Amherst, MA, May 6 — Executive Director Julie Johnson of the Hitchcock Center has returned to Western Massachusetts from an international sustainability conference with a Living Certified Award that recognizes the Center’s visionary leadership in creating a building that gives more than it takes and inspires thousands of people to take action for a more sustainable future.
BOSTON – At a State House ceremony, Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Kathleen Theoharides today honored 32 energy and environmental education programs at Massachusetts schools and nonprofits as part of the 25th Annual Secretary’s Awards for Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education.
The Hitchcock Center for the Environment with designLAB Architects received the Boston Society of Architects’ (BSA) 2018 Honor Award for Sustainable Design, presented in Boston on January 17, 2019.
By GRETA JOCHEM, Staff Writer
Even the most ardent believers in climate change may not think they can have any effect on this global problem. But Grace Garmah, an Amherst-Pelham Regional High School student, has a different view: “You can do something about it,” she said. Garmah is part of a group of ARHS students brainstorming ways to combat climate change. Their plan: install solar panels in the school parking lot.
By MICKEY RATHBUN, For the Gazette
Imagine being able to look at Mt. Sugarloaf in South Deerfield, or Zoar Bridge across the Deerfield River in Charlemont, and to see at the same time how they appeared back in the 1840s. A wonderful exhibition currently on display at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst provides just such a window onto the landscapes of the Pioneer Valley in the early 19th century, when Orra Hitchcock, a botanist and scientific illustrator, painted them. The exhibition, “Re-presenting Nonotuck: The Landscape Paintings of Hitchcock and Gloman,” pairs Hitchcock’s paintings with contemporary renderings of the same scenes by artist David Gloman, who has been teaching art at Amherst College since 1992.
The Western Mass Youth Climate Summit provides an empowering platform for high school
students to engage in conversations and planning with their peers on the issue of climate change
and to discuss actions and goals their team will take to address the problem. Schools can participate
in the Summit at no charge thanks to support form grant funders and local business sponsors.
By Edward Watt & Gillian Andrews
Last summer our area, which has a strong agricultural economy, experienced a severe drought. We chose to explore this issue in-depth with our students, who understood firsthand the importance of water as a resource and of conserving water in their communities.
By Ariel Moyal and Julie Johnson
Massachusetts residents expected some heat this summer, and maybe even welcomed it after a long winter. However, the heat that residents have experienced across the state has gone beyond expected summer temperatures and veered into dangerous territory. Unfortunately, scientists tell us these risky heat waves are not an anomaly, but Massachusetts’ new normal. If we do not take expedient action to avert the worst effects of climate change, science tells us it is going to get even hotter.
Hitchcock Center Executive Director Julie Johnson will speak at the Net Positive for Higher Education Symposium sponsored by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). Her talk on June 26th is entitled Engaging Stakeholders and Funders in Creating a Living Building and will share Hitchcock Center’s process of building constituent support in the Living Building process.
To combat the growing rate of Lyme disease in the Northeast, the Hitchcock Center for the Environment will host a presentation Monday night on how to best protect oneself from tick bites. In Hampshire County, reported cases of Lyme disease have increased 32 percent since 2013, according to the state Department of Public Health, with 216 confirmed and suspected cases last year.
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Hitchcock Center for the Environment
at Hampshire College
845 West Street | Amherst MA 01002 | 413.256.6006 | 413.253.2809 fax