr. Allan Frei

SESSION 2 – SPEAKERS:

Andrew Boyarsky

Donald A. Winters

Brian Hartig

Dr. Michael Kress

Laura Popa

Dr. Stephen Brier, moderator

SESSION 3 – SPEAKERS:

Kate McKenzie

Jack Carvanos

Dr. Irwin Redlener

Dr. Nicholas Freudenberg, moderator

WHERE:

The Graduate Center

365 Fifth Avenue

1201: Elebash Recital Hall

WHEN:

May 29, 2013: 9:00 AM-1:00 PM

ADMISSION:

Free – first come, first served.

CONTACT INFO:

212-817-8215

What: This visual presentation brings into conversation diverse and intriguing perspectives on the relationship between nature and America’s most prominent city. The author intermingles elements of natural history, urban ecology, and environmental politics, providing fresh insights into nature and the urban environment on one of the world’s great stages for the clash of these seemingly disparate realms – New York City.

When: Monday, May 20, 2013, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Where: Mid-Manhattan Library (Map and directions)

About the Speaker:

Professor John Waldman, works on the ecology and evolution of anadromous fishes, historical ecology, and urban waterways; he is an expert on the environment and management of New York’s harbor. Before joining Queens College, he worked for 20 years at the Hudson River Foundation for Science and Environmental Research. Waldman’s recent books include Heartbeats in the Muck: A Dramatic Look at the History, Sea Life, and Environment of New York Harbor and The Dance of the Flying Gurnards: America’s Coastal Curiosities and Beachside Wonders. Professor Waldman is one of the key leaders of The Institute to Nurture New York’s Nature at Queens College and one of the organizers of BioBlitz which surveys thousands of acres within the federally protected Gateway National Recreation Area, which straddles New York and New Jersey. (For information on the BioBlitz, see http://nbii-nin.ciesin.columbia.edu/jamaicabay/index.html)