sust334

[sust334]

Nuclear Film Group Update #2

Our documentary is on the right track. We’re been mostly working solo since we each have an area of focus for the project but I think we’ve all completed compiling photos and videos. Almost all of us have completed our narration for our respective sections. Jahro has been tasked with the narration job so that will probably begin once we get our script finalized. We plan to meet this Sunday to do final revisions and edits on the film before the campus event.

[sust334]

Halt Holtec Progress Report #2

     Our group, consisting of Barbara, Patrick, and Brooke, centered our Campus/Community Environmental Justice project around the education and discussion of the Nuclear Fuel Chain present in New Mexico. We disseminated information on who Holtec International is and what their plan is for nuclear waste storage, as well as our personal involvement in the Grassroots Summit on Radioactive Waste hosted by Nuclear Issues Study Group.      Since our last update in late October, we held our second and final Nuclear Waste Webinar in conjunction with NISG’s public meeting on November 5th at the UNM Veterans building in preparation for the Grassroots Summit the following weekend. We watched an interview with Leona Morgan, one of the founding members of NISG, Deb Katz from Citizen’s Awareness Network, and Diane D’arrigo from Nuclear Information and Resource Service, in which they discuss how nuclear waste issues currently effect the entire nation, and in what ways.      Between Barbara, Patrick, and Brooke, all group members were in attendance for the three days the Summit took place, including the EJ panel the first night on November 8th. The EJ panel itself consisted of Verna Teller, Tina Cordova, Edith Hood, Lauro Silva, Rhianna Deschinny, Juan Reynosa, and Beata Tsosie-Peña- all dedicated environmental justice activists. Each of our group’s members were impacted greatly by their life-long experience in anti-nuclear and other environmental justice work across the state of New Mexico. The summit itself consisted of workshops dealing with white privilege and the racism that sometimes exposes itself within the Anti-Nuclear movement and within environmental activism itself, breakout sessions for specific aspects of anti-nuclear work and the progress that is being made in each of those “categories,” the sharing of personal and collective experiences within anti-nuclear work across the nation and globe, and the discussion of what progress can and will be made in the future, among so much else.      Our group members were available to help at the registration table, sell NISG swag and give information when it was needed, write notes when needed, as well as to absorb the information being presented. The overall experience of our project-both our educational Webinars and tabling before the summit as well as volunteering at the summit itself-was incredibly rewarding and valuable.

[sust334]

Lobo Gardens Update #2

Over the past few months, with various freezes and temperature changes, activities in the Lobo Gardens have slowed down. Our team (Sofia, Bryan, & Tony) worked with the newly charted Lobo Gardens Club to weed the beds and reorganize the shed at the beginning of our project, as well as shared ideas and contacts. After our participation in the volunteer days, and meeting with different department heads and instructors, we have turned our focus to putting together a course proposal.

Since our last update, we have met with the Club and maintained contact consistently, so as to allow them (and the students) to be in charge of those decision making processes. During this time we have functioned as a liaison between different people and the Club – most of whom the Club may have known, and some outside of the University. These include Facilities Management, Dr. Margaret Siebert, and John Shaski. After meetings with these people, the club, different departments, and communication with other stakeholders, a second Club meeting was arranged where the next steps for the Gardens were discussed. Additionally, the Lobo Gardens advisory board – made up of the faculty and staff who manage and promote the gardens – met two days later to discuss the progress made. Though our group has been unable to attend these meetings, we have acquired the minutes and read over them to keep ourselves informed.

During this second half of our project, we have mainly worked on researching course information to put together our course proposal. This primarily consists of evaluating syllabi and information from other programs that have successful farming/permaculture courses. We have compiled information on these and will be evaluating what these programs have that ours doesn’t, and where they may fall short. Furthermore, after meeting with Dr. Siebert and the Club, the nature of the Gardens’ governance has become somewhat muddled, despite initial straightforward leadership. The president of the Club, Isabel Strawn, has been working non-stop on improving the Club, getting more involvement, establishing a sustainable way to manage the gardens, and keeping them primarily student-led as this is how they were established. She has done a great job and has accomplished a lot, however, the line between Club responsibility and faculty or institutional responsibility has been blurred, and red tape created where none existed before.

Acquiring the additional information on these courses at other programs and their funding is key in writing our own proposal to give to the club and advisory board. We are also using the Jemez Principles, the Principles of Environmental Justice, and the principles/framework for permaculture to help the Club with its governance/mission framework. We have arranged contact between the involved parties around the area and involved in the gardens for a stakeholder meeting to allow everyone a say in the process of the further development of the gardens. Our invitation to the Landscape Architecture program also spurred the creation of a design project for the students focusing on the unused space at Lobo RED.

Finally, with our gathered information, we have begun an outline of our proposal and worked on the ideas for the Club’s framework. We also will have one or two volunteer days before the end of the semester for planting a few winter crops/cover and establishing committees to take care of the gardens over the winter break. Our course proposal will be based on the form used by UNM, with a bit more detail added to represent the interests and input of the different parties, as well as a sample syllabus. Although we will not be submitting this ourselves, we will be passing this on to the advisory board and the Club. We have also compiled more information for the club about grants and other types of funding and will be contributing materials to the newly proposed Lobo Gardens library that will be housed in the Biology building. These are the final steps of our project, with which we hope to establish sustainable relationships for the Gardens and all affected by them. As we have listened to and learned about the wants and needs of all of the parties involved, we have adjusted our goals and how we are involved, so as not to exclude anyone, or take on decision-making by ourselves – the project has allowed us to change our perspective and better understand the true role and impact of the Gardens.

[sust334]

My Team consisting of Tony, Sophia and myself (Bryan) have decided to tackle the project of soil rejuvenation and preservation.  The Lobo garden is currently only being used for one semester by student and left abandoned for the rest of the year.  The garden is tucked inside a neighboring community who freqently drops compost materials and sometimes trash to the garden.  We have teamed up with the Lobo Gardens club to clean up the garden and try to get the compost area back on track and plant cover crops to help rejuvenate the soil and keep it ready all year round with vegetation and make it easier for the students to start growing when the class starts.  We are also trying to petition for an additional garden class to be taught in the off season to help maintain the garden and give students further access to agricultural education. 

During the meeting with the Lobo Gardens club Tony and Sophia were able to organize plans for a budget, long-term management plan, and a project that is designed to help with soil remediation.  The tool shed was organized and inventoried to find out what was available to use and what needed to be replaced or added to the tools that were available.  We have, with the help of volunteers, been able to remove the trash from the gardens and start removing the weeds with one more bed of weeds to remove.  We have also gotten a contact with the guys who deal with Arbor resources on campus and they have informed us that we can get them to drop mulch whenever we need to.  Through that resource we have also been able to find a place to dump trash that comes from the garden to be able to continue to remove the trash and debris from the gardens.  We have also been trying to reach out to UNM Recycling to try to get a quote and idea of what it would look like for the to bring out a large dumpster to possibly have out there for the garden or at least long enough for us to tackle cleaning up the compost area, as well as, possibly having a service go out to them to dump that dumpster. 

In regards to the new proposal for an additional class for the Lobo Gardens, in a course proposal we have outlined the steps and necessary information for submitting this to be put in place.  There is a scheduled meeting with Dr. Siebert, as well as, planning to meet with the landscape achitecture program, Latin American studies program, the English department, the geology department, the Africana studies program, and the has also been five other groups that have been talked to about the potential use of the gardens for an educational space.

Once these meetings have taken place we will begin to evaluate and construct our course proposal and learn about potential funding and how to get funding and what the course planning would look like.  Additionally, we would like to incorporate the surrounding neighborhood to help with the gardens and composting in a positive way.

[sust334]

The Green Amendment

Below is an outline of what our group has completed so far:

- We’ve attended the new Chartering Workshop  

- Presented our PowerPoint discussing our project proposal and timeline  

- Had Maya Van Rossum give a presentation on the topic of the Green Amendment during our SUST334 class period 

- We have kept in contact with Maya over email discussing how to continue to organize and continue to move forward

- Continuing the path of creating the charter

- Scheduling a time for Maya to come to Albuquerque back in November to give a speaking panel to the UNM campus and public hopefully

- Coming up with creative ways to have people on the UNM campus sign the Green Amendment petition  

- Began research to create our own event to support the Green Amendment and spread awareness  

[sust334]

Nuclear Issues in New Mexico Documentary Progress Update

Mixed Waste Landfill:

I worked on mining for good information in the resources I previously found. I also used some images and wording from Citizen Action New Mexico, which had a useful amount of photographs and documents during the 90s when this issue was being addressed. I remembered what I learned in class, that there was a similar landfill (in Beatty Nevada) which had blown up recently. So I looked into that issue and found that Citizen Action also made an article with the necessary information I required. I cited David B McCoy for his article “Albuquerque’s Endangered Aquifer -- Sandia National Laboratories Mixed Waste Landfill” since that has much-needed info and graphic representations. That same class period showed off the previous students' work, on the spread of nuclear fallout and contaminants if there was indeed an explosion like the one at Beatty Nevada within the mixed waste landfill.

With the information I gained, I went ahead and made a cohesive storyline of the MWL. From the start of it to the closure on the MWL and then to the repercussions and lasting effects. I also delved into the potentially catastrophic damage incurred by the slow leakage of radioactive waste into the groundwater. I made sure to detail exactly what alpha radioactive decay does to a body and how it gets into humans. I also detailed that there are federal laws protecting the Sandia National Labs from being held responsible for anything to happen to the MWL as well as being protected from being forced to clean it up. Then I intend to end my piece of the documentary by stating that there’s been an explosion at a site very similar to the MWL that has blown up recently because of a mere 2 inches of rain that seeped into the stored metallic sodium. I will then end it with a quote “ [due to the explosion] it will spread large volumes of radiation into Albuquerque’s air, soil, and water - the equivalent of a dirty bomb” - Citizen Action New Mexico

Since I now have my piece of the storyboard, I intend to get B-footage of the MWL. If I'm unable to then I'll make some infographics about the MWL and potential for harm, to use for my section. I also plan on helping edit, especially for the beginning and conclusion to the documentary. I can definitely help teach my group some basics about editing, importing video, formatting and exporting in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Trinity Site: I collected research from various sites about the history of the bomb and the impacts the test has left on the residents of New Mexico still to this day. I am going to lay out a timeline of events pretty much starting with the test itself, including when, where, how, and why the test was done. After that brief timeline of history, I want to include information about the Tularosa Downwinders, whom I learned much about when listening to Tina Cordova speak in the Nuclear NM class. This group formed in response to a lack of compensation and acknowledgement from the government regarding the test for the residents in the area who were affected. A large population has experienced terrible health impacts from radiation that resulted from the explosion, many of which were generational. These illnesses were a huge inconvenience and caused strife across the state. I want to make sure this is highlighted in the documentary, along with other health impacts. This nuclear test was the first in history so I really want the audience to understand that importance, and how it's affected the state as a whole. Along with each transition, I have pictures and videos I want to be shown during the narration of my section that is pertinent to keep the audience engaged. I wanted to include a possible interview, but I’m unsure when I’ll get a chance to visit the Alamogordo area, let alone find someone who is able to remember the events. I have found quite a few videos online of the trinity site and interviews other people have done, so I may use that video footage, and cite it, in our film. 

Some pictures I plan on using:

Along with video clips of the detonation from https://www.atomicheritage.org/tour-stop/trinity-test-1#.Xbjx8FVKiUk

WIPP/Holtec:

From the extent of research I have done, I have learned that first and foremost, the implementation of Holtec is illegal, along with the company itself pushing false claims that the company's who are in direct correlation with the landmass Holtec has it’s eyes on, have agreed to allow Holtec to settle on their land. Along with this they’re a lack of funds for the infrastructure or jobs that must be put into place for the new site, and to transport materials from around the country to the area. Along with this, we can look back to the WIPP mishap in which, the facility was shut down for a time on end, as the lid of a barrel had exploded. With this, it is only common sense to look to the idea of a new implementation in radiative waste, and the simple truth that humans are prone to accident. The Holtec site, however, is supposed to hold 80,000 tons of radiative waste, more so fuel cell rods which are terribly radiative. With this, given it is supposed to be located 37 miles south of Carlsbad, human accident is not impossible, and when dealing with radiative entities such as spent fuel rods, the idea becomes exponentially scarier. 

 With the compilation of this information, I have also gained information on the aspect as simple as infrastructure wise, and the amount of jobs that are relatively understaffed right now, as there aren't enough working people in the Carlsbad area to sustain the Holtec site. Along with this, new railways would need to be implemented, in order to efficiently transfer the radioactive waste to the site itself. Yet this then pushes back into Holtecs falsified claims, as the company does not hold the rights, more so mineral rights in order to build rail systems that would bring the waste as close to the site as possible.  This then doesn’t even begin to investigate the economic and infrastructure effect it would have on the society of Carlsbad. Due to lack of jobs, more people would need to move to Carlsbad in which, before the oil boom, was a town of roughly 30,000 people, in which the boom caused it to average 60-80,000 people. The implementation of such a site would cause more people to come in, in which it could essentially affect the economy in a worse direction, as Carlsbad's infrastructure wasn’t originally made to hold thousands of people nearing the 100 thousand. We can then also look to the idea of years down the line, saying the jobs begin to dry up in Carlsbad, it will essentially become a massive ghost town, as there won’t be any true infrastructure to keep Carlsbad's economy afloat.  

Then even looking further past this, back to the idea of accident being prone to happen as humans aren’t perfect, the rail system resides right along a major highway, more so the Hobbs highway in which, if a barrel full of the nuclear rods were to open up or bust in some way mid-travel, then due to the rail line or one rail line residing amongst a major highway, the vehicles passing by will be prone to unintentionally aiding in the expanse of radioactive waste. The WIPP site is not terrible overall, yet the implementation of another major waste site would, or more so could be terribly detrimental in the long, or even short term. Past this abundance of information I have gained, I'm hoping to bring a guest speaker into the class, one whom would know the gist of Holtec and WIPP in which they could probably go into much more extensive details, and how it is essentially linked across the board of waste throughout the US. I’ve also gained video footage of the landscape, and the railway along wide the Hobbs highway in which it will give a more so real feel as to how it could truly be detrimental in the aspect of waste leaking and being spread further than originally intended. Ultimately I hope to have more interviews and possibly bring in multiple knowledgeable sources on the system of nuclear waste at hand. 

Laguna- Pagaute Jackpile mine: I have gathered information on water resources in the laguna-paguate area after the mining and plan on attending a tour put on through the sustainability minor degree program on November 17th and the corresponding nuclear new mexico class. Filming will take place when allowed and questions will be asked to further the understanding of the environmental, social and societal impacts and changes since the mining was halted in 1982(after 29 years). This photo is of the superfund site currently and is located on the laguna pueblo land, consisting of 3 former tribal leases. The raw uranium ore was transported via the Santa Fe railroad and brought detriment to people on highways and those living in Grants. The storyline will follow a narrative of long term suffering and regrowth as a changed society. Beginning with the superfund site and quick background, transitioning to a “‘ceremony’ by Leslie Silko” perspective of people and their connection to land and ending with Christine talking about her personal experience with the mining adjacent to her family home, giving an inside look to the impacts the mining had on surface water, agriculture and social culture.

Group goals:Storyboard work has begun, including pictures/videos and narration text, for the documentary which we are keeping track of in a shared google slide presentation. Research has been completed, and site access has been planned. We aim to compile this in one document to begin the editing, narration, and overall organization of the documentary. What we have to do now, as a group, is to come together to create the final storyboard. Once that’s done, I can get to work on narrating everything with the audio equipment that Terry Horger will lend us. Then finally we can get together to create the rough edit of the documentary, in which I plan to get Eileen Shaugnessy to give feedback so as to make a polished final version of our Student Made Nuclear Issues in New Mexico Documentary. Filming and editing will take place in the month of November.

Jahro, Zhanna, Kyla and Josh 

[sust334]

Summit prep

     We are continuing to recruit in preparation for the Grassroots Activist Summit and are currently working with Leona of NISG to iron out specific duties/roles for the volunteers. We set up a table near the SUB on Oct 23rd as an informational source, and garnered some support for the movement to stop Holtec. The same night, we hosted our first of two Webinar events, both of which have been partnered with Nuclear Issues Study Group as joint public meetings in preparation for the Grassroots Summit.       We have our second webinar scheduled for next week, Nov 5, where we will present further information about Holtec, high-level nuclear waste, and one more Webinar video in anticipation for the Summit itself Nov 8-10 the following weekend. 

Patrick, Brooke, and Barbara

[sust334]

Mapping Water Contaminants in the Rio Grande through NM

Our team, Camilio Calabaza, Will Cushman, and Lauren Auer are creating a map of the major water contaminants in the Rio Grande as it runs through New Mexico. To accompany the map, we are also creating an index of the major water contaminants displayed by the map, the sources of these contaminants, and their health effects.

           So far, we are still in the beginning stages of this project. Recently, we have acquired data sets from the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority. The people at this agency have been incredibly helpful and have also provided us with a pdf copy of the most recent “Surface Water Source Water Assessment”. This assessment provides a complete list of the major surface water contaminants in the Rio Grande, as well as their sources. This Assessment will be very helpful for our Contaminant Index.

           The next stages of this project will involve compiling all of the data into ArcGIS and producing a map. Additionally, now that we have a copy of the “Surface Water Source Water Assessment” we can begin re-organizing the information into a concise index to accompany our map. Our group still needs to discuss how we would like to display our project at the Expo on April 18th, but we should have more ideas about this as we get deeper into the project.

           For our class facilitation, Kate Mendoza, the Water Resource Specialist at the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority will be coming to speak to our class this Thursday about “the Water Authority’s source water protection efforts with an eye towards threats to our surface water resources”. We are eager to have her, and hope that her presentation will be insightful for our group, as well as the other two groups in the class.

           We are happy to currently have the sources we need for this project, and look forward to seeing how the map and index turn out!

#MadMappers

[sust334]

Our group formed with the intention of making a podcast series focusing on nuclear issues. We soon decided to simplify the subject matter by focusing primarily on the Sandia Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL) and weaving the other information about the nuclear process into one podcast episode. Now, yet again, we have changed course. As we began to get more focused on the MWL, we came to recognize the importance of public action and mobilization, specifically at this moment, following the release of the Mixed Waste Landfill 5-Year Report.

In light of this, we will organize a community event where we distribute information about the MWL and host a congressional letter-writing session, and other interactive informational booths. A key focus of the event will be the feasibility of excavation of the MWL site, as outlined in the report. We will focus on gaining media attention in hopes of pressuring Governor Grisham or NMED to request the excavation of the site.

       The event is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, May 2nd, 2019. Before this date, we recognize that there is a lot of work to be done. Our group is currently working on digesting the 5-Year report by dividing the 600+ page document up. Aside from gathering information directly from the report, our team will be collaborating with other concerned organizations to bolster attendance and credibility at the event. Additionally, we will be reaching out to several media outlets to request coverage.

          When planning for the activities that will take place, we have decided on a combination of informational, artistic, and interactive activities. Firstly, we will design a zine that will present the information found in the report. We will also have a booth for writing letters to congressional leaders, as they are the ones who have power to request the excavation. The attendees will also be able to take part in a live-stream where they can state their concerns and requests for actions – this video will be saved and stored as a digital archive of the community’s voices.

          Leading up to the event, we our group will host Dave McCoy in the SUST334 classroom on April 4th. Dave will help us to understand the MWL in a political context and hopefully help us maximize the effectiveness of the event. Also during this class session we will have the class make found-poetry from pages of the MWL 5-Year report. This activity will encourage others to ‘re-write’ the narrative of the MWL. At the UNM Sustainability Expo, we will repeat the found-poetry activity, while sharing information about the MWL with anyone who listens. We will focus on igniting interest around UNM in the MWL and specifically our event.  

          Despite having changed the course of our project very suddenly, our group is energized by the mission at hand. We are confident that we can mobilize quickly and organize an effective community event. We will also likely change our group name as the pun doesn't make sense any more.

- Trevor, Courtney, Delaney, Francine

#Community Activism Radioactive

[sust334]

Progress Report for Video Blog

Our group met on 3/23 to further discuss our roles in this project, and within each individual video. For our first video, Daniel will research the Mixed Waste Landfill, Melissa will research The Kirkland Oil spill, and Kristopher will research Albuquerque water sources, aquifers, and tables. We will present this research during the first video, where we will speak in a panel and ask questions of each other. We discussed scripting of our video blog and shared some of our current research. We nailed down our ability to use video equipment and decided to film our first video on Saturday 3/30.

We drew up some very rough drafts of our artistic video, and the chronology of how that will play out. Lara drew a few pages, as an example of how the Draw My Life video might look like. Lara also committed to practicing sketches of Mixed Waste elements. We assigned a script for each person/topic to be complete by next Saturday by each person on their section.  

[sust334]

Progress Report One: A Sacred Trust Map Activity

Our team, Abby Matanis, Coleman Piburn, and Josh Parks, through the utilization of the Water, Air, and Land: A Sacred Trust map, are creating a  new perspective on nuclear and our relation to it as New Mexicans.

As of now, we have access to the Water, Air, and Land: A Sacred Trust map and to a drawing board which we will display the map for our tabling activity. In class, we did a dry run of the tabling events we will hold this month to see how we can improve our project.

We still need to get stickers for people to put up on the map, indicating where they live or where they grew up. We also need to put a phrase on a poster that will attract people to our table. This phrase will be intriguing and lead them to the map which will inform viewers about what we’re doing and about the panel discussion. We still need to construct the “Questions and Concerns” box that will accompany the map and offer students a place to voice their concerns and ask questions that will later be addressed in the panel. Finally, we need to check out a table from the Student Activities Center and reserve a space to table at. Once we have our necessary supplies and have picked a time to table, we will be ready to share our project with the greater UNM community.

As far as the panel discussion goes, we will be meeting with experts on Monday the 5th where will outline how the panel is going to be arranged. Before then, we need to have a clear picture of what we want the panel’s focus to be and the maps relation to it. Once we have established what it will look like, we need to make a flyer advertising the panel event, that can be passed out to the people we talk to while displaying the map, or posted around campus.

We also still need to reach out to Joni and confirm whether she will speak at the panel. Ideally, we would want to get Leona Morgan to also be apart of the panel as well. Another person that could also be beneficial to the panel is Dave McCoy.

Although, there is still work to be done, we’re close to getting on our feet.

[sust334]

Progress Report #1: MWL Presentation

Miranda Hickman, Cordell Bock, Nuha Islam, Harper Gamble

For the Sust 334 project our group, Miranda Hickman, Cordell Bock, Nuha Islam, Harper Gamble, are working on educating the public on the Mixed Waste Landfill here in Albuquerque.

Since October 9th, our group has applied for the green fund in order to receive funding for our project, researched information pertaining to the Mixed Waste Landfill, contacted Zimmerman library to reserve a spot, discussed plans surrounding the panel at the Peace and Justice center on December 6th, and are working on gathering materials.

After our most recent meeting to discuss our project plans, we have decided that we want to create a poster and an informative presentation of the Mixed Waste Landfill in place of the Diorama. We feel that we do not have an adequate amount of time to create a thorough diorama that accurately represents the MWL. 

The poster will include in depth information on the MWL such as scaling of the landfill, inventory of known waste, a map of the aquifer in relation to the MWL along with a map of the surrounding communities, and a stratigraphic column. Essentially the poster will be a paper version of the diorama that is easier to transport and present.

We plan on keeping our comment/question box wherever the poster is initially presented, presumably in Zimmerman. We are also planning on presenting the poster both in Zimmerman and at the Peace and Justice center on December 6th.

[sust334]

Progress Report #1:  TALKICITY APP

Overview:

Our team is building an interactive tool (app) that allows individuals to engage and learn about the toxins around them. As a team, we are including interactive section to the app that allows communities to have interaction, hopefully encouraging them to speak up about their local toxins experience or issues. Since our project proposal our team has made progress in collecting data for the app. Because we are each assigned to gather specific information (different topics), each individual is responsible for collecting valid data to incorporate into the app.  

           The sections that each individual is assigned:

-      Saunder: App Creator

-      Adam: gathering data about water ( quality, and contamination) 

-      Angie: gathering data about land (toxic waste, mix waste landfill) 

-      Elicia: gathering data about air (pollution) 

Goal: We are adding data that we have collected, but our goal is to allow the others in the communities to allow data as well.

Upcoming Meeting:

           Since our app is based off of the toxicity map, we are wanting to work with the creators of this map. Professor Shaughnessy has gotten into touch with the creators of Sacred Trust NM to come up with a meeting day in the next week. For this meeting, we are wanting to get feedback on the app. Getting  input on the app is important being that is going to be available for everyone to use. We are hoping to get as much information out of them so we can improve on our app as much as possible before the due date. We hope they are honest with the feedback, and are happy with the app progress so far being that they have been wanting to turn it into something more than just a PDF.

Challenges with app:

Because the coding of the app includes google maps, we are wanting to change it to the toxicity map being that we are working with this specific map. The challenge is getting the correct code being that it’s just a PDF upload. When we attend the meeting, we are hoping the map creator can help us get access to the coding information.

Data update:

           In addition to the data, our team has been doing a great job at adding information to our google doc. On this doc, everyone is responsible for adding information about their topics. This makes it easier for Saunder to add information to the app as he is continuing to create and update it. 

Overall, everyone is being active, and full-filling their responsibilities!

Sust-334-001

Saunder, Adam, Elicia, and Angie

#SUST334 APPPROJECT PROGRESS TEAMWORK

[sust334]

Pesticides, Pollinators, and People Progress Report #2

Zakk Tush, Chloe Ikard, and Alessandra Rossi

First, we have once again slightly shifted the focus of our project. Rather than trying to bring bees to campus, as that has become an unattainable goal with many obstacles in its way, we will now work toward making UNM campus more friendly and conducive to pollinator populations. In this shift of focus we will also narrow our research and efforts more-so toward wild bees, rather than honey bees, as they are facing considerably worse population decline.

On March 28th our group attended a lecture on urban beekeeping at the Albuquerque Biopark, where Dr. Racher Mallinger elaborated on both the importance of wild bees and the issues threatening them. During the lecture Mallinger really discussed the extent to which the issues plaguing wild bees are leading to extreme population decline in North America. One study showed that 749 out of 1,437 (over 50%) wild bee species studied were facing population decline. According to Mallinger, the six most significant threats to wild bees are changes in land use, pesticides, managed bee use (honey bees can both transmit diseases as well as eat wild bee’s food), disease, invasive plants, and climate change.    

Regarding the portion of the project regarding campus, we have made attempts to reach out to a few different individuals. It is worth noting that we have decided that it will no longer be necessary to integrate local Albuquerque beekeepers (and likely ASUNM as well), as we ae no longer looking to directly implement beehives on campus. We have gotten into contact with Christina Hoberg of Lobo Gardens, who is currently working on a project to implement pollinator gardens throughout campus (for the moment at Lobo Gardens and, hopefully, one of the Hokona courtyards). We will be meeting up with Christina, and whoever else, on Friday April 13th to help plant the pollinator garden for Lobo Gardens. With the help of Mary Clark, Sustainability manager at UNM, we have attempted through email and telephone to contact Michael McCord, manager of the Environmental Services Division, regarding pesticide use on campus; we are awaiting a response. 

Mary Clark also suggested we look into UNM’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which is a system of handling pests wherein all possible options are considered. UNM’s Physical Plant Department (PPD) has a page online detailing, somewhat vaguely, what exactly IPM is supposed to be. More or less it involves pest control professionals determining the best means of addressing pests through mechanical, physical, cultural, natural, or chemical means. This can range from implementing pesticides to simply leaving the situation be, and the environment and effects of any respective method are taken into heavy consideration. 

We will still pursue education as a primary facet of our project, which will be the core component of our presence at the Sustainability Expo on April 19th. We have already made good progress with putting together our presentation, which will consist of a posterboard detailing the phases of our project and all of our research, some educational flyers pertaining to the issue for people to take home (all of which will printed on an organic paper imbedded with wildflower seeds), a petition regarding the importance of making UNM pollinator friendly (including the implementation of pollinator gardens wherever feasible on campus), and potentially some other visuals. 

Otherwise, we are wrapping up the remainder of our research nicely, and just in time for the Sustainability Expo. We have done more extensive research on the effects of some of these pesticides on human health (such as links to breast cancer, diabetes, and many other issues). We have also begun looking into what types of plants are more conducive to bees for pollinator gardens (such those mostly white and yellow colored). We are still working on looking into potential effects of both pesticides and declining pollinator populations on food health, and hope to include some information in our presentation at the Sustainability Expo.  

[sust334]

Waste No Time! Progress Report #2 Our project is right on track! We had our expert panel on Thursday of last week. It went very well and working on it helped us narrow and focus our topic. We’re excited to present our information at the sustainability expo next week! We are currently working on two large posters, an informative pamphlet and other visuals for our booth! We are still in contact with relative activists in the community and will continue to build on our research and information!

[sust334]

Collecting Coffee Cups at the Student Union Building to promote composting, recycling, and overall waste reduction. HA, LD, GE 09 April 2018 Sust-334 Since venturing to Soilutions, our group has contacted Lobo Gardens and taken the Sustainabilities-334 class on a field trip there. At the Gardens, we learned about aerated, low-temperature composting (whereas Soilutions uses very high-temperature composting), mulch, and how that mulch is applied to UNM campus (which does not strictly use Soilutions for its compost). In addition, we visited Satellite Coffee for four hours with a recycling stand from Ski. We played sentry over the trash cans and explained which parts of cups (as well as other waste) were recyclable, which were compostable, and which were trash. Many students were uninformed of which parts were which, and most were receptive to recycling and composting properly--a perspective contrary to the cynicism of the Soilutions workers, who, for right reason, have been overwhelmingly frustrated by people’s lack of waste categorization knowledge or seeming disinterest in sorting. Granted, there were some students who did not appear interested or were even annoyed by being required to take responsibility for their waste. Primarily, though, we discovered that many people do not stick around the Satellite to properly compost their cups, rendering the composting bin behind the counter of Satellite inert in terms of compostable cup collection. Throughout these past few weeks, we have also been asking coffee/food locations around campus about the average number of coffee cups they sell in one day. We will use this information during the Sustainability Expo as part of our outreach project. Our next step is to prepare posters and visualizations of what composting and recycling should look like, how waste contributes to environmental racism, and how to recycle and compost waste on campus. We will modify a questionnaire, provided by Ski, to focus more on coffee cups. We will offer prizes to those who correctly dispose of their cups. Our table will feature information on the impacts of landfills, the numbers of cups disposed of on campus, and how to recycle/compost, ending on the note that reusing mugs is far more environmentally friendly than improper composting/recycling.

[sust334]

Pesticides, Pollinators and People

Zakk Tush, Chloe Ikard, Alessandra Rossi

The focus of our project is to determine the varying pesticides harmful to bee and pollinator populations, as well as the potential harm they may bring to nearby human communities, and the extent to which they have a detrimental effect on these populations. We hope to gain awareness of the pesticides and chemicals used throughout UNM campus, in comparison to other universities, and what we might be able to do to make UNM’s Albuquerque campus more friendly toward bees and pollinator in general.

For this progress report we have successfully accumulated a majority of our research. We have looked into neonicotinoids (the group of pesticides primarily responsible and popularly known for diminishing bee/pollinator populations), the varying effects they have on both pollintors and human beings, as well as some of the necessary considerations of implementing bee communities, both on campus and throughout cities. 

While we have not yet managed to get ahold of the UNM faculty necessary to further this facet of our project, we will continue to try. 

Research:

Neonicotinoids

 - Primary group of pesticides responsible for killing bees/pollinators: hinder bees physically, also impair their ability to reproduce

- Are water-soluble. This allows neonicotinoirds and similar chemicals to travel to unintended ecosystems. Plants miles away can take in these chemicals, which then seep into all parts of the plant including stem, leaves, and nectar.

- Researchers looked for synthetic chemicals in: dead bees, forager bees, nurse bees, pollen and nectar. They found a combination of herbicides, fungicides and pesticides present in all. The mix included a fair amount of neonicotinoids. 

- Researchers also found that these pesticides persisted throughout several growing seasons, not just the season within which they are utilized.

- Neonicotinoids and other pesticides also have an adverse effect on people, particularly inner-city children. Children are most at risk of adverse health effects caused by pesticides, because they are less hygienic than adults, and their bodies cannot remove toxins as efficiently. 

UNM Landscaping and Other Resources

- We have attempted to contact UNM landscaping to discover the pesticides/chemicals used on campus. We have left a message and plan to hear back within the week.

- We have also attempted to contact the Albuquerque Beekeeper’s Association. We left a message with the group’s founder, Lu Lu, and plan to hear back soon. 

- Tomorrow, March 28th, we will attend a presentation on Urban Beekeeping. This will provide us with a deeper understanding of the issues faced by urban beekeepers in Albuquerque. It will also help us understand what obstacles we may face in making UNM more pollinator-friendly. 

#beekeeping #pesticides #UNM #neonicotinoids