October 2012

The W20 event held at the New England Aquarium was not only interesting, but also highly informative and quite entertaining. Each of the panelists brought a wealth of knowledge to the table and presented it in a way that was catchy and easy to understand. As our society has become increasingly dependent upon transportation and automobiles, it is important to be armed with this sort of information to make informed purchase decisions and be smart drivers, no matter what kind of vehicle you are in. Topics discussed ranged from Google’s new driverless cars to simply how long a car should be left idling, giving the listeners a taste of subjects from the cutting edge of science to the seemingly mundane, yet very interesting. In respect to the topic of idling, I learned that this really is never something positive, because your engine doesn’t need to be running and emitting fumes if it isn’t moving. Also, repeatedly starting the car will not damage it, even the fact that you have to warm your car is a myth!

Lisa Hughs, Eric Evarts, Ray Magliozzi, Scott Griffith and Herb Chambers

I found this event particularly intriguing because this is not something that is discussed on a regular basis in my college classes. While I have learned about carbon emissions and the environmental side of things a multitude of times in my science classes and once had a physics class devoted to the internal combustion engine, I have not really had the chance to learn about the mobile polluters that are causing the damage that I have spent so much time focusing on. By learning more about cars, we are deepening our understanding of the issue of climate change and its effects on our oceans by gaining a better understanding of the entire picture. This gives us the capacity to think more holistically, opening up the possibility to come up with projects and solutions for climate change that satisfies everyone.

Hillary Chisholm is a senior at Bates College majoring in Environmental Science

NEAq Chef Bill Bradley

W2O’s October 23rd event, Roadside Assitance: Driving Change on our Streets and in Our Oceans is coming up quickly and today we met with NEAq’s executive Chef, Bill Bradley to figure out how to feed our guests a fabulous lunch out of a paper bag!  Chef Bill, who just joined the aquarium this year, used his experience and expertise to give us several unbelievable choices of savory and sweet possibilities. But wait, how is this going to work? We will be seated in the Imax Theater learning from our expert panel about Climate Change and how to consider the Environment and the Ocean when choosing our next car….we will be eating a gorgeous Paper Bag lunch?-well, yes!  Here are some of the tasty masterpieces that we had to consider: Sublime Chocolate Bark with Cranberries, Pistachio, Crystallized Ginger and Thyme, Crispy Vegetable Chips with Oregano and Garlic Sea Salt, Decadent Fig and Goat Cheese with Caramelized Onions, and a Vietnamese  Bahn Mi sandwich with marinated mouthwatering pickled Veggies topped with a creamy Yuzu Mayo…yum.  Ahh, I can’t forget the Kale chips-sounds crazy but they were my personal favorite-salty, crunchy and slightly healthy!  I won’t tell you what we chose but I can promise that you will be delighted and will be begging for more.