OSU and LBCC Scientists Sign "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice"

Dr. Bill Ripple  Photo by Becky Howell

Wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and droughts. Melting sea ice.

Dr. Bill Ripple simply could not ignore these worldwide catastrophic weather trends any longer. A distinguished ecology professor at Oregon State University in the College of Forestry, Ripple turned his concerns into research, and then, a letter.

The result: “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice,” written by Ripple and co-authored by seven other scientists from five continents, published last November in the journal BioScience.

“I normally don’t write letters to humanity,” said Ripple in a video of a talk he gave to City Club of Corvallis soon after the paper was published.

But he did, and the world responded.

Before the letter was published, Ripple and his co-authors sent it to 40 scientists to read and sign. One tweet was also sent. Within 48 hours there were 2,400 signatures. By the time it was published one month later the paper had 15,364 scientists’ endorsements from 184 countries, with a further 5,000 signatures added since December. The paper has been retweeted 8,000 times, reaching more than 14 million Twitter followers.

Well then, what is IN this paper?

Cover of BioScience Journal

Second Notice” is actually a follow-up to a warning letter Ripple came across last year. Written 26 years ago, the original “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” was sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists and was signed by more than 1,700 independent scientists. The three-page letter described a grim forecast of Earth’s “environmental degradation” with a plea to global leaders for urgent change.

Also only three pages, the “Second Notice” is a second call to action to political leaders, scientists, media influencers and lay citizens all over the world to once again “re-examine and change our individual behaviors” in order to stop and even reverse further destruction of our only home.

The authors describe a set of global environmental health trends, illustrating the changes for better or worse between 1992 and 2016.

The good news first. There have been a few improvements since 1992, with possibly the greatest accomplishment being a noticeable decline globally in ozone-destroying substances. Other positives are the lower fertility rates in regions investing in women’s and girls’ education, and the rate of deforestation in some regions is slowing down. There is also promising growth in the renewable energy sector.

The rest of the news is not great. “Second Notice” data trends reveal a bleak picture of the world’s current situation with a dramatic decline in freshwater availability, forest cover loss, marine life and vertebrate wildlife depletion, ocean dead zones and carbon dioxide emissions on the rise, and a steep climate change.

Both documents point to human population growth as a primary driver behind our ecological and even societal problems. “Second Notice” shows global population has grown by 36 percent in just the last 26 years, which amounts to around 2 billion people.

“Second Notice” doesn’t end with doom, however.

Ripple’s group wraps up the letter with a number of suggestions for how to take better care of ourselves and the Earth. These include creating nature reserves, restoring native plant communities, shifting to plant-based diets, reducing food waste, providing more outdoor education for children, phasing out subsidies to fossil fuels, and revising our economy to account for the real cost of overconsumption, to name a few.

Linn-Benton Community College biology professor Warren Coffeen liked how the authors ended the letter this way, directing people to effective steps that lead to lasting changes.

“They present some actionable items, attainable items, things that we can do now as a society,” said Coffeen, who signed the letter recently, and forwarded it to other LBCC biology and physical science faculty members.

OSU has shown huge support for the paper and its findings, according to Ripple. Two of the authors of “Second Notice” are faculty members of OSU, and at last count 187 OSU scientists had signed the letter. In May the OSU Faculty Senate passed a resolution to officially support the letter.

And the momentum continues. It’s been six months since the letter was published, and Ripple said he still gets “scores of emails” about it. He now puts a lot of energy into the Alliance of World Scientists, an organization formed as a result of the paper, created to do follow-up work on global and climate change issues.

He doesn’t mind taking time to stop for moment, though, to think about how this ball got rolling.

“When I first got the idea, I felt like I was just one person and wouldn’t have much impact,” said Ripple. “But now, going through this process, I realize one person can have a major effect."


At A Glance

Photo by Becky Howell

Co-authors on the paper are Christopher Wolf, Thomas M. Newsome, Mauro Galetti, Mohammed Alamgir, Eileen Crist, Mahmoud I. Mahmoud, and William F. Laurance.

Scientists are invited to sign at http://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/

"As far as we know, this is the most scientists to ever co-sign and formally support a published journal article."  Bill Ripple



The Next Letter to Sign

Ripple is co-author on another letter soon to be published in BioScience.  This paper is called "Nature Divided, Scientists United," which describes the many problems a proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico will cause the wildlife that exists along the border regions.
https://defenders.org/border-wall-report/view-signatories

At Home at O'Hare International Airport

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Walkway between
Concourses B and C in Terminal 1.
Photo by Becky Howell

Summer is right around the corner, and we all want to get out of town and see something new. We spend a lot of time driving to and from airports, and there’s loads of time hanging out there. Sometimes there is just enough time to jump on the flight, other times it’s all night long.

For me, most travel somehow involves Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport. Before I moved to the Northwest for college, I used to live in the Chicago area, and I like to say I was raised in Illinois but grew up in Seattle. When I graduated from high school, I set my sights on the Northwest to be set free from what felt like boring Midwestern suburbia, a restrictive dress code, five months of winter, and so much stuffy church.

I was not disappointed.

Hello, ripped jeans, Puget Sound, rock star church, five months of spring, and the best coffee I could dream of. I didn’t drink or do drugs, I just woke up every morning and let the Olympic mountains stun me again.

My infatuation turned into love, then commitment, and early on I found myself mostly staying out west and making only short trips back home to see family.

That was back in the ’80s, and since then I’ve flown from the Northwest to well over 100 encounters with O'Hare, if you count both coming and going. I know a few business travelers who laugh at that and say, “Hey, I do that in a year!” Still, to me it seems like I’ve seen a whole lot of O'Hare since I made my home in the Northwest several decades ago. O'Hare has seen me, too, as a witness to the seasons of my life.

At first, there was the college and travel bug phase, where that trip to Europe became a year, and many other excuses for repeating world adventures. Then there were weddings and family reunions, babies to introduce and big number birthdays, and eventually funerals for grandparents.

We all got older and O'Hare got bigger, somehow managing over 200,000 travelers per day, according to the FAA. Our families grew, too. Amazingly, thanks to deregulation, the cost of a flight from Seattle or Portland stayed roughly the same, around $400 round-trip, minus the free bags and a meal.

Chicago style dog. Never, ever,  ketchup.
Photo by Becky Howell

These days O'Hare hosts my emergency visits to check up on mom and dad -- after dad’s heart attack, mom’s broken leg, her broken hip. Mom and dad don’t pick us up anymore, it’s just too confusing. I’ll take Uber and we can all relax. I always fly nonstop and at the end of that hideously early flight awaits my reward: Chicago junk food heaven. Italian beef, Italian sausage, deep dish pizza, or a Chicago dog. Take your pick, all in United’s Concourse C.

John Gambatese on his way
to find "Nuts on Clark."
Photo by Becky Howell

Just one O'Hare story, for the road. It happened not long ago. We had just arrived in Chicago, all of us bleary-eyed from the overnight flight. It was day one of a family summer vacation involving cousins and a wedding and museums and waterskiing, when we discovered my husband was having a stroke.

Two surreal days in the hospital, a haphazard shuttle of kids to buses and planes and there we were again. Terminal One. This time I was pushing my husband in a wheelchair in a bubble of quiet as we rolled toward our gate. I felt as strong and able to produce tears as a paper sack. My husband’s spirit was good though, and O'Hare’s waiting area turned into a practice space for his wobbly first steps in between rows of chairs. We even smiled a little.

It’s two years later and my husband is up to full speed and I’ve been four times back to Chicago. O'Hare remains the same, a haven and a headache. Mostly, it’s a stage, featuring the life and times of a visiting daughter.



At a Glance:

Photo courtesy maxpixel.net

About Bees and Sweet Beginnings at O'Hare Airport
In 2011, O'Hare became the first major airport to build an apiary on its property, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation, with as many as 75 hives and a million bees. The bees are maintained by 30 to 40 ex-offenders taking part in a North Lawndale Employment Network  program called Sweet Beginnings,LLC. In this program, participants with a past are taught beekeeping and learn how to make fresh honey, soaps, lip balms, candles and moisturizers, which are marketed under the beelove product line. Products are sold and used at local stores and restaurants and throughout both Chicago airports. More than 500 persons have completed the program, transferring to jobs in manufacturing, food processing, customer service, and hospitality.  The repeat-offender rate is less than 10 percent. As for the honey, Sweet Beginnings won an Illinois State Fair Blue Ribbon "First Premium" award for its honeycomb produced at O'Hare.

Photo courtesy pxhere.com

Hairy Friends of O'Hare
Since 2013, O'Hare Airport has used grazers like goats, sheep llamas, burros and alpacas to control vegetation instead of mowers, especially in the harder-to-reach areas or on steeper banks as along Willow-Higgins Creek on the airport property, according to a report by ABC News. In the summer of 2017, more than 100 goats controlled buckthorn, garlic mustard, ragweed and various other invasive species.

Linn-Benton Community College's Dr. Ramycia McGhee, Motivator and Mentor

Ramycia McGhee under the cherry blossoms in Albany.
Photo by Jonathan Binion

Dr. Ramycia McGhee radiates positive energy as she walks briskly into the Poetry classroom with two students trailing behind her, their arms loaded with journal notebooks. Students settle into their desks, the mood is lively and comfortable on a pleasant, spring evening. Easy-going banter passes around the room, about the day, homework, happenings.

McGhee, a seasoned instructor who taught Writing for eight years at City Colleges of Chicago before joining LBCC’s English Department last September, introduces the lesson on Harlem Renaissance poetry and authors. For 80 minutes McGhee’s rich and rhythmic voice encourages and challenges the students to think deeper, to give more, wake up, work together, respond. Students smile, listen, speak up, answer back. Before you know it, class is already over.

A few people leave quickly but many linger, surrounding McGhee as she sits on her desk at the front of the room, calling out homework reminders, giving advice, a complement or two, an occasional hug.

McGhee answers a student's question after class.
Photo by Becky Howell

McGhee makes teaching look easy thanks to hard work and a natural connection with students. Born and raised in inner-city Chicago, McGhee worked and volunteered as a teenager and young adult in a variety of jobs mentoring and motivating young people. One day not long after she graduated from college, McGhee was volunteering with AmeriCorps when she was invited to fill in as a college writing instructor for at-risk students in inner-city Chicago.

"I fell in love with it,” said McGhee, who eventually was offered a permanent part-time teaching position with City Colleges of Chicago, where she worked as she finished her doctorate degree in Education Leadership Management. “I will never forget my first day. I had the biggest butterflies and my stomach was in knots. Yet my students were eating it up and I was too. It was instant gratification.”

She had found her calling, even though her career plans and training up to that point had been geared toward journalism. Selected as a McNair Scholar, which prepares undergraduate people of color to complete an undergraduate degree and beyond, McGhee received her Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Race and Ethnic Cultures from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.  Soon after she received a master’s in Journalism from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

The writing training gained through journalism applied well to teaching, plus the broadcast side is a bonus. For McGhee it turned into the perfect background for teaching writing and literature.

One big question remains: why move halfway across the country to teach at LB?

McGhee admits it was a pretty drastic decision to leave her hometown, but she and her husband had been wanting to move out of Illinois for some time.  She was looking to teach full-time at a small school in a small town, to get out of the big city and just slow down. Most of all, she prayed for this opportunity and believes God led her to move to Oregon and LBCC.

“I didn’t know what I was coming into. I’m black, my husband is black. But I know God would never put me in a place that would endanger me,” said McGhee. “I have had nothing but good things happen to me here.”

Chris Riseley, an English Department faculty member who hosted a welcome party for McGhee in his home when she first arrived, said the good goes both ways.

“Ramycia brings a passion for people, poetry, literature and developmental writing to our department.
at LBCC. I learn something new from Ramycia every single time we get together, said Riseley.

Colleague Robin Havernick’s office is right next door to McGhee’s and she agrees. “Ramycia adds sunshine to our lives at LBCC! She makes students happy and willing to work hard and be their very best,” said Havernick

Riseley and Havernick support the Black History Month student essay contest which McGhee started and said it has inspired intellectual engagement and action with some of the most important issues facing our country today. McGhee and Havernick traveled to Alabama in April to attend the Peace and Justice Summit, and McGhee will be taking over teaching African American Literature when Havernick retires this summer. McGhee has other plans too. She said she hopes to start a people of color group on campus, and one day would like to teach at Oak Creek Correctional Center.

As she has settled into her new community, McGhee said she loves her eight-minute commute to work, the dog-friendly parks, and her church family. Yet, McGhee said she misses a few things back home. Here there is not much of a night life, it’s hard to find the right hair stylist, and everything closes too early.

“And girl, there is no soul food here. Period.” said McGhee.

Still, McGhee said she really appreciates the sweet spirit of Oregon. And she makes one thing very clear: this is right where God wants her.


At a Glance:

Education: Bachelor’s in Broadcast Journalism, with a minor in Race and Ethnic Cultures from University Wisconsin-Whitewater; Master’s in Journalism from Roosevelt University; Ed.D in Education Leadership Management from Capella University

McGhee displays several Barbies from her collection
Photo by Becky Howell

Family: Married for nine years to John McGhee

Fun Fact: Has a collection of more than 50 African American Barbies

Side Gig: Is a freelance make-up artist

Favorite color: Pink

Favorite Author: Sister Souljah

Hobbies: Traveling, reading, writing, shopping, spending time with friends and two dogs Cupcake and Chulo

Ramycia McGhee in her office.
Photo by Becky Howell

Office Visit with Dr. McGhee
Photos by Becky Howell

Ramycia McGhee wears a bright pink blouse and a gleaming smile as she talks about her recent journey from City Colleges of Chicago to LBCC.  She answers a soft knock at her door with a gentle but quick interchange with a colleague.  Several minutes later, soft knock, again, patient reply.  Students arrive outside her door for appointments. She assures them she'll be with them soon.


On her desk is a note with flowers from a colleague.  She offers me chocolate-covered almonds "from a student, so sweet," she said.  A corkboard covered with smiling faces of friends and family on one wall.  Scripture and other encouraging verses and the serenity prayer cover the walls surrounding her desk and a pink lamp, which exactly matches her blouse.

Organic Land Care thrives at Linn-Benton Community College

Organic land care accreditation next to Calapooia Center.
Photo by Becky Howell

No more pesticides, it’s the law.

The news didn’t sit well at the time with LBCC’s lead groundskeeper George van Keulen.

“I was trained if you see a weed, you spray it and kill it. I had a whole room full of chemicals. I blasted this place,” said van Keulen.

George van Keulen checks on a new tree near wellness trail
Photo by Becky Howell

That ended in 2012 when van Keulen was told he would no longer be allowed to use pesticides on LBCC’s campus to abide by a new Oregon law requiring IPM methods to care for campus turf and planting areas. IPM stands for “integrated pest management,” a non-chemical approach designed to manage weeds, keep grass, soil, and plants thriving, and protect the health and safety of humans and the ecosystem.

As great as that sounds, van Keulen, an LBCC employee for 28 years, admits at first he fought it.

“Then I did a little research,” said van Keulen. “I went to a five-day workshop with Oregon Tilth and it turned my world around. I really understood what it’s all about. I decided to try a different way.” At that point van Keulen decided to go beyond what’s required by IPM and became a certified organic land care practitioner, a significant commitment.

 Stefan Seiter, LBCC’s horticulture program chair, supports this commitment.

“On campus we model what should and can be done off campus, around private residences and around commercial buildings. An organic land care certification shows that we are serious about a new way of landscaping because we follow rules that provide a healthy environment to the students and staff,” said Seiter.

In the beginning, there was a learning curve, van Keulen said. “We just put our heads down and planted.”

Family Resource Center displays
pesticide-free zone sign.
Photo by Becky Howell

To abide by 100 percent organic products and practices means weed and feed is out. And synthetic fertilizers. Put the right plant in the right place, and use dense plantings. Protect the soil. Bring in more native and drought-tolerant plants. Water wisely and use a lot more bark.

Baby blue eyes native wildflower.
Photo by Becky Howell

“I do my homework," said van Keulen.

The results speak for themselves. As for the grass, there is absolutely no hiding 60 acres of it. A stroll around LB’s freshly mown areas reveals emerald fields of lush, mostly weed-free grass, all grown naturally. Van Keulen points out a few dandelions but there are not many. Small patches of white field daisies around the edges of the fields remain unbothered.

“We are trying to imitate nature,” van Keulen said. “It looks pretty good doesn’t it?”

It surely does. Van Keulen uses Oregon native bentgrass, a compost mower, and organic fertilizer only if a soil test says so, to take care of LB’s turf. Check out the pristine baseball field and you’ll get the idea.

Van Keulen’s surprisingly small groundskeeping team includes assistant Sam Bruch, several work-study students, and occasional horticulture practicum students and temp workers. Bruch, an employee at LBCC for a year and a half, said copying nature is the hardest -- and most fun -- part of organic land care.

Sam Bruch (left) and George van Keulen
discuss drought-tolerant plants.
Photo by Becky Howell

“Learning how to best encourage these natural processes, while maintaining a certain level of expectation in terms of aesthetics, is a constant problem-solving challenge,” said Bruch. “This is also my favorite part of the job.”

Horticulture staff and students have designed and developed numerous organic planting areas in and around the courtyard and campus buildings, said Seiter. Tucked in between White Oak Hall and Red Cedar Hall and along the north side of the Calapooia Center are lavish yet serene displays of flourishing native sword ferns, Oregon geranium, fawn lilly, white trillium, snowberry, and many other native shrubs and flowers.

Further plans are to restore the stately old oak groves on campus, and extend the one-mile walking trail. The groundskeeping team also recently planted several dozen trees along Highway 99 to provide a pollution buffer for the college.

Bruch and van Keulen both appreciate the curiosity and positive responses they hear from students and staff who have noticed changes in the landscape.

“We try to do a little bit to educate people,” said van Keulen. “People are asking ‘What’s that in your sprayer?’ and I tell them, ‘compost tea!’”

Oregon fawn lily
Photo by Becky Howell

White trillium flower 
Photo by Becky Howell

At A Glance

What about budget?

The budget for LBCC's landscaping materials and supplies for this year is $31,000.  Van Keulen said this is not any more than when he was using conventional land care methods.  In fact, van Keulen said the team is actually trying to do more with the same amount of money, in terms of more hands- on (time, manpower) methods rather than quick chemical methods.

Bill Thompson vinyl artist featured at Gallery Calapooia in Albany Oregon

Vinyl artist Bill Thompson is the featured artist for the month of March at Gallery Calapooia, 222 First Ave. W., Albany. The title of the show is “Experimentation and Evolution -- 5 Years of Vinyl.”

Thompson, an Albany resident and accomplished artist in many types of media, uses layers of thin sheets of vinyl paper to create fine art images in a four step process. Scenes of boats, trees, birds, rivers, animals and coastal scenes are some of the intricately detailed images on display.

Thompson discovered the process several years ago while attempting to cut a stencil for a multi-color screen print.

"I've been addicted to it ever since," said Thompson, as he bent over his small work table next to the  

entrance at Friday’s gallery opening. Several people gathered around Thompson as he demonstrated swift, precise cuts on a square of vinyl with an x-acto knife. Two minutes later he transferred the geometric image using contact paper onto a coaster-sized tile, and handed the finished art piece to an onlooker. “For you,” he said with a smile.

Thompson makes it look easy. He follows a four step process which he has written out on a board beside his work table. However a closer look at the beautiful and intricate layered images on display in the gallery reveals meticulous planning and handling, not to mention great patience for “all the little bits” that make up key shadows and outlines.

Retired now for eight years, Thompson said the skills he used in his career as an electrical engineer influenced his desire to pursue and develop his work in layered vinyl.

Eighteen other mid-valley artists have works on display in addition to Thompson’s and all art can be viewed during open hours 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For more information contact gallerycalapooia.com or call 541-971-5701.

Story and photos by Becky Howell


At a Glance:

Who:       Bill Thompson, vinyl artist

What:      Featured artist at Gallery Calapooia

Where:    222 First Ave.W., Albany, Oregon

When:     11 a.m. to 6 p.m., month of March 2018
Contact:  Gallery Calapooia at 541-971-5701

photo by John Gambatese

Linn-Benton Community College Campus Voice

If you could make anything into an Olympic sport, what would it be?
photos by Becky Howell

“Acapella competition, you know like in ‘Pitch Perfect’, but in the Olympics.”

- Elizabeth Crawford

“Extreme dodgeball...this includes every country that participates in the Olympics has a a two-man team on the field at the same time.  A pile of balls is in the middle of the field.  And those are all the rules.”

- Dylan Brooks

“Video game contest… a ‘Call of Duty’ competition.”

- Michael Tucker

Linn-Benton Community College International Culture Night Call For Talent

LBCC International Student Ambassadors 2017-18   photo courtesy LBCC

LBCC International Programs and international student ambassadors are recruiting now for entries for the second annual International Culture Night performances, which will take place Friday, May 4 from 6-8 p.m  in the Russell Tripp Theater at the Albany Campus.

Students are invited to sign up to share their talent or fashion that has a cultural connection at this fun event using the link bit.ly/ICN2018 or by contacting IPambassadors@linbenton.edu, said Kim Sullivan, LBCC international student coordinator.  Sullivan said purple posters advertising the event and sign-up were created by international students and have been posted all around campus, and on LBLive.

Wondering what to share?  International students My Tran and Safiya Jameel, both sophomores, recalled a few examples from last year: students from Malaysia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico performed songs or dances, fashions were shared by students from China, India, Saudi Arabia, Columbia, Vietnam, Morocco, and Algeria, and a Lebanese student performed magic.

Tran said if a student doesn't want to share a talent but just wants to come and watch the event, that's great too  - it's another reason the event is free.

"We're working hard to connect with students on campus," said Sullivan.

At a Glance:

What:     2nd Annual LBCC International Culture Night

Where:   Russell Tripp Theater Linn Benton Community College

When:    Friday, May 4, 6-8 p.m.

Who:      Students performing talent or fashion with a cultural connection
Contact: Kim Sullivan at sullivk@linnbenton.edu