In
attendance:
CMU
–Cliff Davidson, Barb Kviz
Chatham
–Larry Viehland
Duquesne
– Dan Donnelly, John Stolz
University
of Pittsburgh – Bud Rollins
Pittsburgh
Voyager -- Beth O'Toole, Joann Albert
1.
Status
of the Web Site
Larry
Viehland reported that the site has been working, and is the source of
occasional inquiries about 3RUCE. The site is still not fully operational, in
that the Research page does not yet have links to each of the relevant programs
at the four schools. Cliff will check with Curt Yeske about what happened to
the previous version of that page, which included several links.
2.
Proposed
Riverlife Learning Center
Beth
O'Toole led a discussion of ideas for a proposed Riverlife Learning Center that
would be constructed near the Pittsburgh Voyager docks. This would be a 15,000-20,000 square foot
facility with classrooms, laboratories, and space for other uses. If the Pittsburgh university community would
be able to establish partnerships with the Pittsburgh Voyager, it might be
possible to raise some of the funds needed for the proposed Center. Although capital funds for construction are
needed, Beth feels that the main challenge will be raising ongoing funding for
operation of the Center once it is completed.
Several
ideas were discussed. The Center could
be used for university classes prior to taking data collection trips on one of
the boats, as well as for analysis of river samples. Lab facilities, such as equipment for hydraulics demonstrations,
could be set up to acquaint the students with experiments to be conducted on
the rivers. The facilities could also
be used for teacher training and research.
It was suggested that a three-way consortium could be considered:
Pittsburgh Voyager, 3RUCE, and the Pittsburgh Center for Environmental
Education. Beth will arrange a meeting
of interested members of 3RUCE in December to continue discussions.
3.
Pennsylvania
Consortium for Interdisciplinary Environmental Policy
Barb
Kviz, Dan Donnelly, and Bud Rollins attended the recent meeting of the PCIEP in
Harrisburg. They reported that progress was being made on several fronts. Roughly 40 colleges and universities have
joined the Consortium, and three groups have been organized: Campus Greening,
Climate Change, and Sustainable Pennsylvania.
The first group has submitted a proposal for $200K to Second Nature for
workshops related to green practice issues.
The Climate Change group has received funding from PADEP, while the
third group has a plan for activities but must prepare a proposal.
4. Activities at each school
Chatham: Larry Viehland reported that Zhihong Zhang
has left his position as Director of the Environmental Studies Program at
Chatham to take a new environmental position in China. Larry will be advertising the position
opening.
Duquesne: Dan Donnelly reported on the new undergraduate Environmental Sciences Program at Duquesne, which will start officially in Fall 2002. The program is heavily science-oriented, with biology, biochemistry, and chemistry as fundamental science courses before students begin more specialized classes in their junior year of the program. John Stolz reported on a new grant from the National Institute of Water Resources to study arsenic.
University
of Pittsburgh: Bud Rollins reported on
the Environmental Studies Program at Pitt, funded by the Heinz Endowments. The program includes internship
arrangements, and has instructors from outside the university including Don
Hopey (Post-Gazette) and Andrew McElwaine (formerly of the Heinz Endowments).
CMU: Cliff Davidson reported on a proposal for a
National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center entitled Sustainable
Futures. The proposal is a joint effort among faculty primarily in engineering
departments at Michigan Tech, University of Iowa, and CMU. The proposal was granted a site visit on
October 29-30. Information on whether
the Center will be funded is expected in Spring 2002.
The
next meeting of the 3RUCE will be hosted by Larry Viehland at Chatham College
sometime in March 2002.