Thank you to Rachel Branch, producer of the television show Solutions Rising for including a “BEAT” series for people to learn more about the fracked gas pipelines proposed to bring gas from the fracking fields of Pennsylvania across New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire to a gas hub in Dracut, MA. The show interviews many people providing information about the proposed pipelines as well as the many alternatives to these pipelines.
Berkshire County state forests to get trail improvements
Hikers, mountain bikers, snowmobilers and other off-road vehicle users could see much-needed access and maintenance improvements at two Berkshire state park trail systems. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has unveiled draft plans to overhaul the dozens of miles of footpaths and rustic tracks for motorized and non-motorized vehicular use at Pittsfield and October Mountain state forests. If finalized in the fall, the DCR looks to implement the plans — with some of the recommended improvements contingent on funding approval in the Legislature. By Dick Lindsay, The Berkshire Eagle, July 5, 2016. [text-blocks id=”26627″ slug=”click-headline-read”]
MassDEP clears way for Kinder Morgan pipeline
in Otis State Forest
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) told Kinder Morgan subsidiary Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company Wednesday (June 29) that its application for a water quality certificate was approved for its Connecticut Expansion Project, natural gas storage loop that will cut through a pristine slice of state protected land in Otis State Forest, located in the town of Sandisfield. In a letter to pipeline project manager James Flynn, MassDEP Wetlands Program Chief David Cameron said the approval was based on “reasonable assurance” that the project would be conducted in a way that would not violate the state’s surface water quality standards and other state laws. By Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Edge, July 1, 2016. [text-blocks id=”26627″ slug=”click-headline-read”]
Senate passes omnibus energy
Senator Benjamin B. Downing (D – Pittsfield) has announced that the Massachusetts State Senate voted to support an omnibus energy bill to diversify the State’s energy portfolio by procuring additional clean energy resources to replace aging power plants that are going offline and move the Commonwealth closer to its emissions reduction goals under the Global Warming Solutions Act. S.2372, An Act to promote energy diversity, was offered as an amendment to the energy bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month. It will now be returned to the House, which may accept the Senate’s new draft or insist upon its own version and appoint a conference committee to work out the differences between the two bills. By Emily Edelman, The Berkshire Edge, July 1, 2016. [text-blocks id=”26627″ slug=”click-headline-read”]
How Canada’s pipeline watchdog secretly discusses “ticking time bombs” with industry
Canada’s pipeline watchdog has given two of North America’s largest energy companies up to six months to fix what industry insiders have described as a series of “ticking time bombs.” The National Energy Board waited eight years after U.S. regulators raised the alarm about substandard materials, finally issuing an emergency safety order in February. At least one Canadian pipeline with defective materials blew up during that period. Newly-released federal documents show that Texas-based Kinder Morgan and Alberta-based Enbridge are both looking into the use of defective parts purchased from Thailand-based, Canadoil Asia, that recently went bankrupt. But the companies were not immediately able to say where they installed the dodgy parts. It’s a problem that also struck Alberta-based TransCanada, which had defective materials in its own pipelines, including one that blew up in 2013. July 5th 2016. [text-blocks id=”26627″ slug=”click-headline-read”]
Should lawyers be ethically obligated to protect the environment?
As states and corporations increasingly head to court over climate change, a lawyer lays out an ethical roadmap to give the environment a louder legal voice. Contrary to many corny jokes, lawyers do follow a code of ethics. But there’s a glaring omission in the professions’ ethical outline: the environment. The American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct is a suggested blueprint for state bars, laying out a boilerplate for client-lawyer relationships, public service, communication and other matters of the professions. “It talks about other legal obligations for third parties, but never talks about the environment,” said Tom Lininger, a professor at the University of Oregon School of Law. By Brian Bienkowski, The Daily Climate, June 6, 2016. [text-blocks id=”26627″ slug=”click-headline-read”]
Can Virtual Reality Emerge
As a Tool for Conservation?
New advances in technology are sparking efforts to use virtual reality to help people gain a deeper appreciation of environmental challenges. VR experiences, researchers say, can be especially useful in conveying key issues that are slow to develop, such as climate change and extinction. Could virtual reality (VR) — immersive digital experiences that mimic reality — save the environment? Well, that may be a bit of a stretch. But researchers say that it could perhaps promote better understanding of nature and give people empathetic insight into environmental challenges. “Virtual reality can give everyone, regardless of where they live, the kind of experience needed to generate the urgency required to prevent environmental calamity,” says Jeremy Bailenson, professor of communication at Stanford University. By Heather Millar, Environment360, June 27, 2016. [text-blocks id=”26627″ slug=”click-headline-read”]
Jobs
Field Biology volunteers – Great Gull Island Project, Waterford, CT (remote NYS waters)
Research Scientist – SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry – Albany, NY
Camp Counselor – Becket Day Camp – Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA, Becket
Greenagers Middle School and High School Program – Various locations in Berkshire County
Greenagers Summer Jobs – Trail Crews & Agricultural Apprentices – Various locations in Berkshire and Columbia Counties
Outdoor Educator – Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center, Cropseyville, NY
Assistant Director, Summer Camp – Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center, Cropseyville, NY
Camp Counselors – Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, Lenox, MA
Weekend Visitors Services Staff – Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, Lenox, MA
Berkshire County state forests to get trail improvements
By Heather Bellow
The Berkshire Edge
July 1, 2016
Springfield — Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) told Kinder Morgan subsidiary Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company Wednesday (June 29) that its application for a water quality certificate was approved for its Connecticut Expansion Project, natural gas storage loop that will cut through a pristine slice of state protected land in Otis State Forest, located in the town of Sandisfield.
In a letter to pipeline project manager James Flynn, MassDEP Wetlands Program Chief David Cameron said the approval was based on “reasonable assurance” that the project would be conducted in a way that would not violate the state’s surface water quality standards and other state laws.
The land was purchased by the Commonwealth about 10 years ago, and is protected by Article 97 of the state constitution. While a Berkshire Superior Court judge ruled that Tennessee Gas has a right to the land under a federal law governing eminent domain easements for pipelines, he also said the company had to make sure it was adhering to state regulations, and that the Legislature had to sort out its position on the issue, since easements on Article 97 land can only be granted with a two-thirds vote.The project, however, is at odds with almost everyone, including Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, which has been in and out of court trying to stop the company from blazing ahead with plans that involve clearing trees near an old growth forest in Sandisfield, and flushing newly installed pipes with water drawn from Spectacle Pond.
The same Judge ruled this month that the company had to wait until the end of the Legislative session, July 29, before it could begin clearing the land to accommodate what will be a third pipeline on an existing corridor already containing two pipelines.
The certificate has long list of detailed conditions for work to wetlands areas along the 3-mile path of what is a 13-mile total pipeline route. The loop cuts across three states, holding gas intended for Connecticut customers.
Despite the conditions, environmentalists are concerned. Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) Executive Director Jane Winn said she has a call in to MassDEP for clarification about whether the conditions applied by all involved agencies are lining up and do not conflict with each other. Those agencies are the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), MassDEP, the Army Corps of Engineers, and most importantly, Winn said, the Sandisfield Conservation Commission.
Winn said BEAT is going over the certificate with a “fine tooth comb” to find issues that might be “appealable,” since there are 21 days in which to appeal MassDEP’s decision.Commission Secretary Clare English told the Edge in an email that Commission members were unable to comment Thursday, since they had not yet had a chance to review the certificate.
One major concern, she said, is when the pipes are flushed. “We don’t know what chemicals could come off the lining inside the pipes. We’ve been asking for that information since the first Conservation Commission meeting on this. [Tennessee Gas] says it’s epoxy, but it is proprietary information. That’s just one issue.”
While U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said it plans to help the company mitigate harm to endangered species, mostly nesting birds, Winn says those plans are “pretty pathetic.”
State Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli (D-Lenox) said he encourages an appeal to the certificate as leverage to keep Tennessee Gas in line and force them to be “honorable,” and “honor the agreements they’ve made with the town of Sandisfield.”
Kinder Morgan has begun to backpedal on a promise to pay the town about $1 million in compensation for wear and tear or damage to roads and other town infrastructure. The Fortune 500 Corporation also promised the town of 800 residents it would reimburse the town’s $30,000 in legal bills racked up negotiating with Kinder Morgan attorneys. Town Manager Alice Boyd previously told the Edge Kinder Morgan has gone silent.
“Delay, delay, delay,” Pignatelli said. “This may buy us more time. I say exercise every appeal possible. We’ve already been FERC’ed,” he added, using a phrase he coined when FERC chose to allow Tennessee Gas to apply for an easement to state conservation land.
“We can’t reverse that, so now we have protect the town.” He further said an appeal could delay the pipeline construction work by 6 to 9 months in which Tennessee Gas could not so much as lay a finger on the land. “We can’t just roll over,” he said.
Winn told the Edge civil disobedience might be right around the corner.
“I hope we can stop this,” Winn said. “There are people from all across the state who feel very strongly about keeping permanently protected lands permanently protected. I am sure [those people] will be on the site if this goes through.”
She said two protests organized by the Sugar Shack Alliance and Sandisfield Taxpayers Opposed to the Pipeline (STOP), are planned on July 16: one in Great Barrington from 12-1 p.m., and the other at Spectacle Pond in Sandisfield from 2-4 p.m. More detailed information to follow.
At the same time, Winn said, environmentalists will march along Spectra’s Access Northeast (ANE) pipeline path and finish at the statehouse, to protest “fracked gas that we do not need.”
Senate passes omnibus energy bill
The Berkshire Edge
July 1, 2016
Senator Benjamin B. Downing (D – Pittsfield) has announced that the Massachusetts State Senate voted to support an omnibus energy bill to diversify the State’s energy portfolio by procuring additional clean energy resources to replace aging power plants that are going offline and move the Commonwealth closer to its emissions reduction goals under the Global Warming Solutions Act.
- Directing DOER to study the need to modernize the electric grid with the goal of reducing demand, reducing energy costs to ratepayers, integrating distributed energy resources, reducing carbon emissions, and enhancing reliability and resiliency;
- Creating a small hydropower tariff program for hydropower facilities with 2 megawatts capacity or less. Distribution companies would pay the facility monthly for electricity provided to the grid, with an aggregate capacity of 50 megawatts;
- Clarifying the authority of the Attorney General’s Office of Ratepayer Advocacy to intervene in DPU proceedings and, in exercising such authority, retain experts and obtain information from companies subject to DPU’s jurisdiction;
- Requiring gas distribution companies to repair Grade 3 leaks identified as having a significant environmental impact when construction on a public way exposes such a leak, and directing DPU to investigate specific criteria for the identification of the environmental impact of gas leaks;
- Establishing a separate net metering cap of 50 megawatts for energy generated by anaerobic digesters; and
- Establishing an Oil Heat Energy Efficiency Fund into which funds are deposited and expended for providing financial incentives for residential and small business demand-side management programs that improve energy efficiency and reduce oil consumption for residential and commercial customers.
The Senate bill was offered as an amendment to the energy bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month. It will now be returned to the House, which may accept the Senate’s new draft or insist upon its own version and appoint a conference committee to work out the differences between the two bills.
Great Gull Island –
A Photo Essay
By Erik Hoffner
Sierra Magazine
June 29, 2016
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SLIDESHOW
“KEEAR KEEAR, the terns are coming!” read the opening line of an email sent to the Great Gull Island Project volunteers last spring, as thousands of shrieking seabirds arrowed in on a 17-acre-island just off the tip of Long Island, New York. Once the site of a Spanish American War-era fort and now a biological research station owned by the American Museum of Natural History, it’s home to the world’s largest nesting population of common terns (considered a threatened species) and also roseate terns (endangered).
Just as the birds descend on this low-slung island from their far-off winter homes, so too does a corps of volunteers; volunteers have been aiding the study of the tern rookery since the project’s inception in the mid-1960s. Roosting in the old brick barracks, wearing wide hats brimming with tall sprays of plastic flowers to keep the dive-bombing terns at bay (their swoops can end with a sharp peck to the head if not warned off), they march across the island ticking off the location of nesting tern pairs carpeting the ground and on crumbling gun turrets. All this is at the direction of lead researcher Helen Hays, who has lived on the island for the entirety of each breeding season since 1969.
Hays (now 80 years young) has watched the common tern colony grow to 9,500 nesting pairs. She and her colleagues have discovered much about the birds, including the location of their winter home in Brazil.
On a recent weekend, I joined a group of almost a dozen volunteers—from recent college grads visiting for the first time to others who’ve been involved since the 1980s—in an effort to document every tern nest on the island. Working in zones with GPS units and notebooks in hand, we crept carefully along, recording each spot and the number of speckled eggs while angry terns chattered and attacked from above. The news was good, with 2,000 new nests marked since the previous weekend’s volunteers were out, and with the promise of many more yet to be established—the birds were finding anchovies, sand eels, and herring in abundance in the Long Island Sound waters.
As the colony grows each year, so does the urgency to band the chicks, so that their life stories can become part of Great Gull’s vast volume of data. In probably the world’s best and biggest long-term study of these tern species, researchers use these data points to unravel all kinds of mysteries, including how old the birds live to be. Two snowy owl pellets found by our group, when pulled apart, revealed the leg bands of two early-returning—and ill-fated—common terns aged 15 and 18 years.
Imagining their yearly travels to and from Brazil (and perhaps to the Azores and back, too, as Hays’s team has also documented) for so many years sent a thrill of appreciation through all assembled in the research station HQ. These intrepid birds lived well.
The Great Gull Island Project relies on volunteers to collect data on the tern colony between May and September each year, with a special need during July when the team is banding chicks. Learn how to get involved here.
How Canada’s pipeline watchdog secretly discusses “ticking time bombs” with industry
July 5th 2016
Canada’s pipeline watchdog has given two of North America’s largest energy companies up to six months to fix what industry insiders have described as a series of “ticking time bombs.”
Newly-released federal documents show that Texas-based Kinder Morgan and Alberta-based Enbridge are both looking into the use of defective parts purchased from Thailand-based, Canadoil Asia, that recently went bankrupt. But the companies were not immediately able to say where they installed the dodgy parts. It’s a problem that also struck Alberta-based TransCanada, which had defective materials in its own pipelines, including one that blew up in 2013.
NEB finally orders safety review of substandard parts
The review emerged from the emergency safety order issued last February by Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) when it launched a crackdown on companies using shoddy parts in their pipelines. This crackdown followed a series of failures and warnings that date back to at least 2008 when U.S. regulators noticed that the industry was using substandard materials in pipelines that were cracking apart during testing.
Eight years later, Canada’s National Energy Board, ordered energy companies to verify whether they had used any of the defective components. If they found any, they were required to explain how they would fix the problem. The NEB denies it was sitting on the problem for the eight-year period.
Pipeline companies can’t figure out what parts they used
Five months after that emergency safety order, two of the North America’s largest energy companies – Alberta-based Enbridge Inc. and Texas-based Kinder Morgan are still not able to say exactly what they put into their pipeline infrastructure, and the NEB says it’s “appropriate” to give them a few more months to prove the lines are safe.
Engineers who have worked for years on pipelines say that it’s a disturbing story like this one that has prompted them to lose faith in the industry and its watchdogs as major energy companiescontinue to suffer significant ruptures, spills and other disasters. Both the industry and its regulators insist that there are no immediate threats because they’re keeping an eye on the situation. But the critics say that sloppy record keeping, inappropriate conversations, weak oversight and a race for cheap parts are leaving many dangerous pipelines in the ground.
“There aren’t people in these big companies on staff any more who understand the fittings design or what they’re really doing with these things,” said Dennis Maki, 65, a professional engineer who recently retired after spending more than 40 years in the pipeline industry. “Purchasing (departments from companies are) going out and buying the stuff worldwide from the cheapest vendor, and what have you got? You’ve got, in a lot of cases, ticking time bombs.”
Defects in pipelines can sometimes stay in the ground for years without incident. A recent investigation report into a 2014 explosion involving a TransCanada pipeline near Otterburne, Manitoba, revealed that a crack, which formed more than 50 years earlier due to bad welding, was the cause of the rupture. It started a fire that burned for 12 hours and forced evacuations in the immediate vicinity.
NEB takes safety confusion off-the-public-record
Right after the Canadian watchdog issued its February safety order, representatives of the companies began to email and call their contacts at the Canadian regulator, explaining that they didn’t understand what was going on.
In one of the exchanges, an Enbridge employee told the NEB in a Feb. 23 email that it needed more information about what to look for regarding parts from a company, Canadoil Asia, that was founded in 1999 and which went through bankruptcy restructuring in April 2014. The Enbridge employee wrote in the email about being uncertain of specific details such as when their own supplier went bankrupt, which parts were faulty and what was wrong with them.
Another engineer from oilsands company, Canadian Natural Resources Limited also expressed confusion in a Feb. 29 email, saying that the company had “very little” information available about the Canadoil Asia fittings.
Three engineers at the NEB – Suzanne Bouzane, Joe Paviglianiti and director of integrity management Chris van Egmond – shifted the discussions off email, recommending instead that the industry and its regulators should pursue their interactions through a series of secret phone calls.
The NEB has extraordinary powers under Canadian legislation. Not only is it a law enforcement agency that has full powers of investigation, allowing it to compel its regulated companies to produce evidence, answer questions and follow orders, it also has the powers of a federal court. With those powers come responsibilities to be fair and transparent. The employee code of conduct requires NEB staff to document all discussions related to matters that are before the Board, such as a safety order, but they didn’t do so in this case.
“It is a normal course of regulatory business to offer telephone and email contact information when we issue an Order or other regulatory matter and it is our expectation that we receive calls and email correspondence as a result,” said spokesman Darin Barter. “It is not unusual to receive calls regarding regulatory matters, and we respond with the public interest and pipeline safety in mind.”
Barter added that the NEB retains all relevant documentation when required, but did not explain how it decides what is relevant to keep as a formal record.
NEB offered extensions before being asked
The NEB said that Kinder Morgan and Enbridge were the only companies that asked for extensions on the safety order from February, and said it granted them since it wants to ensure it has complete information.
“A thorough and complete search is in the public interest,” said Barter, the NEB spokesman. “Based on a balance between time and completeness, the NEB is emphasizing completeness.”
Barter’s explanation is somewhat different from what the NEB told Enbridge when it offered an extension, before the company had even submitted its request. The NEB’s “integrity management” division said it would grant the extension to reduce the regulator’s own workload.
“I was able to chat quickly with my director about the possibility of Enbridge needing an extension on the timeline for the Substandard Materials Order, and she said she would have no issues with granting an extension,” wrote Bouzane, one of the NEB engineers, on March 1. “Rather than the interim reports as you suggested, we would rather just wait and have a complete report when it is ready (this way we are not reviewing data more than once)… The volume of records to be reviewed is sufficient reasoning to request the extension.”
Barter said it was “appropriate” for the NEB to grant extensions for companies such as Enbridge and Kinder Morgan that are affected by factors like the size, complexity and age of their systems.
Kinder Morgan searching “offsite” for Trans Mountain pipeline files
Through all of the confusion, Kinder Morgan Canada, which only operates one major oil pipeline in Canada, the 63-year old Trans Mountain line – a route between the Edmonton and Vancouver regions that the company now wants to expand – said it needed to do a “large-scale” review to determine whether its engineers can prove whether recent work done on the aging pipeline was safe.
“The majority of the files are located in offsite storage,” Kinder Morgan Canada wrote in a May 17, 2016 letter that was signed by its Calgary-based regulatory lead Megan Sartore.
She also wrote in the letter that the company was comparing old test reports to verify whether it installed substandard parts or any fittings purchased from Canadoil Asia.
National Observer attempted to email and call Kinder Morgan Canada more than a dozen times since May to get an explanation for its “offsite” records and missing engineering information. It finally responded on Tuesday with a short email.
“All regulated companies under the NEB’s authority received this (safety order) letter,” Kinder Morgan wrote in the email.
“Trans Mountain requested an extension due to the volume of records over the past number of years we to need to review in order to provide the Board with a thorough assessment of its findings. The Board granted approval of the extension to comply. Kinder Morgan Canada and Trans Mountain take safety and integrity of its systems very seriously and work diligently to ensure that they comply with all regulatory requirements and in this instance Board orders.”
A spokesman for Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. said it needed time to review more than 700 individual projects in order to respond to the safety order. But in the meantime, the company, which is hoping to develop several pipeline expansion projects including the west coast Northern Gateway project, said its own system was safe and that the delays reflect no weakness in its record keeping.
“While our review will determine whether we have any of the parts identified by the NEB in our system, it remains safe as it incorporates multiple layers of protection,” said spokesman Graham White. “We invest significantly in the fitness of our pipelines and facilities including leak detection, inspections and continuous monitoring for safety and reliability. It’s also important to know newly installed pipe is pressure tested with water to ensure its strength prior to going into service.”
White added that the emails exchanged between Enbridge’s employee and the NEB engineer reflect how the company was trying to understand the order so that it could respond with the right information. He also said that Enbridge completed a comprehensive review of its own records and testing, finding no evidence that it had installed substandard parts on its pipelines.
However, the company will do more research to ensure there are no risks.
“Enbridge will complete an engineering assessment of the Canadoil Asia fittings to further validate their continued safe use and report those findings to the NEB,” White said.
Enbridge also said in a new letter sent to the NEB on June 24 that it had confirmed locations of more than 100 Canadoil Asia fittings used in its network in different locations and that it planned to complete the engineering assessment on these before the end of October.
TransCanada had its files and didn’t need extension
Calgary-based TransCanada Corp – the pipeline company that wants to build a new cross-Canada pipeline called Energy East – said it had complied with the safety order. It had already been reviewing these issues after a section of a natural gas pipeline with substandard parts blew up near a hunting cabin in Northern Alberta in October 2013.
“We proactively took additional steps to improve our oversight and quality for fittings,” said TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha. “These included auditing all fitting suppliers to confirm they were not susceptible to similar issues, placing additional requirements on fitting orders and strengthening our third party inspection process.”
Meantime, Enbridge’s June 24 submission also included a letter that it had received from another supplier, Quebec-based Ezeflow, which manufactured substandard parts that were used on the TransCanada pipeline. The president of Ezeflow, Pierre Latendresse, said in that letter, dated Feb. 24, that these parts were supplied due to what he described as an “isolated incident.”
Latendresse said that all parts his company supplied to Enbridge met the “usual Ezeflow quality standard and workmanship.”
The National Energy Board also finds itself under review by the newly elected Liberal government that has pledged to modernize the regulator and review its management. The government launched a comprehensive review last month of different aspects of federal oversight of industry. The proposed process would include public consultations along with a full review of the NEB’s mandate to be led by a special panel.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 5:35 pm ET with additional comments sent from Enbridge Inc. This story was again updated at 8:45 pm ET in response to new information provided by Enbridge Inc.
Should lawyers be ethically obligated to protect the environment?
As states and corporations increasingly head to court over climate change, a lawyer lays out an ethical roadmap to give the environment a louder legal voice
By Brian Bienkowski
The Daily Climate
June 6, 2016
Contrary to many corny jokes, lawyers do follow a code of ethics. But there’s a glaring omission in the professions’ ethical outline: the environment.
The American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct is a suggested blueprint for state bars, laying out a boilerplate for client-lawyer relationships, public service, communication and other matters of the professions. “It talks about other legal obligations for third parties, but never talks about the environment,” said Tom Lininger, a professor at the University of Oregon School of Law.
Lininger wrote the “time has come to remedy the conspicuous omission of environmental protection from the list of lawyers’ ethical duties,” in a paper for the Boston College Law Review. He argues in the paper that, as things currently stand, lawyers are ethically encouraged to advocate for clients but there are no incentives for minimizing potential environmental harm. He proposed a series of “green ethics” amendments to ABA’s rules.
He suggests allowing lawyers to reveal confidential client information to prevent “imminent, substantial and irremediable environmental damage”, and having lawyers inform clients of environmental damage they might do or plan to do and advise how to avoid such risk.
This would require a pretty fundamental change in law: getting rid of the laser-like focus of lawyers on the interests of nothing but their client.
Some of Lininger’s proposed changes are a bit more far-reaching, such as the professional responsibility of providing pro bono services that improve environmental protection or adding an “environmental scorecard” to hold firms accountable for their environmental bona fides.
The duty of confidentiality has always been subject to obligations imposed by law. In cases of suspected child abuse, for instance, the duty of disclosure trumps confidentiality. Another example is for cases of financial crime or fraud. Both the child abuse and financial fraud exemptions are to “avoid significant harm to vulnerable third parties,” Lininger wrote, which he said can easily apply to the environment.
The focus of the law boils down to protecting people, said Irma Russell, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. “People are impacted inevitably when the environment is hurt. [People’s health] is hand-in-glove with environmental harm,” she said.
Russell called Lininger’s suggestions “good for clients as well as society.”
“The modern world has a lot of environmental hazards and a regime where people don’t feel pressure to protect public safety is unbalanced and a bad situation,” she said. “Allowing lawyers to be true advisors rather than mouthpieces facilitates good decisions by clients.”
In a paper published earlier this year in the George Washington Journal of Energy and Environmental Law, Russell makes the case that advancements in environmental regulations—such as the U.S. EPA’s New Generation Compliance, featuring bolstered monitoring, detection, reporting and enforcement tools—is heralding a “new age” of environmental law: one in which lawyers play an increasing role in corporate compliance.
“The lawyer’s involvement in explaining compliance and the risks of noncompliance provides a necessary predicate for next generation compliance success,” she writes, arguing such involvement falls within the profession’s ethical duty of serving the public good.
She said such legal environmental vigilance is even more important in the wake of a Department of Justice memorandum released last fall that made it a federal priority to hold individuals accountable for corporate offenses.
There has been a spate of recent court cases dealing with climate change including a racketeering investigation of ExxonMobil alleging a climate science cover-up for years andchildren suing Massachusetts for not reducing greenhouse gases as obligated.
Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, said such cases are only going to bolster scrutiny on the ethical obligations of lawyers as countries deal with the “single largest threat to society.”
“Some of the most important legal issues today are large corporations lying about climate change and being able to pollute a few more years,” Siegel said. “The role of lawyers helping them do that and the ethical considerations governing our profession will increasingly come under the microscope.”
But many environmental impacts are difficult to discern, and lawyers aren’t always trained to make those calls, said Mark Latham, deputy vice dean for academic affairs and professor of law at Vermont Law School.
While certainly a “thought-provoking” concept, the idea of an environmental ethics code for lawyers is troublesome, Latham added.
“I really don’t think that it’s the role of lawyers to minimize harm to the environment. It’s our responsibility to represent clients,” said Latham, who previously worked for a firm that counseled clients regarding environmental regulatory compliance.
Latham said lawyers are simply not in a position to make a determination on what constitutes “imminent, substantial and irremediable” environmental harm.
The ABA declined to comment on Lininger’s suggestions. Getting the organization to modify its ethics code might be a reach, but Lininger is tapping into a global shift in the international zeitgeist toward environmental protection as an ethical duty.
The most profound recent example was Pope Francis’ call for an “ecological conversion” in last year’s encyclical, which focused on the environment and the moral need for every person on “our common home” to address issues such as climate change.
Such views have reached other high-powered institutions, with President Obama and his Administration calling carbon cuts a moral obligation, and the United Nations’ echoing of the pope’s message.
“It is an issue of social justice, human rights and fundamental ethics. We have a profound responsibility to protect the fragile web of life on this Earth, and to this generation and those that will follow,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a Vatican meeting with Pope Francis last year.
You will find no such language in the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct—ethical rules adopted in the 1980s.
However, it’s not completely unheard of. In Lininger’s home state, for example, the Sustainable Future Section of the Oregon state bar is designed to involve the lawyers in playing a role in reducing man-made climate change and sustainability promotion.
“Ultimately the legal profession is supposed to achieve justice,” Siegel said. “Justice can’t include just helping clients, when there’s an existential threat to our life support system all professions need to grapple with that—including lawyers.”
Can Virtual Reality Emerge
As a Tool for Conservation?
By Heather Millar
Environment 360
June 27, 2016
New advances in technology are sparking efforts to use virtual reality to help people gain a deeper appreciation of environmental challenges. VR experiences, researchers say, can be especially useful in conveying key issues that are slow to develop, such as climate change and extinction.
Could virtual reality (VR) — immersive digital experiences that mimic reality — save the environment?
Well, that may be a bit of a stretch. But researchers say that it could perhaps promote better understanding of nature and give people empathetic insight into environmental challenges.
“Virtual reality can give everyone, regardless of where they live, the kind of experience needed to generate the urgency required to prevent environmental calamity,” says Jeremy Bailenson, professor of communication at Stanford University.
Could virtual reality (VR) — immersive digital experiences that mimic reality — save the environment?
Well, that may be a bit of a stretch. But researchers say that it could perhaps promote better understanding of nature and give people empathetic insight into environmental challenges.
“Virtual reality can give everyone, regardless of where they live, the kind of experience needed to generate the urgency required to prevent environmental calamity,” says Jeremy Bailenson, professor of communication at Stanford University.
Bailenson’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) this year released a short VR documentary and an interactive VR game that seek to explain the issue of ocean acidification, the process by which excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves in the ocean, making it more acidic and less healthy for ocean life.
As Bailenson notes, “One of the greatest challenges to staving off irrevocable climate change isn’t simply getting buy-in from skeptical politicians – it’s getting people to visualize how driving a gas-guzzling car or living in an energy inefficient home is contributing to a problem that may only manifest itself completely in future decades.”
The lab’s documentary and game were presented at the Tribeca Film Festival in April.
Video from the documentary has been adapted to be included in Google Expeditions, a VR educational program that’s still in beta, but has already been shown to one million school kids around the world and will soon be released to many more.
“Google Expeditions will be the means to reach the student for whom the textbook or the lecture isn’t working,” explains James Leonard, a program manager on the Google for Education team. “It’s a totally different medium. It’s powerful and super-engaging. It will bring students closer to places they otherwise wouldn’t be able to visit.”
So far, the Google/Stanford effort seems to be one of the few aimed specifically at environmental education. Predictably, a lot of early VR investment is going into entertainment applications: VR movies and games.
The nature documentary filmmaker David Attenborough has just produced a VR experience of a dive in the Great Barrier Reef. While meant to entertain, that project will no doubt educate as well. In more academic and policy settings, VR is beginning to be used mostly to create 3D representations of pollution or other human impacts on wild areas.
Many environmental issues are complex and difficult to explain fully. Phenomena like climate change, ocean acidification, extinction, and glacier erosion are especially challenging to illustrate, either because they’re happening in slow motion or because they’re evolving in remote places that few people see, or both.
Virtual reality solves many of these problems, Bailenson says. With the proper software, video feed and VR headset, just about anyone might be able to experience environmental change in the Amazon, the Arctic, or even under the ocean.
When I take my ocean acidification dive, I jump off from Palo Alto, California.
One minute, I’m in a high tech virtual reality (VR) lab at Stanford University, standing on a “haptic” floor of aeronautic aluminum that can move and vibrate to simulate the feeling of movement, encircled by speakers that can immerse me in sound, and by cameras that can track my every move, where I look, how and where I turn my body.
The next minute, I put on the VR headset and suddenly I’m in Italy, near the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, on a jetty that extends from a volcanic island called Ischia. To say it looks and feels idyllic would be an understatement: The sun glints off the waves and bright primary color boats bob in the harbor. On the island, pastel stucco houses stair-step up toward a gray, crenelated castle. Above water, everything seems lovely.
Then I’m underwater. The sea around Ischia, it turns out, provides a perfect place to show people the contrast between a healthy ocean and an acidified one: In one part of the harbor, colorful schools of fish rush past me. Sea grasses undulate. Eel squiggle by brilliant coral reefs. Along the bottom potter various species of sea snail.
Next, I turn to the part of the harbor where volcanic vents have created an acidified environment: The corals, the eel, and many of the fish have disappeared. Everything looks red-brown and murky as certain types of algae have taken over.
In my headset, Prof. Fio Micheli of Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station in Monterey says, “One of the most difficult parts of my research is getting people to care about ocean acidification.”
Full disclosure here: I knew all about ocean acidification before the VR tour; I’ve written about it for various magazines. But as I took off my VR headset, I felt upset and deeply sad. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an experience — even a digital one — seems to be worth many more. As music video director and VR entrepreneur Chris Milk has put it, VR is an “empathy machine.”
“The virtual reality platform allows someone who has never even been in the ocean to experience what ocean acidification can do to marine life. We are visual creatures, and visual examples can be very striking,” explains Kristy Kroeker, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a consultant on the VR project.
There was a lot of hype about VR in the 1990s, followed by technical challenges, missteps, and public disappointment. This time, the technology seems poised to become a mass experience. Costs have come way down and computing power is improving all the time.
Google cardboard headsets and the Samsung Gear VR dipped a toe into this new universe last year, but experts generally said they were not quite ready for prime time.
However, in late March, Facebook released the Oculus Rift headset, an immersive VR setup intended for mass market use, priced at $599, about $1,500 with a bundled computer. The first 30 Rift games have gone on sale, with another 100 to follow by the end of the year.
Competitors such as HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR, and the Microsoft HoloLens are on the way. There are reports that both Google and Apple have projects targeting this new market.
Meanwhile, the ocean VR experiences produced by VHIL are building on a decade of social science research that shows people who have a VR experience are more likely to change behavior in ways that benefit the planet.
For instance, various VHIL studies have shown:
• If a person has a VR experience of cutting down an old-growth redwood tree — feeling the vibration and sound of the chainsaw, the crash of the tree as it falls — that person is more likely to conserve paper.
• If a person takes a VR shower and sees their avatar or doppelganger eating coal to represent the amount of energy used, that person is more likely to conserve water.
• People who experienced an early version of my ocean acidification “dive” — one with more cartoonish graphics and less accurate biology — cared more about the issue than other people who just watched a video about it.
VHIL is developing a fish avatar project, which will take movement data from electronically tagged fish in the kelp forests of Monterey Bay and transfer it into a virtual reality where people will be able to join the fish in their underwater world. The project’s goal is to enable individuals to “adopt a fish,” thus becoming more invested in the bay’s future.
Currently, VHIL is working on how to distribute the latest ocean acidification experiences. Obviously, Google Expeditions provides one outlet. But having secured project funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Stanford team now hopes to get as many views as possible for the documentary and the game as well. They’re also designing studies to measure the effect of the content.
Cody Karutz, the Stanford team’s hardware manager, acknowledges that there’s still quite a bit of work to be done fine-tuning these experiences. For instance, you start the game on a boat in the Ischia harbor, but I found myself getting distracted by wanting to turn the ship’s wheel, which isn’t yet possible.
When I was “swimming” around trying to collect samples in the game, my brain balked at conflict between the visual information — swimming horizontally — and the physical information — standing vertically in a lab.
Also, as I was swimming and bent to collect samples in the game, I had this weird feeling that half my body was above the sea floor, the other half below it.
“Typical live camera arrays still capture two-dimensional information. The challenge is combining those with an additional sense of depth and integrating them over frames of time to create interactive graphics,” Karutz explains. “Computing power and data storage are the limitations right now, and that will sure change over the next few years.”
Lots of people experience stimulation overload when experiencing both VR and a voice-over with content. The team is experimenting to find the best way to explain content without making people nauseated. There’s a fridge in the lab stocked with ginger ale for those who get woozy. I partook.
Field Biology volunteers –
Great Gull Island Project ,
Waterford, CT (remote NYS waters)
Posted Jun 03 2016
The Great Gull Island project is a monitoring study of Common and Roseate Terns nesting on Great Gull Island. Recently it has been expanded to include surveys of the South American coast to determine where numbers of both species spend the nonbreeding season. It has been gathering data on these important seabirds since the 1960s.
Great Gull Island is an island of 17 acres at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, NY. The former site of an army fort, its overgrown battlements are now defended by the largest concentration of nesting Common Terns in the world (9,500 pairs). The boulders dumped around the edge of the island to stabilize the shoreline, as well as some of the retaining walls of the fort, offer nesting sites for 1300 pairs of Roseate Terns, the largest nesting concentration of this endangered species in the Western Hemisphere.
Volunteers are needed to aid a variety of biological research tasks. The greatest need is for people to come in July to do daily surveys of the island, to band newly hatched chicks, and some observation work in the blinds.
Room and board are provided, with rustic accommodations in historic fort barracks and battlements. Good cell service and limited electrical service.
Learn more about all that’s been discovered at GGI here:
http://www.greatgullisland.org/Main_Page.html
Boats leave from Waterford, CT, with direct service to the research station located on the island in NY waters.
TO APPLY
To learn more or arrange a volunteer stay on the island this summer, contact lead researcher Helen Hays at hays@amnh.org.
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Research Scientist – SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry – Albany, NY
Category: Research Foundation
Department: EFB
Locations: Albany, NY
Posted: Jun 27, ’16
Type: Full-time
About College of Environmental Science and Forestry: Founded in 1911, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) is the nation’s oldest and most respected school dedicated to the study of the environment, developing renewable technologies and building a sustainable future. The ESF main campus is in Syracuse, NY and has regional campuses throughout Central New York and the Adirondack Park. ESF consistently earns high rankings in US News and World Report, Forbes, Peterson’s Guide, The Washington Monthly, Princeton Review and other national college guidebooks.
Job Description:
Title: Research Scientist
Department: Environmental and Forest Biology
Salary: $50,000 minimum
Duration: Through March 2018, with likely continuation through March 2023
Location: Albany, NY (New York State DEC Headquarters)
Brief Description of Duties: This position will work closely with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Bureau of Wildlife (BOW) staff and will function as the BOW’s Data Scientist. This position will assist the Game Management Section with annual monitoring efforts by maintaining current systems in antiquated database software (i.e., Visual FoxPro and Turbo Pascal) while simultaneously working to upgrade the programs in a modern data analysis language (i.e., R or Python) and database platforms (e.g., Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, sqllite, or MS Access). The position will seek opportunities to streamline and automate the workflow and data flow involved in annually recurring surveys conducted by the Game Management and Wildlife Diversity Sections.
The Research Scientist also serves as a consultant to BOW staff throughout the state and research collaborators, providing direct support with statistical analyses, guidance on sampling designs, evaluation of project proposals to ensure statistical validity, assistance with preparation and review of technical reports and manuscripts, and response to data requests from staff and the public.
Primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Oversee annually recurring deer harvest estimation. This is a major project and involves validation of all input data sources (e.g., harvest reports from hunters, biological data from field checked deer, etc.), statistical analyses (descriptive and inferential), development of summary tables, and appending estimates to several long-term databases and spreadsheets.
Oversee data validation and analysis of annual data collection from a variety of wildlife observation surveys (e.g., bow hunter sighting log, big game hunter survey, grouse and turkey hunter logs, drumming surveys, incidental sightings) to monitor relative abundance of deer, bear, moose, turkey, selected furbearers, and other game and non-game wildlife species statewide. Evaluate and refine as appropriate.
Provide technical guidance on data management systems, maintain and update computer programs used to analyze survey data, and help identify and correct sources of errors that occur in telephone, internet and scannable form reporting systems.
Provide statistical expertise and consultation for design and analysis of wildlife population research, user surveys, and monitoring programs and evaluate those surveys and programs after implementation.
Provide user-friendly reports and data queries from the above surveys as needed for public information or management purposes.
Assist BOW biologists in the preparation of peer-reviewed manuscripts and technical reports.
Train and supervise support staff to assist with data quality assurance and validation procedures.
Travel around New York State as needed to meet with and make presentations to regional staff, other professionals, and wildlife management stakeholders.
Requirements:
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor’s Degree and two years of professional research experience, OR a Master’s Degree and one year of professional research experience, in biometrics, biostatistics, data sciences, wildlife population ecology or related field.
Expertise MS Access and with one or more statistical programming language such as R, Python, and/or SAS.
Strong interpersonal skills, including ability to establish and maintain satisfactory working relationships and collaborate with diverse personalities on project teams.
Preferred Qualifications:
Master’s Degree and two years of professional research experience, OR a PhD, in biometrics, biostatistics, data sciences, wildlife population ecology or related field.
Proficient with a version control system for software development (e.g., Git, Subversion, etc.)
Familiarity with Turbo Pascal and/or MS Visual FoxPro
Proficient at writing custom functions and/or packages in R and/or Python
Strong familiarity with relational databases and proficient using SQL
Experience developing dashboards such as RShiny Flex Dashboards, ArcGIS Dashboard for Operations, Rbokeh, Python bokeh, etc.
Proficiency with likelihood-based and Bayesian inference.
Experience working closely with state or federal wildlife agency staff.
Advanced user of ArcGIS for Desktop.
Additional Information: In accordance with the “Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act” institutions of higher education are required to prepare an annual report containing information on campus security policies and campus statistics. This report includes statistics for the previous three years concerning reported crimes that occurred on-campus; in certain off-campus buildings or property owned or controlled by SUNY-ESF; and on property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus. The report also includes institutional policies concerning campus security, such as policies concerning sexual assault, and other matters. You can obtain a printed copy of this report by contacting SUNY-ESF University Police at 315-470-6667 or by accessing the following web site: http://www.esf.edu/univpolice/crimereports/
As an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer, the Research Foundation will not discriminate in its employment practices due to an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin and veteran or disability status.
Application Instructions:
Date to Be Filled: August 1, 2016 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Application Deadline: Although the college will accept applications until the position is filled, interested candidates should submit their materials by July 15, 2016 to ensure optimal consideration.
Application Procedure: Employment application must be submitted on-line. Be sure to include contact information for a minimum of 3 references in your resume/CV.
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Camp Counselor – Becket Day Camp –
Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA, Becket
FLSA Status: Non-Exempt (Seasonal) Reports to: Day Camp Director
General Function: The Day Camp Counselor is responsible for creating, leading and managing group activities daily. The Day Camp Counselor is also responsible for managing individual and group behavior, providing a safe and nurturing environment for all campers.
Required Qualifications & Experience: The Day Camp Counselor must be: Aged 18 or older and able to work with children in the outdoors Able to administer and participate in all typical camp activities, some of which may be physically demanding Able to follow instructions, accept guidance and respond well to supervision Patient with children, peers and leadership staff Available Monday to Friday during regular program hours, including pre-program and post-program duties, and presentation evening. Available for all staff training sessions – both before camp and evening in-services during camp.
Principal Activities: Create and lead structured camp activities for campers aged between 3-5 years old, 6-12 years old or 13-14 years old. Supervise and manage camper behavior effectively, including but not limited to, campers with special needs. Provide opportunities for campers to learn, grow and be challenged in a physically and mentally safe environment. Follow all healthcare policies
Additional Activities: Follow established guidelines for enforcing all safety rules and regulations among campers, peers, parents and guests Supervise all aspects of each camper’s day including bus transportation, arrival and departure, activities, lunch, swimming, hiking, waterfront and free time activities Instruct campers on all swimming policies, supervising in a public place policies and emergency action plans Be an effective lifeguard or lookout at all times (if qualified) Plan activities in advance, getting all supplies and equipment ready in time, commencing activities punctually Submit all required paperwork completely and on time Actively participate in morning circle and closing circle with enthusiasm each day Actively participate and socialize with campers’ parents and families Actively participate in weekly meetings and staff trainings Be on time and prepared for any duty as requested Demonstrate and teach the YMCA’s four core values of Caring, Honesty, Responsibility and Respect Function as an effective part of the staff team to maintain and improve the program Ensure all equipment is safe and put away after use Participate in routine cleaning of buildings, grounds and the general site Be flexible with schedule changes and team needs Participate in curriculum review and development Be a role model to the Assistant Counselors and aid them in their progression to become good counselors Perform other duties as assigned
Further Responsibilities of Staff who live On-Site: Maintain cleanliness of staff housing and follow resident camp staff policies while present on site Effect on end Results: Each camper will experience a consistent and high quality experience All programs will be conducted in a fun, safe and age appropriate manner Staff morale and retention will be consistently high
APPLY HERE.
Summer 2016 Internship, Eagle Eye Institute,
MountainStar Forest, Peru, MA
This is more than an internship; it is a transformational learning opportunity!
Title: Residential Land Management Intern
Positions Available: 2
Background: Eagle Eye Institute is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization based in
Peru, MA, committed to engaging underserved urban youth with the environment
through hands-on exploratory learning, stewardship, and career bridging
programs. This internship program takes place at MountainStar Forest, a 200+
acre forest training site in Peru, MA, just 30 miles west of Northampton, MA. The
mission of the site is to protect the spirit of this forest and to conserve and
enhance its beauty and health by engaging people of all ages and cultural
backgrounds in its stewardship, so that future generations of all life can flourish.
Description: As an intern, you will live on the land for six weeks and connect
with nature, others, and yourself in an immersive outdoor setting. Housing will be
provided in private Eureka Equinox 6 standup tents, each on its own tent
platform. You will live off the grid without electronic devices, participate in food
preparation (all food is vegan and will be provided), learn about energy and water
conservation while living outdoors, help grow organic vegetables, and deepen
your overall relationship with nature. You will gain hands-on experience in land
management, including but not limited to, tree, shrub, and flower planting,
mowing and weed whacking, trail building and repair, forest management and
firewood production, brush cleanup, vegetable gardening, and traditional and
alternative building construction. You will also have the opportunity to assist with
Eagle Eye Institute overnight programs for youth held at the land over the
summer. This will include camp setup, food prep, and overall logistics. In
addition, you may keep a daily journal of your experiences, share your personal
story, and participate in daily morning meditation and exercise.
Melinda Stockmann, former MountainStar Forest intern, says:
“So, I think what I’ll tell other people is that this is a really good chance to …well,
not to be too clichéd… but to connect with yourself and with others and with
nature… and to just really get back to the basics…Coming out here for six weeks
you get to really just be. And work. And appreciate work. And appreciate play
and appreciate the food you eat. And just think about what you want to be and
what you want to do and what you are doing and what you are being. And that’s
really an opportunity that a lot of folks don’t get…It’s challenging… especially if
you’re used to being in a routine and having constant stimulation in different
ways…You have to be committed to the opportunity for what it is…I think it’s
definitely worth it and it pays off on a lot of different levels…Outdoor living is fun!”
We are looking for the right individuals with the following qualities:
• Hard-working
• Positive attitude
• Willingness to learn with an open mind
• Sense of humor
• Sense of cooperation
• Experience and commitment to working with diverse people, especially
urban youth of color
• Trustworthiness
• Ability to work independently and with a team
• Good communicator
• A leader who can take initiative
Qualifications:
• Current college/university student
• Good physical condition
• Knowledge of and interest in the environment
• Camping and outdoor living experience
• Use of basic hand tools: shovel, rake, mower, weedwacker, etc.
• Some carpentry skills
Additional Qualifications:
• Must have own transportation to and from the site.
• We prefer that interns have an additional living situation within
commuting distance, for weekends and days off.
• Flexibility with days and hours.
Timeline: Six weeks, approx. July 6 – August 17, 2016 (exact dates TBD).
Schedule: 40 hours per week, flexible based on weather and work to be
accomplished any given day or week.
Compensation: Room (camping) and board.
How to Apply:
Submit a resume, two character references, and a letter stating why you are
interested, why you are the best person for this internship, what skills you have to
contribute, and what you would like to learn from this experience. How do you
see this internship helping you in your own personal development?
SEEKING DIVERSE APPLICANTS
Contact: Anthony Sanchez, Board President, Eagle Eye Institute
MountainStar Forest Manager
(413) 655-0103
asanchez@eagleeyei.org
Seasonal Outdoor Educator –
Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center, Grafton, NY
Experience needed: Experience working with children in the outdoors required. Some experience in outdoor recreation preferred. Education required: Bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences or Education.
Job Requirements: Must be able to perform physical work in the outdoors, be able to work some weekends and evenings and possess a valid driver’s license.
To apply: Please send resume and Rensselaer County application (available at www.rensco.com) to: Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center, 475 Dyken Pond Road, Cropseyille, New York 12052 or contact Lisa Hoyt at 518 658-2055 ordykenpond@gmail.com. Applications accepted until position is filled.
Visit our website for more information about our summer camp and programs at:http://www.dykenpond.org
Dyken Pond
Environmental Education Center
475 Dyken Pond Road
Cropseyville, New York 12052
518 658-2055
Assistant Director, Summer Camp –
Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center, Grafton, NY
Job Description: Assistant Director has on-site responsibility for daily camp operations including basic administrative tasks, teaching environmental education programs to youth ages 6 – 13, and supervising other staff. In addition, the Assistant Director will assist in other environmental education programs before camp starts. This position is assigned a wide variety of tasks and duties that must be performed to insure the efficient operation of the camp program. Experience needed: College degree required in natural history subject area or education. Must be 21 years old and hold a valid NYS drivers license. Experience working with elementary aged children in the outdoors required.
For more information on seasonal positions, please contact Lisa Hoyt at 518 658-2055 or dykenpond@gmail.com. To apply, please download a Renssealer County application from www.rensco.com (click on Employment) and return completed application and resume to: Lisa Hoyt, Dyken Pond Center, 475 Dyken Pond Road, Cropseyville, NY 12052
Greenagers Summer Jobs
Greenagers employs 50 youth each year for work on local trails and farms, through our trail crews (3 in Berkshire County and 2 in Columbia County) and our Farm Apprenticeships. Click here to find out more information and apply online.
Greenagers’ Summer Programs
Starting soon!
Greenagers has some great summertime opportunities for middle and high school students and we still have a few spots open in two of our programs.
For middle-schoolers living in and/or attending SBRSD: Greenagers is hosting a summer environmental program exploring our conservation areas and local farms. Activities will include hikes, canoeing, farm visits, and service projects with our community partners. These partners include The Nature Conservancy, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Sheffield Land Trust, Indian Line Farm, Trustees of Reservations, and many more. Our main goal with this program is to provide engaging, thought provoking activities that promote a deeper connection with our local resources. For more information, please contact Greenagers: 413-644-9090 /office@greenagers.org.
For Berkshire County high schoolers: we currently have two spots available on our community trail crews. These are paid summertime positions. Please contact Elia for more information.
Camp Counselors – Pleasant Valley
Pleasant Valley Nature Camp is celebrating its’ 67 th year. We are seeking caring, committed, and enthusiastic staff to lead campers for their best summer ever! Our counselors:
- Plan, develop and implement a variety of outdoor activities utilizing Pleasant Valley’s 1300+ acres of forests, fields, streams and ponds;
- Are responsible for supervising the health and safety of campers;
- Maintain communication with parents and other staff;
- Must be able to work and learn together, have outstanding communication skills, and be willing and able to share their interests and talents with children aged 5-14;
- Provide leadership and mentor Leaders in Training (LITs).
Qualifications
- Must be at least 18 years old;
- College experience preferred;
- Should have knowledge and interest in the nature of the Berkshire region;
- Applicants with a background in Environmental fields, education, or the arts are strongly encouraged to apply;
- Experience working with children;
- Willingness to obtain certification in CPR/First Aid are required-training is provided;
- Some positions also require lifeguard/water safety certifications;
- Successful candidates will pass a background records check (CORI and SORI);
- And…of course, flexibility and a sense of humor is a must!
Compensation and Benefits – Rate of Pay: $10.00- $12.00 per hour – depending on experience and position.
Additional Comments
Camp Session: June 9 – August 19 Hours: Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 3:30 pm or 8:30 am – 4:00 pm.
Camp Counselors are required to work at least one camp overnight during the summer.
How to Apply
Please send (email preferred) your cover letter and resume to:
Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary
472 West Mountain Road
Lenox, MA. 01240
Weekend Visitor Services Staff
Responsible for staffing the admissions office, Sundays, 10am – 4pm and some Monday holidays, greeting visitors, answering telephones, selling books, gifts, and bird feeders, processing registrations for programs, events and camp and generally representing Pleasant Valley and Mass Audubon to the public.
If you are looking for a part time position, have a love of nature, and enjoy sharing that enthusiasm with our visitors, this is a great opportunity for you. This is a year round position, however seasonal applicants will also be considered.
Qualifications
- Friendliness, tact, dependability, enthusiasm and a desire to work with people.
- Ability to deal with the varied pace of a public attraction necessary (there can be over 400 visitors on a busy day).
- Experience with handling money, using a cash register and credit card machine.
- Ability to take responsibility for office without additional staff.
- Customer service experience preferred.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office and the ability to learn basic computer programs.
- An interest in natural history is helpful, natural history background a plus.
- Must pass a background records check (CORI and SORI).
Compensation and Benefits – Rate of pay $10-$11.00/hr
How to Apply
Please email your resume and cover letter to: