Voyager of Hope
If our environment is the space we occupy, it is now interstellar. NASA reports: NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft officially is the first human-made object to venture into interstellar space. The 36-year-old probe is about 12 billion miles (19 billion km) from our...
America the Possible by James Gustave Speth
Something very troubling has been happening to our country in the past few decades. We are letting our greatness slip away. — James Gustave Speth. What is your America the Possible? What America can you dream? What America will you stand for? Must we have the...
Climate Wars in the News
It seems most of the climate change debate is waged in the media and the halls of government, where the misinterpreters of science can joyfully, and with impunity, run afoul of facts. Not what one expects of the most pressing scientific issue of any era but our own....
Which is the Greatest Show on Earth? You Decide
This is a tale of two lives. The first, an elephant’s life in the United States, as a traveling Ringling Brothers entertainer. The second, an elephant’s life in Africa, an integral member of a roaming, socially structured herd. According to elephant expert...
Amazon by xkcd
xkcd is the webcomic creation of Randall Munroe, an extraordinarily popular web presence whom we feature regularly on EarthDesk. He draws on science themes often and has been nominated for a Hugo Award twice, thanks to his loyal science fiction fan base. Read more...
Home Rule vs. Fracking: Can Your Local Government Have Final Say?
By Tom Wilber Editor’s Note: The question of whether Article IX of the New York State Constitution, the enumerated “Bill of rights for local government,” empowers locales to stop fracking is now before the state’s highest court. “New York...
Letter from Isanjandugu, Part Two
By Chinyere Ojini Editor’s Note: Much has been written about the best way to assist developing communities in desperate need of clean water. Biggest is not always best. Even massive infusions of dollars — from developed-nation to developing-nation —...
Letter from Isanjandugu, Part One
By Chinyere Ojini Editor’s Note: In Isanjandugu, Tanzania, what we call the “global water crisis” is an everyday fact of village life. Without fanfare, volunteers of the local chapters of Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB) take on the crisis one...
Environmental Policy Clinic Students at Work.
Preparing oyster shells for tagging at the Billion Oyster Project, Governor's Island.
With New York State Senator Terrence Murphy (center) in Albany to discuss state policy regarding mistreatment of elephants in circuses.
Investigating turtle mortality on a Putnam County highway in Cold Spring, NY with county legislator Barbara Scuccimarra (L.).
Learning the fundamentals of aquaculture at the New York Harbor School.
Demonstrating against the use of elephants in circuses, Hanneford Circus, White Plains, NY.
Crafting oyster regulation policy with Debbie Mans, NY-NJ Baykeeper, Pace, NYC. (L.).
Ready to dig into wood chip pile to feed campus composter, Pace, Pleasantville.
Featured Faculty:
Dr. E. Melanie Dupuis
Inspired by new scientific studies of the human body as a metabiome, Dr. E. Melanie Dupuis, Professor and chair, Department of Environmental Science and Studies, reimagines the American body politic through a new metaphor — digestion — opening social transformations to ideas of mixing, fermentation, and collaboration. In doing so, she explores how social activists can rethink politics as inclusive processes that involve the inherently risky mixing of cultures, standpoints, and ideas. Dangerous Digestion at Amazon.