[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - January 15, 2017
gmoke
gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Jan 15 11:10:43 PST 2017
Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater
Boston area that catch the editor's eye.
Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.
If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke at world.std.com
What I Do and Why I Do It: The Story of Energy (and Other) Events
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-i-do-and-why-i-do-it.html
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Index - Full event information follows the Index and notices of my latest writings. Keep scrolling, please.
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Monday, January 16
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11:30am Martin Luther King Day of Service Commemoration and Service
2pm MLK Day Celebration: Hope, Despair and the Blues
6pm Design Thinking / MIT Solve Challenge with OpenIDEO Boston Chapter
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Tuesday, January 17
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1pm For Us, By Us: Community Ownership & the Food System in Washington, D.C.
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Wednesday, January 18
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7:30am Boston Sustainability Breakfast
12:30pm Food-grade nanoparticles: Properties, applications, gastrointestinal fate, and potential toxicity
1:30pm Science Policy
6pm Sustainability in the Lab - January Meetup
6pm Café des Sciences #80 : Health Innovation - A Question of Survival
6:30pm The Port Cafe: Power of The Collective: What We Need is Us
7pm Will Schwalbe - Books for Living
7pm Boston+Acumen January Coffee Hop: Affordable Housing (Globally and Locally)
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Thursday, January 19 - Friday, January 20
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Symposium on Religion in Humanitarian Action
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Thursday, January 19
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8:30am Project Mapping Workshop with Sustainable Performance Institute
8:30am NECEC's Emerging Trends Series: Utility of the Future
8:30am Data, Dollars, and Algorithms: The Computational Economy
4pm WEBINAR - Five Steps to Take Now to Build a Strategic Plan in a Changing Political Environment
5pm Deep Learning Workshop - Part II
5:30pm Ghostlight Project at BU
5:30pm Talks at Google - Real Social Change: Understanding the Data on How to Improve Communities
6:30pm The Future of Legal Hacking. Is Artificial Intelligence the answer?
7pm Tainted Witness: Why We Doubt What Women Say about Their Lives
7pm Sustainable Socials with Green Cambridge!
7pm Together We Rise: A Counter-Inaugural Celebration of Resistance
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Friday, January 20
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Critical Race Theory and the Health Sciences
12pm Starr Forum Movie: Cache
12pm SeeClickFix MMA Meet Up at McGreevy’s
12pm Harvard Science Plaza WinterFest 2017
1pm Economics and Politics of Brexit
1pm Mathematics of Big Data
4pm Town Hall: Inauguration of the 45th President of the United States of America
6pm Resist Trump: Occupy Inauguration Boston!
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Saturday, January 21 - Sunday, January 22
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Beyond Tomorrow: Arts, Culture, Community and the Future of Civilization
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Saturday, January 21
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11am Boston Women's March For America (EVENT)
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Sunday, January 22
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2:30pm Botany Blast: Seeing Climate Change in Your Backyard
6pm Stories of the Forever War featuring readings from The Road Ahead: Stories of the Forever War
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Monday, January 23
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11am On Growth and Form
1pm The Economic State of the World
2pm New financing models for funding fusion energy
6pm King's America or Obama's Post-Racial America?
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Tuesday, January 24 - Wednesday, January 25
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Preparing Urban Forests for Climate Change
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Tuesday, January 24
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1:30pm Scientific Communication
2pm From Zika Virus to Lyme Disease - Integrated Pest Management
4pm Books at Baker Presents Eugene Soltes, author of "Why They Do It”
5:15pm Panel Discussion: Urban History on the Digital Frontier
6pm Data Visualizations that Bring Data to Life
6pm Daring Democracy
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My rough notes on some of the events I go to and notes on books I’ve read are at:
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com
Good Films on Food, Farming, and Gardening
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/15/1620828/-Good-Films-on-Food-Farming-Gardening
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Monday, January 16
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Martin Luther King Day of Service Commemoration and Service
Monday, January 16
11:30am
Saint Peter's Episcopal Church, 838 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Enter at 13 Sellers Street
Martin Luther King asked 'What Have You Done For Others?'
Many Helping Hands of Cambridge
Event is free and open to the public
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MLK Day Celebration: Hope, Despair and the Blues
Monday, January 16
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
BU, GSU Metcalf Ballroom (2nd floor), 1 Silber Way, Boston
Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at Boston University with a musical program featuring performances of Duke Ellington's sacred music conducted by Randall Keith Horton, keynote addresses by "The Blacklist" actor Harry Lennix and "Baltimore" playwright Kirsten Greenidge, and remarks by President Robert A. Brown and Provost Jean Morrison.The program will also feature student performances by The BU Allegrettos, Chloe Swindler (CFA ’17), the BU Big Band, and the Inner Strength Gospel Choir. Free and open to the public.
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Design Thinking / MIT Solve Challenge with OpenIDEO Boston Chapter
Monday, January 16
6:00 PM – 8:30 PM EST
87 Wendell Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/design-thinking-mit-solve-challenge-with-openideo-boston-chapter-tickets-30921911269
How can new technologies including currencies like Bitcoin be used to price carbon emissions and greenhouse gases? / How do we remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in a way that is scalable, economical, and ethical?
Do you have an innovative idea for how to solve one of the world's greatest challenges? Are you an inventor, technologist, entrepreneur? Are you passionate about ensuring that solutions to these challenges are affordable, implementable, and can reach the world's most at-risk populations, no matter who they are or where they live? If so, Solve needs your ideas! Solve is an initiative of MIT aimed at developing and implementing real and lasting solutions to the world’s greatest challenges—from education and health to energy and inequality. Its mission is to solve world challenges by unearthing the best solutions to specific actionable challenges through open innovation, building and convening a community of private, public, nonprofit, and academic leaders to bring resources to bear, and supporting these solutions to become a reality by brokering partnerships between the Solve community members that drive real and lasting impact. By crowdsourcing solutions, Solve seeks to leverage the collective thinking and experience of people living in different communities around the world to surface fresh ideas that can be piloted and resourced in response to a series of specific prompt
If solutions are selected, finalists will be invited to pitch their solution at Solve at United Nations on March 7, 2017, which will bring together innovators with the most promising solutions to Solve’s Refugee Education, Carbon, and Chronic Diseases challenges to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. Solvers selected during Solve at United Nations will move on to join the Solve community and present their solutions to leaders from the private, public, nonprofit, and academic sectors at Solve at MIT in May 2017!
Check more details at : solve.mit.edu
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Tuesday, January 17
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For Us, By Us: Community Ownership & the Food System in Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, January 17
1-2 PM EST
Webinar at http://chesapeakefoodshed.net/index.php/january-2017-2/
Resource Experts: Brandy Brooks & Chris Bradshaw, Dreaming Out Loud and Xavier Brown, Soilful City
The new buzzword in food systems work is “equity” – but what does that really mean? Can a community’s food system be equitable when resources and decision-making power aren’t held by community members? Many food equity projects aim for a more inclusive approach to meeting community needs, but they still don’t challenge the fundamental disparities in power, money, land access, and other resources that harm people of color, people with low incomes, immigrants, and other marginalized groups. Using examples from community-driven food work in Washington, DC, this webinar will explore how we move from food equity to food sovereignty: locally-owned, democratically-controlled, just and sustainable food systems that prioritize healthy ecosystems and the human right to food.
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Wednesday, January 18
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Boston Sustainability Breakfast
Wednesday, January 18
7:30 AM – 8:30 AM EST
Pret A Manger, 101 Arch Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-sustainability-breakfast-tickets-30734218876
Join us every month for Net Impact Boston's informal breakfast meetup of sustainability professionals for networking, discussion and moral support. It's important to remind ourselves that we are not the only ones out there in the business world trying to do good! Feel free to drop by any time between 7:30 and 8:30 am.
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Food-grade nanoparticles: Properties, applications, gastrointestinal fate, and potential toxicity
WHEN Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Building 1, Room 1302, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Inaugural Nanolecture Series
Harvard-NIEHS Nanosafety Research Center
Harvard School of Public Health
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nanosafety/
SPEAKER(S) David Julian McClements, Professor, Fergus Clydesdale Endowed Chair
Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
DETAILS Edible nanoparticles are increasingly being utilized by the food industry to enhance the nutritional attributes, safety, shelf life, appearance, and texture of foods. A wide range of inorganic (e.g., titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, zinc oxide, and silver) and organic (e.g., lipid, protein, and carbohydrate) nanoparticles is being used in these applications, which vary in their composition, physical state, shape, dimensions, aggregation state, and surface charge. There is concern from consumers, industry, and regulators about the potential risks associated with ingesting these food-grade nanoparticles. Consequently, a great deal of research is focused on understanding the gastrointestinal fate of different kinds of food nanoparticles, as well as their potential for causing chronic or acute toxicity. In this presentation, current knowledge about the potential gastrointestinal fate and toxicity of both organic and inorganic food nanoparticles is reviewed, with special emphasis on the lipid nanoparticles found in food-grade nanoemulsions. In particular, the importance of taking into account the nature of the food matrix and gastrointestinal conditions on the properties of food nanoparticles is highlighted. In the case of nanoemulsions, there are a number of potential risks associated with reducing the size of the lipid droplets that should be considered: alterations in the fate of bioactive agents within the gastrointestinal tract; enhancement of the bioavailability of undesirable hydrophobic substances in foods (such as pesticides and hormones); potential toxicity of some of the ingredients used in their fabrication (such as synthetic surfactants).
Biographical Sketch: David Julian McClements is a Distinguished Professor at the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts. McClements received his Ph.D. in Food Science (1989) at the University of Leeds (United Kingdom) in ultrasonic spectrometry. He then did Post-Doctoral Research at the University of Leeds, University of California (Davis) and University College Cork (Ireland). In addition, he has published over 750 scientific articles in peer-reviewed, 12 patents, as well as numerous book chapters. Prof. McClements has previously received awards from the American Chemical Society, American Oil Chemists Society, Society of Chemical Industry (UK), Institute of Food Technologists, and University of Massachusetts in recognition of his scientific achievements.
LINK https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nanosafety/upcoming-nanolecture-series/
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Science Policy
Wednesday, January 18
1:30p–3:00p
MIT, Building 68-181, 31 Ames Street, Cambridge
Alison Leaf, PhD, Hellman Fellow in Science and Technology Policy at American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Julie McNamara, MSc, Energy Analyst with the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Daniel Pomeroy, PhD, Program Manager for MIT's Policy Lab
If you enjoy thinking about how science can improve the world, come learn about careers in science policy. Panelists will explain how science policy affects allocation of laboratory funding and how discoveries are translated into new technology and laws.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Biology
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Sustainability in the Lab - January Meetup
Wednesday, January 18
6:00 PM
Harvard Chemistry Department Center, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/Lab-of-the-Future/events/235964863/
More details coming soon, but I can share that meetup planning is in the works for mid-January in the Harvard Sq area. The theme of this one will be "Sustainability in the Lab". Hope you can make it, RSVP to stay tuned!
Agenda:
6.00pm: Networking over pizza
6.40pm: Presentation #1: Quentin Gilly, Senior Coordinator, FAS Green Labs Program at Harvard University https://green.harvard.edu/bio/quentin-gilly
7:00pm: Presentation #2: TBD
8:00pm: party is over!
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Café des Sciences #80 : Health Innovation - A Question of Survival
Wednesday, January 18
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)
WeWork South Station, 745 Atlantic Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cafe-des-sciences-80-health-innovation-a-question-of-survival-tickets-30926121863
The presentation will be accompanied by refreshments and followed by a networking event.
Presentation:
In the past, physicians treated and monitored symptoms based on family history, behavior and environment to develop atreatment plan, and appropriate clinical management. With today's technology, we know a lot more about how DNA affects the body and health. We know more about the genes that cause diseases, as well as how they provoke it.
However, even today in Canada, there are 10,000 deaths per year from medication side effects and 210,000 hospitalizations. This represents a $ 3 billion cost to the health system. In the United States, these figures are 10 times higher. With more than 20,000 scientific articles published per week, integrating new technologies poses a major challenge and the survival of the health system depends on our ability to innovate and adapt.
Speaker:
For many people, following in their parent's footsteps is an obvious choice for their career. However, for Étienne Crevier, it was both the achievements of his father and his death that convinced him to launch the company BiogeniQ. The young startup wants to bring personalized medicine to patients by offering genetic tests allowing anyone to adapt their lifestyle to their genetic profile.
A few years earlier, Etienne Crevier was a Ph.D. student in genetics at the Université de Montréal and aspired to become a university researcher. Then, his father Dr. Yves Crevier,a physician in the Montreal area, died of cardiac arrest. Etienne decided to go into business and leave research. After starting his MBA, he launched BiogeniQ in August 2013.
Since its founding, BiogeniQ has won several prizes including the most innovative startup in Quebec for 2014 by the Quebec Entrepreneurship Award and in 2016 by the Québec Junior Business Board Network. BiogeniQ also received the award for the most innovative startup in Canada by the SpinMaster Innovation Fund as well as the most innovative company in Life Sciences in 2016 recognized by the Innovations Awards of the ADRIQ-RCTI. Etienne was also the Scientific Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014 as well as a finalist for the Young Entrepreneur of the year in 2016 recognized by The Young Chamber of Commerce of Montreal and the prestigious EY Entrepreneur of the Year.
Agenda:
6:00PM: Welcome
6:15PM: Presentation
7:00PM: Q&A
7:15PM: Networking
8:00PM: End
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The Port Cafe: Power of The Collective: What We Need is Us
Wednesday, January 18
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM EST
Community Art Center, 119 Windsor Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-port-cafe-power-of-the-collective-what-we-need-is-us-tickets-29012714811
Join The Port Cafe for another community-oriented, tasty meal! This month's theme is Power of The Collective: What We Need is Us. More than ever, this is a time for us to come together and build connections in our neighborhoods and communities.
Our chef of the month for January is Nirva, and she'll be cooking Haitian cuisine, specifically:
Djon Djon (Haitian black rice with mushrooms and beans)
Roasted turkey
Fried plantains
All are welcome. :) We look forward to breaking bread and building community with you on January 18.
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Will Schwalbe - Books for Living
Wednesday January 18
7:00 pm
Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Street, Brookline
Schwalbe invites us on his quest for books that speak to the challenges of living in the modern world. These span genres and centuries, and each can help us live our days more fully. Books for Living is a treasure for everyone who loves the question: “What are you reading?”
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Boston+Acumen January Coffee Hop: Affordable Housing (Globally and Locally)
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM EST
Caffè Nero, 368 Congress Street, Boston
RSVSP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bostonacumen-january-coffee-hop-affordable-housing-globally-and-locally-tickets-31054252104
Cost: $5
Join Boston+Acumen on Jan 18 for our first Coffee Hop of the year! Our Coffee Hop series is a way for members of the Boston community to meet and discuss articles on a pre-selected topic over coffee, similar to an article club. At this Coffee Hop, we will be discussing Affordable Housing.
Articles to review ahead of the event:
Read:
The Boston Globe: A move to bring more affordable housing turns into a fight
McKinsey Report: Tackling the world’s affordable housing challenge
Acumen Report: The ABCs of Affordable Housing in Kenya
Learn about Acumen's portfolio companies in the Affordable Housing space:
http://www.aarusha.com/
http://amcpakistan.org/
http://jamiiborabank.co.ke/- http://acumen.org/investment/sewa-grih-rin/
http://acumen.org/investment/saiban/
http://sgrlimited.in/
http://medeem.com/
Listen to:
WBUR: Housing Report Shows Strong Economy, But Growing Poverty at
http://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2016/11/29/housing-economy-poverty
Come prepared to share your thoughts on the articles above, along with any other resources that other attendees may find valuable!
Where can I contact the organizer with any questions?
Contact erikaedesmond at gmail.com
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Thursday, January 19 - Friday, January 20
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Symposium on Religion in Humanitarian Action
WHEN Thursday, Jan. 19, 5:30 p.m. – Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, 4:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Conferences, Religion
SPONSOR The Religious Literacy Project at Harvard Divinity School in collaboration with Boston University
CONTACT Sarabinh Levy-Brightman
DETAILS What knowledge and assumptions about religion do faith-based and secular international humanitarian agencies have? How do these assumptions impact their work? When the focus is on supporting the implementation of the local humanitarian leadership agenda, what kind of knowledge about religion is most useful? Using a series of case studies as a starting point, this symposium brings together humanitarian practitioners and leading scholars to discuss the ways in which religious literacy may impact both secular and faith based humanitarian organizations' delivery of high-quality, principled humanitarian assistance to those in need.
To register visit http://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/initiatives/religious-literacy-and-professions-initiative/global-health/registration
More information at http://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/initiatives/religious-literacy-and-professions-initiative/humanitarian-action
You can also access the live stream at http://hds.harvard.edu/news/live-stream
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Thursday, January 19
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Project Mapping Workshop with Sustainable Performance Institute
Thursday, January 19
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
50 Milk Street, "Homer" Room 18th Floor, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/project-mapping-workshop-with-sustainable-performance-institute-tickets-29117044865
Cost: $50 – $65
Despite lots of noise, integrative design is still a myth in most firms. Part of the blind-spot is that we keep looking at design process in the context of the project only, and not the organization – it’s culture, structure, systems and tools. What are the firm’s expectations? How effective is accountability? Does the commitment to sustainability manifest in all aspects of the firm?
For firms pursuing the AIA 2030 Commitment, your project delivery methodology can make or break success. How does a team measure its effectiveness? Does good collaboration yield better results? Is IP more than a kick-off charrette and "one-hit wonder"? Can IP be achieved in individual project teams if the overall firm culture and methodology isn’t aligned with it?
USGBC’s LEED program now recognizes the importance of integrated process with the new v4 IP credit, so more teams are paying attention to this, but will a LEED credit (again) cause more hoop-jumping without actually providing more value? 70% of a project's performance and impacts are decided in the first 10% of the process, so it's critical to get it right.
This workshop is a practical and applied look at how your firm can truly capture the value provided by institutionalizing IP - and getting the LEED credit follows naturally! Successfully implementing IP requires a clear, shared understanding of what integration means in your firm culture, how individuals in different roles participate and alignment with consultants around your project delivery objectives. Critical efforts happen beyond the project focus and require change management to help everyone feel comfortable.
This is a 100% interactive workshop where you will be guided through an exercise to deconstruct and remap your firms process, identifying along the way what organizational triggers need to be addressed so that integrative design is actually the bedrock of project management and not an elusive miracle achieved only with the most progressive clients.
You will gain strategies to help you truly embed IP into daily project management practices and participants leave with practical, actionable steps that will help you implement qualitative changes in your project delivery methodology the next day.
About the Presenter:
Barbra Batshalom is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Sustainable Performance Institute and past founder and president of the USGBC Affiliate in Massachusetts. She is an industry leader whose vision drives the organization's programs to transform the market from public policy to professional practice. Her work focuses on the intersection of systems, processes and culture. With a diverse background of fine arts, social psychology and 20 years in architecture and sustainability consulting, she brings a variety of skills to her work and a unique perspective engaging the human dynamics of decision-making and creative collaboration to technical work. She's an educator, public speaker and change agent that works with a wide range of governmental, institutional and private sector organizations to help them institutionalize sustainability and achieve measurable improvements in performance and profitability. SPI's green firm Certification is the first industry program to provide a framework for evaluating the capability of design and construction firms to deliver a consistent, high quality sustainability service and was adopted by HUD in 2011. SPI's Green Firm Boot Camp workshop program has been delivered to hundreds of firms nation-wide to help raise the bar on professional practice in the industry. Barbra teaches sustainable real estate development in Brandeis University’s International Business School. She has served on numerous boards, task forces and committees to help develop public and corporate policies for sustainability and teaches courses on change management for sustainability for professionals around the world.
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NECEC's Emerging Trends Series: Utility of the Future
Thursday, January 19
8:30 AM – 10:30 AM EST
Brown Rudnick, 1 Financial Center, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nececs-emerging-trends-series-utility-of-the-future-tickets-30357354665
Cost: $0 – $50
NECEC’s Emerging Trends Series are networking and educational events that discuss hot topics, growing markets and emerging trends in the clean energy industry. Forums are hosted at NECEC Sponsor offices and free to NECEC Members and Sponsors.
This event will explore MIT's recently released study The Utility of the Future. This comprehensive study has sought to address the technology, policy, and business models shaping the evolution of the delivery of electricity services. It examines several possible scenarios of the future of the electricity sector in order to inform utilities, regulators, policy makers, and new market actors attempting to navigate a rapidly changing industry. It seeks to answer the following questions:
What key distributed energy technologies can disrupt the power sector?
How might distributed energy resources – such as solar panels or plug-in vehicles in garages – impact power system operations, markets, and regulations?
What business models may develop, and how will they successfully serve both upstream electricity market actors and energy consumers?
What impact could these new business models have on incumbent utilities, and what opportunities may exist for other industry sectors to capitalize on these changes?
How will regulation need to evolve to create a level playing field for both distributed and traditional energy resources?
What are plausible visions of the future of the power sector, including changes for incumbent utilities, new electricity service providers, regulators, policy makers, and consumers?
Speakers will include
Richard Tabors, Executive Director, Utility of the Future Project, MIT Energy Initiative
Jesse Jenkins, Research Team, Utility of the Future Project, MIT Energy Initiative
Tim Woolf, Vice President, Synapse Energy Economics
Paul Centolella, President, Paul Centolella & Associates
Janet Gail Besser, Executive Vice President, NECEC (moderator)
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Data, Dollars, and Algorithms: The Computational Economy
WHEN Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Science Center, Hall B, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Conferences, Ethics, Information Technology, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Institute for Applied Computational Science (IACS) at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
COST Free and open to the public; No registration required.
CONTACT INFO Email: info at seas.harvard.edu
DETAILS You buy lunch from a food truck and pay by waving your cell phone; before you’ve finished your sandwich, the transaction is posted to your bank account. This is an example of how computer technology lubricates the economy. At a deeper level, computation is also essential to many aspects of financial engineering—portfolio selection, risk management, high-speed trading, the design of new market mechanisms such as online auctions, and even algorithms for the donation and exchange of human organs. With BitCoin, money itself has become a computational object. And yet there remain pitfalls in economic life that algorithmic methods have so far failed to overcome. We still struggle to forecast and control macroeconomic cycles of boom and bust and to deal with inequities of wealth distribution. Merely measuring the state of the economy (productivity, employment, inflation) is slow and imprecise. Can abundant data and computational power play a role in improving this situation?
This symposium will explore how access to copious streams of data and powerful computing resources are transforming our understanding of economic activity—and how these same tools are changing the nature of the economy itself.
LINK http://computefest.seas.harvard.edu/symposium
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WEBINAR - Five Steps to Take Now to Build a Strategic Plan in a Changing Political Environment
Thursday, January 19
4:00 PM to 4:45 PM (EST)
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/webinar-five-steps-to-take-now-to-build-a-strategic-plan-in-a-changing-political-environment-tickets-30355841138
Cost: $27.37
As the dust continues to settle from the historic 2016 Presidential election, it's time to assess what you should do to prepare your company for the shifting political environment. Though uncertainty abounds about what direction the new administration will take in the education arena, there is no doubt that changes are coming. And while the ambiguity makes the idea of hunkering down an attractive one, it is important to remember that with change comes opportunity, and your company - in every department - needs to be prepared to act in the new environment. Hope is not a strategy, after all. If you're still searching for how to begin, this webinar will provide you with several key steps that you should be taking to survive in a changing political environment.
About the Speaker
Rita Ferrandino the Founder of Arc Capital Development has built a reputation as one of the most effective strategists and coalition-builders in the education community. She is a nationally recognized STEM education expert and authority on education policy and politics. Specialties: early-stage investment capital, create successful shareholder exits, revenue audits, hands-on business and operating experience. Dream-maker; Rain-maker; Fun-maker.
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Deep Learning Workshop - Part II
Thursday, January 19
5:00 PM
Anchor room, 121, 50 Milk Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/QuantUniversity-Meetup/events/236423980/
Interest in Deep Learning has been growing in the past few years. With advances in software and hardware technologies, Neural Networks are making a resurgence. With interest in AI based applications growing, and companies like IBM, Google, Microsoft, NVidia investing heavily in computing and software applications, it is time to understand Deep Learning better!
In this lecture, we will get an introduction to Autoencoders and Recurrent Neural Networks and understand the state-of-the-art in hardware and software architectures. Functional Demos will be presented in Keras, a popular Python package with a backend in Theano. This will be a preview of the QuantUniversity Deep Learning Workshop that will be offered in 2017.
See http://www.slideshare.net/QuantUniversity/deep-learning-70411004 for slides from Part 1 of the workshop. The code for this workshop is available in the Files section when you join the QuantUniversity meetup group
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Ghostlight Project at BU
Thursday, January 19
5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Boston Playwrights' Theatre, CFA, BU Theatre Center, Tsai Performance Center
BU School of Theatre, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, the Tsai Performance Center, and the BU Arts Initiative are joining the national movement - The Ghostlight Project - https://theghostlightproject.com.
Gathering outside of theaters on the eve of the Presidential Inauguration, people will join in a collective, simultaneous action, together creating “light” for challenging times ahead. Inspired by the tradition of leaving a “ghost light” on in a darkened theater, these artists and communities will make a pledge to continued vigilance and increased advocacy.
The Ghostlight Project aims to unite the theater community nationwide in solidarity. The project aims to create spaces – both literal and symbolic – that will serve as lights in the coming years, and to activate a network of people across the country working to support vulnerable communities.
The Ghostlight Project defines “sanctuary” as a space where:
It is safe to be who you are, regardless of race, class, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation
Diverse opinions, dissent, and argument are not only tolerated, but invited
Active listening and courageous exchange are fundamental values
Collective action, activism, and community engagement, both within and outside the walls of the theater, are cultivated, encouraged, and supported
The event on January 19th marks the initiation of an ongoing commitment by institutions and artists to work for social justice and equity in the coming years, with each group or individual empowered to determine their particular course of action to serve these principles.
By signing up here, you are committing to participating in the action on January 19th and to support and work toward the principles of the Ghostlight Project.
Our action at BU will be to create a traveling light from Boston Playwrights' Theatre to CFA and the new Theatre Center to the Tsai. Each of you will be sent instructions in advance of the date.
Contact: artsinbu at bu.edu
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Talks at Google - Real Social Change: Understanding the Data on How to Improve Communities
Thursday, January 19
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM EST
Google Cambridge, 355 Main Street, 5th floor, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/talks-at-google-real-social-change-understanding-the-data-on-how-to-improve-communities-tickets-30254590294
We’ll look at new ways of using big data to assess quality of life and pinpoint social forces that might be underestimated. We'll also explore how these findings can both help foster - and stymie - innovation and high-quality jobs.
Panelists: Mario Small (Harvard); Scott Stern (MIT Sloan).
*This event is free of charge, but space is limited, so reserve your space today!
Google pairs up with Kara Miller, journalist and radio host of Innovation Hub, to bring you an exciting thought-leadership series in the heart of Kendall Square.
You're invited to join us in Google's Cambridge location to explore a wide range of themes from income inequality to new research on obesity with some of our region's brightest minds. Come at 5:30 for the networking reception, talks start promptly at 6pm.
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The Future of Legal Hacking. Is Artificial Intelligence the answer?
Thursday, January 19
6:30 PM
Suffolk University Law School, Sergeant Hall Function Room 1st floor, 120 Tremont Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/Boston-and-Cambridge-Legal-Hackers/events/236483134/
We are pleased to announce our 2017 Kick Off event on Thursday, January 19, 2017 together with our friends and legal innovators at Suffolk University Law School!
After a brief hiatus we are convening to set the agenda, get to know each other, and discuss the current developments and the future of legal hacking. Now more than ever there is a growing need for the technology to encourage and enable public participation in the political process. Access to justice through technology remains a hot topic. Is artificial intelligence the answer?
We will explore the AI phenomenon in greater detail through a moderated panel featuring:
Dazza Greenwood, CIVICS.com, MIT
Warren Agin, Member, Swiggart & Agin LLC
Louie Balasny, Managing Director, Botkeeper
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Tainted Witness: Why We Doubt What Women Say about Their Lives
Thursday, January 19
7:00pm
Porter Square Books, 25 White Street, Cambridge
Leigh Gilmore
In 1991, Anita Hill’s testimony during Clarence Thomas’s Senate confirmation hearing brought the problem of sexual harassment to a public audience. Although widely believed by women, Hill was defamed by conservatives and Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court. The tainting of Hill and her testimony is part of a larger social history in which women find themselves caught up in a system that refuses to believe what they say. Anita Hill’s experience shows how a tainted witness is not who someone is, but what someone can become.
Why are women so often considered unreliable witnesses to their own experience? How are women discredited in legal courts and in courts of public opinion? Why is women’s testimony so often mired in controversies fueled by histories of slavery and colonialism? How do new feminist witnesses enter testimonial networks and disrupt doubt? Tainted Witness examines how gender, race, and doubt stick to women witnesses as their testimony circulates in search of an adequate witness. Judgment falls unequally upon women who bear witness, as well-known conflicts about testimonial authority in the late 20th and early 21st century reveal. omen’s testimonial accounts demonstrate both the symbolic potency of women’s bodies and speech in the public sphere and the relative lack of institutional security and control to which they can lay claim. Each testimonial act follows in the wake of a long and invidious association of race and gender with lying that circulates to this day within legal courts and everyday practices of judgment, defining these locations as willfully unknowing and hostile to complex accounts of harm. Bringing together feminist, literary, and legal frameworks, Leigh Gilmore provides provocative readings of what happens when women’s testimony is discredited. She demonstrates how testimony crosses jurisdictions, publics, and the unsteady line between truth and fiction in search of justice.
Leigh Gilmore, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Wellesley, is the author of The Limits of Autobiography: Trauma and Testimony, Autobiographics: A Feminist Theory of Women's Self-Representation, and coeditor of Autobiography and Postmodernism.
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Sustainable Socials with Green Cambridge!
Thursday, January 19
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Plug Cambridge, 618 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/Green-Cambridge-Meetup/events/236259417/
Look for our banner!
Come and join Green Cambridge for our monthly meet-up!
We are a group of Cantabrigians dedicated to improving the environment and striving for sustainability. We'll be talking about all things green, giving run-downs on our community, advocacy and organizing work, and just getting to know one another.
Can't make it? We'll be repeating the event the third Thursday of every month! Plus, our organizing and planning meetings happen the first Thursday of every month.
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Together We Rise: A Counter-Inaugural Celebration of Resistance
Thursday, January 19
7 -11 PM
The Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road, Dorchester
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/together-we-rise-a-counter-inaugural-celebration-of-resistance-tickets-30518314099
Cost: $10
Join Together We Rise: A Counter-Inaugural Celebration of Resistance as we raise our voices for a more just, creative, & peaceful future. The one-of-a-kind event–to be held on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration–will include a procession to the theater, social justice art show, mobilization fair, and a call-to-action concert featuring a talented and inspiring set of performers including renowned musician Larry Watson. Additional performers to join the bill include spoken word poets, comedians, and authors.
Suggested donation of $10 for this all ages event. Doors open at 7. Concert starts at 8.
With the goal of inspiring people to take creative political action, Together We Rise will bring together over 1,000 attendees from across Boston to raise their voices for a more peaceful, just, and creative world. Visit togetherweriseboston.org for more information about the procession to the theater, recently added performers and artists, and sponsoring activist organizations.
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Friday, January 20
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Critical Race Theory and the Health Sciences
Friday, January 20
Boston University School of Law, 765 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhI9M8cbaXOqVR9qWxztO0yBkzFUda-UBRLSecpnEi5vxbng/viewform
This symposium will explore the embedded nature of race in the health sciences and identify opportunities to disrupt and rethink these arrangements in pursuit of racial justice and health equity. We will examine the interconnected histories of science, medicine, and law that lead racial differences and disparities to be mistakenly understood and experienced as natural phenomena, obscuring their social, political, and economic determinants. We will also discuss the theoretical and empirical interventions that bring attention to the constructed nature of our racial imaginations in the health sciences. Additionally, the methodological challenges associated with developing intersectional approaches that do not obscure (and indeed support) the centrality of other identity standpoints—such as sex, gender, class, sexuality, and disability—when exploring race in health sciences research will be considered through the symposium presentations and discussions.
Organizers
Khiara M. Bridges (Boston University, School of Law and Department of Anthropology)
Terence Keel (University of California, Santa Barbara, Departments of History and Black Studies)
Osagie K. Obasogie (University of California, Berkeley, Joint Medical Program and School of Public Health)
Major Addresses by
Jay Kaufman (McGill University, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health)
Dorothy Roberts (University of Pennsylvania Law School)
Patricia Williams (Columbia University School of Law)
Conference Panelists
Aziza Ahmed (Northeastern University School of Law)
Ruha Benjamin (Princeton University, Department of African American Studies)
Deborah Bolnick (University of Texas, Austin, Department of Anthropology)
Chandra Ford (UCLA, Fielding School of Public Health)
Michele Goodwin (University of California, Irvine School of Law)
Jonathan Kahn (Mitchell Hamline School of Law)
Amani Nuru-Jeter (UC Berkeley, School of Public Health)
Alexandra Stern (University of Michigan, Departments of History, Women’s Studies, Obstetrics and Gynecology)
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Starr Forum Movie: Cache
Friday, January 20
12:00p–2:00p
MIT, Building E15-070, Bartos Theater, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
CIS Starr Forum
A public events series on pressing issues in international affairs, sponsored by the MIT Center for International Studies.
Cache, titled Hidden in the UK and Ireland, is a 2005 French psychological thriller written and directed by Michael Haneke. Starring Daniel Auteuil as Georges and Juliette Binoche as his wife Anne, the film follows an upper-class French couple who are terrorized by anonymous tapes that appear on their front porch and hint at childhood memories of the husband.
Cache opened to acclaim from film critics, who lauded Binoche's acting and Haneke's direction. The ambiguities of its plot continue to attract considerable discussion among scholars; many have commented on the film's themes of "bourgeois guilt" and collective memory, often drawing parallels between its narrative and the French government's decades-long denial of the 1961 Seine River massacre. Cache is today regarded as one of the greatest films of the 2000s.
Part of the MIT Independent Activities Period (IAP)
Co-sponsored by MIT Germany, MIT France, and MIT Language Conversation Exchange (LCE)
For more information or accessibility accommodations please contact starrforum at mit.edu.
Web site: https://cis.mit.edu/events/starr-forum-cach%C3%A9
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT-Germany Program, Center for International Studies, MIT-France Program, MIT Language Conversation Exchange (LCE)
For more information, contact: 617-253-8306
starrforum at mit.edu
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SeeClickFix MMA Meet Up at McGreevy’s
Friday, January 20
12:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST
McGreevy's Boston, 911 Boylston Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seeclickfix-mma-meet-up-at-mcgreevys-tickets-31164272177
During the Massachusetts Municipal Association Annual Meeting, SeeClickFix Team will be hosting a MMA Meetup at McGreevy's Pub (right by the Sheraton) from noon-6pm.
Swing through to discuss best practices, tips, and tools for using SeeClickFix. And have a drink on us!
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Plaza WinterFest 2017
WHEN Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, 12 – 8 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, The Science Center Plaza, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Music, Special Events, Wellness/Work Life
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Common Spaces
COST Free
TICKET WEB LINK commonspaces.harvard.edu
DETAILS Harvard Common Spaces is pleased to announce the exciting lineup of winter activities planned for the Plaza. This year, it’s all about fun activities, food, and festivities – easy to do on a lunch break, in between classes, on your way home, or over the weekend.
Beginning Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 students, faculty, and staff can enjoy the newly designed ice lanes featuring curling, shuffleboard, and bowling. The Plaza will also be home to plenty of comfortable seating around toasty fire pits, favorite games like ping pong, foosball, cornhole, and many tasty treats courtesy of food trucks including Bon Me, Tenoch, Stoked, and Zinneken’s in addition to hot chocolate and s’mores from Harvard Student Agencies.
On Thursday, January 26, join us between 4:30-6:30 p.m. for the Official Plaza WinterFest Kickoff Party featuring performances by the acapella groups The Harvard Callbacks and The Harvard LowKeys; Tunes by ‘The DJ Club’; warm fire pits along with complimentary s’mores and hot chocolate; and the Harvard Undergraduate Council will be giving out door prizes throughout the night. Don’t miss it!
LINK commonspaces.harvard.edu
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Economics and Politics of Brexit
Friday, January 20, 2017
1:00p–2:00p
MIT, Building E51-149, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: John Van Reenen (MIT)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Economics IAP
For more information, contact: economics calendar
econ-cal at mit.edu
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Mathematics of Big Data
Friday, January 20
1:00p–2:30p
MIT Building 2-190, 2 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Speaker: Jeremy Kepner
"Big Data" describes a new era in the digital age where the volume, velocity, and variety of data created across a wide range of fields
(e.g., internet search, healthcare, finance, social media, defense,...) is increasing at a rate well beyond our ability to analyze the
data. Many technologies (e.g., spreadsheets, databases, graphs, linear algebra, ...) have been developed to address these challenges.
The common theme amongst these technologies is the need to store and operate on data as whole collections instead of as individual data
elements. This class describes the common mathematical foundation of these data collections (associative arrays) that apply across a wide range of applications and technologies. Associative arrays unify and
simplify Big Data leading to rapid solutions to Big Data volume, velocity, and variety problems. Understanding these mathematical
foundations allows the student to see past the differences that lie on the surface of Big Data applications and technologies and leverage
their core mathematical similarities to solve the hardest Big Data challenges.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Mathematics, Department of
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Town Hall: Inauguration of the 45th President of the United States of America
Friday, January 20
4:00 pm
BU, 121 Bay State Road, Boston
Town Hall discussion with Pardee School faculty and students. Limited seating. First come, first served. Doors close when room capacity is reached.
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Resist Trump: Occupy Inauguration Boston!
Friday, January 20
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Boston Common, Parkman Bandstand, Boston
#ResistTrump! #OccupyInauguration! Trump?s victory in the presidential election was a profound shock to tens of millions of progressive workers, young people, immigrants, women, people of color, Muslims, and LGBTQ people across the U.S. As Trump's reactionary cabinet appointments have been announced and the list of targets of his administration has become clearer, there is enormous fear and anger in many communities. The reported plans to deport up to three million people, establish a registry for Muslims, criminalize dissent
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Saturday, January 21 - Sunday, January 22
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Beyond Tomorrow: Arts, Culture, Community and the Future of Civilization
Saturday, January 21-Sunday, January 22
10:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Harvard, Adams House, 26 Plympton Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://fdrfoundation.org/wintersession17/
A two-day conference where we ask the question: "How can we use the power of the arts and humanities to address the challenges that confront our communities and our planet today and threaten our very existence in the future?" Throughout Beyond Tomorrow, we will highlight creative thinkers in fields as diverse as ancient Mayan culture to bio-molecular exploration, who will share with us examples of non-linear, creative leaps that have influenced their work; identify sources of their inspiration; and show us how to better harness imagination and curiosity in our own fields of endeavor. And to provide additional proof that thinking outside-the-box can make for incredible results, conference attendees will participate in hands-on workshops that in a space of an hour, will introduce them to a new creative lens to see the world. Alumni are welcome to attend either or both days of the conference.
Both events are free. For more information and to register, please visit the FDR Foundation website at http://fdrfoundation.org
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Saturday, January 21
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Boston Women's March For America (EVENT)
Saturday, January 21
11 AM - 3 PM
Boston Common, Boston
RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/1907531039490905/
On January 21, 2017, we will unite in Boston to march in solidarity with communities most affected by the hate, intolerance and acts of violence being perpetrated throughout the nation -- among many are communities of women, immigrants, people of color, and people who identify as LGBTQIA and people with disabilities.
We stand for religious freedom, human rights, climate
justice, racial justice, economic justice and reproductive justice. Together, we will send a message to our leaders and the world that the United States of America stands for values of human decency, equal rights and freedom from discrimination.
ALL ARE WELCOME. This is a march for all of us. Our goal is that on the day after the Inauguration, people from Massachusetts and hundreds of thousands of Americans from other cities, towns and schools across the nation will march together.
Please sign up on Facebook and share with all your friends and family.
*If you know people interested in marching in other communities across the country, please refer them to our national page: https://www.facebook.com/wmfa2017/
If you can: DONATE the money you would have spent going to DC- to non-profits and organizations that are working to better the lives of women and their allies.
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Sunday, January 22
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Botany Blast: Seeing Climate Change in Your Backyard
Sunday, January 22
2:30–3:30pm
Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain
RSVP at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Policies.aspx
Alyssa Rosemartin, Partner & Application Specialist, The USA National Phenology Network
Learn what you can do to help scientists in their studies of the effects of a changing climate on plants and animals. Alyssa Rosemartin of the USA National Phenology Network will speak about the science of the seasons and the power of citizen science initiatives, like Tree Spotters. Interested in improving communication between scientists, the public and decision-makers, she will discuss how phenological data informs natural resource conservation and national policy. Learn how to gather data and engage with the scientific method in support of science's key role in society. She will also discuss the history and future direction of the National Phenology Network and the importance of individual contributors.
Fee Free, registration requested
Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.
Botany Blasts are designed to encourage citizen scientists (Tree Spotters) as well as recreational naturalists to look closely at the changing characteristics of trees that provide clues to their seasonal development and to consider a plant's role in its environment.
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Stories of the Forever War featuring readings from The Road Ahead: Stories of the Forever War
Sunday, January 22
6:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store welcomes local writers and veterans MAURICE DECAUL, TERESA FAZIO, COLIN D. HALLORAN, and LAUREN HALLORAN for a discussion of The Road Ahead: Stories of the Forever War, a short story collection that explores the aftereffects of the Iraq and Afghan Wars. Bestselling author BRIAN CASTNER, co-editor of The Road Ahead, will introduce and moderate the discussion.
About The Road Ahead
A decade has passed since boots first hit the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet the war has not ended—only changed. Twenty-five diverse veteran voices reflect the changing face of combat and reflect the haunting realities and truths only fiction can reveal.
These masterfully crafted stories from writers who have served reflect the entire breadth of human emotion—loss, anger, joy, love, fear, and courage—and the evolving nature of what has become America’s "Forever War.”
From debut writers to experienced contributors whose work has been featured in the New York Times, the Atlantic, and the New Yorker, this exceptional collection promises to be the definitive fictional look at the aftereffects of the Iraq and Afghan Wars, and will resonate with the reader long after the final page.
Including stories by: Elliot Ackerman, Benjamin Busch, Brandon Caro, Maurice Decaul, Teresa Fazio, Thomas Gibbons Neff, Aaron Gwyn, Alex Horton, Matt Robinson, Kristen L. Rouse, Chris Wolfe, Kayla M. Williams, Brandon Willitts, and many others.
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Monday, January 23
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On Growth and Form
Monday, January 23
11:00a–12:00p
McGovern Auditorium, located in Whitehead Institute, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge
Speaker: L Mahadevan
2nd talk in the series "Quantitative Biology"
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Biology
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The Economic State of the World
Monday, January 23
1:00p–2:30p
MIT, Building E51-315, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Olivier Blanchard (IMF)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Economics IAP
For more information, contact: economics calendar
econ-cal at mit.edu
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New financing models for funding fusion energy
Monday, January 23
2:00p–3:00p
MIT, Building NW17-218, 175 Albany Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Andrew Lo, MIT Sloan School
The idea of fusion energy is nearly half a century old, yet we still seem far away from "ignition." One of the biggest hurdles is lack of funding. However, the recent announcement by Softbank of a $100 billion technology fund suggests that there *is* money available if we can create a financially attractive investment vehicle to commercialize fusion technology. In this talk, Prof. Lo will describe some of the necessary financial ingredients for launching such a fund.
Web site: http://www.psfc.mit.edu/events
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Plasma Science and Fusion Center
For more information, contact: Paul Rivenberg
617-253-8101
rivenberg at psfc.mit.edu
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King's America or Obama's Post-Racial America?
Monday, January 23
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
Boston University, Law Auditorium, 767 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kings-america-or-obamas-post-racial-america-tickets-30921084797
Join us as Dean Elmore moderates a panel with Dr. Barbara Reynolds, author of the just-released book My Life, My Love, My Legacy: Coretta Scott King, and Roger Brooks, President and CEO of Facing History. The conversation will focus on the cultural, social and political state of the country and will question whether we have truly moved into the vision of America articulated by President Obama.
The Law Auditorium is located behind Marsh Plaza.
Dr. Reynold's book will be available for puchase and signing at the event.
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Tuesday, January 24 - Wednesday, January 25
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Preparing Urban Forests for Climate Change
Tuesday, January 24 - Wednesday, January 25
MIT Stratton Student Center & Cambridge City Hall Annex
RSVP at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07edim1ux90f2e2fdf&llr=jqfo5obab
This workshop is aimed at urban and community forestry professionals, planners, and others in the Boston region on how to develop and implement management actions to help urban forests respond to climate change. The workshop is organized by the US Forest Service Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science with support from MAPC, MA Department of Conservation & Recreation, City of Cambridge, Trust for Public Land, and MIT. For more information at http://forestadaptation.org/boston-fapp%20
Small registration fee applies to cover lunch ($20 per day). Second day is a hands-on session and is optional.
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Tuesday, January 24
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Scientific Communication
Tuesday, January 24
1:30p–3:00p
MIT, Building 68-181, 31 Ames Street, Cambridge
Joseph Caputo, MSc, Media Relations Manager, Cell Press
Julie Sollier, PhD, Scientific Editor, Cell Press
Megan Thielking, Reporter and Lead Writer, STAT
Lisa Welch, MSc, Medical Writing, DynaMed/EBSCO
If you enjoy talking about and explaining science, come learn about the diverse career paths in scientific communication including journal editors, medical writers, and journalists. Panelists will explain how a PhD can be advantageous in their field and how to transition from science to science writing.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Biology
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From Zika Virus to Lyme Disease - Integrated Pest Management
WHEN Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
WHERE Webinar - Follow link to register
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Environmental Protection Agency
SPEAKER(S) Richard Pollack of Harvard's Environmental Health & Safety group.
TICKET WEB LINK https://epawebconferencing-events.acms.com/content/connect/c1/7/en/events/event/shared/108310290/event_registration.html?sco-id=108310299
DETAILS Recent developments in pest-borne diseases, such as the emergence of Zika virus and spread of Lyme disease, signal the need to continually assess the threat of urban pests to public health. Illnesses carried by insects, rodents, and other pests affect all races, ethnicities, ages, and cultures. Vector-borne illnesses are an ever-present threat and efforts to prevent them are critical to protecting public health.
Join us as we discuss the primary pests of public health concern, review control strategies, and describe tactics to reduce exposure in your school district.
LINK https://epawebconferencing-events.acms.com/content/connect/c1/7/en/events/event/shared/108310290/event_registration.html?sco-id=108310299
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Books at Baker Presents Eugene Soltes, author of "Why They Do It”
WHEN Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Business School, Cumnock Hall 102, 33 Harvard Way, Allston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Ethics
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Business School Baker Library
SPEAKER(S) Eugene Soltes
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS Harvard Business School professor Eugene Soltes draws from extensive personal interaction and correspondence with nearly fifty former executives as well as the latest research in psychology, criminology, and economics to investigate how once-celebrated executives become white-collar criminals. The product of seven years in the company of the men behind the largest corporate crimes in history, Why They Do It is a breakthrough look at the dark side of the business world. There will be a talk and a Q&A with Professor Soltes and books can be signed (please bring your own copy).
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Panel Discussion: Urban History on the Digital Frontier
Tuesday, January 24
5:15PM - 7:30PM
Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston
RSVP at seminars at masshist.org
Vivek Bald, MIT, Jack A. Dougherty, Trinity College, and Marilynn S. Johnson, Boston College
Moderator: Douglas O'Reagan, MIT
Bald is working on a transmedia project aimed at recovering the histories of peddlers and steamship workers from British colonial India who came to the U.S. in the early 20th century. It includes a digital oral history website. Dougherty and his students are writing an open-access book, On The Line: How Schooling, Housing, and Civil Rights Shaped Hartford and its Suburbs, which features interactive maps and oral history videos. Johnson’s Global Boston is a public history website combining a basic immigration history overview for the region with student research, oral history, and a curated selection of digitized primary sources, images and maps documenting the local immigrant experience.
Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required
Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers.
MODERN AMERICAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE SEMINAR
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Data Visualizations that Bring Data to Life
Tuesday, January 24
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EST
Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/data-visualizations-that-bring-data-to-life-tickets-30853183703
Through case studies and visuals, Julie Rodriguez and Piotr Kaczmarek, co-author of Visualizing Financial Data, demonstrate methods to communicate financial information in a visual context. The set of case studies provide a fresh take on data visualizations that contrast traditional uses of charts with new methods that provide more effective representations of the data to produce greater insights. Topics include:
How to communicate time-lapsed data to better understand the context of an event (e.g., how to incorporate details into the standard bar chart that provides perspective and creates awareness)
How to display multiple variables to analyze and compare attributes (e.g., how to compare the characteristics of a collection of entities to determine behavior, trends, and outliers)
How to show associations and links between datasets to understand the impact one value has on another (i.e., setting up these displays for better comparison and making them concise)
Rodriguez is Creative Director at Sapient Global Markets. She was previously employed at MathWorks and Fidelity Investments. She received her bachelor’s degree in industrial design from Carnegie Mellon University and her master’s degree in digital media from Harvard Extension School. She has patented her work in commodities trading and data visualizations for MATLAB and publishes industry articles on user experience and data analysis and visualization.
Piotr is an Associate Creative Director based in Sapient’s Boston office. He joined Sapient Global Markets in 2012 after more than 20 years career in designing of visual systems with a purpose of making abstract concepts and data accessible to users. Piotr has an extensive experience in the field of information architecture. He is experienced in many forms of interactive data visualizations, from elaborate analytical tools to simple but effective ways of delivering dashboard-level summaries. Piotr studied architecture at Warsaw university of Technology and holds a master's degree in industrial design from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland.
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Daring Democracy
Tuesday, January 24
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/Daring-Democracy/events/236681196/
Please join Frances Moore Lappé and Bob Massie in a discussion about how we can grow the emerging Democracy Movement into a new and thrilling world in which everyone, and the rest of life, thrives.
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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, January 25
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What Should Your Website Strategy Be?
Wednesday, January 25
10 am - 12 pm
224 Western Avenue, Allston
RSVP at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07edjvpencfa17d699
Description: All business owners know they need a website, but what can your website do for you? What should your website strategy be? This workshop will help you understand some of the options: lead generation, e-commerce, branding, converting leads to sales. Learn how to prioritize design efforts, and how to measure the success of your website. Suitable for new or established business owners who want to know how to think about their website.
Presenter: Carol Scalzo, CMO & Founder of Hit-the-Web Marketing, whose tagline says it all: Using Online Marketing as Your Strategic Weapon. Carol has over 20 years hands-on experience developing websites and ten years implementing digital marketing strategies that generate leads and sell products online. She is eager to share her creative passion with you to help you achieve your business goals.
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Financing Global Climate Change Commitments: The Role of Public Finance
Wednesday, January 25
12:00 pm to 1:30 pm
BU, The Pardee Center, 67 Bay State Road, Boston
The seminar will include brief presentations by panelists including:Prof. Kevin Gallagher, Pardee School of Global Studies and co-director, Global Economic Governance Initiative; Prof. Henrik Selin, Pardee School of Global Studies; Miquel Muñoz Cabré, Research Fellow, Global Economic Governance Initiative; Irene Monastrello, Post-Doctoral Associate, Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future
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The Impact of Removing Tax Preferences for U.S. Oil and Gas Production (Gilbert Metcalf)
WHEN Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, 4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Littauer-382, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy
Harvard Environmental Economics Program
SPEAKER(S) Gilbert Metcalf, Tufts University
LINK https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/16492
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Population, Generation and Nation: Understanding the Arab World Through Demography
WHEN Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, 4:15 – 5:45 p.m.
WHERE Darman Seminar Rm, 1st floor, Taubman Bldg, Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Middle East Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
SPEAKER(S) Philippe Fargues, Professor, Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute; Associate, Harvard Kennedy School
CONTACT INFO elizabethflanagan at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS Philippe Fargues is a sociologist and demographer. He is a part-time Professor at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute and an Affiliate at Harvard Kennedy School. He was the founding Director of EUI’s Migration Policy Centre and held senior positions at the National Institute for Demographic Studies in Paris and the American University in Cairo and taught at Harvard and various universities in France, the Middle East and Africa. His research interests include migration, population and politics.
Unless otherwise noted, CMES events are open to the public (no registration required), and off the record. Please note that events may be filmed and photographed by CMES for record-keeping and for use on the CMES website and publications.
LINK http://cmes.fas.harvard.edu/event/population-generation-and-nation-understanding-arab-world-through-demography
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Climate Preparedness in Massachusetts - How Systems Thinking Will Drive Technology and Policy
Wednesday, January 25
5:30p–8:00p
MIT, Building 32-123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.mitforumcambridge.org/events/climate-preparedness-in-massachusetts-systems-approach/
Cost: $0 - $45
Speaker: Professor John Sterman, Director, Systems Dynamics Group, MIT
By the end of this century, the coast of Massachusetts is expected to witness a sea level rise between two and six feet. And superstorms are expected to become more frequent and more powerful. In responding to this threat, policy makers and technologists will need to take a broad and systems-based approach to renewable energy, grid infrastructure and urban de
Join us for a dive into the:
Policies that will shape Massachusetts??? strategy for future resiliency
Big data tools and models that will help us cope
Private sector responses and technologies that will enable us to adapt to the changing climate
Web site: http://www.mitforumcambridge.org/events/climate-preparedness-in-massachusetts-systems-approach/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free for Students; $20 MITEF Members: $45 non-members
Sponsor(s): MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge
For more information, contact: Amy Goggins
617-253-3937
entforumcambridge at mit.edu
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Truth, Fact, and the Future of Journalism
Wednesday, January 25
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Workbar Cambridge, 45 Prospect Street, Central Square, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/citizen-futures/events/236100597/
The Big Idea: What "truth" do we want from journalism? How will we define media and journalism going forward? Is the business model broken? Will journalism still have a voice?
Overview - Follow the money: The media landscape is primarily built on a business model driven by advertising dollars and eye balls. The incentive structure then naturally influences the content that is created. Ad tech, click bait, personalized content, curated News Feeds, Extremistan-style coverage, 24 hour "news"... Where does this lead us?
Questions
Do we actually care about truth? Or just "our" truth? (Effect of confirmation bias on what we choose to read)
The medium is the message: How does social media and newer models of distribution impact the content itself?
What is the future for independent or alt-media?
Money talks: What are alternative business models and how might this impact things like integrity, trust, readership?
Speakers
Chris Faraone (@fara1): Co-Founder of Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (BINJ), an incubator for independent media and journalists in Greater Boston, and the News & Features Editor at DigBoston. He has authored several books, including a first-hand account of the Occupy movement, and has been featured in publications such as Fast Company, SPIN, and the Columbia Journalism Review.
Agenda
6:30-7PM: Design Activity
7-8PM: Panel Discussion + Q&A
8-8:30PM: Chit chat
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Food for Thought: The Power and Potential of Food as an Educational Tool
Wednesday, January 25
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EST
Le Laboratoire Cambridge, 650 East Kendall Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artscience-talks-le-lab-leah-mennies-panel-discussion-tickets-31076625022
In a time when people are interested in local food, restaurant culture, and food media more than ever, can food be the ultimate tool for engaging the public in topics like science, history, culture, and economics? Our panel – experts with backgrounds in museum programming, the education startup world, and food media – will discuss their experiences answering this question.
Moderator
Leah Mennies, Editor, John Brown Media
Leah Mennies is an editor at John Brown Media, where she oversees Fresh, the house magazine of Hannaford supermarkets. Previously, she covered the Boston restaurant scene as the senior food editor at Boston magazine and as the Boston editor of NBC's The Feast. Her writing has appeared in Bon Appetit, Lucky Peach, The Boston Globe, Gather Journal, Punch, and more.
Panelists
Emma Boast, Program Director, Musem of Food and Drink
Emma oversees MOFAD's exhibitions and educational content. She led research and production of Chow: Making the Chinese American Restaurant (2016), Flavor: Making It and Faking It (2015), as well as the pop-up exhibit BOOM! The Puffing Gun and the Rise of Cereal (2013). She also develops the museum’s educational programming, including MOFAD Roundtable, MOFAD City, public talks, and family and school programming. Prior to joining MOFAD, Emma worked as a writer, editor, and educator at Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital in Japan. She holds a BA in Art History from the University of Chicago, where she received top honors for her undergraduate thesis on postwar design and architecture in the New York City subway.
Ben Leddy, Director of Curriculum, POLY
Ben Leddy is the Director of Curriculum at Poly, an education venture that brings hydroponic plant-growing to science classrooms across the country. Before Poly, Ben taught middle school social studies in Boston. His original educational songs and animated YouTube videos have received more than 300,000 views from around the world. Ben received his M.Ed from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Learn more at www.benleddy.com.
Peter Wong, Director of Food STEM, Museum of Science
Peter Y. Wong, Ph.D., is Director of Food STEM Initiative at the Museum of Science, Boston. The Food Initiative is part of the Museum's long range plans in formal and informal education to engage people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and address topics including sustainability and nutrition. Peter was previously the Museum's Director of University Relations and worked on grant related proposals and also to develop middle school engineering curriculum for schools. In the past, he has also been a Research Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Tufts University (Medford, MA) where he conducted research in heat transfer and materials processing and taught engineering courses, including Gourmet Engineering (Heat transfer in the Kitchen) for undergraduates. He is a co-author of a middle-grade reader book, "The Contaminated Case of the Cooking Contest," which is part of the Galactic Academy of Science series published by Tumblehome Learning, which he co-founded. He is also founder of a STEM/STEAM workshop, K2 Enrichment Program, in Newton, MA.
Daniel Souza & Molly Birnbaum, Co-founders/editors, Cook’s Science
Molly bio: Molly is project editor of the New York Times bestseller The Science of Good Cooking and a monthly contributor to NPR’s Splendid Table. She is the author of Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way (Ecco), a personal inquiry into the science and psychology of the sense of smell, which was shortlisted for an IACP award in Literary Food Writing in 2011. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, ARTnews, Modern Farmer, Fast Company, NPR’s Cognoscenti, and O, The Oprah Magazine, among others.
Dan bio: Dan is a cast member of the top-rated television show America’s Test Kitchen as well as a contributor to NPR’s Splendid Table. A former senior editor of Cook’s Illustrated, Dan is the kitchen editor of the New York Times bestseller The Science of Good Cooking (2012). After graduating first in his class from the Culinary Institute of America, Dan cooked in restaurants Boston and New York before finding his true calling: applying good science to create great recipes for the home cook.
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Film screening and discussion: The Age of Consequences
Wednesday, January 25
6:30–8:30 pm
Harvard, Geology Museum, Haller Hall, Room 102, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge
The Harvard University Center for the Environment invites you for a screening of the film Age of Consequences. Directed by Jared P. Scott, this film investigates the impacts of climate change, resource scarcity, migration, and conflict through the lens of US national security and global stability. Q&A with the film's Executive Producer Sophie Robinson will follow the screening. Co-sponsored with Operation Free. Free and open to the public. Food and refreshments will be provided.
The Hurt Locker meets An Inconvenient Truth, The Age of Consequences investigates the impacts of climate change on increased resource scarcity, migration, and conflict through the lens of US national security and global stability. Through unflinching case-study analysis, distinguished admirals, generals, and military veterans take us beyond the headlines of the conflict in Syria, the social unrest of the Arab Spring, the rise of radicalized groups like ISIS, and the European refugee crisis – and lay bare how climate change stressors interact with societal tensions, sparking conflict. Whether a long-term vulnerability or sudden shock, the film unpacks how water and food shortages, drought, extreme weather, and sea-level rise function as ‘accelerants of instability’ and ‘catalysts for conflict’ in volatile regions of the world. These Pentagon insiders make the compelling case that if we go on with business as usual, the consequences of climate change – waves of refugees, failed states, terrorism – will continue to grow in scale and frequency, with grave implications for peace and security in the 21st century. The film’s unnerving assessment is by no means reason for fatalism – but instead a call to action to rethink how we use and produce energy. As in any military defense and security strategy, time is our most precious resource.
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Thursday, January 26
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Rethinking the American Diet: Optimally Unifying Environmental and Nutritional Sciences
WHEN Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, 7:45 – 9:15 a.m.
WHERE Harvard Club, 374 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, Washington Room
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Health Sciences, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard University Technology Assessment in Health Care Monthly Seminar Series
SPEAKER(S) Gidon Eshel, Ph.D., Hrdy Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Research Professor of Environmental Science and Physics, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
CONTACT INFO Debra Milamed
debra_milamed at hms.harvard.edu
Tel. 617-327-5612
DETAILS Harvard University Technology Assessment in Health Care Monthly Seminar Series
Continental breakfast served.
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Lecture: Moving Beyond Conventional Peace Processes in Today's Unconventional Wars
Thursday, January 26, 2017
12:00p–1:30p
MIT, Building E51-315, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Ram Manikkalingam
Ram Manikkalingam has a notable and varied history in conflict resolution and international diplomacy, including serving as an advisor to former President Kumaratunga to help broker peace in Sri Lanka. In 2014, Ram was deeply involved in negotiating the Basque separatist group ETA's disarmament as senior spokesperson for the International Verification Commission. He is also a founding director of the Dialogue Advisory Group (DAG), an Amsterdam-based nonprofit organization designed to facilitate political dialogue between armed groups, governments and the UN in areas of armed conflict. DAG has been working in Libya, Iraq, the Democratix Republic of the Congo and Northern Ireland. Ram is also an alumnus of MIT political science department with a doctorate in political theory.
Web site: https://cis.mit.edu/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies
For more information, contact:
617-253-8306
starrforum at mit.edu
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Data Visualization Done Differently
Thursday, January 26
1:00p–2:30p
MIT, Building E51-325, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Jonathan Schwabish (Urban Institute)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Economics IAP
For more information, contact: economics calendar
econ-cal at mit.edu
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Violence and the State: Evidence from Rwanda's 'Decade of Atrocities'
Thursday, January 26
2:30p–4:00p
MIT, Building E51-149, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Leander Heldring (University of Oxford)
Web site: http://economics.mit.edu/files/12523
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Economics Job Market Seminars
For more information, contact: Eva Konomi
evako at mit.edu
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Transportation Night: The Future of Mobility
Thursday, January 26
3:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
1 Broadway, 5th Floor, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/transportation-night-the-future-of-mobility-tickets-31077519698
Join us for ‘Transportation Night’ at Venture Café Kendall to hear more about The Future of Mobility. The evening will feature three talks on the latest business, technology, and regulatory developments in people and goods transport. Local government officials will join us in a dialogue about regional transportation infrastructure plans. Two additional panels will share the state of innovations in smart transportation, ride sharing, logistics, and vehicles. Local startups and transportation organizations will be on hand to share their latest product demos and programs.
SESSIONS
Boston’s North-South Rail Link - A Discussion with Governor Michael Dukakis
Speakers:
Norm Gorim — Chair, North-South Rail Link Steering Committee (Moderator)
Governor Michael Dukakis (via Skype)
Brad Bellows — Architect on the NSRL Project
Self-Driving Car – From Testbed to Highways
Speakers:
Tom Ryden — Executive Director, MassRobotics (Moderator)
Troy Jones — Technical Director Automated Driver Systems, DRAPER
Kris Carter — Co-Chair, Office of New Urban Mechanics
Bike to the Future – Paving the Way to Modern Transportation
Speakers:
Mike Burtov — Founder & CEO, GeoOrbital (Moderator)
Bob Mallon — Director of Product, Zagster
Tivan Amour — Co-Founder & CEO, Fortified Bicycle
Howard Marson — Investor, Launchpad Venture Group
STARTUP DEMOS
Check out these Startup Demos during Transportation Theme Night
Buca Boot
Bonzer Inc
Carla
Flycycle
GeoOrbital
Get Fuel, Inc.
Parkloco
ParkWise
and more....
If you represent a transportation startup and your firm is interested in demoing your product during transportation night, apply here: http://vencaf.org/venture-cafe-kendall-demo-table-application/
If you represent an organization or agency with interests in the transportation space, apply here to set up a complimentary Info Table during this event: http://vencaf.org/venture-cafe-kendall-info-table-request/
For additional information, visit www.vencaf.org
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Evolution of brains in the light of the fossil record
Thursday, January 26
4:00pm to 5:00pm
Harvard, Biological Labs Main Lecture Hall, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Nick Strausfeld,, The University of Arizona
OEB Seminar Series
http://oeb.harvard.edu/event/oeb-seminar-series-14
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EnergyBar!
Thursday, January 26
5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Greentown Labs, 28 Dane Street, Somerville
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/energybar-tickets-30360160056
Event Agenda:
5:00-5:30pm -- Sign-in/Registration
5:30-5:40pm -- Welcoming Remarks from Greentown Labs
5:40-8:30pm -- Celebration & Networking
About EnergyBar!
EnergyBar is Greentown Labs' flagship networking event devoted to helping people in clean technology meet and discuss innovations in energy technology. Entrepreneurs, investors, students, and ‘friends of cleantech,’ are invited to attend, meet colleagues, and expand our growing regional clean technology community.
Our attendees typically span a variety of disciplines within energy, efficiency, and renewables. In general, if you're looking for a job in cleantech or energy, trying to expand your network, or perhaps thinking about starting your own energy-related company this is the event for you. Expect to have conversations about issues facing advanced and renewable energy technologies and ways to solve our most pressing energy problems.
Light appetizers and drinks will be served starting at 5:30 pm. Suggested dress is shop floor casual. Parking is incredibly limited at Greentown Labs and we encourage attendees to consider taking advantage of public transportation.
Hope to see you there!
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The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire
Thursday, January 26
6:00PM - 7:00PM
There will be a pre-talk reception at 5:30pm.
Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston
RSVP at RSVP at seminars at masshist.org
Stephen Kinzer, Boston Globe and Robin Young, Here and Now
How should the United States act in the world? Sometimes we burn with righteous anger, launching foreign wars and deposing governments. Then we retreat—until the cycle begins again. However, these debates are not original. Revealing a piece of forgotten history, Stephen Kinzer transports us to the dawn of the 20th century, when the United States first found itself with the chance to dominate faraway lands. The country’s political and intellectual leaders took sides. Only once before—the period when the United States was founded—have so many brilliant Americans eloquently debated a question so fraught with meaning for all humanity. Their words are amazingly current today.
Stephen Kinzer is an award-winning author and foreign correspondent who has covered more than 50 countries on five continents. His articles and books have led the Washington Post to place him “among the best in popular foreign policy storytelling.” He was Latin America correspondent for The Boston Globe, and then spent more than 20 years working for the New York Times, with extended postings in Nicaragua, Germany, and Turkey. He is a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.
Robin Young brings more than 25 years of broadcast experience to her role as host of Here & Now. She is a Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker who has also reported for NBC, CBS and ABC television and for several years was substitute host and correspondent for "The Today Show."
Robin has received five Emmy Awards for her television work, as well as two CableACE Awards, the Religious Public Relations Council's Wilbur Award, the National Conference of Christians and Jews Gold Award, and numerous regional Edward R. Murrow awards.
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RPP Colloquium Series: Healing, Bridge-Building, and Empowerment to Address Gun Violence: Inspiration from Boston's African American Communities
WHEN Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, 6 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Sperry Room, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Religion
SPONSOR Religions and the Practice of Peace Initiative; Racial Justice and Healing Initiative at HDS; Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School
CONTACT Ash Temin
DETAILS Religions and the Practice of Peace Colloquium Dinner Series
Space is limited. RSVP is required at https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0TwTuCt8vczBWCh
Speakers
Chaplain Clementina Chéry, founder, president, and CEO, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
Stanley Pollack, founder and executive director, Center for Teen Empowerment, presenting with a youth organizer
Monalisa Smith, founder, president, and CEO, Mothers for Justice and Equality
John M. Brown, Sergeant Detective, Boston Police Department
Respondent
David J. Harris, managing director, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, Harvard Law School
Moderator
Rev. Liz Walker, MDiv '05, pastor, Roxbury Presbyterian Church; board chair, Cory Johnson Trauma Education Program; award-winning journalist and former television news anchor in Boston
Cosponsored with the Racial Justice and Healing Initiative at Harvard Divinity School and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School. With generous support from the Rev. Karen Vickers Budney, MDiv ’91, and Mr. Albert J. Budney, Jr., MBA ’74.
Recommended Readings
Short List
Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice:
http://charleshamiltonhouston.org/
Batts, Valerie "Is Reconciliation Possible? Lessons from Combating Modern Racism" in Ian T. Douglas, ed. Waging Reconciliation: God's Mission in a Time of Globalization and Crisis. New York: Church Publishing, 2002.
Chéry, Clementina, video on race and murder (https://vimeo.com/179222390)
Chéry, Clementina and Dr. Debra Prothrow-Stith, "Homicide Survivors: Research and Practice Implications” in American Journal of Preventative Medicine (Vol 29: Issue 5), pp. 288-295
Curtatone, Joseph A., “Teen Empowerment a model for community and police unity” in The Somerville Times, May 14, 2015
Herndon, Astead W., “For families of murderers, an effort to alleviate the shame,” in The Boston Globe, August 15, 2016
Wilson, Keyon, “Wilson: Cops, youths need to listen, show mutual respect” in The Boston Herald, May 4, 2015
A brief video of a scene from the Center for Teen Empowerment 24th Annual Boston Youth Peace Conference in collaboration with the Boston Police Department
“Surviving Parents of Steven Odom,” http://mothersforjusticeandequality.org/2016/10/20/surviving-parents-of-steven-odom/
“Surviving Parents of Aaron Wornum,” http://mothersforjusticeandequality.org/2016/10/20/surviving-mother-of-aaron-wornum/
“Surviving Parents of Kramo Lavon Curry,” http://mothersforjusticeandequality.org/2016/10/20/surviving-mother-of-kramo-lavon-curry/
“Waiting for Solutions” video from Mothers for Justice and Equality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K2T8Lp07WI
Further Reading
Smith, Monalisa, “Reflections to My Sisters” (Boston: CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2014)
This monthly public series, convened by HDS Dean David N. Hempton, brings together a cross-disciplinary RPP Working Group of faculty, experts, graduate students, and alumni from across Harvard University and the local area to explore topics and cases in religions and the practice of peace. A diverse array of scholars, leaders, and religious peacebuilders are invited to present and engage with the RPP Working Group and general audience. A light dinner is served and a brief reception follows the program.
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Why don’t we all have cancer? Natural immunity against the transformed self
Thursday, January 26
6:30-8:30pm
Aeronaut Brewery, 14 Tyler Street, Somerville
Dr. Mark Cobbold
More information at http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/science-by-the-pint/
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Bike to the Future!
Thursday, January 26
6:45 pm - 7:45 pm
Venture Cafe at Cambridge Innovation Center, 5th floor, 1 Broadway, Cambridge
Join Mike Burtov from Geo Orbital as he leads a panel discussion on the how bicycles are paving the way for modern transportation.
Website: http://www.vencaf.org/calendar
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Friday, January 27
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STEAM: Rocket Fuel for the Innovation Economy
Friday, January 27
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (EST)
Google, 3 Cambridge Center, 355 Main Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/steam-rocket-fuel-for-the-innovation-economy-tickets-29871736167
Cost: $11.54
Design Museum Mornings with Steve Vinter, Google
Steve Vinter of Google presents on the relationship between arts and technology and the transition from a STEM to STEAM approach for education. Steve will speak on how the integration of arts to technical education can boost innovation across industries. Join us at Google’s Cambridge office for a morning discussion focusing on innovative approaches to education. Complete with breakfast and coffee, January’s Design Museum Morning is not to be missed!
Doors open at 8:30am; Presentation begins at 9:00am.
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Starr Forum: Amour
Friday, January 27
12:00p–2:15p
MIT, Building E15-070, Bartos Theater, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
CIS Starr Forum
A public events series on pressing issues in international affairs, sponsored by the MIT Center for International Studies.
Amour is a 2012 French-language romantic drama film written and directed by the Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke, starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva and Isabelle Huppert. The narrative focuses on an elderly couple, Anne and Georges, who are retired music teachers with a daughter who lives abroad. Anne suffers a stroke which paralyses her on the right side of her body.
The film was screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards, and was nominated in four other categories: Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Emmanuelle Riva), Best Original Screenplay (Michael Haneke) and Best Director (Michael Haneke). At the age of 85, Emmanuelle Riva is the oldest nominee for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Part of the MIT Independent Activities Period (IAP)
Co-sponsored by MIT Germany, MIT France, and MIT Language Conversation Exchange (LCE)
For more information or accessibility accommodations please contact starrforum at mit.edu.
Web site: https://cis.mit.edu/events/starr-forum-amour
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, MIT-France Program, MIT-Germany Program, MIT Language Conversation Exchange (LCE)
For more information, contact:617- 253-8306
starrforum at mit.edu
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Human Trafficking: Myth and Facts
Friday, January 27
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EST
Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 42 Brattle Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/human-trafficking-myth-and-facts-tickets-30934183977
Please join Joan V. Barry, awareness speaker and board member of My Life, My Choice, to learn about the tragedy of Human Sex Trafficking in our country. American born and bred children as young as 12 years old are coerced into a life that is unthinkable. Without support of any kind and with abuse of every kind, these children and young women try to survive each day as they are exploited, blamed and often arrested because of the crimes of others. This eye-opening presentation will clear up many myths and misconceptions surrounding this crime and bring you into the invisible world of sex traffickers, pimps and those who purchase.
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Saturday, January 28
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Take charge of your energy bills!
Saturday, January 28
10:00 AM – 12:30 PM EST
Twelfth Baptist Church (Hester Hall), 160 Warren Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/take-charge-of-your-energy-bills-join-us-for-a-fun-filled-workshop-with-renew-boston-tickets-30696368665
Join us for a fun-filled Renew Boston workshop and find out ways to lower your energy bills, make your home or apartment a healthier place to live for you and your family and put more money back in your pocket.
We have plenty of seats, bring a family, friend or your neighbor!
Coffee, tea and snacks will be served. Get a chance to win a door prize but you have to show up~
See you there!!
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Sunday, January 29
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Three-part series: “American History Thru Music™ — 1760s to 1960s-A Musical Portrait of the USA
Sunday, January 29
2 to 4 p.m.
Boston Conservatory, T-401 classroom, 31 Hemenway Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/three-part-series-american-history-thru-musictm-1760s-to-1960s-a-musical-portrait-of-the-usa-tickets-30939052539
Please join Jim Dalton and Maggi Smith-Dalton at upcoming FREE music and history programs at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston, Mass.
This special version of the Daltons’ longest-running program “American History Thru Music™ — 1760s to 1960s-A Musical Portrait of the USA” —
starts January 29, 2017, with “Causes, Crusades, Campaigns!—Get your energy up!”
followed on February 26, 2017, with “Good Times and Hard Times—We’ve All Been there!”
and wrapping up on April 2, 2017, with “Immigration and Migration—Packing Our Bags, Hittin’ the Road!”
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Hack For 2030: The Final Presentations
Sunday, January 29
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM EST
HI Boston Hostel, 19 Stuart Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hack-for-2030-the-final-presentations-tickets-30888580576
After a 48-hour hackathon, 5 teams will present their concepts to tackle the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Changemakers, creatives, and developers from nearly a dozen countries will present working strategies to address climate change, gender equality, life below water, and quality education, as well as develop an app for the UN World Tourism Organization to help promote its guidelines for responsible travel.
The event will start promptly at 3:30pm, with 10 minutes for each team to present. An esteemed panel of judges will crown the winner, featuring:
Brian Butler, Tech Breakfast
Peter Robinson, Devpost
John Yonce, Tourism Cares
TBD, UN World Tourism Organization
These globally-dispersed solutions will impact hundreds of thousands of indivdiuals and improve our planet. Come join us as history is made.
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Intellectual Snob Meetup: What is Fake News?
Sunday, January 29
5:15 PM
John Harvard's, 33 Dunster Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/NerdFunBoston/events/236401216/
This is about sources,
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-officials-putin-personally-involved-u-s-election-hack-n696146
Unbelievable.
Since I posted this I came across this, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/us/politics/russia-election-hacking-sanctions.html?_r=0
Point is what original source is there? The back up article is based on the Fake News article.
Coincidentally I came across this the next day, https://www.rt.com/news/372256-putin-diplomats-expulsion-rejects/
So what is fake news?
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A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, & Survival
Sunday, January 29
6:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store welcomes MELISSA FLEMING, Head of Communications and Chief Spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, for a discussion of her first book, A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, & Survival.
About A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea
Emotionally riveting and eye-opening, A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea is the incredible story of a young woman, an international crisis, and the triumph of the human spirit.
Melissa Fleming shares the harrowing journey of Doaa Al Zamel, a young Syrian refugee in search of a better life. Doaa and her family leave war-torn Syria for Egypt where the climate is becoming politically unstable and increasingly dangerous. She meets and falls in love with Bassem, a former Free Syrian Army fighter and together they decide to leave behind the hardship and harassment they face in Egypt to flee for Europe, joining the ranks of the thousands of refugees who make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean on overcrowded and run-down ships to seek asylum overseas and begin a new life. After four days at sea, their boat is sunk by another boat filled with angry men shouting threats and insults. With no land in sight and surrounded by bloated, floating corpses, Doaa is adrift with a child’s inflatable water ring around her waist, while two little girls cling to her neck. Doaa must stay alive for them. She must not lose strength. She must not lose hope.
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Monday, January 30
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Private Foundations: Avoiding Pitfalls of an Election Cycle
Monday, January 30
12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
BU, 765 Commonwealth Ave, Redstone Building, Barristers Hall, Boston
Speaker: Ken Monteiro, General Counsel, The Ford Foundation
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Climate Science 101: Fundamentals of Climate Science
Monday, January 30
5:00p–6:00p
MIT, Building E51-325, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Justin Bandoro - Master's Student, School Of Science
This lecture is the first in a series and will begin with the history of climate science and will provide a broad overview of the physics of the climate system. The goal is to allow participants to develop a broad understanding of Earth 's climate system and understand the basic tools of climate science.
About the Series: "Climate Science and Policy, now more than ever!" The MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change provides a fast-paced, accessible introduction to the climate system, linking the social and scientific aspects of Climate change. These sessions aim to contextualize current global and local climate policy and provide an introduction to current research in climate.
The opening session on Monday, January 30, will be about the fundamentals of climate science, followed by a discussion that will help understand both domestic and international environmental policies in practice. The second day, we will examine how the climate system responds to both natural and human-caused forcings, and how scientists can detect and attribute observed changes in the climate system to human activity, followed by a discussion about what the influence of the United States has been in shaping global climate policy. Finally, on Thursday participants will interact in a mock of international climate negotiation and examine the outcomes in real-time.
Web site: http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns177.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Center for Global Change Science
For more information, contact: Dimonika Bray
617-324-7375
dbizi at mit.edu
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Introduction to Economics and Policy of Climate Change: How Will You Design a Climate Policy?
Monday, January 30
6:00p–7:00p
MIT, Building E51-325, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Minghao Qiu - Master's Student
This lecture is the second in a series. If you are a designer for climate policy, what do you think is important and how will you design a good policy? This session will introduce basic concepts in environmental economics and environmental policy. We will examine the policy options and guide the audience to think about what is important in the process.
About the Series: "Climate Science and Policy, now more than ever!" The MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change provides a fast-paced, accessible introduction to the climate system, linking the social and scientific aspects of Climate change. These sessions aim to contextualize current global and local climate policy and provide an introduction to current research in climate.
The opening session on Monday, January 30, will be about the fundamentals of climate science, followed by a discussion that will help understand both domestic and international environmental policies in practice. The second day, we will examine how the climate system responds to both natural and human-caused forcings, and how scientists can detect and attribute observed changes in the climate system to human activity, followed by a discussion about what the influence of the United States has been in shaping global climate policy. Finally, on Thursday participants will interact in a mock of international climate negotiation and examine the outcomes in real-time.
Web site: http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns177.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Center for Global Change Science
For more information, contact: Dimonika Bray
617-324-7375
dbizi at mit.edu
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Premier of film "Birth of a Movement"
Monday, January 30
6:30pm
Somerville Theater
There will be a panel of experts from the film available for a discussion following the screening. Henry Louis Gates Jr, Vincent Brown from Harvard, Dolita Cathcart from Wheaton College and Robert Bellinger from Suffolk University will all be on the panel. Barbara Lewis will be the moderator.
"My name is Susan Gray. We just completed a film for PBS entitled Birth of a Movement: The Battle Against America’s First Blockbuster, about William Monroe Trotter’s fight against DW Griffith’s epic film, The Birth of a Nation, produced by Northern Light Productions in Boston and based on a book by former Boston Globe reporter Dick Lehr that was released last year. Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Sam Pollard are our Executive Producers, and Spike Lee, Reginald Hudlin, and DJ Spooky are in the film. Michael Curry plays William Monroe Trotter in the film. I am one of the directors with Bestor Cram, and our company, Northern Light Productions, has been making quality programming in Boston for 30 years.
"This is a Boston Story about a great civil rights leader who has been lost to history. It is also a film about the end of the first U.S. period of reconstruction and the battle against the turning tide of racism in this country waged by a newspaperman who was considered a radical in his day. With the election of Donald Trump, we are entering what Professor Gates calls “the end of the second U.S. reconstruction.”
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Tuesday, January 31
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A Reporter's Perspective: Assad, Trump, and the Failure of U.S. Syria Policy
WHEN Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, CMES, Room 102, 38 Kirkland Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Middle East Forum, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
SPEAKER(S) Reese Erlich, Veteran Foreign Correspondent
CONTACT INFO elizabethflanagan at fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS Reese Erlich’s history in journalism goes back over 40 years. He worked as a staff writer and research editor for “Ramparts,” an investigative reporting magazine published in San Francisco. Today he works as a full-time print and broadcast, freelance reporter. He reports regularly for National Public Radio, ABC (Australia), and Radio Deutsche Welle. His articles appear in “Vice News” and “Foreign Policy.” His television documentaries have aired on PBS stations nationwide. Erlich’s book, “Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t Tell You,” co-authored with Norman Solomon, became a best seller in 2003. “The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of US Policy and the Middle East Crisis” was published in 2007. Dateline Havana: The Real Story of US Policy and the Future of Cuba was published in 2009. “Conversations with Terrorists: Middle East Leaders on Politics, Violence and Empire,” was published in 2010. The paperback edition of “Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect” came out in 2016.
Unless otherwise noted, CMES events are open to the public (no registration required), and off the record. Please note that events may be filmed and photographed by CMES for record-keeping and for use on the CMES website and publications
LINK http://cmes.fas.harvard.edu/event/reporters-perspective-assad-trump-and-failure-us-syria-policy
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Food Waste Policy: Solutions for People, Planet, Profit
Tuesday, January 31
1 pm
Harvard Global Health Institute, 42 Church Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://fs6.formsite.com/harvardhigh/form154/index.html
As part of the Climate Change and Global Health Seminar series, the Harvard Global Health Institute presents Harvard Law School's Food Law and Policy Clinic Director Emily Broad Leib.
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Housing Recovery - What's Different This Time
Tuesday, January 31
1:00p–2:30p
MIT, Building E51-376, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: William Wheaton (MIT)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Economics IAP
For more information, contact: economics calendar
econ-cal at mit.edu
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IDEA² Global Finals, Awards, and Reception
Tuesday, January 31
1:00 PM – 9:00 PM EST
MIT, Samberg Conference Center, 6th Floor, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/idea2-global-finals-awards-and-reception-tickets-30955436544
Please join us Tuesday, January 31 at MIT for the final pitches, awards ceremony, and reception for the first edition of IDEA²Global.
The day will cap seven months of hard work and exciting project evolution for these teams of biomedical technology innovators. You can read about the teams and their new technology ideas on the IDEA² Global website. Since they were selected in July 2016, 14 teams involving over 50 members were connected with over 40 international experts and mentors to develop their technologies, which range from new materials for tissue engineering to data analysis platforms for preventing medical errors.
See the agenda on the IDEA² website at http://idea2.mit.edu/2017/01/09/idea²-global-finals-awards-and-reception-agenda/
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Climate Science 102: The Global Climate System and Climate Modeling
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
5:00p–6:00p
MIT, Building E51-325, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Justin Bandoro - Master's Student, School Of Science
This lecture is the third in a series, and will build on Climate Science 101 (see January 30) and dive into an overview of how the climate system responds to both natural and human-caused forcings, and how scientists can detect and attribute observed changes in the climate system to human activity.
About the Series: "Climate Science and Policy, now more than ever!" The MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change provides a fast-paced, accessible introduction to the climate system, linking the social and scientific aspects of Climate change. These sessions aim to contextualize current global and local climate policy and provide an introduction to current research in climate.
The opening session on Monday, January 30, will be about the fundamentals of climate science, followed by a discussion that will help understand both domestic and international environmental policies in practice. The second day, we will examine how the climate system responds to both natural and human-caused forcings, and how scientists can detect and attribute observed changes in the climate system to human activity, followed by a discussion about what the influence of the United States has been in shaping global climate policy. Finally, on Thursday participants will interact in a mock of international climate negotiation and examine the outcomes in real-time.
Web site: http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns177.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for Global Change Science, Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
For more information, contact: Dimonika Bray
617-324-7375
dbizi at mit.edu
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Thomas Dolby: The Speed of Sound
January 31
5:00pm
MIT, Killian Hall, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge
A talk and performance demonstration by Thomas Dolby about his experiences in the music and tech industries, the subject of his recently published memoir The Speed of Sound.
“Rapid advances in communications and computing power do NOT always lead to a parallel increase in human innovation. Personal excellence comes from shattering your own boundaries. The best ideas are born out of a scarcity of resources.”
“Need to solve a problem? Begin by switching off your smartphone. Unplug that laptop. Flip through an ancient Rolodex, gather a few great people around a blackboard, make doodles on your yellow pad. Build something out of balsa wood. Fire up that squeaky turntable and dust off your vinyl collection. Break out the Tequila and do some shots!” –Thomas Dolby
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International Climate Governance and the Role of the United States
Tuesday, January 31
6:00p–7:00p
MIT, Building E51-325, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Arun Singh (Master's Student, TPP) and Michael Davidson (PhD Student, JP - ESD)
This lecture is the fourth in a series. It will focus first on: What is the history and institutional basis of this process of international climate governance? The second part of the lecture will focus on: What has the role of the United States been in shaping global climate policy? What are the achievements and failures of US climate policy? And most importantly, what can we expect post 2016 elections?
About the Series: "Climate Science and Policy, now more than ever!" The MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change provides a fast-paced, accessible introduction to the climate system, linking the social and scientific aspects of Climate change. These sessions aim to contextualize current global and local climate policy and provide an introduction to current research in climate.
The opening session on Monday, January 30, will be about the fundamentals of climate science, followed by a discussion that will help understand both domestic and international environmental policies in practice. The second day, we will examine how the climate system responds to both natural and human-caused forcings, and how scientists can detect and attribute observed changes in the climate system to human activity, followed by a discussion about what the influence of the United States has been in shaping global climate policy. Finally, on Thursday participants will interact in a mock of international climate negotiation and examine the outcomes in real-time.
Web site: http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns177.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Center for Global Change Science
For more information, contact: Dimonika Bray
617-324-7375
dbizi at mit.edu
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Boston Green Drinks - January Happy Hour
Tuesday, January 31
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
Scholars, 25 School Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-green-drinks-january-happy-hour-tickets-31038812925
Happy New Year! So much is happening in the sustainability world, so let's get together and talk about it.
Join the conversation with sustainability professionals and hobbyists. Enjoy a drink and build your connection with our green community!
Boston Green Drinks builds a community of sustainably-minded Bostonians, provides a forum for exchange of sustainability career resources, and serves as a central point of information about emerging green issues. We support the exchange of ideas and resources about sustainable energy, environment, food, health, education.
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A Conversation with The Prophet, The Professor, and The Journalist
Tuesday, January 31
7:00 pm
First Church in Cambridge, Choir Room, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge
GUEST SPEAKERS
The Prophet: Sr. Megan Rice - 85 yr. old Roman Catholic nun, who
earned 2 yrs. in prison for breaching the security perimeter of Y-12, the
largest uranium storage facility in the country. "Being an anti-nuclear
activist satisfied my need to do what is just common sense,"
The Professor: Elaine Scarry Harvard Professor, author of Thermonuclear Monarchy:
Choosing between Democracy and Doom
The Journalist: Dan Zak
Find out more at http://masspeaceaction.org/event/nuclear-resistance/
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A reporter's perspective: Islamic State, Assad, Russia, and the failure of
US Policy
January 31
7:00 pm
First Church in Cambridge, Choir Room, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge
Based on numerous reporting trips to the region, freelance foreigncorrespondent Reese Erlich discusses the growth of Syrian extremist rebelgroups, the status of the Assad regime, foreign intervention and the failure of US policy. He provides up to date analysis and what the new US president will likely face after the November elections. Erlich is a Peabody winning journalist and author of Inside Syria: The Backstory of
Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect
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BU Climate Action Plan Public Forum
Tuesday, January 31
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
BU, Metcalf Trustee Center, 1 Silber Way, Boston
Come share your input on the University's Climate Action Plan.
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Opportunity
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CLIMATE SMART FARMING (BF 107)
January 17th to February 21st, 2017, webinars Tuesdays 6:30 to 8:00 PM EST.
An online course from the Cornell Small Farms Program
Develop an action plan for your farm to stay one step ahead of climate change.
The earth’s climate is always in flux, but today’s rate of change is far beyond what previous generations of farmers have had to face. In this six-week online course, learn to identify the key impacts on your farm, and how to develop a plan of action to both increase resiliency to extreme temperature and precipitation events, or short term drought, as well as strategies to reduce your farm’s greenhouse gas footprint.
Participants will learn from climate experts, educators, and fellow farmers on ways they can proactively approach challenges such as drought, flooding, summer heat stress, changing seasons, freeze risk, and heightened pest and weed pressures.
These practices are not only good for climate preparedness, but also help farms increase their bottom line by building soil health, reducing stress on animals, increasing energy efficiency and efficiency of farm inputs, and protecting crop yields.
Join Allison Chatrchyan and Jonathan Lambert of the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions, along with a number of guest presenters, who offer a range of perspectives and useful solutions to an increasing challenge.
LIMITED OFFER: For the 2017 offering only, attend this course for just $50!
More info and registration:
http://www.nebeginningfarmers.org/online-courses/all-courses/climate-smart-farming-bf-107/
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Discounted Solar for Somerville
As part of the State’s Solarize Mass program, local volunteers and the City of Somerville recently launched the Solarize Somerville campaign to make it easier and cheaper for residents and small businesses to install solar panels.
The program, which is offering information and guidance, free site consultations, and solar panel discounts through November, has set an ambitious goal to inspire at least 200 property owners to sign up for solar —and each of those private solar installations will also benefit the community directly. For every 400 kW in signed private contracts through the program, the program’s solar vendor SolarFlair will donate a system of up to 5 kW for a public or community purpose. All are invited to the program kickoff at a Meet the Installer event on Tuesday, July 26 at 6-7:30 p.m., 167 Holland St. Additional events on topics such as solar basics, financing, and solar for multifamily homes will be announced.
Unique to the program is its neighbor-to-neighbor approach: trained resident volunteers and a designated volunteer Solar Coach are available essentially as mentors. They can, for example, walk anyone through the process, provide general loan program and tax incentive information, and share their own solar experiences. The campaign’s webpage and blog offers useful information, tips, and a link to websites where you can estimate the solar potential of your home and roughly calculate how much solar could save you on your energy bills at www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize.
Somerville is one of the most urban communities ever to participate in Solarize Mass, which makes the neighbor-to-neighbor approach especially helpful due to some of the unique challenges here such as multi-family houses with more than one owner. Winter Hill resident Mary Mangan, the program’s volunteer Solar Coach, went through that process and is ready to share helpful tips.
"I'm excited to work with our eager volunteers to help our neighbors understand the benefits of solar power. As a co-owner of a two-family home with solar, I can also offer some insights about how that process went for us," said Mangan.
Also key to the program is the selection of a designated vendor, which allows the program to offer reduced cost installation through bulk purchasing. Through a competitive process, SolarFlair, based in Ashland, MA, was selected. They were also the selected installer for the communities of Arlington, Hopkinton, Mendon, Brookline, Carlisle-Chelmsford, Newton, and Quincy.
"We're excited to be the selected installer for Solarize Somerville, and look forward to speaking with any home or business owners that are interested in reducing their electric bills while also making a great investment," said Matt Arner, the owner and President of SolarFlair.
Quick facts:
Solar systems can be purchased outright (with a payback of about 4-5 years). The Mass Solar Loan program offers rates of 3.25% or less.
Or, for no money down owners can choose a power purchase agreement (PPA), where the system is owned and maintained by a third party, and residents buy back the electricity at a discounted price.
More on-site renewable energy is critical to reducing carbon emissions. It also saves money for residents.
Tax incentives for solar installations include:
Federal Tax Credit: A 30 percent federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is available for qualified residential and commercial projects
Massachusetts Personal Income Tax Credit: The lesser of 15% of the total cost of the solar electric system or $1,000, for qualified clean energy projects
Five-year Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS): Business owners can depreciate solar electric systems over a five-year schedule
For more information or to sign up for a free site consultation:
Visit the Solarize Somerville webpage at www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize for
Helpful information and FAQs
To contact a volunteer or Solar Coach Mary Mangan to discuss solar options and incentives
To set up an appointment for a free site consultation directly with SolarFlair
To find out about events
To volunteer for Solarize Somerville
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Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!
Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch. No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.
For more information checkout.
https://sites.google.com/site/somervilleyogurtcoop/home
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Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images
Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera? With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more comfortable and less expensive to heat. However, at $200 or so, the cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.
HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer Cambridge residents free thermal scans.
Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras. They will scan every building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or buildings or on a private way). Building owners can view thermal images of their property and an analysis online. The information is password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.
Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.
The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.
Go to Sagewell.com. Type in your address at the bottom where it says "Find your home or building" and press return. Then click on "Here" to request the report.
That's it. When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to do about it.
With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money, not to mention comfort).
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Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ
Solar map of Cambridge, MA
http://www.mapdwell.com/en/cambridge
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Hey Cambridge residents!
Did you know the City of Cambridge is trying to win the $5 million Georgetown University Energy Prize? It was created to develop a cleaner and more efficient energy future. Energy efficiency and conservation are the best ways to save energy and minimize environmental impact. In that effort, Cambridge is hoping all residents will get a no-cost energy assessment in order to make their homes more efficient and comfortable. Let us know you're interested here: http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/sign-up-for-an-assessment
During the assessment, the energy specialist will:
Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
Again, let us know you're interested here: http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/sign-up-for-an-assessment and someone will be in contact with you shortly to give you personally tailored contact information on how you can get your no-cost home energy assessment. Renters are also eligible!
Any action to save energy in the home will help Cambridge win this competition while protecting the environment. For additional ideas on how to save energy, please see the Cambridge Energy Alliance website at http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/interactivehome
Please share with your Cambridge friends and family and ask them to get a free energy assessment!
Want to be more involved? Become a neighborhood Block Captain! Block Captains help their community members sign up for and complete no-cost home energy assessments through the MassSave program. Our team will give you the tools and guidance needed to recruit neighbors to get an assessment and improve the efficiency of their homes. Participation is welcome at whatever level you are able to commit to.
If you are interested in becoming a Block Captain, please fill out the form at http://tinyurl.com/blockcaptainsurvey and someone from the Cambridge Energy Alliance will be in contact with you shortly. If you know someone who might be interested, please let them know about this opportunity!
Questions? Contact jnahigian at cambridgema.gov
Cambridge Energy Alliance
http://www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org/winit
@cambenergy
http://facebook.com/cambridgeenergyalliance
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Sunny Cambridge has just launched! Sunny Cambridge is the city-wide initiative that makes it easy for all types of residents to get solar power for their homes. Cambridge has lined up local solar installers through the EnergySage Solar Marketplace, which helps you request, receive, and compare solar quotes 100% online with support available every step of the way.
The City of Cambridge is working on many levels to reduce energy use and GHG emissions to make the city more sustainable. As a semifinalist in the nationwide competition for the $5 million Georgetown University Energy Prize, Cambridge Energy Alliance is encouraging residents to take actions to save energy, save money, and protect the environment. Get involved by signing up for a no-cost home energy assessment at the Cambridge Energy Alliance home page (www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org/winit)
and going solar at http://www.sunnycambridge.org
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Resource
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Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide
SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!
To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha at sbnboston.org
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Boston Food System
"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."
The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas. Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.
Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.
It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs
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The Boston Network for International Development (BNID) maintains a website (BNID.org) that serves as a clearing-house for information on organizations, events, and jobs related to international development in the Boston area. BNID has played an important auxiliary role in fostering international development activities in the Boston area, as witnessed by the expanding content of the site and a significant growth in the number of users.
The website contains:
A calendar of Boston area events and volunteer opportunities related to International Development - http://www.bnid.org/events
A jobs board that includes both internships and full time positions related to International Development that is updated daily - http://www.bnid.org/jobs
A directory and descriptions of more than 250 Boston-area organizations - http://www.bnid.org/organizations
Also, please sign up for our weekly newsletter (we promise only one email per week) to get the most up-to-date information on new job and internship opportunities -www.bnid.org/sign-up
The website is completely free for students and our goal is to help connect students who are interested in international development with many of the worthwhile organizations in the area.
Please feel free to email our organization at info at bnid.org if you have any questions!
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Boston Maker Spaces - 27 and counting: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zGHnt9r2pQx8.kfw9evrHsKjA&hl=en
BASEN / Boston Solidarity Network Economy: http://ba-sen.tumblr.com
Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston: http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/
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Links to events at over 50 colleges and universities at Hubevents: http://hubevents.blogspot.com
Thanks to
Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area: http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com
MIT Events: http://events.mit.edu
MIT Energy Club: http://mitenergyclub.org/
Harvard Events: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/harvard-events/events-calendar/
Harvard Environment: http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
Sustainability at Harvard: http://green.harvard.edu/events
Mass Climate Action: http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/
Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/
Microsoft NERD Center: http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/
Startup and Entrepreneurial Events: http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/
Cambridge Civic Journal: http://www.rwinters.com
Cambridge Happenings: http://cambridgehappenings.org
Cambridge Community Calendar: https://www.cctvcambridge.org/calendar
If you have an event you would like to see here, the submission deadline is 12 PM on Sundays, as Energy (and Other) Events is sent out Sunday afternoons.
More information about the Act-MA
mailing list