School Notes: School of the Environment
November/December 2010

National committee shapes geographical sciences research

Karen Seto, associate professor in the urban environment, is part of a National Research Council committee that has identified 11 questions that should shape geographical sciences research in the next decade. The questions aim to provide a complete understanding of where and how landscapes are changing to help society to manage and adapt to the transformation of the Earth’s surface, and they are grouped under the following four topics: how to understand and respond to environmental change; how to promote sustainability; how to recognize and cope with the rapid spatial reorganization of economy and society; and how to leverage technological change for the benefit of society and environment.

The committee’s report, “Understanding the Changing Planet: Strategic Directions for the Geographical Sciences,” was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey, National Geographic Society, and the Association of American Geographers, and is available at http://national-academies.org.

Documentary film premiere in March

Journey of the Universe, a documentary film that draws together scientific discoveries in astronomy, biodiversity, biology, ecology, and geology, with humanistic insights concerning the nature of the universe, will premiere at a conference on the same topic March 24–27, 2011, in Kroon Hall. The film, produced by Mary Evelyn Tucker, a codirector of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, is designed to not only show humanity’s wondrous connection to the cosmos, but also inspire people to form a new and closer relationship with the planet during a period of environmental and social crisis.

The film is narrated by cosmologist Brian Swimme, who touches on the birth of the cosmos 14 billion years ago, the human genome, and our current impact on Earth’s evolutionary dynamics in an effort to illuminate the profound role we play in the web of life.

A book of the same name, cowritten by Tucker and Swimme, will be published by Yale University Press in the spring. A trailer of the film can be viewed at www.journeyoftheuniverse.org.

Doctoral student receives national award

Philip Marshall, a doctoral student at the environment school, recently received the Emanuel D. Rudolph Award by the Botanical Society of America. The award is given by the historical section of the society for the best student presentation or poster of a historical nature at the annual meetings. Marshall’s presentation was “Pinus strobus L. and the historical utilization and management of southern New England forests, 1600–1938.”