Thank you to all of the participants and volunteers that came to the Earth Day 5k! It was a beautiful day and we had a great time! If you were not able to attend but would still like to donate to the health clinic project in Honduras, please check out the project website.
The Earth Day 5k fun run will take place on Duke University’s West Campus on April 21st starting @ 1:00pm (rain or shine). All proceeds from the race will go to a Health Clinic Expansion project in San Luis Planes, Honduras. More information about this project can be found on the project website.
REGISTRATION and RACE INFORMATION
Online registration is closed but you can still sign up! Just show up between 12 and 1 pm and we can get you registered for the race (see map below). The registration fee is $25 (cash or check) and every cent will go towards the health clinic project.
Children 10 and under do not have to pay as long as the are accompanied by an adult.
Sign in starts at noon and the race will start at 1:00pm. The course will officially close at 2:00pm. Following the race, participants are invited to gather in the courtyard of the LSRC for refreshments and a prize raffle. All participants will receive a free commemorative cup after the race!
ROUTE
The 5-kilometer route starts at the Levine Science Research Center (LSRC) and meanders around Duke’s scenic West Campus. Runners will pass the Duke Gardens, Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the beautiful gothic architecture of the Main Quad. In April, the trees on campus are in full bloom and it is hard not to appreciate the natural beauty of spring in North Carolina as a celebration of Earth Day (View route HERE).
PRIZES
All participants will be automatically entered into the raffle upon sign-in and must be present during the drawing to claim their prize. Prizes to be raffled include three $50 gift certificates to Bull City Running, water bottles (Klean Kanteen, Camelbak) and Duke swag!
PARKING
Participants can park in the on street parking along Lasalle Street and Circuit Drive and walk to the sign-in table in front of the LSRC (see map below).
WGELA is hosting a screening of “Cerro Rico, Tierra Rica”, on Thursday, March 21st in Love Auditorium at Duke University. Refreshments will be served starting at 5:30pm and the screening with start at 6:00pm. Joining us will be Juan Vallejo, director of the piece, who has agreed to participate in a discussion and Q&A after the screening. This event is free and open to the public.
Cerro Rico, Tierra Rica is a detailed observational mosaic about two distinct mining communities in southwestern Bolivia – an elegy to the landscape of the altiplano (the high plateaus of the Andes mountains) and a valuable ethnographic record of manual labor in the region.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, Cerro Rico (Rich Hill), an enormous conical mountain that towers over the city of Potosi, provided half of the world’s silver and sustained the economy of the Spanish Empire during colonial times. Most of the mineral wealth of Cerro Rico has been depleted, but today more than ten thousand miners still work on the slopes and tunnels of the mountain looking for zinc, tin, lead, or a good vein of silver. Bolivia has recently discovered it contains half of the world’s lithium reserves in the Arctic-looking plains of the Salar de Uyuni, also in the Potosi region. These reserves are, for the moment, completely untapped. The parallel histories of these two sites help create a compelling portrait of mining life in Latin America – and makes us wonder if Bolivia will finally be able to harness these mineral resources for itself and for its own development.
Parking:
5:30pm-7:00pm, Tuesday, Oct 30th, 2012 at A158 LSRC, Duke University
Interested in doing your internship in Latin America in the coming summer? Come and join the internship panel with WGELA and check out the resources we prepare for you. You will be meeting with our great panelists, Rachel, Susan and Tena, who all spent a wonderful summer in Latin America, while enjoying the fabulous Latin American food. This panel should be a best start for your internship search!
5:30-6:45pm, Monday, Oct. 22nd, 2012, Physics 130
For over 20 years the Rainforest Foundation’s mission has been to support indigenous and traditional forest peoples in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfill their rights. We argue that recognizing the rights of forest peoples is one of the most effective strategies to maintain standing forests. In this talk, Marina will discuss the effectiveness, as well as the opportunities and challenges that this approach provides for the conservation of tropical rainforests.
ALSO, that same day- October 22nd– we will be doing an informal coffee hour with Marina, 12:00-1:30pm in LSRC A109. This will be an opportunity for students to drop in and talk to Marina about her work at the Rainforest Foundation US, rights-based conservation, her experience with REDD+, or her previous work on climate change with the Brazilian government.
By Virginia Palacios
If you’re like me, thinking about your job search doesn’t conjure up images of parties and beaches, but Stephanie Roe taught me that it’s okay to dream big at the Latin America Student Internship Panel on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. Stephanie kicked off her presentation about her summer work with pictures of the social side of the southern hemisphere. But do not be mistaken, super-MEMs Stephanie Roe and Justin Kirkpatrick worked hard to play hard at the Ministerio Publico de Rio de Janeiro in Brazil this summer. Both had a major role in forming state policy for valuing ecosystem services and assessing environmental impact of degraded sites.
Cooper Rosin, equally impressive, discussed his self-led research in Peru taking wildlife surveys of conservation areas to evaluate biodiversity impacts from development. Cooper’s internship was facilitated by the Center for Tropical Conservation on the Duke campus, under the direction of Varun Swamy and world-renowned John Terborgh.
Finally, Rachel Baker and Jane Rice told about their adventures in Mexico, being immersed in the Spanish language, bush-whacking through forests, and conducting social surveys that had to be translated from English to Spanish to Mayan. Rice and Baker conducted field research for WGELA advisor Dr. Liz Shapiro on the status of Mexico’s Hydrological Payments for Ecosystem Services (PSA-H) program.
In the question and answer session, attendees learned that most skills are learned on the job, an international internship search has to start early, that internships are basically self-constructed, and that numerous funding sources exist at Duke. And, not to be forgotten, was the delicious meal catered by Mami Nora’s Restaurant featuring yucca fries, black beans and rice, and grilled chicken.
Download the program for more information about the WGELA internship panel, including names of faculty researching in Latin America, Latin America-focused centers on campus, and other WGELA members who have traveled or worked in Latin America.
