MES Thesis and Internship Defense announcements for Spring 2008 are listed here

This orientation gives incoming MES Students a chance to meet their fellow first-year students, some faculty members, and representatives from MESSA (the MES Student Association). Additional information is provided about the MES Program, and students will have a chance to ask any questions they may have.

The Graduate School Office will highlight graduate student research projects from various College of Charleston Master’s Programs at the Second Annual Graduate Research Poster Session. The Poster Session will be held in the Stern Center Ballroom (moved from Alumni Hall) on Thursday, January 10th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.

Six MES students will present their posters:

The College of Charleston Board of Trustees and the campus community are all invited to the Poster Session. The best poster presentation from each school will be chosen at the poster session. The winning posters will be highlighted on the Graduate School website and the authors of the winning posters will each receive a $250 honorarium.

All MES faculty, new and returning students, and friends and family, are invited to celebrate the start of the school year event. This is an opportunity not only to catch-up with old friends, but also to meet new people!

The event will be held UPSTAIRS at Henry's on the Market. Henry's is located at 54 N Market Street (corner of Market and Anson).

MESSA will provide hors d'œuvres and drinks will be available at the bar.

Be sure to dress to impress! If you have any questions please contact Stefanie Huffer for details.

This is the Sixth Annual Master of Environmental Studies Student Association (MESSA) 8K Run/Walk to preserve and improve water quality in the Charleston area.

All proceeds from the 8K for H2O will be donated to Friends of the Edisto (FRED). Friends of the Edisto was established in 1998 to facilitate conservation of natural and cultural resources and advocate sustainable development within the Edisto River Basin of South Carolina. FRED plans on using the donated money to improve H2O quality and provide education and outreach to the residents and many users of the Edisto River Basin. Two members of the FRED Board are MES alumni - David Lansbury and Alan Flemming!

Remember to bring your checkbook on raceday to take part in the official 8K Silent Auction. Items for auction include: an Urban Nirvana gift certificate, Kiawah Resort kayak tours, Sandlapper Boat Harbor tour, various restaurant gift certificates, and matted prints from a local photographer.

Visit the 8K for H2O Website for more information and registration details.

The Christian-Jewish Council of Greater Charleston will hold a provocative discussion entitled “The Stewardship of the Earth.” This topic relates to the caring and protecting of the environment, and being responsible for how we use it. It is a topic that cuts across the religious spectrum, and about which all persons of faith are rightly concerned.

Topic: The Stewardship of the Earth
Speaker: Dana Beach, Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation League
Date: Thursday, February 28, 2008
Time: 7:00 PM start
Location: Synagogue Emanu-El, 5 Windsor Drive, Charleston

Light refreshments will be served. This program is free and open to the entire community.

The Christian-Jewish Council of Greater Charleston is an organization that seeks to build bridges of understanding to promote sensitivity, tolerance, respect and fellowship among all faith groups.

The Role of Imagination in The Appreciation of Natural Beauty
Ronald Moore, University of Washington

Modern-day philosophic reflection on natural beauty is dominated by three dogmas. First, that our appreciation of natural objects must be guided by categories supplied by natural science. Second, that aesthetic regard for nature is altogether independent of aesthetic regard for art. And third, that imagination should play no role in judgments of natural beauty because it is inherently unbounded and unreliable. I believe all three dogmas are mistaken.

I will argue that proper appreciation of natural objects often requires departure from scientific categories, that natural and artistic aesthetics can be mutually reinforcing, and that imagination supplies important components in appropriate appreciation of natural beauty. Moreover, I will argue that imagination's role in natural beauty judgments provides a key element in the process whereby we become both aesthetic and moral adults.

Sponsored by the Philosophy Department
Co-Sponsored by the Environmental Studies Minor and the MES Program

On Thin Ice: Polar Bears, Probability, and Climate Warming's Implicit Lesson
Arnold Hall - Jewish Studies Center - 96 Wentworth Street

Join the MES Program for the third annual Environmental Speakers Lecture:

On Thin Ice: Polar Bears, Probability, and Climate Warming's Implicit Lesson

Walter Rosenbaum, University of Florida

This public lecture will examine how climate warming is elevating the importance of the Precautionary Principle as an alternative to our present approach to risk analysis, why the Principle is also risky, and how we can better educate ourselves to use it.

Walter Rosenbaum received his Ph.D. from Princeton University.  He is currently Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Florida and the Interim Director of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida. In recent years, he has also been a Visiting Professor in the Program in the Environment at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and the Environment; a Visiting Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School, a Visiting Scholar at Harvard's Center for International Studies, and an Adjunct Research Professor in School of Environmental Medicine at Tulane University.

He is the author of numerous articles and books concerning environmental policy, energy policy, and environmental risk assessment. He has been an environmental consultant to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Environmental Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the South Florida Everglades Restoration Task Force.  He has served twice on the staff of the U.S. EPA, the last time as Special Assistant to the Assistant Administrator for Policy Planning.

The MES Environmental Speaker Program is an annual lecture series sponsored by the School of Sciences and Mathematics and the Graduate School Office at the College of Charleston.

For additional information, contact the MES Program Office at (843) 953-2000.

If you are planning to graduate this May, you must apply for Spring 2008 graduation (even if you do not plan to attend the ceremony) by

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1st

Graduation applications are only accepted online via CougarTrail, and access to the online application will close after the graduation deadline.

Students who apply after the deadline will have to pay an additional $25 (for a total of $50) and apply in person at the Graduate School Office, located in Suite 310 in Randolph Hall.

Students who are eligible for graduation should receive an email from the Graduate School Office with all relevant graduation information.

You can also find graduation information online at:
www.cofc.edu/gradschool/current/graduation.php

This site has complete graduation information from the Graduate School Office, including what you will need to do if you plan to take part in the Commencement Ceremony on May 9th (including such items as what color hood to ask for when ordering your MES regalia at the bookstore: Gold).

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Also - remember that your final, completed theses or internship reports must be submitted by the close of business on Friday, April 25th. This means that you should plan to hold your defense by April 11th at the latest, in order to leave time for final corrections, etc. And don't forget to turn in your "Defense Notification Form" two weeks in advance of your Defense date!

The appropriate paper for the Internship Reports can be found at the CofC Bookstore. You turn in your Internship copies, already bound, at the MES Office.

The Thesis copies are submitted electronically. Note that the electronic copy of the thesis title page should not have signatures or signature lines on it, and that a completed “Thesis Release” form must be submitted with the signature page. Please see http://dissertations.umi.com/cofc/ to begin the online submission process.

How to format your Internship report? http://www.cofc.edu/~environ/intern.htm

How to format your Thesis? http://www.cofc.edu/~environ/thesis.htm

For additional information, contact:

Mark McConnel
Program Coordinator
Master of Environmental Studies Program
College of Charleston
66 George Street
Charleston, SC 29424
Phone: (843) 953-2000
www.cofc.edu/~environ