Boston Flora

Tag: Harvard School of Public Health

  • Saturday, September 6, 7:30 am – 6:00 pm – Boston Parks Count

    On Saturday September 6, 2014, the Boston Public Health Commission, community stakeholders and over 300 volunteers will come together for the City of Boston’s first Parks Count.

    Parks Count will track park usage to better understand who is using Boston’s parks, what features the parks are being used for, and establish measures for new community programs and health initiatives. Each park will have its own designated meeting space.

    Parks Count volunteers will team up at entrances to each of the 10 selected parks and keep a running tally of visitors. As people leave the park, they will be invited to take a quick survey about park assets, interests and personal demographics. This information helps city and community officials understand why residents are using certain parks over others. Through this information, BPHC hopes to make a strong case to allocate more resources, initiatives and programs for Boston parks serving low-income and multi-ethnic residents.

    Help us make this first ever Boston Parks Count a success by volunteering! Please contact: Jose Masso at jmasso@bphc.org or visit www.bostoncares.org/parkscount to sign up. You do not have to be a Boston Cares member to volunteer.

    Volunteers will be paired up and will work in 2.5 hour shifts at select park entrances.

    Volunteers can choose for the following parks:

    1. Walker Playground (Mattapan)
    2. Ramsay Park (South End)
    3. Noyes Playground (East Boston)
    4. Healy Playground (Roslindale)
    5. Roberts Playground (Dorchester)
    6. Ringer Playground (Brighton)
    7. Smith Playground (Allston)
    8. Ross Playground (Hyde Park)
    9. Malcolm X (Roxbury)
    10. Billings Field (West Roxbury)

    To pick a park and sign up for a specific time, please visit www.bostoncares.org/parkscount. Shifts run from 7:30 am – 6 pm, and the project is co-sponsored by the Boston Public Health Commission, the Franklin Park Coalition, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, REACH Coalition, and the Harvard School of Public Health.

  • Wednesday, March 12, 6:00 pm – Evolutionary Forces in Humans and Pathogens

    Have you been watching Helix on the SciFi Channel? This Evolution Matters Lecture on Wednesday, March 12, beginning at 6 pm, will appeal to you. The genome revolution has created unprecedented opportunities to study human biology, evolution, and infectious diseases. Geneticist Pardis Sabeti, Associate Professor, Center for Systems Biology at Harvard University, and a member of the Department of Immunology and Infection Diseases at Harvard School of Public Health, will discuss the rapidly emerging techniques and resources her lab is applying to advance our understanding of natural selection in the human genome and the genomic evolution of microbial pathogens such as Lassa virus, Ebola virus, Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and Vibrio cholerae.

    The Evolution Matters Lecture Series is supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit.  Free and open to the public. The talk will be held at the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free event parking in the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

    http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/022709_Sabeti_KS_016.jpg

  • Tuesday, September 10, 1:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Bee Day at Harvard

    On Tuesday, September 10, participate in a day of events and activities highlighting the importance of honey bees and beekeeping to biodiversity, the food supply, and human health. Learn more about the alarming decline of beehives (colony collapse disorder) widely documented in the U.S. and Europe.

    Event Schedule
    1:00–2:00 pm: The Plaza (in front of the Science Center)
    Enjoy organic honey tasting at the Harvard Farmers’ Market.

    4:00 pm
    Take a tour of the beehives on Harvard’s campus, led by Harvard Undergraduate Beekeepers. Preregistration required; please visit the HMSC website for more information: www.hmsc.harvard.edu.

    7:00 pm: Science Center, Hall C
    Film screening of More Than Honey, followed by a discussion with Dr. Alex Lu, Associate Professor of Environmental Exposure Biology, Harvard School of Public Health, about current research on the link between colony collapse disorder and the use of agricultural pesticides.

    Jointly sponsored by the Harvard Museum of Natural History, Harvard Undergraduate Beekeepers, the Harvard Farmers’ Market, the Food Literacy Project, and the Cambridge Entomological Club.

    All activities and events are free and open to the public. The Plaza and the Science Center, 1 Oxford Street. Free event parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. For more information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

    http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/morethanhoney/images/poster-xlarge.jpg

  • Wednesday, May 1, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Global Environmental Threats: Why They are So Hard to See and How Using a Medical Model Can Help

    Tragically and self-destructively, we human beings have so much difficulty recognizing that we are an integral, inseparable part of the natural world and that we have no other choice but to preserve it. Our failure in understanding this fundamental truth is central to our difficulty in seeing the changes, happening before our eyes, that we are making to the global environment and in acting to prevent them. This talk, given by Eric Chivian, MD, Director of the Program on Biodiversity and Human Health, Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard School of Public Health, shall look at why these alterations are so hard to see and how looking at their consequences from a medical perspective can be helpful. The session will take place on Wednesday, May 1 beginning at 7 pm in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, $5 for Arboretum members, $10 for nonmembers. Sign up on line at www.arboretum.harvard.edu.  And here he is below with Harrison Ford – perhaps not the photo the Arboretum had in mind for this post, and we doubt anyone will mistake Mr. Ford as an environmental threat, but we just couldn’t resist.

    http://archives.focus.hms.harvard.edu/2002/June7_2002/harrison_ford449.jpg

  • Thursday, September 27, 4:00 pm – Science & Advocacy: The Legacy of Silent Spring

    Fifty years ago, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring brought concerns about the environmental impact of pesticides to a broad public audience, spawning a grassroots environmental movement that continues to this day. On Thursday, September 27, beginning at 4 pm at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street in Cambridge, join environmental leaders to explore the legacy of Silent Spring, and how science and advocacy interact in the face of our modern environmental challenges. This event is sponsored by the Harvard University Center for the Environment. The discussion will feature:
    Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council
    Bill McKibben, Writer, activist, community organizer
    Andrew Revkin, New York Times and Pace University

    With Harvard Faculty:
    William Clark, Harvard Kennedy School
    Rebecca Henderson, Harvard Business School
    Sheila Jasanoff, Harvard Kennedy School
    James McCarthy, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
    John Spengler, Harvard School of Public Health

    Moderated By:
    Daniel Schrag, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; School of Engineering & Applied Sciences

    Event is free; tickets required. Tickets are available starting on day of event. Tickets available starting at noon on day of the lecture at the Harvard Box Office in the Holyoke Center at 1350 Massachusetts Avenue and starting at 2PM at Sanders Theatre. Available by phone and online  (www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu) for a fee.