New NSF-funded Research on Post-Sandy Climate and Energy Linkages

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, a new research initiative is exploring how societal discourse of energy systems and climate change is changing in response to the storm’s devastation and disruption.  Jennie Stephens, Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Policy in IDCE, and her collaborative research team have received funding ($60K) from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Science, Technology and Society Program to study how Superstorm Sandy is influencing discourse linking energy infrastructure and climate change.  This research was funded through the NSF’s RAPID program which provides fast-tracked proposal review and awarding of grants for time-sensitive research.  This research takes advantage of the fleeting opportunity during the months directly following the storm to characterize energy and climate discourse among energy sector actors and the media in different regions of the U.S.

The storm highlighted the vulnerability of energy systems including electricity infrastructure damage that resulted in power outages to 8.6 million customers and gasoline distribution challenges leading to severe gasoline shortages in New York and New Jersey. Superstorm Sandy also re-introduced climate change into the political discourse of the 2012 Presidential election, where it had been conspicuously absent.  Stephens and her collaborators at University of Minnesota, Texas A&M, and SUNY-ESF are characterizing post-Sandy levels of societal awareness of linkages between energy systems resilience and climate change vulnerability through media analysis, interviews and focus groups with energy sector actors in different regions of the country.

Professor Stephens was invited to present initial findings of this research at a conference on “Climate Change and America’s Infrastructure” held at Arizona State University in January.  Clark student Lauren Ziemer (Environmental Science BA ’13 / ES&P MS ’14) will be working with Professor Stephens’s research team as a research assistant on this project.

Effort to End Youth Homelessness Gets $450K in New Funding; CDP Prof Laurie Ross and IDCE Students Contribute Vital Research

By Savannah Cooley (B.A. ’16)

The announcement of a $450,000 grant from the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts sounded a clear and hopeful note at press conference on “Addressing Youth Homelessness in Worcester,” on Feb. 15 at the YWCA in Worcester.

Laurie Ross (left), Clark University associate professor and co-director of The Compass Project, made introductions and presented a detailed report on findings from a 2012 point-in-time survey on youth homelessness, which was coordinated by the Community Roundtable on Youth Homelessness, The Compass Project, and Clark University.

Speakers at the press conference included Massachusetts Rep. James O’Day and Sen. Harriette   Chandler. Chandler praised Ross’s “wonderful leadership” in the efforts to better engage and serve homeless and at-risk youths in Worcester.

In October 2012, young people were surveyed at city shelters, youth programs, outside of schools, in parks, and on the streets of Worcester. Out of the 753 young people (ages 13 to 25) surveyed, 120 (16 percent) identified as homeless. The study defines homeless to include young people in shelters, staying with others temporarily (i.e. couch surfing) or on the streets. In addition to these 120 young people, another 220 youths who were housed reported that they had a friend who was homeless, Ross reported. She emphasized that, due to the non-random nature of the data collection, the results can only be used to describe the sample and cannot be generalized to all youth and young adults in Worcester.

“This pioneering initiative demonstrates how youth homelessness is indeed a problem,” said Ross. “As in prior years, when compared to their housed counterparts in this survey, unaccompanied youth who are homeless have experienced more residential instability and family conflict, have more precarious income situations,  are more likely to have children, and have faced more barriers to accessing services,” she reported.

Ross, who is associate director for the Department of International Development, Community, and Environment (IDCE) at Clark, is a leader in the field of community-based participatory research on social justice and youth development.

Katherine Calano ’12, a Clark student pursuing a master’s degree in Community Development and Planning, served as The Compass Project’s outreach coordinator.  She is one of many Clark students involved with project.

The Compass Project received a planning grant in 2010 from the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts and, over five years, plans for funding totaling about $2 million in order to create a system to prevent and intervene early in youth and young adult homelessness. This support system would comprise a network of eight to 10 “frontline” non-profit organizations, including the Worcester Youth Center and the Boys and Girls Club, and a case management system to help youths individually.The symbiosis of low-barrier or easy accessed contact points and the case management system aims to help all vulnerable youths: “One of the things that makes us different is we’re trying to have a collaborative approach, knowing that one agency can’t serve all young people,” Ross commented. “You don’t want to raise expectations, but at the same time there are young people falling through all kinds of cracks in the city. We know from the pilot year that the families we’re working with and the young people we’re working with never had this much help before.”

Clark University graduate student Katherine Calano ’12

The project’s first year began with a planning phase that identified underlying causes of youth and young adult homelessness, conducted an in-depth analysis of resources, and developed a specific set of proven strategies. The strategies were piloted during 2011 and the first phase of implementation occurred in 2012 to be continued in 2013. A final year of funding will help make The Compass Project a sustainable system, Ross noted.

In 2009, Ross helped formulate the methodology to create a model for surveying youth homelessness and then assisted in data analysis. She introduced this project to her “Community Needs and Resource Analysis” course at Clark. Over two years, her students conducted survey counts for the project, which gave them hands-on experience in learning about and doing needs assessments.

Graduate students taking IDCE assistant professor Marianne Sarkis’ class, “Social Network Analysis” also contributed by using a social network analysis tool to look at the current state of communication and connections among the network agencies. Students will repeat this analysis in a year to see whether these organizations are becoming more of a sustainable system.

The role Clark University plays in the research and analysis is crucial, says Ross. “It would be very expensive for the group to do it without us. And to have a university behind this process gives a lot of validity to the count.”

As an outreach coordinator, Calano works with different agencies and service providers to distribute the surveys to their clients. She also recruits volunteers to hand out the surveys on the streets. In her senior year, Calano became Ross’s research assistant, helping with a project for the MA Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (ICHH). The lieutenant governor commissioned the ICHH to create a definition and methodology for counting homeless youth at a state level. A lot of Ross’s previous work in Worcester was applied to the creation of a state-level methodology, along with new research Calano and others conducted.

“Because it’s such a tightknit network of people who really know the homeless youth populations, they are very qualified to advocate for policies and resources to be brought into the community,” Calano remarks. “Having that social capital enables The Compass Project to use the survey and expertise to first understand the range of needs the homeless youths have and then effectively advocate for new policies.”

Clark students’ involvement with The Compass Project embodies Clark’s motto of “challenge convention, change our world” and Clark’s model of Liberal Education and Effective Practice (LEEP). This model integrates intellectual and academic resources at the University—from the classroom to the research laboratory to teams and student led organizations—with skills essential in the 21^st century.

“It is challenging convention for these groups of organizations that don’t necessarily work directly with homeless youth, but work with youth in general, to extend their expertise and resources toward a project like this. It is important so that it isn’t just homeless services standing alone. Having college students, agencies, professors, and government officials working together is a big community effort.” ~ Katherine Calano ’12

The ongoing project poses many challenges, Ross acknowledges: “It’s so complicated. When you’re trying to develop system so that ‘no young person will be turned away,’ there are so many things to consider. There’s no standard practice in counting homeless youth. There’s a lot written about why they’re different from adults, but there’s no model that’s evidence based on preventing and intervening early on youth homeless. So we’re creating that and it’s challenging. We want to create a system that’s inherently Worcester: It’s not imported from somewhere else and it’s the reality of our community.”

With a powerful vision and the support of a network of organizations, The Compass Project works toward ending youth homelessness in Worcester with a community-specific approach, but one that can serve as a model for other communities throughout all of Massachusetts and the entire nation.

Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Clark University is a small, liberal arts-based research university addressing social and human imperatives on a global scale. Nationally renowned as a college that changes lives, Clark is emerging as a transformative force in higher education today. LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) is Clark’s pioneering model of education that combines a robust liberal arts curriculum with life-changing world and workplace experiences. Clark’s faculty and students work across boundaries to develop solutions to contemporary challenges in the areas of psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. The Clark educational experience embodies the University’s motto: Challenge convention. Change our world. www.clarku.edu

This story first appeared on the Clark University News Hub.

 

Clark University to Host Conference on Women’s Rights in Sudan and South Sudan February 22-24

Clark University will host the conference, “Building Bridges: peace, gender equality, and women’s rights in Sudan and South Sudan,” from Friday, Feb., 22, through Sunday, Feb. 24, on the Clark campus. The conference will bring together over 30 women activists, policy-makers and academics from Sudan and South Sudan to share experiences, identify priorities and strategize on how to approach the challenges that the two countries face.

The conference kicks off with an event at the Johnson Auditorium, 950 Main Street, Worcester, from 5 to 9 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Mary-Ellen Boyle, Dean of the College, will welcome guests at 5 p.m.  Hon. Lilian V. Riziq, former civil society activist, Western Bhar el-Ghazal State Minister of Agriculture, and board member of the South Sudan Women’s Empowerment Network, will deliver the keynote address, “Women in Sudan, South Sudan and the Diaspora: What Roles can we Play?”

A panel discussion on gender equality, peace, transformation, and women’s rights in Sudan and South Sudan will begin at 7 p.m.  Panelists include:

• Samia Ahmed, member of the Nile Peace Voyage and member of the Coalition of Women Leaders in Sudan,
• Hawa Abdalla, Darfuri human rights activist and one of 10 recipients of the 2012 International Women of Courage Award,
• Huda Ali, vice president, Gesr Centre for Development in Khartoum, human and women’s rights activist and former fellow at the Columbia University Human Rights Defenders Program,
• Zeinab Balandia, executive director of Ruya (vision) organization and recipient of the 2009 Peace Maker Award from the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Studies at San Diego University,
• Sarah James, chairperson of the South Sudan Women’s General Association, Juba, South Sudan, and
• Sarah Rial, program director of My Sister’s Keeper and recipient of the 2010 Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award.

Nada M. Ali, visiting assistant professor of International Development and Social Change, will moderate the panel.

A stage performance, “Waiting to Deliver,” by pioneering Sudanese actress Tomadur S. Gibriel will follow.  The program will conclude at 9 p.m.

According to Professor Ali, who is co-organizer of the event, “The meeting offers a platform for women to share experiences, learn, and strategize around ways to ensure women’s participation and gender equality—key elements of any efforts to address the multiple challenges that Sudan and South Sudan face.”

“Meetings such as this play a crucial role in connecting women activists in Sudan and South Sudan with their sisters in the diaspora,” said Anita Fábos, associate professor of International Development and Social Change at Clark.  “As we have learned from studying other post-conflict situations, women’s active participation is key to achieving justice and equality within and between the two Sudans.”

This conference is sponsored by Clark’s Department of International Development, Community, and Environment; the Women and Gender Studies and Peace Studies Programs; the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies; the Dean of the College; and the Community Engagement & Volunteering (CEV) Center.  Partner and donor organizations include the Open Society Foundations, the Institute for Inclusive Security, and My Sister’s Keeper.

For more information about this event, please visit IDCE’s website

http://www.clarku.edu/departments/idce/default.cfm or call (508) 793-8874.

Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Clark University is a small, liberal arts-based research university addressing social and human imperatives on a global scale. Nationally renowned as a college that changes lives, Clark is emerging as a transformative force in higher education today. LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) is Clark’s pioneering model of education that combines a robust liberal arts curriculum with life-changing world and workplace experiences. Clark’s faculty and students work across boundaries to develop solutions to contemporary challenges in the areas of psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. The Clark educational experience embodies the University’s motto: Challenge convention. Change our world.

This news release was written by Clark University’s Marketing and Communications Office.

 

IDCE Grad Students Garner $5,000 Grant from the New Economics Institute

Five IDCE graduate students—Latoya Jones (ES&P ’13), Jenkins Macedo (IDSC ’12/ES&P ’14), Danielle Battle (ES&P ’13), Maya Pilgrim (IDSC ’13), and Mario Torrico (IDSC ’13)—have won a $5,000 grant from the Cambridge, Mass.-based New Economics Institute to host the “New Economy Summit” at Clark University in mid-April. Other IDCE students involved in the summit leadership group include Arun Poojary (ES&P ’13), Mike Cecil (GISDE ’14), Adriana Gallardo (CDP/MBA ’14), and Edison Reyes (CDP/MBA ’14).

The summit will bring together Clark students, faculty, practitioners, experts, and New Economy professionals to discuss how Clark can catalyze a transition to an economic system that is sustainable and socially just on local, regional, and national scales. Participants will share ideas, best practices, and resources on creating “a better community” in Worcester through new forms of local economic ventures, collaboration and community engagement, and discussions on how to make the ideals espoused by the New Economy science an integral part of a Clark education.

“The relationship Clark University has with Worcester and its various community organizations and movements is a perfect fit for hosting a New Economy summit,” said Jones. “How can we help make Worcester a more sustainable and resilient place to live, work, do business, and raise families? Exploring challenges and solutions via a summit at Clark in collaboration with the community could be the start.”

In November, the New Economics Institute created the Campus Network program and solicited college and university students across North America to submit proposals to host Strategic Summits on the New Economy on their campuses. Clark was chosen from among nearly 40 applications. Other recipients include MIT, The New School, Tufts, Ithaca, College of the Atlantic, the University of British Columbia, Northern Arizona University, Gonzaga University and Bainbridge Graduate Institute, and a consortium of North Carolina schools led by UNC-Chapel Hill.

“We were blown away by the dozens of detailed plans we received for exciting events and projects to engage campuses and communities in the work of building the New Economy,” said Rachel Plattus, manager of organizing and development at the New Economics Institute. “These students’ proposals provided exemplary clarity of vision, sensitivity to local context, and opportunities for community engagement and sustained movement building.”

IDCE students have been actively involved in local projects that promote sustainable food systems, community development, environmental justice, social change, governance, and youth development. Because Worcester is growing rapidly as a result of the resettlement of refugees—and other migrants from developing countries—and the constant influx of college students to the area, local new economic ventures are disconnected, according to the grant proposal, in terms of coordination. The summit will make these new ventures more accessible to both students and community members.

 “I see the summit—and the parallel summits on the other seven college campuses—as a watershed event in our collective pursuit of an economy built on the principles of ecological sustainability and human well-being,” said Professor of Environmental Science and Policy Halina Brown, who is the group’s faculty advisor. “Building such an economy will require major changes: local initiatives and public policies that foster new forms of business ventures aiming to support local economy and community development, as well as new paradigms in economic sciences and politics in which ecological destruction through unlimited economic growth does not have to be the price of pursuing human prosperity and well-being. Since the 1960s students have been a vital force for social change in this country. I hope this summit is the beginning of a major social movement toward a new economy in the U.S.”

Clark University’s International Development, Community, and Environment (IDCE) Department is a community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to fostering environmental sustainability, social justice, and economic well-being in both the developing and developed world. The major forces of social change—grass roots initiatives, social movements, government policy, market approaches, entrepreneurship, technological innovation, individual action, and education—form the core of IDCE’s transdisciplinary studies.

The mission of the New Economics Institute is to build a New Economy that prioritizes the well-being of people and the planet.

More information on Clark’s “New Economy Summit” will be announced soon.

ES&P Prof Jennie Stephens Presents “Smart Grid” Research at Denmark Conference

Clark University associate professor of Environmental Science and Policy, Jennie Stephens, presented research and organized a research panel on energy system transitions at the annual meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) conference held October 17-20 at the Copenhagen Business School in Frederiksberg, Denmark.

At the conference, which was held jointly with the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology, Stephens and her collaborators presented their research on competing visions of “smart grid” and a comparative analysis of the social context of smart grid development in different regions. In addition to presenting results from her research team, Stephens chaired a two-part session of international scholars who presented on various aspects of social, cultural, and political dimensions of changes in energy systems.

Stephens’ research team, which is based at Clark’s George Perkins Marsh Institute, includes three graduate students in the Environmental Science and Policy program in the Department of International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE): Ria Langheim (ES&P graduate student ’13), Xiao Chen (ES&P graduate student ’13), and Ryan Collins (ES&P/MBA graduate student ’15). Two undergraduate research assistants are also on the team: senior Melissa Skubel (Environmental Science major in the Environmental Science & Policy track) and sophomore William Maxwell (Environmental Science and Economics). The students did not travel to the 4S conference in Copenhagen. The research team also includes collaborating faculty and students from the University of Minnesota and Texas A&M.

Most of the student researchers have been focusing on media analysis, Stephens says. They are analyzing different representations of smart grid in the media. One of the students is also organizing and will be carrying out a series of focus groups with energy stakeholders in New England that will help to better understand different perceptions of what smart grid is as well as its potential and challenges.

This smart grid research project is supported by a National Science Foundation award from the Science, Technology and Society program in the Division of Social and Economic sciences.

Stephens’ research team is studying how, over the past decade, the term “smart grid” has been increasingly used to represent a multitude of different social and technological changes with potential to transform electricity systems. Motivations for pursuing and supporting smart grid systems include increasing the efficiency of energy systems, the reliability of electricity supply, and the security and resilience of electricity systems. Smart grid systems also have potential to reduce energy costs, reduce environmental impacts including greenhouse gas emissions, and enable expansion of renewable electricity generation and electric vehicles. Despite tension among the varied understandings of what might constitute a smart grid system, Stephens noted, most interpretations assume smart grid offers substantial potential to improve the way societies produce, transmit, distribute, store, and consume electricity.

For many, Stephens said, “smart grid” means “modernizing” networks that link electricity producers and consumers through advanced information and communication technologies (ICT), but others recognize that the social change associated with smart grid and changing electricity systems is extremely important with great potential in addition to the technological change. Competing visions of what smart grid is or could be reflects a broad range of different conceptions of change in electricity systems.

The city of Worcester has been selected for National Grid’s regional smart grid pilot project, and the state of Massachusetts recently approved the plans for this pilot. Stephens’ research involves assessing the social and political dimensions of this and other smart grid initiatives around the country. Professor Stephens’ research has found that because the notion of a smart grid promises so much, some see the term “smart grid” as an empty signifier, simply becoming whatever an advocate wants it to be at the moment. For others, however, “smart grid” is a powerfully inclusive and expansive way to articulate the vast potential of technical and social change in energy systems.

This story was originally published at the Clark News HUB.

ES&P Prof Jennie Stephens and Alum Yue Liu Contribute to New Book on Carbon Capture and Storage

Jennie Stephens, Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Policy (ES&P) and Coordinator of the Graduate Program in ES&P at Clark University, coauthored two chapters in the recently published The Social Dynamics of Carbon Capture and Storage: Understanding CCS Representations, Governance and Innovation (Routledge 2012). The book, edited by UK researchers Nils Markusson, Simon Shackley, and Benjamin Evar, provides new understanding of innovation in the energy and climate change fields, and integrates social and policy issues surrounding growing skepticism and criticism about CSS technology.

“The book makes a significant contribution to our existing knowledge and provides interested professionals, policymakers, and members of the public with a timely overview of the critical issues involved in the societal acceptance of CCS,” says Peta Ashworth, Chair of the Social Research Network under the International Energy Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Research and Development Programme.

Stephens wrote the chapter on “The Evolving International CCS Community” with IDCE alumna Yue Liu (ES&P ‘11) for the book’s Governance section. Another chapter, titled “Learning in CCS Demonstration Projects: Social and Political Dimensions,” was coauthored by Stephens, Markusson, and Atsushi Ishii. Included in the book’s Innovation section, the chapter reports on a collaborative research project that was funded by the Swedish MISTRA Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research.

Stephens’s teaching, research, and community engagement focus on sociopolitical aspects of energy technology, innovation, deployment of renewable energy, public perception of energy technologies, and climate change education and awareness. She received a B.A. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering from California Institute of Technology.

Peace Corps Partners with IDCE in Graduate Fellowship Program

The Peace Corps has welcomed Clark University’s International Development, Community & Environment (IDCE) department to its Paul D. Coverdell Fellows program, a graduate fellowship that offers financial assistance to returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) and places them in degree-related, professional internships in underserved American communities. Through the program, RPCVs admitted to Clark’s IDCE graduate programs will receive a 50-percent tuition remission worth more than $27,000. In addition, IDCE will award at least one competitive fellowship annually with 100 percent tuition remission.

“The Peace Corps is delighted to partner with Clark University and help more Americans pair Peace Corps service with graduate school,” said Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams. “Peace Corps volunteers are creative problem solvers who have demonstrated a commitment to public service and a desire to learn about other cultures, languages, and skills. A returned Peace Corps volunteer will make an excellent addition to any graduate program.”

The new IDCE partnership will offer Peace Corps Fellows the opportunity to earn a master’s degree in International Development & Social Change (MA), Environmental Science & Policy (MS), Community Development & Planning (MA), and GIS for Development & Environment (MS). IDCE offers two dual degrees with Clark’s Graduate School of Management, which is also part of the Coverdell Fellows program: an MBA/MS in Environmental Science & Policy and an MBA/MA in Community Planning & Development. Additional information is available here.

“Returned Peace Corps volunteers have always been an important constituency for IDCE graduate programs,” said William Fisher, Director of IDCE and Professor of International Development and Social Change, at Clark University.  “This new arrangement formalizes and strengthens the relationship between experienced and talented RPCVs and IDCE programs focused on environmental sustainability and social justice.

In 2012, Clark University ranked No. 20 nationally on the list of top Peace Corps volunteer-producing colleges and universities in the small size category. There are currently 17 undergraduate alumni serving overseas.  Since the agency was founded in 1961, 211 Clark University alumni have served in the Peace Corps.

The Coverdell Fellows program partners with graduate schools across the country. There are currently more than 70 university partners in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Volunteers who have satisfactorily completed Peace Corps service have lifetime eligibility. Since its start in 1985, nearly 4,000 returned Peace Corps volunteers have completed the program. For more information, visit www.peacecorps.gov/fellows.

For additional information on Clark University’s IDCE Department, contact Sarah Barrett, Director of IDCE Marketing, at 508-793-7690 (office) or 413-210-8784 (cell).

In January, Clark was No. 20 on the Peace Corps 2012 rankings of small universities and colleges.

About the Peace Corps: Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961, more than 200,000 Americans have served in 139 host countries. Today, 9,095 volunteers are working with local communities in 75 host countries. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment and the agency’s mission is to promote world peace and friendship and a better understanding between Americans and people of other countries. Visit www.peacecorps.gov for more information.

Since its founding in 1887, Clark University in Worcester, Mass., has a history of challenging convention. As an innovative liberal arts college and research university, Clark’s world-class faculty leads a community of creative thinkers and passionate doers and offers a range of expertise. Clark is nationally recognized in the areas of psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. Clark’s students, faculty and alumni embody the Clark motto: Challenge convention. Change our world.

Related Links:

www.clarku.edu

www.peacecorps.gov

http://www.clarku.edu/departments/idce/

http://www.clarku.edu/departments/idce/admissions/funding.html

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.whyvol.eduben.fellows

Devastation in Japan: One Year Later

First-year IDCE student Eriko Nakanishi (IDSC) was traveling in Myanmar on March 11, 2011, when the devastating tsunami and earthquake hit Japan. A Japanese native, Eri arrived back in her homeland a month later and volunteered in the humanitarian aid effort. Her “internship” with Megumi Japan involved lots of dirty and dangerous work. To mark the one-year anniversary of this tragic event, Eri reflected on her experience and what it taught her.

Q: What was the decision or purpose behind your internship?

EN: I was traveling in a remote village in Burma (Myanmar) when the tsunami hit Japan. Information is restricted by the military junta there and the international phone line is very unstable. I couldn’t contact my family for two days. The only reliable information source was illegal satellite news channels in the underground cafe (but even CNN or BBC changed the information every hour!). It was a horrible experience, but I was touched by the kindness of the Burmese people. Many people came to me—an unknown foreigner—to share the sorrow, bring me food, and pray with me at temples. It saved me because I was frustrated that I was stranded far away when my people were suffering so much. When I left Burma I was determined to do everything I could for my people.

Q: What were the initial circumstances surrounding your internship?

 EN: I arrived at the camping site for volunteers in mid-April (one month after the earthquake). It was the beginning of the shift from the rescue phase in which the public sector—the self-defense force and rescue squad—were the main actors, to the next step in which the nonprofit sector was gradually taking a greater part in field operations.

The mud/debris removal team was just about to expand their operation into more devastated areas, where the search for bodies by the public sector was completed. (It doesn’t mean they found all the bodies there.) Before then, My team was operating mostly in areas where damage was much less, and people continued to live on the second floor after the tsunami (not in evacuation cities).

Q: What was the name of the organization you interned with?

 EN: Megumi Japan

Q: How was the experience working with that organization?

EN: I liked the organization because their size was moderate. It was big enough to have some budget and human resources (especially automobiles: the organizations with budgets that were too small to afford enough trucks were not functioning well), but small enough to reflect my opinions in their policy. But on the other side of the coin, it was sometimes frustrating that the organization was very young and not well-established so the operation was sometimes not efficient (especially in budget management).

Q: What were your roles and responsibilities at the organization?

EN: I was Chief Volunteer of the Mud/Debris Removal Team. I did almost everything. Most of the time, I got my feet into the mud and carried broken furniture by myself to clean up the houses.  I instructed new volunteers (In fact, most of them were there for just two-to-three days, so we always needed someone to instruct them. At most, there were 300 newcomers. My phone never stopped ringing!) about procedures, safety, and mental health care to the victims. I also did door-to-door investigations and established the demand database. (There was no system when I arrived there, just random pieces of paper on which someone scribbled the address of the house to be cleaned up, and how to contact the owner. We set up a system to prioritize these demands, dispatch volunteers according to the areas, etc.). I was also responsible to communicate with the public sector (the most tricky part, many of the local officials were victims too, and their system was not functioning at all in some towns), and with other NGOs (the most exciting part was discussing the future plan or coordinating/collaborating the current missions).

Q: How did the earthquake affect the area you were in?

EN: It was one of the most badly affected areas. The tsunami reached 8.6m—around 28 feet—at the highest. More than 4,000 people out of 160,000 lost their lives or are still missing. Nearly 25,500 buildings were completely or mostly destroyed. The earthquake did not cause big damage to the area (nor to the other disaster areas); it was the tsunami. My area (Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture) is located in an area that includes a long coastline, riverbanks, and bays. All these areas were devastated. Historically, the city had been a tsunami-prone area. This was the worst one in the last 1,000 years.

Q: How did you think the work you did helped the residents of that area?

EN: I contributed to clean up many houses in the area and people could go home and leave the evacuation sites. But I’m not confident if I really helped them. There still remain too many challenges waiting for them. The area has been underdeveloped for the past 30 years or so, and the most of the residents engaged in the fishery-related industry, whose entire infrastructure is destroyed. The residents are generally very old, so most of them have no income now and no job opportunities in the future. Cleaning up the house is a small thing compare to the future challenges they will have to cope with. But I want to believe that our existence and commitment showed our solidarity to them, and that some people were encouraged by that.

Q: Overall, what did you gain from this experience?

EN: I learned how to drive a big dump truck! It was very important for me because I learned there are so many things necessary other than academic knowledge. People who don’t know how to fix cars, like myself, were useless (if not obstructing) in the very tense forefront field. I need to be able to take care of myself at least. If I did my master’s without this experience, I think I would think my degree and academic knowledge by themselves would be able to help people.

Q: Do you think the degree you are attaining from IDSC will help you in your future career choice? If yes, how?

EN: Yes, there are so many practical, hands-on courses in IDSC. But my favorite part is that we can take classes in the other programs in IDCE, because disaster relief is very much related to geography and environment, too. For example, I’m taking Applied Aquatic Ecology (ES&P) this semester. I’m learning how vegetation of the riverbank mitigates a flood. This is not something I could learn in the development programs in other universities.

Q: So far, how has your experience been at IDSC and at Clark?

EN: It was very hard for me at first. I felt that I was abandoning my people whom I left back in Japan. When I was actually “doing something” on the field, talking to the residents, I could feel that I was helping someone however small each of our accomplishment was. Also, the fact that I was staying in a tent for almost four months, without being able to take shower very often, gave me a sense of relief since I was sharing the hardship with the victims. (I found how hypocritical I was only afterwards.) But away from my country, confining myself to the library and reading development theories was a completely different thing.  I could not imagine myself using this knowledge to help someone. Now, I’m getting used to the situation and the load of assignments little by little. I think I’m just taking a roundtrip to make myself more efficient and helpful in the field.

IDCE Announces New M.S. Degrees

The International Development, Community, and Environment (IDCE) department at Clark University will now offer a Master of Science degree in its Environmental Science and Policy (ES&P) and Geographical Information Science for Development and Environment (GISDE) graduate programs.

Previously all IDCE graduate students, including ES&P and GISDE students, earned M.A. degrees. The change was made because an M.S. degree more accurately represents the curricular focus of these two programs.

“The M.S. degree better reflects the rigorous curricula that ES&P and GISDE provide,” says William Fisher, IDCE’s director. “This more technical and practical degree builds on the strengths of these programs, making them an even more attractive choice for future IDCE students.”

Current students may opt to graduate with either an M.S. or M.A. degree beginning in October 2012.

“The ES&P program prepares students to navigate the complex interactions among science, technology, and social-political processes,” says Jennie Stephens, ES&P assistant professor and program coordinator. “The degree of Master of Science better represents this focus of our program.”

The ES&P curriculum empowers students with skills to confront environmental challenges by connecting knowledge and methods from both the natural and social sciences and by integrating quantitative and qualitative analytical tools, adds Stephens, and the new degree more accurately reflects this integrated approach.

“The M.S. degree will give IDCE students an edge in the job market, especially for employers looking for strong science and technical backgrounds,” says first-year GISDE student Kevin Butler. “It’s a more relevant degree for GISDE students.”

The GISDE program prepares students for careers where they apply the world’s most advanced computer mapping technologies and spatial analysis to address crucial issues concerning socioeconomic development and environmental science.

IDCE will continue to offer M.A. degrees in both its International Development and Social Change (IDSC) and Community Development and Planning (CDP) programs.

Founded at Clark University in 2000, IDCE prepares students to become agents of social change—locally, nationally, and internationally—in an increasingly interconnected world. Its mission is to engage scholars, practitioners, and activists to think critically and act collectively to alleviate the effects of inequity, environmental degradation, and poverty. In addressing these challenges, IDCE seeks to develop new knowledge, innovative tools, and creative strategies.

IDCE maintains close links with other academic centers at Clark, including the Graduate School of Geography and the Graduate School of Management, providing even more opportunities for students to gain the skills they will need to cross nonprofit, private, government, NGO, and research sectors.

ES&P Masters Final Project Symposium To Take Place February 8

The Environmental Science and  Policy (ES&P) program will hold its sixth annual ES&P Masters Final Project Symposium: An  Interactive Poster Session on Wednesday, February 8, 2012, from 3 to 5 pm  in the Dana Commons Multipurpose Room.

This event is  a poster session featuring ES&P students presenting their theses, research  projects, or practitioner projects. Refreshments will be served. All are welcome  to stop by this informal and interactive event to learn about the diverse array  of student work in the ES&P graduate program.