Committed to Maintaining the Quality of the Environmental Studies Program at UCSB

Inside This Issue Fall 2008

Tom Rogers Scholarship Recipient Participates in

“Sustainable Bolivia”Over the summer

Chrissy Elles ventured to Bolivia to discover

the possibilities of sustainable development

in one of the poorest countries of Latin

America

Page 1

New ES Faculty HiresThe ES Program is proud to announce

two new additions to the faculty, Peter

Alagona and Simone Pulver, who will begin

working at UCSB in July 2009

Page 2

2008 Graduation Celebrations

Another successful Commencement

Ceremony and Recep-tion hosted by the

Environmental Studies Program

Page 2

ES Alumni ProfileOne a teacher, the other

a land-use planner, Michael and Sean

Nicholas establish what could be the first father and son ES alumni pair

Page 3

By Cassie Roth & David Pritchett

Last May, the Environmental Studies Associ-ates (ESA) Board awarded the annual Tom Rogers scholarship to two exceptional stu-dents, Chrissy Elles and James Mrohs. Elles applied her $3000 award towards working during the summer with an organization called Sustainable Bolivia. With his $2000 award, Mrohs plans to start an environmental section in the UCSB student-run newspaper The Bottom Line beginning in autumn 2008.

A 2005 graduate of Vintage High School in Napa, Chrissy Elles spent much of the sum-mer in Cochabamba, Bolivia, studying and living sustainable development practices in one of the poorest countries of Latin America. Through the non-profit group Sustainable Bo-livia, Elles lived with a host-family and strengthened her Spanish skills while intern-ing with the local alternative energy company Energetica, whose motto is, Energia Para El Desarollo (Energy for Development). Ener-getica seeks to provide the rural villagers, schools, and hospitals with sustainable energy systems such as solar panels, bio-diesel gen-erators, and efficient woodstoves. Elles helped with administrative work and translat-ing documents, but also met with the villagers to promote the use of sustainable energy.

Elles with a salteña, a Bolivian delicacy

Only one out of six rural families in Bolivia has access to modern energy sources. In her report to ESA, Elles concludes: “Through my studies I’ve come to realize that the develop-ment of Third World countries is one of the most dangerous, yet greatest, opportunities that faces our generation. Dangerous, because

if countries develop in unsustainable ways, our planet will surely pass a tipping point. More than 1.1 billion people live on less than $1 a day, 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation, and more than 1.6 billion human beings do not have access to energy.”

To learn more of Chrissy Elles’s experiences in Bolivia, go ahead and read her article, “Bring-ing Power to the People” at the Napa Valley Register. A double major in Environmental Studies and Political Science, and Chair of Campus Democrats Club, Elles is leading a voter registration drive that so far has UCSB with more newly registered voters than any college in the nation. James Mrohs, the other scholarship recipient, will be highlighted in the next ESA newsletter.

The Tom Rogers scholarship is funded by the investment return of the endowment, now more than $155 thousand. Tax-deductible donations are welcome, so multiple scholar-ships can be awarded per year or larger awards can be made to keep up with rising educational costs. Contact UCSB Community R e l a t i o n s O f fi c e v i a e - m a i l (paddy.moriarty@ia.ucsb.edu) or phone 805-893-4388.

E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T U D I E S A S S O C I A T E S

ESA Newsletter, Fall 2008 1

EnvironmentalStudiesAssociates

ESA c/o UCSB Office of

Community Relations,Santa Barbara, CA

93106-1136

(805) 893-4388esinfo@es.ucsb.edu

http://www.es.ucsb.edu/people/esa

Tom Rogers Scholarsh ip Rec ip ient Chr i s sy E l le s “Br ing ing Power to the People”

By Lee Moldaver

Rob Almy, the popular Environmen-tal Studies lecturer and County’s Water Agency director, has returned to New England, and his classes will be taken up by current ES lecturer David Stone. (Stone and colleague, Ken Victorino, re-cently gave a marvelous talk for ESA at the Faulkner Gallery.) Also, the Envi-ronmental Studies Program has proudly announced the appointment of two new ladder-track professors, Peter Alagona and Simone Pulver, who will begin their full-time, on-campus faculty activities in July 2009. Currently working at Stanford Uni-versity, Peter Alagona is participating as a Fellow in the Bill Lane Center’s Study of

the North American West. While there, he’s working on a book manuscript that cov-ers the political history of endangered species conservation in California. Alagona is specialized in the changing roles of science and technology in Ameri-can environmental politics and while at UCSB his teaching will be evenly split between the Environmental Studies and History departments. Alagona holds de-grees from Northwestern University, UCSB, and UCLA. Simone Pulver’s research focuses on global environmental governance, corpo-rate environmental decision-making, and environmental social movements. In par-ticular, she has studied the roles played by transnational oil corporations and transnational environmental advocacy

networks in the United Nations climate change negotiations. Earlier this year she was selected as a Fulbright Scholar grantee to India. Based in New Delhi at Jawaharlal Nehru University, she will study the environmental practices of In-dian enterprises, focusing on how Indian sugar companies implement greenhouse gas-reducing technologies. Pulver will compare her findings in India with paral-lel results from the sugar sector in Brazil, for a cross-national comparative project. The Indian research expands on her work on businesses’ role in climate change and on such multinational policy tools as the Clean Development Mechanism. Pulver holds degrees from Princeton University, UC Berkeley, and Brown University.

2 ESA Newsletter, Fall 2008

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2008 Commencement Ceremony

Exc i t ing New ES Facu l ty Hires !

At the conclusion of each academic year, family, friends, and faculty gather at the Environmental Studies commencement and reception in celebration of that year’s graduating ES class!

By Andrew Bermond

Two men separated by a generation, forged their own paths in life yet both arrived in the Environmental Studies Program at UCSB.  They followed differ-ent career paths using the same education separated by a quarter century - estab-lishing what could be the first father and son ES alumni pair.   One a teacher, the other a land-use planner, both are testa-ments to the endurance of the multi-disciplinary education afforded them by Alma Mater.

In 1974, Michael Nicholas moved into the dorms at UCSB to study in the new Envi-ronmental Studies Program.  Michael had moved back home with his family of Kai-ser Steel workers in Fontana, California.  He had dropped out of UC Berkeley's English Department where he succeeded academically, but found the pace of life in "the big city" confounding.  He was work-ing with his friends at the US Post Office when one of them asked him to apply with him to this new program at UCSB.  His friend did not get in, but Michael de-cided to pursue this opportunity anyway.

Shortly after moving in to his room on the fourth floor of San Nicolas Hall, Michael met the woman of his dreams.   They knew they had met their soul mates, but what they could not know was that their son would live on the very same floor 25 years later!

The Environmental Studies Program was in its infancy, and Michael enjoyed ex-ploring a field that was exploring itself at the same time.  In his studies, he discov-ered his desire to teach environmental issues to subsequent generations.   He soon added English and Geology minors, completed his degree, married his girl-friend, and began his career as an earth sciences teacher and tennis instructor at a middle school in Oceanside, California. 

"Mr. Nic" as he is known, has inspired children to pursue careers in science and environmental issues for more than 30 years.  His infectious enthusiasm for the planet, and the Gauchos, has inspired numerous students to pursue an ES de-gree at UCSB over the years.

In 1999, Sean Nicholas moved in to San Nicolas Hall intent on completing an En-vironmental Studies degree and becom-ing a teacher like his father.  There he in-troduced his neighbor (the author of this article) to the ES program.  Upon taking Marc McGinnes’s and Paul Wack's envi-ronmental law and land use planning courses, Sean discovered a new passion.  He completed a double major in ES and History, and continued his studies to earn a Masters Degree in Urban Planning at Cal Poly. 

After working for the cities of Guadalupe and Grover Beach, Sean took a planning position in the City of San Clemente in 2006. There he met another planner, Am-

ber Gregg, who he began dating.  Amazingly, Amber hailed from Fontana, California where her parents and Michael were once classmates!   The two were married this September in San Diego - and the possibility of a third gen-eration ES student may soon follow!

Both men say some of their best times were in Isla Vista.  Michael is proud to see his son follow in his legacy, but prouder to see how he has forged his own path.  Their stories are a testament to the diver-sity of opportunity afforded by the multi-disciplinary education the ES Program provides.   Yet, as Sean points out, their jobs are not that dissimilar: "To take com-plicated policies and plans and translate them for the confused and angry guy at the planning counter requires many of the same skills my father uses in the classroom.  Deductive reasoning, research skills, and communication skill sets that we developed at UCSB translate into pretty much any line of work, really."

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ESA Newsletter, Fall 2008 3

E S A l u m n i P r o f i l e : M i ch a e l N i ch o l a s ( ’ 7 7 ) a n d S e a n N i ch o l a s ( ’ 0 3 )

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November ESA Fall Student Mixer, 11/5 ESA Community Lecture, Barbara Walker, 11/19

December ESA Board Meeting, 12/8

January ESA Board Meeting, TBA

February ESA Board Meeting, TBA

March ESA Board Meeting, TBA Tom Rogers Scholarship Celebration, 3/17, TBA

April ESA Board Meeting, TBA

May ESA Board Meeting, TBA ESA Spring Student Mixer, TBA

June ESA Board Meeting, TBA ESA Participation in Commencement Ceremony & Reception, 6/20

E S A O F F I C E R S :Co-Presidents Andrew Bermond Jennifer Scholl

Vice President Alison Jordan

Treasurer Greg Mohr

Secretary and Newsletter Cassie Roth

N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E E N V I R O N M E N TA L

S T U D I E S A S S O C I AT E S

Environmental Studies Associatesc/o UCSB Office of Community RelationsUniversity of CaliforniaSanta Barbara, CA 93106-1136

U C S B E N V I R O N M E N TA L S T U D I E S A S S O C I AT E S

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