Dear all, Thanks for this interesting discussion... of course as academics teaching environmental curricula, we are introspective and self-questioning about our choices and the example we set (perhaps more so than others working in the environmental field such as government employees and NGOs, it would be interesting to see a comparison of travel/carbon footprints in different professions).
Having worked in the non-profit sector as well (environmental NGOs), I join the voices here that are frustrated about the amount of air travel that is expected in both of these fields. On the one hand it's exciting that there are more and more conferences being organized, but on the other hand there is (in my view) a lot of redundancy and talking, without a lot of action. I am not including academic society conferences in that statement, they are a different beast altogether. Now that I am teaching at a small liberal arts school with limits on how much teaching time I am permitted to miss during the semester, I have narrowed down the amount of travel I do, and like others on this thread, I try to combine research within it. However there are two paradoxes we face - first, as academics in an interdisciplinary field, we need/want to try to experience other perspectives on environmental issues (I am a member of UK and US geographic societies as well as ISA and the Society for Conservation Biology, for example). We are therefore faced with a challenging choice about which conferences to attend. And second, for junior academics (like me) or others who are trying to build their reputations both within and outside of academia, we are increasingly called on to participate in expert workshops and other events that happen in between the larger society meetings. While cost of travel is often a limiting factor for me (!), if I did have unlimited funds for attending these events, I would feel torn about my potential contribution to the applied side of environmental policy, versus the carbon emissions this action entails. I like Raul's idea of offsets, and I've seen that offered at some meetings as well (as part of the registration fee). Thus I think It's a complex problem and I'm enjoying seeing how many different perspectives on it are percolating here in this thread. I'm not sure we'll find a perfect solution anytime soon, but it's important that we are willing to be adaptive in the way we look at the issue. Best, Elizabeth Elizabeth M. De Santo, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Franklin & Marshall College Lancaster, PA On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 2:42 PM, Ronald Mitchell <[email protected]> wrote: > Without engaging the specific conference-related questions here, I will > mention that I (as others, I am sure) have found that some portion of the > objectives of NON-conference travel can often be accomplished via Skype – I > have done guest lectures, workshop presentations, and even a book > manuscript “scrub” via Skype. My gut estimate is that Skyping allows me to > reap about 70-80% of the benefits while reducing the costs to myself and > the planet by about 80-90%. That said, this choice is easier for me, as I > have tenure. [Also, from my perspective, the discussion and exchange on the > list is valuable even if we disagree.] > > > > I will also note that my emissions have grown over the years largely due > to income not travel – I tend to like pay raises and tend to spend them on > carbon-emitting activities. I am working on it… L > > > > Lastly, a recent U-Oregon audit shows the following: about 40% of UO > emissions come from faculty, staff, etc. air travel. Click the pic for the > full video. > > Ron > > > > <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8a2T0oeAWw> > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *Ronnie Lipschutz > *Sent:* Sunday, December 07, 2014 10:29 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Cc:* [email protected]; Wil Burns; Paul Harris; > [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [gep-ed] Virtues of academic conferences > > > > I suppose that the question ought to be posed differently: individual > choice vs. collective action or mobilization? Consumer choice or mass > action? Clearly, as a single person on a scheduled flight, one makes > little difference. But as Arlo Guthrie once pointed out, "If a whole bunch > of people sing it [Alice's Restaurant]. it'll be a social movement!" (or > something to that effect). If academics were to begin a movement to change > the social practices expected of us, the cumulative impact could be > considerable and that would stand as a shared commitment. > > Now, I am not without sin, since, for ISA, I plan to fly to Houston, drive > to New Orleans for one day and back, and fly home from Houston. (Not > really what I want to do, but I made a commitment to be on one panel this > year.) Yes, I am being hypocritical on this and would dearly love to find > a way to interact with colleagues and not have to fly hither and thither. > > Ronnie > > > > On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 10:19 AM, John M. Meyer <[email protected]> > wrote: > > My question is both broader and narrower than the one that Paul begins > with. > > > > If a conference comes relatively close to me -- within a manageable day's > drive (say 5 hours... for me that means San Francisco), it often feels like > a less substantial climate impact to drive there and attend (sorry, no > ready bus or train options, though carpooling can be feasible) than it does > to fly to a more distant transcontinental or international destination for > the same the same or similar event. > > > > ...and yet: when I fly to the more distant destination, I take a seat on > already scheduled airlines and -- wherever possible -- local public > transit. In that sense, the far longer trip generates far fewer > 'new' carbon emissions, etc., than the shorter trip does. > > > > Is one better than the other? I pose the question not just as one of > individual responsibility. But surely one approach, assuming Paul's is not > an argument for eliminating all face-to-face meetings, is for concentrating > these at the regional level. Yet it seems plausible that, at least in the > US and other countries without robust public transit infrastructure, this > might generate more 'new' emissions than a more distant national or > international conference. > > > > Is this distinction between otherwise scheduled and new emissions sound? > Is it morally and or politically relevant in this case? > > > > John > > > On Sunday, December 7, 2014, Raul Pacheco-Vega <[email protected]> > wrote: > > In the interest of disclosure, I sit on the Executive Committee of the > Environmental Studies Section of ISA and I'm the Chair of the Professional > Development Committee of AESS. And I travel quite a lot for field research > and other academic workshops, so I am hardly an unbiased commenter. I do > buy carbon offsets, though (this in no way makes me any less responsible > for my carbon emissions, but at least I do try to offset and reduce them). > > > > I sit on the side of "there are very significant benefits to meeting > face-to-face rather than online". I do a lot of online (WebEx, GoToMeeting, > Skype, FaceTime) meetings, and with the rare exception of (OMG, a non-Jobs > fan about to gush) FaceTime, I find almost every single model of > non-face-to-face meeting sorely lacking. > > > > I wrote a defense of large-scale conferences a while ago > > > http://www.raulpacheco.org/2014/04/in-defense-of-large-academic-conferences-my-post-isa2014-reflections/ > > > > Like DG, I combine my large-scale academic conferences with fieldwork (as > I did in Japan with IASC 2013, Uruguay with CLAD 2013, Toronto with ISA > 2014 and Madrid with GIGAPP 2014). I also try to go to way fewer > conferences than I used to do. But it's always important to keep it in > mind. > > > > On the personal side of things, there are quite a lot of downsides to > extensive academic travel. I also wrote about that. > > http://www.raulpacheco.org/2013/11/the-downsides-of-academic-travel/ > > > > Thanks for the reminder! > > > > Best, > > Raul > > > > > _____________________________________________________________________ > > Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vega > > Assistant Professor, Public Administration Division > > Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas, A.C (CIDE, A.C.) > > Campus Región Centro > > Circuito Tecnopolo Norte S/N, Col. Hacienda Nueva > > Aguascalientes, Ags. 20313, Mexico > > Tel. (+52-449) 994-5150 x 5196 > > Cel. (+52-449) 280-2484 > > Website <http://www.raulpacheco.org> - Twitter > <http://www.twitter.com/raulpacheco> - Facebook > <http://www.facebook.com/drpachecovega> - CIDE webpage > <http://cide.edu/investigador/profile.php?IdInvestigador=1266> > > > > Read my publications: On Academia.Edu > <http://cide.academia.edu/RaulPachecoVega> On ResearchGate > <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raul_Pacheco-vega> On Mendeley > <http://www.mendeley.com/profiles/raul-pacheco-vega/> > > My citations: Available on Google Scholar > <http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7mn6g3oAAAAJ&hl=en> > > > > Associate Editor, Journal of Environmental Sciences and Studies > <http://link.springer.com/journal/13412> > > > > On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 10:27 AM, Ronnie Lipschutz <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Oops! There's that old collective action problem again: I contribute so > little that my stopping would hardly matter. > > I know there are people looking into conferencing with robots. You get to > control your little unit, complete with camera, video screen, card printer > and alcohol denaturer at sites kitted out for remote conferencing. No > extortionate hotel rooms, no high-priced cookies and no air travel torture. > Hallway encounters are still possible (although bedroom encounters are not). > > Of course the life cycle emissions of such a system would be fairly great, > but this is a "reusable" arrangement that can be used again and again. I > admit it's not like face-to-face encounters, but... > > Best, > > Ronnie > > > > Ronnie > > > > On Sat, Dec 6, 2014 at 7:53 PM, Wil Burns <[email protected]> wrote: > > OK, Paul, I'll bite on this topic, especially since you've raised it to me > in my role as President of the Association of Environmental Studies & > Sciences in the past. At the risk of being subsequently castigated by you > as one of those people living in "willful ignorance," I'd respond as > follows: > > 1. A recent study pegged the CO2 emissions associated with the annual > presentation of ALL scientific papers at 0.003% of total annual travel > emissions ( > http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0066508). > Dare I say that total suspension of Environmental Studies/GEP conference > travel would be little more than a symbolic gesture? > 2. While you minimize the value of face to face interactions with > scholars, and indicate that electronic means of interaction would yield > commensurate results, I think that's a bit simplistic. Undoubtedly, we all > could sit in our offices and watch each other make conference presentations > on Skype. However, some of the most productive time that I've spent at > conferences has been chatting in the hallways, and yes, bars, with > colleagues, deriving new insights on environmental issues, hatching crazy > schemes that sometimes come to fruition and may prove beneficial in some > small ways. These are often happenstance encounters that I daresay would > not occur in the halcyonic virtual world you sketch out in your posting; > 3. Yes, young scholars often do spend a lot of time on their iphones and > other electronic devices, but for me that’s yet another justification for > in-person conferences. Such events help us to convey our passion for the > field, our humanity, in ways that speaking to each other on a screen will > never convey. Conferences are also a critical venue for networking for > young people that can never totally be substituted for electronically; > 4. Every effort should be made to reduce the carbon footprint of > conferences. AESS has a committee researching such approaches, as does many > other organizations. What these efforts can communicate to our students, > and to the public, is that we're a microcosm of society, i.e. our > activities do impose a carbon footprint, but every effort should be made to > reduce it; > 5. A reasonable compromise in this context might be to have a serious > discussion about reducing the incidence of conferences, perhaps every other > year, for example? In the end, however, I can't help but believe that a > total cessation of conferences would do little for the environment while > robbing our field of its life's blood, which is real world interaction and > collaboration. > > > wil > > > Dr. Wil Burns, President, AESS > Co-Executive Director, Forum for Climate Engineering Assessment > A Scholarly Initiative of the School of International Service, American > University > 2650 Haste Street, Towle Hall #G07 > Berkeley, CA 94720 > 650.281.9126 (Phone) > http://www.dcgeoconsortium.org > > Skype ID: Wil.Burns > Blog: Teaching Climate/Energy Law & Policy, > http://www.teachingclimatelaw.org > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected] > <[email protected]>] On Behalf Of HARRIS, Paul > Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2014 7:02 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [gep-ed] Virtues of academic conferences > > At long last, someone in a position to do something has admitted that > scholars/teachers jetting around to conferences is morally questionable > (not least because today's information technologies allow far more > collaboration than was possible at conferences even quite recently): > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/06/us/setting-aside-a-scholarly-get-together-for-the-planets-sake.html?ref=earth&_r=0 > > It will be interesting to see where this goes. Will it overcome the > willful ignorance of so many scholars -- those who think that THEIR work is > so vital as to justify conference travel -- that such voluntary behavior is > contributing, albeit perhaps in individually small ways, to profound human > suffering and death in the future through climate change? Even a tiny > contribution to someone else's death seems to call into question conference > travel (and most other travel, at least by auto or airplane). > > I've broached this topic on this list several times over the years, so I > realize that it's not likely to get any traction, and that there will be > all sorts of excuses for continuing business as usual (“How dare you deny > young scholars the right to collaborate” [these are the same young scholars > who collaborate 24/7 on their iPhones, etc.]; “Collaborating via video > conferencing [etc.] just isn’t the same as talking in person” [but there’s > evidence that collaborating remotely can result in more scholarly > productivity] – that sort of thing). > > ISA, APSA and all of the other big academic associations, including those > devoted to environmental issues, seem to have conferences as their core > business models. They don’t want to change. And we scholars don’t help. We > love our conferences, right? And we, like most people, always want to leave > it to others, probably people in the future, or governments or > corporations, to change things. Of course we don't think about it > consciously (so as to avoid guilt, maybe), but our attitude seems to > something along the lines of "I teach about environmental solutions, so I > don't have to be part of them myself," or, even more powerfully, "My > research shows that institutions matter more than individuals, so I can > justify living as I do." How many decades more will scholars take these and > similar views, and continue to set the wrong example? > > I wonder what our students, particularly those who study climate change, > think each time we jet off to a conference? The word “hypocrite” instantly > comes to mind. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > > -- > > Ronnie D. Lipschutz > Professor & Chair of Politics; Provost of College 8 > UC Santa Cruz > > 1156 High St. Santa Cruz, CA 95064 > e-mail: [email protected] > phone: 831-459-3275/459-2543 > web site: > http://politics.ucsc.edu/faculty/singleton.php?&singleton=true&cruz_id=rlipsch > > *"Nothing in the world...is as old as what was futuristic in the past."* > > (Ben Lerner, *10:04*, p. 152) > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > > -- > > John M. Meyer, Professor > Department of Politics > Humboldt State University > Arcata, CA 95521 USA > > 707.826.4497 (voice) > > 707.826.4496 (fax) > > [email protected] > users.humboldt.edu/john.m.meyer > > > > > > > -- > > Ronnie D. Lipschutz > Professor & Chair of Politics; Provost of College 8 > UC Santa Cruz > > 1156 High St. Santa Cruz, CA 95064 > e-mail: [email protected] > phone: 831-459-3275/459-2543 > web site: > http://politics.ucsc.edu/faculty/singleton.php?&singleton=true&cruz_id=rlipsch > > *"Nothing in the world...is as old as what was futuristic in the past."* > > (Ben Lerner, *10:04*, p. 152) > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
