[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - May 28, 2017
gmoke
gmoke at world.std.com
Sun May 28 10:46:09 PDT 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) EventsGeo
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-i-do-and-why-i-do-it.html
----------------------------------------------------------
*******************************************
Details of these events are available when you scroll past the index
*******
———
Index
———
******
—————————
Tuesday, May 30
—————————
6pm Zebras and unicorns: Rare maladies and a physician-scientist's search for answers
6pm EDUCATE BOSTON: THE FUTURE OF LEARNING IN THE HUB
6pm Boston Green Drinks - May Happy Hour
——————————
Wednesday, May 31
——————————
3pm xTalks: Nancy Law on Learning Design Pattern Language
5:30pm Leading Communication Strategy: Research Findings at Northeastern University
5:30pm Boston Ujima Project
5:30pm Spring 2017 Food Entrepreneur Showcase
5:30pm Joe Gould's Teeth
6pm Zebras and unicorns: Rare maladies and a physician-scientist's search for answers
6pm ArtScience Talks @ Le Lab: Susanna Bolle on Experimental Music in Boston: A Survey
6pm MIT Technology Review's 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2017
6pm Using Social Media for Activism
7pm Hope in a New Ecology
————————
Thursday, June 1
————————
12pm What's next for whole genome sequencing?: Moving from research to diagnostics and beyond
1pm Community Solar for Low- and Moderate-Income Consumers
2:30pm Community Microgrids Webinar
6pm Define: Circular Design Challenge- Future of Plastics
6pm Health Innovators presents: From All Sides - Opioid Addiction
7pm Poetry and the Ocean with Robert Pinsky & Stefan Helmreich
———————
Friday, June 2
———————
7:30am EBC Energy Resources Program: Advanced Metering Infrastructure – The Challenges of Implementation
8am Coffee with Congressman Joe Kennedy III
6:30pm Screening Chinese Pollution Documentary "Under the Dome”
————————
Saturday, June 3
————————
8:30am Civic Imagination: Designing and Building a Better Future
9am MIT Internet of Things Hackathon
10am Boston Area Beekeepers Association Open Hives
11am Cambridge Arts River Festival
————————
Sunday, June 4
————————
6pm Sharon McGregor: From Turf to Paradise - In your own backyard (or window box)!
———————————————————————————
Monday, June 5, 9:00 AM - Friday, June 9, 5:00 PM (EDT)
———————————————————————————
2017 Investigative Reporting Certificate Workshop
————————
Tuesday, June 6
————————
8am Boston TechBreakfast: Palatine Analytics, JustHuynh Inc., Kinetica, ErgoSensePro
2pm World Efficiency Solutions
5:30pm Documentary film screening "Journey to the Flames: 14 years of Burning Man”
5:30pm Energy Efficiency and CleanTech TECHMEETING powered by the OIC
6pm Earth Night
6pm Clearing the Air: Carbon & Health
6:30pm The Reality of CO2’s Influence on Sea-Level and Weather Events - Greater Boston Tea Party
----------------------------------------------------------
*******************************************
My rough notes on some of the events I go to and notes on books I’ve read are at:
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com
----------------------------------------------------------
********************************************
—————————
Tuesday, May 30
—————————
Zebras and unicorns: Rare maladies and a physician-scientist's search for answers
WHEN Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 6 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Broad Institute
SPEAKER(S) Anna Greka
COST Free
TICKET WEB LINK https://www.eventbrite.com/e/zebras-and-unicorns-rare-maladies-and-a-physician-scientists-search-for-answers-tickets-33853177766
CONTACT INFO events at broadinstitute.org
DETAILS Roughly one in every ten people around the world suffers from a rare disease—and those are just the ones that researchers and clinicians know about. Physician-scientist Anna Greka will talk about the steep uphill battles facing rare disease patients when it comes to getting diagnosed and finding treatment options, her own work studying and treating rare kidney diseases, and the insights that rare disease research can provide into treatments for more common disorders.
LINK https://www.broadinstitute.org/science-all-seasons/science-all-seasons-2017
————————————
EDUCATE BOSTON: THE FUTURE OF LEARNING IN THE HUB
Tuesday, May 30
6 – 8 pm EDT
GA Boston, 125 Summer Street 13th Floor, Boston
RSVP at https://generalassemb.ly/education/educate-boston-the-future-of-learning-in-the-hub/boston/36875
By signing up for this event, you're giving our sponsors permission to contact you about upcoming events and promotions.
Kim Lucas , Civic Research Director, Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics
Rahn Dorsey, Chief of Education, City of Boston
David Leonard, President, Boston Public Library
Join SPARK Boston and GA for a Chief Chat with Boston’s first ever Chief of Education Rahn Dorsey, BPL President David Leonard, and New Urban Mechanics’ Civic Research Director Kim Lucas as we discuss the future of learning in Boston.
Why It Matters?
Boston has some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the country (and there’s a few household names across the river, too). But our city is also home to many other educational opportunities that, for many Bostonians, are favorite hidden gems. Whether you’re new to the Hub or a born-and-bred Bostonian, there’s plenty to explore to advance your career, learn a new skill, pick up a second (or third!) language, and more.
With these resources and opportunities in mind, Mayor Walsh hired Boston’s first ever Chief of Education Rahn Dorsey and challenged him to connect these many pieces, supporting a lifelong learning environment for all residents.
What You Will Takeaway?
Insight into the city’s vision for relevant, accessible lifelong learning
A list of great (often free!) places for you to go get skills
An interest for further exploring the city’s wide-ranging experiential learning opportunities
New understanding of how Boston’s educational assets fit together
About the Speakers
Kim Lucas, Civic Research Director, Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics
Kim’s life has centered around questions, and she brings this expertise to her work as MONUM’s Director of Civic Research. Part researcher, part practitioner, and part muppet, Kim has consistently kept one foot in the ivory tower and one foot on the ground, pairing research with practice to seek real solutions to social policy and planning problems. Questioning who we think of as ‘expert’ and how stakeholders identify ‘value’ are two common threads that pervade her work. Kim holds a BA in Psychology and Sociology from UCLA, an MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning and Child Development from Tufts University, and puppies anytime she can. She is presently a PhD candidate in Social Policy and Sociology at Brandeis University; her dissertation is an economic sociological exploration of the ‘value’ of the early childhood workforce.
Rahn Dorsey, Chief of Education, City of Boston
Rahn Dorsey is Boston’s first-ever Chief of Education. Mayor Walsh appointed him in September 2014. His charge is to set a strategic agenda for the city to improve the quality of instruction and student support across Boston’s educational ecosystem and better integrate school, community and work-based learning opportunities. As Chief of Education, Rahn collaborates with young people, parents, educators, K-12 and higher education leaders and nonprofit and private sector innovators to develop strategies that fully bring learning to life in Boston.
David Leonard, President, Boston Public Library
David Leonard, President of the Boston Public Library, leads the 170-year old institution, one of Boston’s great educational, cultural and civic treasures. David began working at the BPL in 2009, bringing a wealth of experience from the technology, management and consulting fields. Appointed president by the Library’s Board of Trustees and Mayor Martin J. Walsh in June 2016, David’s focus is on developing the BPL as a twenty first century institution providing dynamic library experiences to the residents of Boston, of Massachusetts and beyond.
—————————————
Boston Green Drinks - May Happy Hour
Tuesday, May 30
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
Scholars, 25 School Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-green-drinks-may-happy-hour-tickets-34377330521
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.
——————————
Wednesday, May 31
——————————
xTalks: Nancy Law on Learning Design Pattern Language
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
3:00p–4:00p
MIT, Building 4-149, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge
Speaker: Nancy Law
ABSTRACT: There are rapid advances in recent years in the field of learning analytics -- the use of big data analytics to shed light on students -- learning processes, outcomes, and the efficacies of the learning designs adopted. Despite the great expectations on these potential benefits, the application of learning analytics in actual educational contexts has primarily been confined to engineering courses. One major obstacle to realizing the potential benefits is the lack of a language and tools to connect learning analytics to learning design.
This talk presents work-in-progress in the development of Learning Design Studio (LDSHE), which is a tool to support learning design professionals (including teachers, tutors, and instructional designers) in the design and implementation of fully online and blended courses. LDSHE differs from learning design tools developed to-date in that it is underpinned by a systematic pattern language that (1) can capture the different levels of granularity and complexities in learning design; (2) embeds in the work process design supports based on robust learning theories, and (3) provide users with context-sensitive learning analytics questions in layman terms. In this talk, the pattern language and the LDSHE will be introduced through the example of a MOOC course on edX.
xTalks: Digital Discourses
The xTalks series provides a forum to facilitate awareness, deep understanding and transference of educational innovations at MIT and elsewhere. We hope to foster a community of educators, researchers, and technologists engaged in developing and supporting effective learning experiences through online learning environments and other digital technologies.
Web site: http://odl.mit.edu/news-and-events/events/learning-design-pattern-language-meaningful-learning-analytics
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): xTalks: Digital Discourses, Office of Digital Learning
For more information, contact: Molly Ruggles
617-324-9185
xtalks-info at mit.edu
—————————————
Leading Communication Strategy: Research Findings at Northeastern University
Wednesday, May 31
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM EDT
Northeastern, Alumni Center at Columbus Place, 716 Columbus Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/leading-communication-strategy-research-findings-at-northeastern-university-tickets-33214103277
Please join us for a night of networking and communications industry conversation.
Dr. Carl Zangerl is the Faculty Director of Graduate Communication and Human Resource Management programs at Northeastern University. In developing a management track for the Organizational and Corporate Communication master’s program, Dr. Zangerl and Zorana Mihic, a student in the program, investigated the skills and competencies required of communication leaders.
They will discuss the major research findings, including:
Review of major trends in the communication field
The attributes and competences in demand for communication leaders
Perspectives of current leaders of the communication function
Educational implications
You will have the opportunity to speak with Northeastern faculty, industry professionals, and alumni from the Corporate and Organizational Communication program.
Food and drinks will be served (alcoholic drinks for purchase).
—————————————
Boston Ujima Project
Wednesday, May 31
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
MassHousing, One Beacon, 4th floor, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-ujima-project-tickets-34682908513
Boston Ujima Project is an initiative to develop businesses in, serving and supporting Boston-area urban communities. It combines collective financing, capacity development, networking and leadership.Ujima Project is committed to challenging poverty and developing communities to grow local wealth and meet community needs.
Ujima Project director Nia Evans, Lor Holmes, General Manager, CERO Cooperative and Kiara Mark, Ujima Fellow will discuss the initiative and share opportunties to support, participate and evaluate this new model of local economic development.
This event is free and open to the public, however all participants should purchase a free ticket. Refreshments will be provided.
—————————————
Spring 2017 Food Entrepreneur Showcase
Wednesday, May 31
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM EDT
Microsoft New England Research and Development Center, 1 Memorial Drive #1, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/spring-2017-food-entrepreneur-showcase-tickets-34285762639
Cost: $10 – $50
Join us on Wednesday, May 31st for the Slow Money Boston Entrepreneur Showcase at the Microsoft NERD Center. We will provide a light supper and a cash bar.
PARTICIPATING ENTREPRENEURS WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON.
We will be bringing together investors, sustainable food entrepreneurs and leaders working together to rebuild our local food system. Learn about investment opportunities and how you can participate in rebuilding local economies based on the principles of soil fertility, sense of place, care of the commons and economic, cultural and biological diversity.
For questions, email slowmoneyboston at gmail.com
For Investors: The Entrepreneur Showcase will provide access to sustainable food and farming businesses at different stages of development from start-up to expansion of existing businesses. The businesses and initiatives are also seeking different levels of financing — from small loans to major capital. Slow Money Boston encourages investors of all resource levels to attend including institutional, individual, accredited, and unaccredited investors. This showcase event is not an offer to sell securities or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities.
For Entrepreneurs: The Showcase is a tightly produced event. Each entrepreneur will have five minutes and 6 slides to tell their stories, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A from the audience. Presenters will also benefit from the networking opportunity specifically designed to encourage and elevate investor dialog. Throughout the event, your collateral will be available for attendees, and you will be mentioned in all promotional materials for the event. It is free to apply, but costs $50 to present and take advantage of this exciting opportunity.
The Entrepreneur Showcase offers all the advantages of a traditional venture fair and many more. Because of the shared vision that brings us all together, it is an unparalleled opportunity for you to build relationships with investors and entrepreneurs from all over the region. Even if you are not an investor or presenting entrepreneur, we welcome and encourage your participation in the event!
————————————
Joe Gould's Teeth
Wednesday, May 31
6:00 PM (Doors at 5:30)
Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.harvard.com/event/jill_lepore3/
Cost: $18.50 (online only, book-included) - On Sale April 25, 2017 $5.00 - On Sale May 9, 2017
Harvard Book Store and Mass Humanities welcome New Yorker staff writer and acclaimed Harvard historian JILL LEPORE—author of National Book Award finalist Book of Ages and The Secret History of Wonder Woman—for the paperback release of her latest book, Joe Gould's Teeth, the tale of her search for the long-lost, century-old manuscript called "The Oral History of Our Time."
About Joe Gould's Teeth
Joe Gould, a madman, believed he was the most brilliant historian of the twentieth century. So did some of his friends, a group of modernist writers and artists that included E. E. Cummings, Marianne Moore, William Carlos Williams, John Dos Passos, and Ezra Pound. Gould began his life’s work before the First World War, announcing that he intended to write down nearly everything anyone ever said to him. "I am trying to preserve as much detail as I can about the normal life of every day people," he explained, because "as a rule, history does not deal with such small fry." By 1942, when The New Yorker published a profile of Gould written by the reporter Joseph Mitchell, Gould’s manuscript had grown to more than nine million words. But when Gould died in 1957, in a mental hospital, the manuscript was nowhere to be found. Then, in 1964, in "Joe Gould’s Secret," a second profile, Mitchell claimed that "The Oral History of Our Time" had been, all along, merely a figment of Gould’s imagination. Lepore, unpersuaded, decided to find out.
Joe Gould’s Teeth is a Poe-like tale of detection, madness, and invention. Digging through archives all over the country, Lepore unearthed evidence that "The Oral History of Our Time" did in fact once exist. Relying on letters, scraps, and Gould’s own diaries and notebooks—including volumes of his lost manuscript—Lepore argues that Joe Gould’s real secret had to do with sex and the color line, with modernists’ relationship to the Harlem Renaissance, and, above all, with Gould’s terrifying obsession with the African American sculptor Augusta Savage. In ways that even Gould himself could not have imagined, what Gould wrote down really is a history of our time: unsettling and ferocious.
Editorial Comment: Two from Joe Gould's Teeth by Jill LePore (NY: Alfred A Knopf, 2015 ISBN 9781101947586)
(page 92) Joe Gould: “My muscular coordination is poor. As you know I am left-handed in both hands…”
(142) Joe Gould: “You solve the problem of escape by being an expatriate," he’d once written to [Ezra] Pound. “I am an extempore.” He believed he lived outside of time. He believed he’d escaped.
———————————
Zebras and unicorns: Rare maladies and a physician-scientist's search for answers
WHEN Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 6 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge,
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Broad Institute
SPEAKER(S) Anna Greka
COST Free
TICKET WEB LINK https://www.eventbrite.com/e/zebras-and-unicorns-rare-maladies-and-a-physician-scientists-search-for-answers-tickets-33853177766
CONTACT INFO events at broadinstitute.org
DETAILS Roughly one in every ten people around the world suffers from a rare disease—and those are just the ones that researchers and clinicians know about. Physician-scientist Anna Greka will talk about the steep uphill battles facing rare disease patients when it comes to getting diagnosed and finding treatment options, her own work studying and treating rare kidney diseases, and the insights that rare disease research can provide into treatments for more common disorders.
LINK https://www.broadinstitute.org/science-all-seasons/science-all-seasons-2017
———————————
ArtScience Talks @ Le Lab: Susanna Bolle on Experimental Music in Boston: A Survey
Wednesday, May 31
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EDT (doors 6:00pm / Talk 6:30pm)
Le Laboratoire Cambridge, 650 East Kendall Street, Cambridge
Encompassing a variety of exploratory practices and techniques, experimental music in Boston thrives at the cultural periphery. Drawing on my own experiences as a concert curator, I will provide a kind of guide and general overview of the experimental sound and music scene, while also highlighting the various strains of exploration around the city.
Susanna Bolle is the artistic and executive director of Non-Event, a non-profit concert series devoted to the presentation of experimental music in and around the city of Boston. Founded in 2001, Non-Event is a nomadic series, which organizes performances in unusual and non-traditional venues. Since joining Non-Event in 2003, Susanna has overseen the expansion of the series, which now produces almost 40 concerts a year by innovative artists from around the world in venues such as Boston City Hall, the Waterworks Museum, the ACT Cube at MIT, and Le Laboratoire Cambridge, as well as more intimate spaces such as Café Fixe and the library at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts. She is also the host of the long running radio program Rare Frequency on WZBC in Boston.
———————————
MIT Technology Review's 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2017
Wednesday, May 31
6:00p–8:00p
Broad Institute 415 Main Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.mitforumcambridge.org/event/10-breakthrough-technologies-2017-with-technology-review
Cost: $20 Members; $45 Non-members: free for students
Speaker: Jason Pontin, Editor of MIT Technology Review Magazine,
Which of today's emerging technologies have a chance of solving a big problem and opening up new opportunities?
Join us as Jason Pontin, Editor of MIT Technology Review Magazine, walks us through their picks for the "10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2017" and why everyone should be paying attention to them now.
Web site: http://www.mitforumcambridge.org/event/10-breakthrough-technologies-2017-with-technology-review/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free for Students; $20 MITEF Members: $45 non-members
Tickets: online
Sponsor(s): MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge
For more information, contact: Amy Goggins
617-253-3937
entforumcambridge at mit.edu
———————————
Using Social Media for Activism
Wednesday, May 31
6:00PM - 9:00PM
Cambridge Community Television, 438 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge , MA
RSVP at https://www.cctvcambridge.org/node/468018
Cost: $10 - $20
Activists are increasingly using the power of social media to raise awareness about particular issues and to raise funding for their cause.
In this workshop, you will explore several case studies of effective social media campaigns employed by activists and will discuss the future trends in social media activism. Basic knowledge of or involvement with social media platforms is strongly recommended.
Register Today!
contact Keaton Fox at 617-661-6900 or email keaton at cctvcambridge.org
—————————————
Hope in a New Ecology
Wednesday, May 31
7:00–8:30pm
Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain
RSVP at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/SelectDate.aspx?TrackingType=Customer&ActivityID=2406&DayPlanner=5%2f31%2f2017
Cost: $0 - $5
Oswald J. Schmitz, PhD, Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University
Anthropocence—the “Age of Humans”—is the scientific name for our new future, in which humankind is the dominant force of nature that stands to determine our ecology and therefore the fate of all life on Earth. To many, Anthropocence foreshadows widespread extinction of species and loss of global sustainability. But, this needn’t be. Scientist and author Oswald Schmitz will discuss how the science of ecology is evolving to provide new understanding about how humans can engage with the natural world to maintain and enhance our planet’s environmental performance and ensure a sustainable future for all life on Earth. His book, The New Ecology: Rethinking a Science for the Anthropocene will be available for purchase and signing.
Fee Free member and student, $5 nonmember
Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.
————————
Thursday, June 1
————————
What's next for whole genome sequencing?: Moving from research to diagnostics and beyond
Thursday, June 1
12 noon Eastern
Webinar
RSVP at http://view6.workcast.net/register?pak=2951810455162556&referrer=Blast1&et_rid=79557040&et_cid=1319217
As the throughput of next-generation sequencers continues to improve and the cost of reagents declines, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) becomes increasingly cost-effective, making it a realistic possibility for use in a clinical setting. In this webinar, our speakers will discuss how they see WGS evolving as it moves closer to the clinic, highlighting the pros and cons of a whole-genome approach versus a targeted approach. They will also address the hurdles currently slowing implementation of WGS in the clinic, including the lack of reimbursement from medical insurance, the need to achieve the desired sequencing depth in the most cost-effective manner, and how best to manage the huge amounts of data generated.
During the webinar, the speakers will discuss:
The potential of WGS for cancer diagnosis
Challenges and solutions for research applications of WGS
The improved diagnostic utility of WGS compared to the current standard-of-care genetic testing.
The panel will answer questions from the online audience live during the broadcast.
Speaker: Shashikant Kulkarni, MS, Ph.D. FACMG, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Speaker: Christian Marshall, Ph.D., The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Moderator: Sean Sanders, Ph.D., Science/AAAS, Washington, DC
—————————————
Community Solar for Low- and Moderate-Income Consumers
Thursday, June 1
1:00pm — 2:00pm ET
Webinar
RSVP at http://cesa.org/webinars/community-solar-for-low-and-moderate-income-consumers/?date=2017-06-01
Because community solar can be made accessible to renters and can include flexible terms, it holds promise for spreading the benefits of solar to low- and moderate-income (LMI) consumers. In this webinar, guest speakers from Solstice and from Alpine Bank will present two financially sustainable models for making community solar more available to LMI consumers.
Kelly Roache, Senior Program Manager at Solstice, will discuss Solstice’s efforts to develop new underwriting practices that might help moderate-income customers qualify for community solar, while keeping risk low for the large investors who provide the initial funding.
David Miller, Senior Vice President at Alpine Bank, will discuss Alpine Bank’s project, in which the bank bought shares in a community solar project and donated them to a community organization, which in turn allotted the monthly bill credits to low-income households.
These presentations will be followed by a Q&A with the audience.
This is one in a series of Sustainable Solar Education Project webinars on bringing the benefits of solar to low-income residents. The Sustainable Solar Education Project, funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative, is helping state and municipal officials to ensure distributed solar electricity is equitable and consumer friendly.
——————————
Community Microgrids Webinar
Thursday, June 1
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM EDT
RSVP at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5955336889329272835
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) will be holding an Informational Webinar on our recently launched Community Microgrids Program, specifically focused on the Request for Expressions of Interest.
The Community Microgrids Program seeks to catalyze the development of community microgrids throughout Massachusetts to lower customer energy costs, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and provide increased energy resilience.
——————————
Define: Circular Design Challenge- Future of Plastics
Thursday, June 1
6:00 PM
50 Milk Street, 18th Floor, Boston, MA (map)
Take the elevator up to 18th floor and look for a Post it.
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/boston-openide/events/240263298/
Ellen MacArthur Foundation and The Prince of Wales's International Sustainability Unit launch $2 million Innovation Prize to help keep plastics out the ocean. We are so delighted to have received a grant from Ellen MacArthur Foundation to make Boston part of this exciting shift towards Circular Economy and Circular Design. Learn more at : (Link) or come to this event.
Thank you everyone for coming to the event on May 18th and making it so much fun! We hope you all started noticing the plastics around you and are excited for the phase 2 where we will be identifying the small format plastics you will be redesigning. If you haven't attended the event on 18th, you can still join the challenge at this stage.
In the first event, we talked about Circular Economy and Circular Design and why it is so important in the world today. We did some exercises in groups on lifecycle of products like coffee lids and tear offs and on thinking about products as services instead. In this event, we will focus on the small format plastics packaging you have identified. So before you come to this event, look around and identify the small format packaging around you . It can be forks, spoons, cups, bottle lids , candy wrappers etc around you
At the end of this event you will have :
1. Picked a small format plastic packaging you want to redesign
2. Learn how to identify Circular Opportunities for your product
3. Map out Circular Buy in for your product
4. A team that is interested in re-designing the same small format packaging as you are
After 40 years of effort, globally only 14% of plastic packaging is collected for recycling, with one third escaping collection and ending up in the environment. We need to fundamentally redesign the way we design products and come with circular business models so that we don't create waste in the first place. DESIGN OUT WASTE.
Come to this event, learn about circular design and apply it to keep the waste out of our oceans.
Dinner will be provided.
——————————
Health Innovators presents: From All Sides - Opioid Addiction
Thursday, June 1
6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Pivotal, 255 Main St. 6th floor, Cambridge, MA 02142
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/health-innovators-presents-from-all-sides-opioid-addiction-tickets-34668661901
Welcome to Health Innovators multidisciplinary panel discussion on Opioid Addiction.
Our goal is to bring together members of our community to network and learn more about the current state of Opioid Addiction: policy, research, treatment as well as challenges that patients, researchers, and providers are experiencing so that our audience can gain more awareness, and move to design and build solutions to help combat this public health crisis affecting the people of our community.
We will be featuring a multidisciplinary panel of local experts such as policy creators, substance abuse recovery providers as well as patient population representatives so that we can empathetically illuminate the perspectives and challenges each of these different stakeholders experiences.
6 pm Doors open - refreshments and networking
6:15 pm Panel Introductions
7:00 pm Moderator-curated questions
7:30 pm Audience Questions
8:00 pm - Refreshments and networking
Stay tuned for panel participants.
We recognize that the issue of Opioid Addiction is a sensitive issue affecting many in our community and expect all event participants to bring compassionate intent to the table.
———————————
Poetry and the Ocean with Robert Pinsky & Stefan Helmreich
Thursday, June 1
7-8pm
MIT, Building E15, Bartos Theatre, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.catalystconversations.org/upcoming-events/
As sea levels are rising, we are in a moment of global change and climate crisis. Our relationship to the ocean has been altered dramatically and continues to do so. Renowned poet Robert Pinsky and MIT anthropologist Stefan Helmreich will discuss, imagine and invoke the ocean; Pinsky acting as the poetic voice through his choice of poems, will be the “hub” of the conversation and Helmreich’s comments and responses as the “spokes”. In this way they will summon the rich history of our relationship to the sea, both benign and dangerous. The voice of the poems will iterate the sounds of the water.
Robert Pinsky grew up within the sound of the ocean in Long Branch, New Jersey, He is a poet, essayist, translator, teacher, and speaker. His first two terms as United States Poet Laureate were marked by such visible dynamism—and such national enthusiasm in response—that the Library of Congress appointed him to an unprecedented third term. Throughout his career, Pinsky has been dedicated to identifying and invigorating poetry’s place in the world. Known worldwide, his work has earned him the PEN/Voelcker Award, the William Carlos Williams Prize, the Lenore Marshall Prize, Italy’s Premio Capri, the Korean Manhae Award, and the Harold Washington Award from the City of Chicago, among other accolades. Pinsky is a professor of English and creative writing in the graduate writing program at Boston University. In 2015 the university named him a William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor, the highest honor bestowed on senior faculty members who are actively involved in teaching, research, scholarship, and university civic life.
Stefan Helmreich received his PhD in Anthropology from Stanford University and prior to coming to MIT held fellowships at Cornell, Rutgers, and NYU. His research has examined how biologists think through the limits of "life" as a category of analysis. Alien Ocean: Anthropological Voyages in Microbial Seas (University of California Press, 2009) is a study of marine biologists working in realms usually out of sight and reach: the microscopic world, the deep sea, and oceans outside national sovereignty. This book, winner of the 2010 Senior Book Prize from the American Ethnological Society, the 2010 Gregory Bateson Book Prize from Society for Cultural Anthropology, and the 2012 Rachel Carson Book Prize from the Society for Social Studies of Science, charts how marine microbes are entangled with debates about the origin of life, climate change, property in the ocean commons, and the possibility of life on other worlds.
———————
Friday, June 2
———————
EBC Energy Resources Program: Advanced Metering Infrastructure – The Challenges of Implementation
Friday, June 2
7:30 AM to 10:30 AM
Brown Rudnick LLP, One Financial Center, Boston
RSVP at http://ebcne.org/event/ebc-energy-resources-program-advanced-metering/?instance_id=6298
Cost: $25 - $100
Advanced Metering Infrastructure: It seems so important to the electric industry – yet why has it not been deployed more broadly in the Northeast?
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI or so called “smart metering”) is viewed across the electric utility industry as an important means to change the way electricity is used and managed. Meters that allow interaction with the utility, that can respond to price signals instantly, that could integrate and coordinate the electric usage of appliances and the grid, could have wide ranging benefits, but also unintended implications. It could be the enabler to create new utility models, new services for consumers to control and manage their energy usage, opportunities for distributed energy developers, new energy efficiency services, and innovative initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, deployment of AMI has been slow in coming. The possibilities of the clean tech industry seem limitless, and yet almost completely unfulfilled due to the lack of AMI.
This EBC Energy Resources program will examine the benefits and possibilities of AMI and why we have not seen widespread deployment in the Northeast. Speakers from different perspectives in the industry will provide their views.
Continuing Education Certificates are awarded by the EBC for this program (2.5 training contact hours).
Event Contact: ebc at ebcne.org
———————————
Coffee with Congressman Joe Kennedy III
Friday, June 2
8 AM - 9:30 AM
Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline
http://business.brooklinechamber.com/events/details/chamber-coffee-with-us-rep-joe-kennedy-congressional-update-and-q-a-988
Hosted by Brookline Chamber of Commerce
Coffee and Conversation with Congressman Joe Kennedy III including a Congressional Update and Q & A. Co-hosted with Town of Brookline and LWVBrookline.
$5 paid in advance, $10 paid at door.
Same prices for Chamber Members and General Public.
——————————
Screening Chinese Pollution Documentary "Under the Dome”
Friday, June 2
6:30p–8:30p
MIT, Building NW86, Multipurpose room, 70 Pacific Street, Cambridge
Chai Jing 2015 documentary about pollution in China The film criticises energy companies, steel producers and government inability The film combines narration with interviews and factory visits Viewed by more than 300 million people Food and drinks to be served
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): GSC Funding Board
For more information, contact: Javier Crespo
————————
Saturday, June 3
————————
Civic Imagination: Designing and Building a Better Future
Saturday, June 3
8:30am
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://civicimagination.splashthat.com
Designing and building a better future.
Join Boston Civic Media’s third annual conference for a day of inspiring keynotes, presentations and networking with peers and community leaders around igniting civic creativity. Dive into topics including media literacy, youth-led advocacy, DIY activist technologies, and creative storytelling. We’ll also be announcing the first ever inter-campus curriculum addressing climate change.
Each year, Boston Civic Media convenes its growing network of faculty, students, activists, journalists, policymakers and nonprofits all invested in "civic media,” or media that creates social change through art, design, and technology. Our theme for this year’s conference is Civic Imagination and we have an incredible lineup of presenters to share new strategies, insights and approaches for collectively re-imagining public life in Boston.
All are welcome to attend!
———————————
MIT Internet of Things Hackathon
Saturday, June 3
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
MIT, Building 32-124 and 32-144, Ray and Maria Stata Center.32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://bootcamp.mit.edu/iot/hackathon/
Are you passionate about solving problems with tiny computers? Then come to MIT Internet of Things Hackathon, where we’ll task participants with building innovative IoT devices!
At the MIT Internet of Things Hackathon, you will build IoT devices that can “sense, connect, infer, and act.” Participants will be free to envision and build any device they see representing that mission, and that combine hardware, software, and data science. Participants will be able to join teams or participate independently.
Early participants get TI Launchpads, Particle Internet Buttons, and Electric Imp Explorer Kits while supplies last. We encourage all participants to bring any hardware they think might be necessary for their projects.
The hackathon will take place on Saturday June 3, 2017, and will include students from the MIT Internet of Things Bootcamp taking place May 29 – June 3, 2017.
The hackathon will be in classrooms 32-124 and 32-144 in the Ray and Maria Stata Center (Building 32). Breakfast and lunch will be served.
Hackathon winners will be determined by a panel of judges comprised of MIT faculty and IoT professionals and entrepreneurs.
If you any questions, please email bootcamp at mit.edu
————————————
Boston Area Beekeepers Association Open Hives
Saturday, June 3
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street, Mattapan
Drop in at the Boston Nature Center Saturday mornings from June to August and learn all about honey bees from the Boston Area Beekeepers! We host an apiary on the sanctuary, and the beekeepers will “bee” more than happy to help you explore all aspects of bee life. Learn how they make honey, how they survive the winter, and much more! Free.
Registration is required.
Register online or call 617-983-8500 to register by phone.
Register by mail: program registration form (PDF 66K)
For more information, contact: bnc at massaudubon.org
Editorial Comment: Note that this activity takes place on Saturdays from June to August
————————————
Cambridge Arts River Festival
Saturday, June 3
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Along DCR Cambridge Parkway and Lechmere Canal Park adjacent to CambridgeSide, Cambridge
More information at https://www.cambridgema.gov/arts/Programs/riverfestival
————————
Sunday, June 4
————————
Sharon McGregor: From Turf to Paradise - In your own backyard (or window box)!
Sunday, June 4, 2017
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
One Fayette Park, Cambridge
Potuck 6:00-7:00 p.m. followed by discussion 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Biodiversity for a LIvable Climate is a small non-profit so a $10 donation is requested, but no one will be turned away based on ability to pay.
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate has a profound, even gripping, story to tell. It is a story people want to hear because it is positive, hopeful, inspirational! The story’s overriding message is that humans can turn the climate crisis around if we join together, role up our sleeves, and get right to ecological restoration at the local, regional, and continental scales.
Sharon McGregor, Board Member of Bio4Climate, will present a PowerPoint presentation telling this story as she interprets it. She will briefly present the climate urgency most of us know well as a backdrop to the nature solutions we all need to understand and participate in. She will highlight how she implemented a nature solution benefiting climate in her own back yard, by transforming it from a monoculture monotone lawn to the vibrant colorful and biodiverse ecosystem it once was. Sharon will introduce a new approach to decision making, which she says everyone should apply to their own decision-making in the home and workplace, and in general daily living. This decision-making approach places biodiversity and ecosystem health at the forefront of our decisions.
Sharon will lead us in discussion to get everyone thinking about: What is our story? What should the “I want to read that” title be? Are the main chapters identified and are they included in our story, or are we missing something? What are the most important parts of the story we want our varied audiences to hear? How do we best tell the most important parts of the story in a way that people understand and are motivated to act? How do we tell the story to the press, so that they want to report on it and do so in a way that will inspire new, aggressive actions on the nature part of the solution to the climate crisis, while maintaining (and inspiring even greater) momentum on the emissions side.
Come hear the story and help complete it.
———————————————————————————
Monday, June 5, 9:00 AM - Friday, June 9, 5:00 PM (EDT)
———————————————————————————
2017 Investigative Reporting Certificate Workshop
Monday, June 5, 9:00 AM - Friday, June 9, 5:00 PM (EDT)
New England Center for Investigative Reporting, 640 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2017-investigative-reporting-certificate-workshop-tickets-26181966968
Cost: $25.00
NECIR’s Investigative Journalism Certificate Program is aimed at recent graduates and working journalists who are interested in pursuing a career in investigative journalism, or utilizing the skills obtained for a variety of different career fields. This week-long workshop is taught by an experienced faculty of Boston University journalism professors and award-winning reporters.
Participants will spend a week at The New England Center for Investigative Reporting, based at Boston University’s College of Communication, learning valuable investigative reporting skills. Upon successful completion of the program, participants will be awarded a certificate from NECIR and Boston University.
————————
Tuesday, June 6
————————
Boston TechBreakfast: Palatine Analytics, JustHuynh Inc., Kinetica, ErgoSensePro
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
8:00 AM
Red Thread, 101 Seaport Boulevard, Boston
RSP at https://www.meetup.com/Boston-TechBreakfast/events/236589526/
Interact with your peers in a monthly morning breakfast meetup. At this monthly breakfast get-together techies, developers, designers, and entrepreneurs share learn from their peers through show and tell / show-case style presentations.
And yes, this is free! Thank our sponsors when you see them :)
Agenda for Boston TechBreakfast:
8:00 - 8:15 - Get yer Food & Coffee and chit-chat
8:15 - 8:20 - Introductions, Sponsors, Announcements
8:20 - ~9:30 - Showcases and Shout-Outs!
[EVENT_AGENDA]
~9:30 - end - Final "Shout Outs" & Last Words Boston TechBreakfast Sponsors:
ConferenceEdge - EVENTS to the power of Edge
DLA Piper (Boston) - DLA Piper is a global business law firm that provides corporate, IP, capital raising and other legal advice to technology startups and high growth businesses.
hedgehog lab - hedgehog lab is a technology consultancy that designs and builds great apps for mobile
————————————
World Efficiency Solutions
Tuesday, June 6
2 - 4pm
Prime, BOSTON
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.fr/e/billets-world-efficiency-starts-in-boston-34360030777
Please join us for a Working Session with international delegates in preparation of World Efficiency Solutions.
The purpose is for everyone to share their projects and solutions, which deserve to be included in the World Efficiency Low-Carbon and Resource-Efficient Marketplace.
#WEteam will be at this working session in order to help prepare and maximize your involvement in the event, as well as gather your feedback and insights on what is the most relevant for you.
ABOUT WORLD EFFICIENCY SOLUTIONS:
With more than 20,000 participants, World Efficiency Solutions will be the premier global market place for governments, businesses, financiers and civil society stakeholders committed to accelerating the deployment of low-carbon and resource-efficient solutions.
World Efficiency Solutions is a Five-dimensional International Event from 12th to 14th December in Paris that will include:
SUMMIT – an international conference in partnership with World Climate Ltd, giving the stage to world leaders, experts and top speakers
VIPs – a dedicated platform to connect with relevant stakeholders, and to book meetings with registered participants and our VIPs.
SHOWCASE – a promotion package designed to help eco-innovative companies bring their solutions to the market
EXPO – 500 exhibitors presenting innovative and pioneering solutions
TRAINING – certified training programs designed to enhance personal skills
For any questions, please contact: prime at innovation-prime.com
————————————
Documentary film screening "Journey to the Flames: 14 years of Burning Man”
Tuesday, June 6
5:30 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
Aeronaut Brewing Company, 14 Tyler Street, Somerville
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/documentary-film-screening-journey-to-the-flames-14-years-of-burning-man-tickets-34524131607
Come see the documentary film with 14 years of Burning Man footage which has been screened in NY, SF, LA, DC, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Pheonix, Houston, El Paso, etc. The director will be in town for a Q&A right after. The film will roll at 6:00pm SHARP - there is an event after us so we do have a hard out, but we can keep hanging out in the bar after.
Please note the space is semi-public, so though we will have a few DVDs on hand for sale, and will provide a discount code for the Vimeo to all attendees too. Please feel free to bring your own food as the bar isn't serving food that night either. This is event is FREE and first-come first-serve seating http://www.aeronautbrewing.com/events/
————————————
Energy Efficiency and CleanTech TECHMEETING powered by the OIC
Tuesday, June 6
5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Workbar Cambridge, 45 Prospect Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/French-US-Meetup/events/237254036/
CleanTech, Smart Energy, Smart Building, Resource Efficiency, Energy Efficiency
During this TechMeeting we will hear from leading research labs, innovative startups and large corporations on the future of Energy Efficiency and CleanTech.
05:30 pm Registration
06:00 pm Introduction - Open Innovation Club
06:10 pm Panel on the Future of Energy Efficiency and CleanTech
Moderator: David Miller, Executive Managing Director, Clean Energy Venture Group
Massimiliano Pieri, VP for Cooperation with MIT, ENI
Stéphanie Gay, Director, World Efficiency Solutions & Pollutec
Ben Sampson, Director, Energy Ventures, GE Ventures
06:40 pm 6+ Startups Pitches (3 min pitch and 1 min Q&A
WattJoule, enVerid, and more.
07:30 pm Networking cocktail
————————————
Earth Night
Tuesday, June 6
6:00PM TO 8:30PM
The New England Aquarium, 1 Central Wharf, Boston
The Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM) hosts a cocktail party for a healthy environment and clean energy future.
Contact Name: info at environmentalleague.org
More information at https://www.environmentalleague.org/
————————————
Clearing the Air: Carbon & Health
Tuesday, June 6
6:00PM TO 8:30PM
The Venture Cafe, Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, 5th Floor, Cambridge
Cost: $8 - $12
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clearing-the-air-carbon-health-tickets-34216622840
The key to convincing the public and politicians that we need to move forward more rapidly with climate solutions may in fact not come from climate concerns and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at all.
The most compelling arguments may arise from what are referred to as the "co-benefits" of reducing fossil fuel emissions. These include reduced heart and lung diseases, lower asthma rates, fewer missed work and school days and fewer premature fatalities - all of which disproportionately harm vulnerable communities. The harms to us and to our families are in the here and now and thus for most people, demand more immediate attention.
On June 6th, we'll explore the connections between health, climate change and fossil fuel burning and provide you with more tools to speak to the public, your employers, customers, friends, families... and especially to your elected officials.
Guest Speakers
Jonathan Buonocore, Sc.D. of the Harvard Center for Health & the Global Environment at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Jonathan’s research topics range from improving understanding of health and environmental risks pipelines, underground gas storage, and other midstream oil and gas infrastructure, to understanding health “co-benefits” of the U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan and different energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, to helping to understand the health implications of fires in Indonesia. Jonathan received his doctoral degree from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Environmental Science and Risk Management in November 2013.
In April of this year, Jonathan completed a study on the health co-benefits of carbon pricing in Massachusetts, which quantifies health savings of nearly $3 billion over the course of a bill now before the State Senate. Jonathan has also just won a grant to explore the use of drones to assess air quality near fossil infrastructure sites like pipelines, compressor stations, refineries, etc.
Dr. Brita Lundberg, Mass. Medical Society, Environmental and Occupational Health Commission & Green Newton
Brita is an infectious disease specialist and patient advocate who is actively working to apply health and toxicology research to transparently assess the risks associated with fossil fuel infrastructure. She is currently engaged in an effort to advocate for Comprehensive Health Impact Assessments - not solely an Environmental Impact Assessment – for the siting and expansion of natural gas infrastructure, particularly when it is situated close to densely populated communities such as West Roxbury and Weymouth.
Contact Name: Eric Grunebaum
eric.grunebaum at gmail.com
————————————
The Reality of CO2’s Influence on Sea-Level and Weather Events - Greater Boston Tea Party
Tuesday, June 6
6:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Lir Irish Pub & Restaurant, 903 Boylston Street, Boston
Tom Wysmuller will be discussing The Reality of CO2’s Influence on Sea-Level and Weather Events.
Thomas Wysmuller trained as a meteorologist at New York University and at the Royal Dutch Weather Bureau in Amsterdam. He then worked for five years at NASA before, during, and after the moon landings. A fuller biography can be found here at Heartland's International Conferences on Climate Change website (ICCC 12 being held March 23-24 in Washington DC).
Climate changes. Yes. But is it driven by human activity - is it "man made global warming?" This debate has been going on for decades, and it manifests itself in our governments (in)sincere attempt to "never let a [fabricated] crisis go to waste."
Mayor Marty Walsh and former Secretary of State John Kerry announced last June that Boston would host a climate summit between the US and China. (Mayor Walsh, Secretary Kerry Announce Boston Will Host 2017 US-China Climate Leaders Summit, City of Boston).
Boston has its own "Climate-Ready Boston" initiative to deal with the effects of Climate Change. In particular, they have Climate Projections (link) prepared by their own working group.
Tom Wysmuller will attempt to bring some sanity to the hyperbole which is commonplace in the political discussion and media today. With a change in administrations, President Trump has already removed references to Climate Change from the White House web site. That is a good start, but the debate (and most likely protest) will continue unabated.
This is a first in a series of discussions we will be hosting. Stay Tuned!!
*****************
----------------------
Upcoming Events
----------------------
*****************
—————————————————
Wednesday, June 7 – Friday, June 9
—————————————————
Local Sustainable Economies Conference
Wednesday, June 7,10:00 AM – Friday, June 9, 10:00 PM EDT
Northeastern, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/local-sustainable-economies-conference-tickets-29061421494
Cost: $50 – $350
The Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts is excited to present the Local Sustainable Economies Conference at Northeastern University in Boston, MA from June 7 until June 9, 2017
*3 Day ticket includes three pre-conference workshops on Wednesday morning and afternoon*
**Sustainable Business Network & Local First Members - Contact josh at sbnmass to redeem your 20% discount**
The conference will have 3 LEVELS OF IMPACT for advocates and entrepreneurs committed to building a local, green and fair economy:
ENERGIZE YOUR ENTERPRISE: A powerful line-up of luminaries in the local sustainable economies movement will share stories of what works and what they’ve learned along the way, highlighting real, attainable solutions to issues facing our businesses and non-profits, our communities and our planet.
CULTIVATE CONNECTIONS: Through targeted conversations and peer coaching, participants will learn fro
MOBILIZE THE MOVEMENT: Together, we will explore the shifting role of local business in the larger economic, social and environmental context, identifying what’s coming up next, what’s needed and what we are called to do, both individually and collectively.
The conference will focus on 8 VITAL PRACTICES of a sustainable local enterprise, listed below. Our intention is to use our time together at the conference to advance the wisdom, strategies, and practical actions related to each of these practices. This way, not only will you benefit; so will our communities and our movement.
1. GET CASH: Attracting financial capital that’s aligned with the values and needs of your enterprise and your community.
2. LOCAL FIRST: Cultivating local partner, supplier and customer relationships to catalyze the Local First movement.
3. BE FAIR: Crafting equitable and effective information-sharing, decision-making and ownership structures.
4. GO GREEN(ER): Reducing the negative effects and maximizing the positive impact of your operations.
5. CREATE MAGIC: Igniting your enterprise and invigorating the new economy.
6. EAT LOCAL: Transforming our local food systems.
7. STORM CITY HALL: Shaping local laws and policies to support local business and community.
8. OPEN YOUR HEART:
——————————
Wednesday, June 7
——————————
How Biometrics Can Help Us ‘See’ How Buildings Impact Us
Wednesday, June 7
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EDT
USGBC MA, 50 Milk Street, 16th Floor, Edison Room, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-biometrics-can-help-us-see-how-buildings-impact-us-tickets-34087635034
Cost: $30 - $100
This lecture reviews some of the biometric tools, frequently used in ad and web design today, that also can help us better understand our architectural experience. These including eye tracking which follows unconscious and conscious eye movements, and facial expression software that can instantly record our continuously shifting emotional states as we take in our surroundings.
————————————
Healthy Food Fuels Hungry Minds: Advancing Children’s Health In & Out of School
WHEN Wednesday, June 7, 2017, 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM
WHERE Harvard, Science Center, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Classes/Workshops, Conferences, Education
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard University Dining Services
Let's Talk About Food
Massachusetts Health Council
SPEAKER(S) Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University
Betti Wiggins, CPM, SNS, Executive Director of Food Services, Detroit Public Schools
and more
COST $50
TICKET WEB LINK http://www.mahealthcouncil.org/mpage/HealthyFoodFuels
TICKET INFO http://www.mahealthcouncil.org/mpage/HealthyFoodFuels
CONTACT INFO Crista Martin
crista_martin at harvard.edu
DETAILS Countless children face a lifetime of health-related issues based on access to nutritious food. Our schools are on the front line of driving that access, and on educating children in the cafeteria and beyond about healthy choices. This third annual conference brings together all the essential stakeholders for a spirited discussion of common concerns and action steps that can mobilize all of us equally. Speakers and attendees include school food professionals, parents, policy and wellness advocates, and officials and academicians in the fields of law, nutrition, public health and education. “Healthy Food Fuels Hungry Minds" is presented with the objective of enabling participants to make our kids’ nutrition the best in the nation by creating an environment both in and out of school where great nutrition is fostered and valued and healthy choices, including healthy beverages and clean, drinkable water, are always the easiest ones.
LINK http://www.mahealthcouncil.org/mpage/HealthyFoodFuels
————————————
Adam Kahane’s Book Launch! "Collaborating with the Enemy”
Wednesday, June 7
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
CIC BOSTON -Lighthouse East, 50 Milk Street, 20th floor, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/adam-kahanes-book-launch-collaborating-with-the-enemy-tickets-33913710822
Berrett-Koehler and Reos Partners are pleased to announce the just published new book by Adam Kahane, Collaborating with the Enemy: How to Work with People You Don’t Agree with or Like or Trust.
Join Adam Kahane for a book talk and signing with a special guest introduction by Peter Senge, author of "The Fifth Discipline."
————————————
Building Tour: Fort Hill E+ Homes Project
Wednesday, June 7
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM EDT
152-160 Highland Street, Roxbury
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/building-tour-fort-hill-e-homes-project-tickets-31230702873
Cost: $15 – $35
Sage Builders LLC’s Fort Hill E+ Homes Project consists of two energy-efficient duplex homes designed to look like a traditional Georgian Colonial and its companion carriage house. The featured homes are part of Boston’s E+ Green Building Program, which is promoting regenerative multi-unit residential buildings. The buildings are expecting to become LEED Platinum and Energy Start Tier 3. The PV array is a 31kW system with 98 panels - extraordinary for a small residential development!
Located in the sought-after Fort Hill neighborhood of Roxbury, the project includes four condos – three at market rate and one income limited by BPDA guidelines – that have been built as highly sustainable, ultra-energy efficient, urban infill homes with both human and environmental health in mind.
Come see what it's all about!
Networking happens during the tour and after the tour as most groups converge for a quick bite or drink after the conclusion of the 90 min tour.
If you have a building that you would like to suggest for a tour, please email this event through the contact link. We look forward to hearing more about how your site would be an interesting project for our community.
————————————
The Science of Cooking: Ice Cream & Aioli
WHEN Wednesday, June 7, 2017, 6:30 – 8 p.m.
WHERE The Harvard Ed Portal, 224 Western Avenue, Allston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Classes/Workshops, Science
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS Have you ever wondered what goes into the food you eat or what gives your favorite sauce its taste and texture? Join the Harvard Ed Portal and HarvardX for an evening exploring the physical and chemical processes that make ice cream and aioli possible! Participants will make their own food to enjoy as they learn the science behind it. Free and open to the public, however registration is highly recommended.
LINK https://edportal.harvard.edu/event/science-cooking-ice-cream-aioli
————————————
Charles Sumner and Boston’s Revolutionary Tradition
Wednesday, June 7
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM EDT
Old North Church & Historic Site, 193 Salem Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/charles-sumner-and-bostons-revolutionary-tradition-tickets-31646478469
Speaker: John Stauffer
Co-sponsored by the Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters
Charles Sumner is one of the most important but underappreciated figures of the nineteenth century. One of America’s greatest senators, he was instrumental in ending slavery and attacking segregation. His civil rights bill became the blueprint for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Born and raised in Boston’s black community in Beacon Hill, he became a close friend of many of the city’s black and white intellectual families. Professor Stauffer’s talk will focus on Sumner’s friendships with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cooper Nell, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and it will highlight the inspiration he received from them and from the city’s revolutionary legacy, including the Adams family and Paul Revere.
John Stauffer is Professor of English and African American Studies and former chair of American Studies at Harvard University. He is the author or editor of 20 books and over 100 articles focusing on antislavery and/or photography. GIANTS: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln was a national bestseller. The Black Hearts of Men was the co-winner of the Frederick Douglass Book Prize, and Picturing Frederick Douglass was a Lincoln Prize finalist. His essays and reviews have appeared in Time, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and in scholarly journals and books. John has been featured on national radio and television, including “The Diane Rehm Show,” “C-SPAN,” and “Book TV.” He has also served as a consultant for several films, including Free State of Jones, The Abolitionists, and Django Unchained.
Old North Foundation Speaker Series
—————————
Thursday, June 8
—————————
"It's Alive!" Frankenstein's Lessons for Scientists and Creators
Thursday, June 8
5:30p
Le Laboratoire, 650 E. Kendall Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Ed Finn, Charlotte Gordon, Donald Ingber, and Steve Gullans
Two hundred years after its creation, Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" is still alive and well, continuing to shape how we imagine science and its moral consequences.
Presented in conjunction with a new critical edition just published by the MIT Press, "Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds," this event features one of the book's editors, Ed Finn, in conversation with the founding director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Donald Ingber, and literary biographer Charlotte Gordon. The conversation will be moderated by Steve Gullans, the managing director of Excel Venture Management and coauthor (with Juan Enriquez) of the bestselling "Evolving Ourselves: How Unnatural Selection and Nonrandom Mutation are Shaping Life on Earth."
Web site: https://bostonbookfest.org/year-round-events/frankenstein/
Open to: the general public
Cost: $25.00
Tickets: https://bostonbookfest.org/year-round-events/frankenstein/
Sponsor(s): The MIT Press Bookstore, Boston Book Festival
For more information, contact: The MIT Press Bookstore
253-5249
books at mit.edu
—————————————
ADVOCACY ROUNDTABLES Discuss Green Buildings Locally and Statewide
Thursday, June 8
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM EDT
50 Milk Street, 18th Floor " Hemingway" Room, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advocacy-roundtable-tickets-31101553584
—————————————
BOSTON BUILT: TECH SHOWCASE
Thursday, June 8
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Hatch Fenway, 401 Park Drive, Boston
Boston has quickly risen to the top as a hub for tech professionals. Everyday there is news of new funding, tech hires, companies on the road to IPO and more. Tech in Motion wants to celebrate the success of this tech market… especially pending our 10,000 member milestone!
Attendees will enjoy several demos from some of Boston’s hottest tech companies, a “State of Innovation” from a prominent member of the community, as well as raffles, networking and more!
Join us at Hatch Fenway on June 8th for a night with all those that make the tech scene what it is!
Demo Companies (More to be announced soon!):
Audible, Inc. is a digital media company that provides daily spoken word entertainment service to millions of listeners around the world. Audible offers the world’s largest catalogue of audiobooks and is quickly becoming the premier destination for news, comedy, original shows, and more. Join us in helping to bring inspiration and entertainment to our growing base of global listeners.
Cogito enhances the emotional intelligence of phone professionals through behavioral change software. By applying validated behavioral science through artificial intelligence and machine learning, Cogito’s in-call guidance helps the world’s most successful enterprises improve sales results, deliver amazing customer experiences and enhance quality of care. Backed by OpenView, Romulus Capital and Salesforce Ventures, Cogito is headquartered in Boston, MA.
Freebird is a simple mobile solution that empowers travelers to skip the line and instantly book a new ticket after a flight cancellation, significant delay, or missed connection on any airline, for free, with only three taps on their phone. Flight disruptions increase the cost of air travel by 5-10% for corporations, decrease service quality and efficiency for travel agencies, and are stressful, unproductive, and frustrating for travelers. Freebird helps corporations, travel agencies, and travelers save time and money, while streamlining operations, maintaining duty of care, and improving traveler experience.
iRobot designs and builds robots that empower people to do more. As the market leader, its consumer products help people find smarter ways to clean and accomplish more in their daily lives. The award-winning Roomba Vacuuming Robot is leading the charge. Roomba made practical robots a reality for the first time in 2002 and showed the world that robots are here to stay. iRobot’s acclaimed line of consumer robots also includes the Braava family of Mopping Robots, including the new Braava jet, the Mirra Pool Cleaning Robot and the Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot. Its portfolio of solutions features proprietary technologies for the connected home and advanced concepts in navigation, mapping and cloud robotics.
Website: https://www.meetup.com/TechinmotionBoston/events/238953766/
Website: http://www.hatchfenway.com/
—————————————————
Friday, June 9 - Saturday, June 10
—————————————————
People's Food System Summit with Equal Exchange: Let's Take Back Our Food System!
June 9 & June10
Stonehill College
This summer Equal Exchange is hosting our first-ever People's Food System Summit (PFSS). This will be the first gathering of all parts of our supply chain. Our goals are to organize Equal Exchange supporters, farmer partners, and worker-owners together in this physical space. We will be hosting workshops led by our farmer partners, Phil Howard, the founders of Equal Exchange, and some of our members from our new initiative, the Equal Exchange Action Forum. We will also be hosting tours of our roastery and our headquarters. We will be discussing the corporate consolidation of our food system and how we can organize together as citizens to create a food system owned by people, not corporations. We will make plans for how we can organize to take back control of the food system, together.
To RSVP or if you want more information please e-mail:
eeaactionforum at equalexchange.coop
For more information on Equal Exchange's People's Food System Summit, check
it out at this link: https://equalexchange.coop/peoples-food-system-summit
———————
Friday, June 9
———————
Progress Report from GHGSat-D: GHG Plume Imaging and Quantification Using a Fabry-Perot Imaging Spectrometer
Friday, June 9
12:00PM
Harvard, 100F Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
with Jason McKeever, GHGSat
Atmospheric & Environmental Chemistry Seminar
https://www.seas.harvard.edu/calendar/event/95131
————————————
Pro Tour of New England's Largest Passive House
Friday, June 9
1:00pm to 5:00pm
Boston, MA (exact location in confirmation email)
RSVP at http://nesea.org/06-09-17
Cost: $25 for NESEA Members, $35 for Non-members
Join NESEA for a tour of the Distillery North, the largest Passive House in New England: a cost-competitive, 30-unit apartment building located in South Boston. This is the first phase of a three-phase project that will eventually span three buildings, 260,000 ft², and an entire city block.
Pro Tour attendees will hear from Fred Gordon, who will be on-site to lead the tour and presentation, explaining the methods and materials used and how the project team navigated the difficulties of large-scale development in the City of Boston.
Please note: To receive member pricing when registering for this event, you must be logged in to your nesea.org account.
Project Details
Phase I: 65,000 ft²
LEED Platinum and PHIUS Passive House (certifications pending)
HERS Index of 25
PV array offsets 100% of onsite energy consumption
30 housing units across 4 floors
Terra cotta, corrugated metal and Hardie panel rain screen
————————————
Losing and Finding a Home: Policy, Psychological, and Human Services Aspects of Migrants and Refugees
WHEN Friday, June 9, 2017, 2:30 – 5 p.m.
WHERE William James College of Graduate Education in Psychology:
1 Wells Avenue, Newton, MA 02459
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Conferences, Health Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR William James College of Graduate Education in Psychhology
in cooperation with
McLean Hospital Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education, and
The North Suffolk Mental Health Association Board of Directors
SPEAKER(S)
Falah Hashem, M.B., Ch.B.: Chief of Staff, Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants
Eva Millona: Executive Director, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
Jill Betz Bloom, Ph.D.: Co-Director, Center for Multicultural and Global Mental Health, William James College
Rosemarie Coelho, LICSW: Jewish Family Service of MetroWest
DIRECTED BY David G. Satin, M.D.
COST free
CONTACT INFO David G. Satin, M.D., david_satin at hms.harvard.edu
DETAILS We are in an episode of major population shifts, even surpassing those in World War II. Some of the major participants are migrants in search of living resources and a better life; and refugees from war, brutality, and famine. This is one of the major, worldwide social issues. The world is struggling to: acknowledge and understand these conditions, determine values and responsibility, and develop resources and processes to respond. The 40th Annual Erich Lindemann Memorial Lecture brings together professionals who will address public policy to cope with this phenomenon, the psychology of the people finding new homes and the communities receiving them, and marshaling and providing the human services with which to respond. We will all share experience and ideas to further these efforts without expecting final solutions, which must evolve as our global society evolves toward caring for one another.
———————————
Are We Serious This Time? Shadows Fall Away: Racial Healing in New England
Friday, June 9
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM EDT
Semel Theater, 10 Boylston Place, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/are-we-serious-this-time-shadows-fall-away-racial-healing-in-new-england-tickets-34854644179
New England is proud of its legacy as the birthplace of liberty in North America. This is reflected in mantras such as New Hampshire’s state motto “Live Free or Die.” However, many New Englanders may be surprised to learn about the oft-forgotten history of slavery and segregation in our area. At this installment of our discussion series, Are We Serious This Time, we uncover the truth about our history. New England Blacks in Philanthropy (NEBiP) and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation are pleased to present a preview of the documentary Shadows Fall North.
This documentary explores the untold history of early Black Americans in our region. In particular, we will spotlight the story of Harriet Wilson, who documented her childhood enslavement with a New Hampshire family in her book called Our Nig.
To complement the film, we have assembled a panel of leaders from local Black Heritage trails – director for the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, JerriAnne Boggis, consultant and historic preservationist, Valerie Cunningham from New Hampshire, and L’Merche Frazier, Director of Education and Interpretation from Boston’s Museum of African American History. At the center of our discussion will be a look at how our heritage trails can be pathways to racial healing as we uncover the truth of our hidden past. Lisa Simmons, of The Color of Film Collaborative, Inc., will moderate the evening.
BIOS: Valerie Cunningham is a consulting producer of the film and an historic preservationist, founder of the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail and coordinator of their Sankofa Tours. She is also a co-founder of the NH Women’s Heritage Trail and is an independent researcher, writer and lecturer. Her research formed the basis of the book she coauthored, Black Portsmouth: Three Centuries of African-American Heritage. Cunningham has received many local and national awards, including a Restore America Hero award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She was named 2015 Citizen of the Year by the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce and, in June 2015, was recognized at New Hampshire Humanities’ 40 over 40 Gala, which honored notable writers, filmmakers, teachers, volunteers, civic leaders, philanthropists, and scholars who have vastly enriched human understanding and whose original works and passion for excellence have put NH on the cultural map.
JerriAnne Boggis is a consulting producer of the film who came to America from her birthplace in Jamaica for an education and settled in Milford. Formerly the Director of Diversity Education and Community outreach at the University of New Hampshire, Boggis founded and led the Harriet Wilson Project in Milford. Chair of the NH Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights, she is also the current Director for the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail and the Executive Director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire. Boggis was the recipient of the 2015 Martin Luther King Award, presented by the Martin Luther King Coalition a New Hampshire resident whose community work brings the spirit of Dr. King to life. In June 2015, she was recognized at New Hampshire Humanities’ 40 over 40 Gala, which honored notable writers, filmmakers, teachers, volunteers, civic leaders, philanthropists, and scholars who have vastly enriched human understanding and whose original works and passion for excellence have put NH on the cultural map. She was also named the recipient of the 2017 Seacoast NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award.
L’Merchie Frazier is the Director of Education and Interpretation for the Museum of African American History, Boston/Nantucket, highlighting the Museum’s collection/exhibits, providing place-based education and interdisciplinary history programs, projects and lectures, most recently promoting STEM / STEAM education pedagogy. She has served the artistic community for over twenty years as an award winning national and international visual and performance artist and poet. Her fiber works serve to document history and memory, and often include innovative technology. These artworks are featured in a series entitled The Quilted Chronicles and Pearls for Peace. Selected works are included in several art publications and in the permanent collections of the Museum of Art and Design, the Smithsonian Institute and the White House.
Lisa Simmons is the Program Manager for Local Cultural Councils and the Festivals Program at the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She is also the Director of the Roxbury International Film Festival (RoxFilm) whose mission is to screen films that celebrate people of color across the world and support filmmakers who are creating media aligned with RoxFilm’s mission. The Festival is now in its 19th year. Ms. Simmons has produced theater and film in the Boston area and has written and presented on the subject of the Negro Theater Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). She is currently working on a feature length documentary on the Boston Unit of the Negro Theatre Project that occurred between 1935-1939.
———————————
American Eclipse: A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World
Friday, June 9
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store welcomes award-winning journalist and former NPR correspondent DAVID BARON for a discussion of his book, American Eclipse: A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World.
About American Eclipse
Richly illustrated and meticulously researched, American Eclipse ultimately depicts a young nation that looked to the skies to reveal its towering ambition and expose its latent genius.
On a scorching July afternoon in 1878, at the dawn of the Gilded Age, the moon’s shadow descended on the American West, darkening skies from Montana Territory to Texas. This rare celestial event—a total solar eclipse—offered a priceless opportunity to solve some of the solar system’s most enduring riddles, and it prompted a clutch of enterprising scientists to brave the wild frontier in a grueling race to the Rocky Mountains. Acclaimed science journalist David Baron, long fascinated by eclipses, re-creates this epic tale of ambition, failure, and glory in a narrative that reveals as much about the historical trajectory of a striving young nation as it does about those scant three minutes when the blue sky blackened and stars appeared in mid-afternoon.
In vibrant historical detail, American Eclipse animates the fierce jockeying that came to dominate late nineteenth-century American astronomy, bringing to life the challenges faced by three of the most determined eclipse chasers who participated in this adventure. James Craig Watson, virtually forgotten in the twenty-first century, was in his day a renowned asteroid hunter who fantasized about becoming a Gilded Age Galileo. Hauling a telescope, a star chart, and his long-suffering wife out west, Watson believed that he would discover Vulcan, a hypothesized "intra-Mercurial" planet hidden in the sun’s brilliance. No less determined was Vassar astronomer Maria Mitchell, who—in an era when women’s education came under fierce attack—fought to demonstrate that science and higher learning were not anathema to femininity. Despite obstacles erected by the male-dominated astronomical community, an indifferent government, and careless porters, Mitchell courageously charged west with a contingent of female students intent on observing the transcendent phenomenon for themselves. Finally, Thomas Edison—a young inventor and irrepressible showman—braved the wilderness to prove himself to the scientific community. Armed with his newest invention, the tasimeter, and pursued at each stop by throngs of reporters, Edison sought to leverage the eclipse to cement his place in history. What he learned on the frontier, in fact, would help him illuminate the world.
With memorable accounts of train robberies and Indian skirmishes, David Baron’s page-turning drama refracts nineteenth-century science through the mythologized age of the Wild West, revealing a history no less fierce and fantastical.
—————————
Saturday, June 10
—————————
Native Plant Series: Natives for Pollinators
Saturday, June 10
10-11:30AM
Minton Stable Community Garden, 110 Williams Street, Jamaica Plain
Join New England Wild Flower Society's Dan Jaffe for a pollinator-themed walk at Minton Stable Community Garden and park in JP. Learn which plants offer the most for beneficial pollinators from caterpilars, to bees, to butterflies, to birds. Emphasis will be placed on all stages of the pollinators' life cycles. We will discuss already existing plants as well as brainstorm additional species that could fit in this garden or in your own.
Contact Information
617.542.7696 x2115
mdelima at thetrustees.org
—————————————
DayCon 2017: Planet Earth
Saturday, June 10
10 am–4:30 pm
Harvard, Maxwell-Dworkin, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/daycon/
It’s easy to take our planet for granted. Sure, rain might have ruined your last picnic and you’re probably still finding sand in your car from last year’s trip to the beach, but we humans have a pretty great setup here on Earth (especially when compared to the alternatives!). If you want to hear more about the past, present, and future of the planet we all call home, then come visit DayCon 2017: Planet Earth!
DayCon is a free, day-long science conference consisting of talks and interactive demonstrations given by graduate student scientists. This year’s topics include: Climate change, public health, GMOs, heat waves, agriculture, ocean heat content, honeybees, and more!
————————————
Playing For The Planet: World Music Against Climate Change
Saturday, June 10
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT
Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston Street, #2, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/playing-for-the-planet-world-music-against-climate-change-tickets-34052797835
Cost: $15 – $20
On Saturday, June 10, the fifteenth “Playing For The Planet” benefit concert will showcase master musicians from three different musical traditions in a rare and joyful pan-cultural evening, with all proceeds going to benefit the environmental advocacy group 350MA.org. The performers include the joyful Latin American perspectives of Sol y Canto, the enthralling North Indian vocal music of Aditya Rohit Shah, and the Rev. Fred Small’s compelling songs of struggle and justice. The music begins at 7:00 pm, at The Community Church Of Boston, 565 Boylston Street (Copley Square), Boston. Admission is $20; $15 students & seniors.
————————
Sunday, June 11
————————
BIOCHAR WORKSHOP
Sunday, June 11
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Franklin Park Zoo, One Franklin Park Road, Boston
RSVP at http://www.zoonewengland.org/engage/biochar-workshop
Join Michael Low from Vermont Biochar for a discussion on the benefits of using “biochar” – inoculated charcoal, a potent organic soil improver. Biochar increases crop nutrient content and soil fertility, neutralizes acidity and toxins, and you won't have to wait years to see the change!
Be prepared to get dirty! This will be a hands-on workshop and participants will put their newly acquired knowledge into practice as they work in the Organic Garden Project at Franklin Park Zoo. Participants will enhance the soils in the Zoo’s own forage forest garden by spreading and inoculating mulch with beneficial fungi.
Offered in partnership with the Boston Food Forest Coalition, this spring series of workshops and talks focus on urban sustainability and permaculture principles. Workshops are designed to provide participants with hands-on opportunities to put their newly acquired knowledge into practice.
———————————
Building Resilience For Sea Level Rise and Extreme Precipitation: Preparing for Boston’s Uncertain Future
Sunday, June 11
9am - 4pm
Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston
RSVP at http://ecastonline.org/climate/boston/
How should Boston build resilience for dealing with weather and climate-related hazards in the coming decades? Participants will use visualizations to explore potential vulnerabilities to our infrastructures, social networks, and ecosystems from sea level rise and extreme precipitation events. Participants will discuss tradeoffs and uncertainties associated with potential strategies for addressing these threats, focusing on the priorities and needs of relevant stakeholders. At the event’s conclusion, participants will make recommendations for increasing community resilience.
Apply to participate in this day-long forum at the Museum of Science on Sunday, June 11. The event is designed to gather the opinions of a diverse range of people from different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Participants don’t need to know anything about the topic to be selected. A stipend will be provided to participants who attend.
—————————
Monday, June 12
—————————
xTalk: Making Meaningful Media: The Impact of MIT+K12 Videos
Monday, June 12
1:00p–2:00p
MIT, Building 4-145, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge
Speaker: Elizabeth Choe
What started as a library of 54 MIT student-produced educational YouTube videos has grown into a world-wide audience who has watched MIT+K12 videos over 5 million times, over 300 Boston-area middle school science media workshop participants, and over 140 MIT students who have learned to communicate their passion for STEM with others through our original web series, courses, and local outreach events. As the MIT+K12 Videos Program comes to a close, learn more from Elizabeth Choe about what the program has accomplished over the past six years, who has been impacted, and how MIT+K12 can inform future efforts around video, learning, outreach, and helping MIT inspire audiences in the broader global community.
xTalks: Digital Discourses
The xTalks series provides a forum to facilitate awareness, deep understanding and transference of educational innovations at MIT and elsewhere. We hope to foster a community of educators, researchers, and technologists engaged in developing and supporting effective learning experiences through online learning environments and other digital technologies.
Web site: https://odl.mit.edu/news-and-events/events/making-meaningful-media-im
pact-mitk12-videos
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): xTalks: Digital Discourses, Office of Digital Learning
For more information, contact: Molly Ruggles
617-324-9185
xtalks-info at mit.edu
—————————
Tuesday, June 13
—————————
Carbon Pricing Lobbying Day
Tuesday, June 13
Boston State House, Boston
The Campaign for a Clean Energy Future is inviting you to participate in our first big lobby day of the year on TUESDAY June 13th, 2017 at the Statehouse in Boston! This is a big opportunity to push carbon pricing in Massachusetts. We will meet at the CABA/CXC office at the Old West Church at 131 Cambridge Street in Boston. We will be looking to identify new supporters in the legislature and mobilize our current supporters to take action in advance of our eventual hearing date. To accomplish both goals, WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! http://www.massclimateaction.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2Fforms%2Fd%2Fe%2F1FAIpQLSc_b9ubGuTezYvarBTYiHYv8dali77WwMzx8TsWKWPTpSReaA%2Fviewform%3Fusp%3Dsf_link&e=9ecdcb834c5d1ff7a30dca892580fa70&utm_source=massclimateaction&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=carbon_pricing1&n=1&test_email=1&e=ed088ce65dcc1bc1521c3264f2c60015&utm_source=massclimateaction&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=carbon_pricing2&n=1>
One of the best ways to discourage behavior we don?t want is to put a price on it, and studies have shown that pricing carbon would cut our carbon pollution by up to 10%. This legislation would establish a common-sense fee-and-rebate system of carbon pollution fees charged to fossil fuel importers. The proposals before the legislature would combat climate change, promote green infrastructure, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create jobs.
To train for the lobby day and set our strategic agenda for the rest of this year, we'll be hosting our GRASSROOTS SUMMIT on SATURDAY, June 10th (location TBD). This is a great opportunity to get updated on the basics of the bills and the most recent news, to get to know your fellow carbon pricing activists, and to learn what is coming up in this campaign. This is going to be the most effective space to prepare for our lobby day and get started on some exciting next step tactics. Fill out this form <http://www.massclimateaction.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2Fforms%2Fd%2Fe%2F1FAIpQLSc_b9ubGuTezYvarBTYiHYv8dali77WwMzx8TsWKWPTpSReaA%2Fviewform%3Fusp%3Dsf_link&e=9ecdcb834c5d1ff7a30dca892580fa70&utm_source=massclimateaction&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=carbon_pricing1&n=2&test_email=1&e=ed088ce65dcc1bc1521c3264f2c60015&utm_source=massclimateaction&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=carbon_pricing2&n=2> to sign up for these events!
MCAN is proud to be a member of the campaign for a clean energy future and believes that putting a price on carbon is a key tool we have to cutting climate change impacts. Click here <http://www.massclimateaction.org/carbon?e=ed088ce65dcc1bc1521c3264f2c60015&utm_source=massclimateaction&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=carbon_pricing2&n=3> to visit MCAN's event page, it will continue to be updated with time and location information.
If you have questions please contact Andrew Gordon (andrew at betterfutureproject.org) or Amenda Sebert (asebert at cleanwater.org).
———————————
Hearing by Joint Committee on Revenue on the Bill from Mass Assc of Housing Co-ops: Our Renters Tax Deduction Bill (H.3334/S.1520)
Tueesday, June 13
10 am
State House Hearing Room,B-2, in the Annex, Boston
This Bill would permit resident owners of housing cooperatives to take advantage of the MA Renters Tax Deduction, if they do not also take the Federal Homeowners Deduction. This will be beneficial to those who do not itemize their federal taxes, and particularly those of low and moderate incomes.
The maximum deduction will be $250/year. We expect that approximately 1,000 people may take this deduction, statewide, resulting in a loss of revenue to the state of about $250,000, and relatively small amount which may be very important to those taking the deduction.
We are prioritizing outreach the members of the Revenue Committee, particularly the Chairs and those who have coops in their districts. Secondarily, we are prioritizing Legislator who have co-sponsored either of our Bills (incl. H.3017 on the Right To Purchase). And thirdly, legislators from Boston and Cambridge, as there are so many coops here. We are trying to mobilize coop members and Boards in those districts to
contact their legislators directly, and to copy us on letters and communications.
—————————————
Boston New Technology June 2017 Startup Showcase #BNT78
Tuesday, June 13
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
Foley Hoag, 155 Seaport Boulevard, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-new-technology-june-2017-startup-showcase-bnt78-tickets-34728265176
Free event! Come learn about 7 innovative and exciting technology products and network with the Boston/Cambridge startup community!
Please click here to share/tweet our event with your network.
Each presenter gets 5 minutes for product demonstration and 5 minutes for Q&A.
—————————————
Rwanda Women Rising
Wednesday, June 13
7:00 pm
First Church, 3 Church Street, Cambridge
Swanee Hunt will speak about her experiences in Rwanda from her new book Rwandan Women Rising which follows the story of the women who worked for peace after the genocide in 1994. Today 64% of the seats in the Rwandan parliament are held by elected women, a number unrivaled by any other nation.
Swanee Hunt chairs the Washington-based Institute for Inclusive Security. She is the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and CEO of Hunt Alternatives.
************
----------------
Opportunity
----------------
************
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
———————————
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. 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://somervilleyogurtmakingcoop.wordpress.com
——————————
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).
———————————
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
———————————
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
——————————
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
—————————
Cambridge Coalition Solar Access Campaign is part of the DOE SunShot Solar in Your Community Challenge with a goal of 40 new solar electric systems installed in Cambridge, with a focus on serving low-to-moderate income communities.
Coalition partners include Green Cambridge, which works to create a more sustainable city and to protect the environment for the health and safety of all, Resonant Energy, a community-based solar developer, Solstice, helping every single household in America go solar, and Sunwealth, a solar investment firm.
More information at http://www.resonant.energy/sap-overview/
hat tip Cambridge Civic Journal
http://www.rwinters.com
*********
------------
Resource
------------
*********
"Greening Our Grid" Report Released April 24, 2017
MAPC is excited to announce the release of “Greening Our Grid,” a fact sheet and a case study detailing MAPC’s strategy to use municipal aggregation to help build new renewable energy in New England.
“Greening Our Grid” highlights MAPC's work with the City of Melrose as a case study for MAPC's innovative green municipal aggregation strategy. Melrose recently completed its first year of implementation. The city’s results demonstrate that economic and environmental goals can be met simultaneously, and provide a compelling example for others to follow.
The case study and fact sheet further describe the renewable energy strategy overall, why it can have a real impact on our electricity grid, and MAPC’s program to help other municipalities follow Melrose's lead. Arlington, Brookline, Gloucester, Hamilton, Millis, Somerville, Sudbury, and Winchester are poised to roll out their green aggregations within the year.
MAPC believes that municipal aggregation offers an opportunity for communities to leverage the collective buying power of their residents and businesses to transform our electric grid to cleaner sources of energy, while also providing cost savings and price stability for electricity. The fact sheet and case study will be useful tools for cities and towns that are exploring green municipal aggregation, as well as for those that already have active aggregation programs.
Check out “Greening Our Grid” today at http://www.mapc.org/greening-our-grid, and contact Patrick Roche, MAPC Clean Energy Coordinator, at proche at mapc.org for more information about MAPC's program.
——————————
Cambridge Climate Change Game
Extending our work on face-to-face games, the MIT Science Impact Collaborative has developed a digital game on the health impacts of climate change that you can play alone on your computer or on your mobile phone. The game should take about 10-20 minutes. We would appreciate it if you could play the game at your convenience.
Play the game at http://www.doublecoconut.com/climate/
Any and all feedback on the game should be directed to Ella Kim at ella at mit.edu.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
————————————
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
————————————
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
———————————
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!
——————————
Boston Maker Spaces - 41 (up from 27 in 2016) and counting: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zGHnt9r2pQx8.kfw9evrHsKjA&hl=en
Solidarity Network Economy: https://ussolidarityeconomy.wordpress.com
Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston: http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/
****************************************
------------------------------------------------------
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://environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
Sustainability at Harvard: http://green.harvard.edu/events
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
Take Action MA: http://takeactionma.com
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