And was it late or early? and on what time frame?
It seems that while I was in Washington DC smiling at the cherry blossoms, which were nearly at their peak, the ice on Mendota was giving up the ghost.� This year opening was more than a week later than recent averages. In fact, it was later than the average over the entire record, but I don’t know whether that difference is significant (the averages, though not the variances, are posted on the LTER ice page).
Upon my return to the now ice-free, although not freezing rain-free, mid-west, I attended the Graduate Faculty Executive Committee meeting with Nancy Langston. The occasion was the consideration of the CHE certificate and “option A” Ph.D. minor. The committee was very interested in the effort and I am happy to report that the proposal was unanimously approved for students beginning in Fall 2008. Susan Cook in the Graduate School was a tremendous help in ensuring that the committee had the proper materials and that the purpose of the proposal was well understood. Thanks Susan! And CONGRATULATIONS to the CHE community for the great progress we have made in elevating the role of the humanities in understanding the relationship between humans and our environments.
The reality of the phase of the semester was brought home over the weekend when I got an email from Bill Cronon announcing the final installment of the Environmental Breakfast Seminar (with Mayor Dave).� Indeed the semester is drawing to a close and our final Governance Faculty meeting will take place next Monday on 21 April at 330p.� There are many things to address, but in particular I hope that we can have a discussion about Environmental Monitoring.� In particular I need a sense from the faculty regarding the priority and scope of such an endeavor.� An earlier post elicited on a minor response - I hope that we can answer the questions posed there next Monday…
We did not present our undergrad major permission to plan proposal at the last UAPC meeting, but hope to do so at the next and final meeting of the year.� It is my sense that we are farther along in that effort than we have ever been and I hope to keep the momentum moving forward.� We have reached a good working relationship with CALS regarding our two proposals; Geography is a strong ally in moving the effort forward.� While there is much careful work to be done, we are converging on a framework that could provide the credentials that undergraduates and employers are seeking, while at the same time clearly representing the breadth of “Environment” as we currently understand it.
Wednesday will be spent at the 2nd Annual Gaylord Nelson Earth Day Forum - Sustaining Wisconsin’s Environment & Economy: Responding to Climate Change. The response to this year’s program has been quite gratifying and I look forward to reporting on the conference in a future post.
Other events on my agenda include:
- The Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies Climate is Local event.� This is the first of their Science and the Public events and it will explore how scientific knowledge of climate is manifested locally and how the public comes to understand (or not understand) science.
- Participation in the Climate Change Briefing for the DNR Natural Resources Board.� Jack Sullivan and I will give an overview of the WICCI project and its accomplishments and goals.
I met recently with the student reps and we had a good discussion in particular about how to evolve student involvement in the governance of the institute.� My notes regarding this aspect of the meeting include the following points:
- Direct democracy is not likely to work
- Representation is important
- A self-perpetuating board might be a good compromise option
- Action: continue to explore a “chartered” student board that would have governance and social responsibilities
One final indicator that warm weather will soon be with us is the Chili Cook-off, once again implemented by our hard working student reps.� This year’s event will be at the Tenney Park Shelter on 27 April from 11-3.� Tickets are available in 70 Science Hall and yours truly is honored to once again be a judge.