The Institute is pleased to introduce our 2017 summer fellows, Bibi Calderaro and Matthew Devine, and our summer research assistant, Alison Schlesinger.
This summer, our summer Fellows will experiment with the use of storytelling, walks, and sustainable agriculture to help build meaningful relationships with communities, increase awareness about issues related to resilience in Jamaica Bay, and empower people to get involved in knowledge development and decision processes.The Institute’s Fellowship Program is designed to improve the ability of undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students to pursue environmental careers through experiential learning and hands-on training in using science to manage coastal urban areas. Fellows design, engage in and catalyze transdisciplinary
The Institute’s Fellowship Program is designed to improve the ability of undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students to pursue environmental careers through experiential learning and hands-on training in using science to manage coastal urban areas. Fellows design, engage in and catalyze transdisciplinary research while building new partnerships across the Institute’s research network.
In 2017, the Institute organized a new week-long science-policy training course for current and former Fellows. The course brought students out into the field and focused on topics such as social capital, evaluation, collaboration, politics/ethics, diagnosing context and communication and exchange. The week culminated in planning and delivering public testimony at a NYC City Council hearing on beach erosion.
Bibi Calderaro is an artist, curator, and student in the CUNY Graduate Center’s MALS program in Education and Sustainability. This summer, she is seeking to raise awareness about Jamaica Bay area’s unique ecology, working with people who live there or nearby. Based on her research and experience as an artist and certified Forest Bathing Guide, she will be organizing immersive walks and co-created maps, while also capturing oral histories from seniors and their interactions with the Bay.
Matt Devine is an urban gardener and a PhD student in Environmental Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center. This summer, he will be working with urban farms in the Rockaways to develop an Ecological Design training program designed to raise awareness and teach strategies of ecological design, food, water, social sustainability, and more.
Alison Schlesinger, an Earth and Environmental Science major at Brooklyn College and outdoor enthusiast, will be advancing Institute projects relating to coastal design and management. In addition to editing the Institute’s technical review of the Waterfront Alliance’s Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines (WEDG), she is also surveying literature of natural and nature-based features monitoring programs, studies, and guidelines.
Welcome to the office Bibi, Matt and Alison!
