The role of higher education in redefining prosperity - Part I

I am a bit behind in posting to this blog.  I need to take some of my own advice and SLOW DOWN to enjoy life!

Some time ago, I asked my students to respond to a question included below.  Some responses were really worth sharing.  I will be posting these and hope that they inspire others to comment and perhaps compose their own answer to the question.

The first response is by Rachel Ruisard, a first year student at Moravian College.

Question: In your opinion, what should be the role of Higher Education in informing students and perhaps the general public about the issues confronting the planet and in helping to develop and promote solutions to many of these great challenges?

Rachel's Response:

Higher Education holds a considerable and respected place in society; the mere fact that it contains the word “higher” suggests a superior intellectual plane of learning. Universities and colleges most often house some of the greatest minds of our time, and this plethora of well-educated and experienced individuals collectively take on a responsibility to our society of educating the future generations and often the public as well. The attendees of such establishments of higher education are also given a responsibility. No longer are these students the generation of youths who were proclaimed to be the future leaders; they are now on the threshold of claiming their place in society as the new generation of young adults. They will become the educators of society, and it is vital that they take with them lessons that will create hope for the future of our world.

As Peter Wood described in his article, “From Diversity to Sustainability: How Campus Ideology Is Born,” ideologies hold great power when focused upon and by colleges and universities. This new generation of young adults catches hold of various new ways of thinking that are promoted by higher education. The rise of sustainability among college campuses has currently drawn public attention to this new movement of “second-wave environmentalism” (Wood). The fact that this ideology has gained the support of 800 colleges and universities as members of The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education goes to prove that sustainability has shifted the attention of our nation to the significance of the natural world and our place in it. Sustainability is now the new “thing” and higher education must take this opportunity to broaden students' and society's mentality that this ideology is more than just a fad, it is a necessary change.

The presence of esteemed professors and scientists-in-residence on campuses means that the researching capabilities of higher education are immense. Recognition can be gained by faculty members that pursue research and promote environmentalism among students and elsewhere. If an outpouring of supported research should occur, awareness of the current issues facing our planet would become more widespread. Once the educators have embraced their role in advocating sustainability, they must turn and focus their gazes upon the classroom, their students and the goal at hand. These students are about to assume the burden of adulthood and make decisions for our planet; it is necessary to educate them about the significance of sustainability and the interconnectedness of our world.

College and university faculty are often considered the mentors of their students. This is the time when professors and students can be on friendlier terms, when the wall of separation experienced through the past twelve years of education can finally be removed. Many of the most important lessons learned throughout post-secondary education comes from the conversations and intellectual discussions between student and teacher. This is an opportunity for the professor to influence in an positive way; the experience of a college professor will always grant wisdom.

In the past, a standard classroom teaching is the understanding that “knowledge is power.” While this certainly has encouraged the accumulation of knowledge, it also encourage the advancement of one's self-interest. What higher education must now detail to these students, described by Jeremy Rifkin in his article, “Empathetic Education: The Transformation of Learning in an Interconnected World,” is that “intelligence...is not something one inherits or a resource one accumulates, but, rather, an experience that is shared among people.” This shift of learning from individual to collaborative develops each student's capability for empathetic expression and fosters the sharing of not just information but ideas and viewpoints. Through the promotion of the interconnectedness of knowledge, student will enter society with an understanding of our world's dilemma and its solutions and be open to sharing this knowledge with others around them.

On what is good in life – Part II.

On my cross-country flight last Friday, I started perusing the airline magazine (Sky, January 2011).  Page after page, there were ads for steakhouses and trendy high-end restaurants, cosmetic dentistry, jewelry, art, MBA programs, shows in Las Vegas, casinos (not in Las Vegas or Atlantic City) and Disney vacations.  (What? No ads for professional matchmakers in this issue?!)  The themes of the “articles” (consisting only of a few lines of text and lacking creativity or depth) were sports, the latest IT gadgets, teen idols –now and then (this was at least somewhat humorous as it took me back in time), volcano boarding, what is hot in music, movies and fashion, book descriptions (two-liners, not reviews), chic hotels in exotic destinations (big  cities) around the world, and pop culture.

Is this really what our culture is all about?  Sigh.  I am so out of touch.  Or maybe I just don’t know what is truly good in life!

Another turn of the page, and surprisingly, there was an article about a bee researcher who had recently received a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Award.   Something of substance, and science-related, no less!  And then, another—an article entitled “Our World Now: The People, Places and Things that made us Happy in 2010.”  What a coincidence, I thought, given the theme of my spring course that prompted this blog.  And then I realized the article focused on TV celebrities and shows, viral videos, and the iPad.   Who wrote this list?  At least the rescue of the Chilean miners was mentioned.  The list also included stories of charity and assistance after the Haitian earthquake.  While global generosity is a good thing, it is too often limited to times of tragedy.  And there isn’t very much “happy” about conditions in Haiti now or before the earthquake.

This was followed by an article on the “Happiest Places in the World”.  Of the four listed, one was Singapore with its 40 mile long island of 5.1 million people (think about how crowded this is) and 250 plus shopping malls.  Sigh.  I have been to Singapore.  Everything is artificial, even the waterfalls in the parks.  Beautiful, but fake. They have a bird park with an extraordinary collection of exotic birds from around the world.  I saw my first and only fish eagle there – chained to what looked like a dog house.  The hornbills were in cages.  Does this make people happy?  Or is it only the shopping?  When I was there, our hosts were all very proud of all the neon-lit shops that sold electronics, fashionable clothes, and expensive gifts of various sorts, including gold-plated orchids made into jewelry.  An orchid pin made my mother happy for her birthday that year.  Our hosts told us that for leisure, people shopped.  They were curious about the concepts of leisure time in the U.S.

What the magazine articles described as things that made people happy was in stark contrast with the lists that I had from friends, family, colleagues and social network acquaintances in response to my inquiry about what makes them happy and what they couldn’t live without (described below).  Admittedly, this is a subset of the population – biased by the fact that most share interests in conservation or science or work in education.  To simplify things, I arbitrarily combined the responses into categories that seemed to me to be related.

The category with the most tick marks in response to both questions: “What makes you happy” and “What couldn’t you live without” was family.  The next general category related to food; some simply said food (which, of course, we can’t live without) and some listed specific types ranging from fresh fruits and vegetables to pizza.  Other things we eat like chocolate and coffee were mentioned but I am not sure if this qualifies as food!  A number of people said they really enjoyed the process of cooking.  I wonder how many have read about the Slow Food Movement.

Food was followed closely by friends and nature or spending time outdoors.  People also specifically talked about taking walks in the woods, birding, gardening and even farming (as a hobby).  Most respondents said something about having a satisfying occupation.  This was expressed in a variety of ways including specific mention of having a job that keeps them challenged, loving to teach, of having a steady income or financial stability, the good feelings that result from doing hard physical work, or having an experiment go well.  In fact, if I were to lump all of these under a single category, this would actually have more “votes” than family!

Another high vote getter was the category characterized by words such as having the opportunity for intellectual challenge, life-long learning and/or access to information.  Almost an equal number of people mentioned books and reading as things that made them happy or things that they couldn’t live without.

Several responses were tied for the next highest number:  shelter or home, pets, doing good for others (or having a sense of purpose or volunteering), faith, children (their own or children in general) and good health (and the drugs that help keep them healthy).  And right behind these were hearing about stories of hope or inspiration, electronic gadgets (computers, cell phones, etc.) and music.

Other responses included travel, sports, movies, every breath, retirement, binoculars, exercise, time for hobbies, having a circle of supportive people, clean water, freedom, heat (it has been a rather cold winter), stimulating conversation, and curiosity.  Some of these could probably be lumped with other categories above.

Two things about the responses caught my attention.  First, the list is not heavily focused on material goods (and as I noted above is quite different from the list of things focused on in the airline magazine).  Instead interactions with people, knowledge, nature, and less tangible things are most important.  Second, when people included a “vice” in their response, they went out of their way to apologize, explain, or provide a rationale for this answer (like they had tried to give up chocolate, but it didn’t go well)!  I am curious as to why so many people felt guilty about having something like this on their list!

So, I sit here stranded in Dulles airport (the return trip) less than happy that my 10:15 p.m. flight has a departure time of 1:50 a.m. now.  It is going to be a really long day tomorrow at work and, here I had been worried about the jet lag coming from the west coast.  At the moment, sleep and being home with my family would make me happy.  I have run out of steam and my eyes are blurry, so the summary of my student responses will have to be in Part III and this entry will be posted when I have an internet connection tomorrow (or actually later today).  (O.K. – I didn’t include this in my list in Part I.  I really like being connected to the world, to incomprehensible amounts of information, data, and literature, and to friends via social networks.  I could live without the Internet, but I wouldn’t be as happy!) 

p.s. The flight left at 3:15 a.m.

On what is good in life – Part I

After being on sabbatical, it is a bit tough to settle back into the routine of a college semester.  And this semester has had a particularly hectic start as our department immediately started bringing in candidates for interviews, we had a new staff member start, and we have had some messy winter weather leading to school closings and delayed openings for the boys.  Kind of throws a monkey wrench in best-laid plans.  Thus, only 10 days into this semester, I was really looking forward to today – a day with no classes to teach and relatively few meetings.  A chance to slow down and catch my breath.

My husband drove the boys to school, so I had the chance to stay behind and take Revi the dog for a long leisurely walk.  This is something I rarely get to do on a weekday morning during the semester (at least this time of the year when it is still dark when I normally leave the house).  The morning was particularly nice since it was “balmy” – close to 30 degrees rather than in the single digits as we had just been experiencing.  The forecast was for a storm starting in late afternoon and already the flurries had started.  The steady but lazily falling snowflakes made our woods look like we were inside of a snow globe.

As I have mentioned on this blog before, I truly love walking through the woods with a retriever and after the bitter cold days we had just gone through, Revi was particularly enjoying this jaunt.  As we reached the section of our property that opens up into a savanna-like area, we were greeted by a ruffed grouse flying out of a white pine.  There are not many left in this part of Pennsylvania, although we see them on our property from time to time.  So this was a treat. 

These birds are notorious for startling hunters and hikers due to the loud noise they make when they take to flight.  I haven’t hunted them in years but my instincts were still there and I followed the flight of this bird as if I were lining it up in the sights of my shotgun.  The moment brought me back to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I grew up – where flushing grouse in the woods was common.  My young retriever hasn’t seen very many game birds, but he instinctively stopped and watched, assuming that he must be expected to do something.  “Did she throw a stick?  Am I supposed to retrieve something?  Where did that noise come from?”

Just this past weekend, I had also been thinking of “home” – as I had the opportunity to go cross country skiing and eat pasties on Sunday.  Both are activities characteristic of growing up in Upper Michigan.  Fond memories.  Plus the Green Bay Packers won the division playoffs.  I am not a football fanatic, but this is the first team I ever followed as a kid.  Dad likes to watch football and he likes the Packers.  Like father, like daughter.

Revi and I continued along both tuned into the array of tracks and trails in the snow.  I was fascinated with how many different tracks and patterns there were.  His nose was close to the ground and seemed equally fascinated with the vast number of scents.  With his gaze and attention so focused on the ground, I sometime wonder how he can go through the woods without crashing into a tree! 

At one point along the way, there was a small downed tree that had snapped off recently.  All around the remaining trunk were fresh “wood chips” and rabbit tracks.  Clearly, someone was having fun grinding down their teeth.  Rabbits, squirrels, deer, mice, voles, fox and bird tracks were crisscrossing throughout the woods as if they were creating a graphic design.  Collaborative artwork.  Interesting concept.

All of a sudden, Revi stopped and was attentively watching something in the woods that I couldn’t see at first.   As he started to cautiously walk off the path into the woods, I saw two stunningly beautiful red fox darting around the trees.  It looked as if they were playing tag.  But then they saw the dog and decided to split, running in different directions.  An amazing dose of nature’s gifts this morning, and, of course, no camera in my hands!

~~

I recently asked my students and social network acquaintances what makes them happy and what couldn’t they live without.  I am compiling the responses to post a summary, but I suppose it is only fair that I share a bit about what is important to me.

Like many, my family comes first on the list.  I am so blessed to have 3 wonderful guys in my life and home, including two sons who (despite being teens) are incredible.  They are smart and funny and have big hearts.  And still give me hugs. What more could I ask for?  I have a husband who is an amazing father, my sounding board, my best friend, a colleague, and incredibly patient with me.  Again, what more could I ask for?  I only wish I didn’t live 1000 miles from my parents and my brother and his family.

Another thing on the top of my “what is important to me” list (and that I couldn’t live without or at least I wouldn’t be a very nice person) is nature.  I need the silence of walking in the woods – it calms me.  I am blessed to live in a place where I can walk out my back door and see red fox playing in the snow or see a red-bellied woodpecker or intensely vibrant bluebirds from the window as I work on the computer.  I have a gorgeous view of the Appalachian Mountain Ridge (known locally as Blue Mountain or the Kittatinny Ridge) from the house – at least when it isn’t hidden by clouds.  It takes on different personalities depending on the season or weather.  Recently, it has been glistening with ice-coated trees. 

I am in awe of nature – whether it is my Lake Superior (which I have written about previously), the intricate details of a flower, or the amazing complexities of the biochemical processes of cells.   I am truly fortunate in having a career that allows me to constantly study and teach about such marvels.

The changes of the seasons are miraculous allowing us to look forward to the rebirth and renewal of spring, while at the same time appreciating the crisp beauty of a clear blue sky over ice-encrusted berries and branches on the shrubs and the sense of purity after a fresh snow (at least until the salt and mud and slop discolor everything again).  And oh, the colors and smells of fall.  I don’t think I could live in an area that doesn’t really have four seasons.  (Don’t get me wrong.  I absolutely love warm tropical breezes and rainforests when I visit areas to the south.)

I love the giggles of children.  I have been fortunate to learn first-hand that it doesn’t matter where you are in the world; the smiles and giggles of young children can warm hearts anywhere.  Traveling and learning about other cultures and places is important to me.

I need my quiet time, a chance to read (I love books), and the opportunity to continue to learn.  I love to cook - especially baking with fresh fruit from the farm and the happy faces on my boys when a pie comes out of the oven.

And finally (at least for this posting), I need my regular dose of good news stories, stories of hope.  It can be something as simple as the family about an hour away that is keeping their feeder and heat lamp going to help an Anna’s Hummingbird stay alive.  This poor tiny creature somehow ended up in the wrong part of the country at the wrong time of year.  But this family cares enough to try to save it.  It might be the rescue of the Chilean miners – mentioned again in our President’s State of the Union speech last night.  It might be stories of people who sacrifice much to give to others less fortunate as my friends in Ecuador are doing as I type this.  Or it might be stories of restoration of a contaminated mountainside.  What is important is that there are so many positive stories despite what one reads in the paper or hears on the news.   So much to be thankful for.

Back online and interested in your thoughts

I have been way-sided for several weeks by a major ecological assessment report and the holidays.  My truly wonderful (but busy) sabbatical has come to an end and I am back teaching and being department chair.
 
Tomorrow I begin teaching my new pilot course entitled "Redefining Prosperity: Moving Toward a Culture of Sustainability".  This is a rather intimidating (and exciting) endeavor as I will be stepping way outside of my teaching comfort zone and area of expertise.  (I am a biochemist by training who has gradually been venturing further into ecological restoration and conservation work.)  You will hear more about this course as the semester progresses.

It is my intention to pose questions to my students each week (and to friends, acquaintances, and others through social networks) and compile the responses into entries for this blog.  This is an experiment in itself; I have no idea of how this will work!

This week's questions:

- Reflect on what makes you happy/what is good in your life

- List 5 to 10 things that you can’t live without

I welcome your responses to these questions.  I will compile the responses that I receive from others and post.  I am particularly interested in the categories that responses fall into.

Off to COP16

On Tuesday, my son Corey and I will be heading to Cancun for the U.N. Climate Change convention - COP16.  We will be joined by others from Moravian College (a faculty colleague, students and 2 alumni) who will be reporting on what we learn at http://moraviancollegeatunfccc.blogspot.com/.

There are so many issues impacting the future of this planet and the well-being of not only us humans, but of most species.  Those of us in the industrial world are not treading along a sustainable path, but climate change and its impact may be the most serious challenge of all that we will have to confront.  I am not at all sure that the negotiations in Mexico will bring us to where we need to be, but we have to hope that the voices of civil society will be heard by the official parties, that the cries of those who are already suffering from environmental changes will be heeded.

Life's simple gifts

After working at home this morning I headed to my office much later than usual.  (One of the luxuries of being on sabbatical.)  As I headed over the crest of the Kittatinny Ridge, I passed a bare tree-any lingering leaves were blown off by the strong wind gusts we had over the past several hours.  In the tree sat 5 turkey vultures and, in an adjacent tree, a Red-tailed hawk was perched.  I wondered if they were resting because it was too difficult to fly in today’s November gales or if they were full from feasting on some carrion that I didn’t notice.  I watched for a few moments in my idling car; the vultures nervously shifted their weight from one foot to another.  The hawk decided to fly off.  I went on down the mountain as I wondered how what kind of day the counters were having at the hawk watches at Bake Oven Knob and Hawk Mountain just a bit to the west.

On the south side of the mountain, there were still shades of rust and gold on some trees –ornamentals mostly— that were refusing to yield completely to the changing seasons.  At a rare stop sign in this rural area, a school bus was dropping off kindergarteners where parents were waiting in their cars.  What a shame that they remained hidden from the elements as it was truly an invigorating fall day.  As I waited for the disembarkment to finish, I noticed a domestic cat coming out of the brush in the state game lands that are on one corner of the intersection.  In a few weeks, it will be deer hunters and then I would understand why the parents would stay in their cars (not that a car window will stop a stray bullet from a rifle).  Anyway, as some children met the one parent who had actually walked to the corner, the cat darted across the road and pounced on a little girl.  A rather amusing short scene; a story ripe for embellishing.  Did the other families see this?  Probably not since most of the parents were on their cell phones not even noticing their children who had climbed into the car.

I hadn’t driven more than 100 yards further and a gloriously colored male pheasant darted around in the brush and several robins fly over the road—probably wondering why they hadn’t flown south yet.

All of these wonders of nature – all within about one mile of my drive.  Was I the only one who had noticed these sights?  Such little things have always made me smile; they make me pause for a moment while I imagine silly scenarios.  I suppose that many would find it odd that I am so easily amused (or distracted) and that I actually treasure such simple things as these chance encounters with elements of the natural world. 

Just yesterday, my twelve-year old and I were walking down a sidewalk near his school in Bethlehem and marveling at the patterns that Japanese Maple leaves had made on the sidewalk after being knocked down by a heavy rain.  We tried to decide which shade of red we liked the best, each having our own favorite, but we did agree that the range of colors from a single tree was pretty cool.  I guess that my son also likes the quirks of nature.  I am happy that we still walk together and share these moments.

The Kittatinny Ridge a bit earlier in the fall in its full glory.  Photo by H. David Husic

Women, Science and Social Responsibilities

This week, I faced a professional dilemma.  I was supposed to attend a conference in Arlington on increasing the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers.  Despite the fact that this was sandwiched in between two other conferences I needed to attend in an eight day period, I was looking forward to the dialog and being able to share some perspectives from my own career path.  However, while out of town for meeting #1, my son ended up in the hospital with a severe case pneumonia that wouldn’t respond to the normal antibiotic treatment.  Given how frightening this was (to him and us as parents) and the fact that I have a younger son at home who couldn’t be left alone overnight, I had to make the decision to cancel attending the meeting in Arlington.  There was no question as to where my priorities had to be, but I felt horrible backing out of a professional commitment.

Balancing (whatever that means) family and a career is faced by many families and isn’t a women-only issue.  Key to making the dual-career family situation work is a healthy relationship with a partner who understands and is willing to be supportive and share in the responsibilities.  I am extremely fortunate in having a husband (also a scientist/academician) who is incredibly supportive of my work and travel and an excellent father.  My decision to remain at my son’s side in the hospital was by no means based on feelings that my husband couldn’t handle things.  But there are societal pressures that do make women feel guilty.

When I arrived at the hospital, more than one nurse commented on my not having been in town when my son was admitted.  And yes, perhaps I shouldn’t have gone to meeting #1 but I had taken my son to the doctors, he was on antibiotics, I had stayed at home with him for 3 days, and the day I left, his fever was down and he urged me to go.  When I got the call the next day that he was in the hospital, I felt horrible about my decision.  I had ridden with others so pondered renting a car to get back sooner instead of waiting until the next day.  Both my husband and son said to stay.

I emailed and called the folks from the Arlington meeting to explain the situation and let them know that I had to unfortunately renege on my plans to attend.  Upon return, I went immediately to the hospital and spent the next 24 hours there until I could take my son home.  It wasn’t a life or death matter, but he loved the company and I had the comfort of seeing him and seeing that he was starting to get better.

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My students know that I have a very high bar – both for myself and for them.  I push them to work harder and do more than they think they can.  But it is equally important for them to see that I am also compassionate and that my family will always come first when there are problems.  A supportive workplace is critical in encouraging women to come to work and to stay—be it in the sciences or other fields.  Many female students come to talk to me about balancing family and job and they are fearful that they won’t be able to do so.  I talk about the challenges and the rewards and strategies that I have used.  I bring my boys around the department a lot and, in the summer, they are out in the field with me sometimes when I am doing research with my students.  They hear about the successes of my children.  I think that this is all important to do and I am not at all afraid to mix work and family in my conversations with students.

My son (when healthier; photo by R. Wiltraut at the 2009 World Series of Birding)

As a department chair, it is important that I help to create a supportive, family-friendly environment.  At the moment, we only have one other tenure-track faculty member with young children, but last spring, her 3-year old started experiencing serious seizures.  Immediately, the department stepped up and took over her responsibilities so she could focus completely on her son and the rest of her family—without my asking.  I was so proud to be a part of this community.  The students noticed this as well.  But I know from personal experience that other places (departments, research labs, etc.) are not so cooperative and compassionate.  I left a tenure-track position because the environment towards women students and faculty had grown unbearable and no one would take the leadership to make improvements.

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One of the sessions I was to attend at the conference was “Selling social science to scientists and engineers”.  As someone long interested in the social impact of science and technology, I was very curious as to what would be covered.  I won’t know but I pondered a number of things while spending the night in the hospital with my son.

I thought of some incredibly influential female scientists that I had met over the past year:  Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai from Kenya and Vandana Shiva from India – a particle physicist turned activist.  Both have fought for the rights of the poor and women of developing countries, for democracy, and for improving and protecting the environment and food security.  I recently heard Nobel Laureate Peter Agre speak not so much about his award winning research but of the responsibilities of scientists in promoting world peace and engaging in dialogue with the public.  As former President of AAAS, he had helped to initiate the Science Diplomacy projects of the organization.  And I had the opportunity at the end of the summer to attend a conservation leadership training workshop where I was thrilled to see so many women, many of them scientists, in the group.  Having studied and written on the history of environmental leadership, I knew first-hand that this high percentage of women in the conservation movement was a relatively new phenomenon. 

Wangari Maathai - COP15 (2009)

Moravian College students with Vandana Shiva (COP15)

I am immensely interested in following climate science and climate change debates and have noticed that most of the prominent (and controversial) voices from the scientific community seem to be male.  Why is this? These individuals are atmospheric physicists, geologists, climate modelers, etc.  But when one thinks about the potential impacts on people, the planet, on life as we know it – this is an area where we really need compassionate people who also understand science at the table where policy decisions are being negotiated and I would think that the topic and the research would attract females.

Why do the life sciences (especially areas linked to health science) and environmental sciences tend to attract more women than some of the physical sciences and engineering?  I am not saying that women can’t and don’t enter other areas of science.  There are some programs and departments that have high numbers of female geoscientists, physics majors, engineers.  But overall, they are still in the minority as compared to the life science programs which often have more females enrolled than males.

How do all these seemingly random thoughts connect?  It dawned on me that perhaps the concepts of compassion, social responsibilities, and attracting women to science might be related in ways that I had never considered before.  I have heard many female students indicate that they need to understand the relevance of what they were learning to some greater picture.  They say that some types of math or physical principles were too abstract for them to wrap their heads around.  Do we, as females in STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), need to do a better job of making connections and illustrating the social links of what we are teaching and researching?  Do we need to better emphasize how science can help to solve critical world problems such as poverty, food shortages, the status of women and children in developing countries—i.e. to help achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goals for 2015 or some of the Grand Challenges that have been identified?  Do we need to show how science and compassion for the larger human family are closely connected?

Given the growing public distrust of science and its applications (think climate deniers and the anti-vaccine movement) along with our concerns about advancing opportunities for women in science, I am thinking that shifting the conversation towards the role of science in world peace, sustainability and prosperity might be pretty important for our future.

Some future scientists and environmental leaders from Moravian College (class of 2010)