Day: June 1, 2016

Green Iowa AmeriCorps Environmental Steward Positions Available in Dubuque

Service Description: Green Iowa AmeriCorps operates through the University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Energy and Environmental Education (UNI CEEE) in Cedar Falls looking to recruit passionate and motivated individuals for an 11 month service experience in one of our service locations throughout Iowa. As a member of our new and existing programs sites, you will have the opportunity to create plans in conjunction with city officials, nonprofit leaders, and execute projects that will greatly impact the communities we serve. The leadership and empowerment experienced as part of our program will be like no other!

Our program hopes to train the next generation of ‘green-collar’ workers through a combination of field trips, presentations, and hands-on learning. Members have the opportunity to build leadership abilities through specific coordinator roles, which allow each member to contribute unique skills to the program. Members have access to free trainings, hands on skill development, and extensive community engagement. Service with Green Iowa AmeriCorps is a year like no other, providing you an opportunity to make a difference in peoples’ lives on a daily basis all while gaining work experience that is going to put you leaps and bounds ahead of your peers in the energy and environmental sector. We intend to hire socially-minded individuals who want to make a difference in the community. Applicants should demonstrate an ability to work as a team or individually on projects that require learning/teaching new skills or participating in physical labor. Applicants should be self-starters, capable of working with minimal supervision and sensitivity to working with diverse sectors of the population.

Service Locations: Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Decorah, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fairfield, Iowa City

Member Duties: Audit/Weatherize Homes 2-4 days/week • Facilitate environmental education programs 1-2 days/week • Participate in community outreach projects 1-2 days/week centered around environmental stewardship activities, watershed initiatives, and home construction• Assume one of the following team leadership roles: Logistics, Audit, Education, Marketing, and Outreach• Create a professional development plan that takes you to conferences, trainings, and develops skills unique to your goals • Collaborate with city officials, nonprofit organizations, and community leaders to create environmentally focused projects that serve the greatest needs in Iowa communities.

Program Benefits: Federal Loan Deferment, Health Coverage, Training and Certification, Individualized Professional Development opportunities, Education stipend upon successful completion, Monthly Living stipend, Leadership experience, Public Service Loan Forgiveness Qualification, Interest Accrual Repayment

Terms: Position based on completion of 1,700 hours of service in a full-time work schedule, flexible vacation and sick leave. Outside employment available during off hours, school attendance available during off hours

Service Areas: Neighborhood Revitalization, Housing, Community Engagement, Storm Water Management, Outreach Education, Community and Economic Development, Environment, and Capacity Building

Skills: Community Organization, Education, Recruitment, Urban Planning, Architectural Planning, Team Work, Public Speaking, Communications, Trade/Construction, Environment, Leadership, General Skills.

To apply or learn more, visit  www.greeniowaamericorps.org

New York Library Association Sustainability Spotlight shines on GLRPPR and ISTC

Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR) and the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) resources are featured in this month’s Sustainability Spotlight from the New York Library Association.

Bee Pollen Is Full of Pesticides Like Mosquito Repellents

Read the full story in Newsweek.

Bees that live next to cornfields and soybean fields spend only a minority of their time feeding on these crop plants; instead, they mostly seek out pollen from flowering weeds, trees and gardens nearby. In the course of their foraging, they are exposed to a surprisingly wide and concerning range of pesticides, new research shows.

In a study published May 30 in the journal Nature Communications, researchers Elizabeth Long and Christian Krupke show that bees next to cornfields collected pollen containing up to 32 different pesticides, most of which didn’t originate from crops or agricultural applications. Pollen samples were taken over a four-month period from three hives in West Lafayette, Indiana, where Purdue University is located.

Peru’s gold rush prompts public-health emergency

Read the full story in Nature.

Gold-mining boom in southeastern Amazon is driving high levels of mercury contamination.

Native, or Not So Much?

Read the full story from the National Wildlife Federation.

It’s hard to imagine what butterflies and bees make of the Alice-in-Wonderlandlike world of plants that pass as natives at nurseries these days. Bred for Day-Glo foliage, double flower heads, disease resistance and other atypical features, these cultivated varieties of native species, or “nativars,” are often the only native plants available at local garden centers—and that could be a problem for wildlife.

As research increasingly shows, native plants are key to creating a wildlife-friendly garden. By definition, a native plant (or “straight species”) occurs naturally in a given location or region. A nativar is sometimes a natural variant that has been found in the wild and brought into cultivation, but often it has been developed by a plant breeder and would never be found in nature. In the words of Doug Tallamy, a University of Delaware entomologist and author of Bringing Nature Home, the proliferation of nativars demonstrates the extent to which the nursery trade “is still stuck on the idea of plants as enhanced decoration” rather than as essential to wildlife.

Scientists: Flint Water Quality OK for Bathing, Showering

Read the full story in R&D.

Municipal water in Flint, Michigan, has improved significantly and is safe for bathing and showering, although people should continue filtering the water before drinking it, scientists said Tuesday.

Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech engineering professor whose testing last summer confirmed lead contamination of the city’s water, said sampling in recent months has found that lead levels are steadily declining. Also trending downward are bacteria that can cause Legionnaires’ disease, while byproducts from disinfectant chemicals are at normal levels.

Why It Took the U.S. Almost 80 Years to Ban Lead Pipes

Read the full story in Pacific Standard.

The profitable lead industry fought warning labels, criticized the science, and sued at least one source — a television show — for telling the truth about lead.