Last week, my students and I visited the Common Seeing: Meeting Points’, Sarah Siestreem’s and On Earth’s exhibits at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Afterwards, I found myself scrambling for words hearing them speak with deep honesty about the emotional truths art had uncovered for them. As one of them clearly put it: What do I do with the grief I feel right now? […]
It’s time to reclaim the rain
https://amp.registerguard.com/amp/6896881001
I sit to enjoy the sunrise. The morning fog is here. Water covers every leaf on my garden. I am grateful.
Around 10 a.m., the sun rises and I see water evaporate. This happens every day over the span of a week. And I worry.
When interviewing people about water in the Willamette Valley, I hear echoes: “It is not raining like it used to”; “The seasons are changing and the same plants do not survive like they used to.”
The National Weather Service confirms all of our concerns: “The water supply forecast for the spring and summer of 2022 is below average for most of Oregon … much above-normal precipitation and snowpack will be needed to largely reduce drought impacts.”
This is not a trivial fact. As the U.S. Geological Survey attests: Rain “is the primary connection in the water cycle that provides for the delivery of atmospheric water to the Earth.” We need rain and snow to replenish wells, creeks, rivers, lagoons. Without rain and snow, life on earth is endangered by perennial drought, fires and waters that do not have the proper oxygenation and mineral components to sustain all life […]
UO experts offer some New Year’s climate-change resolutions
https://around.uoregon.edu/content/uo-experts-offer-some-new-years-climate-change-resolutions
While the climate crisis is a global issue that cannot be solved by any one person or entity alone, individuals can still take meaningful actions. At the time of year when we resolve to be better versions of ourselves, UO experts offer some suggestions for resolutions that individuals can adopt to counter climate change and help green up their lives, their communities, and the planet.
Each of these faculty members is affiliated with the UO’s Environment Initiative, which focuses the intellectual energy and work of faculty members, students and community partners on working toward a just and livable future through transdisciplinary research, teaching and experiential learning. It is one of the UO’s five Academic Initiatives that work across disciplines, developing the next generation of leaders and problem solvers.
From planting trees to having important conversations with friends and families, here are their ideas for climate-friendly resolutions for 2022 […]
UO prof to study glacial fjords in Greenland as part of NSF grant
A UO professor will join researchers from around the globe in an effort to better understand the ice loss happening across Greenland as well as the social issues Greenlanders are facing as a result.
A National Science Foundation award of $2.9 million will fund the collaborative effort in Greenland over the course of five years. The project includes UO professor Mark Carey, director of the Environmental Studies Program and the UO Glacier Lab, and is led by Fiamma Straneo at Scripps Institution of Oceanography […]
Around the O: Roots of Wellness
https://around.uoregon.edu/roots-wellness
A new digital humanities project led by UO researchers and Libraries shares and validates the Afro-Indigenous knowledge of Caribbean women healers.
Asked to picture a front-line healthcare worker, most Americans probably wouldn’t think of someone like Doña Daniela. But in her rural Dominican community, people consider her the leading authority for help with many illnesses and traumas […]
Around the O: Faculty fellows program begins for UO’s Environment Initiative
https://around.uoregon.edu/content/faculty-fellows-program-begins-uos-environment-initiative
The Environment Initiative at the University of Oregon has announced a new faculty fellowship program funded by the Office of the Provost and has named its first faculty fellow.
The Environment Initiative Faculty Fellows Program aims to enhance transdisciplinary research and advance the Initiative’s strategic priorities. Faculty fellows will receive a course buyout to complete a project that contributes to the goals of the initiative, which include a just and livable future that addresses the intersections of environmental research and teaching with social and environmental justice […]
OPB: UO’s new institute fighting the common roots of racial and environmental injustice
2020 was a year when many of our society’s problems became impossible to ignore. The summer of protests for racial justice led to more frank and public discussions about Oregon’s racist history, and September’s wildfires burned 1.6 million acres, illustrating the increasing urgency of climate change.
But an increasing number of academics, environmentalists and activists are asserting that these aren’t two disconnected issues; that they’re intertwined, with common roots in the same societal forces […]
Around the O: New grant will create an institute for racial and climate justice
https://around.uoregon.edu/content/new-grant-will-create-institute-racial-and-climate-justice
The University of Oregon has received a $4.52 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a new initiative envisioning a transformative research platform for racial and climate justice. It is the largest humanities award in UO history […]