Community Garden Scholar

I've just finished my first PhD intensive week, and here's my introductory paragraph for my final project in Research Design. It answers the questions, "Why this, now? And how?". Your thoughts are welcome! Communities are complex systems, and their ability to “bounce back” in response to traumatic change(particularly long-term, chaotic, climate-driven events) is largely a function of quality and strength of connections that exist within those communities. At multiple scales, it is the relationships – of people to each other, people to the land, land to its economy, economy to its people – that determine a community's capacity to adapt and endure. Food systems are one of the best examples of how participatory education can create more resilient communities. These are places where everyone is nourished, including the land, and where everyone has knowledge and skills to contribute and teach to others. When framed as “living laboratories,” food systems provide ...

I've just begun an intensive period of PhD work, so my posts here will be less frequent in the coming year. I'd like to share a short piece I wrote in one of my first courses, Ecological Thought. This piece is a reflection on several readings on ecological identity, and you're invited to reflect and share your own thoughts. What is "sense of place?" 'Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion and appearance... till we come to a hard bottom and rocks in place, which we can call reality...'" Henry David Thoreau, Walden A sense of place is a complex mixture of sensory stimuli, memories, impressions, and stories which build a deep and lasting connection between person and landscape. To have a sense of place means to have directly and intimate experience with it, and to make meaning of that experience through reflection, comparison, appreciation, or s...

Just published in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript: Click here for the article and photos.

Click here for this great piece. So great to have you there, Kim! Thanks to Andy Hatchett and his students in the Health Sciences, and Stacey Purslow of Farm to Institution New England, for co-organizing! Thanks to the farmers, vendors, educators and students who attended, and all the folks who support these folks!

Monday's Earth Day Fair kicked off a week-long celebration of Earth Week at the Rindge campus. The fair was a joint effort supported by Farm to Institution New England , the Sustainability Center , Health Sciences, Environmental Science & Environmental Studies, Black River Produce, Sodexo, The Cornucopia Project, and several local farms. Check out the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript story  here . Thanks to Ashley Saari! On Tuesday, several classes joined the Monadnock Conservancy 's Emily Hague to clean up trash along the woods on campus. Today we'll plant more seeds in the campus greenhouse with freshman students, and I'll present my photos from the International Association of Universities' conference on " Blending Higher Education and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development " in Iquitos, Peru. Tomorrow, garden work; and Friday, the Sustainability Certificate students will present their projects and experiences at a special community share-...

Now posted at www.FranklinPierce.edu: Sustainability Coordinator at Franklin Pierce University Speaks at International Conference in Peru March 31, 2014 Franklin Pierce University’s Sustainability Coordinator Jess Gerrior spoke at the International Association of Universities 2014 International Conference in Iquitos, Peru, March 21-23. The theme of the Conference was "Blending Higher Education and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development.” Gerrior was invited to participate in a panel discussion about the role of higher education institutions in sustainable development and assessing sustainability in university life beyond “campus greening.” A draft statement by the Conference on this subject will be contributed to the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development in Aichi Nagoya, Japan, in November 2014. Gerrior and Conference delegates expressed agreement with the need for higher education institutions to realign programs and policies with the mission...

Friday, February 21, 2014 (Published in print: Tuesday, February 25, 2014) This year, Franklin Pierce students took part in a “shout-out” to kick off a campaign called “Voices: Engaging Communication in Sustainability” being conducted by the student-run Pierce Media Group. Funded by a New England Campus Sustainability Forum mini-grant, its goals are to empower students with technical and professional skills to help them “find their voice” in sustainability. Students are demonstrating the role of media in shaping a culture, while promoting awareness and participation in campus sustainability. The short clip filmed that day is being incorporated in public service announcements for broadcast on campus television, radio, print, and social media, helping to get the word out on campus and beyond. In classrooms, first-year Composition students are exploring food and sustainability by sharing stories, researching the sustainability profile of their favorite foods, and deliberative di...

I am simultaneously thrilled and humbled to announce that I will be attending the International Association of Universities' 2014 International Conference  as an invited panel speaker. The conference's focus is "Blending Higher Education and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development." Joining representatives from Japan, Mexico, Colombia, and many other countries, I will be co-leading a panel on sustainable development in university life and indicators for assessing impact. I'll get a chance to tour the Amazon River and partake in an opening ceremony with traditional knowledge from the seven tribes of the Peruvian Amazon. In addition to journeying and learning with some of the world's foremost sustainability educators and practitioners, I'll be there for the drafting and presentation of the IAU's Statement on Higher Education for Sustainable Development as the IAU prepares for the UNESCO World Conference on ESD in Aichi Nagoya, Japan in November...

Sharing this announcement about Applied Permaculture at Orchard Hill, from Village Roots  and Transition Keene : Saturday, February 22, 7:00 pm: TRANSITION COMMUNITIES Join Steve Chase and Katy Locke as they explore the Transition Town Movement; a network of communities that are working to build resilience in response to peak oil, climate change, and economic instability. Learn how Keene and other local town have joined this network. Saturday, April 26, 7:00 pm: PERENNIAL HERBS & MEDICINE Join Community Herbalist and Educator Rebecca Golden as we learn about her favorite perennial herbs and their medicinal uses as well as their multi-Functions in a permaculture food forest. In addition to this, we will have a hands-on demo of how to make an herbal syrup, that can be applied to a variety of wild crafted and home grown herbs. Cost: $10 These workshops are made possible in part by The Orchard School and The Farmhouse at Orchard Hill, East Alstead, NH. For more information...

Virtual visiting days at Antioch University New England :  Wednesday, February 19th Wednesday, April 2 Wednesday, April 23 All are from 1:30-4. If you know someone who may be interested in Antioch but lives too far away to come on campus, please encourage them to sign up. Visit http://www.antiochne.edu/admissions/visit_form/  or contact:   Laura Andrews Director of Admissions Antioch University New England 40 Avon Street Keene, NH 03431 1-800-552-8380 Direct:  1-603-283-2131 landrews@antioch.edu Fax:  1-603-357-0718 AUNE website:  www.antiochne.edu