2019 Rachel Carson Campus Fellows and Stanback Interns Articles
UNC Asheville Fossil Fuel Divestment: Four Years of Action
Kelsey Hall
12-19-19
The UNC Asheville divestment campaign started in 2015, which for many was the height of active university fossil fuel divestment campaigns surrounding the energy of the Peoples’ Climate March. The movement started with a passionate and dedicated group of Asheville students citing three major tenets for divestment: that our school’s investments should be in accordance with our mission and student values; universities should benefit communities in the long and short term; and fossil fuel investments carry increasing environmental, social and economic risk. Click here to read more
A Little Fish and a Very Big Pipeline
Laura Cross
11-22-19
The Roanoke logperch lives in the pebble stream bottoms of the Roanoke river tributaries. A small green and yellow fish, known mostly to people local to the Roanoke Valley watershed, it’s a bottom dweller that lays its eggs and makes its home in stream beds. The logperch officially became endangered in 1989 after several large reservoirs and dams built in the 1950s and 1960s dramatically reduced its population. Today this endangered species faces yet another threat to thriving in the Roanoke Valley watershed — the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Click here to read more
Awareness is Not Action
Zakaria Kronemer
11-22-19
The first time I heard the words “climate change,” I was thirteen years old. My older brother urged my parents to take us to a documentary called “An Inconvenient Truth.” I lamented as our parents loaded us into the car to go see it. I don’t remember being affected much by Al Gore’s forklift-sized graphs. But the words — climate change—have echoed through my life ever since.
It was another six years before I heard the words “climate movement.” And I kept hearing it. But I didn’t know what this thing was, or where it was, or how to be a part of it. In my second year at university, those questions drove me to a conference in Pittsburgh called National Powershift. Click here to read more
How Would You Resist a Natural Gas Pipeline in Your Backyard?
Michael James-Deramo
10-28-19
I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Southwest Virginia in Montgomery County. I grew up playing in the forests of Brush Mountain, and later hiking the trails of Peters Mountain. I grew up to the smell of earth and woke to the sound of birds. Then, the place where I grew up became a neighbor to the proposed crossing of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Click here to read more.
Let ‘em Spawn, Before They’re Gone
Jenny Sab
10-22-19
North Carolina is known for the beauty of its Atlantic beaches and coast that first inspired Rachel Carson. “What Might Have Been” But tourism to the fabled Outer Banks is just one part of the economy on which North Carolina depends. Fishing for fun and for business — is critical to the Tar Heel State.
Unfortunately, fish numbers of six commercially important species are in decline, especially from overfishing. Reproduction is vital to maintaining population numbers, but some marine fish in North Carolina do not have the opportunity to spawn before they are caught. Click here to read more.
Climate Justice Rally in Asheville, North Carolina
Kelsey Hall
10-21-19
We are in the midst of the largest global movement towards climate action ever seen, thanks to the persistence and passion of young leaders around the world, including sixteen-year-old Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg.
In late September, students, young people, and activists around the world in support of climate action participated in strikes, walkouts, and demonstrations. The support for and participation in these events were unprecedented, with estimates from organizers of over seven million people taking part, including some 12,000 climate strikes in the U.S. Click here to read more.
Suffering Silently: University Food Insecurity on the UNC-Wilmington Campus
Julianna Tresca
10-14-19
Growing up in an Italian household where there was always food in the kitchen and my plate was always full, with my mom constantly calling, “Mangia! Mangia!” telling me to eat in Italian has always been a constant part of my life. I’ve never gone hungry. I’ve never had to wonder where a meal may come from and I have always had healthy options for my meals. I learned how to be passionate about food early in my life and I learned how to cook from my mother; how to cook recipes passed down from my grandmother and other generations before me. Click here to read more.
