February 2017: Internships, Employment, and Volunteering

Internships:

Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program: Deadline February 12
The Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program (2-year program, UCSC) is launching recruitment for its 2017 class of Scholars. Their goal is to recruit 20 freshman/sophomore students from underrepresented groups across disciplines with the highest potential to make sustained contributions as conservation innovators and leaders. The scholarship covers all program expenses and provides each Scholar with a $4000 stipend during each of their two summers. For more information, or to apply, please visit the Doris Duke scholarship's website. For questions, email Justin Cummings at jacummin[at]ucsc[dot]edu. The deadline to apply is February 12, 2017.

Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program: Deadline February 16 at 5:00pm
The Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program (CUIP) provides students with on-campus internships in programs and departments throughout the campus. Interns work with a mentor to develop personal and professional skills, and take a leading role in producing project in their internship. Enrollment in a two-unit leadership seminar class is required for fall, winter and spring quarters. A scholarship of $8,200 is paid towards the intern's registration fees for the academic year.  Application must include at least two letters of recommendation. Visit the CUIP webpage for full details or to apply.

UC Student Regent & UC Student Advisor to the Regents: Deadline February 26
The Board of Regents are looking for two students to represent UCSC. The Student Regent is a full voting member of the Board of Regents and attends all meetings of the Board and its Committees during their one-year term commencing July 1, 2018. The Student Advisor the the Regents is an experimental, non-voting position that advises the Regents on student issues. View the application for full details.

American Indian Resource Center Intern: Deadline June 16
The American Indian Resource Center is dedicated to supporting the needs of American Indian students and increasing Native visibility on campus by advocating students centered programs, cultural events, and tools for academic success. AIRC student interns gain leadership, facilitation, event planning, research, and project management skills as well as the opportunity to learn more about American Indian culture, history, and current issues.  10 hour-per-week commitment.  For more info, please contact AIRC Director Rebecca Rosser at rrosser[at]ucsc[dot]edu.

University of New Hampshire Sustainability Project Fellowships: Deadline February 17 
The University of New Hampshire is offering multiple paid, sustainability-related summer projects.  Projects range from monitoring sustainability metrics to mapping sea level rise.  All details can be found at UNH's website.  For questions, email Megan Carney at megan[dot]carney[at]unh[dot]edu.

Employment:

UCSC Sustainability Office Office Manager & Events Coordinator: Deadline February 5
Have strong opinions about the quality of this newsletter? Wish you were the editor? You can be!  The UCSC Sustainability Office is looking for an Office Manager and Events Coordinator (one position). Responsibilities include event planning, maintaining the office, and supervising student staff. Qualified applicants should have a thorough knowledge of sustainability issues and UC Santa Cruz' institutional structures. Applicants should also be highly skilled in leadership and communication. For full details, or to apply, visit the UCSC jobs site (#1706942).

Program in Community Agroecology Events Coordinator: Open Until Filled
The Program in Community Agroecology is seeking an events coordinator. Responsibilities include event planning, logistical support, collaborating with campus organizations, record keeping, grant writing, and updating the PICA website. For more information, email PICA at pica[at]ucsc[dot]edu.  Visit the UCSC ERS site to apply.

Ecology Action Hiring Bike and Walk Youth Educator / Program Assistant
Ecology Action (based in Santa Cruz, CA) is seeking either one full time or two part-time Bike and Walk Youth Educator / Program Assistants. The position(s) will help build community, empower kids, improve their health and tackle climate change by training and encouraging youth to walk and bike safely to school. With primary delivery in Watsonville and Salinas, they would love to find a bilingual/bicultural staff person(s) from those communities to join their team and someone with teaching experience. For more information and to apply, visit their website.

UC Davis Student Farm is seeking a new director: Deadline February 21
The Student Farm at UC Davis (SF) is seeking a new director to lead the continued development of the SF as a learning community where students from many disciplines work to create, maintain and explore sustainable food systems on a 20+ acre farm. A key component of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI), the SF has served UC Davis students and faculty and the public with educational, research, and outreach opportunities focused on sustainable agriculture and food systems for 40 years. The SF Director provides intellectual, academic, and community leadership to the SF and has primary responsibility for overall vision and administration as well as the programs’ educational, research and public service functions. See a full job description and apply for the position on their website.

Bike San Luis Obispo County Executive Director: Open Until Filled
Bike SLO County, a bicycle advocacy group based out of San Luis Obispo, is looking to hire an Executive Director. Responsibilities of the Executive Director include implementing Bike SLO County's strategic plan, empowering staff, speaking with the media, and managing their budget. Qualified applicants should have a bachelor's degree (or commensurate education) management experience, strong communication and financial skills, and a passion for sustainable transportation! Full details avaliable on Bike SLO County's website. To apply, email a cover letter and resume to edsearch[at]bikeslocounty[dot]org. Please include “Executive Director – YOUR NAME” in the subject line.

Bioneers: Multiple Offerings: Open Until Filled
Bioneers is a nonprofit organization that serves as a hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges.  Their San Francisco offices are seeking an office manager, a communications director, and an Everywoman's Leadership program director. Visit the Bioneers jobs page for information. To apply, send a cover letter and curriculum vitae to careers[at]bioneers.org.

Sustainability Analyst at American University: Open Until Filled
Our sustainabilibuddies at American University's Office of Sustainability (Washington, D.C.) are seeking a Sustainability Analyst. The Sustainability Analyst parses sustainability-related data and ensures completion of  assessments and reports. Additionally, this position identifies opportunities for sustainability while benchmarking metrics related to sustainability in operations. A bachelor's degree in environmental studies, business, architecture, or a related area is required. Qualified applicants should advanced skills in communication, Microsoft Office, and sustainability-related metrics.  Full details avaliable on AU's job-posting site. One must create a login to apply.

San Francisco State University Energy Manager: Open Until Filled
San Francisco State University is looking to hire an energy manager. The energy manager promotes, supports, and provides strategic management oversight for San Francisco State's energy and utility systems. Qualified applicants should have through knowledge of energy systems and sustainability concerns, as well as a bachelor's degree in Engineering, Industrial Technology, Energy Management, or a utility, energy, or a sustainability-related field.  For full details and to apply, visit UCSF's online posting.

Fund for the Public Interest
Fund for the Public Interest is a national, non-profit organization that builds the people power for America’s leading environmental and social change organizations. They are hiring for a number of positions, including Canvass Director. Here in Santa Cruz the Fund is working with Environment California on our campaign to save the bees. The Fund advertises that one can make $450-$650 a week Canvassers are paid $10.50 per hour, with a bonus commission if one exceeds quota.  Full-time and part-time positions available, starting immediately. Visit the Fund's website for full details and to apply. For more information, email Hannah Furbush.

Volunteering:

UCSC Campus Clean-ups: February 4, 26
The Zero Waste Team invites you to their sister college cleanups this quarter! There will be two cleanups in February, the first at Rachel Carson/Oakes on Saturday, February 4th and the second at Cowell/Stevenson on Sunday, February 26th. For the first clean-up, meet at the RCC/Oakes Dining Hall at around 10:30am for a quick "trash talker" training about what items go into what streams. The cleanup will start at 11:00am and finish up at around 12:00pm to enjoy a snack, a raffle, and weigh the trash collected! View the Zero Waste Team's flyer for more information.

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Docent Training: February 4
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary docent training program prepares volunteer docents to interpret the natural and cultural resources of the Sanctuary. A non-mandatory informational meeting will be held Feb 4 at 10:30 am at the Sanctuary Exploration Center, 35 Pacific Avenue. Visit the Sanctuary's website for more information or to apply.

Land Trust Santa Cruz County Antonelli Pond Clean-up: February 12
Join the volunteers at Land Trust of Santa Cruz County and UCSC restore native plants by removing invasive English Ivy!  The clean-up will start at 10:00am at the kiosk off of the West-end Delaware entrance.  Volunteers should bring closed-toed shoes, water, a lunch, and gardening gloves if they have them.  Volunteers must be 18 or have their guardian sign a liability waiver before attending.  Please RSVP through Land Trust's website.  For questions, email volunteer[at]landtrustsantacruz[dot]org.  If you live on campus and are in need of transportation, email gcalvare[at]ucsc.edu.

November Green Tip: Decolonizing Thanksgiving

Instead of perpetuating the myth of Thanksgiving this November, we are sharing resources and opportunities to help you decolonize your understanding of Thanksgiving. What you learned in school about the pilgrims and Native Americans sharing a meal at the first Thanksgiving is an erasure of the history of genocide and exploitation of indigenous people that has been happening for centuries--and continues to this day. 

As you gather with friends and family over the long weekend later this month, please consider challenging the Thanksgiving myth that is still widely accepted as fact.

1. Unlearn the myth of Thanksgiving: For many indigenous people, Thanksgiving is a painful time, not a cause for celebration. The articles No Thanks: How Thanksgiving Narratives Erase the Genocide of Native Peoples and Native Americans explain why "Thanksgiving" Holiday is a Celebration of Genocide can provide a perspective that your textbook failed to share.

2. Attend Indigethanx: An Alternative Thanksgiving Celebration, hosted by the American Indian Resource Center, on November 18 from 5:00-7:30pm at the Women's Center (Cardiff House). Indigethanx provides an opportunity to rethink the Thanksgiving holiday and help educate the UCSC community about traditional Native foods. This annual event is free, but RSVP is required here or by emailing the American Indian Resource Center by November 11. 

3. Learn about what's happening at Standing Rock, North Dakota, as indigenous people and allies stand up against the threat of a pipeline going underneath their water source, the Missouri River. Join the conversations on social media with #noDAPL (No Dakota Access Pipeline). Visit IndigenousRising.org for more information.

The People of Color Sustainability Collective and the American Indian Resource Center at UCSC are also inviting UCSC organizations to participate in the planning of a "No Dakota Access Pipeline" event. They are doing this to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota and are looking to create a #NODAPL event on campus. They are currently organizing a planning committee to bring campus organizations together to plan an event that will take place at the beginning of Winter Quarter. In the mean time, they are also planning ways to fundraise, spread awareness, and help the movement. If you are interested in participating in the planning committee, please email the People of Color Sustainability Collective by this Friday, November 4 at 5pm.

In the video below from the 2016 Bioneers Conference on October 23, "Kandi Mossett, Tara Houska, and Dallas Goldtooth present an update and call to action on the situation at Standing Rock, North Dakota – where thousands of Indigenous water protectors and allies are defending sacred lands from desecration by the Dakota Access Pipeline in the face of police brutality and arrest." Thanks to Bioneers for sharing this video.

How are you working to decolonize Thanksgiving? Do you have resources, ideas, or events that you want to share? Please post in the comments below or email our newsletter team.

November 2016: Classes, trainings & community

Final Week of UCSC Hydration Games!

Students, keep up the great work conserving water in our UCSC campus residential areas! As we enter the final week of the Colleges, Housing & Educational Services (CHES -Student Sustainability Advisors Hydration Games, make sure to check out the Facebook and Twitter social media pages for water conservation tips. The winner of the UCSC Hydration Games will be announced the week of November 7, and there is a prize, so keep on conserving water, slugs!
Enroll in the Sustainability Studies Minor: Workshop November 7
Are you concerned about Earth’s future? Enrollment is coming! Sign up for Rachel Carson College’s Minor in Sustainability Studies The minor is open to all UCSC students. There will be an informational & declaration workshop on Monday, November 7, 3:30-4:30pm, at the Rachel Carson College Red Room. For more information, visit the Rachel Carson College website.

Kenneth S. Norris Center for Natural History Open House & Fundraiser: November 12-13

Art and science will mix when the Kenneth S. Norris Center for Natural History at UCSC holds its fifth open house and fundraiser November 12-13 at the Cowell Ranch Hay Barn. Students and the greater Santa Cruz community are invited from 10am – 5pm on Saturday, November 12 and 10am – 3pm Sunday, November 13. Admission is free. The theme for this year's open house is "Cross-Pollination, the Art and Science of Natural History." The Norris Center has teamed up with renowned local nature illustrator Maryjo Koch and will display her illustrations alongside many of the Norris Center’s extensive collections, including the Randall Morgan Pollinator Collection. Learn more about the Norris Center event here.

Indigethanx: November 18 - RSVP by November 11

The American Indian Resource Center is hosting an Alternative Thanksgiving Celebration on Friday, November 18 from 5:00-7:30 pm at the Women's Center, Cardiff House. Indigethanx provides an opportunity to rethink the thanksgiving holiday and help educate the UCSC community about traditional Native foods. Please RSVP via email on or before Friday, November 11. Share this event on Facebook.

Free Pitch Workshop for Startup Weekend: November 9
Have an idea that you want to pitch at Startup Weekend Santa Cruz: Sustainability & Social Impact on Friday, November 18 (see below)? Want feedback and help strategizing for the weekend? Come to this free workshop hosted by the Startup Weekend Santa Cruz team for feedback and help developing your pitch! Snacks will be provided. The workshop will take place November 9 from 5:45-7:00pm in the Everett Program Office in Social Sciences 2, room 47. Visit the Facebook page for details.

Startup Weekend Santa Cruz: Sustainability & Social Impact: November 18-20

There have been 2000+ Startup Weekend events in 135+ countries around the world, and we are looking forward to hosting one in Santa Cruz. It’s a 54-hour event (similar to a Hackathon) where developers, designers, nonprofit leaders, students, entrepreneurs, engaged citizens, social justice advocates, environmentalists, marketers, product managers, startup enthusiasts, and many others can come together to pitch ideas, develop them into concrete business ideas, and get feedback from mentors and judges! This event focuses on Sustainable Solutions and Social Impact to encourage cross-pollination of communities within Santa Cruz County. Join folks with different interests, areas of expertise, and passions to share, create, & get feedback on ideas that will change the world for the better. Activities include rapid-fire startup pitches, prototype building, customer development, mentor feedback, and conclude with a Shark Tank-style judging session. Tickets are capped at 100 people, and student discounts are available by emailing the planning team. You can learn more and get tickets on the Startup Weekend Santa Cruz website. Share the event via social media pages on Facebook and Twitter.

VOICES: Group for identifying and healing from race-related trauma/stress for students of color
VOICES is a support and discussion group for identifying and healing from race-related trauma/stress for Undergraduate and Graduate Students of Color. They meet Mondays from 5:00 - 6:30pm at the Oakes Mural Room. Topics include: Managing self-care, thriving on a predominantly White campus, fostering empowerment, and navigating invisibility. This group is offered by UCSC Counseling and Psychological Services. Contact Alesha Harris at 831-459-2220 for more information. If you require any disability accommodations please contact CAPS at 831-459-2628.

Free workshops & trainings with Post-Landfill Action Network
The Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) cultivates and educates the student-led zero waste movement and informs students about the waste crisis, equipping them with the necessary skills and resources to implement solutions about waste into their campus communities. UC Santa Cruz is a PLAN member school, which gives us free access to resources and support from PLAN, including workshops and trainings focused on student leadership and how to effectively reach zero waste. Learn more about these opportunities on the blog.

Power Shift Convergence: November 11-13
Power Shift Convergence is a collaboration between the Power Shift Network and the California Student Sustainability Coalition. They aim to bring young people together as a movement—building the organizing skills, passion, and strong connections needed for a long-term commitment to the grassroots work that will help us realize a both ethical and clean energy-powered future. We seek to empower, recharge, and uplift the voices of young activists and blooming change-makers. Gathered together, we will unite, redefine, and push forward our movement. Register now for earlybird prices, and find out more information on their Facebook event. UCSC students--email Laurel Levin of Fossil Free UCSC for information about UCSC carpooling and lodging options.

Master's Program in Tropical Biodiversity: Deadline November 30

The Université libre de Bruxelles (based out of Belgium) is coordinating the Erasmus Mundus Tropimundo Master program. Tropimundo is the first International Master in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems (2 years) that allows students to delve into the interlinked ecosystems under threat by spending an entire semester in the field: tropical rainforests and woodlands, wetlands (both terrestrial and coastal) such as mangrove forests, seagrass beds and coral reefs.  Please submit your application to the program website. Application deadline is November 30.

Rangel International Affairs Summer Enrichment Program: Deadline February 2
This is a six-week program at Howard University that helps prepare undergraduate students for careers in international affairs. It includes two for-credit academic courses, a professional writing seminar, visits and meetings with foreign affairs professionals in a wide range of government and non-governmental organizations, and professional development activities. It pays for tuition, room, board, and transportation, and provides a stipend. The program will run from mid-June until late July. The program encourages the application of members of minority groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign Service and those with financial need. Applicants with any undergraduate major are welcome to apply. Additional qualifications and information about how to apply are online here.

Notes from Indigethanx

Introduction and Welcome

Dr. Rosser introduced the first guest, who cleansed the air with smoke and honored the Four Directions and the ancestors who lived on this Ohlone land. I did not catch her name. 

“My mother said, ‘When ceremony ends, so does the Earth.’ I too believe this.”

A student performed a Chumash song honoring our grandmothers and their grandmothers in turn.

Dr. Rosser explained the Mutsun word noson, as breath as it is in spirit, and introduced Professor Melissa Nelson, an activist for Native American rights who works with the Cultural Conservancy.

Professor Melissa Nelson

Revitalizing Native Foodways/Renewing America’s Food Traditions

• Thanksgiving is a complex holiday both protested and celebrated
• “There’s really a global renaissance going on” regarding the revitalization of Native foodways
• Mentioned ceremonies regarding food and religious and cultural importance of strawberries- one of the first foods to be grown on Turtle Island in First Nations’ creation stories.
• A Chippewa prophecy made about 500 years before Columbus’s arrival foretold that danger would come from the east; it foretold “we will know where our new home is when we find the food that grows upon the water,” referring to the staple food of wild rice.
• Food sources are affected by pesticides, damming, climate change, and diseases such as Sudden Oak Death.
• Climate change and damming lead to lower numbers of salmon and less access to them, affecting culture, nutrition, and ceremony.
• Identifying foodsheds and the “first foods” of American lands is a way to reclaim identity.
• Seven key foods eaten globally as staples originate from North America
• Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, squash, chocolate (cacao), sunflowers
• Many more important foods come from North America, but these are considered the 7 most important

Food Sovereignty

• Regarding food sovereignty, “you have the right to be self-defining.”
• Food sovereignty as “the production of traditional and sacred foods by Tribal Nations with the objective of feeding the local community, and only after the community is sustained, to provide these foods to the larger community.”
• Workers are highly involved; sovereignty includes protection from dangers such as pesticides.
• Native foodways are cultural, spiritual, physical, and ecological, a web of life.

Columbian Devastation

• “What happened to the Native world . . . was a total apocalypse” regarding colonial settlement.
• Fried bread became a survival food, a creation of “Indigenuity,” but lead in part to the Type II Diabetes epidemic in Native communities.
• Over half of tribal community members in the United States live with Type II Diabetes, hypertension, obesity, or heart disease.
• “100%” of the community is affected; family and community is affected through healthcare and transporting those who need healthcare.
• Sacred buffalo were overkilled to remove the primary food source of tribes of the Northern Plains; damming cut off access to salmon and other fish.
• "The value of food is weighed in dollars . . . not in its ability to nourish." —John Mohawk.
• The slow food movement focuses on slowing down to take time to cook and eat our food.

Current Food Movements and Actions

• Tsyunhehkwa
• Muskoke
• Taos Food Center
• Traditional North American Farmers Association
• Slow Food Terra Madre
• Parque de la Papa (Potato Park)
• Protects heirloom seeds; relates to food sovereignty and social connections
• Biocultural Heritage Territories
• Bay Area intertribal urban youth education programs
• Tribal intergenerational CSA pilot programs partner with local communities and create food distribution systems
• Youth interns glean and distribute crops not up to market standards
• Some use traditional three-sisters planting or mound-style cultivation
• The Tohono O'odham Nation grows easy to grow, extremely drought resistant beans
• “There’s an incredible culinary revolution happening.”
• e.g. the Native American Culinary Association

Misc. Quotes

• “Food is good for the body, but also good for the soul.”
• “We’re all kernels of the same cob.”
• “Seed to seed, soul to soul”; regarding to the restoration of international treaties

Resources/References

• Seeds of our Ancestors film
• The Cultural Conservancy
• Linda Hogan’s Ceremony for the Seeds poem
• Activist Patricia Gualinga

Enrique Salmón

• “Environmentalists and [people involved in sustainability] want to keep us in one place.”
• Before 1492, over 400 bean species existed in North America.
• “Stop using ‘how it used to be’ and ‘was’[ . . .]” there are and always will be maintaining cultural practices
• “A lot of my students don’t realize that corn was created by human beings…”; “We are children of the corn”
• Biodiversity is linked to cultural diversity
• “Native people are a keystone species”
• “Indigenous knowledge is local knowledge,” unique to each area
• Formed over vast amounts of time, much longer than Western scientists have studied North America
• “Small ancestral fields are the refugia of resilience”
• Small fields are microhabitats
• The Hopi Tribe of the Colorado Plateau has followed the same planting method for over a thousand years: 5 to 6 seeds are planted 18 inches underground. The deep earth provides the plants with moisture and the multiple stalks protect each other from topping in the wind. Nitrogen is fixed in the soil by beans that grow there.

Resilience and Connections to Food

• “One has to find the time to [learn about] long term memory”
• Long term memory is cultural history
• Short term history is a driving force of new ideas guided by advice from elders
• Resilience relates to cultural capital, primarily elders and farmers
• On his family asking for farming help from neighbors: “It was a way of creating community”
• “Every now and then you need to revolt… without forgetting the traditions.”
• “We don’t spend enough time directly connected to the environment”
• [As Native people,] “We’ve had a very direct relationship with our food”
• There is a loss of ancestral diets; pre-Columbian diets had relatively lower fat content and more fiber, insoluble fibers, amylose, and chromium. Ancestral diets slowed down the digestive systems.
• “We are that landscape… we’ve been eating our landscape.”
• “Choosing to eat our Ancestral foods in a political/decolonizing act”
• Quote from PowerPoint

• “We need to decolonize our food as much as possible.”
• “When we eat our Ancestral foods… we reject [harmful] agricultural practices.”
• “This is more than being political, this is embracing our identity.”
• “Our identity is only as strong as our actions.”

What’s Being Done

• Natwani Coalition works with Native CSAs
• Navajo farmers have identified and have revitalized ancient Puebloan fields that had lain dormant

Wrap-Up/End

• Enrique Salmon: “[Native people] are the juniper tree… with the next big gust that comes along, we’re still going to be standing.”
• Dr. Rosser: “We have always been here and we will always be here.”
• Survivance: survival and resilience
• “Remember, it’s not just about survival, it’s about resistance too,” -Professor Nelson
• “Food is more than just something we eat… You relearn the ceremonies… before long you revitalize your entire culture.”

Q&A

• GMOs:
• Both agreed that GMOs are a spiritual question
• Enrique: “We rely on the High Priest of Western science”
• We need to relate more to the world and our food
• Prof. Nelson: “Water is our first food;” water sovereignty is a part of food sovereignty.
• Regarding to the drought and purification of water, “we can use nature to heal nature.”

Favorite Recipes

• Prof. Nelson: an Ojibwe meal of wild rice with pecans and cranberries and braised buffalo
• Enrique: a Hopi bean sprout stew with herbs and mutton, a favorite food of the kachina- rain spirits, but more; “when we pass we become the rain.”
• Dr. Rosser: green chili stew