SIT launches public Sustainability Speaker Series
Publication Date: October 12, 2017
Publication Location: Brattleboro, VT
Contact: Kate Casa | [email protected]
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. – School for International Training will launch its 2017-18 Sustainability Speaker Series with several public events this month, including free lectures on the SIT campus by well-known sustainability advocates including Tony Hillery of Harlem Grown, 350.org Board Chairman KC Golden, environmental anthropologist and researcher Tatiana Schrieber, and others.
The series is part of SIT’s ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability and education. It is funded in part by a $100,000 grant SIT received earlier this year from Windham Regional Commission to install a campus-based solar energy system, an outgrowth of SIT’s 2014 climate action plan, which aims to make the campus greener and more energy efficient. The grant also supports SIT’s efforts to expand community outreach and enhance curriculum at SIT Graduate Institute.
In July, SIT joined a coalition of regional colleges to support a new “Ecovation Hub” aimed at bringing jobs, investment and visitors to the area in the wake of the closure of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. SIT, Greenfield Community College, Antioch University New England and Keene State College have pledged to provide education, training and support for efforts to enhance environmentally friendly industries and expertise.
This month, SIT Graduate Institute launched two new MA degrees related to environmental sustainability: one in Climate Change and Global Sustainability and another in Global Leadership and Social Innovation.
The SIT Sustainability Speaker Series starts on Thursday, Oct. 19, with two afternoon talks: Food and Farms for Progressive Social Action and Shade Crops under Solar Arrays in Vermont.
Following is the full schedule of events for October. The speaker series will continue in spring 2018.
SIT Sustainability Speaker Series Fall 2017 Schedule
Food and Farms for Progressive Social Action
1:30-2:30 p.m., Thursday Oct. 19
Rotch 108, SIT Campus
- Tony Hillery, Founder and Executive Director, Harlem Grown
- Abrah Dresdale, Coordinator, Farm & Food Systems, GCC/Franklin Jail
- Tom Grasso, Environmental Defense Fund
Shade Crops under Solar Arrays in Vermont
3:30-4:30 p.m.
- Morgan Casella, Project Manager, Dynamic Organics
- Tatiana Schreiber, Environmental Studies, Keene State College
Climate Change and Social Action
1:30-2:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 26
Rotch 108, SIT Campus
- KC Golden, Senior Policy Advisor, Climate Solutions
Secret of the Seasons Climate Co-Opera
7-8:30 p.m., Friday Oct. 27
Robert H. Gibson River Garden, 157 Main St., Brattleboro
Donations benefit Strolling of the Heifers
- KC Golden, Senior Policy Advisor, Climate Solutions
- John Ungerleider, Professor, SIT
SIT Sustainability Speakers Series Bios
Food and Farms for Progressive Social Action
1:30-2:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 19
Rotch 108, SIT
Tony Hillery, Founder and Executive Director, Harlem Grown
Hillery founded Harlem Grown to address the health and academic challenges facing public elementary school students in Harlem. In 2011, he began volunteering at a local elementary school and witnessed the lack of resources allocated to the schools and the poor nutrition of students. He transformed an abandoned garden, essentially a junkyard, into a thriving community garden. Hillery worked with community members to clean up the garbage and purchase soil and 400 seedlings for 400 students. As the students’ plants grew, their eating habits were also transformed, and the students developed leadership and teamwork skills. That first season, they grew 38 pounds of produce. By 2016, Harlem Grown had expanded to six Harlem schools, reaching more than 4,800 young people and growing more than 2,200 pounds of fruits and vegetables that were distributed to families in need throughout the community. This year, Harlem Grown will open a new farm on 127th Street to continue to reach more young people and inspire them to lead healthy and ambitious lives.
Abrah Dresdale, Food and Farm Project, Franklin County Prison
Dresdale is a permaculture designer, food systems planner, and member of the faculty of the Sustainable Food and Farming program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She was founding faculty and program coordinator of the Farm and Food Systems Program at Greenfield Community College (GCC) for four years, and she continues to teach Introduction to Food Systems to incarcerated students at the Franklin County Jail. She was a co-founder of Sustainable Agriculture and Green Energy Education Center, which has gained national recognition for GCC and its Farm and Food Systems Program. Under her leadership and consultation, the college implemented a student-designed permaculture garden that grows food for the dining commons and campus food pantry. Abrah advised the student Permaculture Club and created one of the first accredited certificates with a track in Permaculture Landscape Design. Her leadership and vision has helped to establish a Jail-to-Farm-to-College & Employment program in Franklin County, Mass., involving the Franklin County Jail, Greenfield Town Farm, and Greenfield Community College.
https://www.abrahdresdale.com
http://www.gcc.mass.edu/academics/programs/farm-and-food-systems/
Moderator: Tom Grasso, Senior Director, Global Program Development, Environmental Defense Fund
Tom leads EDF’s international oceans strategy development aimed at improving the environmental and economic performance of global fisheries.
Shade Crops under Solar Arrays in Vermont
3:30-4:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 19,
Rotch 108, SIT
Morgan Casella, Project Manager, Dynamic Organics
Casella has more than 10 years of experience in sustainable energy and agricultural systems design and construction. He was project manager of a $3 million, two-year buildout of agricultural operations incorporated into a landfill gas-to-energy system, working closely with Andy Klaski to optimize landfill gas system operations and increase methane capture and biogas generation at the Brattleboro landfill. Morgan also designs and builds residential and commercial photovoltaic and solar hot water systems with a focus on energy-efficient technologies for agricultural operations in New England to increase seasonal access to local foods. He does business development and consulting for companies interested in alternative energy and agriculture investments, and analytical services ranging from agricultural investment opportunities for large companies such as Green Mountain Coffee to small family-owned solar installation companies.
http://dynorganics.com
Tatiana Schrieber, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Studies, Keene State College
Schreiber has taught environmental anthropology, agroecology and writing courses at area colleges for many years. She operates a small farmstead, Sowing Peace Farm, in Westminster West, Vt., where she sells organic heirloom and unusual seedlings, teaches, and consults on ecological agricultural applications. In addition, she is research associate with Rich Earth Institute in Brattleboro working on social issues associated with the diversion of human urine from the waste stream for re-use as an agricultural resource. She received her BS in rural sociology and nutrition from Cornell University; her MA in mass communications from Emerson College; and her PhD in environmental studies (environmental anthropology) from Antioch University Graduate School in Keene, NH. Her graduate work examined economic, ecological and cultural sustainability and resilience among coffee and cacao growers in Chiapas, Mexico.
Climate Change and Social Action
1:30-2:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 26
Rotch 108, SIT
KC Golden, Senior Policy Advisor, Climate Solutions
Golden shapes policy and communication strategies with the goal of changing what's possible so we can do what's necessary. He served as special assistant to the mayor of Seattle for clean energy and climate protection, and as assistant director in Washington’s Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development, where he directed the state’s Energy Policy Office. From 1989 to 1994, he was executive director of the Northwest Energy Coalition, a regional alliance working for a clean, affordable energy future.
Golden is a leader in the national climate movement, serving on the boards of 350.org (where he is interim board chair) and the US Climate Action Network. He has also been active in the utility industry, helping Seattle City Light become the first major carbon-free electric utility, and as a governor's representative to the executive board of Energy Northwest, a regional public power consortium.
Golden was named one of Seattle Magazine's “Power 25” most influential people, and its #1 “Eco-Hero.” In 2012, he received the Heinz Award for Public Policy for his lifetime achievement as a climate advocate and policy architect. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a Kennedy Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he received a master’s in public policy.
https://www.climatesolutions.org
SOS Secret of the Seasons: A Global Warming “Co-Opera”
7-8:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 27
Robert H Gibson River Garden, 157 Main St., Brattleboro
Based on songs written by SIT Professor John Ungerleider and Bill Conley, the SOS co-opera is a reflective, participatory musical journey that engages the audience with the challenges that global climate change is bringing to our lives.
Audience dialogue and thought-provoking songs are designed to move participants from fear and denial to hope and action in response to the threat of global warming. This special performance concludes with a question-and-answer session with KC Golden, Senior Policy Advisor, Climate Solutions and Board Chair, 350.org. Sliding scale admission from $8 to $20 benefits Strolling of the Heifers’ year-round community initiatives. Tickets available at the River Garden from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturdays 12-4 p.m.