"Green Colleges": An Online Directory

Students looking to apply to college this year have a new online tool to help them in their search. A free directory of environmental information at nearly 2,000 U.S. colleges and universities is now available at www.ourearth.org.

The directory, which is the first of its kind, provides listings of environmental degree programs as well as environmental opportunities and organizations at campuses around the country.

“This is a unique resource that enables students who have an interest in protecting the environment to discover environmental degrees and programs that they might not even know existed,” says Our Earth founder, John Ullman, who is pursuing concurrent masters degrees at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Fuqua School of Business. “Equally as powerful, it enables students to view videos, share ideas, and learn about successful initiatives at other colleges which they can then bring to their own campuses.”

The directory was created by student volunteers at 40 campuses nationwide, including undergraduate and graduate students at Duke. It offers extensive information on undergraduate, masters and PhD degree programs at nearly 2,000 colleges and universities. Fields of study span a wide range of environmental disciplines. The directory also includes links to campus carbon inventories and recycling opportunities, environmentally focused student clubs and organizations, and environmental opportunities in the local community.

Bill Chameides, dean of the Nicholas School, says, "Our Earth has provided a valuable resource. There has been such an explosion of environmental programs recently that it’s become almost impossible to keep up. As a faculty member needing to advise students on opportunities around the country, I'll be visiting Our Earth’s Web site on a regular basis."

OurEarth.org is a nonprofit organization, Web site and grassroots initiative founded in 2006 by Ullman and classmates of his when he was an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University. “Our goal is to transform the way the public finds environmental information,” he says. “The new directory is the first of a series of innovative environmental tools we’re developing.”

The way in which the directory was created is as novel as the directory itself, he adds. “Our Earth’s coalition of student volunteers, its strong academic roots and extensive connections in the environmental community are key to its success. College students and university faculty members are always involved in its projects, and its efforts are supported by dozens of other environmental leaders from around the country.”

Delmarva BioBlitz Award Winners Announced

Delmarva BioBlitz Award Winners Announced at Tally Rally Delmarva Low-Impact Tourism Experiences (DLITE) announced the winners of the Second Annual Delmarva BioBlitz at the BioBlitz Tally Rally on November 19. The event was hosted at the Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center in Eden, Maryland.



The Delmarva BioBlitz connected kids and families to nature through fun, semi-competitive nature exploration, while raising funds for non-profit organizations working on the Delmarva Peninsula. The BioBlitz helped adult and youth teams of up to 10 citizen-scientists conduct inventories of plants and animals in their local parks, watersheds, and throughout the region during the week of October 10 - 19, 2009. All proceeds were shared 50/50 between DLITE and the designated partner charitable organizations.



Thanks to event sponsors, the Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center and Jolly Roger Amusement Park, four prizes of $500 each were awarded to local non-profit organizations. Prizes were awarded to the youth team that inventoried the most total species, and one to the youth team that raised the most money. Prizes were also awarded to adult teams in each category.



The adult team award for most species inventoried went to the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. The Coastal Bays team counted 403 species during an eight-hour block on October 18. The team averaged one species every 71 seconds. The adult team award for most funds raised also went to the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. The Coastal Bays team raised $2,114.15 by soliciting pledges for species inventoried. The team raised $5.25 for every species inventoried.



“The Delmarva BioBlitz is a great fund raising event for us,” said Dave Wilson, Jr., Executive Director of the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. “Not only do we receive contributions that benefit our own programs, we also get a chance to showcase the incredible diversity of wildlife that lives in the land and water of our coastal bays.”



The youth team award for most species inventoried went to the Coast Kids, a program of the Assateague Coastal Trust. The Coast Kids team counted 274 species during a four-hour block on October 10. The team averaged one species every 52 seconds. The youth team award for most funds raised also went to the Coast Kids. The Coast Kids team raised $1,221.00 by soliciting pledges for species inventoried. The team raised $4.46 for every species inventoried.



"The BioBlitz is such a great opportunity for children to learn about biodiversity in a fun and semi-competitive way,” said Verena Chase, Coast Kids Program Director. “I am so proud of our Coast Kids BioBlitz team members. Some of the kids are talented naturalists already. For instance, they know a lot more about bugs and snakes than most adults do. The children were very focused searching the beach, marsh, meadow, forest, and garden habitats for species. Some animals, such as white-tailed deer and red fox, were identified by their tracks, some birds by their call, and the kids even dug up a termite nest. The Delmarva BioBlitz is undoubtedly the most fun fund raiser."



The Delmarva BioBlitz was sponsored by the Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center and Jolly Roger Amusement Park. The Delmarva BioBlitz is supported by the Delmarva Environmental Educators Network (DEEN) and the No Child Left Inside Coalition.



For more information, please contact Jim Rapp at dlitedirector@comcast.net or 443-614-0261.

A special thank you to Dogfish Head Brewery for donating the libations for this celebration!!!

2010 Toyota International Teacher Program

An application is now available for the 2010 Toyota International Teacher Program to Costa Rica, a fully-funded professional development program for U.S. educators. Funded by Toyota and administered by the Institute of International Education, the program aims to advance environmental stewardship and global connectedness in U.S. schools and communities.

The program will take place June 18 – July 3, 2010; the deadline to apply is January 6, 2010. Please visit toyota4education.com for application instructions, eligibility requirements, FAQs, and to apply online.

Requests for information: toyotateach@iie.org or 877-832-2457

MAEOE Moves Into Green Office Complex

The Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education has a new home in one of the greenest buildings in the state: The EnviroCenter in Jessup. Interest and demand for environmental education has steadily increased since MAEOE’s formation in 1985. While this move is designed to centralize operations to streamline client services, Bronwyn Mitchell, Executive Director for MAEOE added, “The new office will focus additional attention on the tremendous environmental education work being done by thousands of educators in hundreds of locations throughout the state.”

As the organization supporting environmental education professionals, it was important to select an office that reflected and complemented the organization’s mission. In the U.S. alone, buildings represent 39 percent of our primary energy use, consume 12.2 percent of our potable water (15 trillion gallons per year), and 40 percent of global raw materials. Green buildings significantly reduce this environmental burden, while providing a healthier place to work and live. “More than an office, the EnviroCenter is a teacher, textbook, and classroom,” explained Mitchell. “Each visitor to the office will leave knowing more about green building strategies and techniques than when they entered.”

A sampling of the EnviroCenter’s environmental attributes include:

· Walking distance from MARC commuter train between Baltimore and Washington
· ½ block from a Howard County Green bus line stop
· Maximum site density by saving an old 1905 farmhouse and incorporating it into the building
· Capturing of rain water for irrigation and landscape features by Water Savers, LLC
· Passive cooling design features
· Carpeting by “Interface” made with recycled materials and recyclable
· Bamboo flooring
· Siding made from recycled asphalt shingles
· Solar tubes and daylight shafts provide natural lighting and save energy
· Hydronic solar heating integrated with a radiant floor heating system for even, comfortable heating
· A 2.25 kW photovoltaic Solar electric system to offset the electric loads of the building
· A fiber optic daylighting system to focus light from outdoors to indoor light fixtures
· Use of biodiesel for supplementary heat
· Interior trim of wheat stalk boards and sunflower seed husks
· A living "Green" roof
· Environmentally friendly finishes with low or no volatile organic chemicals (VOCs)

MAEOE joins current EnviroCenter tenants in this green office complex, including: ASG, environmental design and construction consultants; Water Savers, working to provide solutions for water and energy conservation; The Green Building Institute, a non-profit offering green building courses; Phase II Architecture; and the Robinson Foundation, developing a nature center in Howard County. Founding partner, Stan Sersen, describes it as a community that shares business ideas, personal networks, and professional passions towards creating a more sustainable world. He explained that “MAEOE is the perfect complement to the suite of occupants. The organization embodies the past, present and future of environmental education in Maryland.”

MAEOE’s new address is:
7761 Waterloo Road Jessup, MD 20794
Tel: (443) 733-1212
Fax: (443) 733-1219

Solar Decathlon: Last Three Days - Oct. 15-18

The Solar Decathlon is a biennial competition where 20 teams of university students from around the world develop fully-functional houses that draw all their energy from the sun.

After spending two years developing their homes, the students ship their partially completed homes to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., finish building the homes, and then compete in 10 contests that measure the team's skills in architecture, home design, and communications. The solar homes must produce enough electricity and hot water to perform all the normal functions of a home, including powering the lights and home electronics, washing clothes and dishes, showering, and cooking, all while maintaining a comfortable temperature. Teams can also earn bonus points if their homes produce a surplus of electricity.

The event will be open to the public on October 15-18. For more information, visit http://www.solardecathlon.org/.

MAEOE Welcomes Ryan Pleune as Maryland Green School Coordinator

MARYLAND: Ryan Pleune has been chosen to lead MAEOE’s Maryland Green School Program as it enters a period of unprecedented growth. “Originally from Utah, Ryan will bring a fresh perspective and a wealth of new ideas to the program. He is going to broaden the Maryland Green School program by exploring opportunites to connect the program to education reform. I’m excited about the bright future of the program” explained MAEOE Executive Director Bronwyn Mitchell.

Since 1999, 266 or approximately 10 percent of Maryland public and independent schools have been certified as Maryland Green Schools through MAEOE’s signature program, which was recognized by Governor O’Malley as a model in his Children in Nature Partnership State Environmental Literacy Plan. The program was also recently featured in a PBS national documentary highlighting Green School initiatives, scheduled to air on Earth Day 2010. MAEOE’s Maryland Green Schools initiative challenges schools to integrate the environment into every aspect of the school culture including professional development, curricular connections, student-led projects which model environmental best management practices, and community engagement.

Interest in Maryland Green Schools has grown steadily throughout the program’s history, although Mitchell explained that the program has entered a period of hyper-growth. “It seems every school wants to be a Maryland Green School -- and wants to be one now!” She estimates that the record set in 2009 of 70 new Maryland Green Schools will easily be eclipsed in 2010.

Mr. Pleune will put his experience as a classroom teacher and outdoor educator, along with innovative ideas and his accessible yet charismatic personality, to work as MAEOE’s Maryland Green School Coordinator beginning on October 13. Pleune is anxious to get started, and MAEOE is equally anxious to have him, his enthusiasm, and his dynamic ideas on board as soon as possible.

ABOUT MAEOE: Founded in 1985, the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which seeks to develop a Maryland citizenry that understands and is engaged in responsible environmental behavior and stewardship by training and supporting Maryland educators.