Sustaining the Blue Planet

APPLY FOR A CBEEN BURSARY TO ATTEND SUSTAINING THE BLUE PLANET!

The first conference that connects water education and the wider world is in Bozeman, Montana September 13-16, 2011.

Register Now!

Sustaining the Blue Planet will bring educators, corporate sustainability experts, water resource managers, policy makers and more to discuss how water education can impact communities and change lives. Scheduled presenters include representatives from USAID, Intel, NASA, Nestle Waters, Microsoft, UN HABITAT, UNESCO-IHP and more, with registrants hailing from more than 20 U.S. states and 17 foreign countries.

To learn more about the conference and its scheduled events, download the brochure or visit the website. 

Call for Awards Nominations: Generate 2011

Deadline: July 22nd, 2011
Do you know someone who deserves special recognition for a job well done or an outstanding achievement in the clean energy Industry? Please consider the nomination process below and make sure they get that recognition.
Clean Energy BC has four specific annual awards available plus discretionary Merit Awards recognizing individuals and companies that have excelled in their field of discipline. Nominations should be submitted by July 22, 2011. Send us your submission by email or mail.
Send email forms to Lisa Bateman (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)). If you prefer to print and mail your letter, please address your letter to:

Chairman, Awards Committee
Clean Energy BC
1230-888 Dunsmuir Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 3K4

Fax: 604.568.4724

Environmental Stewardship and Community Improvement Award

This award is intended to recognize exceptional accomplishments on the part of individuals or companies in contributing to environmental stewardship, sustainable development and community improvement. Design of facilities to minimize environmental impact, design of environmental or community programs or involvement and promotion of communities are examples of award nominations.

Other awards include the Project Excellence Award, the Finance Award, the Community of the Year Award and merit awards.

For complete details click here.

Special opportunities for students to attend Clean Energy BC’s Generate 2011 conference

Clean Energy BC has exciting opportunities for students to participate in their upcoming annual conference, Generate 2011 - Clean Energy: Backbone of a Sustainable Economy on September 25th-27th, 2011 in Vancouver. ()
Opportunity 1:
The Conference Committee is seeking student participation in a poster board competition during the Clean Energy Association of BC’s annual conference, Generate 2011, in Vancouver for a chance to win $750. The deadline for registration is September 16th 2011. Please click here for more information.
Opportunity 2:
Clean Energy BC also has a special student rate for a 3 day conference package at only $50 (regularly $1,075 for non-members). Please register online at http://www.cleanenergybc.org/conferences/generate_2011/. This is an excellent opportunity to network with the delegates and attendees involved in the renewable energy industry in BC and North America.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Project Specialist Yuho Okada at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 250-616-7924.

More info here.

Now’s your chance to name a lichen!

New Lichen Species Names to be Auctioned off as Environmental Fundraisers to Protect British Columbia’s Wilderness Areas

Naming rights to a recently discovered species of lichen will be auctioned off as a fundraiser for The Land Conservancy (TLC) of British Columbia (www.conservancy.bc.ca), working to purchase private lands in the Clearwater River Valley adjacent to Wells Gray Provincial Park.

The lichen species was discovered in B.C. in recent years by botanical researcher Trevor Goward. Since then its identity as undescribed species has been supported by two teams of molecular researchers working in Finland and Spain. According to scientific protocol, the right to give a new species its scientific name goes to the person who describes it. However, an online auction running TLC’s website into the fall will earn the highest bidders the right to name this lichen - whether after loved ones, themselves, or whomever they choose.

“Having your name linked to a living species is a legacy that lasts,” says botanist and taxonomist Goward. “It has been almost three centuries since the modern system of biological classification was developed by Carolus Linnaeus; and even now the names of people after whom he christened various plants and animals are still with us. With any luck your name will endure as long as our civilization does. Not even Shakespeare could hope for more than that.”

Lichens are small, stationary organisms often mistaken for plants, but better thought of as cooperative (symbiotic) unions of fungi and algae: www.waysofenlichenment.net. Instead of invading or scavenging like other fungi, lichen fungi live off sugars from tiny photosynthetic algal cells maintained within the body of the lichen. Lichens are sometimes thought of as fungi that have discovered agriculture: www.waysofenlichenment.net/ways/readings/essay1.

Many lichens are sensitive to pollution and disturbance and become rare in urbanized and industrialized landscapes. The conversion of old-growth forests to tree plantations is taking a particularly heavy toll on the abundance and diversity of lichens in British Columbia. Some lichens provide critical winter food for animals like mountain caribou in B.C.’s inland rainforests and black-tailed deer in B.C.’s coastal rainforests.

Lichens come in many shapes and sizes. The lichen on loan to the Land Conservancy is a Parmelia or “Crottle Lichen”, consisting of strap-like lobes pale greyish above and black below. It inhabits the branches of trees, and grows in the Clearwater Valley, where TLC is working with Goward to create a critical wildlife corridor for southern Wells Gray Park: www.waysofenlichenment.net/wells/corridor.

Goward is an internationally acclaimed lichenologist who has described about two dozen species and genera of lichens, mostly in western Canada. He is curator of lichens at the University of British Columbia and author of several books. His work can be found at: www.waysofenlichenment.net/portal . Goward lives in the Clearwater Valley near Wells Gray Provincial Park north of Kamloops, B.C. Recently Goward has come out in support of environmental groups, starting with The Land Conservancy, by auctioning off some of his newly discovered species through the process he refers to as “taxonomic tithing”: www.waysofenlichenment.net/tithe/home .
“I whole-heartedly support efforts to set aside biologically critical portions of B.C.’s forestlands. Putting my new species up for auction for this highly-deserving environmental organization allows me to give something back to my home province,” says Goward.

“In partnership with Trevor, TLC is raising funds to create a permanent wildlife corridor that connects two separate portions of southern Wells Gray Provincial Park. The acquisition will include two significant donations of land by Trevor and his neighbours and the purchase of three further parcels. This naming auction will help support our campaign and we would like to thank Trevor for choosing TLC. Trevor’s passion and commitment to protecting B.C.’s special places is commendable,” says Barry Booth, TLC Northern Regional Manager. “In addition to the wildlife corridor, this project will also protect vital wetlands and a meadow that is home to Canada’s most diverse population of Moonwort Ferns. TLC and its partners need to raise $350,000 to complete the initial stages of this project.”

Those who want to make a bid to have one of the new species named after themselves or a loved one should visit The Land Conservancy at www.conservancy.bc.ca or phone 1-877-485-2422.

For more information, please contact:

Barry Booth, TLC Northern Regional Manager, 250-564-2064, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Trevor Goward, Lichenologist, 250-674-2553, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Calling all artists and creative souls for Peace Energy Co-Op Art Contest

Summer is finally here in the beautiful Peace Region. The rain has ceased, the winds are blowing and the countryside has never looked greener.

Peace Energy Cooperative hopes all is well in your communities and would like to challenge you to unleash your creative side and enter our art and photo contest titled: Nature’s Energy - The Beauty and Power of Renewable Energy’.

People everywhere are talking and thinking about the environment so this is a great way for individuals and families to get out and enjoy nature then share their experiences through creating an artistic statement. There is no entry fee, any art medium is welcome, the contest is open to everyone (so tell all your friends) and there are some fantastic prizes to win:

• First prize:  $500
• Second prize: $250
• Members’ Choice:  Framed print of your entry
• Best Youth Entry, Grades 8 - 12: Fuel cell car kit from Northern Toy Box
• Best Youth Entry, Grades K - 7: Working wind turbine model kit from Northern Toy Box

Contest closes October 31, 2011, so there is lots of time to enter often!
Have fun and enjoy nurturing that right side of your brain!

Click here for the contest poster and submission guidelines.
—
Nicola Peacey, Executive Director    

Peace Energy - A Renewable Energy Cooperative
Box 2567, Dawson Creek, BC, V1G 5A1
Phone (250) 782-3882
Fax (250) 782-3884
http://www.peaceenergy.ca