The Human Dimensions of Conservation
Amanda Lewis-Nang’ea’s research brings historical perspective to the issues of land management and resource stewardship in Kenya. By Robyn Rime Amboseli National Park in Kenya is one of the best places in the world to get close to free-ranging elephants. The park, formalized as a national game reserve in 1948 and as a park in 1974, seeks to protect a unique ecosystem through conservation, wildlife viewing and tourism. Supporting...
The Big Idea: Tackling Waste and Transparency Worldwide
View our interactive map to learn how alumni and the College are addressing the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals Peter Johnson ’02 is addressing the global problem of food waste and creating greater transparency and fairness in supply chains, worldwide. By Kris Dreessen From harvest to dinner table, 30 percent of all food produced globally goes to waste, the United Nations estimates, which impacts the environment, workers and food...
Mission Driven: The Necessary Push
Matt Cook ’17 knows the value of an encouraging nudge to dream bigger. Now he provides that support for other young adults. By Kris Dreessen Matt Cook ’21 has had people push him to do and be better throughout his life. In high school, teachers saw what the distracted, loud teen could do and motivated him to focus. The nudges took him to Geneseo, where professors again challenged him to meet his goals, then think bigger for his...
How to: Your Food Scraps, Renewed!
Geneseo’s sustainability experts share simple steps to compost at home. By Mat Johnson “Some things just take time — like good wine and compost,” says Dan DeZarn, Geneseo’s director of sustainability. Technically, composting is “the decomposition of organic waste,” says DeZarn, himself a backyard composter. In any active compost pile, oxygen-seeking bacteria are busy breaking down organic material. The result is a soil-like material...
Ideas So Good They Stuck
Some of Geneseo’s innovative ideas came from students who saw a need and led the way. By Kris Dreessen As a first-year student, Allison Hoppe ’13 joined the Geneseo Environmental Organization. She found friends who shared an interest and then a calling: to build a community for like-minded students to learn about sustainability and adopt a more conscious lifestyle. Dreaming, planning and effort by Hoppe and others opened Eco House in...
Epiphany: Caretakers for Future Generations
Protecting wildlands and volunteering on behalf of Geneseo highlights the true value of strengthening what each of us holds most dear. By Jessica L. Blair ’00 I live on the ancestral lands of the Lakota people, near Bdote, where the Mississippi River converges with the Minnesota River, in the city of Minneapolis. Before being forced to cede their home to European settlers in treaty after treaty, Indigenous people stewarded the lands...
Driving Change for Good
Spring 2021 Issue Global marketing expert Kwame Taylor-Hayford ’04 helps clients build their brands, champion activism, and shift perspectives on social injustice. By Kris Dreessen For more than a decade, Kwame Taylor-Hayford ’04 has helped global companies like Apple and Uniqlo develop their brands and positions in the marketplace — helping them develop their visual and communication strategies and what they want to be known for. ...
Rising Temps at the Bottom of the World
Research in Antarctica by climate scientist Dana Veron ’95 has implications for people around the globe. By Robyn Rime One of the hottest spots for studying climate change right now is also one of the coldest. The vast ice sheet of Antarctica — the largest single mass of ice on the planet — is melting at a rate most scientists find alarming. That matters, in part because it signals a warming climate, but also because it...
Geneseo Is a Peace Corps Powerhouse
The College is ranked No. 8 nationally for the number of alumni who volunteer in communities across the world. By Kris Dreessen In Kuli Kunda, The Gambia, families tend to their gardens with hand tools, and donkeys pull the plows. Everyone in the village knows each other. Peace Corps volunteer Declan Dwyer-McNulty ’17 served as an agriculture volunteer there, assisting with gardening techniques, tree-planting workshops and other...
The Negative Effects of Stereotyping
Subtle or direct, what society assumes about us changes our actions (for the worse). By Kris Dreessen Suppose an aspiring female chemist enters a high school competition, and before her presentation, she notes that most of the other participants are male. She remembers hearing at some point that “girls” aren’t supposed to be good at science. She knows she’s created an outstanding project, but these thoughts needle their way in and...
Scene Around the World
Where will you take your issue of the Geneseo Scene? Check out our Scene Around the World photo gallery and submit your own snapshot.