When my Dad was in grade school, his parents built a cabin on a beautiful lake in northern Minnesota. Far from “civilization,” with an abundance of towering pine trees, birds, fish and animals such as deer, raccoons and squirrels galore, it was a little piece of tranquil paradise. My Grandma, who suffered from...
Most of us are familiar with Artificial Intelligence (AI) through consumer applications like ChatGPT or customer service chatbots. You may have used ChatGPT or other generative AI applications to summarize the content of an article or email, plan a meal or even a vacation. They are easy to use and can help automate daily...
In today’s world, often filled with material goods and wasteful habits, what daily actions can we take to be protectors of the Earth? Since moving to Paris in July 2023, I’ve searched for ways to expand my environmental activism: I compost, and I teach my English students about climate change. I interned at and...
The Environment Team selected the book Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth for our April 2025 discussion by a landslide vote. Does this interest in economics express a deeper yearning in resonance with the zeitgeist, a desire to understand underlying issues to explain...
If you’ve read the newspaper lately, it might not seem like Spain has a water scarcity problem. Last November, for instance, the province of Valencia received more rain in a single day than typically falls there in an entire year. But that’s not good news. The rain resulted in flash flooding which claimed 235...
The first thing most people who come to Florence want to buy is a new leather handbag, preferably a designer bag or one from a luxury fashion brand, a pair of beautiful shoes or a pair of soft leather gloves. There is a reason for this. Florence is home to the most talented leather artisans in...
