News Coverage
Surfrider Foundation awards
Published April 17, 2004
The Rhode Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is presenting $1,500 Robert Lloyd Scholarships Tuesday night to five University of Rhode Island students to recognize their research and studies relating to oceans and beaches.
The Surfrider Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's oceans, waves and beaches. The presentations will be at 6:30 p.m. in the Coastal Institute at URI's Bay Campus, in Narragansett.
The scholarships are named after a lifelong resident of Narragansett who was a lifeguard at what is now Narragansett Town Beach and then played a big rolein introducing the sport of surfing during the 1940s and '50s.
Lloyd died at the age of 86, after spending much of his life promoting surfing in Narragansett.
This year's scholarship winners are:
Arthur Rodriguez, of Narragansett, a candidate for a master's degree in natural-resources science who is developing a geographic-information-system-based program called Coastal GeoToolbox for the National Park Service.
Jared Stabach, of Narragansett, a candidate for a master's degree in environmental science and management who is studying salt marsh restoration on Prudence Island and will be traveling to Papau, New Guinea, this summer with the Roger Williams Park and Zoo Kangaroo Conservation Program.
Kimberly Joy Whitman, of East Greenwich, a doctoral candidate in biological oceanography who is using remote sensing to model primary productivity in Massachusetts Bay.
Scholarships also will go to undergraduates Kelly Hanks, of Narragansett, a senior majoring in environmental science and management, and Kristopher Winiarski, of North Kingstown, a junior majoring in wildlife biology.
Presentations also will be made Tuesday by past scholarship winners on their coastal-research projects.
For more information, go to www.risurfrider.org.
Earth Day events include lobbying The Environment Council of Rhode Island is celebrating Earth Day this year with a special lobbying session at the State House from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday.
The council is encouraging environmental advocates to join council members and talk to legislators about environmental issues around the state.
Special training sessions will be offered, and various environmental groups will distribute materials about renewable energy, Narragansett Bay, mercury, lead, transportation issues and open space.
For more information, contact the council at (401) 621-8048.
For information about cleanups, festivals and other events sponsored by the Rhode Island Earth Day Committee, go to: http://www.state.ri.us/dem/earthday/default.htm
Several groups are sponsoring a cleanup Saturday at the Big River Management Area, the 13-square-mile area in Coventry and West Greenwich that the state took over years ago for a possible new reservoir.
People are being asked to meet between 8 and 9 a.m. at the RIPTA Park & Ride lot at Exit 6A.
A cookout will be from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Big River Management Area headquarters. Sponsors are Friends of Big River, West Greenwich Conservation Committee, the Pawtuxet River Watershed Council, and the Environment Council of Rhode Island Education Fund.
Friends of Manton Miracle are sponsoring a cleanup at the curb at Gateway Park, 578 Manton Ave., Providence, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Rain date is next Sunday. Call Thomas Geary at (401) 272-3924 to volunteer. Lunch will be served.
Also, in recognition of Earth Day, the Environmental Working Group and Stonyfield Farm, the world's largest yogurt manufacturer, are distributing wallet-sized cards that identify the 12 produce items most often contaminated with pesticides, and the 12 least often contaminated. The cards will be distributed in stores or made available at www.stonyfield.com or www.foodnews.org.
Cost of development discussed Tuesday Christopher Modisette, executive director of the Southern New England Forest Consortium, will be the featured speaker at the Tiverton Land Trust's annual meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Meeting House at Tiverton Four Corners.
Modisette's group has done studies showing how land and forest conservation can actually save municipal governments money.
He will present a recent study by a student at the University of Rhode Island's Department of Community Planning and Landscape Architecture which showed that in the town of Hopkinton large subdivisions cost the town more in services than they generated in property-tax revenue.
The Tiverton Land Trust was formed in 1997 to save the 230-acre Matta farm (now known as the Pardon Gray Preserve) from development.
For more information, call (401) 625-4595.
Talk to promote wind energy The Coalition for Buzzards Bay is hosting a lecture on the benefits of wind energy at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the New Bedford Public Library's main branch.
Richard Lawrence, of Cape & Islands Self Reliance, a nonprofit group promoting alternative energy sources, will share what he learned on a recent trip to study wind turbines in Denmark.
He will present a 30-minute film entitled "Prevailing Winds in Denmark" and talk about the potential for developing a wind industry in Massachusetts. (Two projects have been proposed, and both are generating widespread controversy.)
This is the fourth of five lectures in the Buzzards Bay Lecture Series. In the final talk, author George Colt will discuss his book, The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home, on May 27 at the Millicent Library in Fairhaven.
Admission is $3 for nonmembers and free for members. Refreshments will be served. For directions or more information, call (508) 999-6363 or go to www.savebuzzardsbay.org.
The Environmental Journal is a listing of brief news items about the actions of individuals, organizations and businesses that affect the air we breathe,the water we drink and the landscape that surrounds us.