Ithaca College Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences

Picture update from beautiful Belize! The Belize Winter Session class with ENVS Professors Susan Allen and Michael Smith.

The Belize Winter Session class with ENVS Professors Susan Allen and Michael Smith pictured at Xunantunich, an Ancient Maya archaeological site in western Belize, about 70 miles (110 km) west of Belize City.

Dr. Susan Allen and several students are currently exploring Belize during this January Winter Session. Belize is considered Nature’s Best Kept Secret. They will actively and adventurously explore that secret through the lens of human impact and environmental conservation.

Pictured here are two guides (sporting their ENVS tshirts) next to a sign that one of Susan’s past groups created years ago. She was glad to see it was still in use.

We’ll be sure to post updates on their adventures.

Saturday, November 5th, several students along with Professors Anne Stork and Paula Turkon, took part in an ENVS and Innovation Scholars Field trip to pick (glean) apples that would otherwise have gone to waste from Grisamore Farms. (http://www.grisamorefarms.com/) The apples were donated to the Friendship Donation Network (https://friendshipdonations.org/) for redistribution to community groups and neighbors in need. (524 lbs of apples diverted!!!)

ENVS grad, Francesca Germano (she/her) is taking on new challenges while making new discoveries at Oregon State. Originally from Rochester, NY, Francesca completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies at Ithaca College 2020.

https://gradschool.oregonstate.edu/story/francesca-germano-toxicology-ms?fbclid=IwAR1WtT0ibbVx48O0F_PYhb9Fd4m22v__rbIDZQvcqlqvoNwMBF7oA4OZCjM

Professor Susan Allen's Topics in Pollution class diagramming the environmental effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Volunteer Opportunitiy: Community tree planning event this Saturday, October 1st at the East Ithaca nature preserve at 9:30 a.m. Come out and help plant some trees and enjoy your local preserve.

In October, the South Hill Apiary is hosting its annual Bee Fest. For those of you who haven't been to our Bee Fest before, it is a day full of apiary tours, crafts, activities, and more! It's a fun way to learn more about bees and meet the South Hill Apiary team. It will be Saturday, October 8th, from 10-2pm.

Please come and spend a fun day with us. We hope to see you there! Email me directly at [email protected] for any questions

Susan Allen’s Ecotoxicology Lab doing some sampling at beautiful Six Mile Creek on Wednesday.

The 2022 issue of Alluvian (www.alluvian.space), an online journal of creative responses to the environmental crisis, is now live. Ryan Price (ENVS 2019) is the Alluvian fiction/poetry editor and currently works full-time as a grant writer with a nonprofit foundation. Kaylee Warner (ENVS 2019) is the Alluvian art director and is currently in the last year of her MA in art education. (Alluvian is managed by Fae Dremock, a former ENVS faculty member.)

Alejandro Veracruz, Q'eqchi Language and Cultural Facilitator, Peace Corps Belize, shared, “I have an exciting update about IC ENVS alum Ms. Maggie Eckerson (graduated 2018) who I worked closely with the Peace Corps Q'eqchi Language and Cultural Facilitator in Belize.

Based on the leadership skills and initiative Maggie demonstrated as a Peace Corps and AmeriCorps volunteer over the past three years, she was awarded two United States Presidential Volunteer Service Awards and the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award in a White House ceremony hosted by President Biden on July 7th, 2022 (see photo attached). She also received a job offer to become an FBI Investigative Specialist!

Maggie mentioned that her interest in pursuing Peace Corps service was sparked by enrolling in Professor Susan Allen's class and study abroad trip to Belize. We are very grateful to Professor Allen for introducing her to our wonderful country and I hope the IC ENVS community is proud of the profound impact it has had on this young woman. Well done!

Many thanks Professor Allen and IC ENVS!”

Graduating senior and race dialogue facilitator Andrea Diaz talking with her professor Fae Dremock on Ithaca Commons on the evening of her graduation. (Photo by her aunt).