As a current senior at Barnard College, I am pursuing a major in Environmental Science with an emphasis in environmental policy and law. Perhaps best explained by my years of interest in meteorology, my idea of the perfect vacation would be an invitation to join the "Twister Sisters" and chase tornados in the Midwest. Realistically speaking, this is not going to happen any time soon and I am left with the task of desperately trying to find alternative, healthy, outlets to express my passion for the environment and to incorporate my interests in public policy and education. When I learned about the agenda of the Environmental Ethics class taught at Barnard I was immediately interested because it was perfectly harmonious with my desire to channel my energies into a meaningful initiative.

In partial fulfillment for the Green-Action Project component of the Environmental Ethics class, I was offered the opportunity to work with a senior research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). Since there is now common consensus among the majority of the scientific community that anthropogenic activities are responsible for changing the global climate, there is a need to develop a climate change research strategy that investigates how natural resources, infrastructure, public health and the economy will be affected.

To respond to climate change a comprehensive plan to help establish a sustainable city Mayor Bloomberg created the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) which incorporated the works of climate change and impact scientists, academics, private sector stakeholders and the Task Force. This project provided a summary of climate data and projections for New York City and also identifies the risks for the critical infrastructure. The adaptation assessment takes into account the concerns of stakeholders and is intended to convey information about risk-management and mitigation plans.

With this project well underway an analogous initiative funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has been developed to assess risks of climate change to New York State. I have been assigned to assist with this project, potentially working as an intermediate between stakeholders and project officials. I will continue to keep you posted as my internship and duties unfold!

'Til next week...