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Fall Events Bring Fellows Together
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| Isella Ramirez (R) with co-presenter at EGA conference
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As we close out our fall events and edge ever closer to winter, we take a moment to appreciate the efforts of Fellows who attended the fall retreats and took part in our leadership trainings. From a staff perspective, the retreats are a rejuvenating force in our work - getting to see you all in person is a treat! We can also step back and appreciate the connections Fellows make with each other and watch them forge new friendships, alliances, and partnerships. It is gratifying to us, and provides a measure of hope that some of our most complex and urgent problems are being addressed by the best people for the job - our Fellows. Read Lissa's post about the fall retreats and leadership trainingsThis fall, we were also pleased to be able to offer five Fellows the opportunity to attend the annual meeting of the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) in New York. Fellows expanded their networks, met with leaders in their field, and learned more about how environmental philanthropy works. Read Lissa's post about the EGA conference. Coming up next for us: 2016 Fellowship applications, and continued planning for our 30th anniversary events!
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Switzer 30th Anniversary Events - Dates and Locations
We hope to see many of you at a celebratory event this year! We have an exciting line-up in a number of regions across the country. See dates and locations below, and please stay tuned for further details. And, if you live in an area that is not represented here and are interested in planning a gathering, please let us know!
Saturday, March 12, 2016, 6:00 pm: Reception and dinner, with keynote speaker, 1993 Fellow Jason Grumet, at The Hotel Palomar, Washington, D.C. Jason is the Founder and President of The Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, an active think tank in D.C. He will join us to talk about his work on the eve of our spring retreat training on policy communications. D.C- and mid-Atlantic-based Fellows, please save the date! Friday, March 25, 2016, 5:30 pm: Reception and keynote address by author and activist Terry Tempest Williams, New England Aquarium, Boston, MA. ( Here is a link to her website for more information.) Join Switzer staff, Fellows, and Trustees for this fantastic opportunity to hear from one of the great environmental authors of our time! Added bonus: we will have private access to a few exhibits at the Aquarium! Save the date. Friday, April 1, 2016 (exact time and location TBD), Los Angeles, CA: We've nailed down the date for an L.A.-area gathering, and details will emerge shortly! Southern California Fellows, take note!
Thursday, April 21, 2016 (exact time and location TBD), New York, NY (Manhattan): Fellows in the New York area, please save the date and stay tuned for details!
Friday, May 20, 2016, 6:00 pm: Reception, St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, CA. Join Switzer Fellows, staff, and Trustees for a reception in conjunction with our annual meeting and California Fellowship selection. This will be the closing celebration for our year of 30th anniversary events, so we'd love to see a great turnout!
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Reminder - 2016 Fellowship Application Period is Now Open!
If you know of a graduate student in New England or California who would be a great candidate for a Switzer Fellowship, please make sure he or she checks out our program guidelines! Please also feel free to forward the Call for Applications to appropriate grad student or other university contacts. Online applications are due January 11, 2016.
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Network Innovation Funds Are Available!
Fellows, remember we have money available to fund two or more of you to work together on a project! The Switzer Network Innovation Program offers grants up to $40,000 for two or more Fellows to address an urgent problem where funds can quickly inform policy or action. Preference is given to projects where Fellows come from different sectors and with different perspectives on an issue. See below for some examples of projects we've funded recently, and you can see a complete list on our website. Our online Directory, topical Google groups and listserves are great places to vet an idea, and you can contact Lissa or Erin to discuss ideas, too. We look forward to seeing some great proposals!
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Network Innovation Grant funded
In August, we awarded a $4,000 seed grant to the North American Association for Environmental Education for a project led by Switzer Fellows Christy Merrick and Nicole Ardoin. This planning grant will bring Fellows and colleagues together to formalize a strategy for a larger research project that will quantify the impacts of environmental education on environmental outcomes and student achievement. This project fills an important need in the environmental education community to be able to more effectively communicate the benefits of environmental education to policy makers, funders, and others.
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Network Innovation Grant Outcomes: Working Group Re-Assessing Status of Pacific Albatross Species
Fellows Myra Finkelstein, Assistant Adjunct Professor at UC Santa Cruz, and Vickie Bakker, Assistant Research Professor at Montana State University, share the results of their Switzer Network Innovation project in which they recommended changes to the official population status assessments of two threatened species of Pacific albatross. Grant Outcomes post by Myra Finkelstein and Vickie Bakker
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Leadership Grant Outcomes: Improving the Success of Biodiversity Conservation in the Bay Area
Pepperwood Foundation in Santa Rosa, CA, received a Leadership Grant in 2014 to work with Switzer Fellow Nicole Heller on the Terrestrial Biodiversity Climate Change Collaborative. The Collaborative works with land managers in the Bay Area to provide high resolution climate projection data for use in conservation planning and climate adaptation efforts.
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Ocean Science, Politics and Management at the White House
2015 Fellow Ariana Spawn writes about what she learned working with the National Ocean Council in Washington, D.C. as part of an internship with the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
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Gift giving that honors the Earth
Two Fellows have written pieces that rethink the gifts we give at the holidays. Read both pieces, and be sure to check out the sample gift letter to family and friends in Judith's piece.
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Other Leadership Program Offerings
Here are a few deadlines and links from other leadership development programs that might be of interest to Switzer Fellows:
Kinship Conservation Fellowships: intensive, in-residence (one month) instruction implementing market-based tools for conservation projects. Cost: Stipend awarded for program fees and residence costs, participants pay their own travel to Bellingham, WA. Application deadline: January 18, 2016.
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Upcoming Events
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Switzer Network Call: Fracking
Wednesday, December 2, 2015, 12:30 pm ET
For more informationSwitzer Network Call: Fellows in NY-NJ-PAWednesday, December 16, 2015, 12:30 pm ETFor more information
Switzer Network Call: Fellows in New England
Wednesday, January 13, 2016, 12:30 pm ET
For more information
Switzer-sponsored workshop at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival:
"The Most Urgent Untold Environmental Stories of Our Time"
Nevada City, CA
Saturday, January 16, 2016, 4:30 pm PT
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Fellows in the News
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Fellows, please send any articles or news updates from this past summer through the present to Lauren! Our internal news alert system was down over that time period so we are probably missing some of your news that we'd normally catch via these alerts. Our system is back up and running now, so we only need news over the past few months. Thanks!
Laura Bozzi (Farm, Food and Youth Program Director, Southside Community Land Trust) is helping urban residents grow food in Providence, RI. Sarah Moffitt is now a postdoctoral scholar with the University of Washington's Future of Ice Initiative. Heather Coleman (Climate Change Manager, Oxfam America) received the first " Prospect Street Award" @ Yale FES for her work with climate change as a human rights issue. Sarah Uhl has been promoted to Program Director of the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants program at Clean Air Task Force. Asa Bradman's research on how eating organic lowers pesticide levels in children appears @nytimes. Asa is Associate Director of UC Berkeley's Center for Children's Environmental Health Research. Nicole Heller is the new Director of Conservation Science at the Peninsula Open Space Trust in Palo Alto, CA. David Kramer (Senior Manager, EcoLogic Development Fund) spoke on a panel at Harvard Kennedy School with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on sustainability innovation. Josh Stoll (PhD Candidate, University of Maine) was published recently in Ecology & Society on local seafood, re-thinking the direct marketing paradigm. In search of better health and nutrition, Indian tribes go back to the land; Elizabeth Hoover (Assistant Professor, Brown University) quoted in Aljazeera America. |
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A vibrant community of environmental leaders
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