Bard students advocating for the health of Tivoli Bays during the March (Marsh) for Science.
Bard engages in sustainability efforts on multiple fronts.
The College offers an undergraduate concentration in environmental studies, and masters programs in environmental policy, climate science, environmental education and in business. Bard students, faculty, and staff work locally and nationally toward a future where we can thrive. Initiatives coordinated by the Bard Office of Sustainability (BOS) are taking the Annandale campus closer to its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035.
Upcoming Events
1/23
Thursday
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Online Event
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability -- Online Info Session for International Applicants
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds online informational sessions for prospective students to learn more about graduate school.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability (GPS) holds online informational webinars specifically for prospective international students to learn more about graduate program options.
Join us on Thursday, January 23, 2025 at 12:00pm ET to learn about our programs and the admissions process directly from the admissions team. There will be a time for questions at the end of the session. Learn more and register here!
WHAT WE COVER:
Overview of graduate program offerings available to international students
Admissions information, specifically for international students
Prerequisite course information
Funding opportunities and scholarships
Tips for a standout application
A $65 application fee waiver is available to those who participate in the webinar.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds virtual open houses for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds virtual open houses for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
During these open houses, prospective students have the opportunity to meet with alumni and faculty from their program of interest. It's the perfect way to connect with the Bard GPS community, and get any questions answered about the student experience directly from those who know it best - the faculty and alumni of the programs.
WHAT WE COVER:
Overview of graduate program offerings
Student experience
Alumni career outcomes
General admissions and financial aid information
A $65 application fee waiver is available to those who participate in the webinar.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds online informational sessions for prospective students to learn more about graduate school.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds online informational sessions for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
Join us on Tuesday, February 11, 2024 at 7:00pm ET to learn about our programs directly from Director Eban Goodstein and the admissions team. There will be a time for questions at the end of the session. Register here!
WHAT WE COVER:
Overview of graduate program offerings
Alumni success and career outcomes
Admissions information
Financial aid and scholarships
Prerequisite course information
Tips for a standout application
A $65 application fee waiver is available to those who participate in the webinar.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds online informational sessions for prospective students to learn more about graduate school.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds online informational sessions for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
Join us on Tuesday, March 11, 2024 at 7:00pm ET to learn about our programs directly from Director Eban Goodstein and the admissions team. There will be a time for questions at the end of the session. Register here!
WHAT WE COVER:
Overview of graduate program offerings
Alumni success and career outcomes
Admissions information
Financial aid and scholarships
Prerequisite course information
Tips for a standout application
A $65 application fee waiver is available to those who participate in the webinar.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds virtual open houses for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability holds virtual open houses for prospective students to learn more about graduate school options in our MBA in Sustainability and Center for Environmental Policy programs.
During these open houses, prospective students have the opportunity to meet with alumni and faculty from their program of interest. It's the perfect way to connect with the Bard GPS community, and get any questions answered about the student experience directly from those who know it best - the faculty and alumni of the programs.
WHAT WE COVER:
Overview of graduate program offerings
Student experience
Alumni career outcomes
General admissions and financial aid information
A $65 application fee waiver is available to those who participate in the webinar.
What Is Your Why? Laurie Husted Talks about Sustainability Work on Campus and Off
Why do civic engagement leaders get involved in the work they do? What keeps them going in the face of challenges? In this series, What Is Your Why?, the Bard College Center for Civic Engagement highlights campus and local changemakers. In this episode, Chief Sustainability Officer Laurie Husted talks with Vice President of Civic Engagement Erin Cannan about her roles at Bard and in the Town of Red Hook. She discusses the transformative, newly passed federal climate legislation, and how ocean and climate scientist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson inspires her to find purpose and joy.
What Is Your Why? Laurie Husted Talks about Sustainability Work on Campus and Off
Achieving climate solutions can feel like a daunting task. Where does one start? Read this article from Generation 180, featuring the venn diagram created by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, which Laurie Husted mentioned in her interview.
Bard students prepare a meal at the Montgomery Place Campus for Food Days, one of a series of food sustainability events held at Bard every autumn. Photo by Sarah Wallock ’19
Bard Sustainability by the Numbers
2nd
in the nation for small colleges, compost!
20K lbs
food grown annually on Bard Farm
500+
sustainability kits distributed annually
40%
geothermal heating + cooling on campus
On-Campus, Local + Regional Sustainability Initiatives
Bard College Farm: This student-run organic farm sells produce to Bard Dining, hosts a weekly on campus farm stand in season, works to educate students about food systems, and connects Bard to the local community.
BardEATS: This partnership among Bard students, dining service, faculty, and staff aims to increase food purchasing transparency, reduce waste, promote food access, and support local farms.
Sustainable Communities Program: a working group of Red Hook Together was certified 9/24 in recognition of outstanding efforts to foster environmental awareness and good stewardship
C2C Fellows Network
The C2C Fellows Network at the Bard Center for Environmental Policy involves students across the nation in conversations about climate solutions with elected officials.
Environmental stewardship is a core element of Bard’s emphasis on civic engagement and social responsibility. The College offers rigorous, interdisciplinary training in environmental studies and ensures that all undergraduate students receive science education. Undergraduate and graduate dual-degree programs are available with the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, as are grad programs in environmental policy and environmental education, climate science and policy, and the Bard MBA in Sustainability.
Brooke Jude Discusses Her Collaboration with Microbiologist Anne Madden to Save Amphibians
Find Purple, Frog-Saving Microbes, is a participatory science (citizen science) and community bioart project to conserve amphibians.
Brooke Jude Discusses Her Collaboration with Microbiologist Anne Madden to Save Amphibians
Violacein, a purple pigment produced by bacteria, which Jude discovered in a water sample from the Hudson River Valley watershed and studies in her labs. Photo by Karl Rabe
Associate Professor of Biology Brooke Jude spoke to The Scientist magazine about her collaboration with microbiologist Anne Madden, who is founder and chief scientific officer of The Microbe Institute. Their collaboration, Find Purple, Frog-Saving Microbes, is a participatory science (citizen science) and community bioart project to conserve amphibians. Their project focuses on finding and understanding the biogeography of naturally purple-pigmented bacteria that help amphibians fight off a pandemic caused by a deadly fungus that is decimating unique populations of frogs, toads, salamanders, axolotls, and newts. Jude explains how the two scientists began to work together on this project: “We started thinking that a lot of our work overlapped in interesting ways, that some of the things that [Anne] was doing in The Microbe Institute, in terms of communicating about these projects that the general public could truly understand and sink their teeth into and enjoy and be passionate about. How do you get that word out?” Part of their project involved citizen science, which encouraged science enthusiasts to sample local waterways, grow microbes, and upload data on whether they found purple-pigmented bacteria. They also received funding from National Geographic to develop educational materials about purple microbes for middle and high school students.
Stevenson Library Converts to Geothermal Heating and Cooling
The library’s geothermal conversion will eliminate burning approximately 14,000 gallons of fuel oil and reduce 127 tons of carbon emissions per year.
Stevenson Library Converts to Geothermal Heating and Cooling
Ribbon-cutting for the Stevenson Library's new geothermal and HVAC system. Photo by Joseph Nartey ’26
Bard celebrates the completion of a major project to convert the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Library’s outdated fossil fuel–fired heating system to a state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling system. A leader and early adopter of geothermal technologies, Bard College has ground source heat exchange systems on campus dating to the 1980s. Almost 50% of buildings on the main campus utilize geothermal technology for heating and cooling, and it is the default for all new construction projects on campus including the north campus residence buildings and the Maya Lin Performing Arts Studio.
The geothermal and HVAC renovation of the 60,000-square-foot Stevenson Library is Bard’s first conversion of an existing building from fossil fuels to geothermal. The College partnered with Brightcore as the turnkey provider of the library project, delivering a full scope of services, from the feasibility and design, drilling and ground loop installation, mechanical connections, incentive procurement, and upon completion, ongoing system performance monitoring. The library’s geothermal conversion will eliminate burning approximately 14,000 gallons of fuel oil and reduce 127 tons of carbon emissions per year. This conversion, along with Bard’s other sustainability-driven initiatives including its commitment to renewable solar and hydro energy, LED lighting, and LEEDs certifications, are significant steps toward fulfilling the College’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
Stevenson Library's new geothermal and HVAC system. Photo by Joseph Nartey ’26
Post Date: 11-26-2024
Film by Steve Bonds-Liptay MS ’10 Valve Turners Wins Climate Action Award
The film asks: “As the climate emergency escalates, at what point should citizens take action into their own hands to protect their families and communities?”
Film by Steve Bonds-Liptay MS ’10 Valve Turners Wins Climate Action Award
Still from Valve Turners. Photo courtest of Climate Film Fest
Valve Turners, a documentary feature film directed and produced by Steve Bonds-Liptay MS ’10, premiered and won the Climate Action Award in this year’s Climate Film Fest. Valve Turners follows a small group of activists from the Pacific Northwest as they turn the valves and halt the flow of five oil pipelines entering the United States from Canada to spotlight the climate emergency. Facing felony charges, they defend their actions as necessary in light of decades of political inaction and urgent warnings from climate scientists. The film festival called Bonds-Liptay’s feature “riveting and incisive.” Bonds-Liptay graduated from Bard’s Graduate Programs in Sustainability with a masters degree in environmental policy.
