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Ralph Nader's Critical Mass Project (mentioned in Dickson's book) is now par of Public Citizen a consumer advocacy group. They support a range of topics and do so without funding from corporations, government or professional organizations. Their anti-nuclear policy agenda is linked to a larger set of policy initiatives focused on passing energy policy that is rooted in renewable energy. They provide information, action alerts and ways to oppose the resurgence of nuclear.

An interview between host Terry Gross and journalist Jeff Goodell about the interess behind climate change. Goodell spoke of the efforts of coal and fossil fuel industries to slow the Obama administration's efforts to implement a "cap and trade" program. What is particularly interesting is that Goodell speaks about the strong support the administration has from Wall Street and the large financial firms. The Carbon Market is poised to be the largest futures and derivatives market and investment houses will exact huge profits from processing these market transactions. This is clearly a major interest in promoting carbon emissions and the direness of the climate change debate.

NASA's James Hansen has nothing good to say about cap & trade, and the current regime of carbon offset management: http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/james-hansen. Also, a NY Times op-ed by Berndt Heinrich on the impact of commercial afforestation for globally traded carbon offsets: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/opinion/20heinrich.html -- my comments at http://groups.google.com/group/uml-climate-network/browse_thread/thread/95ccf43784f34532, referring to our own New York - New England Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which has a similar forest offset allowance, with the condition of "additionality" -- http://www.rggi.org/offsets, http://www.rggi.org/offsets/offset_requirements. Alex_Brown@uml.edu

This article reflects on the similarities, differences and complexities of science and democracy. Indeed, science is present in our daily lives and democracy through our actions that foster society are present daily as well. Because of the impact of science on society, democracy may be seen as a core element in guiding science towards the greater good. Nevertheless, government use and intervention of science may not be always so. Therefore, it is the people's right and obligation to engage government and scientists reminding them of the benefits but also the risks of their projects and objectives. Science and business may create a covenient and profitable conduit for developing new inventions and advancing science. However, through democracy, we may and should remind them of the ethical implications of their discoveries and the need to work for the greater good and benefitting all. An interesting article that also provides some insights about Obama's policies on Science.

What does it mean with grassroots organizing and activist result in legislation that seem to challenge the foundations of science? The academic freedom bill would: " 'create an environment ... that encourages students to explore scientific questions, learn about scientific evidence, [and] develop critical thinking skills' regarding 'scientific controversies.' " Who could be against critical thinking. But what if your definition of critical thinking is to provide alternative explanations of evolution that are not based in scientific knowledge or methods. What is that? What does it say that there are science teachers who may feel they are constrained in challenging theories of evolution? What is the right way for challenging consensus views? The bill seems to bring forth some very sophisticated "activism" in pushing forth anti-science, or Moore's idea of marginal scientists.

I like this line: Think of this way: If you come home to find your television and computer stolen, along with a note saying, "This removal of your goods shall not be construed as a burglary,"... It's interesting to think about the law around what is and is not taught in different cases. I sometimes have issues with the MA state frameworks as well in that certain things are emphasized and others left out.

The Genewatch (USA) website has abundant resources, in the form of links to what is going on and to other groups as well as an archive of 25 years of their magazine. Their role is to monitor new developments. Other than educating readers and getting them concerned, their many approach to getting people engaged seems to be to get them to sign petition and contact their elected representatives. (I looked for articles about teaching, but didn't find them easily if they are there.)

The Program link on their website provides a bunch of things that seem like they could be a good starting point for teaching and curriculum development. Maybe as the starting point for a PBL.

Grid-group cultural theory explores two dimensions 1) individual connection to the group (group axis) and 2) the level of difference at play in the roles individuals take on (grid axis). The resulting quadrants express four key political economic ideologies: fatalism (low grid / low group), individualism (high grid / low group), collectivism (high grid high group), and egalitariansm (low grid / high group). An anti position, reclusivism, is also discussed.

Interesting. Thanks. I like the initial endeavor of trying to show the importance of native rituals in modern societies. It reminded me of Durkheim. I also find insightful the five ways description of the collective configuration of society.

Highlighted portions are the focus of the Case 4 practicum.

Awesome! I really like their idea of preservation and conservation. I feel that they are thinking about my grandchildren (I don't even have kids and already talking about grand kids) and really caring about future generations. I really appreciate that especially in a world were we seem to consume everything at a tremendously high pace without worrying about the consequences for us and future generations. I am irritated by the irresponsibility of oil companies and by what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico! Now I read the oil will not be contained and will affect Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and obviously the entire world!

an entry point to a checklist of conditions for organizers and facilitators to foster when running a collaborative process. The checklists are organized under four headings: Respect, Risk, Revelation, Re-engagement. The thinking behind these headings is, in brief, that a well-facilitated collaborative process keeps us listening actively to each other, fostering mutual Respect that allows Risks to be taken, elicits more insights than any one person came in with (Revelation), and engages us in carrying out and carrying on the plans we develop (Re-engagement). What we come out with is very likely to be larger and more durable than what any one person came in with; the more so, the more voices that are brought out by the process. The sequence of 4Rs grew out of an an annual series of experimental, interaction-intensive, interdisciplinary workshops that "foster collaboration among those who teach, study, and engage with the public about scientific developments and social change" (http://www.stv.umb.edu/newssc.html). Since we named the 4Rs, we have found ourselves using them to review and redesign our teaching, theories about learning, committee meetings, and, in general, the cultivation of collaborators.

With a PhD in Biochemistry from Oxford, Nich Anthis combines his dual passions in science and politics to comment on issues and research that are at the intersection of both. Nick writes: "Recognizing science as a path toward understanding nature, distinct from corporate and other applications, The Scientific Activist opens up a new dialogue on the proper role of science in an ever changing society. The truth isn't always black or white, but an informed public is an empowered one, so I won't shy away from the complex issues. Most importantly, though, The Scientific Activist takes on the people and obstacles standing in the way of the progress and proper application of science. Enemies of science, beware!" He is working towards more nuanced and complex understandings of what science means and what role it plays in a complex world.

In this editorial from the October 2010 volume of "Science," Bruce Alberts suggests a system of STEM (science, technology, mathematics, and engineering) merit badges for children ages 5-18 to earn awards in schools. He compares this system both to the system used by the Boy and Girl Scouts, and to the system of AP (Advanced Placement) courses currently used in high schools today. It is suggested that this will help students maintain the curiosity they feel towards science in the early years into their high school careers, by when children have often lost interest.

I've recently come to the term STEAM which ads "art" into the traditional STEM equation. I also found this link while doing this quick research - http://ilandsymposium.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/art-science-activism-and-bicycles/. This combined with Rhoda's post about Digital Storytelling makes me wonder what role creativity (from stories to visualizations) play in this equation.

Not being familiar at all with STEM, I am interested in seeing what connections might be found with further inquiry into how stories and the way they are shared can have an effect on positive change, education and personal connections to issues that often seem too big.

For more than 30 years the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Philadelphia Green program has used horticulture to build community and improve the quality of life in Philadelphia's neighborhoods and downtown public spaces. In that time there have been significant signs of rebirth in the city, and the work of Philadelphia Green has played an important role in the environmental, social, economic, and aesthetic changes taking place.

It would be interesting to know how programs like this and other environmental stewardship and conservations efforts link to increased awareness, support and engagement in policy efforts.

The goal of the GMO Education Network is to present factual and objective information about genetically engineered crop species. The site strives to be accessible to readers who are unfamiliar with the subject of plant biology while at the same time providing the detailed information necessary for people to synthesize independent and informed opinions about GMOs. It also seeks to promote constructive debate and discourse on the forum page to engage those on both sides of the GMO issue to articulate their positions in a factual and scientific manner. This wiki depends upon the community at large for it to be developed and updated. If you have an interest in contributing please visit the join page. If there is a topic which you would like to see covered that is not, please consider stubbing an article or posting on the forum.

Rhoda, I posted a resource above that talks about GMO regulation as anti-science activism. It is coming from a pro-business perspective. I wonder what forums would bring these opposing sides into "conversation" or "dialogue" with one another. Is there a meeting ground? Should there be?

The mission of the Lejeune foundation. Contains the following sentence... "The Lejeune Foundation is committed to the inherent human dignity of all persons and the protection of life from conception to natural death."

"The dam collapse [in 1979] is one of the worst environmental disasters in history, and no one has heard about it,"--myself included. One of the policy responses to extreme climatic events is to suppress knowledge. ""This book is an attempt to tell the story of this place-western India in 1979-this monsoon, the government cover-up that unjustly silenced this narrative for too long..." 25,000 people died.

In California, under state proposed regulations, water pumping from local rivers would be illegal in order to protect a threatened species of salmon. This might clash with grape growers who utilize this water to protect their crops from low temperatures. Legislators must find a solution for the issue at hand without damaging either party.

Similar conflicts over water take place all over the semiarid western US. In Idaho researchers found a way to use satellite imagery (Landsat) to monitor and measure water consumption by agriculture, and identify specific agribusinesses with destruction of streams, for enforcement and litigation support. Their work received a Harvard award for innovation in government. This is not a first for technical solutions for environmental enforcement, but it's an extremely important step in large-scale water management - which will become a bigger and bigger part of our daily life. It may also preserve the USGS Landsat program, which is in danger of abandonment. (This is near to my line of work, as it happens.) (http://ashinstitute.harvard.edu/corporate_site/innovations/innovations_news/mapping_evapotranspiration_wins_innovations_in_american_government_award; more links if you're interested.) Alex_Brown@uml.edu http://gis.uml.edu/abrown2

Orwell, in 1984, wrote, "a ruling group is a ruling group so long as it can nominate its own successors. Who wields power is not important, provided that the hierarchal structure remains always the same".1 Due to industrialisation, even if the countries constituting the groupings change, it does not change the structural power of the Non-Annex 1 countries as the latter, under the framework constructed in the Kyoto Protocol, have secured a position of structural power.

some interesting thinking in this pdf

As a project-driven organization, our goal is to translate conservation science into compelling visual messages targeted to specific audiences. We work with leading scientists, policy makers, government leaders and conservation groups to produce the highest-quality documentary images of both the beauty and wonder of the natural world and the challenges facing it.

Rhoda this is linking to posts by others around creativity and communication in this endeavor. Interesting.

This is a compilation of resources for teaching kids about the environment. It contains links aimed a kids of all different ages, organized by the following topics... * Global Warming * Energy * Air * Oceans * Water * Wildlands * Wildlife * Health * Environmental Justice * U.S. Law & Policy * Nuclear * Smart Growth * Recycling * International Issues * Green Living

look what i found...npr is awesome! remember i told you about the Nature Deficit Disorder braodcast on BBC.. Lisa Bingham Book Review: What are we Escaping From?: Richard Louv Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 2005. 334 pp Bulletin of Science, Technology &

University of Houston, College of Education has lead a digital storytelling effort that strives to expose instructors and students to the educational opportunities that the technique provides.