News From the Environmental Studies and Science Department
2019 Student Conference on Conservation Science
Several ESS undergraduate and graduate students attended the 2019 Student Conference on Conservation Science at the American Museum of Natural History.
ESS Student-Led Paper Gets Published
Tatyana Graham ’22, BA in Environmental Science, Brielle Manzolillo ’17, BA in Environmental Studies and Nadya Hall ’18, MA in Environmental Policy, recently had their research published in Cities and the Environment, an academic journal focused on the ecology of urban communities.
Research: From Community Science to a Connected Harbor
Assistant Professor Anne Toomey, PhD, and her research assistants are engaging teachers and community scientists to understand the link between city-dwellers and environmental education in New York City.
Pace Policy Grad Working for Senator Charles Schumer
Nicole Virgona ’18, MA in Environmental Policy, is working as the regional deputy director of Senator Charles Schumer’s (D-NY) Hudson Valley office, sustaining the MA in Environmental Policy program’s 100 percent post-grad employment rate.
Pace’s Bee Campus
Pace University’s Pleasantville campus has become certified as an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program, joining 90 other campuses around the country. This designation was awarded based on Pace’s commitment to creating a sustainable habitat for pollinators.
In Washington or New York City’s City Hall, Graduating Senior and Dual Major Christina Thomas Gets Things Done
Christina Thomas ’19, talks about her time at Pace as a dual Economics and Environmental Studies major and working in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Resiliency and Recovery as part of a one-year paid internship.
MAEP Student Allie Granger ’19 Brings Her Passion for Policy to Congress
Alexxis (Allie) Granger ’19, MA in Environmental Policy (MAEP), discusses her experience with the MAEP program and her transformative externships at Riverkeeper, the Humane Society of the United States, and the United States Congress.
Are Coyotes “Natural”?
Assistant Professor Anne Toomey, PhD, and Environmental Science student Tatyana Graham ’22, presented a talk entitled, “Are Coyotes “Natural”? Perceptions of Coyotes in New York City” at the 19th Northeast Natural History Conference (NENHC) on April 14 in Springfield, MA.
Professor Presents at Citizen Science Association Conference
Assistant Professor Anne Toomey, PhD, and Tanasia Swift, the Community Reefs Regional Manager at Billion Oyster Project, presented a talk together at the Citizen Science Association Conference in Raleigh, NC. Their talk discussed the social-cultural dynamics of two Brooklyn communities – Coney Island and Canarsie – and the role of community science in bringing New Yorkers closer to their waterfront.
Professors’ Paper Published in Ambio
Assistant Professors Anne Toomey, PhD, Matthew Aiello-Lammens, PhD, and colleagues from Lancaster University, the Bolivian Collection of Flora and Fauna, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, co-authored a paper that was recently published in Ambio about low dissemination rates among scientists and why local knowledge exchange is so important for conservation.
Food Across Borders
ESS Professor E. Melanie DuPuis, PhD, contributed to and co-edited the book, “Food Across Borders,” about geopolitics and food.
Listen on JPR: Cougars As Ecosystem Engineers
New research from Panthera shows the role pumas play as ‘ecosystem engineers.’ Listen to this interview with Panthera Puma Program Director Dr. Mark Elbroch and Pace University MS in Environmental Science graduate student Josh Barry ’19.
Listen on Cal Ag Roots: Podcast 10: Política del Mole/The Politics of Mole
Hear Pace Prof. Melanie DuPuis and several other food scholars discuss shifting to a “new model for food movement work that builds political and community strength from difference and diversity.”
Read on Panthera: Fab Four: Beetles, Big Cats, Bears and Biodiversity
Joshua Barry ’19, has recently published a paper entitled, “Pumas as ecosystem engineers: ungulate carcasses support beetle assemblages in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem“, co-authored with fellow Pace student Anna Kusler ’18, and Pace faculty members Matthew Aiello-Lammens, PhD, and Melissa Grigione, PhD. Joshua wrote a blog post discussing the paper originally published in Oecologia in which the authors highlight the ecosystem engineering role of pumas for beetle communities.
Pace Sustainability Initiative: The Club That’s Changing Pace
Pace Sustainability Initiative (PSI) is a student organization that is spearheading sustainable changes on Pace University’s NYC campus.
The Story of a Lit Review
One of the major struggles in undergraduate research involves mentoring a student through an adequate lit review. I want to tell a story about a lit review gone right.
Pace Student Takes Home Sustainability Leadership Excellence Award
Carly Sheinberg was awarded the 2018 State of New York Sustainability Leadership Excellence Award for her work as a founding member of the Pace Sustainability Initiative (PSI).
The Pocantico River Watershed Alliance Meeting Focuses on Water Quality Monitoring
On September 12, 2018, Jen Epstein from Riverkeeper presented research on water quality in the Hudson River Watershed regarding wastewater and micropollutants.
Decoding the Weather Machine
In an event co-hosted with the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, Pace hosted accomplished panelists Ryan Chavez of Uprose, Danny Peralta of The Point CDC, Leslie Velasquez of El Puente, and Anne Toomey, PhD, to discuss how a changing climate is impacting New York City’s most vulnerable residents and some of the actions their organizations are taking to fight this impact.
Zero-Waste Project
My summer research, supervised by Dr. DuPuis, was focused on the state of food waste management in urban and suburban areas. The goal is to identify the barriers to properly managing food waste and achieving zero-waste goals. We identified the main players in food waste collection, food waste recycling (composting), and some sources of food waste production.
How Do Bronx Residents View Their Natural Surroundings?
This summer, I worked on a project entitled “How Do Bronx Residents View Their Natural Surroundings?” with Dr. Toomey. My goal was to gain further insight into how Bronx residents view their urban surroundings in terms of nature and wildlife through park surveys and interviews.
The Impact of Agriculture on Water Quality in Southern Trinidad
From June 10th – July 30th, I conducted field work in Southern Trinidad to find out the impact of agriculture on water quality, specifically how agricultural runoff contributes to microbial and nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus) pollution, and impacts macroinvertebrate communities (an ecological indicator for overall ecological integrity).
Read on Gotham Coyote: How Do New Yorkers Perceive Coyotes? Interview with a Gotham Coyote Social Scientist: Brielle Manzolillo
Article reposted from Gotham Coyote. This interview was conducted by Olivia Allison Asher, intern with the Gotham Coyote Project and author of The Science Notebook Blog.
Assistant Professor Aiello-Lammens Awarded DEC Grant
Assistant Professor and MS in Environmental Science director Matthew Aiello-Lammens, PhD, and former DCISE Senior Fellow John Cronin received a grant from the Department of Environmental Conservation to help understand the role of culverts in facilitating amphibian and reptile habitat connectivity in our region.