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Daphany Rose Sanchez—BHSEC Queens alumna, Class of 2010—has been named to the Grist 50 list of top innovators for her work bridging affordable housing and energy efficiency.

The students’ water samples—collected from nearly 400 sites across the globe—were a main component of this year’s Citizen Science curriculum, which tackled urgent, present-day questions related to water.

Before leaving for winter break last December, all first-year students at Bard College were given a test tube and asked to take it home and collect a sample from a freshwater pond, lake, or stream; take a photo of its source, and bring it back to campus as part of Bard’s 2019 Citizen Science program. The program, an intensive science immersion required of all Bard first-year students, aims to develop science literacy through hands-on, real-world course work and projects. The students’ water samples—collected from nearly 400 sites across the globe—were a main component of this year’s curriculum, which tackled urgent, present-day questions related to water. Students began an ongoing effort to test, plate, photograph, and map the samples, in part to document a violacein-producing bacterium that is central to the research of Bard biology professor Brooke Jude. Photos of the collection sites, as well as many of the petri dish platings of the water samples, were turned into an interactive map that will be used by both Jude and future Citizen Science students.

Mary Krembs, director of the Citizen Science Program, said the focus on water provided an ideal subject that is both part of students’ daily lives and a pressing issue in many communities. Students were asked not only to examine the properties of water and how those properties influence the contamination (and decontamination) of drinking water but also to consider the extent to which problems of contamination go beyond pure science and are affected by social, historical, and political factors. Krembs said 479 students participated in the program and were divided into 28 sections, taught by 28 faculty, each focusing on a different aspect of the science of water issues, from sampling and lab testing to education and communication.
“We’re challenging students to grapple with what it means to be scientifically literate, the role citizens play in weighing in on important scientific issues, how citizens can find the scientific information they need in order to meet the challenges they face, the skills they need to adequately and thoroughly interpret scientific claims, and the ways in which the conduct, analysis, and interpretation of science can be influenced by political and other potentially distorting factors,” said Krembs. “To be literate, students need to know how science is done, vetted, communicated, and taught.”

In addition to its valuable role in this year’s Citizen Science program, the sampling, plating, and mapping will be essential to Jude’s research, which focuses on cataloging and characterizing violacein-producing bacteria to determine if they can be used to treat invasive species infections, such as those currently decimating amphibian populations. Jude said future Citizen Science students will be gathering new water samples, and students in the research section of the program in 2020 will have an opportunity to characterize isolates from this year's collection.
 “Up until now, my study site and focus area has been largely contained to the Hudson Valley waterways, and some surrounding sites in the East Coast,” said Jude. “The research we are conducting during Citizen Science has allowed my research program to expand greatly the sites for water collection, via both the student participation as Citizen Scientists and members of the research team. We have plated water samples from over 19 countries and 30 US states, and currently have 299 violacein-producing strains to add to my data set to be further analyzed.”

Krembs gave credit to Bard Systems Administrator Hayden Sartoris ’18, a computer science graduate, for writing the software that enabled the mapping project to come to life.

Citizen Science is an innovative program for all first-year students at Bard College. Through two weeks of intensive study during January intersession, students develop a core understanding of both the conduct and the content of science. This foundation allows them as citizens to grapple with the ever-increasing number of national and global issues influenced by science. The first-year experience at Bard is designed as an immersive introduction to the liberal arts and critical thinking across disciplines. This experience serves as a foundation for all students as they pursue their particular area of interest and encounter issues driven by science that permeate society and impact their daily lives. The Citizen Science Program is a dynamic and challenging learning experience aimed at elevating the ability of each student to understand and apply scientific thought and tools. The program emphasizes the methodology and critical thinking skills used by scientists, and their application. During Citizen Science, students learn by doing. Students are fully engaged in problem solving and must learn to identify, obtain, and digest the types of scientific evidence needed to make informed decisions. Citizen Science mirrors what it is to be a scientist. For more information, visit citizenscience.bard.edu.
 

By Sarah Wallock ’19

If you’re passing through the Reem-Kayden Center on a given Saturday afternoon, you may run into a group of middle school girls, chatting about math games and examining the origami designs that they just made in the Girls Math Club. Or, if you’re a patron of the Tivoli Library, you may come across a STEAM Workshop using soap and food coloring to make marbled milk paper and learn about how calcium affects saturation rates. Both programs are hosted by STEAM Explorers, an initiative of Bard’s Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) and Math Program. STEAM Explorers has two components: Bard Science Outreach and the Bard Math Circle. Together, they work to create experiences and design experiments that inspire wonder, spark curiosity, and challenge old ideas.

Sarah deVeer ’17 volunteered for STEAM Explorers as a Bard student; now, she runs the program as the science outreach coordinator. This year she has worked to expand the program beyond local partners in Red Hook, Rhinebeck, Kingston, and Tivoli to communities across the Hudson Valley such as in Beacon, Albany, and Hudson. Sarah also worked to revamp the curriculum, and to good effect: John Kemnitzer, the principal of Bulkeley Middle School in Rhinebeck, recently said that this year’s program was the best one yet.
“One aspect that I really love about Bard’s STEAM Explorers is that we don’t charge the schools or community for our programs,” says deVeer. “We offer these programs because we genuinely believe that Bard is a private institution operating in the public interest.” Working with six STEM fellows and 30 engagement mentors, STEAM Explorers collaborates with 12 partners in schools and community organizations throughout the Hudson Valley. DeVeer also coordinates science engagement efforts as part of Bard’s Citizen Science Program and Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Engagement. The most important part of discussing issues such as water quality and natural resource use with students, she notes, is how STEAM Explorers is “starting the conversation with the next generation.”

The Bard Math Circle was started in 2007 by mathematics students and faculty at Bard, to address the dearth of math enrichment opportunities in the Mid-Hudson Valley. It began with a monthly program at the Tivoli library, where the organizers brought puzzles, games, and toys that emphasized problem-solving skills and making math fun for all ages. Students attending the library programs reported doing better in their math courses at school because of their involvement with the project.
From the outset, Bard undergraduates have been an integral part of the Math Circle, running and developing programs, leading hands-on workshops, and mentoring K-12 students. The Math Circle has expanded over time to include programs at several libraries, schools, and community centers; math contests and national math competitions; programs to empower girls in math; a Rubik’s Cube Club; special events for teachers and senior citizens; and the most popular program, a weeklong summer CAMP (Creative, Analytical Math Program) for middle schoolers, run primarily by Bard faculty, alumni/ae, undergraduates, and local high school volunteers who have taken part in Math Circle programs. One parent whose daughter participated in the Girls Math Club recently commented, “My child was always happy after meetings, and she liked the girls-only space to learn and explore.” Undergraduate leaders credit their involvement with the Math Circle as one of the highlights of their Bard experience. The majority of Math Circle student leaders choose to pursue a career in teaching after graduation.

STEAM Explorers started in 2010 as an effort to bring science and math to area students in new and creative ways. Bard Science Outreach fellows and Bard Math Circle faculty and volunteers work with more than 4,000 children and teens throughout the Hudson Valley each year. Partnering with local schools, they connect what students are learning in the classroom with real-world issues, especially those facing the Hudson Valley region.

During the month of January, Science Outreach fellows worked with six different school districts to host a Day of Science. The CCE outreach team conducted science experiments around the theme of Hudson River watershed health, from off-campus events at Chancellor Elementary in Rhinebeck and Smith Intermediate School in Hudson, to on-campus events for local middle school students. Bard students led activities that showed the importance of local aquifers to the ecosystem. Participants tested the salinity of the river water, played a PCB board game, explored pH filters, and demonstrated water conservation through interactive activities.

STEAM Explorers works to provide real-world applications in all its experiments, like dissecting owl pellets to classify rodent skeletons and building marshmallow towers to learn effective design and construction mechanisms. “My favorite experiment was when we played with owl pellets!” says Junnaria, a sixth-grade student in Perfect Ten, an after-school program in Hudson that empowers and mentors young girls. “It was so cool finding all the bones of the animals! This [experiment] has made me more curious about nature and biology.” Melissa, a seventh grader from Perfect Ten, comments, “I really liked the marshmallow tower. It showed me how to plan measurements for buildings. It’s cool to find out that math and science are in everything, even marshmallows.”

Antonio Gansley-Ortiz ’18, a science outreach engagement mentor, reflects on how his work with the STEAM Explorers continues to influence him: “In April while out having dinner with [another mentor], I ran into one of my middle school students. She recognized us and pointed us out to her parents. The entire family then came over and thanked us for the experience. They also mentioned the student hadn’t stopped talking about her excitement with science. That moment was incredibly fulfilling. I want to help provide that positive experience to other students in the community.”

STEAM Explorers Initiatives

• Day of Science brings eighth graders from local school districts to the Bard campus to engage with Bard science fellows, faculty, and undergraduates in a series of themed science stations.  
• Girls Math Club for middle school girls run by Bard female math majors.
• Math Circle Library Programs include puzzles, games, and fun math activities for upper elementary and middle school students.
• Rubik’s Cube Club teaches kids how to master the Rubik’s Cube.
• Science Fairs connect Black Student Organization fellows and volunteers to mentor local students preparing to enter school science fairs.
• Science for Kids brings in-school, hands-on science experiments to K-5 students by using household products in new ways.
• Science Saturday brings children and families together with Bard students at local libraries and community centers to participate in science enrichment activities.
• STEM Night Out invites young students throughout the Hudson Valley to an evening of fun, hands-on scientific experiments led by science fellows and Bard first-year students.

Visit the Bard Math Circle and STEAM Explorers to learn more.
 

Blom treats the well-documented Little Ice Age of the 17th century “as an experiment in what can happen to a society when its baseline conditions, all ultimately dependent upon the weather, are shaken,” writes Miller.

Chelsea Mozen MBA ’15 joined the inaugural class of Bard’s MBA in Sustainability program in the fall of 2012 because she wanted to make clean energy a priority in the business world. Now she's heading up a first-of-its kind carbon offset program at Etsy, which she originally conceptualized for her Capstone Project at Bard. Last week, Mozen was featured in Bloomberg, Fast Company, and Wired for the carbon-neutral delivery program she’s leading. Etsy will now purchase carbon credits to compensate for the impact of its shipping operations, a bold move that Mozen hopes will shift the e-commerce industry.

During her time at Bard, Mozen held an internship with Etsy’s sustainability team, where she began to develop an idea for solarizing Etsy sellers. This way, the company could offset the pollution coming from transport and work toward their goal of net-zero emissions. Mozen proposed that Etsy use carbon finance to encourage their network of sellers, employees, and stakeholders to install solar energy in their homes. Etsy was looking to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2020 when Mozen pitched her climate strategy. After Mozen’s internship ended, she was hired full time as senior energy and carbon specialist.

Since then, Mozen has gone on to expand Etsy’s sustainability strategy. In her interview with a correspondent at Bloomberg, Mozen said: “The free shipping we’re used to actually isn’t free. When people think of the environmental impact from e-commerce, they immediately jump to packaging—but emissions from shipping has a big environmental cost.” She adds, “Even though we don’t directly control that shipping, we feel responsible for it because we’ve enabled it. We want consumers to know what responsible e-commerce can look like.”

Climate change experts have lauded Etsy and Mozen’s bold approach. Inquiries are arising about whether other businesses like Amazon will follow suit. “This is a solid move, and encouraging,” says Adam Klauber, director of sustainable aviation at the Rocky Mountain Institute (Wired).  “What I love about Etsy Solar is that it’s really about shared value creation for our community,” said Mozen. “By working together we can drive responsible solutions to our collective impact.”

Learn more about Bard’s Graduate Programs in Sustainability.
 

The recommendations, made by the Saw Kill Watershed Community with data and support from the Bard Water Lab, include adoption of stormwater runoff rules to maintain watershed health.

Professor Hulbert lectured on his research on memory dynamics, direct suppression, and PTSD.