Council Collaborates with NCSE

The Council is collaborating with the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) on the 9th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World. Held December 8-10, 2008, in Washington, DC, the conference is an opportunity for dialogue with leading scientists, policy makers, industry leaders, educators, environmentalists, and other solutions-oriented innovators to develop and advance science-based solutions to challenges the changing world poses to biodiversity.

Spotlight: Nick Kulibaba

Newly Elected ELC Board Member, Washington, DC

• Why is the work of the Environmental Literacy Council important to you?
  The work of ELC is, for me, an opportunity to ensure that the objects of my greatest professional passions—biodiversity conservation, sound environmental stewardship and a sustainable economy—can be responsibly conveyed as, perhaps, an inspiration to those who will succeed us over time.


• What are you working on right now?
  As always, I’m working on a multitude of things:
  - Helping IUCN and the MacArthur Foundation to get the global climate change center off the ground
  - Working with a major clothing manufacturer/retailer on implementation of their corporate social responsibility strategy
  - Working closely with ELC staff to kick-start the next phase of our fundraising efforts
  - And NOT forgetting that it’s fall, which means clean-up chores on my little farm


• Favorite class when you were a kid?
  One of the most enlightening classes I ever had was a Freshman high school course in “Comparative Ideologies,” focusing on the philosophical differences that were the underpinnings of the Cold War. It was a real adventure in intellectual growth in which we were trusted to discern the many layers of thought and experience that forge the world political systems.


• Last book you read?
  The Smaller Majority by Piotr Naskreeki. The book focuses on species—arthropods and insects, fish, reptiles, amphibs and the like, all of which are “smaller than your finger.” The photographs are beautiful and quite astonishing and the text is both informative and pure fun.


• Last place you travelled?
  A few weeks ago I had a wonderful weekend in the Shenandoah Valley with my “Indian crowd,” most of whom had grown up as missionary kids or government dependents in India. While Virginia might not be very exotic, it was a weekend in which we all spoke in our best Hindi, Punjabi and Telugu accents, ate South Asian food and waxed rhapsodic about our own experiences during the days when the Raj was fading into the twilight.

Spotlight: Kathleen Berry, Council President

Canon-McMillan High School (Retired), McDonald, PA

• Why is the work of the Environmental Literacy Council important to you?
  Many times teachers are awash or at sea with a need for an organized source of science information that is easily accessible. I think ELC is the island of science-based material teachers are looking for regarding environmental issues.
  
• What are you working on right now?
  I am finishing the design for a graduate course entitled "Basic Elements of Science Teaching."
  
• Favorite class when you were a kid? Earth Science
  
• Last book you read? A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
  
• Last place you travelled? Vermont

Council Quoted on TV's "Rocky Geared Up"

The Environmental Literacy Council is quoted regarding forest succession after a wildfire in the latest episode of the television show "Rocky Geared Up." The episode airs on the Outdoor Channel, Friday August 28 @ 1:00 PM EST and repeats Saturday August 29 @ 4:30 PM EST. To learn more about forest succession or to download our Firestorm curriculum, see the Forests section of our website.

Internet Scout Report calls the Council's Teaching Resources "a real find."

The Environmental Literacy Council's Teaching Resources were spotlighted in the August 22, 2008 Internet Scout Report. Published weekly since 1994, the Scout Report is one of the Internet's oldest and most respected publications. The team's professional librarians and subject matter experts say "visitors should not miss" the "creative" and "engaging" Environmental History Modules. [Read the full Review] [Visit our Teaching Resources]