Environment and Climate

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Cal Waichler, Wild Mercy, 2017. Trace monotype, 9x23 in. (Detail)

The Lives of Trees
Lending voice and image to the bellwether redwood

A Voice for the Environment Cal Waichler ’21 When she arrived at Colby, Cal Waichler ’21 set out to study Maine’s forests, including old-growth tracts in the Pine Tree State. To her dismay, she discovered there were practically none. This prompted Waichler to consider the lives of…
Arid, brown canyon landscape with river

A Climate Storyteller

If you’ve followed the career of outdoor writer Heather Hansman ’05, you’ll recognize her gasping for air after dumping her raft-load of customers into a Class V rapid on the Gauley River, avoiding avalanches in deep backcountry powder in the Rockies and Cascades, or dodging toxic algae and scary…
Sign asking for donations of water, Flint, Michigan

For Eric Roy ’04, Flint Water Crisis Created a Company

In the spring of 2015, Eric Roy ’04 said he got a tip from an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) retiree about high lead levels in the water in Flint, Mich. This was before the people of Flint fully understood what was in their water. And way before Flint became…
Loren McClenachan

Loren McClenachan Named 2019 Pew Marine Fellow

The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation has named Loren McClenachan a 2019 Marine Fellow. McClenachan, a marine ecologist and Colby’s Elizabeth and Lee Ainslie Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, will be awarded $150,000 over a three-year period for her project “Using historical data to maximize fisheries yields and…
Sea turtle swimming in clear ocean waters

Oceans of Change

Marine Ecology Loren McClenachanElizabeth and Lee Ainslie Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies For all the fish we eat and ships we sail, humans still know very little about the seas that sustain us. We know even less about how climate change is affecting those waters over…
Maine harbor with fishing boats

Trained Globally, Acting Locally

By the time they graduated, Emmie Theberge ’08 and Sophie Janeway ’17 had, between them, studied conservation policy in Ecuador, wind power legislation in Maine, human interaction with the ecology of the Gálapagos Islands, changing fisheries in Vietnam, the effect of climate change on Moroccan farmers, the environmental impact…
Two firefighters surrounded by burning forest

Where Climate Adds Fuel to the Fires

Wildland Fires Ben Hannon ’13Science, Technology, and Society Ben Hannon ’13 has seen one of the most referenced consequences of climate change up close. He’s felt the searing heat and been engulfed by the billowing smoke. He’s seen flames leap from treetop to treetop, vaulting…
Rainforest floor with water and moss

As Forests Return, Justin Becknell is watching

Forest Ecology Justin BecknellAssistant Professor of Environmental Studies Once a patch of tropical forest is razed, it isn’t necessarily gone forever. Trees and wildlife often return, if given a chance. As trees grow, the forest resumes its role as an air filter, drawing planet-warming carbon dioxide…
Clouds in evening sky

Putting Climate Science into Perspective

Atmospheric Science Jim FlemingCharles A. Dana Professor of Science, Technology, and Society Climate change in today’s terms can often feel like a precipice: a 2°C limit for warming; 410 parts per million carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; 100-year weather events. Carbon budgets. Thresholds. Milestones. Tipping points.
Traffic and air pollution in Beijing

Seeking a Smarter City

Environmental Studies and Computer Science Sola Zheng ’17Environmental Studies – Computation As a young student in Shanghai, Sola Zheng ’17 wanted a college experience that would bring her closer to nature. She found it on Mayflower Hill, but one aspect of rural America jolted her.