Graduate Statistics class

IES faculty and MEn students at Fall 2015 orientation

Institute for the Environment and Sustainability (IES)
December 2015

Tell Us Your Story

We would like to hear about your careers and professional accomplishments, and feature them in future IES newsletters.

Send a paragraph and photos to Suzi Zazycki, and we will include them in an “Alumni Corner” section of the newsletter.

Keep in Touch

If you have moved or changed jobs, please let us know so we can stay connected! Send us your updated contact information.

Message from the Director

Jonathan Levy Greetings IES Alumni and Friends,

For those of you whom I have not yet had the pleasure to meet, my name is Jonathan Levy, and as of July this year, I replaced Dr. Tom Crist as the new director of IES. (Tom has moved on to become chair of Biology.) I am a hydrogeologist and have been a faculty member in the Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science since 1994. I have been very involved with IES during the past 20 years and am now honored and thrilled to be formally a part of the IES staff, faculty and mission. I am having a great time even if the learning curve is steep.

You may wonder how it is that I am enjoying myself in a new administrative position. The answer is very simple; I’m surrounded by wonderful faculty, staff and students, and I am supported by many loyal affiliates, alumni and former directors. Let me first thank Tom. As I’m sure you are aware, Tom left IES in excellent shape. The program is strong and has great support from the upper administration. Under Tom’s leadership, IES has continued to grow and evolve. We now have 168 undergraduate co-majors in Environmental Science, Sustainability or Energy. Our M.En. program achieved the national designation as a Professional Science Master’s Program. Our combined bachelor’s/M.En. program has six students and growing interest. In my five months as director, Tom has offered continual support and guidance for which I am grateful. I have also benefitted from the two previous directors, Dr. Mark Boardman and Dr. Gene Willeke. Mark has also been generous with his advice and assistance. It was a great pleasure putting on the IES Environmental Professional Symposium last month carrying on a tradition that Mark began. (Thanks also to the nine of you who agreed to be part of that this year.) It was a great success with over 70 students in attendance having the chance to hear about many different environmental professional paths. I’m so happy that Gene also made it to the symposium and that he continues to give me advice and play an active role in IES.

Let me also thank Suzi Zazycki, the IES Associate Director. I can’t imagine what these past five months would have been like without the fact that IES is co-run by Suzi and me. Suzi advises and mentors the M.En. students, runs the Professional Service Projects and shares in all the numerous administrative duties. Thanks also to our Program Associate, Denise Withrow, for all she has done to ease me through this transition.

IES undergraduate and graduate classes continue to grow and thrive thanks to talented faculty. Dr. Sarah Dumyahn is now in a permanent position as an IES Lecturer, and she plays a major role in environmental education at Miami. This academic year she will have taught seven IES classes! Dr. Amelie Davis is an assistant professor in both IES and Geography. This fall she was on a research leave working on several new articles. She will be on leave most of this upcoming spring as well due to her becoming a first-time mother. Congratulations to Amelie. Dr. Vince Hand is again with IES, teaching core courses for our M.En. students. Vince represents the longest participating institutional history of IES and I’m grateful for his guidance and involvement.

We have 18 new M.En. students who started in August 2015, bringing our total to 30. This was the biggest incoming class in a long time due to our national/international reputation and the efforts of Tom and our staff. I have had the pleasure to teach and interact with the new M.En. students during orientation, in my Environmental Problem Solving class and advising, and I am impressed by their enthusiasm and engagement. Their mid-year Professional Service Project presentations were all excellent. I’m excited to continue working with them and see them make the transition to their environmental careers.

Check out our upcoming events. There is so much to look forward to. I hope you share my excitement for the upcoming year and for the future of IES in general. Please feel free to contact me anytime. I hope to get to know many of you during my tenure as the IES Director.

All the best,
Jonathan Levy signature
Jonathan
Director

IES to move to Shideler Hall in Dec 2016

When the 90,000 sq.ft., newly renovated Shideler Hall reopens for business in January, it will offer an array of exciting and innovative resources for faculty and students primarily in the fields of geology, environmental earth science, geography, and environment & sustainability.

"Shideler will be a high-tech, Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certified green building that will impress you as soon as you walk in through the main entrance," said Connie McCarthy, Miami's associate director of capital projects.

IES will be prominently featured as never before in a newly renovated and centrally-located building. Our two new Professional Service Project rooms and a large IES display area will be front and center as students ascend the grand staircase.

Read the full article on the CAS website

Environmental Professionals Symposium

IES hosted the annual Environmental Professionals Symposium on Nov 7. 2015. More than 70 Miami students attended to hear about the wisdom and experience from eight IES M.En. alumni.

This year’s panels included the following:

Local Government’s Role in Environmental Issues

Sue Vance, Butler County Water and Sewer Dept
Stacey Dietrich-Dudas, City of Hamilton Department of Economic Development
Adam Sackenheim, City of Fairfield Public Utilities Director

Technical Support of Environmental Initiatives

Adam Simcock, Earthling Interactive
Sue Smiley, US Department of Energy

Natural Resource Management and Regulatory Compliance

Jessica Spencer, Great Parks of Hamilton County
Eric Kroger, CH2MHill
Stephen Spencer, US Department of Interior

Three MEn Professional Service Project teams making an impact

View the PSP descriptions on the IES webpage

M.En. Students with clients, Hueston Woods State Park director, Scott Fletcher (2nd from left) and Matthew Bourne, Golf Course Superintendent (far right)

M.En. Students with client Yvette Kline, Miami University Physical Facilities Director of Sustainability and Energy Conservation (far right)

M.En. Students with Ohio Department of Natural Resources clients Brett Beatty (far left), Bryan Dorsey (5th from left), Rob Ligas (3rd from right) and Bruce Terrill (far right)

Upcoming 2016 IES Events

The IES Banquet, February 13, 6:00 pm.

On February 13, we will have our annual Advisory Board meeting followed by the annual IES Banquet with featured alumnus speaker, Dan Irwin who now does remote sensing research with NASA. All IES alumni, affiliates and M.En. students are welcome to attend. Please contact Denise Withrow ([log in to unmask]) for more information.

The Drs. Gene and Carol Willeke Frontiers in Environmental Science Distinguished Lecture, February 25, 7:00 pm.

The Willeke Lecture annually brings prominent figures in the field of environmental science to the Miami campus. This year’s Willeke lecture will be the first big event in the new Shideler auditorium. We are honored to host Dr. Gabe Filippelli, Professor of Earth Sciences and Director of the Center for Urban Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Dr. Filippelli will be giving a talk for the general public on Thursday evening, February 25 at 7:00 pm on the topic of urban environmental pollution.

Visit from Zamabian collaborators and Symposium on Interdisciplinary Environmental Research, March 14, 2:00-5:00 pm

From March 11 to 18, IES is hosting three dignitaries from Zambia, two professors from the University of Zambia and a colleague from the Zambia Environmental Management Agency. They are coming to work with Dr. Levy and other professors involved in Miami’s Global Health Center on a proposal for studying exposure pathways of metal contamination in Kabwe, Zambia. A highlight of the week will be a symposium on interdisciplinary environmental research on Monday March 14 from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. To maximize student interaction, our guests will be visiting related classes.

Earthfest, Saturday, April 16

On April 16, IES will again be hosting Earthfest at the uptown parks. Stay tuned for more details.

Miami visit to Zambia, June 14-July 5

As a follow up to the Zambian visit to Miami, Dr. Levy will be leading his third Miami credit workshop to Zambia with a group of undergraduates and graduate students including both M.En. students and IES co-majors. They will be conducting preliminary research on the metal contamination of Kabwe project and continue to forge international partnerships.

IES in the News

Miami University effort to draft new sustainability commitments and goals led by Tom Crist

IES 511 Environmental Protocols class surveys students about recycling

IES faculty, Vince Hand, and affiliate, Cathy Almquist advise students designing rainwater collection system for local business

Featured IES Students

Rory Kaip

MEn student Rory Kaip Receives Scholarship from Butler Rural Electric Cooperative

Rory has an undergraduate degree from Oberlin College in Environmental Science with a concentration in Environmental Design. While at Oberlin, he conducted research on carbon sequestration. He is currently pursuing an Area of Concentration in Energy Systems.

Jocelynne Samu

Zoology major (with environmental science co-major) Jocelynne Samu designs her own research program

Along with her research partner, Taylor Pittard, Samu worked with Dr. Hays Cummins to develop a research project that "analyzes predators, specifically coyotes, in relation to invasive species, specifically honeysuckle."

Read more on the CAS website.

Institute for the Environment & Sustainability

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Institute for the Environment and Sustainability (IES)December 2015