October 24, 2008
Students bring a global perspective to environmental issues
By Claire Gould
Whether studying eco-tourism in Costa
Rica, "demon starfish" in Japan or
sustainable architecture in Germany, six
Connecticut College students share one
common goal: to protect the
environment on an international level.
“Global warming is an international
issue, and no one country can solve the
problem," said Caroline Trowbridge ´09.
Trowbridge is one of six scholars
enrolled in the college´s Toor Cummings
Center for International Studies and the
Liberal Arts (CISLA) who are focusing
their studies on international
environmentalism. CISLA is an
academically challenging program that
allows students to internationalize their
major with intensive language study and
a funded internship abroad. To earn a
certificate in the program, students must
complete a senior project that explores
issues related to a major field, the
international arena and the foreign
language and culture studied.
Seeking a new perspective on
environmental issues, Trowbridge
studied abroad in Tuebingen, Germany,
to learn about the German response to
climate change and global warming. Her
senior project focuses on Tuebingen´s
campaign to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions by 10 percent in the next 10
years. She is especially interested in
aspects of the campaign that might be
applied in the U.S., especially on the
local level.
Sarah Allen ´09, a Hispanic studies and
international relations double major,
spent the summer interning for La
Fundacion Neotropica, the oldest
environmental non-governmental
organization (NGO) in Costa Rica. The
organization aims to improve
sustainability at the grassroots level by
educating school children, farmers and
business owners in local communities.
Allen worked at a satellite office in Osa
Peninsula lodgings as an English-
Spanish translator, and presented
lectures about water contamination and
conservation to local school children.
Her CISLA project focuses on
"ecotourism" as it relates to
environmentally friendly resorts, and
whether or not the resorts are beneficial
to the environment or are simply
marketing tools.
Ingrid Brudvig ´09 interned with the
United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization in Rome, Italy. Her studies
have focused on the soaring prices of
staple foods and their affect on
humanitarian assistance, as well as the
effects of climate change on farming.
After graduation, Brudvig hopes to work
with an NGO providing humanitarian
assistance, crisis response and economic
justice.
As Trowbridge, Allen and Brudvig work
to complete their CISLA projects,
juniors enrolled in the CISLA program
are preparing for their summer
internships and planning for their
integrated projects. Currently abroad,
Ashton Rohmer ´10 is studying
sustainable development in Costa Rica.
She plans to focus her project on the role
of NGOs with regard to endangered
species and species conservation in
Bolivia.
Meanwhile, Peter Friedrichs ´10 is
studying the relationship between
architects, environmentalists and policy
makers in promoting sustainable
architecture and urban planning in cities.
He is studying abroad in Freiburg,
Germany, a renowned center for
sustainable architecture.
Tyler Raymond ´10, a Japanese language
and literature and biological science
double major, plans to research an
evasive sea star on the coral reefs in
Okinawa, Japan, while abroad next
semester. This so-called "demon
starfish" eats corals and is a major
problem for many reefs. Climate change,
human interactions and development
have all been blamed for the exploding
population of this type of sea star.
Raymond said it is important to
recognize the global impact of
environmental issues. "Environmental
issues affect everyone, regardless of
what country you’re from."