Home Contact Me Featured Work Digital Publications

Sustainability and Climate Justice

Growing "Food and Futures": Vertical Harvest Serves Its Community in More Ways Than One

“The way we farm and distribute food is a social justice issue, a public health issue, and an economic resiliency issue,” Nona Yehia said.

Yehia is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Vertical Harvest, a company that aims to be an all-in-one solution to these overlapping issues. Not only does the Wyoming-based company provide local, fresh, nutrient-dense produce year-round, but it also provides meaningful work for people with developmental disabilities, who are often confined to low-w
Jewish Journal •

Wayland temple carries out mission to go green

Sometime in 2020, a whole lot of people began to care about air quality.

The pandemic brought about a renaissance for puzzles and sourdough, but it also made “HVAC” a colloquialism – suddenly the efficiency and quality of our air filtration systems became a serious concern to many who had never considered such a thing before.

Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland was one such group with these concerns. But what started as a need to address issues around indoor air quality and comfort ended with a radic
Jewish Journal •

Removing sin from the sea

On Sunday, Sept. 10, the shores of Crystal Lake in Peabody were full of those practicing a new tradition in honor of the High Holidays: Reverse Tashlich.

Temple Tiferet Shalom of Peabody was at Crystal Lake, but thousands of others were cleaning up in their respective locations around the world, all as a part of Reverse Tashlich, an international program run by Repair the Sea – Tikkun HaYam.

“The whole idea [of tashlich] is when you do it, you focus on cleansing [yourself],” says Repair the Se
Jewish Journal •

Jewish Climate Action Network hosting Tisha Ba’av event in Marblehead

Every time Lynn Nadeau reads The Book of Lamentations – Megillat Eicha – she cries.

Nadeau considers herself a secular Jew; her observance of Tisha Ba’av and reading of Eicha is not about fasting nor focusing on Jewish tragedies of the past. For her, Eicha offers a spiritual tie to her life’s work: climate justice.

This year on Tisha Ba’av (July 26-27), the Jewish Climate Action Network (JCAN), of which Nadeau is a member, is calling on Jews to include the climate crisis in the list of tragedi
Litchfield Magazine •

Falls Village Gem

Adamah Farm produces over 50,000 pounds of food each year, while also hosting bi-annual cohorts to learn about sustainable agriculture and Jewish ecology

Tucked in a quiet corner of Falls Village is Adamah Farm—ten acres of diversified veggie fields, growing chestnut groves, and lush green pastures. Adamah is a part of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, which hosts Jewish events for people and organizations around the country. Over the course of the year, the farm produces over 50,000
Jewish Journal •

Grandma’s Jewish recipes inspire Lynn chef’s rise to the top

A Jewish chef in Lynn has been shortlisted for the James Beard Foundation 2023 Outstanding Chef award.

Rachel Miller, executive chef of Nightshade Noodle Bar and owner of the neighboring Sin City Superette, has come a long way from working 80-hour weeks at a doughnut shop and a burger joint.

“All I’ve ever wanted is to be a semifinalist one day – in, like, a regional category,” she said. “Now being a finalist in the top five in the country? That’s insane! I’m over the moon.”

Seven years ago,

The Same Farm in Production for Almost 300 Years? – Millbrook Magazine

Farming has never been the most financially sustainable career path, and farmland across the country is increasingly being forfeited by farmers in search of an easier life. Not so with Heermance Farm in Tivoli, which was first established way back in 1730, and has remained a fully operating farm since then. The property gets its name from the Heermance family, who built the property’s most historically notable feature in 1745: the 18th century Dutch stone farmhouse, which, in 1980, was officiall
Litchfield Magazine •

Connecticut Farm Energy Workshop Comes to Torrington

On February 9 in Torrington, Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development (CT RC&D) hosted one of three speaker sessions for the CT Farm Energy Program on farm energy and smart agriculture. The CT Farm Energy Workshop is part of a larger Climate Smart Ag event, made possible by the collective efforts of the Northwest Conservation District (NWCD), the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Berkshire Agriculture Ventures. “Our hope is that the workshop allowed more farms to learn ab
Litchfield Magazine •

Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy Winter Tours

The Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy in Litchfield is offering guided tours all throughout winter. This is the perfect activity for those looking for ways to spend some more relaxed time outdoors in the next few chilly months. Now through May 5 (when the Conservancy opens its doors for the official season), experienced aviculturists will offer private guided tours of their diverse collection of waterfowl. All throughout the year, these aviculturists are helping to breed, research, and protect these
Women's eNews •

Climate Feminism: Where Compassion and Justice Meet

Senator Joe Manchin made his name as a climate justice villain. It’s the campaign message he ran on in 2010, defying President Obama’s climate legislation, and it’s the reason he has taken up so much space in our news feeds lately— Manchin has made it his mission to shut down attempts at environmental reforms aimed to mend the climate crisis.

He’s an easy bad guy to hate. Manchin embodies the conservative climate denier that so many of us have come to see on the oppositional side of the climate

When Sustainability Isn't Sustained: The Challenge of Environmental Activism in College

The Challenge of Environmental Activism in College

In the fall of 2014, Jay Feinstein was a Brandeis University sophomore taking a class called “Greening the Ivory Tower.” Professor Laura Goldin had been teaching the course for a decade and a half, having designed it to inspire students to create what she called an “environmental ethic.” Each semester, her students conceived and implemented an array of sustainability projects to solve environmental problems they saw on campus.

The class was re
Ms. Magazine •

Citizen Science: First Women to Overwinter in the Arctic Return for Second Time

Sunniva Sorby and Hilde Fålun Strøm have returned to overwinter in the high Arctic for the second time, bringing groundbreaking scientific research to prestigious institutions while raising awareness about climate change.

Quarantine these past (seemingly endless) months has been challenging for everyone—at the very least because being stuck at home alone or with the same few family members can get old very quickly.

Here to shatter your understanding of a hardcore quarantine are Sunniva Sorby o
Ms. Magazine •

We Heart: Stitching it to the Patriarchy, One Shirt at A Time

In June of 2019, Nina Harris, a then-rising senior at Tulane University, had an idea to up-cycle thrifted shirts.

She had been a fan of thrifting for a while. Like many before her, Harris grew up shopping at Forever 21 but converted to “thriftdom” after learning about the horrors of fast fashion—from its mistreatment of workers to staggering environmental costs.

In high school, she bought a shirt at a thrift store printed the words “You are sexy.” The shirt always received lots of compliments
Rhode Island Monthly •

Turning Houses in Homes: URI Master Gardeners Come to House of Hope

It is rare, if not impossible, for widespread, societal issues to have real solutions. Racism, poverty, violence — the list of problems the country (and the world) faces tend to be things that are worked on and fought, but not really removed entirely. When it comes to homelessness in Rhode Island, however, an end might be in sight. Laura Jaworski is the executive director of House of Hope, a Warwick-based state-wide non-profit serving those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. She s
Rhode Island Monthly •

Rhode Island Youth Climate Strike to Take Place on September 20

Youth activism has always been a crucial and powerful tool for creating change. From college students staging sit-ins during the civil rights movement to Parkland students inspiring high school walkouts across the country, young people have always been key instigators to progressive change and action.

One of the most pressing crises in the current day and age is climate change, and young people across the country are standing up to take action on this issue as well, from Greta Thunberg of Swede
Rhode Island Monthly •

11 Ways You Can Combat Climate Change

As climate conditions worsen, efforts should intensify to rectify the damage inflicted on the planet over the past decades. Local, national and international groups are working tirelessly to save the world, but for a lot of us, it is still unclear what the world needs saving from.

Climate change, also known today as the climate crisis, is the impact of humans burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) and thus releasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere. These emissions are more commonly
Rhode Island Monthly •

Mystic Aquarium: Protecting the Ocean Through Science, Seafood and Beer

The planet is changing. From melting ice caps to animal extinctions to coastal flooding to forest fires, it gets harder every day to ignore the results of generations of humanity degrading the natural world. Particularly for coastal states, like Rhode Island, with cities at risk of rising seas and flooding, the threat of global warming is real and pressing. In the increasingly desperate search for ways in which we can aid the resolution of the climate crisis, Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium is ste
Rhode Island Monthly •

Urban Greens Co-op Market to Open Late June

Nearly two decades ago, twenty-two Rhode Islanders began a group they called a “buying club,” in order to help each other gain access to healthy foods at near-wholesale prices. In 2007, this group was officially incorporated as Urban Greens, Providence’s first food co-op, and now, more than twelve years later, the grand opening of Urban Greens Co-op Market will take place June 27-29 and will feature live music, goodie bags, free food samples from local vendors and all kinds of sales throughout t

Let's get social