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March 5, 2001

New environmental website
makes debut

 

Tim Bryson is South Asian studies librarian
for Woodruff Library.

 

On Jan. 15, the Ad Hoc Committee on Environmental Stewardship launched its website at www.environment.emory.edu, reflecting the committee’s mission to “foster stewardship of University resources and to improve the environmental quality of life at Emory.”

Visitors to the site will immediately note the animated aerial photo montage that slowly alternates between views of the predominantly forested campus of 1930 and the predominantly urban Emory of 2001. This technological feat of web programming subtly frames the concern around which the entire site is oriented: the past, present and future of Emory’s natural environment.

In its comparatively short life since the fall of 1999, the committee’s volunteer membership of faculty, staff and students boasts an impressive number of accomplishments: They have organized nature walks, started a forest restoration project in Baker Woodlands, attended conferences, drafted a Campus Environmental Policy, and, as part of the Reconcilia-tion Symposium, organized a panel and designed a walking tour brochure. (Furthering its reconciliation-themed activities, the committee will sponsor a workshop, “Nurturing a Green University,” March 22–23.)

Volunteers stay in touch via the “Envirostew” listserv. The website adds a new dimension by providing a stable and accessible locus for information; in addition, it offers visual and textual enhancements in order to reach out to all members of the campus community.

From the home page, visitors can link to other environmental units on campus such as the Committee on the Environment, the student organization ECOSEAC, Emory Recycles and the Friends of Emory Forest. All these groups have distinctive missions but share a common concern for the natural environment on and off campus.

“Ecology of Emory,” one of the major sections on the Ad Hoc Committee’s site, presents a history of the local ecosystem as well as the campus policies that have alternately preserved or destroyed it. If visitors want more photos, they can link to the slide show page in this section and select from several series documenting plant and animal life on campus, as well as construction and restoration projects.

Of special interest to many is the “Spring Watch” series, in which photos of plants appear as they bloom over the course of the season.

“Green Facts” offers data on our environmental impact as individuals and as citizens of the campus, nation and planet. In this section, users can interact with animated calculators to figure out how much they individually contribute to pollution or consumption of our natural resources.

Other sections give suggestions for practicing environmental stewardship both on campus and individually at home, and connect the user to environmental programs on campus, in the community and in the world at large. Also available are a summary of environmental laws, local and international environmental news updates, and reading lists.

Back at the home page, viewers can click on the animated news ticker for a complete list of upcoming events. A search box allows users to locate any information in the site.

The comprehensiveness of the site’s content reflects the enthusiasm of committee volunteers (especially Peggy Barlett, Ron Foust and Karen Mumford), and the sophistication of its design reflects the skill of the Information Technology Division’s Teaching and Research Interactive Team (Lee Clontz, Norman Hulme, Julia Leon, Shannon O’Daniel and Marianne Schneider), who designed the site as a group project. Suggestions and comments may be sent to environment@emory.edu.

 

 

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