SUSTAINABLE FSU
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
IN THIS ISSUE: Featured Area: Curriculum and Research
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Back-to-School Special: Overview of Programs
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Nole in Action: Dr. William Landing’s North Pole Expedition
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Featured Area: Curriculum and Research It’s the start of a new semester, and a fresh chance to explore your passions and discover brand new ones. Florida State University is a triple threat of top-notch degree programs, a diverse student body, and award-winning faculty—and this combination of strengths is reflected in our extensive course catalog. Studying engineering, or maybe heading to law school? Is communication your passion, or interior design? No longer only a discussion of recycling or alternative energy, sustainability is increasingly a central part of the conversation in a multitude of disciplines. As you map out your upcoming semesters, check out these innovative course offerings that push each of us to expand our definition of sustainability with each lecture and discussion. COMMUNICATION: COM 4560 Social Marketing An overview and application of social marketing principles and campaigns. This course is designed to familiarize students with current theory and knowledge in the field of social marketing and to provide students experience with planning a social marketing campaign. Interdisciplinary Studies: IFS 3044 Living Green Theory to Action Part of the “Honors E Series” curriculum, designed to stress real-life applicability to human issues, this interdisciplinary studies course pushes students to rethink processes that will deplete our planet and harm our own health less, and then to walk the walk themselves. Past semester’s students have developed the eco-clamshells, which have since been implemented in Suwannee Dining Hall. Oceanography: OCE 4017 Current Issues in Environmental Science An introductory level discussion of current ground-breaking research, environmental problems, and approaches to solving them. This course consists of presentations by experts on their current research topics or environmental issues.
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Hospitality: HFT 3700. Tourism Management and the Environment This course focuses on tourism management, organization, and development. Emphasis on economic and environmental issues confronting the industry such as balancing use and preservation. Open to non-majors. Interior Design: IND 3627 Principles of Sustainable Design Over the course of the semester in this undergraduate interior design course, students are introduced to sustainable issues in a general sense, plus given an understanding of the LEED process from top to bottom. This course is designed to give students a foundation in sustainable design so they have the tools to create spaces that are designed with as little negative impact on the environment as possible. Law: LAW 6470 Environmental Law This course includes a survey of environmental rights, remedies, and policy, with emphasis on the common law, background, the administrative overlay, and federal legislation, including NEPA, Clean Air Act, Water Pollution Control Act, Noise Control Act, and Toxic Substances Control Act. Public Health: HSC 5216 Environmental Health A graduate level course covering the science behind the basic elements of environmental health and its centrality to human health. It includes the basics of providing a pure water supply, sanitation of waste matters, and common field procedures needed for environmental surveillance. Engineering: CEG 4701. Environmental Geotechnics This undergraduate civil and environmental engineering course covers the geotechnical aspects of waste containment and storage. Topics include aspects of design, construction, and performance of earthen structures for storing or disposing waste of remediation contaminated sites. Urban and Regional Planning: URP 5421 Introduction to Environmental Planning and Natural Resource Management Students will get a general introduction to the related problems of resource management and environmental planning through an overview of problems, potential solutions, and their relation to methodologies, existing institutions, and other public policy areas such as land-use controls and regional development.
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Back-to-School Special: Overview of Programs With each new semester comes new opportunities to get involved, not just in the classroom, but through a variety of clubs and organizations. If you’re a brand new Seminole or a graduate student looking for a unique experience, our university provides ample opportunities to become an involved member of our campus. The Office of Sustainability turns 5 this year, and is ever growing and expanding, which means whether your interests revolve around local foods or alternative transportation, or you just like to volunteer and explore your options, there’s something for you! As you plan out your fall semester, check out our cheat-sheet of programs you can become a part of. Book Club: Book lovers can unwind at the Sustainable Campus Book Club, a group made up of 20 students that meet and discuss a book inspired by a key area of sustainability once every month for the semester. Energy Fellows: This program opens up the doors for students to become an active team of student advocates for conservation of our resources. Students are trained in conservation and efficiency practices, and can then raise awareness and serve as liaisons between campus groups. Eco Reps: These student ambassadors can be seen interacting and educating students about sustainability and green living, and increasing sustainable behaviors at FSU through peer-to-peer outreach. Food Recovery Network: Combatting the nationwide problem of food waste on college campuses, The FSU chapter of The Food Recovery network fights waste and feeds hungry people in our community by collecting leftover, unsold food that would otherwise be thrown out.
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Garnet and Gold Goes Green: This game day recycling program was launched ten years ago to help keep our stadium clean and eco-friendly. The program calls on volunteers to collect over recyclable trash that would otherwise be headed to the landfill from tailgaters and fans at home football games. Greeks Going Green: Committed to educating members of sororities and fraternities on sustainable living practices, Greeks Going Green encourages the Greek community to take steps within their respective houses to acknowledge sustainability Green Fund: The Green Fund is a program which sponsors student-led sustainability projects that have real impacts around the campus which address a myriad of eco-friendly needs around campus while giving the student practical, hands-on experience. Recycle Bike Program: A collaborative effort with Commuter Services of North Florida, the program aims to reduce the amount of cars on campus and provide sustainable transportation to students to get from point A to B. Seminole Organic Garden: In a corner of campus that might have otherwise gone unnoticed, a flourishing food garden is growing right here on our campus, providing students and anyone willing to get their hands dirty with the chance to grow their own food. Take Back the Tap: Thirsty students can take advantage of the safe, clean, and refreshing tap water that is free and accessible to them straight from the tap. This student-run advocacy campaign encourages the campus community to adopt a reusable bottle lifestyle.
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William Landing’s Arctic Expedition From right here in the FSU Oceanography department, Dr. William Landing is looking deep under the ocean to help us understand our climate system and promote global sustainability. Dr. Landing teaches classes in basic oceanography and environmental science (open to all majors), in which he emphasizes to his students the impact that our rapidly growing population has on food production, drinking water supply, climate change, and marine productivity. In addition to his teaching, Landing studies how trace elements in our water play a role in the productivity of oceans. He’s using the data he finds to build future predictions for our planet and our climate. He likes to point out that while some of his research will result in cancer-fighting drugs or goods with obvious, immediate benefits, most of his work doesn’t produce a tangle product. Instead, his findings will help us understand our climate system— a “product,’ he explains, is crucial to us all. We caught up with Landing to hear about his current work, his upcoming 65-day expedition to the North Pole where he’ll continue to study ocean productivity, and his hopes for the future of our state and our university. Tell us about your background in sustainability. What’s your specific area of interest? Back in the 70s, protecting the environment was a “movement” that I became a part of. My research has since covered many areas; one is understanding phytoplankton growth limitation from micronutrients like iron, cobalt, and zinc. Phytoplankton produce 50% of the photosynthetic oxygen on the planet, and take up enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, and therefore play a major role in the global CO2 cycle. My research helps constrain how rising CO2 levels will affect future climate.
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Could you tell us about your upcoming North Pole expedition, and why you feel this is an important research area? Climate models predict that climate change (and global warming) will have an unusually large impact in polar regions, and we are already seeing some of these effects with loss of Arctic sea ice. We’ll be traveling on an ice breaker from the Aleutian Islands up through Bering Strait, trying to get to North Pole, sampling water, and collecting all kinds of samples from ice flows. My personal focus is what comes out of the atmosphere, so dust off continents, pollution from industrial areas, and how that ends up depositing in the oceans and what effects that might have. What are your future hopes for our local environment? On a recent visit to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada I saw recycling bins everywhere for collection of paper, plastic, and glass. I have seen wind turbines at Texas A&M being used to generate electricity for the campus. Our current economic system relies on the unsustainable consumption of raw materials to produce high value products. With sufficient energy (from renewable sources and nuclear energy) we can reduce fossil fuel consumption and recycle the raw materials we have stripped out of the ground. Given your background and the research you’re doing, what does sustainability mean to you? Sustainability has many levels, from the individual to the global community. It is daunting to imagine what one person might do to combat climate change or environmental pollution, but every little bit helps, and individuals can make a difference. When we work together, as a community, a state, a nation, and a global community, we can significantly reduce our impact on the environment.
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Editor: Emmy Schiender-Green Design: Thy Le
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