Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation

 
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June, 2012

 

Switzer Programs and Network News

 Upcoming Conferences 

 Fellows in the News Highlights

  


PROGRAMSI.  Switzer Programs and Network News

 

1.   Welcome 2012 Fellows!

2.   Spring Retreats 2013:  Advance Planning

3.   June Highlights:  Switzer Network News, Discussions and Videos

4.   Missed our April or May Webinars?  Materials now available!

5.   Upcoming Events and Webinars

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springretreats1.  WELCOME, 2012 FELLOWS!

 

Twenty new Fellows have joined the Switzer Network in New England and California!  To the 2012 Fellows:  Welcome to the Switzer Network and to your first edition of our monthly E-News! 

 

To the Switzer Network:  We will be formally announcing the new Fellows and grants on the Switzer website by late June.  Links to the announcements will appear in the July edition of E-News.  Stay tuned!

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interviewers2.  SPRING RETREATS 2013:  ADVANCE PLANNING

 

NEW ENGLAND:

Planning is underway for a spring 2013 Fellows' retreat in New England, where we will take an in-depth look at coastal and marine spatial planning and how it impacts marine mammal conservation and other marine conservation efforts.  Coastal and marine-oriented Fellows on east and west coasts:  contact Erin if you'd like to help with planning.  We'll be in touch with the Coastal and Marine affinity group via that listserve, so make sure you've joined if you want to be involved!  (Contact Erin if you want to join that affinity group and need help doing so.)

 

CALIFORNIA:

Several Fellows have suggested that the 2013 Spring California Retreat focus on Bay/Delta issues.  Contact Erin to be part of the planning effort!  We will forward and share ideas now, and most of the planning will take place in the fall.

 

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 febhighlights3.  JUNE HIGHLIGHTS:  SWITZER NETWORK NEWS, DISCUSSIONS AND VIDEOS

 

[Note to Fellows:  we are experimenting with a shorter version of E-News that links back to our website wherever possible, rather than providing lengthy descriptions of each item.  We are interested in your feedback!  Please contact Erin with any thoughts on this approach.]

 

FEATURED FELLOW - MICHAEL STEVENS:

Large-scale ranching is often blamed for many environmental ills, but Michael Stevens's work proves that it can be different.  Find out how he works with clients worldwide to improve the management, conservation, scientific and natural resource production, and marketing of non-profit organizations, investment firms, and private landowners.

 

BLOG DISCUSSION:  Limiting CO2 Requires Thinking on Both Sides of the Equation (Kathy Fallon Lambert, 1991 Fellow, Science & Policy Integration Project Director, Harvard Forest)

 

BLOG DISCUSSION:  Money Laundering and Peru's Forest Health  (Andrea Johnson, 2004 Fellow, Forest Campaigns Director, Environmental Investigation Agency)

 

BLOG DISCUSSION:  RocketHub and Funding for Coral Reef Research

(Jennifer O'Leary, 2006 Fellow, Lead Scientist, OneReef, and Research Associate, UC Santa Cruz)

 

BLOG DISCUSSION:  Specialized Content is Now Just a Click Away on Switzernetwork.org!

(Lauren Hertel, 2003 Fellow, Communications Manager, Switzer Foundation)

 

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT:  Electrifying Villages in India

The reality for some 80% of India's population is that there is no running water or electricity.  For 2008 Switzer Fellow Dipti Vaghela this presents a significant opportunity.  

 

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missedwebinars4.  MISSED our APRIL OR MAY WEBINARS?  MATERIALS NOW AVAILABLE!

  

How to Write and Publish a Book, with Switzer Fellows Eric Jay Dolin, Thor Hanson, Mark Elbroch and Susan Clark.  Hear fantastic advice for first-time authors from published Switzer Fellow authors.

 

Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Reform, with Switzer Fellow Hugh Hogan.  Link your work in sustainable agriculture and food systems into larger ongoing efforts nationally or globally.

 

Using Google Tools in Your Organization (Switzer Digital Skills webinar with Lauren Hertel).  Shift your organization to cloud computing with Google's array of low-cost tools.

 

Go Botany! A Behind-the-Scenes Tour with Switzer Fellow Elizabeth Farnsworth.  See how this new web guide to New England plants informs and inspires sustainable action.

 

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events5.  UPCOMING EVENTS AND WEBINARS:

 

EVENTS:

 

July 17:  Society for Conservation Biology, North America Congress:  Using Film to Communicate Science to a Broad Audience.  Switzer Fellows Kristy Deiner (2010) and Matt Hamilton (2010) have organized a workshop on conservation filmmaking best practices as part of a full day event on film and science communication at SCB's North America conference.  Through a Switzer Network Innovation grant, there is funding available to partially support Switzer Fellow participation.  The workshop will run during the day on Tuesday, July 17th, and will be followed by a networking reception and a showcasing of films.  Workshop participants must register for the full day of the conference, but all Fellows (and the general public) can attend the film night for free.  

Location:  SCB North America Congress, Oakland, CA

Date:  Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Click here for the Switzer blog post written by Kristy and Matt, for more information.

Contact Kristy Deiner or Matt Hamilton if you are interested in attending.

Deadline:  No deadline, but registration fees for the workshop increase as the date approaches.

 

WEBINARS:

 

June 25Blogging About Your Work.  Join us for a roundtable as Switzer Fellows discuss all of the ways you can use blogs and blogging to spread the word about your science, activism, and more. 

Register now!

1 -2 pm Eastern/10 -11 am Pacific

 

July 9:  Working and Collaborating Remotely.  Learn about tools that can help you work and collaborate effectively in the cloud, and explore some work flows that have worked for others.  (Note:  this event was rescheduled from February, 2012.)

Register now!

1 -2 pm Eastern/10 -11 am Pacific

 

July 10, July 25, or August 6:  Fellow Website and Social Media Training.  This short webinar will acquaint you with the suite of web-based tools offered through the Switzer Foundation for communications and networking among Fellows.  Specifically designed for new Fellows, but all Fellows welcome if you need a refresher!  (Note:  this webinar is offered three times over the summer:  July 10, July 25, and August 6.  You need only attend one.)  Contact Lauren Hertel with any questions!

2  - 3 pm Eastern

Click here to register for the July 10 webinar.

Click here to register for the July 25 webinar.

Click here to register for the August 6 webinar.

 

July 18:  Innovation in Species Conservation:  Conservation Banking for Candidate Species, with Switzer Fellows Todd Gartner and Josh Donlan.  Todd, of the World Resources Institute, and Josh, of Advanced Conservation Strategies, have been working under a Switzer Collaborative Initiatives grant to develop a pilot conservation marketplace for endangered species - a concept that has gained considerable attention nationwide as a potential conservation and conflict resolution strategy for species like the gopher tortoise, sage grouse and lesser prairie chicken, and that is the subject of proposed rulemaking by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Todd and Josh will introduce their work to date, including the structure, promise and challenges of conservation banking.

Register now!

1 - 2 pm Eastern/10 - 11 am Pacific

 

 

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CALENDARII.  UPCOMING CONFERENCES

Please let Erin know if you will be attending any of these conferences.  We can help Fellows connect with each other. 
 
Also check our calendar for specific listings of Fellows who are presenting at these conferences.

June 20-22: Rio+20 Earth Summit 2012, Rio de Janeiro
Aug 5-10:     Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR
  
Is there a conference or training event you think we should include on this calendar?  Please let
 Erin know.
 

   

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UPDATESIII.  'FELLOWS IN THE NEWS' HIGHLIGHTS  Here are some professional updates and highlights from Fellows in the News on the Switzer website!    

 

Kelly Sims Gallagher was quoted by Bloomberg News about the looming threat to the climate from Chinese coal processing.

 

Harry Beller and his team have discovered a fragrant new biofuel.  Click here for the story in Science Codex.

 

Dara O'Rourke was quoted in The New York Times about fixing Apple's supply lines.

 

Evan Hansen's company released a report that West Virginia's farming potential could make the state self-sufficient.  Click here for the story in the State Journal.

 

Rachel Morello-Frosch was honored for her commitment to the public good with a Chancellor's Service Award at UC Berkeley.

 

Eric Sievers's company, Ethanol Europe, just brought its Hungarian ethanol plant online.  Click here for the story in Ethanol Producers Magazine.

 

Andrea Johnson was quoted in the Los Angeles Times and other news outlets about the Environmental Investigation Agency's new report about the significant American role in illegal logging in Peru.  (See the Switzer blog discussion for Andrea's take on the report and the Switzer Foundation's assistance.)

 

Greg Norris's project, Handprinter.org, was named one of "Ten Ideas Currently Changing Your Life" by Time Magazine.

 

Frank Lowenstein wrote in the Los Angeles Times that "the Titanic today might dodge better but would encounter more icebergs."

 

David Wiley's team at the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary has released a new Whale Alert app that helps mariners avoid endangered right whales.  Click here to read more.  Dave's efforts to save whales have also been recognized in a new movie and a book - read more in SouthCoastToday.com.

 

Ayana Johnson has accepted the position of Director of Science and Solutions at the Waitt Foundation.  Read more on Ayana's blog.

 

To read all recent Fellows in the News updates, please visit our website!

 

(Fellows, send your news and updates to Erin!)  

     

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