Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

Week of November 14, 2011

News from Across the USM Campuses

Nov. 18^th - Dr. Rinku Roy Chowdhury,Department of Geography?at Indiana University - "The structure of (sub)urban landscapes: Social groups and vegetative patterns in 3 eastern US cities." This seminar, sponsored by the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education, will be held on Friday at 2:00pm in the Technology Research Center, Room 206, on the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus, and is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Visitor parking passes for the TRC lot may be purchased for $4.00 in the CUERE office in TRC 102/105 on the UMBC campus shortly before seminar.

Nov. 27^th - Application Deadline for UMCP Sustainability Internships for Spring 2012 - Interns must be a current University of Maryland graduate or undergraduate student with at least sophomore standing.  A minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA is recommended.  Interns are expected to have a strong interest in sustainability, a professional work ethic, and a desire to make the campus more sustainable.  In addition, interns must be disciplined and self-motivated as they will take the lead on their own projects. Academic credit is available for internships.  Students must talk with their academic advisor to see if internship credit is available through their academic department for this internship.  If credit is not available through the student's home department, internship credit may be available though other departments. To Apply:  Please send a cover letter and resume to sustainability@umd.edu.  The one-page cover letter should address the following questions: Why do you want to be a sustainability intern?  What are your qualifications for the intern position?  What are your plans for after graduation? 

Md. study finds critters choose culverts with care (By David Dishneau, The Associated Press as reported by the Washington Examiner, 11/11/11) [Article quotes J. Edward Gates of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science]

State of Maryland News

Electric vehicle charging station debuts in Howard County (By Andrea F. Siegel, The Baltimore Sun, 11/11/11)

Some Watermen Quit After Massive Oyster Die-Off (CBS Baltimore - News, 11/7/11)

Our view: A major investment in Maryland-based renewable power stands to be extracted from proposed merger of Constellation and Exelon (The Baltimore Sun - Editorial, 11/7/11)

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative

• Practices
• Programs
• Policies

• Presentations
• Climate Change Definitions
• Facilities Master Planning
• Statewide Sustainability Efforts
• ACUPCC National Benchmarking
• Useful Links and References

Pleasures of Life in the Slow Lane (By Michael Kimmelman, The New York Times - Arts and Design, 11/7/11)

Here Comes the Sun (By Paul Krugman, The New York Times as reported by CommonDreams.org, 11/7/11)

Many Americans left behind in the quest for cleaner air (By Jim Morris, Chris Hamby and Elizabeth Lucas, iWatch News as reported by The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 11/7/11)

Thousands surround the White House to protest TransCanada pipeline (By Lee-Anne Goodman, The Canadian Press, 11/7/11)

Energy Costs Will Rise ‘Viciously' Without Atomic Power, IEA Outlook Says (By Lananh Nguyen, Bloomberg News, 11/9/11)

If given a chance, small-scale farms could make a difference in solving hunger problem (By Barbara Damrosch, The Washington Post - Lifestyle, 11/9/11)

Irreversible Climate Change Looms Within Five Years (Environmental News Service as reported by CommonDreams.org, 11/9/11)

Stop pretending it's not climate change: 2011 is further proof that a new era of extreme weather is dawning -- and it's about to get much, much worse (By Heidi Cullen, Salon.com, 11/9/11)