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  • Article Item
    As a Water Quality Monitor with Anacostia Riverkeeper, Lindsay took water samples along the Anacostia Watershed to analyze bacteria levels.
    Marketing expert and OMNR student Lindsay Kuczera gets her feet wet in sustainability science. , article

    Going back to school is often a humbling experience, and can feel risky, especially if you have already established a successful career. Online MNR student Lindsay Kuczera didn’t let comfort get in the way of pursuing a new passion for sustainability. In fact, she found a way to use the combined power of her communications expertise and the MNR coursework to make the leap in her career less daunting.

    Date: Mar 16, 2021
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    barn photo
    Leading climate adaptation in rural America , article

    Rural economies and environments are being eroded by climate change, but many communities lack the political will and resources to respond. Dr. Bruce Hull shares the work of several sustainability professionals who are leading climate adaptation efforts in rural communities across the country.

    Date: Jan 19, 2021
  • Article Item
    Coastal cities, like Virginia Beach, are prioritizing resilience planning to address the threat of sea level rise.
    XMNR students and alumni put the concept of climate resilience into practice , article

    “‘Resilience’ has become a recurring theme, not only in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in the way that we tackle climate change and sustainable development,” points out recent XMNR alum Garrett Davidson in his post about Resilient Virginia, a non-profit working on accelerating resiliency planning in communities across the state.

    Date: Jan 05, 2021
  • Article Item
    Can the pandemic force us to build better food systems?
    Can the pandemic force us to build better food systems? , article

    “Exploring the space where landscape architecture and urban planning overlap, I seek to understand causes and explore solutions to social injustice from a different perspective. Food policy, food systems resilience, and urban agriculture are the areas of deep interest to me,” says Lynda S. Ramirez-Blust, a student in our Urban Ecology course.

    Date: Nov 12, 2020
  • Article Item
    Virginia Beach, VA. Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, United States. Wikimedia Commons
    Virginia Beach: bracing for local impact of global climate change , article

    “Climate change is a global phenomenon, but its effects reflect local and regional conditions. Developing and selecting adaptation strategies that reflect geographic idiosyncrasies, as well as the needs and values of multiple stakeholders, isn’t always easy,” writes Jennie Hoffman, marine ecologist and one of the newest XMNR faculty members.

    Date: Oct 13, 2020
  • Article Item
    A mural of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm by Brooklyn muralist Danielle Mastrion. Photo: National Park Service
    XMNR alum celebrates one year as environmental director of a transformed Brooklyn park , article

    XMNR alum Tim Howell talks about managing the Shirley Chisholm State Park, a large urban park in Brooklyn, NY; the importance of access to nature for city residents during the pandemic; and how the MNR program experience gave him the confidence and leadership skills necessary to step into a new role of Deputy Park Director.

    Date: Sep 24, 2020
  • Article Item
    Green infrastructure: construction, communication, and community
    Green infrastructure: construction, communication, and community , article

    Operating in Prince George’s County, Maryland, the Clean Water Partnership (CWP) is one of the most innovative green infrastructure programs in the country and a great example of a successful Community Based Public Private Partnership or CBP3. Students in our Executive Master of Natural Resources (XMNR) program have an opportunity to meet with and learn from the partners during their coursework on advanced leadership skills, such as building partnerships and cross-sector collaborations.

    Date: Aug 20, 2020
  • Article Item
    Pyramids of Giza
    Global Study, Part 3: How Egypt Changed My Sustainability Perspective , article

    In November 2019, Executive Master of Natural Resources Jerry Headley traveled to Egypt with his XMNR cohort to take an in-depth look at environmental sustainability issues in the Cairo and greater Nile River Valley regions. Egypt is an especially relevant country to study as it faces many sustainability challenges, including: overpopulation of urban areas, water scarcity, pollution, and an underdeveloped infrastructure, just to name a few. Students have been studying sustainability issues for months in their classrooms in Arlington, VA. Like the rest of his classmates, Jerry was excited to be in the country and attempt to couple a sense of experience with his newfound knowledge. Little did he know just how important this would prove to be.

    Date: Feb 19, 2020
  • Article Item
    Global Study, Egypt, Part 2: Traveling More Sustainably, a Beginner’s Guide
    Global Study, Egypt, Part 2: Traveling More Sustainably, a Beginner’s Guide , article

    XMNR alum Jessi Savioli reflects on sustainability of travel and offers tips and ideas for the conscientious traveler. "There is nothing I enjoy more in this world than travel," she says. "Whether it is exploring the far-reaching wild spaces in my own country or getting lost in a foreign culture on another continent, I feel positively alive. But how do we, as sustainability professionals, do this in a way that doesn’t effectively 'cancel out' all of our efforts and hard work? How can we travel in a way that is as ethical and responsible? And how can we consider ourselves to be 'global citizens' when travel can cause so much damage?"

    Date: Feb 12, 2020
  • Article Item
    A farmer and his sons at the Island of Besaw in Egypt prepare the land for agricultural production.
    Global Study, Egypt, Part 1: Climate Change, Water, and Agriculture , article

    Nguyen Le works for the Chesapeake Bay Trust, a nonprofit grant-making organization focusing on the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In the fall of 2019, she visited Egypt as part of her XMNR cohort's Global Study, a standard module in all our graduate programs where students have an opportunity to apply academic knowledge to real-world global sustainability challenges. In this post, Nguyen reflects on her experiences in Egypt and the leadership capabilities and confidence she gained in the XMNR program.

    Date: Feb 04, 2020

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