Students contribute to study on Oregon’s dying trees

Ecological data collection conducted by undergraduate students during a College Outdoors trip has been included in a Science journal paper titled “Widespread Increase of Tree Mortality Rates in the Western United States.”  The paper discusses the mortality rate of trees in the Pacific Northwest and southern British Columbia. Studies show that the rate of tree death in this area has doubled in only 17 years. This can partially be attributed to the fact that temperatures have risen over one degree Fahrenheit over the past 30 years, leading to droughts and an abundance of insects and disease. Their research contributions on the changing dynamics of western forests has recently drawn the attention of a number of high-profile national and international media outlets.

Lewis & Clark students have collected data for the Franklin lab every August since 2006 as part of the Environmental Service Project. Alum and 2006 Break Away trip leader Brian Erickson ‘06 said, “We returned to plots that were established 30-plus years previously and remeasured every five to 10 years to provide an ongoing image of forest dynamics over time. The students collected high-quality data, worked extremely hard, learned a lot, and had a good time in the process.”

New York Times (New York, NY) Environment Blamed in Western Tree Deaths

Seattle Times (Seattle, Wash.) Regional warming hurting NW forests, study says

BBC News (London, UK) Climate shift ‘killing US trees’

5 February 2009

• environment
• global warming
• In the News
• publication
• student

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Alum named Sustainability Program Manager

Alum Marjorie Lifsey has been named the Sustainability Program Manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Lifsey, a lawyer with a background in environmental science, worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Oregon Department of Justice in the National Resources Division before attending law school. Among many in the environmental policy arena, Lifsey’s dedication to sustainability and her expertise in law make her the perfect candidate for this position. As the Sustainability Program Manager, Lifsey will “work with committee members and other state agencies to further the governor’s effort to become a sustainable, climate-friendly state.” To read more from BikePortland’s Q&A session with Lifsey, click here.

3 February 2009

• alumni
• environment
• Law
• sustainability

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Preparing students for lives as public leaders

Eban Goodstein serves as a professor of economics at Lewis & Clark. He also directs the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, a project designed to harness the energy and interests of today’s college students to pressure political leaders to cut carbon emissions and pursue climate change policies. Goodstein insists that his role as educator requires him to help students build critical thinking skills to face the most difficult political, scientific and economic challenges of our time. In this commentary, he calls on his peers to see their roles as not only educators in their fields but guides to our citizenry and future public leaders.

The National Teach-In takes place on February 5 and includes more than 700 colleges, universities, and faith and civic organizations around the country who will discuss the goal of cutting current carbon levels by 40 percent by 2020. This teach-in will include lectures, faculty and student symposia, theater performances, and active engagement with political leaders and their environmental policies.

Watch this video of Eban Goodstein and colleagues discussing the importance of youth involvement in the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions:

Inside Higher Ed (Portland, Ore.) Education or Advocacy? Engaging a Hotter World

The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) National “global warming teach-in” returns to Oregon

3 February 2009

• economics
• environment
• faculty
• Focus the Nation
• global warming
• In the News
• symposium

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