the entire boat waits in anticipation for the bottlenose dolphin pod to reappear. with my camera i scan the turquoise water of the aegean sea desperately searching for an out-of-sync splash.

“there!” amy, one of the new behavior team members, exclaims. we all follow her outstretched arm to see the pod of fifteen bottlenose dolphins approaching the okeanos. i watch in fascination and wonder at the graceful marine mammals. i had spent close to a month in greece interning at archipelagos and this was my first marine mammal sighting. my excitement is unparalleled, and i struggle to keep my hand still to take clear photos of the breaching dolphins. in between shots, i look around at my fellow marine mammal team members. the other interns who’s first sighting it is are just as excited as i am but remain professional. the seasoned interns are focused but you can see the small smiles and glints in their eyes from the presence of the dolphins and the prospect of new data. this tense and animated yet professional atmosphere persists on the boat until we lose sight of the pod when they deep dive. the atmosphere on the boat then shifts back to the same relaxed one felt just before the sighting. i lean back into the railing and realize that i will remember this experience for the rest of my life and can leave greece feeling that i accomplished my goal of contributing to ongoing research to protect marine mammals of the aegean sea.

archipelagos institute of marine conservation is a nonprofit ngo dedicated to protecting the biodiversity of the aegean sea and surrounding greek islands. archipelagos uses their scientific knowledge to work with local communities to influence environmental policies, actively stop destructive human behavior, and start environmental advocacy campaigns. its novel business model of hiring aspiring conservationists as interns contributes to their ability to produce robust data, promote their research and conservation efforts, and support the scientific and local communities through education. this takes citizen science to the next level. the interns provide a continuous cycle of young, eager students to collect data and bring fresh perspectives. this unique structure allows interns to gain field knowledge and experience while improving their independence and cross-cultural communication.

one intern, hedvika, said of her experience: “i came to greece with a lot of expectations about how it [worked] and was originally disappointed with the reality. however, it turned out to be [beneficial] because i had to learn how to adjust and mainly how to work independently which i’m certain will be useful in the future.”

i personally understand hedvika’s expectations and lessons learned from the internship. i imagined a period of orientation and education followed by constant fieldwork under strict supervision. this was not the case, but it taught me independence, flexibility, and patience. i was able to construct the internship i desired by being my own advocate, stepping out of my comfort zone, and being open to new experiences.

another intern, kristin, commented on the meeting of cultures at archipelagos: “my perceptions of other cultures and ways of life are changing every single day… i’ve never met people from so many different countries, and i’m so excited for the opportunity to be able to work with them and bring skillsets from all over the world together.”

like kristin, i had never worked in such a culturally diverse setting. there were interns and staff members from all over the world. i had to quickly learn new professional and social expectations to more effectively work and communicate with the other interns and my supervisors. it was difficult at times but provided an opportunity for growth and i feel confident in my ability to navigate such a setting in the future.

kristin also said of her experience as an intern at archipelagos: “i’m learning skills in more active roles than i’m used to in school. i will be able to use this experience in a long-term career.”

internships at archipelagos prepare students for futures in research and advocacy through direct contact with the biodiversity they are observing and local communities. it is such a valuable experience for students to prepare and conduct their own research projects, surveys, and environmental advocacy campaigns all under the guidance of experts in the field. all interns have their own ideas, perspectives, and goals for their time at archipelagos which can bring about new research projects and campaigns to propel the organization into new domains and deeper into existing ones. this allows archipelagos to continuously grow and progress as an organization which is made possible by its structure with interns at the core.  

according to the 2017 annual united nations report on world food security and nutrition, the number of people affected by hunger has increased by 38 million since 2016. as 11% of the global population suffers from hunger, violent conflicts and climate-related shocks are predicted to only exacerbate the trend.

lee was no stranger to the concept of hunger when he launched rescuing leftover cuisine. as a child of korean immigrants, he grew up witnessing the power of hard work and the beauty of the american dream. he also experienced what it was like to be hungry, despite living in the land of “the supersized meal.” he would think: “how can 1 in 7 people in america be hungry while 40% of all food in the united states gets tossed annually?” (a stat from the national resources defense council.)

where others saw a frustrating paradox between food waste and global hunger, lee identified an opportunity. using his financial background he calculated that this wastage could serve 58,064,516,129 meals (based on the national average of $2.79/meal). with the inspiration of a college organization, lee partnered with classmate, louisa chen, to tackle hunger by launching rescuing leftover cuisine. the mission was simple: help the hungry by saving quality food that would otherwise go to waste.

a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, rescuing leftover cuisine partners with restaurants to rescue quality leftover food and ensure it reaches those who need it. since the organization’s new york launch in 2013, the model has thrived. in 5 years, they have rescued 2.1 million pounds of food, created 1.6 million meals for the hungry, prevented more than 330 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents from being emitted into the environment, and expanded to 16 cities — and even more are interested. rescuing leftover cuisine selected their new cities from 300 eager branch applicants.

when asked “what makes this company so successful?” lee immediately points to the mission: eliminating food waste by feeding hungry families. every aspect of the organization is intentional and purpose driven. his goal for food efficiency is reflected in the organization’s operational efficiencies. for instance, transportation between the partner restaurants and homeless shelters is crowd sourced and volunteer run. a key factor in the organization’s success is this localized engagement. again, technology enables rescuing leftover cuisine to communicate seamlessly between partner restaurants and volunteers. a web application allows restaurants to report excess food and volunteers to be notified accordingly. rescuing leftover cuisine further promotes efficiency by offering reports and analyses to partner restaurants of their excess food purchases and suggestions on how to avoid food waste. “even if this means less donated food in the short-term,” explained lee, “it will contribute to more positive long-term impacts.”

rescuing leftover cuisine is led by determined and passionate people with a background in this work. lee himself spent four years at new york university learning about saving quality food with a campus club that took cafeteria leftovers to local homeless shelters. he combines that experience with his academic and professional background in finance to guide the non-profit to success. after spending just a few minutes speaking with lee, you will note his commitment to due diligence and his contagious enthusiasm for this work.

while he fights hunger directly by connecting the hungry with quality food, lee is also thinking about the future. “climate change is a key issue in our organization,” he says. “when the 40% of food wasted annually in the u.s. reaches a landfill, it generates methane.” methane is a greenhouse gas that is 23 times as potent as carbon dioxide in trapping heat within the atmosphere. “we eat three meals a day,” lee explained, “if we can get people thinking about their impact on this level, we can make a clear difference.”

lee’s diligent work ethic and forward thinking helped land him a spot on forbes 30 under 30 list for social entrepreneurship. it is evident that saving the rest of the metaphorical big apple is only the beginning for rescuing leftover cuisine. with a model that has proven successful and scalable, the organization plans to focus on increasing impact across its 16 cities in the near-term. rescuing leftover cuisine’s focus on community-driven change is helping tackle global hunger one city (and leftover) at a time.

the food recovery network is working to change that.

since 2011, the non-profit collects food from dining halls and catering companies at the end of the day and brings them to area shelters and partners so the food can be put to good use. since their inception, the food recovery network has recovered more than 1.8 million meals from ending up in landfills. 

the gsl is a man-made lake with environmental, navigational, recreational and fisheries problems. the lake is operated by a new york state public benefit corporation, called the hudson river black river regulating district (district) and is the most critical watershed of the hudson river. our prior work (geochemistry, mineralogy and mineral chemistry) suggest that the lakebed is significantly rich in rare-earth oxides, lithium minerals (these minerals and others are important to the united states department of energy’s “critical materials strategy”), iron, titanium and many other minerals. see usdoe link at bottom of page. the district is currently awaiting state historic preservation office (shpo) permission to become a co-applicant on our new york state department of environmental conservation (nysdec) navigable waters permit, to core and do seismic reflections on the lakebed sediments down to bedrock.

this idea marks the first time anyone has married mining (sandharvesting) and water impoundments anywhere in the world and it merits noteworthiness because it could eliminate freshwater needs (water impoundment) in many parts of the developing world. we chose as our first test case, the gsl and you may get a glimpse of our idea by studying our website, gsldeepening.com or searching great sacandaga lake deepening project.

http://www.energy.gov/news/documents/criticalmaterialsstrategy.pdf