California wildfire seasons becomes a ‘fire year’
Unlike hurricane season, there is no defined start and endpoint to wildfire season. In California, “wildfire season typically begins in July and runs through the first fall rainfall, peaking in Sept. and Oct.,” as explained in The Tufts Daily. Yet with increasing global temperatures, drought and other factors, wildfires now happen year-round in the U.S. The Forest Service coined this as a “fire year.” The shift from a wildfire season to the “fire year” is apparent from the recent Colorado Fire in California on Jan. 22, 2022 and the Marshall Fire in Colorado that started on Dec. 30, 2021. The Washington Post reported the Colorado Fire began in Palo Colorado Canyon and eventually burned around 1,050 acres of land. The Marshall Fire spread through 6,000 acres of the suburban Boulder County towns of Superior and Louisville, “destroying 1,084 homes and seven businesses and displacing over 30,000 residents,” according to the Daily Camera. Both fires occurred during times that are uncommon for wildfires in either state, as stated by KGW 8.
Climate Activist Spotlight: Mitzi Jonelle Tan
Mitzi Jonelle Tan is a 24-year-old climate justice activist based in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to her biography on Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines, Tan has long held an interest in climate action. “At the age of nine, she would go up to strangers and tell them about greenhouse gases and global warming,” the biography reads. Later in 2017, when meeting with Lumad Indigenous leaders in her country, “she decided to fully commit her life to activism,” as they made her realize “collective action and system change is what we need for a just and green society,” the biography outlines.
Explore the Pioneer Valley with these winter activities
Between the icy sidewalks, cold temperatures and short daylight hours, outdoor recreation might be near the bottom of your wishlist for the beginning of spring semester. But with current COVID-19 restrictions, getting outside can be a fun way to spend time with friends, get to know the campus and Pioneer Valley and enjoy some wintery New England fun. Here are eight outdoorsy activities to try on and around campus this winter.
Climate Activist Spotlight: Iris Duquesne
Iris Duquesne is an 18 year old climate activist from France. Duquesne first became aware of climate change during her late elementary school years, according to a podcast interview with The Guardian. She assumed that adults and those in power were doing something to combat the climate crisis, but when she looked into the issue she was underwhelmed by the amount of attention it was receiving. Duquesne said she wanted to “bring [her] opinion to the table and try to do something.”
Annual Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium postponed due to COVID-19
Presenting at scientific conferences can be difficult for early-career scientists, especially with the logistical challenge of traveling to these events. Microbiologists in the Five College Consortium and beyond have the advantage of having a symposium right in their own backyard. The Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium is an annual graduate-student-run one-day scientific symposium hosted at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Undergraduate students, graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and faculty members who conduct microbiology research are invited to present their work. Mount Holyoke College microbiologists — professors and students alike — often attend this symposium.
A new coronavirus variant, Omicron, leads travel restrictions
Climate Activist Spotlight: Lilly Platt
Lilly Platt is a 13-year-old England-born, Netherlands-based climate activist who centers her work around reducing plastic pollution through her initiative called Lilly’s Plastic Pickup. According to Global Citizen, in 2015, after Platt and her family moved to the Netherlands, she went on a walk with her grandfather and, in an attempt to improve her language skills, decided to count pieces of plastic. “We counted 91 pieces of plastic in only 10 to 15 minutes,” Platt told Global Citizen. Her grandfather explained to her that the plastic garbage then makes its way into the ocean to become “plastic soup,” according to an interview with Earth.org. This led to Platt starting Lilly’s Plastic Pickup, through which Platt goes on regular trash pickups, sorts the trash and “take[s] pictures of them and post[s] them on social media,” according to an interview with Global Citizen.