Thursday, October 22, 2009

350

Saturday is the International Day of Climate Action. It is no accident that this event was scheduled for six weeks before the UN Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen. Events across the world are planned in over 150 countries. In Massachusetts there are over 200 events planned for Saturday. Events range in scale from bell ringings to marches. The day was organized to

The Environmental Sustainability Committee discussed organizing an event at Lasell at our meeting in September. We concluded that we did not have enough time to get organized. But that does not mean members of the Lasell community can't participate in the day.

I am definitely planning on making my way downtown in the afternoon to the Boston Under Water Event. Organizers have all kinds of clever activities planned including a race to fill sandbags to save Boston from sea level rise.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Turtles 2009

This morning I drove with my son to the Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife Office in Westborough to pick up three northern red-bellied cooter hatchlings. They are even smaller than last year. They are so small that the biologists decided not to notch the turtles this year because the stress of the procedure would be too much for the little reptiles.

It really is incredible how small they are. They probably weigh about 5-6 grams each. In a few years they will grow to be 10 pounds.

Our participation in the northern red-bellied cooter headstart program last year was a success and I am looking forward to this year. I'm excited to engage students more in the care and maintenance of the turtles and to integrate the environmental issues more into the curriculum. We are upgrading the plumbing in WASS3 to reduce the effort needed to clean the tanks and Sodexo has agreed to donate waste lettuce again.

I let my son brainstorm names on the ride back to Lasell. He liked Chara (his favorite Bruin), Tubby, Shelly, and a bunch of ridiculous sounding noises that really made him laugh. Last year I held contests to name the turtles but this year I am going to let the children and teachers at the Barn name them.

I'll post pictures soon!