tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53933590417629366172024-03-17T20:02:58.967-07:00Life@ERGLife and Perspectives of Students and Scholars at ERGAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05261073474043774879noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-57620933554759398892020-04-30T11:48:00.002-07:002020-04-30T11:55:45.061-07:00Quarantine Diaries, Part 3 - From Berkeley to Bellingham to BishopWelcome to the third installment of the Quarantine Diaries series.
This week we hear from ERG graduate students (and alumni!) spread across the Sierras;
Bellingham, Washington; and Berkeley, California. Learn how they are
managing thwarted fieldwork plans, supporting family on the front lines,
and expressing gratitude for the company and natural beauty around
them. <br />
<br />
<u><b>Sophie Major (fifth-year graduate student)</b></u><br />
<br />
<i>Tell us a bit about your quarantine situation.</i><br />
This
year was supposed to be a key fieldwork year for me, living in
Bellingham and driving up to British Columbia to interview and engage
with folks there. When discussions of closing the US-Canada border
began, I had to decide which side of the border to remain on, and opted
to stay in Bellingham since in-person fieldwork needed to cease
immediately anyways. In Bellingham, my quarantine buddies are my partner
Froy (ERG alum) and Mr. Cat. The three of us are very comfortable in
our cozy little place, and we luckily have some great neighbors that we
get to chat with from afar on occasion.<br />
<br />
One of the new
balancing acts for us is figuring out how to share office and work
space. Froy is teaching two courses online this quarter, so when he is
teaching I am relegated to the dining table, which for the last couple
of weeks has been occupied by in-progress jigsaw puzzles. I've figured
out how to coexist with the puzzles, which usually means just working on
top of them (and slowly working away at them while I'm video calls).<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
I
have taken up baking recipes from the Cheese Board Collective cookbook,
which I was able to snag used online. They give away a lot of their
tasty secrets, and our homemade pizzas and baking have been mostly
satisfying my Cheese Board cravings. We're also working on a backyard
planter garden, starting some vegetable plants from seed. My most
time-consuming quarantine activity, which I'm sure is true for a lot of
ERGies, is calling and checking in on family regularly. I have eight
siblings, many of whom live alone and are very isolated right now, and
other family members who are very at-risk or who are essential workers. I
try to call one family member every day or two, but even at that pace I
can only talk to each of them once or twice a month!<br />
<br />
<i>What's a piece of art that captures how you’re feeling today?</i><br />
This piece of extinction rebellion street art captures my current feelings of political and social motivation. <br />
<br />
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<br />
I've
been spending some time the last few weeks thinking about how social
change ought to come about and what my role in that ought to look like.
Right now I'm mulling over a position that Foucault argues for in his
essay "What is Enlightenment?" that I came across yesterday: "we know
from experience that the claim to escape from the system of contemporary
reality so as to produce the overall programs of another society, of
another way of thinking, another culture, another vision of the world,
has led only to the return of the most dangerous traditions." Foucault
is not arguing against specific projects of social transformation, but
rather warning against a self-proclaimed radical project that claims to
replace our contemporary reality all at once. <br />
<i><br />What’s the difference between a weekday and weekend for you?</i><br />
One
of our favorite things to do on the weekend is to get outside to
exercise, but we happen to live in an area where the parks and trails
are packed on the weekends. We've more or less changed our "weekend" to
weekdays, so that we make some time to be outside when it's less
crowded. Most of the time, though, there's not much difference between
the weekend and weekdays<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> –</span></span></span> we usually get some work done in the mornings and then get increasingly distracted by other activities as the day progresses.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<i>What’s your information diet these days?</i><br />
The
majority of weekdays I listen to or watch Democracy Now during lunch.
Usually I just hear the headlines, but sometimes I'll listen to the
whole program if the guests seem particularly interesting. I also read
through the New York Times' daily briefing most days, and often check
local reddit subs for postings on local news or virus-related hearsay.
For many weeks I was checking the local health department websites and
the global Worldometer virus statistics everyday, but now I check those
only every few days. <br />
<br />
<i>How does being a grad student feel right now?</i><br />
My
research is focused on Indigenous political thought, and right now that
often feels unimportant given the many pressing day to day challenges
Indigenous communities are dealing with. It definitely makes doing
research difficult, since Indigenous leadership is often fully occupied
by their work to address concerns of public health, economic well-being,
education, service provision, legal proceedings to secure rights, and
so on. However, I still think my research can offer valuable
contributions to ongoing projects of indigenous resistance and epistemic
decolonization, so I still feel positive and hopeful about my work.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u>Stephen Jarvis (fifth-year graduate student)</u></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Tell us a bit about your quarantine situation.</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
live on my own in a little in-law cottage in North Berkeley. Definitely
feel like not having to navigate the whole housemate/covid situation is
a bit of a blessing. It can get a bit lonely sometimes but I'm
compensating with an absurd number of video chats with friends and
family, many of whom are weathering the storm back in the UK. It's been
tough at times being so far away from them, especially because some of
my family are particularly affected (my mum works in the NHS and my
brother has been going through chemo). Been trying to stay positive
though with lots of exercise and walks in the Berkeley hills, which has
been a godsend. I can imagine a lot of far worse places to be than
Berkeley right now!</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="im"><i>What's a song or piece of art that captures how you’re feeling today?</i></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="im">
</span></span></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Edvard
Munch's "The Scream"? Just kidding, life's not that bad! I've definitely
been listening to A LOT of music which has actually been lovely. It's
been heartening to see how people have rallied round to support artists
that are being hammered right now. Big plug for <a href="https://www.nts.live/">NTS radio</a> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> – </span></span></span>tons of
great shows. Today I'm listening to a <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nts.live/shows/in-focus/episodes/in-focus-tatsuro-yamashita-17th-april-2020&source=gmail&ust=1588281257727000&usg=AFQjCNHJY5ZWzatEJaQJX87D_yCXn1Vkcw" href="https://www.nts.live/shows/in-focus/episodes/in-focus-tatsuro-yamashita-17th-april-2020" target="_blank">retrospective of Tatsuro Yamashita</a>
so it's sunny J-pop vibes all round. Oh and on the books front, I
re-read Phillip Pullman's <i>His Dark Materials</i> trilogy recently and have
been working my way through the sequels now. They still hold up so well,
and <i>The Secret Commonwealth</i> was </span></span>wonderful.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<i>What’s the difference betw<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="im">een a weekday and weekend for you?</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is this weekday/weekend distinction you speak of?</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="im"><i><br />What’s your information diet these days?</i></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Definitely
been cutting down on news consumption lately. I check the NYtimes,
Guardian and the IHME Covid model once a day but that's it. Also all the
podcasts I like are almost all about the coronavirus now so after a
while I've stopped listening to most of those too. Only ones I'm still
up on are Reply All and the BBC's More or Less.<span class="im"><br /><i><br />Do you have any Zoom stories for us?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So
sick of Zoom that I am now using other video chat platforms (Google
Hangouts, Skype etc.) simply to break the monotony. God that's a sad
sentence to write!<span class="im"><i> </i></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="im"><i>How does being a grad student feel right now?</i></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="im">
</span>
The first few weeks were a bit hectic as I'm teaching this semester, but
that's calmed down now that the semester is finishing up.
On the whole though I feel very lucky. Compared to most people my work
life hasn't changed very much and I can get on with my research largely
uninterrupted. I am going on the job market in the Fall though so that's
looking increasingly bleak with all the hiring freezes being announced.
It is what it is though so I'm just carrying on as is and we'll see what </span></span>happens.<br />
<br />
<i>Anything e<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="im">lse you’d like to share?<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span></span></i><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="im"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I want to have a party! Can we still do something to celebrate the end of the year and ERG graduation!?</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="im">
</span></span></span><u><b><br />Hilary Yu (fourth-year graduate student)</b></u><br />
<i><br />Tell us a bit about your quarantine situation. </i><br />
I've
been in transit recently - I was in the field and determining where it
would make sense to end up sheltering in place - and have been feeling a
bit like I'm still catching up on figuring out a proper routine and how
best to be productive! Although I'm aiming for a more structured
routine whilst self-isolating, I find myself having bursts of activity
around 1-3am and though it feels like the current scenario would make a
semi-nocturnal routine more feasible than normal, I'll probably try to
avoid it for now! <br />
<br />
<i>What's a book or song or movie or piece of art that captures how you’re feeling today?</i><br />
My
desktop wallpaper has been Rodin's "The Thinker," which I think has
been apropos for most days recently. I'd also say Marcus Aurelius's <i>Meditations</i>.
Aside from works of art though, my partner has a cat and I find myself
better understanding his very matter-of-fact appreciation of the simple
amusements that one can find at home (but I will nevertheless forgo
crawling into the hamper). <br />
<br />
<div>
<div>
<br />
<div>
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<br /></div>
<i> </i></div>
<div>
<i>What’s the difference between a weekday and weekend for you?</i> </div>
<div>
I
definitely agree with Ariel about the sleeping-in difference between
weekdays and weekends. I also try to let myself take longer walks over
the weekends (for a bit of reflection and exercise!) and maybe delve
into a new recipe or two. My sister recently set up a weekly family
hangout that falls on Sunday evenings for me, and that has been a nice
way to wrap up the weekend and transition to the week. </div>
<div>
<i><br />What’s your information diet these days?</i> </div>
<div>
I've
been watching the BBC news to get better coverage of international
events, and have also been making use of the NYT (and WSJ) campus
subscriptions for grad students. I also keep updated with local news
sources on circumstances in the areas where I've been doing field
research.<br />
<br />
<i>Do you have any Zoom stories for us? </i><br />
My laptop's webcam is what they call a nose-cam (it's located at the
bottom of my laptop screen) but at my normal laptop screen angle it
doesn't quite capture the nose either. Instead it shows a scary view of
monster-sized hands and a chin (and sometimes the rare sighting of a
mouth or nose).<i> </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
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<br />
Upon
discovering that hosts/co-hosts can rename individuals in a Zoom
meeting, we've had some fun and creative nicknaming, and a point when
everyone in one meeting ended up with the same name. <br />
<i><br />How does being a grad student feel right now?</i><br />
A
mix of a lot of things – concerns about circumstances in so many places
which make it difficult for many communities to adopt the measures that
are being recommended at this time; these concerns get compounded by
seeing the prioritization of where resources go when an epidemic becomes
a global pandemic; worries about dissertation ideas and original plans
for field research, and trying to adapt to the uncertainty that we all
find ourselves in, whether we are<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> grad students or not, by considering
what contingency plans might be necessary and feasible. There's also
attempting to manage all of these feelings productively and trying to
focus on concrete things that can be done (I've found myself getting
lost trying to think through multiple contingency plans, at the cost of
forgetting that there are many other productive things to engage in!).</span></span></div>
<div>
<br />
I also feel gratitude for all the support and understanding that has come from so many different <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">people during this time. And I'm working to
remember to take a step back and keep the human concerns of this time in
perspective, even though it's easy to get mired down in worrying about
the academic and professional implications. One thing that has been
particularly inspiring is the sense of community and solidarity that has
emerged and endured, even as places have gone into lockdown and pe</span></span>ople have had to physically isolate themselves.<br />
<br />
<i>Anything else you'd like to share? </i><br />
I
have to give a huge shout-out and heartfelt thanks to Kay – she was
there for me every step of the way when I was in the field and figuring
out what to do, and it made all the difference.<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<u><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Micah Elias (2nd year), Phillippe Phanivong (4th year), Tzipora Wagner (2nd year), Anna Yip (1st year)</b></span></span></u><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tell us a bit about
your quarantine situation.</span></span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We are some of the lucky ones. Right now Phillippe, Tzipora, Anna,
and Micah are happily sheltering with Sascha von Meier and her husband Mike in
Bishop, on the east side of the Sierras. We were all originally planning on
coming up for a few days during spring break, then shelter in place happened
and here we are, six weeks later! We have a pretty precious East Side ERG
family situation – Anna and Micah cook dinner, Tzipora and Phillippe clean up,
and Sascha and Mike pay the mortgage. </span></span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have celebrated two birthdays in
the past six weeks. Anna celebrated hers by running the inaugural Hapa Half
Marathon, from Sascha’s house to South Lake (1400 feet in elevation gain), up a
small random dirt road to round out the 13 miles, and back to Sascha’s.
Phillippe celebrated his birthday with a whiskey tasting on Zoom – he got five
sample bottles sent to the him through a store holding a special event. We all
celebrated Passover together as well, which added an exciting additional layer
of complexity to cooking for six people. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Although we were
all planning on climbing while up here, the sheriff has threatened to ticket
anyone climbing. We solved that problem by putting an anchor in the rafter of
the house to practice ascending a rope and rappelling past a knot. We also
discovered a big rock in the backyard that can be bouldered if you put your
mind to it. It has been dubbed Brock (boulder + rock) and has informally become
part of the family. It’s like an outside cat that doesn’t need to be fed. The
perfect pet. </span></span></span></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have been here long enough that
the weather has changed and we’ve become comfortable farting around each other.
The cooks have been asked to cut out meat, dairy, simple carbs, added sugar, carrots,
bananas, as well as minimize shopping trips to once a week. So, beans?</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s the difference
between a weekday and weekend for you?</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When it was snowing, weekdays often
included circuit training in the living room, which has turned into runs and
bike rides. Weekends now consist of longer runs, longer bike rides, and a
blessed relief from Zoom. Tzipora also makes sourdough on Sundays, that’s a
highlight.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Weekends also lead to unfettered time to play
games and do puzzles. Anna and Micah have almost mastered the collaborative
card game, Hanabi, while Sascha and Tzipora have achieved double digit NYT
crossword puzzle streaks. Micah even got a word. Radii. A real ringer. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Weekends are also a time to make
sure we stay looking sharp. Micah practicing his barbering skills on Phillippe,
and on himself, with different levels of success. </span></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>
</i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s your
information diet these days?</span></span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For pandemic-related news, Phillippe provides daily updates on
Covid cases in the county at dinner. As this was being written, Phillippe
excitedly shared that the county has come out with demographic-specific data.
It is reminiscent of kids opening presents on Christmas morning, except
different. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To help remind ourselves of the good things in life, we have been
sharing something each person is grateful for at dinner. It has been daily
reminder that we are lucky to have each other, our health, and a beautiful
place to call home.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="686" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCY3AXnkc0s21AEKyxCcmmcY0h0deTGvMrWVUcX7NCMiIkWyo98TkBzBPN346UR2uWmo4VL9ob5AcLsRVOZvRCVCj3zFjkWN6e3XD-VqmmT1wSNj5-7JeI195NUvurGia50dupObAosvc/s640/7.jpg" width="640" /></center>
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<i>
</i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you have any Zoom
stories for us?</span></span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Having so many Zoom meetings in the same house has been
interesting, we often Zoom into the same meeting from different rooms because
no one wants to get up. But when we do go to meetings as a group, we have the
small audio-visual studio that Phillippe brought with him, including a camera
with tripod, mic with tripod, and four-way headphone splitter. He puts the
tripod for the mic on a piece of foam to minimize unwanted noise from the
mouse. For those of you who know Phillippe well, this does not surprise you. </span></span></span>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, even with all of our gear
and planning, issues arise. Today, Tzipora’s family got together for their
weekly happy hour using her Zoom link. However, she sent out the same link for her
lab presentation. When she signed on to begin her presentation, she saw her
parents and siblings, sharing a virtual drink, waiting for the rest of the
family. Tzipora quickly pushed them out, but not before her mom said, “good
lucky, baby, hope it goes great. Love you” in front of the lab group. Nice ice
breaker at least. Oh, and one of Anna’s students changed their background to a
photo of Anna they found online and got a good laugh from everyone, including
Anna. Nothing too juicy however. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How does being a grad student feel right now?</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Although
it is easy to feel like school or work is irrelevant during this time, we all
feel extremely lucky and privileged to in a beautiful place surrounded by amazing
people. Our daily gratitude practice is a great reminder how blessed we are to
have each other. </span></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-75338504738292982722020-04-22T15:57:00.001-07:002020-04-22T23:26:37.264-07:00Quarantine Diaries, Part 2 - Home-schooling, Mega-pods, and YeatsWe're back with Part 2 of our Quarantine Diaries series! This week, we
share stories from both students and staff in the ERG community. Read on
for reflections on parenting, advising, and being global health
researcher in the age of COVID-19. <br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Sangcheol Moon, first-year graduate student</b></u><i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>Tell us a bit about your quarantine situation.</i><br />
I'm
still in the University Village staying with my two kids. My husband
had been here with us but he returned to Korea now (he's in 2-week
mandatory self-quarantine mode in Seoul). He came here for the birthdays
of the kids (both were born in late March) but to our disappointment
obviously, we canceled the birthday party... Yes, it's crazy being 24/7
with 2 kiddos while I have so much zoom zoom zoom.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQcBSZcjae8e55SprrD-6NBy4-hA0n78TrGrWeB6-ZpImXoiqi6YIuRTdtizchahpKGrDGbm0UlnimFBhbHopqAAgqJcjTtYrPCw1UzA4T92IGw6Zqro3lfAU4dFA-3ukDL5b5qSpMjW0/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1105" data-original-width="1600" height="441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQcBSZcjae8e55SprrD-6NBy4-hA0n78TrGrWeB6-ZpImXoiqi6YIuRTdtizchahpKGrDGbm0UlnimFBhbHopqAAgqJcjTtYrPCw1UzA4T92IGw6Zqro3lfAU4dFA-3ukDL5b5qSpMjW0/s640/unnamed.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What I liked the most about living in this amazing community, UC Village, was
that I could arrange a lot of play dates.... but there’s no such
thing anymore. So I try to take my kids bike-riding outside the apartment
often.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
I usually use Amazon Fresh
for grocery shopping (Normally I make an order after kids go to bed, and
I get FRESH grocery bags on my doorstep in the morning and finish
organizing everything before the kids wake up.) But Amazon Fresh
delivery is broken, Wholefoods delivery is broken! Sometimes on a very
lucky day, if I click the check-out button right at the moment the clock
hand changes to the next day (12:00), I get a spot. But that rarely
happens. And I find many items are missing when delivered due to
unavailability at the moment of delivery. I promised to make a
Korean-style tofu dish for the kids, but I had to tell them, Mommy doesn't
have tofu today <img alt="😌" class="CToWUd" data-goomoji="1f60c" data-image-whitelisted="" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/1f60c" style="margin: 0 0.2ex; max-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle;" /> <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2f2-HWffEaaFakioZ9G2cGD8GsZjII8rwOFK8RdjJodPZyNiJjYYBUzY6DBbFRP0fmV-sW4jcGZDwR7Bi1DA2dO0G3qsUnVyrqHfLUqlEzB7QW5OBRI5j0qwB3vUDc3EemJWMs2caPvw/s1600/5F50DD97-D6A8-46C9-8EE1-AF13C87C9F0F.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2f2-HWffEaaFakioZ9G2cGD8GsZjII8rwOFK8RdjJodPZyNiJjYYBUzY6DBbFRP0fmV-sW4jcGZDwR7Bi1DA2dO0G3qsUnVyrqHfLUqlEzB7QW5OBRI5j0qwB3vUDc3EemJWMs2caPvw/s640/5F50DD97-D6A8-46C9-8EE1-AF13C87C9F0F.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ha. Home-lunch. Everyday. The hardest part.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And.. Ah. homeschooling. <img alt="😰" class="CToWUd" data-goomoji="1f630" data-image-whitelisted="" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/1f630" style="margin: 0 0.2ex; max-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle;" /> I respect teachers for being so kind, so inclusive, and so patient. <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>What's a show that captures how you’re feeling today?</i><br />
Not
exactly for this question, but I recently finished watching "Anne with
an E" on Netflix. And I find myself having feelings like 'magical',
'wonderful' from very small or near things that have always been there. <br />
<br />
<i>What’s your information diet these days?</i><br />
As
I'm disturbed every 2 minutes, I don't actually need to worry about how
to 'diet'. Rather, I should always worry about whether I'm following
the news properly or not. When I finally have some my-own-time,
sometimes I try to follow the trend skimming today's main news section,
but soon I feel exhausted and just end up hovering on Netflix or the
free (by luck of COVID) <a href="https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/titelgeschichten/20192020/digital-concert-hall/">Berlin Phil archive</a> 😌 <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkY6EGoLcJotWtDh1Uu9ECpYknAs2dSWCXqaeRZN-K1xY1SP5mWv2jbp0H63Aj0rgEzNCqpqYl5i2ViFObY56jsoUe0vHI0ETpp6zYe3Rbfkh2k2gV2O1hMGlNsNwzkk0R_0MYwDq9F7w/s1600/D577ECB0-95A0-4FF9-9FD4-E6DED2E8E467.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkY6EGoLcJotWtDh1Uu9ECpYknAs2dSWCXqaeRZN-K1xY1SP5mWv2jbp0H63Aj0rgEzNCqpqYl5i2ViFObY56jsoUe0vHI0ETpp6zYe3Rbfkh2k2gV2O1hMGlNsNwzkk0R_0MYwDq9F7w/s640/D577ECB0-95A0-4FF9-9FD4-E6DED2E8E467.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peeping mom’s zoom time...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<i>What’s the difference between a weekday and weekend for you?</i><br />
Weekday: more Zoom (more candies for the kids, asking them not to attack me while I'm on Zoom) <br />
Weekend: less Zoom (fewer candies) <br />
<u><b><br /></b></u>
<u><b>Ariel Chu, work-study student</b></u><br />
<br />
<i>Tell us about your quarantine situation. </i><br />
As
a work-study assistant for ERG, it's so boring not being able to greet
students by the front desk or interacting with other people in general. I
miss being in the office, but I'm sure this is applicable to many other
ERG staff and students as well!<br />
<br />
<i>What song captures how you're feeling today? </i><br />
"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIgmyE5Juzw">Are You Bored Yet?</a>" by Clairo is a perfect capture of my mood these days, especially 10 minutes into doing my assignments.<br />
<br />
<i>What's the difference between a weekday and weekend for you? </i>There's
only one difference between weekdays and weekends for me at this point.
On weekdays, I sleep in and feel guilty about it. On weekends, I sleep
in and feel less guilty about it.<br />
<br />
<i>How does being a student feel right now? </i><br />
As
a freshman, I was so excited to close off my first year of college with
an exciting semester! Unfortunately, that is simply no longer possible.
My heart goes out to the seniors, however, as I'm sure they've put over
thousands of hours into school and extra-curriculars to receive a
formal graduation, only to have coronavirus cancel plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Megan Amaral, Manager</b></u><br />
<i><br />Tell us a bit about your quarantine situation.</i><br />
My
quarantine “pod” includes me, my husband, my daughter and our au pair
from Spain. We are fortunate to live near a large, natural park
overlooking the bay in Pt. Richmond. Having this extra space and nature
has made the quarantine much more palatable. Until recently, we had
spent time only with each other. Delta, who is now 2.5 was increasingly
troubled by the lack of social interaction. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
- “I’m sad.” <br />
- “Why, Delta?”<br />
- “I don’t see kids.”</blockquote>
Last
weekend we merged with another family to create a “mega-pod” so their
three toddlers can play with ours. Delta is over the moon.<br />
<br />
<i>What's a book that captures how you’re feeling today?</i><br />
Well,
A Handmaid's Tale comes to mind first, but not because it is an
accurate reflection of my life right now--just a few elements. Our au
pair and I started watching the series just when shelter in place began.
We noticed right away that the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped
in a house had some similarities for COVID-19 life. The similarities
sorta end there.<br />
<br />
<i>What’s the difference between a weekday and weekend for you?</i><br />
This
is actually pretty much the same as my pre-COVID life. Weekends are
when I am not doing my UC Berkeley job and spending full days with my
family. I get plenty of quality time with my daughter: walks, gardening,
making crafts, reading books, and cooking together. I do these with
our au pair often too. We all clean the house and work on indoor and
outdoor projects. When I report for work Monday-Friday, I get set up in
my temporary office in our RV around 8:30 and leave around 5:30, only
taking a quick lunch. Again, pretty much my old schedule, but without
the commute.<br />
<br />
<center>
<img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGp8ytvrbAAamlcTk0gZCriKYLdQgilgEn-Dr3cTSJRCh4NVnCUhaHFQu11J2X9CUeeGJQXlwdowZsRjiTM00uaSQmnxZ-vqG8vNaWm1nhoqbs1Pgs7-iRmkPvqdv8O-kOFyEie7YCec/s640/IMG_9139.jpg" width="640" /></center>
<br />
<br />
<i>What’s your information diet these days?</i><br />
KQED
and NPR radio in the morning and occasionally following news links
during the day. I’ve found myself reading a disproportionate amount of
Wired articles. <br />
<br />
<i>Do you have any Zoom stories for us?</i><br />
I
was on a Zoom call a couple weeks ago. It was a campus leadership
update call, so I was just listening, on mute, no video. I was going to
run right after it ended, so started to put on my running clothes.
Halfway through changing in front of my computer I realized that my
camera was still pointed at me and for a second I couldn’t remember if I
had turned off my video. (Yikes!) I had. (Whew!)<br />
<br />
<i>How does working in academia feel right now?</i><br />
I
feel very fortunate to work here. Being part of a university right now
has helped me to: 1) keep my job; 2) stay well-informed with
communications from an institution that values science; 3) be of service
to others during a crisis; 4) develop deeper relationships with
colleagues and students; and 5) see social and environmental challenges
from new angles.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Kay Burns, Graduate Student Advisor</b></u><br />
<br />
<i>Tell us about your quarantine situation.</i> <br />
I
am working from home, with lots of zoom meetings and cooking projects.
My partner is stuck in Belfast with a cancelled flight so I'm on my own.
Luckily I have great neighbors and we chat across our little
one-block-long street and sometimes have distanced happy hours on our
porches.<br />
<br />
<i>What are some songs or poems that capture how you're feeling today?</i><br />
"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB5mHI4WXn8">Get Me Through December</a>" by Natalie MacMaster<br />
<br />
"<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147081/dancing">Dancing</a>" by Robert Hass<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
The radio clicks on—it’s poor swollen America,</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Up already and busy selling the exhausting obligation</div>
Of happiness...</blockquote>
<br />
"<a href="https://poets.org/poem/second-coming">The Second Coming</a>" by William Butler Yeats<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold,<br />
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world</blockquote>
<br />
<i>What’s the difference between a weekday and weekend for you?</i><br />
On
the weekends I feel more isolated and restless, thinking about wanting
to get outside and connect to people. During the week I'm pretty busy so
time goes by faster.<br />
<br />
<i>What’s your information diet these days?</i><br />
NY Times, SF Chronicle, MSNBC, Slate, KQED, KPFA<br />
<br />
<i>How does working in academia feel right now?</i><br />
I
am a student advisor - and now my work feels fruitless and frustrating.
I am all about supporting the students -- and so it is not surprising
but I feel like I'm constantly letting people down and not doing enough.<br />
<br />
<i>Anything else you’d like to share?</i><br />
I
miss the ERG community terribly! This period really does remind us how
much our community is worth, and how much the individuals in our life
matter.<br />
<br />
<u><br /><b>Yoshika Crider, fifth-year graduate student</b></u> <br />
<br />
<i>Tell us a bit about your quarantine situation.</i><br />
I'm sheltering-in-place in my cozy studio apartment in Berkeley. I live close to campus, so it's very quiet!<br />
<br />
<i>What's a piece of art that captures how you’re feeling today?</i><br />
The
other day my friend sent me this comic by Liz Climo, one of my favorite
illustrators. I'm really trying not to be the alligator, but sometimes
it happens. <br />
<br />
<center>
<img height="400" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EVmDesyUMAAAvGJ?format=jpg&name=4096x4096" width="320" /><br />
</center>
<br />
<br />
<i>What’s the difference between a weekday and weekend for you?</i><br />
Sometimes
there's not much of a difference these days... But, it has become more
important to establish a routine. I like to have projects on the
weekends, like a crafty thing to tackle or an interesting thing to bake,
so I have a distraction from work or the news. I'm totally loving the <a href="https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/swirled-sesame-tea-cake">loaf</a> <a href="https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/earl-grey-yogurt-cake">recipes</a> Salma has shared on the ERG slack cooking channel.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwm3r5efcfEXh3qqps9GimQCNVqBFcWSc5CkAhPJ1M270FDLtI7DPg4U-DCirL5p4SoQDNTU9s5NwImuGv6E4Vy0qL-WUZQjliV2vMzkY-sQpM2Uiycr78Cn-bxiYEoVvPK7wF470Bcbc/s1600/12AF4D71-29A8-4E74-99BE-3C0E2052465D.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwm3r5efcfEXh3qqps9GimQCNVqBFcWSc5CkAhPJ1M270FDLtI7DPg4U-DCirL5p4SoQDNTU9s5NwImuGv6E4Vy0qL-WUZQjliV2vMzkY-sQpM2Uiycr78Cn-bxiYEoVvPK7wF470Bcbc/s640/12AF4D71-29A8-4E74-99BE-3C0E2052465D.JPG" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weekend COVID craft project</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukKBF2HRhwme0FZ26n3VNuPHXP7kqwJfCAbUWPSAb6aRa4EJwAVQohoPOIWxL65aKZkcbijB55qBqgbmWVQwzfmQELhLlx_-AyfbdkJImnzqBSV5zpQrmu4Vp0C3ryWnK-zZmc4UZiUI/s1600/IMG_0726.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukKBF2HRhwme0FZ26n3VNuPHXP7kqwJfCAbUWPSAb6aRa4EJwAVQohoPOIWxL65aKZkcbijB55qBqgbmWVQwzfmQELhLlx_-AyfbdkJImnzqBSV5zpQrmu4Vp0C3ryWnK-zZmc4UZiUI/s640/IMG_0726.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Essential employees spotted on a walk near home</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<i>What’s your information diet these days?</i><br />
I
check the NYT and the SF Chronicle coronavirus live updates page
probably too much. I listen to The Daily or Up First podcast every
morning. And I have some incredible friends who are directly involved
with public health efforts or treating patients, and I learn so much
from them. But I also logged back on to Twitter for maybe the first time
in 8 years. I know Twitter has a terrible reputation, but that's where a
lot of the fast-coming COVID-19 research results are being shared now.
For example, I follow a researcher whose lab is running filtration
efficiency tests for mask materials and posting really informative
graphs as soon as experiments are done. It's pretty amazing how fast
research is being shared. And this is unfortunately also a time when
expert voices are being silenced, so Twitter has been great because it
lets me go directly to medical and public health experts. I also get
email updates from several of the health journals that are publishing
coronavirus study results, so I skim those too. <br />
<br />
<i>How does being a grad student feel right now?</i><br />
I
guess I have mixed feelings. I work in global health, which as a field
feels especially important now. For the last two summers, I've GSI'd for
a global health class, and one of the lectures is about flu pandemics.
Students found it interesting, but their point of reference was maybe
the movie Contagion. The material will feel really different when I
teach again this summer. My international fieldwork wrapped up in
December, so I feel really fortunate that I'm not having to make
contingency plans for my dissertation. But, I worry a lot about health
system capacity in the places where I work. Overall though, I feel
really supported. And I appreciated so much the <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-You-Should-Ignore-All-That/248366">article</a>
that Phillippe shared from the Chronicles of Higher Ed, pushing against
productivity pressure right now. There have been times during my grad
student career when I've been totally unproductive, and it's all been
okay.<br />
<br />
<i>Anything else you’d like to share?</i><br />
I'm
so impressed by how creative and resourceful ERGies are. A virtual
talent show and auction? Such an amazing idea. I'm really looking
forward to that and to seeing everyone again.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-3351785714431187922020-04-15T11:50:00.002-07:002020-04-22T23:29:00.876-07:00Quarantine Diaries, Part 1 - Virtual Seders, Walden Pond, and TikTok Videos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_fYCMVvTl0SVFwWjR4y2J7Tk4DCgzsb4AdO_j4idpvtmB3Z4hL2ocVXif3j3ILUjUMl9dI72WTjOPRv726NtJkVQMdgyKa6zrSqj3hM9znE5r5KMu1jxIKvEhNxBmNB-vvVO-GFTMMns/s1600/93796007_506258843588238_5199975029059616768_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_fYCMVvTl0SVFwWjR4y2J7Tk4DCgzsb4AdO_j4idpvtmB3Z4hL2ocVXif3j3ILUjUMl9dI72WTjOPRv726NtJkVQMdgyKa6zrSqj3hM9znE5r5KMu1jxIKvEhNxBmNB-vvVO-GFTMMns/s640/93796007_506258843588238_5199975029059616768_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A slice of quarantine life, courtesy of Isa Ferrall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It's been nearly a month since the Bay
Area began to shelter-in-place. Since then, ERGies have spread all
across the world in efforts to keep themselves and their communities
safe. None of this is easy, but we're all doing our best to stay in good
health and high spirits in this unprecedented time. Keeping up with
friends and family feels more important than ever. So, Life@ERG is
catching up with ERGies near and far to learn about their quarantine
experiences and share them with YOU! This week, we hear from Michelle
Sims, first-year student; Isa Ferrall, fourth-year student; Duncan
Callaway, ERG faculty member; Edem Yevoo, first-year student; and Salma
Elmallah, third-year student.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Tell us a bit about your quarantine situation:</h4>
<br />
I live
in a group house in Elmwood with my partner and some other folks.
Initially I had considered going back to my parent's place in Southern
CA for a couple weeks once everything was moved online, but ultimately
decided to stay in Berkeley. My housemates make great quarantine
company-- we've had mid-day yoga breaks together, movie nights, and game
nights with a side of pina coladas. My partner and I have been trying
out some new recipes, going for runs, and wandering up in the Berkeley
fire trails to catch some sunsets. Despite many peoples' advice to put
real clothes on, I've been rotating through every pair of sweats that I
own. <i>(Michelle)</i><br />
<br />
I am in a shared home of 5
people. Luckily we all get along well and have enough space to spread
out. I am loving our outdoor porch right now. The toughest part has been
figuring out an internet situation that doesn't momentarily crash on
people ever 10 minutes. <i>(Isa)</i><br />
<br />
I'm home with my
elementary school-aged kids and my wife Meredith, who also teaches at
Berkeley. We're homeschooling our kids at the same time we're teaching
undergrads and grads. We've managed to find a lot of silver linings,
including more free time to play board games, exercise together, and a
deeper understanding of how terrific our kids' teachers are.<i> (Duncan)</i><br />
<br />
I
am currently living in the International House and planning to stay
here till the end of May while the virus is being contained. The
building managers have set in place restrictions for residents including
staying in our rooms as much as possible, closing down communal spaces
that might encourage gatherings, and suggesting mask use when outside
the room. The cafeteria allows for take out allowing 10 residents in at a
time and enforcing social distancing policies within the house. <i>(Edem)</i><br />
<br />
Right
now I'm at my parents' place in Canada, and since I came from another
country I had to do an actual 14 day quarantine (as in staying 2 meters
away from people and not sharing common space with anyone). So I'm just
in my childhood bedroom, where I will be for 4 more days. Before that I
did a couple weeks of sheltering in place with my housemate in Berkeley,
and after this I'll just be sheltering in place in Edmonton with my
parents and my little brother. <i>(Salma)</i><br />
<br />
<h4>
What’s your information diet these days?</h4>
<br />
After
endlessly getting distracted by coronavirus news initially, I've
restricted myself to 15 minutes of news briefs in the morning. <i>(Michelle)</i><br />
<br />
Well
I start my days by scrolling through Instagram, Twitter, and the ERG
Slack memes channel until I can't anymore. So there's that. I also read
the NY Times daily newsletter. I think I mostly get information from my
more-informed friends sending me things.<i> (Salma)</i><br />
<br />
Most of my information diet is based on podcasts and occasionally reading news articles summaries from the NY Times. <i>(Edem)</i><br />
<br />
I'm completely saturated! I scan headlines, but that's mostly it. <i> (Duncan)</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
What’s the difference between a weekday and weekend for you?</h4>
<br />
I
don't set an alarm on the weekends, and I try to take at least one full
day off during the weekend for no work. One of our housemates started
making pizza dough on saturday mornings for everyone, so we bake the
pizzas Saturday night and then watch a movie together after. We are in
the middle of the Before Sunrise / Before Sunset / Before Midnight
series. <i>(Isa)</i><br />
<br />
I take time off on the weekends, and my kids don't have to do schoolwork.<i> (Duncan)</i><br />
<br />
The
biggest difference is that I take most of the weekend time to enjoy
relaxing activities. Anywhere from listening to a lot of music, video
games (Fifa!), staying away from most academic work, and spending most
of the time virtually connecting with friends and family throughout the
weekend. <i>(Edem)</i><br />
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
Do you have any Zoom stories for us?</h4>
<br />
I convinced my
supervisor to hold up her cute puppy throughout a work meeting. Which
was the closest I could to petting her dog so that was very exciting.<i> (Edem)</i><br />
<br />
I
participated in a 50 person zoom Passover Seder with my boyfriend's
family! With a significant contingent of grandparents, there
were definitely some funny technical issues. The cousin who was
organizing everything is a middle school teacher, so she was able to
coordinate everyone well and with patience!<i> (Isa)</i><br />
<br />
Someone tried to zoom-bomb my group meeting last week. I'd set up a waiting room and they left when I asked who they were. <i>(Duncan)</i><br />
<br />
<h4>
What's a book or song or movie or piece of art that captures how you’re feeling today? </h4>
<br />
The Persistence of Memory, by Salvador Dali <i>(Michelle)</i><br />
<br />
<center>
<img height="304" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/y0JABfAZIWhi9MB-EGno51T4XGHoPJ3qdCj4g-iju8J-6iEMz5wSuI8kR8YTJHBpNCJErMhP25VxRqWabKD8y746MGf-zZmA92QwCieRrvdIhkH2TKF9Aji8UBJ2oEfGAUSYf7ZF" width="400" /></center>
<br />
Wallace Stegner's <i>Angle of Repose</i>.
The book chronicles a family living through failure, isolation and
independence in the frontier west. The term in the title derives from
mining, and refers to the steepest angle a material can be piled to
without slumping. I love the idea because it exemplifies beauty and
order embedded in disorder. My life is always sitting at its own angle
of repose, and the current situation strengthens that belief. <i> (Duncan)</i><br />
<br />
<center>
<img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Ygt60vcOEzGkbGvO6zIjqAfBkylO538jVbJ3IR5DZ3I3GLEtt5zIi-rPplM_ebHgyqvvRYFs1XsTOeGsdLaJbqJ-SK1fg5m8wi8Agm7T1D4VPEwM69WMEhH-l49QZKbFpmO6gz13" width="258" /></center>
<br />
Hmmmm. This is a very good question! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C3lsa3D5p0">"Never Ending" by Rihanna</a>
has been both calming and devastating in a way that feels right.
Obviously it's not about a pandemic but it is about loss and
disconnection. On another note, on day 9 of my quarantine I tried to
learn TikTok dances. They were all too hard for me but I think I will
always think of my quarantine whenever I hear <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pok8H_KF1FA">"Say So" by Doja Cat</a>. <i>(Salma)</i><br />
<br />
<center>
<img height="225" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4AjT545J-Es/maxresdefault.jpg" width="400" /></center>
<br />
A book that comes to mind is <i>Walden</i>
by Henry David Thoreau. It is rather encouraging to me in the current
situation of physical isolation and encourages me to pursue ways to feel
productive and motivated to better myself in this strange period by
learning new skills, appreciating art such as music, movies and
documentaries, and getting comfortable with being by oneself for long
periods. <i>(Edem)</i><br />
<br />
<center>
<img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/L3BzzKnIxM6RkcnHXGTFxp9SMDBQPYv8rhzZo6kUcdW8KC_kgKyk7oZNCZe-TaaaqbfV1jZIg31BjtJuK9YMbz3iLp-ZnmAg-EntoRBV2AdAebBmlgzWiCY6ch9bqEPjyv30O5bY" width="236" /></center>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
How does academia/being a grad student/working in your field of study feel right now?</h4>
<br />
It
feels like a LOT of time on Zoom and in front of a computer! But it's
also nice to have the support network of my fellow grad students in
these strange times. <i>(Michelle)</i><br />
<br />
The issues that I
was working on felt a lot more important 2 months ago than they do now.
In addition to all of the other distractions, deadlines flying by, and
stressful situations, it is hard to grapple with the fact that what I am
working on matters a lot less than I thought it did. In addition I am
trying to finish my quals during all of this. I was expecting to not
participate in social activities and be dealing with my stress over this
spring. Now it just is for multiple reasons. <i>(Isa)</i><br />
<br />
As
of now it feels detached but I have found it quite productive in that
the current situation has allowed me to reflect on my current trajectory
as a grad student and to create a plan for what I want that experience
to be going forward.<i> (Edem)</i><br />
<br />
I think for the most
part, things have been business as usual - expectations for classes and
research and work don't seem to have changed really, which in itself is
weird because the world and my state of mind feel so different. There's
always a thought in the back of my mind that's like, I don't know what
the world will be like after this, or how long we'll be waiting for
there to be an 'after COVID', that it's hard to do the same work I was
doing before in the same way that I was doing it. I think in general
I've detached myself a bit from productivity - like I'm still doing work, but I don't keep the same detailed weekly to-do lists that I used
to. <i>(Salma)</i><br />
<br />
I feel fortunate that my job is flexible. Honestly my job isn't all
that different from normal -- except that I have a lot less time to do
it and that I miss being face to face with students and colleagues. <i>(Duncan)</i><br />
<br />
<h4>
Anything else you’d like to share?</h4>
<br />
I highly recommend
the BBC's 1995 Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth as a wholesome, 6 hr
distraction from whatever you want to get away from. <i>(Isa)</i><br />
<br />
Stay well, friends!! <i>(Michelle)</i><br />
<br />
I
would like to send a big shout out of appreciation to the ERG community
because I still feel as close as I was to ERG without having to see
everyone in-person. <i>(Edem)</i><br />
<br /><center>
<img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="852" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvTC12U6icC1cfL_GYbBuJ11T08OrflRPSLa6GDD0_YWyswP_1GFReGEOOTi5gG3yZOpbbtZbQP8vu0Y-R9slEAyx-TmuAOhpc6AsicJ67v4pyk0fxZmFikEz07aEnYzCe_qGpQZ5Ac14/s640/93180893_2556499431335945_5888171103620169728_n%25281%2529.jpg" width="340" /><br /></center>
Come back next week for more quarantine stories from ERGies!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-75952718567463466082019-09-26T14:33:00.002-07:002019-09-26T14:33:52.839-07:00BLERG! Application FAQs for prospective students<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3PS_x8v7qiEsvMw4JMNGhzE-eKsZh90bKq1mCMtn7u6tT20R9AMhLUAxPM3nj_2wrVoIiQn72VdVFw1Ua9Z36_6Cal2sDN-bp9LsJdSQhBMXypl404tVBuuFveM-LjUCI6t9bN30elsY/s1600/20190926_142755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3PS_x8v7qiEsvMw4JMNGhzE-eKsZh90bKq1mCMtn7u6tT20R9AMhLUAxPM3nj_2wrVoIiQn72VdVFw1Ua9Z36_6Cal2sDN-bp9LsJdSQhBMXypl404tVBuuFveM-LjUCI6t9bN30elsY/s640/20190926_142755.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shining faces of the ERG community</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Hello there! This blog post, written by a group of ERG students,
contains advice that we often give to prospective ERG applicants and
that we wish we’d heard when we applied for graduate school. This
reflects our own impression of the application process, not necessarily
the views of the admissions committee. We hope it’s helpful to read some
thoughts from people who have been through this process themselves.<br />
<br />
Please
give it a read if you’re thinking of applying to ERG. If you have
lingering questions that are not answered by this blog post, feel free
to <a href="https://erg.berkeley.edu/people-at-erg/students/">reach out to current students</a> who have listed their contact information.<br />
<br />
ERG’s
Graduate Student Advisor Kay Burns is also available for questions about the
program or admissions process; you can reach her at
erggrad@berkeley.edu. <br />
<br />
While many current students are
happy to chat and answer questions, please note that we are not able to
read or edit application materials such as the statement of purpose and
the personal history statement.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Knowing if ERG is right for you</h2>
<br />
<b>Am I a strong ERG applicant?</b><br />
Admissions
is a dynamic process in any graduate program. It depends on funding,
research directions, professor availability, cohort mix, and other
factors that can all vary from year to year. So even higher-qualified
candidates who fit well with ERG may not be selected in certain years.
Read through this FAQ, however, to understand some of the ERG
community’s values and expectations.<br />
<br />
<b>I’m in my last year of undergrad. Should I apply to ERG?</b><br />
Most
ERG students have at least two years of post-college experience before
they start, but some of us do come in straight out of undergrad. For
many of us, having that post-college experience, whether it be in
research, industry, NGOs, government, consulting, or something else,
helped us figure out why we wanted to go to grad school and what we
could do with a graduate degree. That said, it’s completely possible
that you’ve been able to answer these questions for yourself without
post-undergrad experience. So if you feel like your undergraduate degree
gave you experience beyond coursework, and that graduate school is the
right next step for you, then go for it! If you’re not sure, maybe
you’ll find that a year or two (or more) away from school will help you
decide. <br />
<br />
Post-college experience can also help guide
you once you’re in graduate school, especially in a program like ERG
where students tend to work on applied research questions. Experience
outside of an academic setting often informs the approaches we take in
our research. ERG as a graduate program has a pretty open, self-directed
structure, and it is well-suited to those that have clearer goals or
intentions. <br />
<br />
<b>I’ve been out of school for a long time. Should I apply to ERG?</b><br />
Yes!
Many students come to ERG after long and/or varied careers. You will
have many people who can help with your transition, from current
students to our alumni network. ERG research strives to be
solution-oriented using interdisciplinary approaches toward a variety of
social and environmental challenges. Your real-world experience with
complex, “wicked” problems will be an asset in both your application and
your time at ERG.<br />
<br />
<b>I don’t have an academic research background. Is that a problem?</b><br />
No!
Both applied and academic experiences are valued at ERG. Focus your
application on what you have learned—both in terms of skills as well as
perspective—from your background. If you feel like there are gaps in
your experiences, talk about how ERG could provide an opportunity for
you to round out your expertise. <br />
<br />
<b>I don’t have a technical[/economics/social science/…] background. Is that a problem?</b><br />
No!
Very few students have experience in all of the disciplines, and the
ERG curriculum is built so that you can get an interdisciplinary
academic experience even if you haven’t had a chance to do that in your
educational career thus far. You can think of ERG as an opportunity to
fill in those knowledge gaps, and focus your application on the
experiences and questions that have led you to explore interdisciplinary
approaches. While having some prior engagement with technical or
math-heavy subjects may be useful for our quantitative course
requirements, we believe those with a wide range of backgrounds and
experiences will bring a fresh perspective and find success in our
curriculum.<br />
<br />
<b>Should I apply for the Master’s or PhD?</b><br />
If
you’re interested in gaining new applied research skills across
different disciplines, the Master’s is a good option. If there are
larger research questions that you’re interested in exploring that would
extend beyond a year-long project, you should consider the PhD. The
Master’s program is more structured than the PhD, although it’s still
very flexible compared to many other Master’s programs. Both programs
have a research component, but because the Master’s program is more time
constrained your research project will necessarily be less involved
than if you had done the PhD.<br />
<br />
<b>Are prospective PhDs expected to have published before they apply?</b><br />
It’s
definitely not an expectation! There’s a wide range in how much
opportunity prospective students have had to do research and/or publish
before graduate school. If you have had research experience it’s often
useful to include something about it in your statements. If you haven’t,
don’t let that stop you from applying if you otherwise think that you
and ERG may be a good fit for each other.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
The application process</h2>
<h2>
</h2>
<b>How should I approach the statement of purpose?</b><br />
You may have already looked at these links, but just in case, the <a href="https://erg.berkeley.edu/academics/admissions/#apmat">ERG website</a> and the <a href="https://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/apply/statement-purpose/">Berkeley Graduate Divisi</a>on provide some guidance on what should be in the statement of purpose. <br />
<br />
One way to break down the statement of purpose is by answering the following three questions:<br />
<ol>
<li>Why graduate school? Why now? Everyone will have a different mix of
reasons, but the best statements do include all parts of you, not just
work experience or education.</li>
<li>What do you hope to do while in grad school? Gain new skills?
Explore new research? Be specific about what knowledge you want to gain
and/or contribute in your time as a graduate student.</li>
<li>Why ERG specifically? How is ERG a good fit for you, and you, a good fit for ERG?</li>
</ol>
<br />
Another resource that we’ve found helpful is <a href="https://eveewing.tumblr.com/post/153499715289/how-to-write-a-personal-statement-for-graduate">this guide</a>,
by Professor Eve Ewing at the University of Chicago, which gives a
clear model for how to write a statement of purpose. It’s directed at
prospective humanities and social science PhD students, but the advice
is widely useful.<br />
<br />
<b>How should I approach the personal history statement?</b><br />
As a general rule, the personal history statement should <u>not</u>
be a guide through your CV. This is the part in your application where
you showcase who you are through what you have done, observed, and
reflected on (i.e. action-oriented sentences as opposed to passive).
Demonstrating an appreciation for interdisciplinarity (e.g. social
science/humanities and STEM) is valued at ERG.<br />
<br />
<b>How should I prepare for the GRE?</b><br />
Take
a couple free GRE tests online and see what areas you need improvement
on. Work through some free internet tutorials that focus on those areas.
Also, do some everyday practice, e.g. for math calculate your own
restaurant or shopping bills everyday or for English download a
GRE-level vocabulary app on your phone. The GRE primarily tests your
skills and speed on a narrow range of specific types of questions, so
practice, practice, practice!<br />
<br />
ERG has a balanced view
of the GRE’s effectiveness in predicting success in grad school; the
admissions committee will look at your scores in combination with your
GPA/transcripts and your letters of recommendation to get a better
picture of you.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>My undergrad GPA isn’t what I want it to be. What should I do?</b><br />
ERG
values experiences as well as academic accomplishments. If you think
your grades in certain courses don't reflect your strength in a subject,
focus your personal statement on what does! If you feel like you need
to explain your GPA (e.g. life happened and you had to withdraw for a
semester and this lowered your GPA), you can do so in your personal
statement. <br />
<br />
<b>How important are the recommendations?</b><br />
Recommendations
are important elements of your ERG application. Choose recommenders who
showcase you in the best light. It might be helpful to ask each of your
recommenders to focus on different elements of your resume,
experiences, and achievements. Recommenders who can provide personally
observed, concrete examples of your qualifications and accomplishments
are best. At least one of your recommenders must be an academic, but the
others may be drawn from your professional life.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Life at ERG</h2>
<h2>
</h2>
<b>How do students fund their degree?</b><br />
This very much
varies from student to student, but a majority of students fund their
degree through one or a combination of the following ways:<br />
<ul>
<li>Working as a graduate student researcher (GSR) or graduate student
instructor (GSI). These are positions that you would find after getting
your acceptance, and involve working anywhere from 10-20 hours per week
during the school year. If you work at least 10 hours per week, your
tuition and most fees are covered through a fee remission and you
receive a stipend. More details on GSR/GSI appointments can be found <a href="https://grad.berkeley.edu/financial/fee-remissions/">here</a>. </li>
<li>Fellowships or grants. These are generally more geared towards PhD
students “who are domestic U.S. citizens, Permanent Residents, or
qualified ‘dreamers’ through CA AB540”, although there are some
opportunities for Master’s and international students. UC Berkeley has
some <a href="https://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/apply/fellowships-entering/">fellowships for entering students</a> that you can apply for as you apply to ERG.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>How do international students fund their degree?</b><br />
It’s
really hard to generalize international student funding situations
because they’re so particular to different countries of citizenship and
fields of study. However, funding is generally more limited for
international students because many (but not all) fellowships are for
U.S. citizens or permanent residents only. However, international
students can work as GSRs or GSIs, which will cover in-state fees. For
now, one thing that any prospective international student can do before
they’re admitted is look for funding sources in their home countries.
For more information specific to international applicants, the <a href="https://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/">Berkeley International Office</a> is a good resource. <br />
<br />
<b>To what degree can students tailor their studies/projects to their interests?</b><br />
A
great amount compared to other graduate programs. Though there is some
structure in the 2-year Master's (as outlined on the ERG website), there
is still a lot of flexibility within that structure. There is even more
freedom for those who go on to the PhD. For some, there may be too much
flexibility and it might feel like they're not getting enough
direction. But, for others who want to build their own program, it can
be great. <br />
<br />
<b>How long does the PhD take?</b><br />
It
varies! PhDs in different disciplinary fields can already vary quite a
bit in length, with STEM-oriented programs often finishing faster than
those in the humanities or social sciences. It’s hard to predict the
length for any given person and/or course of study, but ERG students
whose academic projects lean towards any of these disciplines may see
their PhD unfold in a similar timeframe. That said, ERGies take many
different paths through the PhD: some do fieldwork, some change or
expand their academic area(s) of study, some come in with well-focused
projects intent on finishing relatively quickly, while some work part-
(or even full-!) time for portions of their time at ERG. This is a good
question to ask other ERGies whose paths might look similar to the
one(s) you are considering, and also your prospective academic adviser
once you’ve been accepted.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Can I hold on to my current job/business and study at ERG at the same time? Can I study part time or remotely?</b><br />
ERGies
have done all of these things! You’ll have to work with ERG to figure
out how this might work for you and how it could impact your time here.
It can be easier to add this kind of flexibility as a PhD student
further along in the program, rather than early on in your time here.
But keep in mind: ERG may be willing to work with you to offer
flexibility as it makes sense for a particular situation, but these are
not typical tracks through the program and there are some limits to how
much can be accommodated. For example, you can’t complete the program
while being fully (or even mostly) remote for its duration.<br />
<br />
<b>Is the program really demanding? Will I have any work-life balance?</b><br />
The
answer to this question is very particular to how you work and approach
graduate school, as well as what your commitments are outside of
school. However, what we can tell you is that there are definitely a lot
of opportunities within ERG and on campus to be social or active or
otherwise have balance. Many of us have spouses, pets, or families, and
ERG tends to be very supportive of balancing the rigors of graduate
school with the importance of self-care and personal relationships.
There is much less of an emphasis on maintaining a high GPA in grad
school than there is in undergrad (though you do still need to maintain a
GPA of 3.0 or higher), and there’s a fair amount of flexibility within
ERG to choose to take a lower courseload, so we hope those factors tip
the scale a little bit in favor of the life part of work-life balance. <br />
<br />
<b>How do you say “ERG”?</b><br />
Most
of us in the Energy and Resources Group do not call it “the E.R.G.” We
just call it ERG (without the “the”). It rhymes with Pittsburgh,
Luxembourg, and Zuckerberg. And it also rhymes with blurg — a slang term
that the Urban Dictionary defines as a “Versatile expression of
confusion, annoyance, anger, boredome [sic], or surprise.” An “erg” is
actually a unit of energy. People strongly associated with ERG are
called “ERGies.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Thanks to Anna Brockway,
Salma Elmallah, Anaya Hall, Chris Hyun, Veronica Jacome, Seigi
Karasaki, Nik Lollo, Gauthami Penakalapati, Jenny Rempel for putting
together this guide!</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-24914836870584233902019-08-27T15:35:00.000-07:002019-08-27T15:35:49.763-07:00Redefining data sharing for SDG 7 and energy access<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[<b>Isa Ferrall</b>, ERG Graduate Student; <b>Jonathan Lee</b>, ERG Graduate Student; and <b>Jordan Freitas</b>, Assistant Professor at Loyola Marymount University]</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>
Every day, 300,000 people are being connected to electricity through efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7): “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” For them, new access to electricity comes with a host of new data harvesting by electricity meters, appliances, and payment tracking. Unfortunately, this data is typically collected ad hoc and shared in a bespoke manner or not at all, with concerns about privacy and provenance taking a back seat to increasing electricity service. However, lack of attention to data management practices around SDG 7 is slowing progress and creating potential problems down the line.
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<img alt="Source: Alex Radelich via Unsplash" height="312" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b4f63e14eddec374f416232/1565798502685-UYYRMXDAAMMP84N8J0LB/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kN5kQEGnedDicBw5aOjKTBsUqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIIIbLZhVYxCRW4BPu10St3TBAUQYVKcGN6Va-Ie4kJQ5yjRpkWyFm3fk_LKgf4sH1c4RrVGqxww-LiV8wRimdS--A74edXe/Unsplash_photo_UCB.png?format=1000w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Connection to electricity often also means new connections to sensors, data collection, and privacy concerns.<br />
Source: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/rtCfGTI7nCA" target="_blank">Alex Radelich via Unsplash</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Effective practices aren’t only about protecting the privacy of individual end users of electricity. There is potential to create real value through systematic data collection and expanding access to more stakeholders, and improvements require considering the position of each. We recently coauthored a freely available <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8737767">review article</a> in a special issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE on energy access, describing 1) the stakeholders involved in the data ecosystem of SDG 7, 2) the types of data at play and how they are being used (or not used), 3) potential value and risks of sharing these to each stakeholder group, and 4) data management principles to incorporate moving forward. We lay out a framework that we hope can be a foundation for initiatives to engage stakeholders in responsible and effective data sharing.<br />
<br />
The key stakeholders we identify are <i>electricity users</i>, <i>micro-utilities</i> (mini-grids and solar-home-system providers), <i>macro-utilities</i> (national or regional),<i> governments</i>, <i>development institutions</i> (e.g. the World Bank, United Nations Development Program, Sustainable Energy for All, or national aid agencies), and <i>researchers</i>. We group the types of data as <i>technical</i> (electricity usage, system and product performance), <i>financial</i> (transaction records and costs of service), or <i>demographic</i> (income, cultural affiliation, etc.).<br />
<br />
The risks and values to sharing depend not only on the type of data, but who it is about, who is gaining access to it, and privacy mechanisms that are put in place. In the full paper, we explore these combinations and provide detail about the different possibilities and current practices. Through that exercise, we identified areas for mutually beneficial data sharing, others that require careful navigation of tensions, and those where risks outweigh potential values. We found that a common and open platform for sharing technical data can enable efficiency in a number of areas, such as utilities providing better data access to end users to promote energy literacy and efficient use, and aggregating larger consumption data sets for better demand prediction. We surveyed a group of different stakeholders at a 2018 <a href="https://www.strathmore.edu/serc/july-9th-2018-decentralized-energy-solutions-for-east-africa-and-the-role-of-research/" target="_blank">workshop</a> in Nairobi on <i>Decentralized Energy Solutions for East Africa and the Role of Research</i>, and some of the responses illustrated areas with more tension:<br />
<div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Micro- and macro-utilities sharing performance and cost data can increase competition leading to better quality service with fair pricing for users, but current market leaders may lose their competitive advantage</li>
<li>Government and development institutions will have better reporting capabilities, but contradictions between promises and performance may be revealed</li>
<li>Researchers can discover key insights and contribute to public education, but may risk using data that was improperly collected or poorly-documented</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
Our analysis suggests that fewer benefits are likely to be realized from sharing detailed – even anonymous – financial data of users without increased legal protections. Codesign of data sharing practices and platforms among all stakeholders is crucial to expanding access, realizing benefits, and mitigating risks. These discussions also need to be held in the context of changing regulatory landscapes and utility business models, so that data sharing practices can enable forward-looking goals and are not overly restricted by the needs of today. <br />
<br />
We are actively continuing this work with a series of in-depth stakeholder interviews to contribute more primary data about perceptions. Please email <a href="mailto:isa.ferrall@berkeley.edu" target="_blank">Isa Ferrall</a>, <a href="mailto:jtlee@berkeley.edu" target="_blank">Jonathan Lee</a>, and/or <a href="mailto:jordanfreitas@berkeley.edu" target="_blank">Jordan Freitas</a> for more information on how to get involved or to participate in interviews.<br />
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>This article was originally posted on the <a href="https://www.sdsntrends.org/blog/2019/8/22/data-sharing-and-sdg-7-energy-access" target="_blank">blog</a> of the Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (TReNDS) - an initiative of the <a href="http://unsdsn.org/" target="_blank">Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)</a> that leverages the data revolution to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.</i></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-13319782010138619542019-03-29T15:18:00.004-07:002019-04-01T11:10:02.353-07:00Cleantech to Market: Why let the MBAs have all the fun?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>[</i></span><i>Sara Mulhauser, Director (BERC) Berkeley Cleantech University Prize,</i><i> ERG graduate student]</i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<i style="font-size: small;"><br /></i></div>
Prior to ERG, I developed installation sites for distributed power generation products on behalf of a clean tech start-up. It was there that I came to appreciate the complexity of the energy industry, and understand that we will need to learn how to commercialize innovative technologies within such highly regulated environments if we want to tackle global climate change.<br />
<br />
Research and development in the electric power industry is notoriously underfunded -- pharmaceuticals, information technology, and semiconductor firms spend between 15% and 20% of revenues on R&D, whereas <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwix0I2xsKjhAhUI3lQKHaHGBlMQFjAAegQIAxAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fscholarship.law.berkeley.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Freferer%3D%26httpsredir%3D1%26article%3D1983%26context%3Delq&usg=AOvVaw3k1Ji17piyBeL4D4XYQ3KA">electric firms spend less than 0.25% of revenue on R&D</a> – but there is no guarantee of impact even after a scientific or technological breakthrough. There is still the matter of commercialization. A lot of functioning, important techno<span style="text-align: left;">logies die either in the pre-commercial gap (never find venture funding) or in the valley of death.</span><br />
<br />
Berkeley Haas Business School’s Cleantech to Market (C2M) class provides free consulting to clean technology firms to help them through this journey from R&D to commercialization. Its goals are to prevent promising ideas from dying in the pre-commercial gap, and to train an interdisciplinary group of students to evaluate and pitch these technologies – valuable skills for their lives after graduate school.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Technology Commercialization Process - from C2M information slides.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
So how does C2M work?</h4>
The class is only offered in the fall, but preparations for it start early in the year. The C2M directors spend the first few months of each year vetting technology groups (mostly early-stage companies, sometimes not-yet-companies) for an appropriate fit. In the spring, <a href="http://ei.haas.berkeley.edu/education/c2m/course-details.html">they start the application process with the students</a>. Many of the students that apply are Haas MBAs, but they strongly encourage students from other disciplines like engineering, hard science, and policy to apply.<br />
<br />
C2M first selects “team leads” from the pool of Haas MBA students. These team leads then select team members from the pool of class applicants. It is part NFL rookie draft, part medical residency program matching. You rank which technologies you are interested in working on. Team leads review your resume and statement and determine what kinds of skills they’ll need on their project. The selection process takes place over the summer.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
My C2M Experience</h4>
Last year, I was matched into a team of four MBAs and one chemistry PhD to support a company developing a new kind of heat exchanger. Heat exchangers are critical pieces within a lot of technologies that we take for granted every day, so even incremental improvements to their efficiency can yield tremendous GHG emissions reductions.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rocky Mountain Institute and others have joined a coalition and set out a global challenge to improve efficiency of cooling options, the Global Cooling Prize.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Once the fall semester started, we got to work very quickly. We first learned as much as we could about heat exchangers, both technically, and where they fit into various markets. Then we questioned our client’s assumptions about their pathway to commercialization. We brainstormed every possible use of heat exchangers, what performance metrics were most important to them, and systematically evaluated how our technology’s innovation added value to that industry. We came up with multiple criteria for evaluation, then used that to narrow our search of potential fits.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C2M team brainstorming markets and metrics with which to evaluate markets.</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heat exchanger market evaluation</td></tr>
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<br />
Once we arrived at a handful of highest potential industries and applications, we set about the hard work of understanding these industries in great depth and quantifying the value add. We learned how to use <a href="http://www.cyclotronroad.org/techonomics">techonomic models</a> to do this, but we also learned a lot from directly interviewing dozens of industry professionals. This was an incredibly chaotic time with lots of information flowing in. Our six team members divided and conquered the monumental tasks, and somehow magically arrived at the end with great information and strong ideas about how our client might find success. Since the heat exchanger company had a good strategy for approaching their first market (US window air conditioning), we focused on their second and third markets, which they would also need. We ended up suggesting emerging market air conditioning and small-scale data center cooling, because both are underserved by current products on the market and have tremendous growth potential.<br />
<br />
I pulled from my training in the dual ERG/MPP degree program during this process. I used back-of-the-envelope calculations and other skills from ER102 and ER200 to parse technical information. I applied skills from the policy curriculum to understand regulatory and policy drivers of markets.<br />
I learned a lot from my teammates; it was an incredibly collaborative environment. Team leads get an additional unit in the course, because they must also dedicate time to steering the ship and learning how to be effective managers of high-output teams. They get a crash course in some of the best professional performance and management coaching, and I was incredibly impressed with how quickly they put it to effective use. I’d easily trade my team lead (who is many years my junior) for any number of bosses I’ve had in professional settings.<br />
<br />
At the end of the semester, we produced a lengthy and professional market assessment report, and gave a twenty minute pitch in a formal setting to industry professionals at the C2M Symposium. Symposium attendees often go on to become funders of the technologies, and, as such, they ask very difficult questions after presentations. We practiced for weeks to refine our presentation, including the graphics, the speaking performance, our answers to anticipated questions. We ran it so many times, each of us knew our five minute pieces as well as any politician knows their stump speech. And our research was so comprehensive, we knew we could answer almost any question (we also practiced another important political/professional skill – how to pivot when you don’t know, or like, the real answer!).<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNskX0mpCJ2VOwofIVh_zGcjscZGsgy5xaiokuDUQVRQrvhQXAStmtKYzIUGRghSmaP7dYREaDeJrJ4Y84FH2pcztaWK-7qAImA1Y_ie-6PfwypIaoAmsoTZRilLSFnuY4pZrj-gk6rrg/s1600/sara5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNskX0mpCJ2VOwofIVh_zGcjscZGsgy5xaiokuDUQVRQrvhQXAStmtKYzIUGRghSmaP7dYREaDeJrJ4Y84FH2pcztaWK-7qAImA1Y_ie-6PfwypIaoAmsoTZRilLSFnuY4pZrj-gk6rrg/s640/sara5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C2M Presentation</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNPMWZUGMA9odhDEprQpKrPh_OZhONE7Ndfx8lgf1JCsOiFsHXGThNTXuIja1UE3FK39W1HGjlKrmjVoyZBDOAbeSSqKKCwCZQpwSYork155CvXvNAx4E-0959PSwcWKxmHPxTLnb2og/s1600/sara6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="581" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNPMWZUGMA9odhDEprQpKrPh_OZhONE7Ndfx8lgf1JCsOiFsHXGThNTXuIja1UE3FK39W1HGjlKrmjVoyZBDOAbeSSqKKCwCZQpwSYork155CvXvNAx4E-0959PSwcWKxmHPxTLnb2og/s640/sara6.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to my TED talk on small-scale data center cooling.</td></tr>
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We tied with another team for the Game Changer Award, for the technology with the most potential for global impact. We were especially proud of this award, because our competitors had some amazing technologies and presentations, and, well, it can be challenging to make heat exchangers exciting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNobflhSyy99sh3l4STz9Rn2oI3sNEGXZZL-GoHFyLz89J-kCV3ZTYXb9QAbtIajHV0J2wTlQLqsB3oEB6H5Ht_G9PW92QS-NLvHmV9hgXHaOIHnWlHSjGOPI1z8pghJuDATgj2ueh87w/s1600/sara7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNobflhSyy99sh3l4STz9Rn2oI3sNEGXZZL-GoHFyLz89J-kCV3ZTYXb9QAbtIajHV0J2wTlQLqsB3oEB6H5Ht_G9PW92QS-NLvHmV9hgXHaOIHnWlHSjGOPI1z8pghJuDATgj2ueh87w/s640/sara7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We tie for the crowd-voted "Game Changer". My husband attended and did not vote for my team, but I’m not bitter about that.</td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Why do C2M?</h4>
In the end, this was one of the most time-intensive courses I’ve taken in my graduate program, but also one of the most personally and professional rewarding. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uuMi9FDkLej3LXdgaxnlTp7NyUJpT0Ii/view">C2M gets great reviews</a>, and justifiably brags about them. As someone who has been out in the commercial space for many years, I can attest that the skills you learn in the class are the ones required in the field. This is a phenomenal way to practice them, and you will end up creating some great industry relationships. I also got a better understanding of what it takes to go from early- to late-stage start-up, and learned so many interesting things about <a href="http://ei.haas.berkeley.edu/education/c2m/2018-c2m-projects.html">the other technologies</a> my classmates were serving along the way.<br />
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This is a major commitment, but if you think you may benefit by having something like this under your belt, I highly recommend considering <a href="http://ei.haas.berkeley.edu/education/c2m/course-details.html">applying for the 2019 C2M</a>. This is one important way for people with our kinds of skills to help make much-needed technology a reality, and you get so much out of it in the process.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Y4K1qlQRExT5jGBgGW-xQWlMJb0JdJviyIeTQyKGiQ_y2KEPk5ZB3PpT1FsonpTJxKzMnULeoOkqu7JLKvTMuwnwL0VCQkbsG4ENAOFxdLixJla2bSsXhvs4PnzlnUpGnfyXZJMWH0U/s1600/sara8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Y4K1qlQRExT5jGBgGW-xQWlMJb0JdJviyIeTQyKGiQ_y2KEPk5ZB3PpT1FsonpTJxKzMnULeoOkqu7JLKvTMuwnwL0VCQkbsG4ENAOFxdLixJla2bSsXhvs4PnzlnUpGnfyXZJMWH0U/s640/sara8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We only had to wear suits once.</td></tr>
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<b>C2M is holding an information session on Tuesday, April 2nd, 12:30 - 1:30pm at Haas N470. </b><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-55535836905689559842018-11-27T11:04:00.000-08:002018-11-28T15:15:53.033-08:00Voting with Your Investment Dollars<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Michelle Levinson, ERG graduate student]</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiqD7HliTgDPxvZ9Uxvj2WA_swHAOtcjugkvIo_8OgtCiZer8jFsJ90xHG_96FC1Td3VaI7TmIEqDpgafFXfpEyKzcsnN7-xSpVSff-bIFf41A9mZmlcDcvaldbx6U2DH3tQDuSd8DIU/s1600/28044451939_0f7cb93512_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiqD7HliTgDPxvZ9Uxvj2WA_swHAOtcjugkvIo_8OgtCiZer8jFsJ90xHG_96FC1Td3VaI7TmIEqDpgafFXfpEyKzcsnN7-xSpVSff-bIFf41A9mZmlcDcvaldbx6U2DH3tQDuSd8DIU/s640/28044451939_0f7cb93512_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/natsihlaneone/28044451939/">natsihlaneone</a> on Flickr</td></tr>
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In the aftermath of another round of <a href="https://www.vox.com/midterm-elections/2018/11/7/18068486/midterm-election-2018-results-race-surburb">divisive elections</a> in the United States (and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/world/americas/brazil-president-jair-bolsonaro-quotes.html">around the globe</a>) many of us feel distraught about the ability and speed of our political systems to address urgent social challenges. Political change requires organizing and community- slow but necessary processes. Meanwhile, from climate change to income inequality, gentrification and displacement to the gender-wage gap, the challenges we face as a society seem more acute than ever. Votes may have been cast and ballots counted, but that does not mean we must wait another two years for our next chance to shape our world. There are other avenues by which we can continue to make change.<br />
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Last week I attended the <a href="https://www.sriconference.com/agenda">SRI Conference</a> in Colorado Springs as one of twelve conference scholars, where I got to see how investors perceive of their role in mobilizing finance for energy decarbonization and how they are integrating climate change risk into investment decisions. I met people that have spent decades working to spread awareness and develop the tools to leverage the power of investments to achieve better outcomes for society: individual retirement advisors, endowments for religious orders, the City of Chicago, the Sierra Club Foundation -- Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is being practiced throughout the investment industry.<br />
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The principle is straightforward: when we own a piece of a company, be it via public markets, as debt, or as private equity, we are reducing that company’s cost of capital. In a way, we are betting that a company’s business model, practices, and products will contribute to a better, more prosperous world in the future.<br />
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This is what I call <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/morganstanley/2016/06/06/voting-with-our-dollars-and-investing-in-change/#754fdc156f6e"><b>voting with your investment dollars</b></a>, and this vote takes place every month of every year. Directly or indirectly, through our educational institutions, pension and retirement funds, and government treasuries, we are all investors in the global economy. But where do we direct this capital? To whom do we entrust it to be used well, and to build a foundation for our long-term personal and communal well-being? We are stakeholders in the economic system, but <b>many of us do not wield this power with as much purpose as we could. </b><br />
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I work with many people that strive to make such changes in the energy sector, where the financial factors that hinder the development of sustainable energy are perhaps just as daunting as the scientific, technical, and political barriers. Development in both the fossil-fuel and clean energy sectors is shaped by the market appetite for risks associated with investing in new projects, be they a new coal plant or an array of solar panels, which translate into the cost of capital for that project. These equations only account, however, for the internalized risks and costs that project investors are assuming. These may not be the same as the costs faced by society as a whole; they may not account for <i>externalities</i>. When determining our “required return,” investors have the opportunity to thoughtfully consider which risks they are willing to bear and what future they hope to facilitate with their capital for society at-large.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Why is Socially Responsible Investing hard?</h4>
Basic microeconomic principles show us that there are plenty of instances where corporate profit maximization can be misaligned with socially optimal outcomes, especially when those internalized benefits create externalized costs. In these cases, <b>a rational business decision</b> or practice that we are facilitating through our investments <b>might run counter to our own long-term priorities and needs.</b> There are lots of reasons why externalities are often not accounted for, such as measurement challenges, information asymmetry, and principal-agent issues. A classic example of private profit running counter to society’s values is the tobacco industry, where much of the healthcare costs that result from tobacco externalities are borne by society as a whole. This tension motivated famed moves by government agencies, such as CalPERS that manages health and retirement for California employees, to <a href="https://www.calpers.ca.gov/page/newsroom/calpers-news/2016/votes-expand-tobacco-investment-ban">divest from tobacco</a>. Even though this meant foregoing short-term profits, the long-term payoff was clear in the eyes of former California Treasurer Phil Angelides: “<a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-tobacco-calpers-20161214-story.html">What sense does it make for CalPERS to be an investor in companies that cost the state billions of dollars?</a>”<br />
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Avoiding negative externalities is a start, but investors are increasingly aiming to finance positive impacts. At this conference,<a href="http://www.chicagocitytreasurer.com/home/esg/"> Chicago City Treasurer Kurt Summers</a> shared that his office sees its investment dollars as a way to “make a positive impact on some of the most fundamental challenges facing Chicagoans.” Considering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors helps his office promote conservation and sustainability, racial and gender equity, better labor standards and more, all of which improve the quality of life for both the current and future Chicago community. I am especially pleased to see that the Treasurer’s Office is setting concrete goals for itself, such as achieving a carbon neutral investment portfolio by 2020. The city recognizes that as a first-mover it is a catalyst for change and is using this position to test new approaches and move new efforts forward.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXAFG71ZTDU4cb8JkhJ1y-sQu7HmG1SEoMFvHRBLIBD8NI3lPIDRaUFg6xF6t-xnnvgiYHJTlBoP0XjnJkBbYpQMZUcvB_F_EECRWrt-_5aAd3BdUQ3utFu8mmuJ23T3m7VgthCZYK0zs/s1600/46822445_261304561215402_8033610398726881280_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="1600" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXAFG71ZTDU4cb8JkhJ1y-sQu7HmG1SEoMFvHRBLIBD8NI3lPIDRaUFg6xF6t-xnnvgiYHJTlBoP0XjnJkBbYpQMZUcvB_F_EECRWrt-_5aAd3BdUQ3utFu8mmuJ23T3m7VgthCZYK0zs/s400/46822445_261304561215402_8033610398726881280_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Investment plan from a presentation by the Chicago City Treasurer</td></tr>
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Under this banner of impact there were a number of innovative approaches to mobilizing finance for energy decarbonization and sustainable development on display at the conference. I chatted with folks from the <a href="https://iroquoisvalley.com/">Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT</a>, who are making investments in organic farmland, and with clean energy project developers from <a href="https://cleanusapower.com/">Clean USA Power</a>; both companies are applying financial products in new ways to move finance towards positive impact. I also enjoyed learning more about my favorite startup, <a href="https://www.hyphaepartners.com/">Hyphae Partners</a>, which works to bring finance to businesses that practice regenerative agriculture.<br />
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By definition, these negative externalities and positive impacts are not captured in traditional financial information. However, the finance industry is awakening to the notion that <b>non-financial information can be material to a company’s economic performance</b>. This is illustrated by the groundbreaking work of <a href="https://www.sasb.org/">Sustainability Accounting Standards Board</a> (SASB) and the <a href="https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/">Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures</a> (TCFD), which are setting standards for corporate sustainability disclosures across industries and asset classes. Better sustainability information allows investors to employ more precise strategies when they invest in their values. SRI strategies were developed decades ago and have been continuously refined over the years, evidenced by the fact that this year’s conference was the 29th reunion of these industry practitioners.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL4F7JahtOwb7iF_JLoPj4Qp6tGbPTV1TRLIwo02mF-D3jifDoEOJB7KwdDS6VazCguCFhNZtm-Pk3IcZRAG_Af9utuAVG62N9pUVoCNtZldTgRGazo700glWlG8V_tRa9jAEMzucFZFI/s1600/mich2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="1600" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL4F7JahtOwb7iF_JLoPj4Qp6tGbPTV1TRLIwo02mF-D3jifDoEOJB7KwdDS6VazCguCFhNZtm-Pk3IcZRAG_Af9utuAVG62N9pUVoCNtZldTgRGazo700glWlG8V_tRa9jAEMzucFZFI/s400/mich2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SRI 2018 Conference Scholarship Winners</td></tr>
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This year’s 29th SRI Conference provided attendees with a rich snapshot of a dynamic, multifaceted industry. This snapshot illuminated the industry’s shift from niche to mainstream, a growth in asset types and sectors represented, and a welcome intentionality around diversity of representation and perspectives. These trends ensure that this conference will continue to be a fascinating window into a the finance industry and bell-weather for its future. To read more about what you can do to align your personal finances with a future you want to live in, check out Nick Depsky’s great Life@ERG posts on <a href="https://lifeaterg.blogspot.com/2018/01/personal-divestment-from-fossil-fuels_22.html">Personal Banking</a> and <a href="https://lifeaterg.blogspot.com/2018/02/divesting-from-fossil-fuels-part-2.html">Retirement Accounts + Mutual Funds</a>.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-23822861725065901482018-11-16T11:59:00.000-08:002018-11-16T11:59:04.543-08:00What Does Smog Have to Do with Diversity? An Analogy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Christian G. Miller, ERG graduate student]</span></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/V0-dZlftrctu_urpilCHyMQFQZB9c1WLcnlesx7X5zzYLXxt2uvbt1MeCYTDHACrfVyYI0UkelPi3BlbKYKE4pSvI2mo8EQfQGYPsOwfE7p_xF-u6epPCZ863ttJ5HQv1OWDlKvz" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: <a href="http://mylittlebasil.com/">Garima Srivastava</a></td></tr>
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This Life@ERG blog post is... uh, well overdue. I promised I would submit one a year ago. I think the hesitation to write came from the difficulty in deciding which facet of my life I should discuss. And in pure procrastination fashion, instead of facing my roadblocks, I about-faced and marched towards a myopic whirlwind of anime and kicking it with mis amigos.<br />
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Now after such and such, here we are. I’ve decided to write about a concept that has grabbed at my consciousness at a couple points of extrospection. One point comes from reflection at the punctuation of my academic career (I graduate this coming May), remembering the fact that I was often one of the few -- or even the only -- black person or person of color in the room. The second comes from observation of the current U.S. Congress and what these midterms election meant for the future of our democracy.<br />
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The idea picking at me, as you may have guessed, is that of underrepresentation, or its more underrated co-star, overrepresentation. These may seem like two sides of the same coin. But focusing on underrepresentation breeds tokenism, whereas focusing on overrepresentation highlights the structural, systematic unbalance in society. I'm also an energy nerd, so I can't help but draw an analogy between the two: Is there something we can learn about representation from our energy mix?<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
An Example</h4>
Two years ago, I worked as a summer fellow for a CPUC commissioner. I had tried again and again to get a position with a commissioner who was an ERG alum, and a black woman no less. But that card wasn't in the deck. And through the processes that be, I instead got an offer to work with a commissioner that happened to be a white man. I was no stranger to being a black face working for a white one (I completed high school and college in Iowa... and the US), and jumped at the opportunity. Maybe it seems like I was setting something up here with the introduction, but it was a great experience, and I now look to said commissioner as a mentor and role model.<br />
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This experience, however, was something of a unicorn. I realized how rare a situation this was one day when I was sitting in a commissioner voting meeting. I looked up to the dais and saw a satisfying spectrum of diversity: two white men, a black woman, a Latina woman, and a brown woman. Ahh, perfecto (Well, kind of. The department staff was mostly white, and the "front desk and security" staff were mostly POC. But that's a different story, for a different day).<br />
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I couldn't help but think that I would have felt differently about my experience if I looked up that day and instead had seen a bench composed of five white men (or even a combination of white men and women, for that matter). But because there was clear and evident diversity, I actually enjoyed my experience working for this man. What a novel idea.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="166" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/tIc8jD7cgYQY3IyJ5gTHrPgYwzUaRNk2a2vX7A080dE5it19k9wwURY6Y5lF_bj9GOpiyldJTpCaFMDcaTzjoFa7iS2A2a7js2zo2WeEdo_VQlkfDeocJ9I2BVHSr6YMfHfsNsRR" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voting meeting on June 15, 2017</td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Analogy</h4>
Let's talk for a moment about the U.S. energy mix. For the longest time, coal and oil were cheap, and they were easy. But there was a dark secret hidden in the black plumes of exhaust. The black plumes of exhaust were killing the planet. The industry was resistant to change, but eventually, we began to take small steps to change the energy mix. Many want to establish a national carbon tax or California-like cap-and-trade system to account for their negative externalities. This way, we can make room for natural gas and renewables. The goal: a cleaner energy system and thus, less environmental pollution.<br />
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One might say that we’ve become enlightened and see the overrepresentation of coal and oil in our energy mix as a negative. But still, progress is slow. We’re three-quarters century in, the planet continues to weep, and those who benefited least from the pollution look to be the ones who will bear the highest costs.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Thesis</h4>
Hopefully, the analogy was apparent. Coal and oil represent our early approach to an energy portfolio, like how a mostly white (man) composition of powerful positions has been our approach to diversity (or lack thereof). The difference is, a lot of the world recognizes this overrepresentation of dirty energy as an issue and is working to correct for their negative externalities. While many of the elected offices, top universities, corporate leadership, etc., however, have not done the same for diversity.<br />
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One explanation could be that when the earth weeps, it literally storms, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. Whereas it’s sadly much easier for the powers-that-be to disenfranchise people and squash race riots and self-separatist growth when they are weeping.<br />
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I believe a more likely explanation could be the persistent conflation of accessibility and efficacy. It's not enough to open doors to diversity and hope that institutions will become diverse. We must account for the negative externalities that got us here in the first place. Some may not remember, but solar panels used to cost a whole heck of a lot. But many government subsidies and cheap manufacturing deals later, we now have solar panel-borne energy out-competing coal. This was/is not a passive process, and neither should be diversity. If diversity is the goal, we must put our money and energy where our mouth is to actively overcome the structural inequalities that have gotten us here: ahistorical policies, disparities in intergenerational human capital and wealth accumulation, and "intrinsic" privilege.<br />
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With every iteration, we need to look at our diversity mix and appreciate the signals it sends us. An overrepresentation of coal and oil in our energy generation portfolio mix means we have an environmentally mediocre mix. Likewise, a mostly white (man) composition of our positions of power can be a mediocre one full of untapped potential. In the U.S. context, wherever we see too many white people in positions of power, our Scooby Doo jinkies meter should be at peak. With changing demographics and a growing pipeline of talent, the laws of probability suggest that we are seeing a failure in the market whenever we observe this phenomenon.<br />
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That black plume can become clear if we go fishing (read: perform outreach) instead of leave with whatever turns up in our nets, optimize on equity instead of efficiency, and implement a plan to normalize diversity rather than let "the market" figure it out. And over time, we won't even need to subsidize diversity because it will out-compete overrepresentation on its own.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Notes: (1) Positions of power include the rungs on the ladder of mobility to said positions, including higher education. (2) Not everyone agrees on human-caused and/or -accelerated climate change as evidenced by the US's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. Those people don't see a problem with our divers—I mean, energy mix.</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-74130736054563658482018-11-02T08:00:00.000-07:002018-11-02T08:00:02.002-07:00Spread of self-driving cars could cause more pollution – unless the electric grid transforms radically<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[<b>Peter Fox-Penner,</b> Director, Institute for Sustainable Energy, and Professor of Practice, Questrom School of Business, Boston University; <b>Jennifer Hatch</b>, Research Fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Boston University; <b>Will Gorman</b>, ERG Graduate Student, and Researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]</span></i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDN-yBUmIHBpHaVTpjujz1mJ_AMOE31I2Pp1ElFaK-6byv2M1U2_YTotBY8zeYp4gV-VHxayIHgq-2rXMCm1okc9IpruheVaezF8ZryD12W4aLYR1Lp4W4Qo0PN2alHYFXqfhLJvwAYWQ/s1600/file-20181016-165909-v5cs16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDN-yBUmIHBpHaVTpjujz1mJ_AMOE31I2Pp1ElFaK-6byv2M1U2_YTotBY8zeYp4gV-VHxayIHgq-2rXMCm1okc9IpruheVaezF8ZryD12W4aLYR1Lp4W4Qo0PN2alHYFXqfhLJvwAYWQ/s640/file-20181016-165909-v5cs16.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cleaner future with autonomous vehicles is not a sure thing. <span style="color: #999999;">AP Photo/Jae C. Hong</span></td></tr>
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The world is on the cusp of dramatic changes in the ways people own, operate and power their means of transportation.<br />
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Known as the <a href="https://3rev.ucdavis.edu/agenda/">“three revolutions,”</a> a term coined by UC Davis transportation professor <a href="https://islandpress.org/books/three-revolutions">Daniel Sperling</a>, the new trends are: electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and sharing-oriented business models (think Uber and Lyft). Optimistically, these revolutions could make our cities a dreamscape of walkable urbanism that will reduce accidents to near zero and make more space for bikes, trees, pedestrians and small businesses while emitting no carbon emissions.<br />
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However, because these new technologies aim to dramatically reduce transportation costs, many people are <a href="https://www.axios.com/ride-hailing-sharing-services-uber-lyft-global-cities-traffic-26816575-fff8-44b0-a608-9dd86e8b5a10.html">concerned</a> that more people will use autos to get around and the future will be filled with <a href="http://www.schallerconsult.com/rideservices/unsustainable.pdf">worse traffic and congestion</a>. That could mean that consumption of fossil fuels will increase – bad outcomes for society’s sustainability goals.<br />
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We’ve <a href="http://www.bu.edu/ise/2018/08/02/long-term-transportation-electricity-use-estimates-policy-observations/">analyzed a whole body of literature on autonomous vehicles</a> and found that autonomous vehicles in particular will likely greatly increase overall transportation demand: With more options available, more people will take advantage of these autonomous vehicles and ride services. Whether there is a net increase or decrease in pollution from higher energy consumption, however, is less obvious.<br />
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The key factors affecting carbon emissions from these emerging transportation trends are whether vehicles are electric or use conventional internal combustion engine technology, and how quickly the electric grid can “decarbonize,” or generate power with no net carbon emissions.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Powering autos with the electric grid</h3>
Since 2016, transportation has been the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/fast-facts-transportation-greenhouse-gas-emissions">single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions</a> in the United States. As our electricity mix becomes less carbon-intensive and transportation demand grows, transportation will make up an increasing proportion of our carbon emissions if the U.S. continues to depend upon a system fueled by internal combustion engines and gasoline.<br />
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But how does our country realistically plan for a system that both meets the energy demands of our future transportation system and reduces our carbon emissions?<br />
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Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421518304737">recent paper</a> aimed to answer these questions. Our goal was first to incorporate the big but often overlooked trends in transportation to forecast how much transportation demand will grow. Second, we sought to create reasonable estimates for what is required to enable a clean, renewable and dependable electricity system in the years to come.<br />
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We reviewed both academic and industry research regarding future personal vehicle sales, energy efficiency improvements and total vehicle miles traveled as more people use autonomous vehicles.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoNiipfImoF6dYXA6W4IVeek-AV9kWZrRD32JstPSJqCtBDz1TJk2c80ZBJ90q8KREfMNO8jeOThUqaepf5fFmxkOAEM-7NmS2-kcBqetLVxy-7VvKApkOJn9zXbTjbvR57EQlnjD6t0/s1600/file-20180824-149475-bul43u.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="1000" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoNiipfImoF6dYXA6W4IVeek-AV9kWZrRD32JstPSJqCtBDz1TJk2c80ZBJ90q8KREfMNO8jeOThUqaepf5fFmxkOAEM-7NmS2-kcBqetLVxy-7VvKApkOJn9zXbTjbvR57EQlnjD6t0/s640/file-20180824-149475-bul43u.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
These charts show the impact on emissions from a rapid shift to a less-polluting grid (left) or a more gradual transition based on government forecasts. In both cases, the key to lower emissions is whether light duty vehicles shift to electric and how clean the power grid is. <span style="color: #999999;">Peter Fox-Penner, Will Gorman, Jennifer Hatch</span></span></td></tr>
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This research allowed us to build a model that projects the number of electric and autonomous vehicles that could be on U.S. roads in the future and their related energy and emissions.<br />
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Our study estimates that by 2050 the net increase in electricity demand from converting the light duty vehicle fleet to electric, autonomous vehicles will be between 13 percent and 26 percent more than today’s total electricity demand. In the best case, where 95 percent of the electric sector decarbonizes by that time, this scenario would result in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of up to 80 percent from 2015 light duty vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Drilling down</h3>
A few interesting implications follow from of our greenhouse gas emission results. The first is that the rise in ride-hailing services and autonomy – assuming it is 100 percent electric – doesn’t drive significant increases in carbon emissions.<br />
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In our “stress case,” we assumed dramatic increases in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) due to autonomous vehicles, slow improvements in vehicle energy efficiency and limited transportation redesign. In this scenario, there was virtually no difference in greenhouse gas emissions compared to other cases with more conscientious policy planning, including VMT taxes, increased public transportation and other measures.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHeejzIoQoPWK-J3bBrLxn2K2F5rlqwnGcfmPU1wLzpX5ytYxvXlSJS1sAjGt11743sZ5rt61BMmh-U47hfTsQrI-MZPquTgVnNQU9RVGFbppF3oDPz4PW4T6dwUjcZhU5EyqIqMiHzE/s1600/file-20181016-165894-1fajth9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHeejzIoQoPWK-J3bBrLxn2K2F5rlqwnGcfmPU1wLzpX5ytYxvXlSJS1sAjGt11743sZ5rt61BMmh-U47hfTsQrI-MZPquTgVnNQU9RVGFbppF3oDPz4PW4T6dwUjcZhU5EyqIqMiHzE/s320/file-20181016-165894-1fajth9.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With more autonomous cars and ride-hailing services, more people are likely to use them, leading to potentially more combustion and pollution. <span style="color: #999999;"> AP Photo/Jared Wickerham</span></td></tr>
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This counterintuitive outcome might make a little more sense by diving into the results. In comparing different scenarios, we found that emissions are more than twice as high in a “low EV” scenario of 50 percent EVs in the fleet by 2050, compared to a “high EV” scenario of 86 percent EVs in the fleet by 2050.<br />
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This reflects how much more the shift in electric vehicles affects transportation pollution relative to other major trends in transportation. Even if there are more miles driven from autonomous vehicles, if they are electric and the grid becomes increasingly cleaner, then emissions won’t rise dramatically compared to the country’s current course.<br />
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Another takeaway that follows from this result is that society can only achieve dramatic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by making the electric grid dramatically less polluting.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Optimistic scenario</h3>
Our study describes what is possible by 2050, and more or less what we believe we need to do in order to ensure the shift to autonomous vehicles and widespread ride-hailing services doesn’t lead to big spikes in pollution.<br />
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Of course, transitioning the grid to 95 percent to 100 percent clean energy won’t be easy; <a href="https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_1_01">currently only 37 percent is from wind, solar, hydropower and nuclear.</a> Nor will ensuring that almost all of our light duty vehicles are electric. That’s partly because EVs are not yet cost-competitive with internal combustion engine vehicles. Also, there are a number of infrastructure challenges to updating the grid for a major shift to electric transportation.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtSfH-iEKgYsVxk07ZANb641yjyD4jN5jYxLn9NBwojEz5z791eEQkYcos4qgjbh4X5naUt8J64WiFoBlzizT3RONgtzFIYCtgH3KLi7Z8URjFFmWiPq3apTJvhqbXElTXg4uIxwBZehY/s1600/file-20181016-165888-1dtkosn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="1000" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtSfH-iEKgYsVxk07ZANb641yjyD4jN5jYxLn9NBwojEz5z791eEQkYcos4qgjbh4X5naUt8J64WiFoBlzizT3RONgtzFIYCtgH3KLi7Z8URjFFmWiPq3apTJvhqbXElTXg4uIxwBZehY/s320/file-20181016-165888-1dtkosn.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A massive conversion to electric vehicles and low-emissions power generation are needed to slow and lower rising pollution from transportation. <span style="color: #999999;">Portland General Electric, CC BY-ND</span></td></tr>
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The good news for utilities is that the increase in electricity demand from electric vehicles will provide a positive, but not overwhelming amount of growth for electric utilities – growth that is welcome given the <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/2/27/17052488/electricity-demand-utilities">stagnant or declining revenues for electric utilities the last decade</a>. This should come as a welcome opportunity and could create a strong ally as EV ownership grows.<br />
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Though our results represent time frames far out into the future, <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/policy-initiatives/automated-vehicles/317351/usdot-comprehensive-management-plan-automated-vehicle-initiatives.pdf">the policies that will lead us there are being written today.</a> Our study suggests that in the near term, rapid and complete transport electrification and a carbon-free grid should remain the cornerstones of transport decarbonization policy. However, long-term policy should also aim to ensure AVs are electric and mitigate autonomous vehicles’ potential to increase driving mileage, urban and suburban sprawl, and traffic congestion.<br />
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And policymakers should not delay. The rise of Uber and Lyft have already <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/nyregion/nyc-taxi-center-uber.html">dramatically upended business models</a> that have existed for decades, and autonomous vehicle technology, which still has a few years to go before replacing human drivers, is already impacting cities around the country. The question now is whether these trends will reduce or increase our country’s emissions.<br />
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<i>This article was originally posted on <a href="https://theconversation.com/spread-of-self-driving-cars-could-cause-more-pollution-unless-the-electric-grid-transforms-radically-101508?fbclid=IwAR1aA4faxKJ2BsVc8WKkbdavjtpJYtHT3jTm_d5roHEc-N0lSG8mjFVCcjA">The Conversation</a>.</i>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-19374425051821452382018-10-22T12:11:00.001-07:002018-10-24T10:51:25.060-07:00Snapshots from Rwanda: Financing Green Growth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Esther Shears, ERG graduate student]</span></i><br />
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Three weeks into my trip to Rwanda this summer, I checked in to my last Airbnb. It was a lovely home in Kimihurura, a popular neighborhood for expats in the capital city, Kigali. My host greeted me and invited me to sit out on the back porch of the home as the late afternoon sun streamed through the trees surrounding us. He was a middle-aged French Canadian who worked in security. Once he learned that I was graduate student, here on a scoping trip to study land use and climate finance, he didn’t waste any time in sharing his opinions about the country with me.<br />
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<i>“There’s no point to development work; they just won’t ever change.”</i> He shared anecdote after anecdote with me, admitting that he was just glad to have someone to speak to (and swear in) English with.<br />
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<i>“I see a guy pushing his old bike up the main road, it’s piled high with bunches of plaintains, and then he pulls a new iPhone out of his back pocket…” </i><br />
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<i>“[NGOs] want to provide water filters or offer clean water to homes, but families still prefer to collect their water from a common well because that’s where social life happens.”</i><br />
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<i>“I’ve heard street fights break out with tribal slurs being used… you know it’s illegal to use the words Hutu and Tutsi but I still hear it in these cases.”</i><br />
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This went on for a while. I was a guest in his home. I just nodded along, exhausted from the four-hour long, hot and cramped bus ride I’d taken from Gisenyi that morning. If I had met him within my first few days in Rwanda, I might have been a little more surprised by his brazenness. But in just three weeks, I had seen and learned enough to know that my host wasn’t the only one that saw the tensions apparent in a modernizing, post-conflict society.<br />
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For a portion of my trip, I stayed in Gisenyi, a city on the north shore of Lake Kivu that sat directly on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. I spent most of my time there learning about the work of Inyenyeri, a Rwandan social enterprise seeking to bring clean cooking to both urban and rural communities with efficient fuel-pellet stoves.<br />
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The day that we took a field visit to interview rural customers also was the one day of the month that the villages in that region hold community meetings in the afternoon. As we turned off the perfectly paved and well-maintained main road connecting Gisenyi to Kigali onto one of the bumpiest roads I have ever encountered, the Inyenyeri staff jokingly introduced to me to the “African massage”: a ride in the back seat of a tightly-packed truck. On our way up the hillside, passing through several small villages, I could see groups of people congregated for these community meetings. When we finally reached our destination, it seemed to be the highest point around the region. The particular village we visited was selected by the company to start rural sales specifically because of how difficult it is to reach: <i>“If we can make our business model work here, it can work in any rural village.”</i><br />
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I was interested in learning how the land was allocated throughout the community. The decisions were made long ago by the local village council – the best soil went to farming, and then the other areas were split between timber plots and housing. In recent years, more intense rainy seasons have raised concerns about flooding and erosion, and inspired nation-wide efforts to reinforce the terraces. As one of the most population-dense countries in the world, Rwanda has very little land left untouched.<br />
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Our interviews extended into dusk, and we had to hurry back to the truck to begin our long journey back to Gisenyi. Sandrine, Inyenyeri’s Communications and Marketing Manager, who served as our translator for the field visit, couldn’t stop gushing about how good the grilled corn was in these hillside villages. The community meetings had ended, and all the villages we passed on our way up had come alive as the sun set (which occurs promptly around 6pm that close to the Equator). Everyone was out and about, congregating around the open fires of crackling corn. I munched delightedly on a cob as Sandrine exclaimed over and over again, “<i>I LOVE maize!</i>”<br />
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I was back in Kigali for the last few weeks of my stay. I spent the bulk of my time working in coffee shops, along with every other expat and white person, each undoubtedly working for one of the many NGOs sprinkled throughout the capital. You could bet without hesitation that any building in Kigali that stood more than three stories high was housing an NGO office. One of my goals for this trip was to meet with employees of these various development-oriented organizations. Through my conversations, I gleaned a few trends of how this industry operates in Rwanda.<br />
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<b>Despite working towards a common mission of social good, a for-profit company isn’t necessarily afforded the same privileges in the development space as a non-profit:</b> <i>“If you were an NGO we would have two cars and staff dedicated to you,”</i> a UNHCR worker reportedly told Inyenyeri while setting up their partnership at the Kigeme Refugee Camp.<br />
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Conversely, a One Acre Fund employee talked about how there were long-term opportunities for organizations functioning as social enterprises, but less so for non-profits: <i>“As an NGO, you are aiming to make yourself irrelevant.” </i>Social enterprises also tended to have higher proportions of non-international staff members involved in leadership positions within the organizations, perhaps reflecting an intention to remain integrated with the community.<br />
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<b>It is important to build close relationships with local authorities.</b> One employee from the social enterprise Jibu commented, <i>“Since our water filters use WASAC water, we work directly with the water resource management… I would consider them as ‘partners’ – it’s important to have a good relationship with the government.”</i><br />
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Over 85% of the country works in agriculture, and climate change is already increasing instances of drought and flooding. At <a href="http://www.fonerwa.org/">FONERWA</a> (Rwanda’s climate fund), I spoke with Bright Ntare about the realities to come:<i> “It’s not just energy and land-use work [we do], we’ll need to move people out of high-risk areas, so affordable housing is important to include… we need to consider employment opportunities in the long-term, because agriculture will decline with climate change. It just will. So, we are working on ideas for job trainings in other employment sectors. Finally, we are well aware that outside funds will not always be there.” </i><b>People within the Rwandan government are already considering long-term strategies for funding climate-resilience.</b><br />
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My last fact-finding mission in Kigali took me out to Question Coffee, a project of the Relationship Coffee Institute. I’d flown past the Sustainable Harvest Rwanda sign while sitting on the back of a motorcycle (“moto”) on my way home one day, and suddenly made the connection between Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers and the Question Coffee I had been drinking all summer from cafes around the city. The main café and educational center were not far from me, so I hopped on a moto on one of my last days and set out to experience the “best pour-over coffee in Rwanda” for myself. The Relationship Coffee Institute provides training for women-centric coffee cooperatives that promote transparent trading practices, practices for higher-quality coffee production, and higher prices (and therefore higher worker wages).<br />
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Just like many of the organizations I encountered during my time in Rwanda, Question Coffee presents a classic development success-story. I know that for every success-story there are many not-so-successful stories of similar projects. The uncertainties and complexities of development efforts are not new to me, having studied this work since my undergraduate years.<br />
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What struck me was the presence of a clear ambition for growth amidst a cloud of development fatigue. The positive energy and hope for the future were easy to see: in the recently-opened Kigali Convention Center, in the eagerness of anyone to talk with me about their work, and in the stated objectives of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140104183816/http://www.minecofin.gov.rw/fileadmin/General/Vision_2020/Vision_2020_Progress_and_Way_Forward.pdf">Vision 2020</a>. But my awareness of the fatigue grew slowly, and finally came together during my visit to the Rwandan Genocide Memorial on one of the last days of my stay.<br />
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After the Rwandan Genocide, there was a huge influx of foreign aid and direct investment, not just for post-conflict reconstruction, but for broad development efforts in every sector of the country. Now, more than 20 years later, the aid is still coming, growth is still occurring, but for how much longer? In 2011, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/apr/03/rwanda-20-years-on-how-a-country-is-rebuilding-itself">twenty percent </a>of the country’s gross annual came from foreign aid. Since 2012, foreign direct investment has consistently surpassed <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/rwanda/foreign-direct-investment">200 million USD annually</a>. Yet, the country also appears to be reconciling with the reality that despite significant amounts of foreign investment, it <a href="http://www.therwandan.com/kagame-inform-rwandans-vision-2020-is-dead/">won’t meet all of its Vision 2020 development goals</a>. An excerpt from a <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2018/01/18/Rwanda-Eighth-Review-Under-the-Policy-Support-Instrument-and-Request-for-Extension-and-Third-45567">2018 IMF report</a> on Rwanda’s progress summaries this tension between high growth goals and likely waning foreign development efforts:<br />
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<i>“Building on its notable progress toward development objectives, the authorities are crafting a revised medium-term development strategy with the goal of achieving middle income status by 2035. To help achieve this objective, it will be important to regain momentum in mobilizing domestic revenue as a reliable source of financing for development.”</i></blockquote>
My conversation with Bright Ntare of FONERWA echoed this sentiment. He expressed excitement for all the work the climate fund hopes to achieve, while also acknowledging the significant challenge the country faces: how do we finance green growth when international flows run dry?<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-50670282665079626822018-09-28T16:11:00.000-07:002018-09-28T16:14:23.811-07:00Diversity, Representation, and Environmentalism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Salma Elmallah, ERG graduate student] </span></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;">Photo courtesy of <a href="https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/els/files/2014/02/FullReport_Green2.0_FINALReducedSize.pdf">Green 2.0</a></td></tr>
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Every time I encounter an environmental organization, I can’t help but wonder, are they all this overwhelmingly white? I often find myself scanning rooms during talks or workshops and counting the number of minorities. I can usually fit them on one hand. I finally decided to look at the data to see if my firsthand experiences matched the realities of the entire field.<br />
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I found a <a href="https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/els/files/2014/02/FullReport_Green2.0_FINALReducedSize.pdf">2014 study</a> by Green 2.0, an initiative focused on racial diversity in environmental organizations, that found that racial minorities constituted less than 16% of boards and general staff of NGOs, government agencies, and grant making foundations, and their positions were concentrated in the lower ranks. As a point of reference, racial minorities made up 38% of the US population at the time of publication. In fact, the only position that minorities were more likely to hold than white people was that of the diversity manager, which only existed at a few organizations.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of <a href="https://www.diversegreen.org/the-challenge/">Green 2.0</a></td></tr>
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Organizational leadership often self-reported that the biggest barrier to a more diverse workplace was a lack of minority and low-income applicants. At the same time, only a quarter of organizations in the study offered paid internships, which candidates from low-income backgrounds consistently cite a barrier to entry and advancement. Other minorities interviewed cited barriers like the absence of good mentorship, not being listened to by coworkers, and an institutional attitude that gender diversity - the gains of which primarily went to white women - was an adequate substitute for racial and class diversity.<br />
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What does it mean for environmentalism if the people shaping it are mostly white and middle class? For one, an organization’s prioritization of issues stems partly, if not heavily, from the people that compose it. <a href="https://www.diversegreen.org/the-challenge/">Only 41% of NGOs interviewed in 2014</a> were likely to support adding issues of interest relevant to low-income or minority communities to their agendas. Employees reported across organizations that attempts to partner with local environmental justice groups were limited. Of the NGOs interviewed, people of colour were especially underrepresented in key decision-making positions, composing less than 5% of board slots and about 12% of leadership positions.<br />
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Environmental justice and grassroots organizations often perform better along diversity metrics. Mainstream environmental organizations on the national level <a href="https://www.diversegreen.org/the-challenge/">benefit from having close ties to industry and government, oversight and monitoring capabilities, and strong, independent research arms</a>. As long as mainstream groups have access to resources and influence that grassroots or environmental justice organizations do not, issues that impact low-income or minority Americans will receive limited attention on a funding and political agenda.<br />
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At some point during the long stretch between pitching this blog post idea to one of ERG’s patient and enduring blog editors, Anushah, and actually writing it, I was riding BART and noticed <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/progressives-immigration-reform-bart-tech-sf-12759617.php#photo-15245432">anti-immigrant ads plastered throughout Civic Centre Station</a>. When I see bad things, I like to Google everything about them. So I looked up Progressives for Immigration Reform, the organization that funded the ads, and found out that one of their leaders almost succeeded at a 2004 effort to make anti-immigration candidates compose the majority of the Sierra Club’s board. <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2004/former-sierra-club-director-discusses-hostile-takeover-attempt-anti-immigrant-activists">An interview with a Sierra Club leader</a> conducted around the time of the attempted takeover mentions that no red flags were raised about anti-immigrant candidates until 2004. This is strange because it was publicly known that one of the candidates who already had a Sierra Club board appointment during the takeover had also been <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20021006060536/http://capsweb.org:80/about_us/overview.html">sitting on the board of an anti-immigration organization for at least two years</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXH2M-6Qd18y5x98O2H4kuiidmZXcOnb6q3r25vLrGDrcKGw_1Blz4dvKfIU2TY9R6WqSomSmDMF-QN8nMcOOsXEHISUJjO4bQ7Ur4-PL4iuNi5HS1rGbDaiFDYnyIgc8S60az9rcXReo/s1600/bart_photo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="920" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXH2M-6Qd18y5x98O2H4kuiidmZXcOnb6q3r25vLrGDrcKGw_1Blz4dvKfIU2TY9R6WqSomSmDMF-QN8nMcOOsXEHISUJjO4bQ7Ur4-PL4iuNi5HS1rGbDaiFDYnyIgc8S60az9rcXReo/s320/bart_photo.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/progressives-immigration-reform-bart-tech-sf-12759617.php#photo-15245432">SFGate</a></td></tr>
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I filed this discovery away in my head until I finally got around to writing this blog post, when the Sierra Club’s near-xenophobia resurfaced in my memory. I’m not sure how the Sierra Club came so close to having an anti-immigration majority board. It’s possible that, when your organization is dominated by a singular demographic, it becomes harder to recognize such seemingly obvious red-flags. They may never have had to recognize how racists mask their rhetoric with a resonant political message - like the “war on terror”, or being “tough on crime”, or, even, “the fight against climate change” - so voting for a candidate that <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/9/26/16356524/the-population-question">relates environmental issues to immigrants and overpopulation</a> doesn’t seem transparently xenophobic (even though discussions of population control have an undeniable racist history). Writing this blog post showed me that mainstream environmental organizations are in fact just as white and upper class as I was seeing. This comes at the expense of opportunities for individual employees, and the issues that are deemed important.<br />
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When I started this post, I was thinking about what a career looks like for someone whose demographic isn’t well represented in major environmental organizations. Maybe selfishly, I was thinking about what these statistics mean with regards to my imposter syndrome, or a sense of isolation, or career progression. I realized that the demographics of the environmental field can have implications for me, both as a prospective employee and as someone impacted by the agendas and policies. A discussion of environmentalism in the United States is incomplete if it doesn’t address how a lack of diversity informs how we define environmental causes, and how environmental causes can be mobilized.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-49038171759497142002018-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:002018-09-25T16:24:11.912-07:00Living the Change on the Last Frontier: Nome, Alaska <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Laney Siegner, ERG graduate student]</span></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yoga at Grand Central Bridge outside Nome, AK. Photo credit: Ori Chafe</td></tr>
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“You’ve been lucky with the weather, that’s for sure,” the woman said. “Last summer it was raining every day this time of year. Follows a low-snow winter. Last winter was a big snow year, so this summer has been nicer weather. Good thing you’re leaving before the rains really set in -- all of October and November will be cold and drenching rains. Used to be we’d have snow by Halloween, but these days it’s more like December that we’re getting the first snows.”<br />
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Conversations about the weather fill the small, cozy room in Pingo Bakery and Seafood café. The weather is never far from an Alaskan’s mind. Here in Nome, an outpost of the Seward Peninsula on the Bering Sea, everyone has noticed the striking pace of the weather’s change over the years, from later snows to earlier thaws to more dramatic rains. Climate change is openly acknowledged by many, including Alaska’s Republican senator Lisa Murkowski. But the state is simultaneously lamenting the problem, searching for solutions, and supporting oil and gas drilling, the building blocks of the state’s economy. It is a place that is experiencing the direct impacts of climate change most rapidly and still struggling to implement solutions.<br />
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I came up to Nome, a major destination of the Yukon Gold Rush and finish line of the Iditarod dog sled race, to assist with ongoing research into the changing dynamics of the Arctic ecosystem. The project is a collaboration of several academic institutions and national labs and aims to inform climate models with better information about Arctic plant communities, ecosystem processes, and feedbacks. I spent the last week of August traveling out into the tussock tundra landscape to count shrub seedlings and take soil microclimate data from several plots 70 to 80 miles outside of Nome. <br />
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Driving down the dirt roads out of town each day afforded ample opportunity to observe and learn about the natural history of Alaska’s North Slope, a land of extremes dominated by shrub and grass plant communities north of the tree line. We observed solifluction lobes, creeping lumps of soil on hillslopes reflecting differential downhill flow rates of glacial deposits, sorted circles of rocks left behind by the last glaciation, and pingos, mounds of earth-covered ice from drained lakebeds. We also witnessed rough-legged hawks swooping across the road, a red fox roaming along a river bank, and a wild musk ox herd grazing on the grasses. The musk ox hair, qiviut, is prized for its strength and water resistance and is incredibly soft, a great source of extra insulation in jacket pockets when found in the field.<br />
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The first three days we visited plots near Quartz Creek to count how many birch, alder, and willow seedlings had come up since being seeded in June. We also took soil cores, temperature measurements, soil moisture, and vegetation measurements at each plot. The depth to the permafrost layer, between 50-70 cm in most of my measurements, is growing as permafrost warms. This causes all sorts of problems: pools of water at the surface, soil collapse, changing water flow paths, and release of carbon (primarily methane or CO2, depending on whether the soil is wet or dry). The research team is gathering data in the amount and form of carbon released.<br />
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Traversing the tussocks to access the field plots takes some getting used to. You’re either stepping around the tussocks into some mystery sinkhole, or on top of them if they’re large and stable enough to support a boot. Rainboots and rain pants are key to navigating a boggy crossing, with water rising to knee height. It’s a good leg workout, rewarded with ripe alpine blueberries all around us for snacking. Colors are changing already. The birch leaves turn from green to orange, yellow, and red, and the tones of fall grow more pronounced each day. Change happens fast, this far north. <br />
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In the evenings in Nome, the days seem endless with light stretching on towards midnight. We had to draw thick curtains over the windows to get some rest. On the flip side, we woke in the dark, as the sunrise didn’t strike the horizon until around 8 am. I read up on the natural history of the region, whaling, and climate change research before bed, appreciative of the context to put all the information into perspective.<br />
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The last day in the field, we drove down a different road towards the town of Council, a community of mostly summer homes (there is one year-round resident) situated to the east of Nome. At the end of the road, residents must drive through the riverbed to access the houses across the river, assuming the river level is navigable. Like many communities along the water, boats are increasingly necessary to access the homes. We traveled along the coast of the Bering Sea before turning inland, where hilly tundra terrain replaced the vibrant green wetlands. White spruce trees became occasional as we approached the tree line. There was a last grove of spruce trees in a line right by the field site.<br />
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We took greenhouse gas emissions of twenty plots in the area using a portable gas analyzer, a remarkable piece of technology that gives measurements of CO2 and methane in real time. It is still in want of some features, such as reporting of its battery SOC, a shorter warm-up time, and more consistent calibration, but is nevertheless impressive in what it can do. We took CO2 and methane readings within a clear chamber, to measure net flux, and an opaque chamber, to capture soil and plant respiration without photosynthesis. This was a fascinating process to observe as it may also be relevant to my agricultural research and prospective future projects in which I may measure emissions from sites treated with compost, biochar, or both.<br />
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I spent my last morning in Nome running along the beach, observing the gold dredging equipment and ships out at sea on a cloudy, cool late summer morning. I went to Pingo to warm up with coffee and the largest cinnamon roll I’ve ever been served. I shared in more conversations about the weather with a waitress who just moved in June to Nome from Mississippi. She seemed sanguine about facing her first winter here and pleased with her new home. She had followed her wife up here who had gotten a job as a nurse, and wasn’t looking back.<br />
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As we talked about Alaska, Mississippi, and my home in Washington, D.C., I gained a real appreciation for the cultural and geographic diversity of this country. The range of ecosystems is extreme, from tundra to tropical coastline. Learning firsthand about the human reactions to life in such places motivates me to continue my work as a climate researcher and educator and keep building knowledge about climate narratives and science.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burned tussock tundra</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorted Circles left by last glaciation</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild musk ox on the tussock tundra</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Building on Nome's Front Street covered in west-facing solar panels</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nome at 10:30PM</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Town of Council across the river</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nome beachfront on the Bering Sea</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views of the Bendlebens in clouds</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rainbow on the way to Quartz Creek</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last train to nowhere</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-80503085138626328352018-08-29T14:47:00.000-07:002018-08-29T15:12:22.412-07:00What Does Development Mean for the Stateless?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "segoe ui" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>[Samira Siddique, ERG graduate student]</i></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New paradigms</td></tr>
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Currently, there are upwards of one million Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. For all the talk of moving the Rohingya elsewhere, such as Bashan Char Island, or repatriating them to Myanmar, it is almost certain that they will remain where they are for an indefinite period of time.</div>
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History has shown that the average age of a refugee camp is 12 years. Like most other refugee camp situations, this one will likely last for at least another decade.</div>
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Many NGOs and aid agencies that are working on Rohingya issues realize that this is not temporary, and are starting to take a longer-term view of the camps. The shift from emergency relief to development has begun, underscoring the fact that the refugee crisis has huge long-term implications for how development operates beyond state citizenship.</div>
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The Rohingya crisis is a useful case study to understand how refugees are slowly being brought into the traditional development framework. The scope of facilities and programs set up by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the hundreds of NGOs working in the camps over the past year is remarkable.</div>
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They have built camps from the ground up and organized them into zones with basic roads and latrines, tubewells, health facilities, and community centers. However, the separate institutions that are in place to deal with longer-term development and emergency relief are not aligned in their goals. This affects the extent of aid given, the type of facilities that are built, and of course the economic and political rights and social support that the Rohingya have.</div>
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A strong indication of the shift toward development in the Rohingya camps is the recent investment from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), of $480 million and $100 million respectively. Traditionally, these two institutions have invested in long-term development projects and supported governments in capacity building. In the past few years, they have created a relief fund for emergency situations exactly like the Rohingya crisis.</div>
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One of the investments from the World Bank and ADB is in renewable energy in the Rohingya camps. The investment in energy access shows a gradual shift toward longer-term, or at least medium-term, planning in the camps. Compared to international aid funding in every other sector—water and sanitation, health, shelters, etc.—energy had no allocated funding at the beginning of the Rohingya influx.</div>
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This is largely because energy is not seen as essential to emergency relief, which is arguably an outdated view from the aid industry, as energy access is linked to more positive health effects and gender safety and equality. Now with the World Bank and ADB’s investment plan, there is a portion allocated to set up some solar mini-grids in 2019, as well as constructing more solar lamps and distributing solar lanterns.</div>
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Historically, there has not been a systematic approach to energy supply in conflict settings because they are thought to be shorter term. Most of the energy is supplied ad hoc by individual NGOs or international aid agencies, usually through diesel generators. The move toward renewable energy shows increasing interest in long-term development because it is inherently sustainable and simple to use. A solar mini-grid offers a cleaner and more consistent alternative to diesel generators, and can potentially be used to anchor local mini-grids if the refugee camps are present in the longer term.</div>
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Out of all the Rohingya camps, it is striking that the only one that is connected to the national electricity grid, and thus situated for longer term, is a camp in Teknaf, where some Rohingya have been around for many years and have essentially assimilated into the surrounding community. Perhaps the thought here is that there is “value added” if the Rohingya contribute economically, so it makes sense to invest in electricity lines. However, this situation is exceedingly rare, as the vast majority of Rohingya cannot move freely outside the camps and thus are unable to be economically independent</div>
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While the notion of development is important for improving livelihoods, the development itself must be done differently for the stateless. Traditional forms of economic development do not work for stateless people who have no means to gain employment. Though there are some cash-for-work programs and recreation facilities set up by aid agencies, the vast majority of Rohingya have nothing to do during the day; their routines are often set around food and aid distribution schedules. They are recovering from unimaginable trauma. The camps will only continue to grow: Rohingya are still crossing the border, though at much lower rates, and there are projected to be 50,000 babies born this year. No amount of aid distribution or traditional notions of development will fix these facts of life for the Rohingya.</div>
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Part of the difficulty in streamlining development efforts is the institutional power structure of the camps. Since the exodus began in August 2017, the Bangladesh government has not officially labeled the Rohingya as “refugees.” Without this label, UNHCR could not head the emergency relief operations in the camps, as they normally would when refugees are involved. Thus, IOM took over camp operations. Within a few months, UNHCR was allowed to work in the camps and it started co-leading operations with IOM. The two humanitarian stakeholders now oversee relief operations in about 10 sectors and work alongside the government’s response to the crisis, which includes different government agencies and the Bangladesh army. This web of agencies does not have mutually exclusive goals, but since they do not normally collaborate in this way it has been challenging to settle on long-term goals.</div>
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Another challenge is that there is no direct guiding principle globally for how to integrate stateless people, let alone how to develop communities with them in mind. One of the main guiding principles for long-term sustainability planning is the UN Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 goals that aim to end poverty with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, and environmental protection. None of the goals explicitly address development for stateless persons.</div>
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International NGOs and the UN could adopt a more explicitly rights-based approach to development, especially as more refugee crises and mass migrations are projected to occur in the future. This approach would combine different existing concepts of international development, such as capacity building, human rights, participation, and sustainability. The goal would be to empower the group that cannot exercise full rights and to strengthen the capacity of institutions and governments obligated to fill these rights. However, the main criticism against the rights-based approach is that it merely incorporates the language of human rights with development, but does not change the programs being implemented. In order for change to take place, governments must be willing to accept refugees and migrants, and hold other countries accountable for the processes that lead to refugees in the first place. Many governments that receive refugees, whether willingly or not, are not capable of developing long-term communities for the refugees in their own country.</div>
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There are currently about six million people in protracted displacement situations globally, and even more migrants, who are not officially given economic and political rights by the state. Crises like this will only continue to happen at varying scales, whether through ethnic cleansing, environmental disaster, economic crisis, or something else. The UN, development agencies, NGOs, and some governments are only just beginning to rethink how we prioritize refugees and migrants and integrate them into existing development frameworks. There will be many lessons to learn from the Rohingya crisis for years to come. A likely one will be how to conceptualize development for those that have been systematically “othered” and persecuted.</div>
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<i>This article was originally posted on <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/tribune-supplements/tribune-climate/2018/08/17/what-does-development-mean-for-the-stateless">Dhaka Tribune</a>.</i><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-88060084170275601982018-08-20T12:00:00.001-07:002018-08-20T12:01:17.580-07:00Ride-hailing caps don't address the root causes of urban congestion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Gordon Bauer, ERG graduate student]</span></i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.axios.com/yT8ct786LCl_emttFQZZ8xI3aS8=/0x0:3000x1688/1920x1080/2018/08/16/1534435599146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://images.axios.com/yT8ct786LCl_emttFQZZ8xI3aS8=/0x0:3000x1688/1920x1080/2018/08/16/1534435599146.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Lyft ride-hailing car moves through traffic in Manhattan on July 30, 2018, in New York City. <br />
Photo: Spencer Platt via Getty Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Last week, New York City passed the nation’s first cap on new licenses for ride-hailing vehicles, like those driving for Uber and Lyft, citing in part concerns over worsening congestion and declining transit ridership. The decision represents <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/falling-transit-ridership-poses-an-emergency-for-cities-experts-fear/2018/03/20/ffb67c28-2865-11e8-874b-d517e912f125_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.db6a15a94164">the culmination of alarm over app-based ride-hailing companies</a> and could serve as a blueprint for cities across the U.S.<br />
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<b>Yes, but:</b> Privately owned vehicles driven for personal use still dominate our transportation system, in large part because using one is cheap, fast and comfortable after the initial investment. Any regulatory solution to congestion must focus on personal vehicles first. Short of that, placing limits on Uber or Lyft will be a mere drop in the gas tank.<br />
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Despite rapid ride-hailing growth over the past few years, <a href="https://nhts.ornl.gov/">over 75% of all passenger miles</a><span id="goog_2112300487"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_2112300488"></span> in the U.S. are traveled in personal vehicles, and over 90% when air travel is excluded. By comparison, taxis and ride-hailing vehicles account for less than 0.5% combined, and all public transit less than 5%. Even in the New York City metropolitan area, personal vehicles account for over 75% of all land travel, versus 1.2% for taxis and ride-hailing vehicles.<br />
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Meanwhile, with the advent of self-driving cars, many of the reasons people currently take taxis or public transit — such as disability, aversion to driving, and difficulties with parking — might begin to disappear within the next few years. While <a href="https://rmi.org/insight/peak-car-ownership-report/">some have predicted</a> that autonomous vehicles will lead to the end of private ownership as we know it, this is hardly inevitable: No fleet operator will ever provide the same convenience of having a robot chauffeur in your driveway whenever you need it. And any cap on shared vehicles will make personal vehicles even more desirable.<br />
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Fixing transportation will require cities to foster alternatives to personal vehicles by incentivizing shared rides and integrating ride-hailing with public transit, and then implementing congestion pricing and eliminating parking in areas where people no longer need to drive. Otherwise, by the time personal automated vehicles develop a constituency, it will be too late.<br />
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<b>The big picture: </b>A new age of transportation is dawning, and we have a choice to make: Rethink the necessity of personal vehicles, or let their share of the transportation pie continue to grow larger and larger while public transit and ride-hailing fight over the diminishing crumbs.<br />
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<br />
<i>This article was originally posted on <a href="https://www.axios.com/ride-hailing-caps-dont-address-the-root-causes-of-urban-congestion-081d9bfc-9a9f-4694-a3a5-df8bf031c000.html">Axios</a>.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-18853939461776856002018-07-12T11:57:00.001-07:002018-07-16T21:11:00.493-07:00Thoughts from 金盆村: the Golden Basin Village<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>[Kelly Jiang, undergraduate researcher at the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab]</i><br />
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金盆村 (Jinpen village) is a spectacularly beautiful place in the lush forested hills of Western China, with freshly paved mountain roads winding through steep terraced fields. The fields are filled with all types of crops – ranging from rice and corn, to radishes, greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, sunflowers, lotus, and even crayfish.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja7nH-4fLZy-hKnN7f7eQtPdL5_zZ9vmG8NgXlAe6nEwl_IrZSA0P6zhO7XWoo9tViue41PX20L5hMItL2pSQ-gpaMkgSpnVaMMBCRGFzDaosBjyLFI9GbFol242bmoFxjCQMorwVSDw8/s1600/img_00411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="672" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja7nH-4fLZy-hKnN7f7eQtPdL5_zZ9vmG8NgXlAe6nEwl_IrZSA0P6zhO7XWoo9tViue41PX20L5hMItL2pSQ-gpaMkgSpnVaMMBCRGFzDaosBjyLFI9GbFol242bmoFxjCQMorwVSDw8/s400/img_00411.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Golden hour from a random spot on the road. The single lane concrete road pictured here goes into the fields and was probably paved very recently (in the last 1-2 years) as the Chinese government is working very hard and putting a lot of money into trying to eliminate absolute poverty by 2020.</span></td></tr>
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Jinpen village is partway up the mountain, and provides spectacular views into the valley several hundred meters below. It’s incredibly remote – the drive to the nearest county seat, Nanjiang, takes about two hours on winding mountain roads – and Nanjiang itself is a four-and-a-half hour drive from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Despite its remoteness, the Chinese government has spent a pretty significant amount of money on building up the village. Twenty or so new houses were constructed a couple years ago in an effort to encourage people to move from the fields into the village center. The houses are extremely large: the one we lived in during our stay had four bedrooms and two full bathrooms, and some houses are even bigger.<br />
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However, many of the houses are uninhabited – most people prefer to live in their ancestral homes in their fields, since there’s not much for them to do in the village center anyway. There’s one road that goes through the town, an elementary school, a carpentry shop, a police station, two convenience stores, and… that’s about it. So, although it may appear that the area became more “developed” as the town doubled in size with the construction of these new houses, that appearance of development means nothing if there are no economic activities to partake in.<br />
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The owners of the house we stayed in don’t actually live in the house, which is why we were able to live there – like many others, they prefer to be close to their fields where they’ve grown up and subsisted off the fruits of their own labor for decades.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>The Project</u></b></h4>
I was in Jinpen as part of the <a href="http://ieee-smart-village.org/about/">IEEE Smart Village project</a>, which “integrates sustainable electricity, education, and entrepreneurial solutions to empower off-grid communities.” In places where many communities are incredibly poor and lack even basic electricity, installing renewable energy systems in off-grid areas can have a huge impact on those communities’ quality of life. However, merely providing electricity is not necessarily sufficient to achieve economic development benefits – electricity must be but one part of a holistic sustainable development program. Power for All finds that “[m]any factors are critical to establishing PUE [productive uses of electricity] beyond just energy access itself, including capacity development, business permitting processes, access to finance and transportation infrastructure.” [<a href="https://theprocraftination.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/ba4cb-p4a-research-summary-productive-uses-of-electricity-finaldraft.pdf">Source</a>] That’s why the smart village project aims to combine energy access with education and entrepreneurship, so that electricity can be an enabler of different types of economic activities such as internet cafes, barber shops, food processing, and much more that would not have been possible without electricity.<br />
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For the IEEE smart village project in Jinpen, a 16.2 kW grid-connected solar system was installed on the rooftop of the school. The solar system sells the power it generates to the power grid, allowing the school to save money on electricity and possibly even use the solar energy as an extra source of income. Any extra money is valuable to the school, which is quite cash strapped and has difficulty retaining its teachers due to its remote location.<br />
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The population of Jinpen elementary school keeps shrinking as more and more people move from rural areas to urban areas. The graduating 6th grade class this year had 14 students, down from 20 a few years earlier. There are 7 students in 5th grade, and 5 students in 4th grade – 4 next year, after one of the students moves away. There are 84 total students in the school. And Jinpen elementary school is actually one of the larger elementary schools in the area – another elementary school a couple miles down the road has only 5 students. Yes, FIVE students. Across all grades.<br />
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The mass migration of people from rural areas to urban cities is happening all around the world, not just in China. It’s happening in the United States, where small towns have been shrinking for decades. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/us/arena-wisconsin-schools-empty.html">Schools in rural America are shrinking and closing</a>, too. So that begs the question: Is this urbanization trend irreversible and just something that we should accept? If so, does it even make sense to be investing so much money in rural areas’ development if people are all leaving? If not, then what kind of economic activities can be developed in these rural areas? These are difficult questions, and we need to be thinking about them a lot more than we are.<br />
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~~~</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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Anyway, back to the project that we were working on – the 16.2 kW solar system installed on top of the school. Funding to build the system was donated by a variety of individuals and organizations, including Sichuan University, various renewable energy companies, etc. The total cost of the system was about US$25,000, or ¥150,000. It was wonderful to see so many people from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors all come together to support the project – it’s been a really long process to raise all the funds and coordinate all the parties who contributed to the construction of the system, and it’s a testament to the generosity and capabilities of the project organizers, especially Xiaofeng Zhang, that this project was able to become a reality.<br />
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Since the system is grid-connected, it’s essentially just selling the solar energy it generates to the grid – at a higher price than it costs to buy energy from the grid. Thus, the school is selling (expensive) solar energy to the grid, while buying (cheap) electricity from the grid, resulting in savings.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGw8ybOd2YMkhBWpIh3kt2UVncb4d9C_KZoDri36aginR-voDKfRtv5y-cL5OQPJHrj5LdcU_15FxgZ0D04g90Q9H0CBQJRbNZ-AFnjI_chlDGZ8Rzr7lT5Ndo_1_HnL401LlzOp6nn40/s1600/img_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="257" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGw8ybOd2YMkhBWpIh3kt2UVncb4d9C_KZoDri36aginR-voDKfRtv5y-cL5OQPJHrj5LdcU_15FxgZ0D04g90Q9H0CBQJRbNZ-AFnjI_chlDGZ8Rzr7lT5Ndo_1_HnL401LlzOp6nn40/s320/img_0003.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">One of the paths to a family’s home. Yes, this is actually the trail. If you look closely you can kind of see it. That family had electricity.</span></td></tr>
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Since the school is already connected to the electricity grid, as are all of the homes in the area (even the ones that are only accessible by hiking for 1km or more on dirt paths that can be incredibly steep and get super muddy in the rain), putting solar on the school doesn’t really provide a meaningful benefit when it comes to electricity access. It’s worth emphasizing what an incredible accomplishment it is that China has been able to provide electricity access to every household in the country – that’s a huge infrastructure project, and China is probably the only country at this point that could do something on that scale.<br />
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(Aside: grid extension is probably not the most cost-effective way of electrifying rural areas, as building out transmission and distribution lines for so many hundreds of miles to carry relatively small amounts of electricity is really, really expensive. A single rural grid connection in Tanzania can cost US$2,300, compared to an off-grid solar system that costs US$240. [Source: <a href="https://theprocraftination.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/29d23-factsheet_makingenergyaccessaffordable_sept_16.pdf">Power for All</a>] Thus, in many unelectrified villages, it is far more cost-effective to install solar home systems or microgrids, rather than extend the central grid. Hence, the IEEE smart village project aims to bring solar home systems, irrigation pumps, and microgrids to unelectrified villages, rather than using grid connection.)<br />
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Anyway, since the benefit of this system doesn’t come primarily from the fact that it’s providing energy access, it’s all the more important to ensure that the educational benefit to the students is maximized – that the students really understand how solar energy and other forms of renewable energy work, why renewable energy is important, etc. Ideally, the solar panels would also be integrated into the school curriculum on a regular basis.<br />
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As part of the focus on education in this program, the solar system was designed specifically to show students some of the different considerations when designing a solar energy system. There were three different kinds of trackers installed on different panels – some were connected to a flat single-axis tracker, others were connected to a tilted single-axis tracker, and others were connected to a tracker that students can adjust to tilt more or less towards the south as the seasons change. There were also, of course, fixed panels tilted towards the south that weren’t attached to trackers. The idea behind this is for students to see firsthand how solar energy is affected by the angle of solar panels throughout the year. Additionally, the students should have a sense of responsibility and ownership of the solar panels that they adjust every two weeks to keep up with the changing angle of the sun.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUdL7zKlarcD_TVfvMYaQELFZxlwJOvIqKgpX8lakzZOGw0P-z_ZsVVCj84UCwt3Bcn6C8lm75pU0uBUwFUN1Bghm4goNBi75L15-BOT22YkVI2OZn5ZfkxQccZI0vFSgsVqt0bg8betg/s1600/img_0222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="672" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUdL7zKlarcD_TVfvMYaQELFZxlwJOvIqKgpX8lakzZOGw0P-z_ZsVVCj84UCwt3Bcn6C8lm75pU0uBUwFUN1Bghm4goNBi75L15-BOT22YkVI2OZn5ZfkxQccZI0vFSgsVqt0bg8betg/s400/img_0222.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">On the rooftop with the students and solar panels!</span></td></tr>
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Another potential benefit of having solar installed on the school is that it could continue to provide power to the school during power outages. Most unfortunately, the solar system didn’t actually have islanding capability (i.e. the capability to separate itself from the grid during an outage), which pretty much negates the most obvious use case of the solar system for the school. However, if they get a bit more money in the next few years, they can implement the hardware needed for the school to island itself from the grid. That said though, it would have been ideal for the system to be completely designed and built upfront so that the school could have access to all the benefits of the solar system from day one.<br />
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But that’s a lesson learned that can be applied to the next smart village project! They’re actually planning to expand the smart village program to 200 schools within the next five years (a “Five Year Plan”), so there are lots of opportunities to improve on the system design for future projects.<br />
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It’s also important to keep in mind that sustainable development projects must be maintained over the long term. It’s all too common to do projects like this, put on a show to announce that the project has completed, then walk away without thinking about the long-term impact. Especially as the IEEE smart village program aims to expand to 200 schools in the next five years, I really hope that there’s an emphasis on ensuring that these projects are focused on making the greatest impact in the villages where they are installed. Quality over quantity.<br />
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In my discussions about rural development with my advisor at Chongqing University, he commented that many development projects in China are completed to the extent that officials will be able to point to their work and say that they hit whatever target the Five Year Plan had set in place. For instance, China has a target of eliminating absolute poverty by 2020, and the Chinese government is throwing huge amounts of money at this target so that they can say, when 2020 rolls around, that this target has been met. However, the real key, my advisor said, is to see the status of rural development in 2025, in 2030, in 2050. After the attention fades away, have the local communities developed new types of economic activities that can be sustained? Or does the government need to keep spending billions on these communities to keep them afloat while the rest of the world moves on?<br />
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<i>Read the rest of <a href="https://theprocraftination.wordpress.com/2018/07/01/thoughts-from-%E9%87%91%E7%9B%86%E6%9D%91-the-golden-basin-village/">this post</a> on Kelly's personal blog, <a href="https://theprocraftination.wordpress.com/">The Procraftination</a>.</i><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-23110945447923090262018-07-12T00:28:00.000-07:002018-07-12T00:33:40.372-07:00Style@ERG: Snapshots of ERG's Best Dressed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>[Salma Elmallah, ERG graduate student]</i></div>
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While home in Canada last winter break, a friend asked me, “So how glamorous is California?” My immediate response was that glamour is not a Northern Californian concept, unless your definition somehow includes hiking boots. </div>
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When I returned to Berkeley that January, though, I started noticing hints of glamour amid the usual uniform of Patagonia and Birkenstocks. I began having conversations with the ERG community and gaining appreciation for a distinct look that is tied deeply to their homes, families, and travels. Glamour is hard to achieve in grad school, but our fashion choices can still be thoughtful and personalized, as shown by the stories and looks from some of ERG’s style icons profiled in this post. </div>
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<b><u>Noah Kittner, freshly minted PhD</u></b></div>
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I caught up with Noah at the 2018 ERG Talent Show, where he was a guest of honour after having completed his exit talk earlier that afternoon. Noah is always well- and distinctively dressed (ask him about his notorious leather jacket), but this night he had upped his style game for the special occasion. He showed up to Anthony Hall in a suit and white shirt combo sprinkled with subtle details.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYBLnAC8cVW3DkzSK5F_1zjLTtnLyOUM1ye9wrjLq7HpaIGahUnPdjd_U6PCCGw6ld8AD8VOs0T3jOKDvcMon95ShrjohFoeEqnOxKdLkXTnyBQufyKn8zy5sT-uxAsbaMSJsL5dP4iQ/s1600/noah1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="874" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYBLnAC8cVW3DkzSK5F_1zjLTtnLyOUM1ye9wrjLq7HpaIGahUnPdjd_U6PCCGw6ld8AD8VOs0T3jOKDvcMon95ShrjohFoeEqnOxKdLkXTnyBQufyKn8zy5sT-uxAsbaMSJsL5dP4iQ/s400/noah1.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noah and his fans.</td></tr>
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Noah’s black leather loafers arrived with him in Berkeley from North Carolina, where they once belonged to his grandpa. His white cotton shirt was woven in Thailand, where Noah had completed a Fulbright fellowship. Here, he’s wearing a wool jacket and pants that he thinks are made from a synthetic blend. He tells me that they’re great for ventilation in the heat, but are “probably not good for the environment.”</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmuI24Hv0o07vnTkbHDpKXeRpVKZggkrWHQNqcGetJ0aTmuPPaN6oNiL0mM2xiZFAnP0ZojFKOBOY7aw5gAscEcjUN-bFV3hkyVSU3HNSRjgTIOSQ6fZBy94ccJ-bwqZdObdVvZPW1nI/s1600/noah2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="835" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmuI24Hv0o07vnTkbHDpKXeRpVKZggkrWHQNqcGetJ0aTmuPPaN6oNiL0mM2xiZFAnP0ZojFKOBOY7aw5gAscEcjUN-bFV3hkyVSU3HNSRjgTIOSQ6fZBy94ccJ-bwqZdObdVvZPW1nI/s400/noah2.png" width="322" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noah’s shoes, passed down from his grandpa.</td></tr>
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<b><u>Isha Ray, core faculty member</u></b></div>
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A (non-exhaustive) list of well-dressed ERGies would not be complete without Professor Isha Ray, one of ERGs first style icons. I caught up with Isha at the ERG graduation ceremony, but I still have hopes of capturing her everyday-look one day in an office photoshoot. Isha’s confident style underpinned by vibrant colour palettes shone through even in the traditional faculty regalia.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBlRN45ciIrfELQc2lxdD0v6WN989Bm5A8GImQfKgXwwUo3oClOulADmgq_qg35Yl54K1irJxOsgpBAMsE3PqrE1t1_CxGvTtU1-_8bXtjt1kcgjuZc6Z-IvbiXO6oiu5StB0pqdtQds/s1600/isha.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="974" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBlRN45ciIrfELQc2lxdD0v6WN989Bm5A8GImQfKgXwwUo3oClOulADmgq_qg35Yl54K1irJxOsgpBAMsE3PqrE1t1_CxGvTtU1-_8bXtjt1kcgjuZc6Z-IvbiXO6oiu5StB0pqdtQds/s400/isha.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isha Ray at the ERG graduation ceremony.</td></tr>
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Isha had fixed her stole to her robe with a delicate, fanned gold brooch. She had tried the safety pin life at earlier graduations, but decided it was not for her. The ruby in the brooch had belonged to her grandmother and was part of a set that included a now-lost pair of earrings. Isha had the remaining stone set in goldwork in Toledo, Spain. I ask if her earrings also contain her grandmother’s rubies, but she tells me that they’re fake - she’s just committed to red accessories that tie back to Stanford, her alma mater, colours.</div>
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<b><u>Gauthami Penakalapti, incoming twobie</u></b></div>
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Within her cohort, Gauthami is known as the queen of thrifting and statement accessories. This summer, she’s doing fieldwork in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, from where she shares her breezy fashion with us:</div>
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<i>“In this photo, I'm about to head to my first day of field work. The kurta --the yellow piece-- has a wonderful history. I stayed with my folks in Atlanta prior to departing for my summer field work, and as I was picking through my Indian clothes, I came across this kurta. There are so many photos of me wearing this as a teenager and a couple of them are even framed. My mother bought the fabric and got it tailored for me in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh when we were visiting my father's family in 2001. I'm surprised it fits and is in still such great condition after so many years! The pants and kurta are both cotton and loose to keep me cool in this muggy and sweltering Lucknow heat. It rained this particular morning, so I wore my Keens in case we came across mud or puddles during out field visit. These Keens have also seen many miles and countries, and they're basically a staple when I travel. The colorful scarf, or chunni, was originally meant for modesty and is still used in that manner, but I'm using it as a multi-purpose fashion statement, shade-provider, fly swatter, and in extreme circumstances, hand towel.” </i></div>
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I’ve always been convinced that clothing is both personal and political, and is the most direct, intimate way that we present ourselves to the world. It’s fascinating to talk to people about what they’re wearing (even if that happens to be Patagonia or Birkenstocks, which I have been known to wear myself). Thanks to Noah, Isha, and Gauthami, three of ERG’s many well-dressed, for sharing their outfits and stories of how they connect to their clothes.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-60426274766650356782018-05-14T22:28:00.000-07:002018-05-15T12:27:39.160-07:00From THIMBY 1 to THIMBY 2: Tiny Houses in East Bay, California<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>[Laney Siegner, ERG graduate student]</i><br />
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<i><u><b>The Case for Living Tiny</b></u></i><br />
For years now, the Tiny House movement has been a Big Deal. It’s captured the imaginations of residential homeowners, city planners, international development agencies, homeless and affordable housing advocates, and the renewable energy/sustainable living community. It sparked the interest of a group of Energy and Resources Group (ERG) students back in 2014 when the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) announced the first-ever Tiny House Competition, soliciting applications from colleges and universities in California to design and build off-grid tiny houses for any specified end-use. This group, THIMBY 1, worked for two years to fundraise, research, design, and construct the first UC Berkeley tiny house, which won top awards at the SMUD competition for Water Conservation, Sustainability, Craftsmanship, and Home Life. Other teams in the competition included Laney College (which has a well-respected carpentry training program), Santa Clara University, and several Cal State campuses.<br />
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In the intervening years, the Laney College team has gone on to build several additional tiny houses to address the affordable housing crisis for the City of Oakland. A Berkeley <a href="http://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/05/10/tiny-house-village-no-longer-slated-for-ohmega-site-lot-will-be-sold-instead">project</a> in the works from Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA) proposes to build a Tiny House Village for homeless youth, with onsite resident advisors, social workers and jobs training, but is seeking Berkeley city government support with siting and permitting. The initial budget proposal to Berkeley City Council attaches an <a href="http://richmondconfidential.org/2016/04/13/with-laws-changing-tiny-homes-may-have-a-big-effect-on-housing/">article </a>published in the <i>Richmond Confidential</i> about THIMBY during the project planning phases, addressing the issue of tiny house legality and homeless housing. It remains unclear if such villages can take advantage of emergency housing policies, or if the residential period of intended users qualifies them for “traditional” residential permits and zoning. Despite lack of legal clarity, tiny houses for homeless and affordable housing are gaining momentum as a promising strategy favored by alliances of city governments, non-profits, and city planning researchers forming to address the housing crisis pummeling regions such as the San Francisco Bay Area. The ease and speed of assembly (especially when modular) combined with low cost and community-building benefits of tiny house villages make them an attractive alternative to larger apartment or condo complexes. Onsite energy generation and composting toilets, where permissible, further decrease the strain on existing city infrastructure.<br />
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<i><b><u>Inside THIMBY 1</u></b></i><br />
The design of THIMBY 1, built around the SMUD Tiny House Competition requirements, does not make this particular unit well suited for homeless housing. The combination of new energy technologies and off-grid water systems have required a fair bit of experimentation, energy expertise, and physical labor from the residents above and beyond what average housing residents would consider desirable. The cost of the energy systems alone would make this too expensive to build for scalable homeless housing. The tiny, sustainable, <i>affordable</i> housing challenge is something that the THIMBY 2 project will take on as part of its mission, as I discuss below.<br />
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I’ve had the good fortune of living in THIMBY 1 for the past several months. It’s been a series of up-and-down hurdles and learning experiences— perhaps ideal for a graduate student researcher passionate about experimenting with sustainable-living behavior changes, but a few kinks remain to be worked out in order to garner widespread appeal. The maintenance alone is significant even in such a small living space. This owes in part to the suite of innovative technologies integrated in the house, for which there is not yet a well-developed pipeline of customer support. The hours we’ve spent on the phone with SolarEdge and Tesla trying to get the inverter and battery to communicate to each other and function in both off-grid and on-grid settings, or tinkering with the Sanden CO2 heat pump to prevent it from thermo-siphoning could constitute several Master’s-level theses.<br />
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Our team continues to expand and evolve around tiny-house-related research. We’re developing a prototype of a Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) that will optimize solar generation, battery state of charge (SOC), and certain controllable loads to keep the house comfortable while using energy at optimal times (determined from weather forecasts and battery SOC). This new offshoot project, EMPOWER (Energy Management Producing Opportunities for Widespread Emissions Reduction), aims to launch a commercial product that will integrate with solar home systems and provide grid services by taking advantage of dynamic pricing and times of peak solar generation to use that energy directly for flexible loads within the home. The product is intended to save money for both electricity customers and utilities, and be affordable to low-income households.<br />
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Living in THIMBY 1 allows me to participate in both the renewable energy and data science worlds. From piloting off-grid technologies and lifestyle, to gathering data every 5 minutes on energy consumption and generation, we really are residents of a “living lab.” Tapping into the latest social media hashtag #reviewforscience, we joke about the common objects we’ve repurposed in the house for off-grid systems. Look out for a review on Hamilton Beach slow cookers that reads: “great for heating poop to the right temperature to deactivate pathogens after 30 minutes for safe composting. #ReviewforScience.”<br />
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<i><b><u>Moving Forward with THIMBY 2</u></b></i><br />
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The THIMBY 1 pilot has generated a valuable set of lessons learned and experience with new technologies that will be useful in future implementations, whether on- or off-grid. Meanwhile, a whole new team of graduate and undergraduate students is forging ahead on the second iteration of the THIMBY project. From initial meetings and email blasts to departments soliciting student interest, almost 100 students replied, enough to form several side-by-side teams of student tiny house designers. THIMBY 2 is partnered with the City of Richmond and Richmond BUILD to design and construct tiny houses to serve transitional homeless housing needs. Richmond BUILD is a construction training organization that works with minority populations and formerly incarcerated individuals to provide job training and placement in carpentry, contracting, and renewable energy positions. They will provide the building space and expertise for UC Berkeley students working alongside trainees on the design and construction elements. The Richmond Housing and Community Development department will provide connection to transitional housing groups that will also contribute to the design specifications, ultimate siting location and selection of residents for the future tiny house(s).<br />
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Partnerships like this are extremely promising examples of universities, city governments, and social organizations coming together to tackle pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges. Solving affordable housing dilemmas in a way that reduces residential energy footprints, advances the building energy transition needed to reverse climate change, and provides social and economic services to residents achieves a triple bottom line of social, economic and environmental benefit. While every location-specific context requires different considerations in terms of affordability and sustainability of tiny house construction, the sky’s the limit to the number of viable applications for tiny housing. From addressing homeless housing in Richmond to building for international contexts in Nairobi, students from the UC Berkeley/RAEL THIMBY team are thinking big about tiny living.<br />
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<i><b>If you are interested in getting involved with the THIMBY 2 or future THIMBY projects, contact Shane Wright (shanebwright@berkeley.edu) and Laney Siegner (asiegner@berkeley.edu). </b></i><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-33171138792774526772018-05-08T14:07:00.000-07:002018-05-08T14:07:43.186-07:00ERG Talent Show 2018: SurvivERG<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
[<a href="https://erg.berkeley.edu/people/chang-jack/" target="_blank">Jack Chang</a>, ERG graduate student]<br />
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Spherical Cows on SurvivERG (Photo by E. Panzer) </td></tr>
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What do ERGies get up to when they’re not changing the
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Believe it or not, they make the time amid research, classes
and internships to perform contemporary dance, play the bassoon in the UC Berkeley
campus orchestra and choreograph full-tilt Bollywood performances. </div>
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That’s at least what I gleaned from the Energy &
Resources Group’s annual talent show, which filled Anthony Hall on April 18
with music and ERG alumni. The show also raised $1,740 for ERG’s Spherical Cow
Funds in a silent auction that took bids for wine tastings, “insane” workout
routines and Icelandic wool sweaters, among other prizes.</div>
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Highlights of the night included: Christopher Hyun’s
hilarious karaoke-backed recap of his cohort’s research (Think “Chill those
nuts” i.e. Kripa Jagannathan’s agriculture-themed quals subject to the tune of Katy
Perry’s “California Girls”); Emeritus Professor Gene Rochlin’s moving poetry;
John Dees’ set of, as he put it, variations of Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna
Fall”; Will Gorman’s bassoon chops; contemporary dance by Samira Siddique, Alex
Dolginow and Niklas Lollo; and the running SuvivERG skit featuring nearly the
entire 2017 entering class.</div>
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With so many folks pitching in on food, auction items and
performance planning, Yours Truly’s only line in the show, repeated about half
a dozen time - “We’re all in it together” - captured the spirit both of the
night and of the work everyone at ERG is committed to.</div>
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The night ended to the galloping strains of the Bollywood
tune “Cutiepie,” matched by a 14-person ERG dance line led by Chris Hyun and
Kripa Jagnnathan. On an otherwise chilly spring night, this annual ERG
tradition kept the interdisciplinary flame burning another year.</div>
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<b>ERG Talent Show 2018 Part 1: </b></div>
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<b>The audience meets the cast of SurvivERG</b></div>
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<b>ERG Talent Show 2018 Part 2:</b></div>
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<b> John Dees plays guitar.</b> </div>
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<span id="goog_1791449972"></span><span id="goog_1791449973"></span><b>ERG Talent Show 2018 Part 3</b></div>
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<b>: John Dees plays guitar,</b></div>
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<b> and the SurvivERG contestants face their first challenge.</b></div>
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<b>ERG Talent Show 2018 Part 4:</b></div>
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<b> Gene Rochlin performs spoken word,</b></div>
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<b> and the SurvivERG contestants grapple</b></div>
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<b> with an island crisis.</b></div>
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<b>ERG Talent Show 2018 Part 5: </b></div>
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<b>Alex Dolginow, Nik Lollo, and Samira Siddique</b></div>
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<b> perform a modern art piece before the</b></div>
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<b> talent show enters an intermission.</b></div>
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<b>ERG Talent Show 2018 Part 6:</b></div>
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<b> We return from intermission to see</b></div>
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<b> the SurvivERG contestants face another challenge</b></div>
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<b> and Chris Hyun leads a sing-along.</b></div>
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<b>ERG Talent Show 2018 Part 7: </b></div>
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<b>Will Gorman plays bassoon, and the newbies</b></div>
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<b> come together to reflect on their island challenges.</b></div>
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<b>ERG Talent Show 2018 Part 8:</b></div>
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<b> The Bollywood Dance!!</b></div>
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<br />
Thank you ERGies for yet another incredible year of the ERG Talent Show!<br />
<br />
<b>Related Posts</b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://lifeaterg.blogspot.com/2017/06/erg-talent-show-2017-trumplestiltskin.html" target="_blank">ERG Talent Show 2017</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lifeaterg.blogspot.com/2016/04/erg-talent-show-2016-dance-newbies-dance.html" target="_blank">ERG Talent Show 2016</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lifeaterg.blogspot.com/2015/05/erg-talent-show-2015-ergtownfunk.html" target="_blank">ERG Talent Show 2015</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://lifeaterg.blogspot.com/2014/05/erg-talent-show-2014.html" target="_blank">ERG Talent Show 2014</a></li>
</ul>
<i><br /></i>
<i>The views expressed here belong solely to the author of each entry
and are not representative of the position of the Energy and Resources
Group, UC Berkeley.</i> </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-34420801153132411272018-02-12T23:28:00.001-08:002018-02-12T23:31:47.208-08:00What is Design Thinking? And What Does it Have to Do with Sustainability?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Peter Worley, ERG graduate student]</span></i></div>
<br />
Many of us at ERG wonder why there continues to be electricity waste and resource waste, despite available solutions. You can hear the aghast complaints around the lunch table: "Why don't people set back their thermostats?!", or "Why don't restaurants compost?!"<br />
<br />
<b>Design Thinking </b>(or Design Innovation) is a helpful framework to assess the possible barriers to the solution. It inspects whether the solution is desirable, feasible, and viable. Failed 'solutions' often lack one of these attributes. It gets a different name when it is applied to different domains. When creating physical products, it is called Product Design; developing services - Service Design, presenting information - Visual Design, and shaping organizations - Enterprise Design.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blog.capterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Design-innovation_HCD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="600" height="419" src="https://blog.capterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Design-innovation_HCD.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="https://blog.capterra.com/how-to-use-a-human-centered-design-process-for-cybersecurity/" target="_blank">Capterra</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This framework can also be helpful for tasks in graduate school less formidable than global sustainability, like applying for a grant, shaping a student organization, or teaching a class. We apply a type of Design Thinking when writing an NSF proposal. We apply Visual Design to tailor our essays for the end-user: the tired, overworked reviewer traveling on airplane.<br />
<br />
But what is <b>Design Thinking</b>? Let's break this buzzword down. Design Thinking is an over-arching method for innovating or problem solving. The idea is to simultaneously consider an idea's desirability, feasibility, and viability. Desirability is the human desire for the solution because of its aesthetics, functionality, or ergonomics. Feasibility is that the idea is possible with current technology and regulations. Viability is that the solution can be implemented economically. The focus on all three distinguishes this strategy from other approaches like 'technical solutions' or 'continuous improvement', which focus on just feasibility or miss desirability.<br />
<br />
I've found that Design Thinking leads to more effective and elegant solutions. I first witnessed it when I took a capstone course in Product Design, manufacturing a bee hive monitoring device that was proposed to Shark Tank's initial screening. (Spoiler alert, we didn't get on the show.) I further saw Design Thinking's benefits during consulting when I helped create a custom rebate program for a utility and helping launch a website and digital tools for an energy efficiency start up.<br />
<br />
Now, a primer on the actual methodology. I like to put it into three steps:<br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>Problem Framing </b></li>
<li><b>Divergent Thinking </b></li>
<li><b>Convergent Thinking</b></li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We'll use programmable thermostats as an example of how to use each step. It seems that until recent smart thermostats, even the most conscientious and skilled of us would rather keep our house heated constantly at 80 degrees than dare interface with that mean robot box that seemed to taunt any attempt at a change in temperature schedule. </div>
<div>
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<a href="https://onevisionresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/maxresdefault-1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://onevisionresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/maxresdefault-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Problem Framing: </b></h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
First, the designer or problem solver must frame the problem that is to be solved. There are three sub-steps to framing the problem.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div>
<u>Identify and Empathize with End User </u></div>
<div>
The first and most fundamental step is identifying who the end-user is that has a need for a problem to be solved and putting yourself in her shoes. Hint, it is usually a human (though there is plenty of product design for cats). This is where you'll hear the term "Human Centered Design." This is the distinction that Design Thinking puts the problem in the frame of reference of the human end-user not in the frame of reference of the designer, the engineer, or the piece of technology. </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<b>*Heads-Up* The end-user is not always the customer (e.g. kid's toys, dentist device) </b></blockquote>
<div>
In our case, the end-user is the everyday inhabitant, Gertrude. She is not a dedicated environmentalist and not a computer coder. To empathize you think about the long days she has at work or the frustrating spontaneous errand days and the last thing she wants is for her house to be cold just to save a couple bucks on energy. Setting a thermostat schedule is so low on the chore list. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<u>Define the Problem</u></div>
<div>
This is also known as "The Need." This is a very difficult step. It is the classic of identifying the disease not the symptom. In our case it is rather simple, Gertrude wants a comfortable house whenever she is home and to save energy when she is not, even with a capricious schedule. </div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<u>Establish Constraints</u></div>
<div>
These are often broken down into the technological, the economical, the ergonomical, and the cultural. What is physically possible with current technology? We don't have technology yet that can read our minds and determine exactly when the temperature is too low or too high. What are the cost or lead time thresholds for the product? Most people aren't willing to spend $1,000 on a thermostat. What human physical limitations must we work within? It must be comfortable (physically or cognitively) to adjust temperature settings. And finally, what taboos or traditions should we be cognizant of? Design should probably avoid a fire-engine red to fit into the typical interior design of a house. </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<b>*Heads Up* It seems counter-intuitive, but often we are more innovative when we are forced to work within constraints.</b></blockquote>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Divergent Thinking: <span style="font-weight: normal;">create choices. </span></h4>
This is where the classic brainstorming comes in. No thought showers. Serious, heavy brain storming.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<b>*Heads Up* This step is ripe for a common mistake: shooting down brainstorm ideas. </b></blockquote>
This is not the time for critique. We need to generate as many ideas as possible. Weird ones, too. Out-there ideas bring in aspects or relationship we wouldn't have otherwise imagined. The 'quality idea' at the end is a function of the quantity of ideas earlier.<br />
<br />
When teammate Randy suggests the thermostat that should be a big lever that comes out of the wall with a stress ball at the end, hold back the giggle or sigh and write it down. On to the next idea. Randy's idea might inspire others to consider other ideas that only have one interface point.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_rKLyQ4Gh-HUPdr0V3iRgi3Kl9fbga_eZQRzyrE4lAdoGhR316vA0GoIsz9VMS-mli7Z0nzQyI9yKTglnUh0Q-ibt04YGkiTNHgB0Yz5dVYFG8XOYbb796TfmuKTtOVMDmy8ViSLxKI/s1600/images_easyblog_images_picture-26.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="396" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_rKLyQ4Gh-HUPdr0V3iRgi3Kl9fbga_eZQRzyrE4lAdoGhR316vA0GoIsz9VMS-mli7Z0nzQyI9yKTglnUh0Q-ibt04YGkiTNHgB0Yz5dVYFG8XOYbb796TfmuKTtOVMDmy8ViSLxKI/s400/images_easyblog_images_picture-26.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://www.astridbaumgardner.com/blog-and-resources/blog/creative-problem-solving-for-music-entrepreneurs-the-two-mindsets-of-creativity/" target="_blank">Astrid Baumgardner</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<br /></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Convergent Thinking: <span style="font-weight: normal;">make choices. </span></h4>
This is where you start paring down ideas.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://3gabw67dxh21mxkv33nf9htx-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/whatisa_mindmap.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="800" height="212" src="https://3gabw67dxh21mxkv33nf9htx-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/whatisa_mindmap.png" width="320" /></a></div>
You can use mind maps, decision matrices, and prototypes. The key here is to fail early and often. This is where you'll hear the term "rapid prototyping." *Heads Up* A common mistake is to invest too much into a prototype. First prototypes should look stupid - cardboard, pipe cleaners… childish. Often people pour too much time and resources into a prototype, which detracts from materializing other ideas. This makes the creator personally invested in that single prototype, often making them more defensive and less willing to consider other options.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mansaf_Alam/publication/270222472/figure/fig2/AS:293081896894465@1446887577089/Organizations-Criteria-based-Decision-Matrix.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="795" height="153" src="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mansaf_Alam/publication/270222472/figure/fig2/AS:293081896894465@1446887577089/Organizations-Criteria-based-Decision-Matrix.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Maybe to appease Randy you take a dowel rod and stuff a stress ball on the end and hold it next to the wall and show how this really won't fit well behind a couch or below a family painting.<br />
In the end, if executed well, the Design Thinking process can lead to elegant and effective products like the new smart thermostats we see that can be adjusted by a smart phone app or have few minimal physical buttons to get confused over.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEwX9WD3N1diOv02e5R-ZQ6UjVw5a9wfTMYjo9EMW_ykMD-p4uPU1S9WicDvaHyAwfaw9HuA8Y0x3MBbVdHuRGbWkiOe2ZrJO3bHcjHoUirzeyyGDnLqvAqZAKXJWsdGndjxJ7BxZGWY/s1600/Screenshot+2018-02-12+23.07.08.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="1032" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEwX9WD3N1diOv02e5R-ZQ6UjVw5a9wfTMYjo9EMW_ykMD-p4uPU1S9WicDvaHyAwfaw9HuA8Y0x3MBbVdHuRGbWkiOe2ZrJO3bHcjHoUirzeyyGDnLqvAqZAKXJWsdGndjxJ7BxZGWY/s640/Screenshot+2018-02-12+23.07.08.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
If you want to learn more about Design Thinking, the umbrella group on campus for Design Thinking is the <a href="http://jacobsinstitute.berkeley.edu/" target="_blank">Jacobs Institute</a>. You can find info on student groups, classes, seminars, and tools there. Another main resource is the <a href="https://dschool.stanford.edu/" target="_blank">D School</a> at Stanford where much of Design Thinking originated from. You might even apply Design Thinking to your life! (Yep, you can take a class at Berkeley on it. Some ERGies are doing it this semester.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Additional images from<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><a href="https://imindmap.com/how-to-mind-map/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">iMindMap</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270222472_A_Decision_Matrix_and_Monitoring_based_Framework_for_Infrastructure_Performance_Enhancement_in_A_Cloud_based_Environment" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Alam and Shakil (2014)</a>.</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-46431435211137242632018-02-06T10:54:00.000-08:002018-02-06T12:25:42.801-08:00Divesting from Fossil Fuels, Part 2: Retirement Accounts and Mutual Funds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Nick Depsky, ERG graduate student]</span></i><br />
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhlKWWPE6Yp2EbAPi9A1NJyZDEjWdPKmnabpRqBmvLoOlwWR0S7C6Ts_YzqMvqgEH_KGaC3K5m7nSm4iHTFFdt9ByFD3yeurkfF7OrLzdwGpXbaW0rgjoQrkCOQspApWO2UNm8RKwBys/s1600/27785748_10213278563252029_924630658_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1184" data-original-width="1600" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhlKWWPE6Yp2EbAPi9A1NJyZDEjWdPKmnabpRqBmvLoOlwWR0S7C6Ts_YzqMvqgEH_KGaC3K5m7nSm4iHTFFdt9ByFD3yeurkfF7OrLzdwGpXbaW0rgjoQrkCOQspApWO2UNm8RKwBys/s400/27785748_10213278563252029_924630658_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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</div>
<br />
Welcome back for the second in a three part series about divestment from fossil fuels. To learn about divestiture in personal banking, check out the first installment <a href="https://lifeaterg.blogspot.com/2018/01/personal-divestment-from-fossil-fuels_22.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Besides personal banking, one of the most common ways in which people are invested in fossil fuels is via funds in retirement savings accounts (e.g. IRAs, 401k, 403b). I currently have a 403b account with Vanguard to which I accrued a small sum in my three years working in the non-profit sector following undergrad. I was disappointed to learn that many of the funds tied to my account were heavily invested in fossil fuel companies. Large mutual funds and index funds are invested in <b>everything</b>, from big tobacco to Monsanto to fossil fuels. Their objective is to encapsulate and track the entire economy, using benchmarks like the S&P 500. However, recent research shows that performance of such fossil fuel-invested portfolios do not outperform those that are fully divested (<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800917310303" target="_blank">Trinks et al 2018</a>).<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b>So, how does one find out where their money is invested?</b></h4>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ol>
<li>Find out which financial asset company manages your retirement account and the name of your plan</li>
<li>Determine which funds comprise your plan. Mine was a blend of four different Vanguard index funds</li>
<li>Review the fossil fuel holdings associated with each of these funds. You can look through huge, cluttered annual reports online or check out this beautiful tool built by the Oakland non-profit, As You Sow: <a href="https://fossilfreefunds.org/" target="_blank">Fossil Free Funds</a></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Here’s a snapshot from FossilFreeFunds.org of one of the Vanguard funds from my retirement account:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="324" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/qOQz5GBkEUmUWygv-g5ploYQdQ_HgJgBQUp4v1Lzon5zr_C5upzeMcLm3RkIuMVHIsnuC982DRb_6Le4faqW35Pg8HkYVynS0iZ7aN4ox6YdvervMCvkFlfgYBNQwzWxnXmev7Qz" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="640" /></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-b16b3c1c-6c57-da16-1495-7eb791c6c39b"></span><br />
<br />
We can see that 10.51% ($33bn) of the portfolio is in shares of companies in the global top 200 carbon-emitters, coal-fired utilities, the coal industry, fossil-fired utilities, or the oil/gas industry. You can filter by these categories individually to see the more detailed breakdown.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Alternative Mutual and Index Funds for Retirement</b></h4>
While many funds are tied up in fossil fuel holdings, there is an increasing number of companies that are offering sustainable funds as an option to investors and some that offer exclusively fossil-fuel free funds. One such example is <a href="https://greencentury.com/" target="_blank">Green Century Funds</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="323" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bWTv23wtyWtyIIiQdjN1nWeIR2_yONmi_b3wSAQr2_bJQqY30VYC4eaqTqrnYbiDXacBEbRdeXYx1uGIZgoMJ-VfTHbXXKnzjlHavK08Q-_cmM9es61i90qXFwlwVkrYP_AP2Oz6" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="640" /></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-b16b3c1c-6c6d-2a96-e6ee-45d711026380"></span><br />
<br />
<br />
Green Century Funds has three funds it operates, totaling roughly $500m in holdings. Compare this to over $300bn in the single Vanguard fund above. Another popular socially responsible fund is the Portfolio 21 Global Equity Fund (also ~$500m in holdings), which you can invest in via <a href="http://trilliummutualfunds.com/" target="_blank">Trillium Mutual Funds</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
A potential concern with these smaller index funds is greater volatility and slower growth compared to traditional index funds. However, both the Portfolio 21 Fund and Green Century Equity Fund have generally tracked their economy-wide benchmarks well. Another consideration is that many of these funds do tend to have higher operating fees, known as ‘expense ratios.’ In the case of Green Century, this is due to their concerted efforts to be active shareholder advocates. Their non-profit structure also means that any accrued profit is distributed to the consortium of non-profit groups by which they were funded back in 1991. Most of these groups are Public Interest Research Groups, including our state chapter, CALPIRG.<br />
<br />
Here are five-year snapshots of growth for both the Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund shown above and the Green Century Equity Fund:<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="290" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/ILhzRH8K6y0ltA2vOuElaDnSBCV5V4or-u_zSIQqoKqbDIDMyQRrzvy-lEXOrsqnPh5KbOn4WNu-TyhSgEchvTXlL9CIIh_WAPp70241W6-xzSxsKnRfymxrB47qiapHGdxvjj1q" style="border: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-b16b3c1c-6c6d-d5c8-1784-f13c6ae2cb73"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="292" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/szsV6-JNQv--vOlhCvzShuKiu9goZ8EpDVx6QrS-GERE74wravIgObMp2gHmupO4a09TyENyRSsk0VKfTthdjGsAvn-NqgLPBm74ElPThmu4HJaux34fq221rnS-eXnhj3nu8g9L" style="border: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Century Equity Fund</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-b16b3c1c-6c6e-a7e8-2d18-b16fb547c33a"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b>How to Switch to these Alternatives</b></h4>
Transferring funds from an existing 401k or 403b account into a traditional or Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is called a “rollover.” For <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/ask/question/smarter-put-money-into-403b-roth-ira-11428" target="_blank">tax and income reasons</a>, the Roth IRA may be a better retirement investment option for younger, early-career individuals.<br />
<br />
Here’s how you would initiate a rollover:<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ol>
<li>Identify your IRA of choice</li>
<li>Contact* the financial institution that currently manages your retirement account about their rollover policies and get the appropriate forms. <a href="https://greencentury.com/invest-with-us/ira-information/)" target="_blank">Here</a>'s an example from Green Century.</li>
<li>Go down the rabbit hole of the transfer process…</li>
</ol>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*code for calling and being put on hold for 5-300 minutes</span><br />
<br />
In all seriousness, the transfer process can be completed in an afternoon. I hope this post shows that there are good long-term investment options available that don’t sacrifice your financial future nor the health of the planet by supporting fossil fuels. For a big breakdown of socially responsible funds across metrics than beyond fossil fuels, check out the Wikipedia page on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socially_responsible_investing" target="_blank">Socially Responsible Investing</a>. Remember to supplement these tips with your own research or conversations with a financial advisor.<br />
<br />
<i>Stay tuned for the third and final installment in this series where Nick will discuss stocks, institutional divestment and community activism.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-76665694850587772332018-01-22T22:38:00.001-08:002018-02-06T10:48:51.393-08:00Divesting from Fossil Fuels, Part 1: Personal Banking<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Nick Depsky, ERG graduate student]</span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Mxv_11ifBVaPcZl0VTX-HLnmVg9qiPElXwceuYo9ShpUM2u6PyjL2svvzzSGH9s0sRgfqCYM1g_KtHrH8gQO5bOq0aNzIMpAHvSsCf-gwdc4mpnD5BZzlX5dBzVNpVGHiKrUAwMZOxA/s1600/27335389_10213157000733042_640123032_o.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1218" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Mxv_11ifBVaPcZl0VTX-HLnmVg9qiPElXwceuYo9ShpUM2u6PyjL2svvzzSGH9s0sRgfqCYM1g_KtHrH8gQO5bOq0aNzIMpAHvSsCf-gwdc4mpnD5BZzlX5dBzVNpVGHiKrUAwMZOxA/s400/27335389_10213157000733042_640123032_o.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Do you feel powerless in the face of climate change? Do you have money in a major bank? Do you own any stocks? What about that retirement account you forgot about from a previous employer? Are you confused by the massive, opaque financial world but acknowledge the need to save for boba tea and multiple pairs of socks? Maybe you want to know how your money can be used to take a tiny bit of power away from the fossil fuel industry and reinvested in better alternatives.<br />
<br />
If you answered “YES” to any of the above questions, I encourage you to read this post. You may become inspired, as I have, to personally divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in better alternatives.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Why Divest?</b></h4>
<br />
It’s true that the most impactful acts of divestment would be from large institutions and corporations, rather than from starving grad students paying a million dollars a month for a leaky little apartment room in the Bay Area. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t still wield what money you have to cast a real financial vote of indignation against the fossil fuel industry, symbolic though it may feel.<br />
<br />
Maybe you’ve had the same thought that I’ve had in the past: “I don’t have enough money to make any kind of a difference to Chase Bank or Wells Fargo.” But I think it helps to think of your money as a form of voting. Those of us who are compelled to vote for people and policies we support should be equally compelled to align our financial assets with those ideals, regardless of how insignificant a single vote may feel in a culture that under-values voting.<br />
<br />
Collective divestment really can make a difference. The campaign to divest from South Africa in the 80s contributed to dismantling formal apartheid, and we are starting to see a similar swell organize around fossil fuels. Besides taking money out of the hands of industry players whose actions we oppose, divestment also erodes the political and social capital upon which these industries rely to lobby and continue operating.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Major Banks</b></h4>
<br />
Beyond being complicit in long-standing predatory lending and discriminatory lending practices, major banks and financial institutions have also invested billions in fossil fuel industries, financing tar sands, pipelines, and arctic and deep-water drilling. JP Morgan Chase (Chase Bank) sinks roughly seven billion dollars a year into such endeavors, with Bank of America and Citibank each investing between four and five billion annually. Wells Fargo’s annual investments come in around one to two billion dollars. The full rankings of banks’ contributions to fossil fuels by industry type can be seen via <a href="https://www.ran.org/banking_on_climate_change" target="_blank">this tool</a> maintained by the Rainforest Action Network.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="499" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Vgwdo_Oi2lkv7KINOkZCn4SPX158m_c4yXDwNL-A9RD3tAxeN35YwTJURC2JICMXabpB7gAmkT-7BKkL6rncjG_kAVKCFvezjqht_aXcy1Xi9bH0FxXyLTN5YjdXc6jonncUGjv3" style="border: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Total financing of fossil fuels by year (source: Rainforest Action Network)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Previously, I had my entire savings in Wells Fargo, and while they contribute comparatively smaller amounts to fossil fuels than some other banks, they have also shown a tendency to disregard the law in terms of both predatory lending and opening of fraudulent accounts in the years following the 2008 crash, a practice for which they were eventually fined $185 million last year (a whopping 0.2% of their 2016 revenue).<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Alternatives to Major Banks</b></h4>
<br />
<u>Credit Unions:</u><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Switching over to a credit union is a good bet, since they are not-for-profit institutions by their nature. However, some credit unions are intertwined with large banks and the fossil fuel industry in obvious ways, and in some ways that I still don’t totally understand. Credit unions are not all equal. Make sure their practices align with your values. Generally speaking, going with a local credit union that is community-focused is a solid choice, though it might still be worth chatting with a representative about what varieties of loans they issue. Here are some local credit unions I’ve been recommended:</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.patelco.org/" target="_blank">Patelco Credit Union</a> (Bay Area local) </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.providentcu.org/" target="_blank">Provident Credit Union</a> (Bay Area local) </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.pacificservice.org/" target="_blank">Pacific Service Credit Union</a> (Bay Area local) </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.golden1.com/" target="_blank">Golden 1 Credit Union</a> (CA) </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.self-helpfcu.org/" target="_blank">Self-Help Federal Credit Union</a> (CA, Chicago/Milwaukee, FL) </li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
This list is non-exhaustive and there are many more. All of the institutions above are equal housing opportunity lenders. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<u>Values-Oriented Banks:</u><br />
I switched over to a mission-oriented bank rather than a credit union. I like the fact that they are an example of a successful triple bottom line banking institution (B-corps certified) that actively funds a wide array of socially-conscious sectors. I found two candidates in the Bay Area and chatted with representatives from each to find out more information. Here’s what I learned:<br />
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<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186"><br /></td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.4pt;" valign="top" width="230"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.beneficialstatebank.com/">Beneficial
State Bank</a></span></td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://newresourcebank.com/">New Resource Bank</a></span></td>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186"><span style="font-size: x-small;">0% fossil fuel investment</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.4pt;" valign="top" width="230"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-family: "segoe ui symbol" , sans-serif;">✓</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-family: "segoe ui symbol" , sans-serif;">✓</span></span></div>
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<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Branches</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.4pt;" valign="top" width="230"><span style="font-size: x-small;">California, Pacific Northwest</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Closest: Downtown Oakland</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208"><span style="font-size: x-small;">San Francisco only</span></td>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Non-profit foundation</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.4pt;" valign="top" width="230"><span style="font-size: x-small;">All profits dispersed in forms of grants or loans to
communities</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208"><span style="font-size: x-small;">All profits dispersed in forms of grants or loans to
communities</span></td>
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<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Housing lending</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.4pt;" valign="top" width="230"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Directly lends to affordable multi-family housing</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208"><span style="font-size: x-small;">No direct housing lending, but invests in construction of
affordable units</span></td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ATM Networks</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.4pt;" valign="top" width="230"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MoneyPass (US Bank, Mechanics Bank, Atlantic Credit Union)
& All Point Network (inside big retailers like Walgreens, CVS)</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208"><span style="font-size: x-small;">STAR & MoneyPass</span><o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Credit cards</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.4pt;" valign="top" width="230"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In-house Visa credit cards starting 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Currently partners with various non-profits (i.e. Sierra
Club) to offer cards to clients</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Does not offer credit cards, but partners with a
credit-union credit card agency</span><o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 7; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 139.25pt;" valign="top" width="186"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Targeted lending sectors</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.4pt;" valign="top" width="230"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Affordable Housing</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Multi-Family</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sustainable Food and Agriculture</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Green Energy</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Rural Communities</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Minority-Owned Businesses</span></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sustainable Business</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Green Real Estate</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nonprofits</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Organic & Natural Products</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Clean Energy</span></td>
</tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Interest Rates</b></h3>
<br />
I looked into interest rates on savings and checking accounts for Beneficial State Bank and New Resource Bank, and compared them to Wells Fargo. Beneficial seems to have the best interest rates for small accounts out of all three; Wells Fargo comes in last. Beneficial also had the lowest minimum ($1,000) requirement to open a certificate deposit (CD) account, compared to $2,500 for Wells Fargo and $25,000 for New Resource.<br />
<br />
Here is a snapshot from an investment infographic from New Resource Bank:<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="347" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YDd_7okCoJ8VRF3thisqHUuWEvOxRZYe-tmD8WmjB-NTQv6QvC4oM6rCm3Gy2n1AfcRn0SkMgIBNbFqZSddPDtmveQD78ut-jZ-ufbTkcotb5Br43XM5aOLw9AIqb5j0jA846jZy" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="640" /></span></div>
<br />
New Resource’s index of “Real Economy Assets” illustrates their departure from the policies of big banks that typically have their money tied up in the financial economy instead of community investments. Beneficial State Bank has a similar “Real Economy Assets” figure of roughly 80%.<br />
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In the end, I decided to go with Beneficial because of geographic advantages. Their nearest office is in Oakland rather than San Francisco. And they have locations in Los Angeles, so I can tell my friends down there to switch over. Both New Resource and Beneficial seem like great options, and I would encourage you to get in touch with them yourself if you’re thinking of switching.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Stay tuned for the next installment of this three-part series, where Nick looks at retirement accounts mutual funds. </i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-4117205302980212682017-11-17T13:12:00.002-08:002017-11-17T13:34:28.797-08:00Notes from the Arctic: Frozen Adventures at the Frontier<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Gordon Bauer, ERG graduate student]</span></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2XmIsbylyemCRTz4hASVqkR0GQsJVR21Kzj1iDdWDf94-bMhzlx0KdsAdONMAa8bIGRp9AW9JXoFyakPMwCEwBH4YTt4w8I1X8kCQNNTS88RROiwy2GVyIAFqY5UP-G6NyXyJZAUHUA/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="611" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2XmIsbylyemCRTz4hASVqkR0GQsJVR21Kzj1iDdWDf94-bMhzlx0KdsAdONMAa8bIGRp9AW9JXoFyakPMwCEwBH4YTt4w8I1X8kCQNNTS88RROiwy2GVyIAFqY5UP-G6NyXyJZAUHUA/s640/1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The northern lights outside Barrow. Photo credit: Ori Chafe.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
A few weeks ago, ERG Professor Margaret Torn sent a cryptic department-wide email inquiring if anyone would like to assist in ecological research in northern Alaska as part of the Next Generation Emerging Ecosystems – Arctic project. I thought for a few moments about how disruptive and inconvenient this would be: two days lost in transit, foregone work time with deadlines fast approaching, and evenings spent alone in an icy wasteland. Then I thought about opportunities that only come once in a lifetime, and impulsively sent out an emphatic yes. One thing led to another, and then suddenly I found myself in a taxi to the airport at 4am, bound for Barrow, Alaska on the shores of the Arctic Ocean.<br />
<br />
<span style="border-right: 3px solid #ccc; float: left; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; line-height: 115%; margin: 5px 20px 5px 5px; padding: 3px; text-align: right; width: 150px;">“The sea has given us so many gifts…it can have my body.”</span>
My main motivation for going to the Arctic was the physical place: I wanted to experience the icy landscape extending as far as the eye can see, the northern sun low in the sky, and the chance to see polar bears, arctic foxes, and the aurora borealis. I was not disappointed. On our second night in Barrow, we laid in a snowbank for over an hour with approximately 50 layers of clothing to protect against the polar wind, staring in awe as giant green ghosts danced across the sky. At one point an arctic fox scampered by, pausing to ponder what we were doing there. On the third day it snowed, and the Arctic Ocean turned into a giant slushie, the waves barely strong enough to break.<br />
<br />
The work itself was a refreshing break from the office: every morning, we snowmobiled out to a field site in the tundra in the pre-dawn 10am light, dismantled frozen monitoring equipment for a few hours, and then transported it to a warehouse via sled as the sun set around 3pm. For the past five years, this equipment has been used to take incredibly detailed measurements of the arctic ecosystem and the evolving interactions between the ecosystem and climate. Among other things, an eddy flux tower measures carbon dioxide and methane released from the melting permafrost, while an elevated tram system measures changes in flora and energy balance along a 40-meter cross section. The monitoring station is dismantled for the winter every November, and set up again in the spring.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt79S6hAYe17gLlOu7Xvcs5n1AsIDt90pVlv9Vt4xjngAJbyVqh_21_ync6eDOUR1uSozQO1zdpWwsXMKwkQrcGMbOzw4dnBaRhzAPXD3vYmd5BWq2g0OEYWr7zzqKa1n6q4Q93QncF6A/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="346" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt79S6hAYe17gLlOu7Xvcs5n1AsIDt90pVlv9Vt4xjngAJbyVqh_21_ync6eDOUR1uSozQO1zdpWwsXMKwkQrcGMbOzw4dnBaRhzAPXD3vYmd5BWq2g0OEYWr7zzqKa1n6q4Q93QncF6A/s400/2.png" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ori Chafe (right) and Stan Wulschlegger take sensors off the eddy flux tower, as ERGie Richard Barnes (left) looks on.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4wkncJFrpfcIzSf-dE4OgKvact28v1d8QoQTiCiQzFCfoCDsIeW1CpSIJeRvaR_7sjYc4d7Ld4Oa4yi_rijKEBN1_H2f9u4ap0nkA_Qq-RGtYWwPQFkvcPX7jUe_RRxA7O1pXuSCSIk/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="558" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4wkncJFrpfcIzSf-dE4OgKvact28v1d8QoQTiCiQzFCfoCDsIeW1CpSIJeRvaR_7sjYc4d7Ld4Oa4yi_rijKEBN1_H2f9u4ap0nkA_Qq-RGtYWwPQFkvcPX7jUe_RRxA7O1pXuSCSIk/s400/3.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard packs up equipment for the winter.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcopQlPlaX7jdQxX__NJ-YQ_leof64vffMl8DZ1cjw0BGPgGrPi58uBIyeHMhoqBGRadKUC71DondxPp6U5DGsA5FXERYM1Nu2yLxbC41KjbVTFQBnk3Vm4mpuviGNCiQ0UdfB1Hp3TOU/s1600/4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="560" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcopQlPlaX7jdQxX__NJ-YQ_leof64vffMl8DZ1cjw0BGPgGrPi58uBIyeHMhoqBGRadKUC71DondxPp6U5DGsA5FXERYM1Nu2yLxbC41KjbVTFQBnk3Vm4mpuviGNCiQ0UdfB1Hp3TOU/s400/4.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The daily commute.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkDaKDIokKSjhqgF2oCxjir6XgfzzP9pPFKPy9R33S843-v_OQGh1Qn1XkcsxJu3ZZjI6ZbwrhuWwDmwZfCxKsjtoe-5cx6Wkkak_zVL4Cye-WcXodtMq3csOnzPqbZBmAt62QPQn4dQ/s1600/5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="539" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkDaKDIokKSjhqgF2oCxjir6XgfzzP9pPFKPy9R33S843-v_OQGh1Qn1XkcsxJu3ZZjI6ZbwrhuWwDmwZfCxKsjtoe-5cx6Wkkak_zVL4Cye-WcXodtMq3csOnzPqbZBmAt62QPQn4dQ/s400/5.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ori (left) and Richard enjoy some Arctic pumpkin pie.</td></tr>
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<br />
However, what I found most fascinating and inspiring about Barrow was not the science nor the landscape, but the community itself. A hub of Inupiaq culture and one of the few places in North America with active whale hunting (bowhead whales serve as a crucial source of food for the community), Barrow feels at once foreign and utterly American. On our second night in Barrow, I drove into town with Richard Barnes—my ERG companion on the trip—to take in the sights. In many ways, Barrow looks like any other small American town, with a few key differences. The wooden homes are all on stilts to maintain stability during permafrost melt, and outside the mayor’s office on the main street sits a bowhead whale skull the size of a small car.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xXBOvLP88aNRAYXI7VTUijFKqFQAVR__QjqLzMaxhyphenhyphen67TyajRfG6lBUa0m68oxBJArzCSGB73WSk7-U-k_6e01j1Pu4YEqB-3UClDohvQvP0M91zaCB5xUat4yhmq104nafjkoSzj7k/s1600/6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="546" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xXBOvLP88aNRAYXI7VTUijFKqFQAVR__QjqLzMaxhyphenhyphen67TyajRfG6lBUa0m68oxBJArzCSGB73WSk7-U-k_6e01j1Pu4YEqB-3UClDohvQvP0M91zaCB5xUat4yhmq104nafjkoSzj7k/s400/6.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard admiring the lawn decoration outside the Barrow mayor’s office.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Arctic Hotel in Barrow.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJptwdGlRmidHTcVOrWbuIWSpNkud87mcoAUEFEoH0Rigg8F2vwjDfnBmxK2Wkt7pfNU9hXEbfQ0tD2jpysxoyttzicqa6QZOOztC_nw6rMkRG5In6MKdH_C6d8JBcH-elDyekh8JsA2g/s1600/8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="467" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJptwdGlRmidHTcVOrWbuIWSpNkud87mcoAUEFEoH0Rigg8F2vwjDfnBmxK2Wkt7pfNU9hXEbfQ0tD2jpysxoyttzicqa6QZOOztC_nw6rMkRG5In6MKdH_C6d8JBcH-elDyekh8JsA2g/s400/8.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When Brussel sprouts are $6.99/lb, vegetarianism isn’t the most practical option.</td></tr>
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<span style="border-left: 3px solid #ccc; float: right; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px 5px 5px 10px; padding: 10px; text-align: left; width: 190px;">“When someone says they support 'America first,' you have to wonder, does the America they are talking about include Barrow, Alaska?”</span>
Sadly, that arctic environment is changing rapidly, and it isn’t clear how much longer Barrow will continue to exist in its current location. As the sea ice melts earlier in the spring and takes longer to form in the fall, the waves have more time to erode the land. The flooding has become a serious problem. Already, residents have had to relocate some ancestral grave sites, and many fishing cabins outside of town have been swept away. Within the next 20 years, it is possible that all of Barrow will have to move. But in the face of inevitable destruction, we also saw signs of resilience. When we talked about the need to relocate graves, one woman we met said, “The sea has given us so many gifts…it can have my body.” She spoke with excitement about relocating to a village in the mountains.<br />
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My visit to Barrow was a strong reminder of the diversity of this crazy country we call home, and of the fragility of life at the frontier. When someone says they support “America first,” you have to wonder, does the America they are talking about include Barrow, Alaska? If so, supporting America first means supporting a diversity of cultures and world views. It means supporting not just a way of life associated with coal mining, but one associated with whaling, frozen tundra, and polar ice caps as well. Perhaps above all, supporting America first means doing all we can to stop climate change.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-28501478093253534572017-11-08T01:41:00.000-08:002017-11-08T01:44:36.267-08:00One Year Later: Why and How We Resist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[compiled by Yoshika Crider and Emma Tome, ERG graduate students]</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvN15Rej07uCwu5RG0Kpm4eZikQCdeOV8GCZrhwMy7xmnF1Bld_4WJMSdoimUnSkY7BPd6fVsZCfRl45rvcWlaeASpmL0WCZJ5hDiVcyBYFb31ktBEyh3nUtLHhO-jzpF8P4XKp-6vzQ/s1600/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="736" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvN15Rej07uCwu5RG0Kpm4eZikQCdeOV8GCZrhwMy7xmnF1Bld_4WJMSdoimUnSkY7BPd6fVsZCfRl45rvcWlaeASpmL0WCZJ5hDiVcyBYFb31ktBEyh3nUtLHhO-jzpF8P4XKp-6vzQ/s640/Picture1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Energy & Resources Group is by no means a homogenous space -- methodologically, ideologically, disciplinary -- but we are united by our commitment to asking and answering questions that are consequential to more than the academic world alone.<br />
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In recent months, politically-motivated events have impacted life at Berkeley, disrupting a place we call home. We asked ERGies how they engage with the world through or outside of the university, why, and to what ends. Here’s a brief glimpse into Life@ERG.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: 900;"><i>Starting a conversation</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZhNOz8MBBpxFJjyLTW7jAHhh0cMjqTqtgIAwR1HH8rfqWszNxStgKz0PxQSIpt1_ncKomMj8MIKtxVnhly9vdLoW5Og-X2hEtJ05blnPKBtmdWvXRNsG09BskFonrS81SGyB4gt0El4/s1600/Picture2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="574" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZhNOz8MBBpxFJjyLTW7jAHhh0cMjqTqtgIAwR1HH8rfqWszNxStgKz0PxQSIpt1_ncKomMj8MIKtxVnhly9vdLoW5Og-X2hEtJ05blnPKBtmdWvXRNsG09BskFonrS81SGyB4gt0El4/s400/Picture2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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After the election in November 2016, the ERG space became a setting for many conversations about the difficult politics that affect our community, our work, and our daily lives. One of our department tea times became a brainstorm session for what we could do.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: 900;"><i>Raising money for causes we care about</i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMO5qzNvVVK75sAC7kYagWJ40urCYJ3TrNE07aunIIz-I2d2nMbwikJ3ZnE0-1POMnw9b9UfyX6jjBwkLgKDv39SO1YkQ14FAkCPNLTNivxnmI06x3HAvHavopimsw44mmKp2gkuQbNs/s1600/Picture3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="433" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMO5qzNvVVK75sAC7kYagWJ40urCYJ3TrNE07aunIIz-I2d2nMbwikJ3ZnE0-1POMnw9b9UfyX6jjBwkLgKDv39SO1YkQ14FAkCPNLTNivxnmI06x3HAvHavopimsw44mmKp2gkuQbNs/s400/Picture3.png" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“This is a picture of germinating Zinnia seeds in preparation for the sale, a variety called ‘Cut and Come Again.’ Seemed appropriate.”</td></tr>
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“Several of us at ERG have been dismayed by the increasing "othering" and xenophobia that's been exacerbated and further legitimized in our current political climate. One of our small acts of resistance and peace in the face of all this was to grow lots of baby plants this spring, with the intention of donating all the profits to organizations working for social or environmental justice. On Mother's Day, we had a plant sale and bake sale in North Oakland, with hundreds of veggie and flower starts and a table full of cookies and brownies and other delicacies. We told everyone to pay whatever they wanted for the plants and baked goods -- honestly, just a day of community gathering to talk about gardening and eat tasty snacks together felt good. So it was a really nice surprise to see that we raised $1290 (!) at the sale, which we decided to donate to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. For me, the daily ritual of watching seeds germinate and unfurl, watering baby plants, and observing them grow was a good antidote to the the news, a meditation to keep grounded and a reminder to do the best I can, now.” (ERGie Sasha Harris-Lovett)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqjj9xxSWTHJCV3Y8qSWL_FjdJD311a8BijdlC814KUBVuR8aJZNFRI-gvucTNfwOtseZrgkko1PEv-ldvx_IJ0y8GJADg4tHUm3CnPb5Xc0jT047VVhH5sDIGI3LlCZiBYOvuWs6NRI/s1600/Picture4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="975" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqjj9xxSWTHJCV3Y8qSWL_FjdJD311a8BijdlC814KUBVuR8aJZNFRI-gvucTNfwOtseZrgkko1PEv-ldvx_IJ0y8GJADg4tHUm3CnPb5Xc0jT047VVhH5sDIGI3LlCZiBYOvuWs6NRI/s400/Picture4.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“This is the group of women in a group called ‘PMS - Post March Salon.’ We've been meeting monthly to discuss resistance activities, and we had our first fundraiser last month for a Democratic nominee in a flippable district in Southern California.” (ERGie Gauthami Penakalapati, pictured far right)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-weight: 900;"><i>Volunteering our time</i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9OG-a1dBdnPds9WlT0cAzGUtVHhiq8UlVpipb-_fedHcKkJ64ehaYHYU7iZN8xJ6ET1ZWi_QtU2PMiuke6r2qKvzYg9ROVGE_7Qi8miy4S8XbeEKtCDZgrSRpOG-sfxGXvZsLpTKRFI/s1600/Picture5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="493" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9OG-a1dBdnPds9WlT0cAzGUtVHhiq8UlVpipb-_fedHcKkJ64ehaYHYU7iZN8xJ6ET1ZWi_QtU2PMiuke6r2qKvzYg9ROVGE_7Qi8miy4S8XbeEKtCDZgrSRpOG-sfxGXvZsLpTKRFI/s400/Picture5.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“I’m attaching a pic of the volunteer training day of Surf City Project. SCP takes undeserved youth in the surrounding area surfing, and shares values related to respect for the environment, healthy living, and personal growth.”</td></tr>
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"I’m thankful for the times we are living in. I have taken a look at myself and how I live, and decided to keep changing. Where I put my money, what food I eat, how I spend my time, what I learn, how I share what I have, how I give to where I’m from and where I live. If Trump and his posse hadn’t won I would still be living in my old-fashioned ways. How would people living 30 years from now wish we had lived? What decisions do they wish we had made? Are we living in the past, or shaping the future? To keep going, one must stay ahead of the times." (ERGie Diego Ponce de Leon)<br />
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<span style="font-weight: 900;"><i>Attending marches and rallies</i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhER6lX0O1VTn5W4zfMpXLPy5kVhamAQ6vcuZmP_OZvN6Esnt3ds-60ijXIeDaB6xeAg-QK_riRd01Y2RHVxoAMF5MfQwg2Clj3EvVitvURsAWJ9VyQe7_OZvSGqt-naJAov4QY8pWqEh8/s1600/Picture6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="598" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhER6lX0O1VTn5W4zfMpXLPy5kVhamAQ6vcuZmP_OZvN6Esnt3ds-60ijXIeDaB6xeAg-QK_riRd01Y2RHVxoAMF5MfQwg2Clj3EvVitvURsAWJ9VyQe7_OZvSGqt-naJAov4QY8pWqEh8/s400/Picture6.png" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ERGie Noah Kittner at the Washington, D.C., March for Science</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZcvwmtfqrtA9f2Y4laW0f3hQZbQQyf1HRF5Dct7cDaoe6bb2LssQ_q9jdKbmjPX7gyj0rGs8vYx0S56ybk8CvADNZmzwRXG2oyOyEqQdYc60dSF8aSXJ712hLZEdQT0qvwOEEvvAz4OY/s1600/Picture7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="975" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZcvwmtfqrtA9f2Y4laW0f3hQZbQQyf1HRF5Dct7cDaoe6bb2LssQ_q9jdKbmjPX7gyj0rGs8vYx0S56ybk8CvADNZmzwRXG2oyOyEqQdYc60dSF8aSXJ712hLZEdQT0qvwOEEvvAz4OY/s400/Picture7.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ERGies Peter Worley, Gordon Bauer, Yoshika Crider, Seigi Karasaki, Veronica Jacome, Sophie Major, Samira Siddique, and Emma Tome at the Bay Area Rally for Peace on August 27, 2017.</td></tr>
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“After the first Milo Yiannopoulos protests in February, friends from opposite sides of the political spectrum made very different claims about what had happened, each narrative portraying a very different picture of the Berkeley community. Who punched who? How much property damage was really done, and by whom? I had my own thoughts and opinions, but ultimately I couldn't give any more of an objective account, because I hadn't been there, either. I was across the street at an ERG Chinese New Year celebration, and had been thinking of going to the protests after, but then some friends who had been there started coming in looking scared, and I decided to stay away. In late August, in response to yet another far-right rally planned for downtown Berkeley, a broad coalition of groups organized a rally called Berkeley Unites Against Hate. In the week leading up to the event, I got a flurry of emails from administration at both UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab telling me to stay home. But this time, I knew I had to be there, if only so I could say definitively what happened. As it turned out, the event was beautiful--bouncing music, inspiring speeches, and good friends smiling in the California sun. There were 7,000 peaceful protesters there, and together we made a strong statement about what Berkeley stands for. The headlines that day focused on the four people who were arrested when a fight broke out, but I know what the event was really about: solidarity, community, and resistance.” (ERGie Gordon Bauer)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUyAlS-ZDTbqRMu4f_l5pU9vtYedrdHKu4ZG4soFnXldZDNoGk2p7PjjNFN19AagVhAC43itZeWBG5kTCj0CaInY3swtZM5Zf6JQJVRT47qVuGd7VbanFoMHKDFvHx8jep5n-7shks-1E/s1600/Picture8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="582" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUyAlS-ZDTbqRMu4f_l5pU9vtYedrdHKu4ZG4soFnXldZDNoGk2p7PjjNFN19AagVhAC43itZeWBG5kTCj0CaInY3swtZM5Zf6JQJVRT47qVuGd7VbanFoMHKDFvHx8jep5n-7shks-1E/s400/Picture8.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bay Area Rally for Peace, August 27, 2017 (Photo by ERGie Gordon Bauer)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhjw_IpCmJig8pr3F6UHHSENTKsyEyKbazAtWqo_LyGYIRljo5emKtmQScy3y_vF01g0SCJdtc5N4LY5WKKYWYI3AGwR5fNAonhtZfMEQCsS0G46ZOzY1WK1S8LXwq0ANH4k0r7QK2dg/s1600/Picture9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="422" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhjw_IpCmJig8pr3F6UHHSENTKsyEyKbazAtWqo_LyGYIRljo5emKtmQScy3y_vF01g0SCJdtc5N4LY5WKKYWYI3AGwR5fNAonhtZfMEQCsS0G46ZOzY1WK1S8LXwq0ANH4k0r7QK2dg/s400/Picture9.png" width="264" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Women's March, January 21, 2017 (photo by ERGie Gauthami Penakalapati)</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-56775900385696262752017-11-01T22:53:00.002-07:002017-11-02T10:09:20.856-07:00 To CSA or not to CSA? That is not the question!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Isa Ferrall and Laney Siegner, ERG Graduate Students]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0Pz4xwv3otAZomJwH3-huFqBqklF2Ag0OiyZ2mzo0enn8un8783Y22xuOQx-Vk8n4V-O3lFqgPAhBMDBLSRW-zEX2OvgXV6Zj7DdcMMkH94ccYXnfVTKGkr5FBeLVh4gJyJmvv6PPdQ/s1600/Screenshot+2017-11-01+18.51.34+copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="591" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0Pz4xwv3otAZomJwH3-huFqBqklF2Ag0OiyZ2mzo0enn8un8783Y22xuOQx-Vk8n4V-O3lFqgPAhBMDBLSRW-zEX2OvgXV6Zj7DdcMMkH94ccYXnfVTKGkr5FBeLVh4gJyJmvv6PPdQ/s640/Screenshot+2017-11-01+18.51.34+copy.png" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As the rains fell generously on Northern California last winter, many local farmers eagerly anticipated the healthy plants and high yields sure to come in this year’s growing season. California’s water problems are far from solved (especially when it comes to groundwater levels that remain well below average in aquifers across the state), but the high soil water content produced lush green hillsides that just two years ago were golden brown from years of intense drought. This fall, with the harvests still coming in, the time is ripe to share in the bounty, support a local farmer, and join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operation! Nothing keeps you in touch with the seasons better than local food; it’s time to get your squash and pumpkin flavors from a local farm instead of that pumpkin spice latte. </span><br />
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For the well-informed, data-driven ERG graduate student, the choices of which CSA to pick can be paralyzing. Which farm is the closest, does the most to reduce food waste, uses the most sustainable agro-ecological practices, or supports minority farmers? Which one is going to give me the right amount of veggies, ones that I know how to cook rather than random mystery vegetables I’ve never heard of?<br />
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These questions have hung in the ERG air for months, from conversations in the student kitchen to Isha’s Water Group dinner last winter. We’ve finally decided to put together a choice table to highlight the distinguishing features of several local CSAs, with the hope that it will help ERGies select their dream CSA. Because the question should not be whether or not you join a CSA, but rather which CSA works best for your life. Read on for inspiring sources of ingredients to use for your next <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018942-crunchy-eggplant-parmesan?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ck_20170924&nl=cooking&nlid=81292125" target="_blank">eggplant parmesan</a>, <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/11/classic-butternut-squash-soup-recipe.html" target="_blank">butternut squash soup</a>, <a href="http://joythebaker.com/2010/11/ginger-persimmon-bread/" target="_blank">persimmon bread</a>, or other delicious home-cooked meal.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Local CSAs</span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Farm/CSA,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Location<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Distinguishing feature<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">How much food?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Cost<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Pick up options<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Home delivery<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://fullbellyfarm.com/join-our-csa/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Full
Belly Farms</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Capay Valley, north
of Sac. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt;">(*Laney
gets this one, ask for more info!)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Certified organic,
leader in restorative farming practices. Veggies, value added products and
flowers <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 70.15pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Good amount for 2
people (or dinner party), can pick up every week or every other<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">$19/box for 4
boxes; $16.50/box for yearlong payment (48 weeks)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Tons of options in
Berkeley and Oakland, every day of the week, bring own bag to pick up<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yes (+ $7/week)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.phatbeetsproduce.org/order-a-beet-box/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Phat Beets</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mostly Oakland
farmers, others from Central Valley (Stockton, Hollister, Merced)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt;">(*delivered
to ERG kitchen every other week)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Supports local
minority-owned farms and Oakland high school students who run a Youth Pickle
Co., proceeds go to free veggie vouchers for local clinic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 97.0pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Half-share is good
for 2 people, lots of variety of fruits (citrus), veggies and herbs, can get
every week or every other<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">$17 for half-share
(plenty for 2 people), $34 for full share<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lots of options for
pick up, sometimes at personal residences, Tuesdays and Saturdays, come in
paper bags<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 97.0pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="77"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">No<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 87.25pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 115.05pt;" valign="top" width="115"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.imperfectproduce.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Imperfect
Produce</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Various sources,
large family farms in CA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt;">(*ask
Julia and Isa for more info and up to $20 off your first box!)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Reduces food waste
by selling foods that aren’t conventionally marketable in grocery stores (as
the name implies)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 87.25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Depends on your
choice of box size, small organic produce box (recommended) good for 2 people
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Organic mixed,
regular mixed, all veggie and all fruit options; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">$15-17 for small
organic produce box<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">N/A<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yes, normally Saturday
mornings($3/box)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 52.85pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 115.05pt;" valign="top" width="115"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.livepower.org/csa-overview/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Live
Power Community Farm</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mendocino County<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Horse- and
solar-powered biodynamic farm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 52.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Veggies, fruits,
flowers, grains and meat (varying amounts)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 52.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="92"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">$43.45/week for
full season (varies seasonally; contact farm for more info)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">N/A<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 52.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="77"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Delivered on
Saturday mornings by local members<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 9.1pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 9.1pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 115.05pt;" valign="top" width="115"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.froghollow.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Frog Hollow
Farm’s Happy Child CSA</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Brentwood CA (1 hr
from Berkeley)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 9.1pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 108.3pt;" valign="top" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Legendary certified
organic farm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 9.1pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">All fruit CSA, plus
dried fruit, honey, olive oil, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">eggs</b>,
etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 9.1pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="92"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">$15.50-$73 (mini
share to triple share), available weekly or biweekly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 9.1pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 1.25in;" valign="top" width="90"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Pick up at many
East Bay locations and farmer’s markets<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 9.1pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="77"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yes (mail order)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 5.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 115.05pt;" valign="top" width="115"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.seaforager.com/sign-up"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Sea
Forager </span></a>Seafood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">SF Bay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 108.3pt;" valign="top" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Small scale
fishermen using sustainable practices<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Fillets, shellfish,
and small whole fish; can select dinner for 2 or 4 people<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="92"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">$24-47 depending on
amount <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 1.25in;" valign="top" width="90"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Pick up at The
Local Butcher Shop in Berkeley, Fridays 3-7, weekly or biweekly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="77"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">No (only in SF, $8
more)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 5.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 115.05pt;" valign="top" width="115"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://anvfarm.org/programs/csa/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Acta Non
Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Oakland, CA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 108.3pt;" valign="top" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Farm is planned,
planted, harvested and sold by K-8 youth in Oakland <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="92"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">$25/week<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 1.25in;" valign="top" width="90"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Farmstand sales
(located in Tassafaronga Park)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="77"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 5.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 115.05pt;" valign="top" width="115"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://prmeatco.com/prmeatco-csaware-comstore/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Prather Ranch Meat Co.</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Humboldt County
family ranches<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 108.3pt;" valign="top" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Meat CSA- beef and
pork<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You choose<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="92"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">$129/month, can get
monthly or bi-monthly deliveries<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 1.25in;" valign="top" width="90"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">N/A<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 5.75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="77"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Free home delivery
in CA! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 52.85pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 52.85pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 115.05pt;" valign="top" width="115"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.marinsunfarms.com/buy/#meatcsa"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Marin
Sun Farms</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Marin/Pt. Reyes, CA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 52.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 108.3pt;" valign="top" width="108"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sustainably raised
meat; firm commitment to ecological livestock production<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 52.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You choose- meat or
poultry boxes <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 52.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="92"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">$70 (small box) -
$212 (large box)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 52.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 1.25in;" valign="top" width="90"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">N/A<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 52.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="77"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Home delivery to
East Bay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrOG7psfflOkBBuYupeGsIJCa5DEbmwsgmfQyhpa2srtRtQ97HCR_nm2nkVt4KymgEudZkMyjDWXoiEAe__V2frPrUgA8i8dKfFxQhvLaMSZFzAyChNP9XS0Vz0PZgmW8KmM5Y6WKoRo/s1600/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="431" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrOG7psfflOkBBuYupeGsIJCa5DEbmwsgmfQyhpa2srtRtQ97HCR_nm2nkVt4KymgEudZkMyjDWXoiEAe__V2frPrUgA8i8dKfFxQhvLaMSZFzAyChNP9XS0Vz0PZgmW8KmM5Y6WKoRo/s320/Picture1.png" width="316" /></span></a></div>
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The positive testimonies have been piling in from ERGies: CSAs help you cook more, eat healthier, consume sustainably… and they are real time-savers when it comes to reducing trips to the grocery store. Cost is variable and, in some cases, there is a premium for sourcing food sustainably (especially meat). We hope our table shows, however, that you can still find an option that will work for your budget.<br />
<br />
If you don’t have the ability to commit to a weekly or bi-weekly CSA, or are still finding your match, fear not! There are many other ways to get your food from local farms in the meantime, starting with farmers’ markets. Below, we compile a list of the most accessible farmers’ markets from Berkeley. As with the CSAs, cost is variable, often with premiums for prime locations. But again, budget friendly options do exist. Whether or not you end up going home with more than you can carry, simply going is a fun way to connect with your local community.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"> Local Farmer's Markets</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Farmer’s Market<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 5.25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 143.6pt;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Location<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 5.25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 125.5pt;" valign="top" width="126"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Timing<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 5.25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 207.95pt;" valign="top" width="208"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.1pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 12.1pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 141.55pt;" valign="top" width="142"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">North Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.1pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 143.6pt;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Shattuck and Rose,
Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.1pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 125.5pt;" valign="top" width="126"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Th 3-7pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.1pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 207.95pt;" valign="top" width="208"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Combination of
food, art, crafts, and music<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 17.85pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 17.85pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 141.55pt;" valign="top" width="142"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Saturday Downtown
Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 17.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 143.6pt;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">1931 Center St,
Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 17.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 125.5pt;" valign="top" width="126"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Tu 2-6:30pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Th 3-7pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sa 10am-3pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 17.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 207.95pt;" valign="top" width="208"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Fun scene of
vendors, art, music, families, and community <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 17.85pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 17.85pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 141.55pt;" valign="top" width="142"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">South Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 17.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 143.6pt;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Alcatraz and
Adeline St, Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 17.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 125.5pt;" valign="top" width="126"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Tu 2-6:30 pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 17.85pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 207.95pt;" valign="top" width="208"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Very accessible,
accepts SNAP/EBT, great selection and diversity of vendors <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 11.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 11.55pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 141.55pt;" valign="top" width="142"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Temescal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 11.55pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 143.6pt;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">5300 Claremont Ave,
Oakland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 11.55pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 125.5pt;" valign="top" width="126"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Su 9am-1pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 11.55pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 207.95pt;" valign="top" width="208"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 12.65pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 141.55pt;" valign="top" width="142"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">SF Ferry Building<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.65pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 143.6pt;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One Ferry Building
#50, San Francisco<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.65pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 125.5pt;" valign="top" width="126"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Tu 10-2pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Th 10-2pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sa 8am-2pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.65pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 207.95pt;" valign="top" width="208"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lots of vendors,
fun to take ferry to SF, waterfront views along Embarcadero, nice
breakfast/lunch spot! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 3.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 3.9pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 141.55pt;" valign="top" width="142"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lake Merritt / Oakland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 3.9pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 143.6pt;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lake Park Ave,
Oakland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 3.9pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 125.5pt;" valign="top" width="126"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sa 9am-2pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 3.9pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 207.95pt;" valign="top" width="208"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Beautiful setting
for a farmer’s market! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 3.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 3.9pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 141.55pt;" valign="top" width="142"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">SF Civic Center<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 3.9pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 143.6pt;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">United Nations
Plaza, San Francisco<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 3.9pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 125.5pt;" valign="top" width="126"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We 7am-5:30pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Su 7am-5pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 3.9pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 207.95pt;" valign="top" width="208"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Cheaper than Ferry
Building, but more gritty<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 24.2pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 141.55pt;" valign="top" width="142"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Alemany<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 24.2pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 143.6pt;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">100 Alemany Blvd,
San Francisco<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 24.2pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 125.5pt;" valign="top" width="126"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sa 6am-1pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 24.2pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; padding: 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt; width: 207.95pt;" valign="top" width="208"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Very large
wholesale market, need a car <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
Supporting local farms and gaining knowledge about where your food comes from is healthy for both people and planet. We have created these choice tables with a Berkeley home-base in mind, but we encourage you to apply these ethics wherever you call home to purchase your food sustainably, eat seasonally, and support your local economy.<br />
<br />
Have fun and bon appetit!<br />
<div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.65pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.65pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.65pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIfUYvxu28OIQS_WxabincIt2aAUX-pdoDl5PaQ5CvupiIeinUeJ8QcDVOwZXo7cdzZz94-kseJfIFCEUen2E15LUSC8cJDhKB56PfN5hAH_IbP-ts3fFAfhyCt2RjIrFnqdW3pCSudZc/s1600/Picture2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="376" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIfUYvxu28OIQS_WxabincIt2aAUX-pdoDl5PaQ5CvupiIeinUeJ8QcDVOwZXo7cdzZz94-kseJfIFCEUen2E15LUSC8cJDhKB56PfN5hAH_IbP-ts3fFAfhyCt2RjIrFnqdW3pCSudZc/s320/Picture2.png" width="256" /></a></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photos by Isa Ferrall and Laney Siegner.</span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The views expressed here belong solely to the authors of each entry and are not representative of the position of the Energy and Resources Group, UC Berkeley.</span></i></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393359041762936617.post-78402788388806772842017-10-12T20:58:00.001-07:002017-11-02T00:24:15.563-07:00When Climate Change Comes Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">[Michelle Levinson, ERG Graduate Student]</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.eastbaytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ebt-l-smokeadvisory-1011-2.jpg?w=810" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="800" height="376" src="https://www.eastbaytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ebt-l-smokeadvisory-1011-2.jpg?w=810" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Image Source:<a href="http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/10/10/wildfires-have-created-worst-air-quality-ever-recorded-for-smoke-in-bay-area/" target="_blank"> East Bay Times</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.0pt;">This has been a terrifying year.
Earthquakes, hurricanes, heat waves, and floods — the news sounds
like a chapter from the <a href="https://bible.org/seriespage/17-worst-yet-come-revelation-81-13"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Book of Revelation</span></a>, or a scene from the
dystopian future that Octavia Butler <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Sower_(novel)"><span style="color: #1155cc;">envisioned 25 years ago</span></a>. We know that these
traumas and calamities are experienced first and worst by those with the fewest
resources and means for resilience, and this truth has played out in the varied
impacts of storm flooding in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/us/in-houston-after-the-storm-a-city-split-in-two.html"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Houston</span></a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/20/life-threatening-winds-and-floods-hit-puerto-rico-as-maria-makes-landfall"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Puerto Rico</span></a>, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/29/world/asia/floods-south-asia-india-bangladesh-nepal-houston.html"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Bangladesh</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I have read articles and “reacted” to posts on social media; I have donated
(grad-school-budget-sized amounts) to causes; I’ve traded updates and insights
with family, friends, and random strangers. Yet while these disasters have
caught my attention, I have primarily managed them on the rational side of my
mind — acknowledging all of this loss, but also wondering what I would
have for lunch and whether the 6-bus would be running on time. This is to say,
the remote traumas of others stayed <i>emotionally </i>remote to me,
and I think to many others as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.0pt;">Disaster elicited a very different
and <i>emotional</i> reaction this week, after landing so much closer
to home. On Sunday morning, I woke up to a string of texts among my family. My
aunt and uncle had been evacuated from their home at 2 AM the night before.
They awoke to a loud banging on the door and saw the hills above them glowing
orange. Now they are with my family in Oakland, still waiting to learn the fate
of their home. Many have not been so lucky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.0pt;">This tragedy reaches deep into the
ERG and Berkeley communities, though the fires rage two counties away. It is
not just the immediate loss of life, home, and community that we mourn, but
also the little things we take for granted. For me, this is my bicycle
commute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.0pt;">Wednesday morning I <a href="https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.local_city&cityid=315"><span style="color: #1155cc;">checked the air quality</span></a> and decided
that <a href="https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqibasics.aqi"><span style="color: #1155cc;">73 AQI was good enough</span></a> to ride my bike to
school. Maybe I would go a bit more slowly than usual, but I had my inhaler in
my backpack (as always) and was desperate for some exercise to release some of
the stress of midterm season. After all, I make this ride multiple times a week
and am in pretty good shape. On a normal day, I don’t even need to puff my
inhaler before going on a jog.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.0pt;">But five minutes into my
forty-minute ride, I knew something was wrong. There weren’t many other
cyclists on the street, which was abnormal. I pedaled past an unusual number of
babies and children waiting with their guardians to cross the street to the pediatrics
unit of Kaiser Permanente. By the time I was two miles into my
five-and-a-half-mile ride, I was very short of breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.0pt;">For me, an asthmatic episode comes
on slowly, straining my breathing and then constricting my chest in the way you
might feel right before you start to cry. Yet the instinct to take a deep
breath to calm myself and reset leaves me even more scarce for air. In these
moments, it is hard not to let your thoughts rush and fear mount, but nerves
are far more hurtful than helpful. In fact, it is because my asthma is so well
managed that I am unfamiliar with handling the symptoms when they do arise. I
am privileged to always have had access to quality healthcare, but my
experience is <a href="http://www.acphd.org/media/401560/cumulative-health-impacts-east-west-oakland.pdf"><span style="color: #1155cc;">common among children</span></a> that grew up in
Oakland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.0pt;">I would rather that experiences
like this stay rare, but I am not deluded. The effects of climate change are
projected to <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/regional/index.php?idp=231"><span style="color: #1155cc;">increase prevalence of asthma triggers</span></a>, like
longer pollination seasons and ground-level ozone. As this week’s tragic events
in the North Bay attest, fires are another awful face of these threats, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/10/10/clinton-says-wildfires-are-exacerbated-by-climate-change-research-says-shes-right/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">driven in part by climate change</span></a>. Whether it
is the asthma attack of a cyclist in Oakland or the tragedy of losing your home
in Santa Rosa, the havoc of climate change has come home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.0pt;">I am proud to be a member of the
ERG community. We have the opportunity, and the obligation, to apply our
training, knowledge, and skills to this great challenge whose consequences are
known too well, both near and far. Today, we also urge you to consider <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/14ZhXDNaL260p5OempaFbCrsYBe_5pvNvDqV7xcwn95s/preview">volunteering</a> or <a href="https://uwwc.upicsolutions.org/ecommunity/comm/SinglePageRegPledge.jsp">donating</a> to
support the communities in the North Bay, and throughout California, that have
been ravaged by fire this October.</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt;">Thanks to Jesse Strecker for his
thoughtful comments on an early draft of this post.</span></i></div>
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<o:p>Note: The views expressed here belong solely to the
author of each entry and are not representative of the position of the Energy
and Resources Group, UC Berkeley.</o:p></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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