Synthesis

Environmental studies cover a broad range of topics that you can focus on. Although I am still undecided on my major at this point I would have to say that this project has really helped me to understand what all goes into being an environmental major of any sort. I now understand that education is key to getting people on track, and even little things like taking shorter showers, or recycling can help. As I reflect back on this journey I have taken throughout this blog, I realized I learned a lot more than I thought I would. Not only did I learn about what goes into this major, but how people view it, and ways to be productive in change.

Areas of Focus

There are many different areas of focus one can go into in the environmental field. From things like climate change, agriculture, fisheries and wildlife, sustainability, or energy issues. These are just a few of the areas with many problems that need to be addressed. For example someone with a focus on climate change might be concerned with the Keystone pipeline project that I talked about in Free post # 3. This is due to the fact that in recent months it has been approved to be built and, it will be carrying tar sands, which is a type crude oil that increases greenhouse gas emissions. I have  learned about the depth of the environmental field through my research on this broad topic.

The real world

From this project I had the chance to learn about this major through real work experience. First I had an interview with a professional in the field. In Week # 3 I interviewed one of my Professors who had a lot of insight for me about this major. I learned how cool it actually is. My professor gets paid to sit and think, and research whatever it is that he wants to! He gets to see nature change, and interact with a lot of different people. I learned that a lot of writing and research is needed to get things like grant proposals done to being to implement change as well.

In Week number 4 and 8  I joined a club and got to participate in field work. I found the MSU RISE program, which is a group of students on campus all majoring in environmental studies, who participate in projects to help the environment and spread awareness. With this group I got to be a part of this years Bailey Hall legacy project, Curbside recycling. The RISE students wanted to to test the theory that if recycling is more convenient, then more people will recycle. We put bins in their rooms, and once a week go to collect anything they have put in the bins. 

To learn more about this program you can visit their home page at http://rise.natsci.msu.edu. Also If you wish to learn more about the legacy project you can follow us on twitter @Baileyrecycles.

One last Real world experiment I got to do was a recycling sort. I did so with my ESA 200 class and blogged about it in free post # 1. My class went to the recycling center and sorted through a dumpster deemed as landfill products. We got to see that just under half of the products were actually recyclable. Although some of them we could not recycle because of contamination.

What people tend to think

The real world experiences I had from this blog led me to the sad conclusion that people do no care. I learned this particularly well while working on the Bailey project. I had multiple doors slammed in my face when trying to pass out bins and collect the recyclables a week later. There were so many people who did so because they did not believe in recycling, were to lazy, or just said that it did not matter what they did with their waste,so threw it in the landfill. Granted this is just one experience and only a few people not caring, but it goes above and beyond that.

I noticed that people do not care in a lot of the research articles I read. This is something I particularly noticed about global warming, that I talked about this in week # 7. There are so many people who do not believe it is real! To me that is crazy since in the scientific world, there is almost no debate, all the professionals say it is real. Its not something we need to guess about, but something we need to fix. Although that can’t happen until we get more people on board and educated about the matter. I personally think it is because the term was branded wrong. The term Global Warming caught on when the term climate change is more accurate. Yes it is cold in Michigan this winter and we had tons and tons of snow, all thanks to climate change. Yes, climate changes does more than just warm the earth and create hot temperatures, is is responsible for freak weather experiences and storms as well such as this cold winter. If people could understand what it is about maybe we could do something. It does not even have to be a big change, start off small, recycle, take shorter showers, or buy a fuel efficient car.

Implementing change

Lastly I found out people do not know how to help out and implement change. In the research articles and news stories I read I noticed a common theme. Environmentalists love telling us the multiple things that are wrong, but never enough about what to do. change is never stressed enough. Education is key and nothing is happening. This is something I would have to struggle with as an environmental major. Although it would be a good struggle to make the world a better place, little by little.

Why bother? This is the question many people ask themselves about environmental problems. Being sustainable sounds hard to most people. The truth is one person can make a difference, and we all need to start by making little changes.You may not think one little change can help, but it can, and it can be the start of something huge. For example…

~ Take shorter showers

~ carpool or ride your bike

~ recycle

~ buy a reusable water bottle

~ buy local foods

~ turn off the lights when you leave, and unplug it if it is not being used

~ plant a garden

~ bring your own bags to the grocery store

~ change your lightbulbs to more energy efficient ones

~ Write to your local congressmen 

~ join an environmental group and help spread awareness

These are all small things, but its a start. We will never get anywhere if we don’t start somewhere. Take these small actions to make a better future for our children, so they do not have to deal with a huge crisis.

To me the environmental field seems like an interesting career if I’m up for the challenge. I have learned that there are many problems, and not everyone is aware of all thats happening or know how to help. A lot of education is needed to inform people and make a push for change. There are so many things I could work on in this field that makes it sounds so rewarding as a major as I reflect back on what I learned from this blog

Free Post # 10: The Omnivore's Dilemma

I recently Read an interesting book by Michael Pollan called "The Omnivore's Dilemma". This book takes you through four different types of food systems, and gives you the inside scoop to how your food is made, and what is does to the environment. The four types are industrial, organic, local sustainable and the do it yourself meal.

The first food system is the one most of us eat, the industrial meal. This consists of processed food we get at a fast for restaurant to the meat we buy in the grocery store. I learned that most of what we eat is corn! Not sweet corn that is grown to be eaten, but # 2 field corn as they call it. It is in High fructose Corn syrup and many of the other ingredients no one can pronounce. The farms our where meat is grown on feed their livestock this corn as well. It is what their diets are based on at the feedlot where they are crammed so tightly together. They are not given a grass fed diet that their system was made for, instead we make them eat corn, why? Because it is cheap and big agribusiness's have a patens on GMO to sell to farmers to grow the corn. But thats a whole different debate. Our crops are also sprayed with so many pesticides, and intern cause damage to our soil, then run off into our oceans. Many animals get sick and diseased in the feedlots but no one seems to give that much thought to that when buying your cheap dinner at the store.

The next food system is organic, or as it should be called Industrial organic. Just because something says Organic on it does NOT mean it was grown 100% without pesticides, or on a free range grass fed farm. Although organic food is better for you, I don't think it is the best we can do. The USDA does allow for some amounts of certain pesticides to be used on our crops. That goes for our livestock as well. That chicken you buy that says free range, does not mean it got a nice green pasture to live on. In some places all it means it that it lived in a caged up area, with a little door at the end of the tunnel to go out into a small area if it so chooses, but none of them do, why is that? This is because for they first weeks of life the door is shut, so when it is opened they are so used to living inside they just stay there! These practices are better for the environment, but still harmful in the sense of runoff and pesticides used.

The third is the local sustainable. This is the best for the environment. This talks about buying local food from farmers markets, or family farms that sell their food. This is a great step, and you actually know where your food is coming from, you know its fresh and in season. To me that sounds perfect, the animals are given land to roam, and are moved around so they do not damage the soil that  grows your crops. There is not a lot of emissions or fossil fuels used to ship the food to other destinations as well.

The final food system discussed is the do it yourself meal. In this section  Pollan stresses making your own food, from gardening, to hunting and gathering. Now this is no longer a very realistic goal for us in todays society, but it is a nice idea. The main thing I took away from this is wanting to at least start my own garden, that way I know where some of my food comes from, and that it is healthy for me to eat. It is also the most simple and helpful step I can take to help the environment.

This book was very heavy on agriculture, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. I got to know a little insight into what goes into my food, and how I can vote with my dollars to buy better food for myself and the environment.

Sources:
Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.

Prompted Post, Week # 10

Global Warming is a HUGE environmental Wicked problem. I found a credited source by the Natural Recourses Defense council that is like a Remix. It presents the information in small groups, has photos and videos all in the website. I will now evaluate it using RAIDS.

R: Revision
The ideas and attitudes in this post are about climate change and that it IS among us. The website does so by telling us scientifically proven facts that Co2 is thickening and warming the planet. They even show you how warm it is getting geographical with a map and how many Parts Per million (ppm) of C02 there is in that area.

A: Arrangement
The relationship we see here is the relationship to global warming and the earth as well as to us as readers. It is put in relation that we need the earth but are doing this terrible thing to our planet and need to help out to fix this problem.

I: invention
 To engage you this website used pictures/maps and a video to engage you to learn more about climate change. They show the attitude that global warming is negative, and make you believe in it and want to help out by the time you are done.

D: Delivery
The delivery is straightforward in an online manner. They give you the facts in different ways, from maps, to videos, to bullet points. The author appeals to us as humans living on this earth, reaching out to us as well as telling us solutions to the problem.

S: Style
The writing is easy for anyone to read. They do not use complicated terminology, yet has a scholarly aspect that makes you believe what they are saying is true.

Overall I think this website is successful. It not only teaches you about climate change, but it tells you things you can do to fix it!

sources:
"An Introduction to Climate Change." Climate Change Facts. NRDC, 5 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/climatebasics.asp

Free Post # 9: Life cycle Analysis

We so often use products with out thinking about how they were made, or what will happen to them when we are done. We are glad to have them but do not worry about their life cycle analysis.

The evolution of the lifecycle analysis of products came about after the industrial revolution. The phases a product goes through start with the raw materials used to make the product. Then to production, distribution, use, and disposal. We can refer to this as its cradle to grave lifespan which is intern the lifecycle being analyzed. These types of analysis study the environmental impacts of a product such as say a car from the life cycle perspective. We being by looking at the extraction of the materials need and all the inputs such as energy used to get the material and the outputs such as emissions. Then follow through all the steps to final disposal all taking into account their inputs and outputs.

As a consumer we need to appreciate the functions of our products and be aware of they environmental impacts. When you buy the next new iPhone that comes out, what do you do with the old one? Or what about a new car, we so often invest in new products that society wants us to buy not realizing how damaging our lifestyle is. All those things if not disposed of properly can hurt the environment in so many different ways. Life Cycle analysis can really show how awful some companies are and how much damage they create. Hopefully they can use that data to try and improve methods of making and disposing of products in the future more so than now.

Prompted Post, Week # 9

The environment is where we live out our lives, it gives us so much that we take for granted. This is why is was hard to find a news article on the importance of environmental issues. News stories often have environmental stories and talk about crises happening right before our eyes, but they usually don't make a plea for help or mention how urgent and important these environmental issues are. They only report on them which is extremely sad.

Although I did find one good article that talk about the importance of global warming. The article focused on Switzerland. It talks about how it has become a hot spot, and the temperatures are seen to rise each year. It talks about a problem that it brings about with beetles they have there and how it is effecting the  biodiversity. It talks about how the glaciers are melting and have no sign of stopping or freezing again.

It then goes on to talk about how Switzerland needs to take action or they will not be able to cope with future climate changes. They talk about the importance of taking action as well as trying to reduce greenhouse gases and emissions. They will also need improved management of agriculture and more things like pest control to combat what global warming has already done. This article tells us climate change is among us and we need to do something to stop it so we don't suffer anymore. It wants us to take care of the environment because its the ONLY one we have.

Sources:
Bern. "Impacts of Climate Change in Switzerland: Adaptation and Climate Change Mitigation Must Go Hand in Hand." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

Free Post # 8: Classifying Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem is a word often thrown around when talking about the environment. What is an ecosystem? What makes it up, and what does it really do for us? This is something I recently learned a lot about in my ESA 200 class.

An ecosystem is made up of natural materials. Natural Materials means either Biotic or abiotic. Biotic   materials are all of the living things in the ecosystem, including all plants and animals. Abiotic is pretty much everything else in the ecosystem such as the air, water, and minerals.

Next up in an ecosystem are the natural recourses. They consist of renewable and non renewable. Non renewable are recourses that we can not grow back or replenish and deplete with use. An example would be fossil flues. Renewable recourses on the other hand can be replenished and are capable of regeneration. Examples of regeneration include things such as the re-growth of trees, plants, and animals.

Renewable recourses have two types thought. Besides the materials that I mentioned before renewable recourses consist of ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are things that the ecosystem provides for us. They do three things in general. The first is that they sustain life. This would be like food production of photosynthesis by plants, and decomposers returning the nutrients to the soil so it can again thrive. The next is regulating natural processed. This would be something like the water cycle and nutrient cycles. The last things ecosystem services provide would be sustaining culture, which is different than sustaining life. In this one nature serves as a source of inspiration as well as learning for things like artistic and spiritual reasons, also educational activities.

Ecosystems do a lot of things and encompass many materials and recources. They play a huge role in the environmental, and should be properly taken care of and respected because we rely on them for a lot more than we know.

Prompted Post, Week # 8

Hands on learning experiences are much different than learning in the classic class room setting. I got to experience a Hands on project in the environmental field through my ESA 200 class and the Rise program.

I blogged once before about the Bailey Hall 2014 Legacy project of Curbside Recycling. A week ago I got to participate in the first collection of this project.

We had about 10 students there who were there to collect and sort all of the recyclables from the curbside bins. First we had to go knocking on peoples doors and ask them for their boxes so we could dump their recyclables into a larger bin for sorting later. It was not as easy as it sounds for, some people were strongly against recycling or did not believe in it. Or that they thought that it does not cause environmental problems if they don't recycle . This showed me that in the real world it is not so easy, and everyone is not on board to help save the planet like they are in my ESA 200 class. The people who refused to participate showed me that there are many more people like this and it may not be an easy ride.

Once the collection was over we had to sort out the recyclables into plastics, paper, glass, metals, boxboard and cardboard, as well as recyclable cans. We thought it would go smoothly because most people understand how to recycle, or so we thought, and we had taken the time to educate these students on the proper ways to recycle and what is allowed to go into the bins. That was not the case either. We had LOTS of contaminated plastics that we were not able to be recycle. Also we had lots of hybrid packaging such as chip bags that have that aluminum colored material inside the product. These types of materials can not be recycled due to the hybrid material. Also we had loft of half full water bottles that we had to take the time to empty so we could recycle them. Not everyone took this project seriously the first week, there was also lots of trash in the bins and one that someone had used to throw up in.

This experience show me that even if people want to help out the environment they don't always know how. By implementing this project we did get a ton of recyclables that we filled all of the bins in Bailey, the Back of a pick up truck, and lots of huge bags full of recyclables that might have otherwise been thrown in the landfill.

Environmental help is on the rise and people are more aware of it but this showed me we have to put more effort into education people on the issues and problems and the correct ways to fix them. It may not be easy but with all that we recycled it showed me that it is worth the fight, and that I look forward to doing more work like this in the future, with other environmental problems as well. It was an eye opening experience that I could not have had in a class room setting.

Free Post # 7: Recycling Energy Use, and bottle bills

Once again Im going back to the topic of recycling, but this time on a different perspective, its energy use and bottle bills

We all know and understand that recycling has big environmental impacts, by putting less into our landfills, and being able to reuse items, but what else does it do?

Recycling can save energy, one thing we focused on in particular in my ESA 200 class was the recycling of bottles. We looked at a study of recycled cans verses new cans. It not only helps the environment to recycle cans but it takes up less energy. There is mining for new materials, and all the processes necessary to go through to get the aluminum to make the cans. By recycling we use less energy to get the material necessary and pollute less by letting off less emissions. Plus aluminum cans have NO LIMIT on how many times they can be recycled.

That brings up the point of bottle bills.Did you know that only 10 out of 50 states have them? What a tragedy that is in my opinion. Take Michigan for example we have a bottle bill ( which means they have the deposit on them, so you return them and get 10 cents back). Research has shown that 97% of cans with bottle bills get recycled! As opposed to say water bottles in Michigan with out bottle bills, only 20% get recycled.That is a huge amount for the cans compared to water bottles. Now yes there are some disadvantages of trying to implement this process in every state such that they have to build the facilities, it inconveniences the stores, and product producers, as well as the time and energy to take them back. But the advantages are so huge that they out way them in my opinion.We need to conserve our recourses and do what is best for our planet. Recycle!

Do you think we should have a national bottle bill?

Prompted Post, Week # 6

While searching for articles about the environment I found a scholarly article about invasive species and their removal.

Invasive species are species of plants and animals that come into places where they are not native and take over. They can cause harm to native plants and animals by taking their recourses and causing all types of problems to the new area. They often multiply quickly and are very pesky as well as hard to get rid of.

In this article they talk about the removal of invasive species from their new home. They mention removal as well as extermination. From things that I have learned in my ESA 200 class about this I believe it is the right thing to do. These plants and animals cause more harm then good when they invade new places. Even if they do have to exterminate them. They are getting rid of a larger problem at hand. By doing so they are saving hundred of native plants and animals they need their own space with out them to survive. Also they are not endangered so there're still more of them out there. Since they are invasive they can multiply quickly so there is really no harm in getting rid of a few in unwanted areas. Getting rid of them will help the ecosystem to thrive again when they are removed. The ecosystem they are residing in can't be balanced when these invasive species come in and take over. I think this articles hit home in their point to get rid of them. I think it is the right thing to do to help maintain the sustainability of their home.

Works Cited

Kotani, Koji, et al. "Invasive Species Management in Two-Patch Environments: Agricultural Damage Control in the Raccoon (Procyon Lotor) Problem, Hokkaido, Japan." Population Ecology 51.4 (2009): 493-504. ProQuest. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Free Post # 6: The Tragedy of the Commons

The Tragedy of the commons is a big environmental issue that leads many farms into overshoot, and having overgrazed land that is no longer sufficient.

The commons include things such as grass, water, crop fields, and the air. The tragedy is when we over use these recourses, a lot of the time due to greed, need for safety, and competition. This ends up leading to social disaster. We have a sense of uncertainity when it comes to being set for the future. So lots of farmers plant more than they need or put more animals on their farm so they can feel secure, in their needs and profits. Although this is what leads to the tragedy. They put to much out and go into overshoot, ruining the commons.

We tried this out ourselves in a mock up example in my ESA 200 class to see how it works. We were put into teams of 6, which consisted of 3 families of 2 people. All 3 families had to share a certain amount of land, in this case sticky notes. Each sticky note stood for one acre of grass. To survive  each family needed to obtain 8 cows at the end of four rounds. One cow took up one acre of grass. At the end of each round for very 4 sticky notes that did not have a cow on them you got an additional sticky note for the "commons".

We were given slips of paper( and went in order family a-c ) each round that told us what we could do. Team A always got a big amount of cows they could put on. They could chose to put all of them on or less. In my group we were not aloud to talk to make the simulation seem more realistic. Team A always put on all of their cows. They did so because they felt uncertain not knowing how many cows they may be aloud to put on next round. That uncertainty made them take up a lot of sticky note, leaving less of the commons for the others. Team B got more than 8 cows by the end as well and in fear of uncertainty put all their cows on each round too. Team C got exactly 8 cows by the end. Although they died because we ran out of sticky notes by their last turn, meaning we went into overshoot. There was no room for their last cow.

This is the sad tragedy of the commons that occurs all the time in our world. This simulation was close to what happens in real life. Many farms and fisheries go into overshoot, and over graze their land. They waste the commons that should be there for everyone. Now they are not and they keep dwindling.

Prompted Post, Week # 7

One of the biggest contraversies in the Environmental field by far has to be the issue of Global warming/ Climate Change. This is a HUGE wicked problem with no clear cut solution. Technically speaking no right or wrong answer. It comes with high uncertainty and the people on each side have very strong opinions and reasons why. Each side even has some controversy among it.

The First side is obviously that the issue exists, and that our planet is indeed warming. That climate change is upon us and that we need to do something about this issue now. In this side there is also controversy between weather or not human are causing it or it is naturally occurring. This is becoming the bigger issue as more people believe in climate change. Whichever it is they both believe it is a problem. The main evidence is from temperature samples taken over the years that show that the temperature( although only slightly) has increased over that past decade. Scientists have also found higher traces of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere up to 400 Ppm with 350 Ppm being considered a safety zone. Next scientists have tracked that sea levels are rising and the oceans are warming. Extreme weather is becoming more common. The ice caps are melting and arctic sea is dwindling.Global warming is no joke to people on this side of the issue, but a big problem.

The opposing side says that Global Warming is just a made up problem, and that it is nothing we need to be concerned about. This side says that even though there is data on Global Warming that is it not significant enough to be considered a problem, and that is nothing to worry about. Some also believe that the data is not clear enough to support the issue. Also some people think that the scientists investigating global warming are mis interpreting the information to make it seem like an issue when it is not because they are specifically looking for evidence to prove global warming, instead of looking at the data to see what it really means.

Which side are you on?

Works cited:

Strickland, Jonathan, and Ed Grabianowski. "How Global Warming Works."HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 21 Apr. 2005. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
"Evidence." Global Climate Change. NASA, 18 May 2013. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.

Free Post # 5: Our ecological Footprints

This week I want to talk about our personal ecological footprints we have on the planet.

As one person you may not think you have that big of an impact, but we as americans have huge individual footprints, ecological and carbon.

Just think about How much land you personally take up to sustain your lifestyle. Not only the land you live on but all the land it takes to create all the inputs in your life as well as the outputs.

Our ecological footprint is our overall impact we have on the environment. We have to determine weather or not it is sustainable ( ours as americans is not!). To do so we need to calculate the amount land required to provide all food, water, energy, and all other materials we consume and absorb.

To do this you first need to know about productive land. Biocapacity is the amount of land that can support human life. It consists of things like our oceans, forests, and croplands. On a global scale we as individuals need 15.7 Hectares per person. One Hectare is equal to 2.5 acres.

To determine your own ecological footprint you can take a quiz online. We did this in my ESA 200 class and the results were very surprising. Our class results said that if everyone lived like we did we would generally need around 5 more earths to support our way of living! That is way to much if you ask me, I think everyone needs to work on reducing our footprints. We can't be using up all of the earths recources and just getting off scotch free.

You can take the quiz yourself by clicking on the link below. Some categories are hard to know the correct answer so just estimate and do the best you can. Also for the most accurate results use your home as a reference not your dorm room.

http://myfootprint.org/en/visitor_information/

Whats your footprint?

Sources:
"Ecological Footprint." First, We Need a Little Information from You.: Quiz by Center for Sustainable Economy. CSE, 5 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.

Prompted Post, Week #5

This Week I am going to be talking about ethics. I found a code of ethics for environmental science written by the National Registry of Environmental Professionals. Their ethics include....

~ Practice only in areas where they have professional competence and is safe
~  Try to avoid any conflict of interest to the environmental issues by doing anything possible to prevent them
~ Always carry out their duties in a professional way abiding by the laws
~Use the best environmental science principles to protect the enviro
~ To abide by all levels of government policy towards the environment
~ be conscious of environmental quality and make safe laws towards it
~ Manage areas of work to be safe and healthy as well as protect employees
~ Always put the negative and positive impacts of the activities you did in writing

https://www.nrep.org/ethics.php

These relate to my own ethics because I always abide by the laws that are given and do not think of going outside of them. I would never do anything that I was not certified to do either. When doing things I personally always try to do my best to put environmental safety first. Also I try to have a safe environment for myself and others around me. Lastly I also like to write down things that happened to get all of the details hammered out after the fact of doing a task.

3 Ways in which what I am doing in college will apply to my career later on in life and referencing the guidelines include...

1. How we learn about always documenting our results, positive, and negative will help me in my career to collect data to get more accurate research about the environment
2. The in their field projects we do in my ESA 200 class will help me in my career because I will have had experiences working in the environmental field
3. We learned about always abiding by the laws when carrying out experiments and research this will help me to know my limitations when I am actually working in the filed.

Works used
National Registry of Environmental Professionals. "Code of Ethics for Environmental Professionals." Code of Ethics for Environmental Professionals. NPEP, 5 Apr. 2009. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

Free Post # 4: Sustainability

This week I wanna talk about a big environmental Issue that we learned about in my ESA 200 class, Sustainability.

 There are 3 E's to sustainability which are the Environment. Economy, and Social Equity. Sustainability can be defined as enabling all species to thrive across generations in a way that maintains the ability of larger environment to support this. More simply put it is a process of living well for all and in the future within the means of the environment. To be sustainable we should take nothing from the earth that can't be replaced by the earth itself. Sustainability includes all living and non living elements of life. Our environment is the ultimate source of our materials as well as the "final sink" for all of our wastes. our basic needs in life come from the materials from the natural worlds ecosystem services and we need to to our best to protect them. Sustainability is not an easy task but it is something that needs to happen if we want to continue living peacefully on this world and using the environment to our advantage.

One of the fundamental questions about sustainability is How can society be organized in ways that enable individuals and communities to thrive while sustaining the ability of the environment to support life?

In My opinion I believe we should only take what is needed from the environment and not degrade the earth to obtain every material it can give us. We should take what can be replace and not take everything at once. I understand that we need to take some things for our survival in the type of world we live in to support life and communities. Although I believe we should always be looking into more environmentally friendly options for things like energy for example. That we we do not use up all of our natural recourses before they can replenish themselves.

Whats your opinion on this fundamental question?

Prompted Post, Week #4

This week I wanna talk about the RISE program here at MSU. It is not necessarily deemed a club but it is a group of environmental kids who are all environmental majors. They get together and work on projects. They talk about environmental problems and ways to fix them.

Their Big focus is on the environmental impacts right here at MSU. These kids works together to get grants approved and better the campus. Some of their big projects in the past have been the hoop house built right outside Bailey Hall and the composting center they have created.

This Year The legacy project they are doing is called Curbside Recycling, and I am so glad to be taking part in this project. The RISE program is trying to get MUS to a zero footprint by encouraging recycling. They are testing out a new program called Curbside Recycling in Bailey Hall starting on February 10th. What will happen is the recycling center is providing bins to be kept in the students rooms to collect their recyclables. Then each week someone from each team will come and collect the items, and sort them out to properly be recycled.

The RISE program does many field type projects  besides just meeting and talking about problems with the environment or just about the field in general. They value everyones opinion and strongly believe in helping out the Environment here at MSU.

They communicate very openly, using a FaceBook page as well as having their own twitter. They communicate well because most of them all live in the same building Bailey where the program is centered. Although others can join in and help out like myself. We hear about these opportunities throughout social media and throughout some of our classes such as my ESA 200 class.

Free Post #3 : The Keystone Pipeline

Recently in My ESA 200 class we have been learning about the keystone pipeline. The pipeline has not yet been built and is still under debate. The pipeline would carry Tar sands a type of Crude oil from Canada all the way throughout the United Started. This is been a big debate in the environmental field for the past couple of years. This is because Tar sands are the most dangerous type for the environment. They play a big impact on climate change. If it is built it could potentially increase global warming, pollution and more climate chaos. There are also health and safety issues that come into play as well. There is much worry about green house emissions as well as more carbon pollution. Another big factor is that the pipeline would run right through the Ogallala aquifer. We could be putting out water supply as well as wildlife at risk. Although the opposing side argues that it would create new jobs and energy. I think it may cause more damage then they think.

Prompted Post, Week # 3

For this weeks blog I interviewed one of my ESA professors. He specialized in agriculture and food studies as well as education. He was very insightful on all of these items.

When I asked him about writing, he says that he does a lot on a daily basis. He gets roughly about 1,500 emails a day that he needs to reply to. Although he says most of his writing is done in writing grant proposals. He writes manuscripts  for research, as well as journalistic types of pieces too. When it comes to communication he mostly communicates with his students, and team of colleagues. He uses lots of ways of communication. He is big on using social media such as Twitter and Facebook. He does a lot of communicating on the phone via text as well as conference calls, and face to face meetings. This is different than how we write in class because there is noting very formal about his writing an communication. Although he writes on a daily basis just like we do. His communication is not as formal either.

Next I asked him some questions about the ESA field along side education. He describes a day in his field as a new adventure everyday. He does a lot of teaching, but mainly does a lot with the research extension and outlook programs at MSU. This is mainly for agriculture for natural recourses education work in interface, where they intersect agriculture and food systems with people in areas all around Michigan. To help them understand good systems in formal and non formal settings. Besides that he does a lot of Email writing, and meetings. Just yesterday he had a team meeting with the USDA grant that took about 2 hours. He also meets with lots of grad students on a daily basis as well as working on annual reports. He says he often runs into challenges with the budget from the university for projects. Although it has been rewarding. He says the biggest reward is seeing students succeed and watching them interact, grow, get a job, and impact others. Therefor he is having an indirect impact of thousands of students out there. When is came to the environmental field one thing he didn't expect was how much moving around he has done living and working in multiple states. My professor said it took him a lot to get into his field. He got three degrees, starting with the bachelor of science that took 5 years, Next he got his teaching certificate that took a year, then onto his masters and PhD. Getting the job took even more time getting his 10 year, then 6 more years to get promoted and 5 after that to become a professor. Although he says it is the most rewarding job, he is paid to get to sit and think. He gets to research what he wants and teach the courses he is interested in while making an impact on others. From the environmental field he has learned that you aways have to keep learning. Learning is a life long endeavor because environmental issues as well as technology is always changing. Things don't always stay the same, he says things that were true when he was an under grad like myself are no longer true, and he has to keep learning. He became interested in this field because he was always attracted to the outdoors and being outside. He recalls fond memories of being young and enjoyed watching plants and animals grow. It amazes him how you can plant a seed and watch it grow, then wither away to nothing in the winter to non existence then be huge again next spring. His favorite part of his job is interacting with the under grad students. Although he does sped most of his time in his office, and works about 60 hours a week.

This interview effected me because it made me very interested in this type of field. I have been considering things like Environmental sciences and communications. Now I'm considering environmental teaching as an option. I think it is great that he gets to have a job where he is paid to sit and think. I want to be able to research whatever interest me as well as having an impact on others.

Sources: Anonymous, Personal Interview, 28 January, 2014

Free Post # 2: Wicked Problems

This week I wanna talk about something I learned about in My ESA 200 class called Wicked Problems. Wicked problems are problems where no agreement can be reached. There are no True or False clear cut answers to these types of problems. They are also constantly changing over time. These types of problems include things like Global climate change, biofuel production, nuclear energy, or air quality. These types of problems are not tame, with a clear cut definition. In wicked problems many stake holders have different types of ideas about what the real problem is and what is causing it. They can not be  fixed by what we call " normal science". There is always uncertainty over the system components and outcomes of the problems.  This is a big problem in the environmental field because there are always growing concerns about many environmental problems. We can not just say this is the answer and have everyone on board. Wicked problems are something that need to be addressed. I think it is interesting to look into these wicked problems and see everyone different viewpoints, although it is a big problem because no agreement can be made to go about fixing them.

Prompted Post, Week # 2

I found two different pieces of writing that both have a central focus on the environmental problem of global warming, one was a news article, and the other a scholarly article.

The news article was written in short concise paragraphs. It told you about the problems we will face due to climate change. The author of the article did not take a side on the problem, he simply addressed the issue at hand. The article tells you about the viewpoints that the U.N. has on climate change and our future. It is written in very common language, so that most people could read and understand it. There is not a very dense vocabulary to the article. I felt it was more freely written than the scholarly article. The audience would be to anyone interested in environmental problems. It's purpose was to inform us that even the U.N. believes that climate change is a problem and that we need to do something about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/science/earth/un-says-lag-in-confronting-climate-woes-will-be-costly.html?ref=earth

The scholarly article was different than the news article. It was arranged differently in the fact that is contained an abstract before the article. This one was also written in a more formal manner. The article was more fact driven than the first one. The author had taken a side in this article as well. He told you what he believed by telling you that all the facts show that global warming is real, as well as what it will do to our planet. Such as having an increase in rain. I felt this piece was very to the point and straight forward. It was directed towards anyone seriously concerned about the environment, and wanting to know what it will do to our planet. It's purpose was to let you know that there are facts supporting global warming, and increased rainfall due to it. There were lots of paragraphs of dense information supporting the statement.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/317/5835/233.full

works cited:

Gills, Justin. "U.N. Says Lag in Confronting Climate Woes Will Be Costly.". The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 22 Jan, 2014.

 Wentz, Frank J., Lucrezia Ricciaduli,Kyle Hillburn, and Carl Mears." How much more Rain will Global Warming bring?". ScienceMag. 31 May, 2007. Web. 22 Jan, 2014.

Free post # 1: Recycling

This week I want to talk about recycling. Recycling is a big environmental issue. We have been discussing its impacts in my ESA 200 class. We as americans throw away so many items that should be recycled. Instead we don't take the time and just throw them in the garbage, this creates so much waste that we put into our ground, that should be reusable!Last week we got to do something that really showed the impacts of recycling, and how much we waste. My class met at MSU's recycling center, and did a trash short. We took a dumpster from Bailey hall, and dumped its contents out from the pervious day. We then sorted through everything pulling out papers,plastic, glass, metals, and landfill products. We assumed there would not be to much that should have been recycled because Bailey Hall is home to the RISE program students. These are students who are all for recycling and trying to get to a zero waste baseline for recycling and trash. It was very eye opening experience, almost 40% of what was deemed as landfill was actually recyclable. That is a big amount and should not be that high. Also it was surprising to me how many things should have been recyclable, but could not be because they were contaminated because of food waste. This is something I was unaware of before this experience. So take a yogurt container for example, its plastic and should be recycled, although if it is not properly rinsed out, the food waste left in it makes is no longer a recyclable product. We need to work harder to recycle, and stop wasting.

Prompted post, week # 1

When it comes to a career in Environmental science, here are some questions that I had about the major. Not a lot of my questions could be answered using the book, but an online recourse as well as my ESA 200 class filled in most of the blanks.

1. Q: What kinds of jobs can I get with a degree in Environmental science?
    A: Agricultural jobs, ecologist, forestry environmental analysts, air and water quality, environmental lobbyist, or health specialist, environmental consultant, wildlife and conservation, a natural recourse manager, teacher, agribusiness and many other things, it is an extremely broad major.
 
2. Q: What makes this major unique?
    A: There are many different opportunities, and you can be highly involved inside and outside the classroom. You can help to solve problems that were or may be effecting others.

3. Q: What kind of skills or abilities can I gain by becoming an environmental major?
    A: math, economics, chemistry, deductive reasoning, verbal and alalytical skills, and the ability to communicate well with others.

4. Q: To be an environmental major do you have to get into a certain program?
    A: There is no certain program you have to apply to.

5. Q: What are types of problems you deal with being an environmental major?
    A: As the environment can be so controversial you often deal with what are called wicked problems, problems where there is no clear cut solution, or true or false answer.

6. Q:  What types of classes are needed for an environmental field?
    A: Often chemistry, biology,geology, and mathematics, and heavy science courses.

7. Q: What is the average starting salary for a general environmental major?
    A: In general, you will typical earn between $60,000 and $85,000 in this field depending on what route you decide to take.

8. Q: What would a typical work day be like?
    A: It could be almost anything. Research work, teaching, business type of work. or doing work out in the field.

9.Q: What type of student is geared towards success in the environmental field?
   A: Typically one who has actual concerns for the well being of the planet, and enjoys sciences.

10 Q: What is environmental science?
     A: According to my book it is the bond between organisms and their environments in which they reside. It is the study of interactions between living and non living things with an emphasis on humans impact.

The book was only helpful to an extent because the environment is dynamic and always changeing so it is hard to get the most up to date information. My ESA professor was extremely helpful in answering some of these questions, he has done all sorts of work in the environmental field and told us all about them.

Sources:  Discussion Course on Choices for Sustainable Living. Portland, OR: Northwest Earth Institute, 2009. Print.
"Who Should Be an Environmental Science Major?" Who Should Be an Environmental Science Major/Minor. UWGB, 5 June 2012. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
and ESA 200