Environmental Studies

Inside Look

October 2022

Dr. Tom Skuzinski

Director Welcome

From the Desk of Tom


Greetings and welcome to the first issue of our ESE newsletter! Below we highlight many of the exciting activities and achievements of our faculty, staff, and students, and share details on some upcoming events that we are excited to support in the coming months. I hope the newsletter will be an important channel for sharing information with the growing ESE community at NIU and beyond.


I’ll always begin these newsletters with a brief meditation. In this first one, I’m focusing on transition. 

Many of the conversations around sustainability center on transformation, but transition - a process of change that does not necessarily lead to a fundamental shift in state - also matters because it forces us to consider both how we change and how we stay the same. ESE, the 2022-2023 academic year is a key transitional time. On July 1st, by Dr. Mel Lenczewski completed two terms - a full decade of service - as Director of ESE and returned fully to her role as a Presidential Engagement and Partnerships Professor. Under Mel’s humane and collaborative leadership, ESE grew and matured into an organization that fulfilled its dual academic and research mandates. It is now the academic home for the interdisciplinary study of sustainability at NIU through its Environmental Studies major and minor and a Sustainable Food Systems certificate, engaging more than 100 current students and a rich network of alumni. And it is the home to 35 scholars across departments, centers, and colleges, marking it as the home for interdisciplinary work at the university. While sustainability often lives as a nomad at universities among evolving clusters of faculty and students, Mel ensured it had a home.


As I step into the Director role, I am mindful of how fortunate I am to be welcomed into the ESE home and that my task is guiding a positive transition by amplifying and strengthening what is already working. Building on our portfolio of research opportunities for undergrads, we welcomed 5 Graduate and 10 Undergraduate Fellows funded by an $850,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. We will be using traditional and crowdfunding campaigns to support student scholarships, with a target of raising $8,000 this year. We’re also continuing to have a full menu of events that can bring current and potential students together, from our Fall Open House—which happened earlier this month—to the events noted later in the newsletter. We’re starting both a writing group to nurture the development of scholarship among our faculty and graduate students and will be providing up to $10,000 to support faculty working groups that cut across disciplinary boundaries. The goal is to solidify our identity—within NIU and among similar hubs at other universities—as a home for transdisciplinary research and to increase our impact through articles, grant proposals, and other scholarly products.


These efforts, and others you will learn about over the coming year, create processes through which ESE can transition in the coming months and years into an institute that has even more capacity to deal with the many significant transitions happening in sustainability, from major federal and state policy changes to the climate change-related crises that continue to increase in frequency and urgency. I look forward to working with you all in the coming months and years as we navigate these challenges and opportunities together.


Your Director,

Tom

Check Out Our Partnerships

Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois


Environmental Studies has partnered with Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois for over 10 years.


When shopping for your costume this Halloween consider thrifting! Goodwill has a large selection of pieces for you to choose from. Check out their website for more spooky ideas.

A Round of Applause 

Congratulations to ESE-associated faculty for their achievements!

Andy Bruno


Andy Bruno published a book on the Tunguska explosion. More information on his book can be found here


Dr. Bruno will also present in Washington, DC on the History of NASA and the Environment Symposium at the end of October. The symposium is hosted by the history office at NASA itself.

 

Andy's Faculty Page

Rebecca Houze


Rebecca Houze has been productive this year!


Spring 2022 in Budapest, Hungary as the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship for her project: Landscape, Cultural Heritage, and Modern Hungarian Textile Design (Research Centre for the Humanities Institute of Art History in Budapest).


Four events in Europe: moderator for "Beyond Borders: Towards a Transnational World History of Design"; presenter "Cotsen Textile Traces Colloquium: Tracing Wiener Werkstätte Textiles"; invited lecturer for the work of architect Mary Colter at Masyrk University in Brno, Czech Republic; and respondent for international symposium, "Rediscovering Ella Briggs".


September 8 co-chair for roundtable discussion to celebrate publication of co-edited volume Design and Heritage: The Construction of Identity and Belonging (Routledge, 2021).


Rebecca's Faculty Page

Broaden Your Horizons Abroad

As a student, why should you consider studying abroad? Going abroad expands your perspective and exposes you to new experiences. Hear from environmental studies students about their experiences studying abroad!

Julia Takes on Costa Rica


Julia considered studying abroad after looking at her options to complete her remaining credits for her degree. She chose Costa Rica because the culture is centered around the country being environmentally friendly. She liked that the Costa Rica program had many different environmental/biological courses to choose from. She would personally recommend Costa Rica for environmental studies due to their rich cultural knowledge on the subject. She chose a program in San Ramon, CR through a third-party provided called USAC; with the USAC Costa Rica program you stay with a host family who provides your meals and does your laundry. The summer program through USAC is split into two sessions and she only attended one session. She was able to pay for her experience through scholarships from USAC and NIU. She wishes she had studied abroad sooner!

Lorena in France


Studying abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France this past summer (June 2022) was absolutely the best experience Lorena got to have while being at NIU. It was exciting, challenging, inspiring, and so fulfilling. Studying abroad allowed her to have direct interaction with a culture she had only been learning about in a classroom setting. Other than improving her language and cultural understanding, she got to perform an independent study focused on bird diversity for credit in her Environmental Studies major (her second major is World Languages and Cultures - French). NIU offers plenty of scholarships for studying abroad, which made her trip possible. She would highly recommend studying abroad to anyone looking to immerse themselves in a different culture, expand their horizons, and grow individually!

How's it Growin'?

The Latest Communiversity Garden News

Eric Faulkner is an Environmental Studies major with an emphasis in Water Sciences. He was the fifth student selected to do a paid summer internship with the Community Gardens. This internship is a partnership with Campus Contact and Tyson Foods. Faulkner believes “the Communiversity Gardens Internship is an essential program as it allows for hands-on experience and professional guidance in subject matters discussed in Environmental Studies.”Read more about his summer experience here

Follow the Communiversity Gardens on Instagram!

What's Coming Up?

  • Oct 27th: Join ENVS alum Atlee Hargis virtually or on campus at DuSable in room 204. Hargis graduated in 2016 and found his passion in avian conversation. Atlee found himself working in South Florida with USFWS. After this experience he wanted to dedicate more of his time to seabird research and protection. Since the Jones Lab does significant research with seabird protection, he decided to reach out to Dr. Jones. Hargis wants to connect with students and share knowledge he has learned, as he believes it will help students when they make their way into the field. Zoom


  • Oct 28th: Graduate Colloquium Seminar co-sponsored by ESE, Department of Public Administration, and the Graduate School: “How Local Newspapers Boost Political Support for Infrastructure Investment” will be given by Dr. Megan Mullin. The talk will take place in the Altgeld Auditorium from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. Durable physical infrastructure provides a foundation for economic growth and protection of public health and safety. Yet despite broad public support, the condition of U.S. infrastructure is in decline, and communities have been slow to invest in projects and facilities that can withstand escalating climate change risks. Prof. Mullin draws on recent research to describe the political constraints on infrastructure investment and the contributions of local newspapers to reducing those constraints. A community’s physical infrastructure, she argues, is tied to a healthy news infrastructure.. Register Online


  • Nov 5th & 6th: Are you passionate about sustainability and the future of food resources? Join us for the Huskie Hack to help create positive change in the world. Our 24-hour hackathon takes place in the Holmes Student Center and will challenge you to solve some of the world’s most pressing issues. Get your team of 4-6 people together and register today. Your team members should have a variety of skills and interests. NIU experts will be there to provide guidance, and the event will conclude with a prize ceremony. Cost is free for all college students (includes meals, snacks and a Huskie Hack t-shirt). Register at the link here.

Save the Date for Events Next Year

  • Mid Feb 2023: February Career Night
  • Late March 2023: Sustainability Summit
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