Catawba College Students Join National Environmental Advocacy Effort on Capital Hill

Ten Catawba College students recently represented the College in Washington, D.C., as part of the Rachel Carson Council’s annual Advocacy Day, joining student leaders from across the country to advocate for stronger environmental protections and gain firsthand experience in the policymaking process. The event brought 90 students from 28 colleges and universities to the nation’s capital for a hands-on program focused on environmental policy, civic engagement, and direct advocacy with federal lawmakers.

Vanderbilt Students Selected For National Environmental Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C.

The Rachel Carson Council’s 2026 Advocacy Day aims to bring college students from across the United States together for training in environmental policy, science communication and civic engagement. Five Vanderbilt students were selected to participate in the Rachel Carson Council’s 2026 Advocacy Day March 25-27 in Washington, D.C. The annual event is a hands-on program that trains and mobilizes college students to engage directly with federal lawmakers on urgent environmental issues.

Pomona Students Participate in Environmental Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C.

Five Pomona students traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in this year’s Rachel Carson Council (RCC) Advocacy Day, a hands-on program that trains and mobilizes young people to engage directly with federal lawmakers on environmental issues. For three days in late March, Bridget Brodie ’27, Kitty Chadwyck-Healey ’27, Malu Estoducto ’27, Fiona Herbold ’26 and Isha Raheja ’27 joined students from 27 other U.S. colleges and universities.

Climate Profile: Brian Silliman

“Study nature, not books,” is one of ecologist Brian Silliman’s guiding principles and favorite phrases. It’s a quote from 19th-century naturalist Louis Agassiz that is (wonderfully, hilariously) on a sign outside a library at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. That’s not to say Silliman doesn’t also love books. The Rachel Carson Distinguished Professor of Marine Conservation Biology and Director of the Duke Wetland and Coasts Center in the Nicholas School of the Environment started his academic career as a double major in history and science at University of Virginia.

Planet Forward Summit Shows How Storytelling Can Be a Catalyst for Climate Action

Students from universities across the country came to the George Washington University last Wednesday through Friday for the 13th annual Planet Forward Summit, where they were encouraged to use storytelling as a tool for building connections and inspiring change at a critical moment for climate action. “This is a turbulent time. You’re here in Washington at a very strange and difficult moment, a very polarized, divided moment in our national experience and history,” said Frank Sesno, founder of Planet Forward.

RCC Alumni Spotlight: Cassie Varrige Advances Climate Solutions Through Community Development

This is the next installment in a Q&A series highlighting the accomplishments of recent RCC Fellowship alumni. The series explores where former RCC Fellows are today and how their time with the Rachel Carson Council influenced their career paths. We sat down with Cassie Varrige, a Management Analyst, to discuss her ongoing work, current passions, and future plans. Varrige received the RCC National Environmental Leadership Fellowship in 2024 and currently works in local government in Skokie, IL.

Rachel Carson Council Fellow Builds Community at Big Green Tent

Zoe Tseng, National Environmental Leadership Fellow (2024-2025) takes her skills and leadership to new heights as the newsletter lead of the environmental start up, Big Green Tent.

“The Big Green Tent is more than a newsletter—it’s a home for hope, action, and connection. We bring you inside the sustainability movement through stories of small organizations making a big difference, and we give you the tools to turn inspiration into impact.” –Big Green Tent

Urban Environmental Science in Practice: Avery Sands on Research, Advocacy, and the Marcuss Fellowship

For Avery Sands ’26, environmental science manifests itself in cities, public health, and the environments people interact with every day. A Marcuss Fellow, National Environmental Leadership Fellow with the RCC, student representative on Trinity’s Sustainability Committee and  she designed an independent senior honors thesis project investigating whether a Hartford waste incinerator that closed in 2021 might be linked to mercury concentrations in nearby ponds across Hartford County.

The Assistant Professor of History Reflects on His Research, Teaching and the CEDAR Gallery, a Student-Centered Space He is Developing at UMD.

Long before ever taking a class on environmental issues, Jayson Maurice Porter learned a valuable lesson about nature after getting a 72-gallon saltwater fish tank as a teenager. As he tracked pH and salinity, he came to see how the water chemistry, light, rock and living creatures all intermingled—and how even a tiny change to one of those elements could shift the entire ecosystem.

DKU Faculty Recognized by Duke for Advancing Climate and Sustainability Teaching

Two Duke Kunshan University faculty members, Renee Richer, associate professor of biology, and Charles Chang, assistant professor of environmental and urban studies, have been recognized by Duke University for completing the 2024–25 Climate and Sustainability Teaching (CAST) Fellows program and contributing to the Duke Climate Commitment.

Cultivating the Seas: Aquaculture in America and Australia

Aquaculture is defined as “the rearing of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic plants for food” (Merriam Webster Dictionary, n.d.), and the practice has a rich history. Thought to have begun in 3000 BC in China during the Zhou Dynasty with the farming of carp (Alimentarium, 2026), this method of food production has been implemented in countries all around the world to provide citizens with a dependable protein source.

Carolina Connections: Climate Leadership at Duke and UNC

A steady February rain settled over Durham as students hurried across Duke University’s gothic campus, collars raised against the cold. The gray skies seemed fitting for conversations about the climate crisis—yet inside lecture halls, meeting rooms, and student gatherings, the energy was anything but gloomy. Across two days of dialogue and organizing, the Rachel Carson Council strengthened its connections with students, scholars, and advocates working to shape a more resilient environmental future.

Terrapin Voices for a Greener Future

A cold drizzle poured over the University of Maryland campus as students crossed the red-brick pathways between stately academic halls. Patches of snow lingered along the edges of walkways, remnants of winter clinging to the early days of March.

Yet inside classrooms and gathering spaces, the campus buzzed with warmth and curiosity—students and faculty eager to engage with the urgent environmental questions shaping our time.

Foggy Bottom Connections: Climate Leadership at George Washington University

A crisp March chill lingered over the George Washington University (GW) as students hurried between classes under a bright, early spring sunlight. With its campus woven into the fabric of downtown Washington, D.C., GW serves as a natural place for conversations about sustainability, policy, and justice. That commitment is reflected in the university’s sustainability leadership, expressed through the interdisciplinary GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future.

Rocky Mountain Momentum

A crisp April breeze swept across Colorado’s Front Range, the peaks rising sharp against a bright spring sky. From Boulder to Fort Collins, conversations on climate, justice, and storytelling carried both a sense of urgency and a belief in what is possible for our environmental movement. Over several days of engagement, the Rachel Carson Council strengthened its presence at two of Colorado’s leading environmental institutions, University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State University, deepening partnerships with students, faculty, and community leaders working to build a more just and sustainable future.

RCC Fulfills Childhood Dream

Rose Downey, an RCC activist and Duke student, took part in RCC’s 2026 Advocacy Days, which brought together 90 students from across the country to advocate for environmental health and justice.

As a child, Rose wrote about her dream of ending oil spills and protecting the oceans. RCC was proud to help make that dream a reality by giving her the opportunity to raise her voice for the issues she has long cared about.

Stony Brook Celebrates Bee Campus USA Designation with New Pollinator Garden

Stony Brook University is expanding its commitment to sustainability and biodiversity with the creation of a new pollinator garden in front of the Student Activities Center. The effort also marks the university’s designation as a Bee Campus USA member. Stony Brook earned the designation in January 2025. The recognition highlights institutions that support pollinators through habitat creation, education and sustainable land management practices.

Duke Drops Short-term Carbon Neutrality, Moves Focus to Net-zero Emissions Goal

Duke will step back from its carbon-neutral status, administrators confirmed, opting to redirect millions spent annually on carbon offsets toward campus sustainability initiatives instead.

The move means the University will no longer claim carbon neutrality in the short term, but leaders say it will better position Duke to meet its long-term goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Climate Change Media Coverage Fell 14% in 2025

Media coverage of climate change or global warming in seven different regions around the world, from January 2004 through December 2025. (Credit: MeCCO/CU Boulder)

In 2025—Earth's third warmest year on record—massive fires destroyed entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles, a deadly heatwave killed more than 24,000 in Europe and powerful storms triggered catastrophic flooding in Southeast Asia.

Tackling Plastics Pollution

Two University of Delaware students from completely different backgrounds recently found common ground in a simple question: Where could they find opportunities to use plastics more sustainably in their daily lives?

Caitlyn Edgar, a graduate student studying materials science, knew immediately what to focus on. She trained in ballet for more than 10 years before starting her undergraduate studies at UD. She knows that ballet shoes have short life spans.

A Town-Gown Partnership Focused on Climate Resilience

As climate change spurs extreme heat waves and flooding in Georgia, Agnes Scott College and the city of Decatur are working together to forge solutions. “This isn’t something a city can do alone,” one official said.

Since 2022, students from Agnes Scott College have helped place 36 heat sensors across their campus and surrounding Decatur, Ga., in an effort to help researchers analyze and mitigate the risks of extreme heat waves in the area.

Rare Documents of Pioneering Environmentalist Rachel Carson to Go on Show

Silent Springs, Windswept Seas: Rachel Carson’s Environmental Vision will offer an overview of the life and work of biologist and author Rachel Carson at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University next month. Running May 18 through October 4, the display will feature more than 100 objects, many exhibited for the first time, to showcase Carson’s development as a scientist and author, her environmental insights, and the lasting impact of her work on public awareness and advocacy.

White House Ousts Entire National Science Board

The White House on Friday terminated all members of the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation, Nature and Science reported.

The NSF, which has a nearly $9 billion annual budget, is among the top federal funders of university research. The board has 25 members when it’s at full capacity.

Kansas Governor Signs Bill to Curb Race-related Instruction at Public Colleges

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed legislation Wednesday that will prohibit the state’s public colleges from requiring students to take “DEI-CRT” courses, a move that critics warn could censor classroom instruction.

The legislation is part of a wave of bills targeting college classroom instruction related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory, a decades-old academic framework that in part teaches that racism is systemic.

Texas Tech System to Nix Programs Focused on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Public higher education leaders across Texas have been moving to limit instruction on race, sex and gender over the past year amid intense political pressure. 

Last year, Texas passed legislation mandating reviews of public colleges’ general education courses and limiting faculty bodies to advisory roles. Gov. Greg Abbott has also declared that the state is targeting professors “pushing leftist ideologies.

Coverage of the Fossil-Fuel Industry ‘Doesn’t Have to Be This Way’

Michelle Amazeen, who studies advertising, journalism, and misinformation at Boston University’s College of Communication, recently noticed a marked shift in how major news outlets were talking about the energy economy, including the necessity of fossil fuels, the unreliability of renewables, and accountability for major oil and gas corporations. “It made me so mad,” Amazeen told me. “I was so shocked, and I didn’t have a good place to put it.”

Higher Education Groups Challenge Trump’s Latest anti-DEI Order

Trump’s March order is his latest attempt to stamp out DEI initiatives in the higher education sector and elsewhere. Under the directive, federal agencies have until April 25 to insert the new DEI ban into their contracts.

The order framed DEI efforts as racially discriminatory activities that lead to “inefficiencies, waste, and abuse” and higher costs for the federal government.

Commentary: Understand the Scope of Environmental Injustice on Earth Day

April 22, 1970, was the birth of the modern environmental movement we call Earth Day. Yet few are aware that Rachel Carson was instrumental in setting the stage for the movement and the Day. In 1962, Carson’s New York Times bestseller “Silent Spring” represented a breaking point in raising public awareness and concern for the environment and public health. The book raised issues about conservation and the environmental problems caused by synthetic pesticides.

When Shit Goes South

The conservationists behind Tuscaloosa’s latest effort to curb a long pattern of sewage spills. “No city in the world has finer water than Tuscaloosa,” reads an article from the May 1899 Tuscaloosa Times. “The river itself dashes over reefs and boulders in the bed which constantly tend to purify the water, were there any cause for pollution.”

One hundred and twenty-seven years later, the self-purifying character of the Black Warrior River is harder to believe.

Lessons from Silent Spring

I inherited a copy of Silent Spring from my mother. The pages are dogeared, and her annotations, written before I was born, emphasize passages about the power of life and reproduction. She takes seriously the learning and teaching of care. Whenever she cracks eggs, she breaks the little sack at the top of the shell to make sure all the white slips out. The hen worked hard, she says. I remember in pre-school telling my classmate her tuna sandwich wasn’t healthy. My parents operated under a one tuna fish sandwich a week policy to avoid mercury poisoning, but I didn’t comprehend their reasoning.

A Letter Across Time

In about a month, my time as a National Environmental Leadership Fellow (NELF) will come to a close. Around the same time, I will finish my term as the University of Connecticut’s (UConn) first-ever Chinese student body president.

A month after that, I will wrap up my third year working as a sustainability intern at UConn’s Office of Sustainability and graduate with dual honors degrees in economics and environmental sciences.

Spring Peepers and the Songs of the Season

When I was a young girl, I knew that spring was around the corner when my parents started opening the windows in the evening. Fresh, cool air would breeze into our house, carrying a faint scent of rain and earthy soil. Along with the return of flowers and birds, the warmer weather also brought the vernal pool behind our house back to life. Once covered with winter ice and snow, the vernal pool turned into a thriving wetland ecosystem filled with wildlife. Every night, I would stare out the window into the dark, listening closely for a distinct “peep…peep…peep” in the distance.

Perspectives from the Park

I’ve always been a pretty bad procrastinator. That, along with a few readings on my to-do list, was why I was only beginning to pack at 10 p.m. for my first ever solo trip.

I’d had my computer on “Do Not Disturb” while I was working, but as I began folding up my pajamas for my weekend expedition, I noticed a missed text pop up in the corner of my still-open computer. The unsuspecting text read: “Your booking has been affected by a schedule change. Click here to check the options available to you.”

An Abundance of Nothing

The wind lifts me, carrying me over an open horizon that feels endless. I take in the scene soaring over the blue painted canvas. The ocean stretches in all shades of blue, shifting and folding over itself, hiding everything that hunts as well as everything that is hunted. I steady and embrace my wings, hugging the air around me. Is this freedom?

That’s when a slight tint of white almost silver, meets with the blue: a mackerel. It’s an unconscious feeling to lock in. My wings fold inward and the wind disappears. The air hardens against my body as I slice downward.

Oyster Futures

As a Marylander, I have always appreciated the Chesapeake Bay. My resonance with the seafood–blue crabs and oysters of the Bay–has always been strong despite being a vegetarian since birth. It is impossible to reside in Maryland without feeling a sense of pride for not only these aquatic species, but the ecosystem which breathes life into them. The Chesapeake Bay is Maryland’s jewel, the largest estuary in the entire world. It is an economic staple for states in its watershed, supporting 20,000 jobs annually and producing billions in revenue through seafood sales, tourism, and recreation.

I Don’t Want To Change The World

“I don’t want to change the world. I just want to keep our air and water clean.“ This comment on the margins of a New York Times article reporting on the repealing of the Endangerment Finding caught my eye. It was self-effacing, but far from modest in its demands; in two sentences, it showed how some of the most basic hopes to care for this world are incredibly difficult battles to fight. In the past year, I went pescatarian for environmental reasons. I became a National Environmental Leadership Fellow with the Rachel Carson Council, advocating for green policy on Capitol Hill.

All That Is Fleeting

It is a most uncommon time to be a young person. People say this to me in conversation almost as often as I think it myself. Circumstances are unprecedented like never before, and we are fighting environmental battles which we have never previously been required to win. It feels odd, then, that I might offer discussion on delight in this heavy and unsettled moment. But are joy and sorrow not inextricably linked? It would be inauthentic of me to pretend that that which has the potential to bring me the most sadness is not ultimately rooted in the impermanence of the things I love the most.

Opening the Arctic

The U.S. is on a path to unlock Alaska’s resource potential, but at what cost? The Trump administration is implementing its plans to open up a record amount of the Arctic to oil and natural gas drilling. However, while oil companies will be satisfied with their deeper pockets, the diverse wildlife, complex ecosystems, and local Indigenous communities will bear the brunt of these ventures.

The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska was originally designated in 1923 as an emergency oil supply for the U.S. Navy.

There Are No Barriers Between Land And Sea

Imagine being a happy sea otter in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, living your whole life within a few miles of the same rocky coastline. Swimming around on your back, playing with friends, and eating tasty sea urchins. From the ocean, sea otters have no idea that the same coast is a major agricultural producer of strawberries, artichokes, and leafy greens. This agriculture produces a significant amount of chemical runoff that goes straight into the ocean and contaminates marine mammal habitats.

Paws Off of Big Bend National Park

Hiking through the natural landscape at Big Bend National Park is quite spectacular, aside from the cacti, which I am not a fan of! As a Geoscience major attending a university in Texas, I took numerous field trips to this national park. While there, we spent time identifying and mapping various geologic formations, working towards developing our skills as future geologists. These field trips were not like what you remember from elementary school, where students load up on the yellow bus. We were full-on camping.

From Tunnels to Testimony: Why Showing Up Still Matters

The hum of Logan Airport faded behind me as I boarded my flight from Boston to Washington, D.C., a quiet anticipation settling in. I was not just traveling. I was heading toward something I had been preparing for, something that felt both urgent and uncertain. The Rachel Carson Council’s Advocacy Days would bring together students from across the country, many of whom I had come to know through the RCC National Environmental Leadership Fellowship, all converging in a place where decisions carry weight far beyond the room in which they are made.