COA bike path to Copenhagen

Welcome COA community, family, and friends.

Earth in Brackets is now hosting the College of the Atlantic delegation that will participate in the United Nations Climate Change negotiations this coming December in Copenhagen, Denmark. The outcome of the agreement in Copenhagen will determine if the world transitions to clean energy; and moves forward to a cleaner, healthier and independent future for our children and our countries.

We are 13 passionate students from the US, Finland, Saint Lucia, Peru, New Zealand, and India. Since last year – with help from professors Doreen Stabinsky and Ken Cline – we are learning all we can to engage internationally at these negotiations.

While we continue learning about the international process, we will share with you our reflections, insights, anecdotes, and analysis of this journey on our bike path to Copenhagen.

Without further ado, the College of the Atlantic delegation to the United Nations Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen!!

Brooke Welty
Hometown: Portland, Maine, USA

Brooke is currently a 2nd year student at College of the Atlantic, focusing in Environmental Policy and Grassroots Organizing. She was able to cultivate her area of study while interning with the Maine Chapter Sierra Club and while lobbying in D.C. for the Omnibus Public Lands Bill of 2008.  She is currently developing a domestic climate campaign with the practical activism class.  Brooke is planning to engage in the international climate process as an activist in Copenhagen.

Oliver Bruce
Hometown: Rotorua, New Zealand

Oliver has concentrated his study on the intersection of business and the environment though out his time at COA. Through his studies, he has spent time on the foothills of volcanoes in Guatemala looking at fair trade coffee, and in the halls of academia studying ecological economics and interning at the Institute of Global Development and Environment at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Pumped about the change that youth are able to stimulate, he looks forward to being an active participant in what will be his second UN conference.

Juan Carlos Soriano
Hometown: Lima, Peru

A third year at COA, Juan spent a year volunteering in Uganda for Youth Encouragement Services (YES) after graduating from Lester B. Pearson College UWC in 2006. He attended UN climate negotiations in  Poznan, Poland last year where he reported for 350.org. In preparation for his work in Copenhagen, he attended the the UN Climate Talks in Bangkok and is helping organize international youth, concentrating on getting more youth from Latin America represented in Copenhagen. Juan is also the Partnerships Coordinator of SustainUS, The US Youth Network for Sustainable Development. In his spare time he enjoys playing soccer and watching independent films.

Taj Schottland
Hometown: Putney, Vermont, USA

Taj grew up applying his passions and beliefs to real world experiences. He has traveled the country to watch and study birds, worked as an assistant director for a youth theater program, and has volunteered many hours working on political campaigns. Currently a fourth year at COA, he focuses his studies on both domestic and international law and politics. Outside of classes he spends much of his time organizing for the COA Student Democrats, a student group he helped found at COA. When not talking law and politics, he enjoys his time playing soccer and hiking with friends.

Emily Postman
Hometown: Newton, Massachusetts, USA

Emily is a COA Junior studying environmental science and policy, with a social-community emphasis. She has spent four summers doing hunger relief and sustainable agriculture organizing and fieldwork in the Boston area.  She has also been involved in grassroots organizing on community agriculture, national elections, and now international climate.  In between work, school, friends, and family, Emily loves growing things, knitting, and making pie.

Lauren Nutter
Hometown: Uxbridge, Massachusetts, USA

Lauren is the Agents of Change Program Coordinator for an all volunteer youth non profit, SustainUS.  Through SustainUS, Lauren has volunteered her time to help organize and prepare youth delegations to the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations, Commission on Social Development and the Commission on Sustainable Development.  She has travelled to Bali, Bangkok and Poznan, Poland to take part in UN climate negotiations. This summer, she interned with her representative from Massachusetts, Sen. John Kerry in Washington, concentrating on climate change policy. In her free time Lauren enjoys spending time with friends, dance, and discovering new and wonderful foods.

Geena Berry
Hometown: Amelia, Ohio, USA

Before coming to College of the Atlantic Geena had never been to the Northeast portion of the US. At COA, Geena’s studies have concentrated on water and sanitation. Although water and sanitation will be an important interest for Geena to follow in Copenhagen, she is also interested in making sure women and youth are factored into the outcomes. This will be her third UN meeting.

Samuli Sinisalo
Hometown: Tampere, Finland

Samuli is comes from Finland and is thus well accustomed to the Maine winters. In his studies of Human Ecology, Samuli focuses on international politics and environment. Going to Copenhagen will give him the opportunity to visit his native part of the world and build networks, as well as learn a great deal about the reality of the world politics and climate change. Copenhagen has the potential to be one of the defining moments for out generation, so he thinks it extremely important to be part of the process. Before coming to College of the Atlantic, Samuli studied in Red Cross Nordic United World College in Norway, and spent a year volunteering in the new United World College in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Lindsay Britton
Hometown: Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA

Lindsay is looking forward to being part of her first UN meeting, and to be as involved in policy as she possibly can. She’s optimistic about the possibility that we could have a meaningful climate treaty and hopes that something positive comes out of the UN process. Her academic goals are to see firsthand the way that policy is negotiated and finalized. After COA, her goal is to go to law school.

Richard Van Kampen
Hometown: Ramsey, New Jersey, USA

Richard is currently a third year student at the College of the Atlantic; he transferred there this fall from Bentley University. Before coming to COA, Van Kampen was involved with the Waltham Land Trust and their conservation efforts of the Western Greenway and Emerald Necklace near Boston, MA. Over the years he has also been involved in many community service projects, including one he organized during high school as part of earning the rank of Eagle Scout. The service project benefited Shelter Our Sisters, an organization dedicated to providing safe homes for victims of domestic violence in his hometown. This December he will joining students from around the world at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Annick Bickson
Hometown: Mumbai, India

Annick Bickson is a second year student at the College of the Atlantic, studying international policy, marine science, and anthropology. Born in New York City, Annick spent her teenage years in Mumbai, India and graduated from the American School of Bombay in 2008. She has worked with the NGOs Akanksha and Save the Children, helping teach english and art to children living in slums. This spring, she worked with the head of the Mumbai chapter of the Mangrove Society of India, promoting mangrove conservation in the city of Bombay. At COP 15, Annick is excited to work with other international youth and push the negotiating parties to adopt legislation that will curb greenhouse gas emissions, and is especially interested in the role of small island nations and developing countries, which will suffer the brunt of climate change.

Noah Hodgetts
Hometown: Newton, Massachusetts, USA

Noah is a junior nearing the completion of his second year at COA, after transferring from UMass Amherst in the fall of 2007. Noah transferred to COA because he wanted to be part of a learning environment where he could make tangible positive change in the world. He is interested in attending the Copenhagen meetings to learn about and participate in the formation of new global climate policy which undoubtedly will play a significant role in the sustainable land use and transportation policies he is
committed to developing.

Neil Oculi
Hometown: Castries, St. Lucia

Neil is a third year at College of the Atlantic, concentrating on socially responsible business and development. He was the recipient of the 2009 Davis Projects for Peace Award, and spent the summer in St. Lucia working on reforestation projects. In Copenhagen, Neil will be participating on the St Lucian delegation. In his spare time, he enjoys hanging out with his friends, cooking and planning how to become the next primeminister of St. Lucia.