Welcome to the Thriving Earth Exchange’s (TEX) blog space. The purpose of the blog is to inspire thinking, open-participation and discussion on particular topics or themes. We encourage you to leave comments on any blog post by clicking through to each post and sharing your thoughts at the bottom.
News article: Upper 9th Ward residents call for new focus on blight Community leaders from A Community Voice organized a news conference on December 12th to demand that the city adopt a more comprehensive plan for addressing the abandoned and blighted properties dotting the 9th Ward. Residents are asking Mayor Cantrell to support a “sustainable […]
On November 27th, Maryum Rasool and Saadia Shah made a trip from Flint, Michigan to Michigan State University in East Lansing to hear presentations from Dr. Jon Burley’s Landscape Design class. Teams of students presented their visions for possible green roof designs for the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village (SBEV) in North Flint. “The brainstorms, concepts, […]
By Sarah Wilkins, Project Manager As a Thriving Earth Project Manager, I am always thrilled to see the world out from behind my computer screen: meeting a project team in person, visiting the lands of a First Nation or walking a neighborhood with a community leader. I was granted such a chance in late September […]
Here’s a video from Kevin McKinney, community leader and organizer of Flood Victims of Richwood. He is working with Thriving Earth Exchange hydrologist Steve Emerman to better understand flood risk and what to do about it. Here’s a Flood Forum USA video featuring Kevin sharing his dreams and aspirations.
New Orleans, LA Community leaders from Claiborne Avenue Alliance led a walking tour of the Claiborne corridor on September 15th for engineers, planners, architects, public officials and scientists—many of whom were attending the Walk Bike Places Transit Conference that week. The tour was co-organized with The Congress for New Urbanism to highlight the socio-economic and […]
As part of the American Geophysical Union’s Barnesville, Ohio Thriving Earth Exchange project, water sampling was conducted on two of the most pristine waterways in the state, Captina Creek and Cat’s Run. Dr. John Stolz, Director, Center for Environmental Research and Education at Duquesne University, is the Scientific lead for this project. He and his […]
This is part one of a two-part blog post about a new project in Jamaica aimed at simultaneously improving the island nation’s energy production, waste disposal, and agriculture. By Wale Adewunmi In Jamaica, tourism fuels the country’s economy. However, it also probably generates more waste than any other industry on the island. A […]
By Melissa Goodwin Communities across the United States – and globally – are negatively affected by climate change. As these impacts grow in the future, communities must make plans and decisions to reduce their vulnerability. If done well, this planning makes a community not only less vulnerable to climate impacts, but also more resilient. Across […]
Here’s a guest post from our partner and Director of Flood Forum USA, Harriet Festing: You’ve probably heard the phrase before; it’s become a cliché. But we want to introduce you to some real-life catalysts for change: our Flood Forum USA group leaders! Here’s what they’ve done: Susan Liley and Paula Arbuthnot from the Citizens […]
The Brandywine, MD – TEX project was featured in an August 2, 2018 WIRED article by Mejs Hasan: “This Community is Advocating for Air Quality – With Science.” “KAMITA GRAY AND her mom have spent a lot of time volunteering at Brandywine Elementary School, helping kindergarteners learn to write their names and making sure […]
Grappling with divisive issues, collaborators from multiple fields find common purpose TEX helps geoscientists and communities work together to solve problems. While it may be unconventional in the geosciences, this type of collaborative approach isn’t quite so new or radical in other fields. Indeed, the approach we call community science grew, in part, out […]
$1.2 million allocated to projects to mitigate impacts of waste transfer station in predominantly African-American neighborhood Evanston, Ill., a diverse Chicago suburb bordering Lake Michigan, faces a number of issues around environmental degradation and extreme weather. The problem faced in one predominantly African-American, middle-lower income neighborhood has been particularly vexing. For decades, residents there have […]
Virginia Beach partnership engages residents and community leaders in discussion of flood risk Most community science projects are driven and sustained by a handful of dedicated individuals. But to make a real and lasting impact, the engagement can’t end there. In most cases, the small group at the heart of a project must find a […]
Brad Geismar, 2018 TEX Community Science Fellow for Colebrook, N.H. Located in northern New Hampshire close to the Canadian border, Colebrook, N.H. is a small town like many New England towns. Many of the town’s residents have ties to the community and its beautiful outdoor spaces that span generations. Unlike other small New England towns, […]
By Bradley Geismar, TEX Community Science Fellow, Colebrook, NH On Friday, April 20th, the students of Colebrook had an opportunity to learn about the complicated task of environmental remediation during a presentation on a decade-spanning clean-up operation at the Town’s municipal landfill. During the presentation, the students learned about the crucial link between scientific awareness […]
The Barnesville-TEX team, as part of the GeoPolicy Connect cohort developed at the GeoPolicy Connect meeting in October 2017, accomplished a number of activities since their collaboration launched in January 2018. Dr. John Stolz of Duquesne University has had a chance to visit Barnesville twice from his base in Pittsburgh, PA. Not only has he […]
By Jill Antares Hunkler, Community Lead, TEX-Barnesville, OH project A special conference was hosted by participants in the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange (TEX) Barnesville and Cambridge, OH projects at Salt Fork State Park Lodge and Conference Center on April 28, in southeastern Ohio. The purpose of the event was to inform residents […]
Luke Renner’s Media Arts & Design students produced 2 video segments on the proposed makerspaces. Video #1: Overview of the makerspaces featuring SJC’s Luke Renner and Judy Castleberry and EPA CUPPS’s Michael Burns. Video #2: San Juan County inventor Frank Santoro discusses his building material invention and the future opportunities for inventors at the San Juan […]
By Abhishek Rao Editor’s Note: TEX created a Community Science Training/Fellowship opportunity for the Hermosa Beach, CA project in Fall 2016. While TEX projects typically include scientific partners who are more established in their field, we saw an opportunity to engage a student or early career scientist on one of our newer projects. By inviting […]
Undergraduate students enrolled in undergraduate research at Cal Poly Pomona are getting some applied lab experience processing water samples collected from Ontario’s constructed wetlands. Under the supervision of Dr. Shelton Murinda, Professor in the Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department, students conduct fecal indicator bacterial counts using the IDEXX system. Dr. Shelton Murinda adds “the students […]
On Saturday, February 3, 2018, the TEX-Brandywine project held its first community education and engagement forum at the Union Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Brandywine, Maryland. The 4-hour event served as an opportunity for concerned citizens in Brandywine and surrounding neighborhoods to engage with and hear from peers, potential political representatives, and recognized subject […]
Students from Luke Renner’s Digital Media Arts and Design Program class have been busy assembling promotional materials to support the design and construction of two 1,000 square foot makerspaces. The materials highlight the benefits of the makerspaces, intended uses of the makerspaces, costs, partners, and vision for community engagement. Luke and Judy plan to use […]
In order to determine the environmental impact of their waste transfer station, the Evanston team plans to hold a public meeting describing the project strategy with city aldermen, scientists, and its environmental justice task force in attendance. Although project has stalled due to budgetary issues, the team has made progress in a number of areas. […]
Water—and sometimes, flooding—is a fact of life for residents and planners in the city of New Orleans. Water has shaped the city’s infrastructure, history and culture for 300 years. In a four-hour field trip organized as part of AGU’s 2017 Fall Meeting, journalists, public information officers and others got a first-hand look at the water-related […]
The recent devastation in Texas, Florida, South Asia and other areas has drawn a lot of attention to big questions about climate, development and the risk of future disasters. But if history is any guide, the attention to those questions can ebb as the waters recede. Events like these offer a stark reminder that if […]
In June, the team received feedback from an internal/external review (inclusive of local and technical scientific advisors) of the draft. Pending a few additional responses to comments and receipt of vulnerability maps from consultants, the final draft will be ready as scheduled. The City has been very involved in applying for technical assistance through […]
This article was initially posted in Eos on July 11, 2017. The Resilience Dialogues program provides resources and expertise to help communities build individualized plans for resilience in the face of climate change. By Nancy D. Lamontagne Climate change is global, but its effects are felt locally. Although many communities try to plan for […]
The 2016 Resilience Dialogues pilot supported five climate-savvy and well-resourced communities. We supported ten communities in our 2017 Beta, including several communities that have been historically underrepresented in climate adaptation efforts and several which were new to climate resilience. We are pleased to share the dialogue synthesis reports documenting highlights, resources and next steps for […]
On 23 June 2017, the Evanston TEX team met with 3 Evanston aldermen, 3 community members and 5 Evanston city staff to discuss the budget for the proposed air quality monitoring work Gaj Sivandran intends to do with Evanston as part of their project. The meeting successfully concluded with the aldermen approving Sivandran’s budget proposal […]
After their introductory meeting in late March 2017, the Evanston TEX team has determined that its major deliverable will be to cost out what a monitoring plan would look like, inclusive of samples and instruments that they would do, by end of summer 2017. TEX scientist, Gaj Sivandran (Loyola University) along with colleague, Mark Potosnik […]
In the Chelsea-TEX team has made strong strides towards completing a overall climate vulnerability assessment. They have been able to meet with most stakeholders in the community and have only two remaining meetings. The highlight of their stakeholder meetings was meeting with Chelsea GreenRoots, a local environmental justice group. Chelsea GreenRoots does a lot of […]
In their May 2017 of PM Magazine, TEX partner, the International City and County Management Association (ICMA), highlighted stories from three ICMA communities collaborating with TEX scientists. Bob Hart, formerly of Kennedale, TX (now with Corinth, TX), Laura Allen (Berlin, MD), and Becky Merrow (Colebrook, NH) describe how their scientific partners are helping their towns […]
The Santa Cruz, CA team met each other and commenced their community science project in late February. Since then, the team, comprised of Tiffany Wise-West, with Santa Cruz’s Climate Action Program, Ben Preston, RAND, and Juliano Calil, University of California – Santa Cruz, have made significant strides towards updating the city’s climate vulnerability assessment. Ben Preston will […]
The March 23, 2017 issue of the Bayside Gazette featured an article about the remediation of Berlin Falls and the community’s partnership with TEX to determine the types of bacteria present in the sediment. Click here to read the article.
In their first meeting (via phone because Dave Ellerbroek, the scientific lead, is remote), the Colebrook team discussed the data the town has shared. They are now ready to move on to what the information means. Becky had prepared a sheet of the different treatment options that the town is considering which proved useful to the […]
The DC team met on March 13th to discuss the preliminary results. The data that they received from the DC Fire and Emergency Management Services (FEMS) Department reveals that there is a high incidence if 911 calls in Wards 2, 5, 7 & 8. Many downtown calls had no home address, presumably indicating that they […]
The Brandywine, MD-TEX project team had their first meeting on February 28, 2017 in the classroom of a JoAnn Fabrics store in Brandywine, Maryland. Kamita Gray, President of the Brandywine BTB Coalition, Akua Asa-Awuku, Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, and Melissa Goodwin, Project Liaision for the Thriving Earth Exchange used the 1-hour meeting […]
The Brandywine, MD-TEX project launched in January 2017. BTB Coalition president Kamita Gray will work with Dr. Akua Asa-Awuku, an associate professor at the University of Maryland – College Park. Kamita and Akua will work together to assess the air quality impacts from local industrial activity and communicate those impacts to local residents to facilitate […]
Laura Allen attended AGU’s 2016 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, CA to present a poster highlighting recent accomplishments and next steps for the Berlin TEX project. Click here to download her presentation! Berlin, Maryland – How One Small City is Using Science to Change its World Small cities are uniquely challenged to mitigate environmental issues […]
The City of Boulder created a poster to share the goals and outcomes of their TEX collaboration at the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting. Click here to download the poster! Developing Capacity for Cities to Adapt to a Changing Climate–a Case Study in Boulder, Colorado The City of Boulder in Colorado has undertaken many progressive […]
Lorenzo Mastino attended the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, CA to present a poster highlighting recent accomplishments and next steps for the Las Vegas TEX project. Click here to download his poster! Assessment of Vulnerability to Climate Change Effects on Urban Stormwater Infrastructure in City of Las Vegas, NV In the spring […]
JJ Gourley attended the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, CA to present a poster highlighting recent accomplishments and next steps for FLASH. Click here to download his poster! Development of a mobile app for flash flood alerting and data cataloging No matter how accurate and specific a forecast of flash flooding is […]
Christa Hasenkopf attended the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, CA to present a poster highlighting recent accomplishments and next steps for OpenAQ. Click here to download her poster! Stories from OpenAQ, a Global and Grassroots Open Air Quality Community Air pollution, responsible for more deaths each year than HIV/AIDS and malaria, combined, […]
Work on the TEX-Hermosa Beach project has officially begun! Lon Peters will work with the community lead, Kristy Morris, to conduct a study of feasible renewable energy technologies for Hermosa Beach to consider as it pursues its carbon neutrality goals. Additionally, the project team welcomed a new collaborator this month, Abhishek Rao. Abhishek is a […]
Ajay Kalra and Marco Velotta continue to work together to assess drought risk and vulnerability in Las Vegas. Over the past weeks, the project team has obtained important information including model and climate data, which will help them in determining drought risk. They have also begun creating future climate scenarios for the impact of climate […]
