Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Future of Energy at College of Menominee Nation




On August 23, 2012, Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Fellow Sarah Jeglum gave a presentation about “The Future of Energy on the CMN Campus.” Twenty four attendees heard Sarah’s recommendations, discussed future projects, shared ideas, and asked questions about her work over the summer of 2012. Jeglum worked with the College of Menominee Nation to identify energy efficiency projects and begin developing a long-term energy management plan for the Keshena campus. The Environmental Defense Fund's Climate Corps program places trained MBA and MPA fellows into companies, cities, and universities to identify and analyze energy efficiency investments that can both reduce costs and energy use in buildings.

SDI Interim Director Dean Fellman introduced Jeglum saying she has served as a strong asset in the Sustainable Development Institute. Jeglum gave an overview of the project and highlighted CMN’s commitment to be a climate-neutral campus. Jeglum cited dedication for carbon neutrality and energy independence in keeping with the more than 12,000-year-old tribal value of sustainability. “We are looking how to move forward with energy goals from today,” said Jegulm, “It’s important we have these far-reaching goals for the future.”

Jeglum stressed the importance of developing a plan and getting a CMN energy team together. “It’s very important to have the structure of the energy plan in place,” noted Jeglum. “I recommend you start with a team and plan and move forward with that.” Jegulm said that CMN has the resources available to do so and encouraged presentation attendees to be proactive about the energy team.

There are many ways in which CMN can cut down its energy use. Jeglum recommended monitoring successes or failures. “Set energy saving goals” said Jeglum. She also stated that although CMN may be a small campus, it is still important to focus on energy. “We can be successful even on a small-scale,” she said.
Jegulm went on to point out specific projects CMN can implement on campus to make the campus more efficient. Projects included installing motion sensors, switching out old light fixtures, and more energy-saving initiatives across all facets of campus energy. “No matter what kind of energy it is, we want to be putting that in an efficient energy machine” she stated.  Jeglum continued to explain that just as you wouldn’t put premium gasoline in an old vehicle, CMN needs to implement specific action items by paying most attention to projects that will produce resourceful results.

College of Menominee Nation is the first Tribal College to host a Climate Corps Fellow. CMN President Verna Fowler noted that this energy action illustrates our commitment to sustainability and commended Jeglum on her work for Climate Corps and CMN.

Both Sarah Jeglum and Dr. Fowler expressed enthusiasm for getting the information out and getting community members and students informed.  “It’s exciting for me to have it be a campus where you can get students involved” said Jeglum. Dr. Fowler recommended spreading the importance and benefits of energy saving out to the community, perhaps in the form of workshops.

College of Menominee Nation thanks Sarah Jeglum and the Climate Corps for the dedication over the summer of 2012. The Sustainable Development Institute plans to use Jeglum’s information to assist in planning future goals and directions.


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Sustainable Agriculture Conference Experience


SDI Gardening Intern Lloyd Friesen and SDI Multimedia Specialist Patrick Waukau attended a Green Bay Sustainable Agriculture Conference August 6-8. This is what Lloyd had to say about the experience:

"The Oneida Nation of Green Bay, WI hosted a conference for sustainable agriculture to many tribes that were present. To name some were the Osage from Oklahoma, Cheyenne from Montana, Ojibiwe from Minnesota, Kul Wicasa from Nebraska and Lakota Sioux from South Dakota. There were also some department heads like Susan Ratcliff from IPM, which is a branch of the EPA. We started with introductions followed by the breakdown of the conference by Jeff Metoxen, Director of the Oneida farm and livestock department. One by one we explained what we were expecting to learn from this conference and as one of the young ladies from Minnesota exclaimed that she did not wish to be "power-pointed to death". That was a really good ice breaker and many of the people agreed. 

The conference was mainly hands-on and the people liked it. We discussed how to start green houses and hoop houses. We also talked about what was the best time of year to start plants and how long can we grow crops. I was asked this question as it was directed towards what we were doing at the college and I explained to the group that I believed we were going to have a season longer than the trusty old farmer’s almanac was implying. I explained how the seasons are changing and that the old way will have to adapt to the new way the world is today with global warming and climate change. Seed harvest was also another popular topic that many had questions and some of the group members had answers that very easy to implement. This was a very good conference and I hope to be at next year’s event."

Water Quality Internship Update by Deidre Wolfe


Benjamin White and I are currently in the initial planning stages of the internship.  The main goal of our internship is to relay information gathered during the “Great Lakes Land Grant Institutions Tribal Water Resource Summit” to the Great Lakes area surrounding tribes.  In addition, we will make sure the summit results are concurrent with water resource needs today.  These are the top ten water resource needs compiled during the water summit:

1.      Water resource management and education through the lens of the local tribal culture
2.      Engage tribal leaders in water issues, education, etc.
3.      Degree program for tribal colleges/colleges serving tribal communities related to tribal environmental management
4.      Youth leadership and involvement
5.      Wild rice protection and management
6.      Interpreting and translation water data for a broader audience data to information
7.      Safe drinking water
8.      Habitat degradation
9.      Climate change affects on water, ecosystems, communities, culture
1.   Increasing funding for tribal water resource work


During the last few weeks, I have been researching and getting familiar with the content and material to be covered.  I have been researching water issues from the “Great Lakes Tribal Volunteer Monitoring Inquiry” including: non-point source pollution, invasive species, safe drinking water, habitat for wildlife and nutritional vegetation, urban and agricultural runoff, chemicals, herbicides and pesticides, well drilling/hydro fracturing for oil and natural gas, bacteria and algae blooms, development along shoreline and agricultural tiling and channelization of streams.  I have also been learning new Native American perspectives on water resource management through watching Winona Laduke presentations, researching Native American environmental groups and reading various tribes culture stories pertaining to water from the Great Lakes area. 
            I currently am in the process of learning how to make presentations through http://prezi.com/.  This software allows for smoother transitions and a more dynamic way to present information.   This software will also allow a research poster to be up-loaded and then you can make a presentation focusing on main points of the poster.  We may use the Prezi software for our presentations and are brainstorming possibilities of making a short video to promote water resource needs awareness.
            In order to establish internship goals and get direction to develop a solid plan we had a conference call with the initiative collaborators of our internship grant: Patrick Robinson and Rebecca Powers.  The insights gained from the call were that we were in the right direction with the research, we have been doing and that we should research ways to introduce perspectives through a Native American cultural lens.  They also gave us a new task of reuniting the grant collaborators to form a Multistate Coordinating Committee with the grant collaborators.  Ben has been working to get this committee together and we are currently waiting on responses to plan a committee conference call.  I am excited and happy with how the internship is going and look forward to everything in the future. 



Friday, August 3, 2012

Tribal Youth Intern Program Fall 2012


Student Conservation Association -- US Fish & Wildlife Service
Tribal Youth Intern Program Fall 2012
SCA and the US Fish and Wildlife Service have 3 new expense paid internships designed to provide students with Native American and Alaskan Native heritage the opportunity to learn more about conservation science, management, and career options through projects at national wildlife refuges.
Available Internships
            Resource Management Intern
            Huron Wetlands Management District, Huron, SD
(August 6 to October 28, 2012) 

Environmental Education Internship
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Brigham City, UT
(August 27 to November 11, 2012)

Resource Management Internship
National Bison Range Wildlife Refuge, Moiese, MT
(September 3 to November 25, 2012)

The Details
  • 12 week positions
  • At US Fish and Wildlife Service Refuges in South Dakota, Utah and Montana
  • Weekly living allowance of $150
  • Free housing and reimbursement for roundtrip transportation provided
  • Potential AmeriCorps Education Award  ($1,200)
  • Must be 18 or older.
  • Be available Fall 2012
Application Process
Email your name, address, phone number and College/University to:  SCArecruiting@thesca.org with the subject “USFWS Tribal Intern Program”.  Or you may call me and I will coach you through the online application process.

If you would like more information, please contact Mike Dockry or the Sustainable Development Institute. (715-799-6226)


Thursday, August 2, 2012

About SDI Intern, Henry Dodge, In His Own Words



Hi.  My name is Henry Dodge, I am a Menominee Indian.  I would like to tell you a little bit about myself.  I am twenty-seven years old, and I have lived on the reservation all my life. All of my education has been done here on the reservation.  My first day of daycare was here on the reservation.  My first day of Head Start was here on the reservation, and all of my grade schooling has been done here on the reservation.  I am very proud to have all of my schooling done here on my reservation.
                Before I came to college, I worked in the woods as a logger for eight long years.  Working in the woods is not fun.  It is hard work, and if you don’t work you don’t get paid. I liked to get paid, so I work long hours in the woods.  I would work ten to twelve hours days every day.  I had to carry a big saw with me everywhere I went, and in order to run the saw I needed gas and oil.  I had to carry that with me too.  I soon became tired of this work, and I knew I had to find a new job or do something new with my life, so I did.  I knew my reservation had a college, so I might as well start school and see where it would take me. School only did good things for me.  I am now working for the college, and doing what I like to do now, not doing what I have to.       
 I attend the College Of Menominee Nation and am going on my third semester.  I have one semester left, then I will have my first college degree.  I am going to school for sustainable development, but I would like to work with our community more, especially with our youth here on the reservation.  I want to show them what they can do if they try hard and stay out of trouble.  I want them to go to school and get good grades. I have an internship with the sustainable development, which allows me to work with the community, both adults and children. I coordinate summer youth activities such as baseball games, walking clubs, cleaning up the reservation, and more.  I also teach concepts having to do with sustainable development.  Recently, we learned how many trees we breathe in a year, and how much oxygen does a tree give off.  These are just some of the fun educational things we do, and I look forward to doing more with the youth in my position here.