Tag Archives: Environment

MIIS Students Innovate Around Monterey County Water Issues

Last week, MIIS hosted the Finals of the Monterey Community Innovation Challenge. Close to 40 students from the Monterey Institute and several from California State University Monterey Bay jumped at the opportunity to participate in the first challenge, “Nor Any Drop to Drink,” focused on finding innovative solutions to Monterey County’s water issues.

The winning team consisted of five Monterey Institute students from the International Environmental Policy degree program: Matthew Nichols (MAIEP ’14), Emily Cluff (MAIEP ’14), Nereyda Montaño (MAIEP ’14), Nate Maynard (MAIEP ’14) and Malcolm Johnson (MAIEP ’14). In their view, Monterey County’s water problem, like most fresh water issues, amounts largely to a problem of communication.

The main goal of the group’s proposal is to achieve communication, collaboration, and coordination via the creation of a community-based organization called the Water Science Trust (WST).

Water Innovation in Monterey County, Student Teams Compete for Prize

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Join us in the Eco-Dome on the MIIS Campus!

Monterey County faces critical fresh water challenges. Some experts argue we are very near absolute limits to growth in agriculture, business, touristic, and domestic use. As the county’s aquifers are tapped, salt water from the ocean infiltrates, contaminating drinking and irrigation supplies. A local problem, yes. But one growing in many localities around the globe.

To foster creative thinking, the Monterey Institute is organizing an Innovation Challenge for Spring 2014. Watch the KION report here! The challenge seeks to illuminate ideas that are:

sustainable across future generations
progressive regarding economic growth
affordable
socially, economically, and politically just, and
compelling to local stakeholders

A panel of external judges will select winners on April 23rd, 2014 at the Final Event of the Innovation Challenge. It is with enthusiasm that we extend an invitation to you to attend the Innovation Challenge Final Presentations, along with a community reception and chance to connect with student presentors, judges, and local stakeholders all interested in tackling Monterey County’s most pressing sustainability issues. The Reception will take place in the Eco-Dome on the MIIS campus – a unique space celebrating Earth Week and brought in by TEDx Monterey. You’ve never experienced hors d’oeuvres like this before!

Student groups brainstorming at MIIS’s Digital Learning Commons (DLC)

Welcome and Happy Hour: 5:00 – 5:45 p.m.
Student Presentations: 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Reception, Eco-Dome Mingle, Winners Announced! : 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Among the judges will be local stakeholders, so the practical value and feasibility of the idea to them will be critical to your success. The winning team will take home a $2,500 prize. The competition aims to encourage students to reach across degree silos, enhance collaboration, capitalize on a variety of classes, and promote interdisciplinarity. MIIS has partnered with with The Sustainability Academy on this event, with co-sponsorship and participation at the event from professionals affiliated with The Big Sur Land Trust, Carmel River Watershed Conservancy, Cal-Am Water, Eco Carmel, Mussey Grade Foundation, the Offset Project, Sustainable Carmel and more.

Visit the Water Challenge Website or go to the MIIS Newsroom to learn more!

MIIS Report on US Coastal Economies Lauded by Congressman Farr

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—National Ocean Economics Program Director Dr. Judith Kildow, Congressman Sam Farr, and Center for the Blue Economy Director Dr. Jason Scorse, who also serves as program chair of the Institute‘s International Environmental Policy program.

Presenting the 2014 State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies report at a press conference in Monterey on Monday, Dr. Judith Kildow, director of the National Ocean Economics Program at the Monterey Institute‘s Center for the Blue Economy, noted the imbalance between the economic importance of coasts and coastal oceans and the federal support for stewardship of these resources. According to the report, coastal states supply over 81 percent of American jobs and contribute $13 trillion to the economy, or 84 percent of GDP.

Rep. Farr lauded the NOEP report and said it was a very important contribution to the policy debate because it placed real economic value to our coastal resources. He said he was particularly happy that this important work was being done at the Monterey Institute, where he “went to study Spanish before joining the Peace Corps and going to Colombia.” Farr said there simply was “no place like MIIS anywhere.”

The press conference was covered by leading local news station KSBW and the Monterey County Weekly, and also mentioned in the Monterey Herald. For more on the the State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies 2014, visit oceaneconomics.org. The report can be downloaded here.

Marine Policy Speaker Series

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We extend a special invitation to the eMIISsaries to attend the next installment in the Marine Policy Speaker Series, Can you hear me now? The Use of Passive Acoustic Methods for Monitoring and Mitigation of Marine Mammal Populations

Tuesday, October 8, 2013, 6 – 7:30pm
McGowan Building, MG102

Join the Monterey Institute’s Center for the Blue Economy for a talk by Julie Oswald (Bio-Waves Inc.): Can you hear me now? The Use of Passive Acoustic Methods for Monitoring and Mitigation of Marine Mammal Populations.