Congratulations Stanwich!

Stanwich wins Solarize contest!!
Our very own Green Schools Rep, Stanwich School's Lower School Science Chair, Amy Kerekes, along with sixth grade teacher Jenn Giametta, headed up the school's submission effort.

Read more about it HERE:

A student-written song, Solar Energy, set to the tune of We Will Rock You, won the competition for Stanwich fourth graders:
 "The students' creativity really shone through with this project. Not only did the children come up with original songs, posters and skits, there was even one submission of a bitstrip comic," said Kerekes.

In collaboration with Renewable Resources, Inc., the Town of Greenwich selected Stanwich as the winner of the town-wide Solarize Greenwich contest. Stanwich has won a 10 panel 2.45 KW solar photovoltaic array system, which is being donated by Renewable Resources, that will include an active monitoring system so that the teachers and students will be able to view the performance of the system any time.

"Stanwich is thrilled to receive this solar system and add it to our STEM efforts. The panels, along with the online analytic monitoring device, will serve as outstanding instructional tools to help our children be ever more mindful stewards of our precious planet," said Paul Geise, Head of School.

This contest was launched in conjunction with Solarize Greenwich.  We're so proud of our Greenwich teachers and students for taking an interest in energy conservation! 

"As a Clean Energy Community, Greenwich is very excited to have been selected to participate in the Solarize Connecticut program.  This is a great opportunity for our residents to take advantage of group pricing on a PV solar installation.  The Conservation Commission will be working with CEFIA and SmartPower to help launch this new program."  - Peter Tesei, First Selectman, Greenwich 

Solarize Greenwich registration ends February 18, 2014.

Eagle Hill School Green Highlights

Thanks to Maria for sharing some of the green progress happening at Eagle Hill!  Very inspiring for other local schools, really positive improvements and examples of natural resource conservation.

We do many things here on campus that involve all faculty and students

- robust recycling

- campus housing composting

- collecting food scraps to bring to Stamford Nature Center's farm

We have also worked on our physical plant 

Many of these are happening as we are replacing infrastructure.

- High efficiency boilers and hot water heaters are replacing old style inefficient boilers and hot water heaters as well as high efficiency, Low-E glass used on all window replacements.

- No chemical fertilizers or pesticides used.

- Light sensors have been installed to shut off unused classroom and office lights during "unoccupied" times and all fixtures use CFL bulbs.

- Automatic (water saver) fixtures installed in some bathrooms to conserve water.

- All appliances are replaced with "Energy Star" appliances

- Shut Down during unoccupied times (everything unplugged, temperature setbacks etc...)

- Environmentally Safe ice melters used on campus for walkways- to protect grass and plants.

What can you Recycle in your lunch from home: Cafeteria Refresher

To complement the great cafeteria lunch posters that Green Schools provides, one of our parents at JC came up with a great idea to create a green-lunchbag poster.  Here she is with her creation.  During our recycling refresher day on November 15th, we called on a student from each class to volunteer an answer:  

"Name something that is different about the lunch on the left vs. the lunch on the right."

Reusable containers, recyclable items, landfill waste, and extra packaging were spotted in every grade.  

It's a great visual tool.  Thanks to Ines R. for coming up with the idea and putting it all together!

It's always nice to have a little take away, so we made these very simple pinwheels out of pencils, thumbtacks and washed chip-bags.  It's simple to do, they're shiny, they reuse materials, and of course, they work!  Click HERE for simple directions.  Students who participated brought the pinwheel as a present to their teachers with a copy of the "Classroom Recycling Guide"  

Tree Recycling | A little reminder

Here's a great view of the tree recycling happening at Bruce Park near the playground.

All the details for the program are here:
http://ptacgreenschools.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-tree-recycling.html

Thanks very mulch for participating. ;)

WED. EVE: FEATHERS: "Birds are more colorful than they look!" with award-winning ornithologist

Audubon Greenwich proudly presents …

 

Birds Are More Colorful Than They Look

With esteemed ornithologist, Bob Montgomerie, PhD from the Queen's University in Ontario, Canada

 

This Wednesday, January 15, 2014

6:00-8:30 pm (6:00 pm wine & cheese reception; 7:15 pm presentation)

 

Bob Montgomerie received his PhD at McGill University, followed by a 10-year research fellowship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where he is now Professor and Research Chair in Evolutionary Biology. In 2010 he received the American Ornithologists' Union's Elliott Coues Award, which "recognizes extraordinary contributions to ornithological research." The citation for his award reads, in part: "Bob Montgomerie is a Canadian behavioral ecologist, best known for his wide-ranging studies of sexual selection and parental care in birds. His research program is noteworthy both for the broad diversity of species and topics in which he and his students have made important contributions and for his creative insights and questions. He is widely recognized as a leader in the study of plumage color, and here, too, he has studied a wide variety of species. The overarching theme is to understand plumage evolution in a broad ecological and life-history context. He is a Fellow of the AOU and has received numerous awards for both research and graduate teaching."

 

Prof. Montgomerie writes of his talk, "Recent technological advances have allowed us to measure accurately the colors that birds display, and to estimate what they see when they look at each other. The surprise is that they are much more colorful than they look to us, and that they can detect subtle differences in coloration that are invisible to us. Over the past 20 year my research group has studied the colors and displays of fairywrens and bowerbirds in Australia, ptarmigan and buntings in the high arctic, robins, swallows and goldfinches in Ontario, and feral peafowl in LA, NY and Toronto. I will use these studies to address what I think are some fascinating questions about the evolution of bird colors.

• Why are they so colorful?
• What do they look like to each other?
• Why are some colors so common and others so rare?
• How does the color of their plumage influence mating and social interactions?
• Why are females of some species so brightly colored?
• How do they use ambient light to enhance their colorful displays?
• Why do so many species lay colorful eggs?"

 

EVENT WEBSITE: http://greenwich.audubon.org/events/birds-are-more-colorful-they-look-bob-montgomerie-phd

 

Please RSVP to Jeff at x239 or greenwichcenter@audubon.org The evening will begin at 6 PM with a reception for Mr. Montgomerie. His presentation will start at 7:15 pm.

Suggested donations of $5-10 will be collected at the door and will directly support Audubon's conservation mission.

 

 

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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS ~ THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK:

This event was made possible only through the generous support of The Linnaean Society of New York and Jeff Nulley, the president. This active natural history club in Manhattan has a unique history and their programs are unparalleled for any naturalist who has landed in the midst of NYC.

 

A LITTLE LINNAEAN SOCIETY HISTORY: In 1878, a group of amateur naturalists (including H.P. Bailey, E.P. Bicknell, Ernest Ingersoll, C. Hart Merriam and John Burroughs) met to organize a natural history society. They named the society after the famed 18th C. Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). For over 100 years, The Linnaean Society of New York (LSNY) has served interested amateurs and professional scientists alike. Our public lectures, meetings and membership are open to persons with an active interest in ornithology, natural science and conservation. The Society's programs and field trips offer opportunities for learning and enjoyment. The Society regularly publishes a News-Letter, containing articles, trip reports, book reviews, announcements and other items of interest.  http://linnaeannewyork.org

 

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Jeff Cordulack

Events & Communications Manager

jcordulack@audubon.org

203-869-5272 x239

203-613-8813 (cell)

 

Audubon Greenwich

613 RIversville Road

Greenwich, CT 06831

http://greenwich.audubon.org

 

 

Cycles through the Garden: Workshop for teachers and partners

PROFFESIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP FOR EDUCATORS

GRADE LEVEL K- 10

Cycles through the Garden

January 24, 2014

9:00 am – 2:30pm

Earthplace

10 Woodside Ln,

Westport, CT 06880

A hands on educational workshop using Project Food, Land & People, FLP, educational curriculum.  Join us for an illustrated use of integrated teaching for science, math and language arts that apply to grades K-12 using school gardens or outdoor teaching spaces.

This workshop will provide educators with a variety of resources and activities o help expand the use of school gardens beyond growing of plants and food.  We will look at how school gardens can introduce topics of nutrition, social studies and science to help bring awareness of how are needs are provided for through use of natural resources and how to use them wisely.

Cycles to be covered:  Water, Nutrient and Soil, Lifecycles and Recycling

Educational Standards to be addressed:

• Common Core Math 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3
• Common Core Language Arts: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.4, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3
• State Science  2.3.a., 2.3.b  3.2.a.4.3.a.5.3.a.6.2.b, 6.4 8.1.a., 8.1.b., 8.1.c. 9.5., 9.6., 9.910.5., 10.6

Registration is required.  Please contact donna.kingston@ct.gov for a registration form.  Fee for the workshop is 40.00, (Green LEAF School discount- 30.00) and includes FLP Resources for Learning CD with 55 activities ready for classroom use.  Materials are correlated to the Common Core and Current Science Standards.

 

 

 

 

Susan Quincy
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Kellogg Environmental Center
500 Hawthorne Ave.
Derby, CT  06418
203-734-2513
FAX  203-922-7833

susan.quincy@ct.gov

www.ct.gov/dep

 

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GHS grad talks about work with Rhinos | Jan 25

Meet an amazing GHS graduate doing research in wildlife management!

 

[Attachment(s) from Cordulack, Jeffrey included below]

Audubon Greenwich proudly presents …

The Plight of the Rhino in Africa

A special presentation by Axel Hunnicutt, a Greenwich native currently conducting postgraduate research on Rhinos at the Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

 

January 25, 2014 from 3:00-4:00 pm at Audubon Greenwich

 

The rhinoceros is one of the world's most iconic creatures. However, now the feature that makes this animal so distinct is the cause of its demise.   In 2013 more rhinos were poached for their horns than any other year prior in the last century.  This talk will discuss the current situation of the 5 remaining species of rhino in the world, the reasons for the poaching situation, and what is being done and possible solutions to preserving the rhino. 

 

Axel Hunnicutt is a Greenwich native who grew up in Glenville, graduated Greenwich High School in 2008, is an Eagle Scout, and has volunteered at the Round Hill Volunteer Fire Company for many years. He has studied wildlife biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, graduated from the UCONN with a Bachelor of Science in ecology and evolutionary biology, and in 2012 went to work studying grizzly bears in southern Canada. More recently, he earned a Bachelor's of Science Honours Degree in Wildlife Management at the University of Pretoria in South Africa  and has been studying the Suni, an endangered antelope and the spotted hyena.

 

When asked about rhino conservation, Axel said, "While working in government and privately-owned protected reservations, I have witnessed the atrocious and gruesome work of poachers. Of the many species under pressure these days, the situation facing rhinos is worse than ever before." Since 2006 illegal poaching of Africa's rhinos for their horns has increased exponentially and now rhino populations are seriously threatened.  In the last 6 years poaching has increased by 5000% and continues to climb as horns used in Asian traditional medicine are now worth more than gold. The illegal and inhumane slaughter of rhinos across Africa has been called the worst conservation crisis of the century.

 

While the majority of rhino species in Asia are at the brink extinct, Africa's two rhino species linger at a crossroads. Over the last century the range of the two African rhino species has been dwindled to fewer and fewer countries.  Today South Africa remains the rhino's stronghold containing 90% of all rhinos in Africa and 73% of the world's rhino.  As a result South Africa has become a battleground for the last stand of the rhino with international organizations, governments, and military forces becoming involved. For additional information about rhino conservation, Mr. Hunnicutt suggests:

• www.stoprhinopoaching.com
• www.projectrhinokzn.org
• www.wwf.org.za/what_we_do/rhino_programme

 

All ages. Suggested Donation: $5. Please RSVP to greenwichcenter@audubon.org or leave a voicemail with the number of people at 203-869-5272 x239.  The presentation is in Audubon Greenwich's Kiernan Hall & Oppenheimer Gallery. 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, CT 06831.

 

NATURE STORE BONUS: All guests receive 10% off in Audubon Greenwich's Nature Store before or after the program. So stop in the store for a new bird feeder, local honey, bird-friendly coffee, or a guide to trails in the Greenwich and surrounding area. Discount applies to regularly priced items and excludes seed or other items that are deemed un-discountable by the store manager.

 

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Audubon Greenwich

613 RIversville Road

Greenwich, CT 06831

http://greenwich.audubon.org

 

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Attachment(s) from Cordulack, Jeffrey

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