Sustainability and Conservation Leadership at ODU

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The Sustainability and Conservation Leadership (SCL) Program of Old Dominion University was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It has been educating students since 2017. The VCC is a place for the alumni and current students of the program to interact and share experiences and resources. The VCC aims to increase awareness of the triple challenge of climate change, biodiversity and wildlife loss, and pollution and to develop feasible options to adapt to a changing world in support of thriving communities. The Community of Practice in the VCC seeks to establish a collaborative community of students of Old Dominion University and to create connections with stakeholders from local to global scales. The club focuses on the new leadership required to tackle the many challenges in safeguarding the Earth's life-support system.

If you have been/are a student in ODU's SCL program or are interested in interacting with these students, feel free to join the VCC as a member.

ODUSCL VCC Billboard

[Feb 03, 2026] Clemson University Internship Opportunity: Clemson University’s Youth Learning Institute is looking for Summer interns for the 4-H Summer Camp Counselor at Camp Bob Cooper, Summerton, SC from May 22 – August 7, 2026. See the Job Description for details and how to apply.

[Jan 08, 2026] Elizabeth River Project is hiring Seasonal Educator: The positions of part-time seasonal educators may be of interest to you. One is for the Learning Barge in Norfolk, VA and the other is at Paradise Creek Nature Park in Portsmouth, VA. The positions are both for ~25 hours a week at $15/hr. See more details in Learning Bark Announcement and Paradise Creek Nature Park Announcement. These are great entry-level opportunities for anyone passionate about the outdoors, working with kids, and the amazing Elizabeth River!

[Nov 19, 2025] Seagrass Masters Research Opportunity (with funding): Hello everyone! I just recently met with Dr. Althea Moore at Texas A&M. She is starting a lab for seagrass restoration and resilience, and is looking for a prospective masters student with previous experience with seagrass. I have attached a link below with access to an application. Good luck and feel free to share! Read more at https://althea-moore-lab.owlstown.net/cv

News

Platform News

[Sep 25, 2026] “Digital Technology should be governed by people for people”: Joseph Gorden-Levit, the UN Global Advocate for Human-centric Digital Governance, in his opening remarks (starting at about 20:00 in the recordings) at the Digital Cooperation Day 2026 emphasized that “the decision we make in this moment are going to have a massive impact on everyone's life, on the whole future of humanity.” He underlined that how “digital technology is designed and developed and deployed should be governed by people for people.” The challenge is that some believe digital technology should be governed by the market. Place4Us is designed and governed by people and for people with no role to play for the market.

[Sep 25, 2026] “In the absence of truth, trust deteriorates”: This is what Mia Amor Mottley made very clear in her amazing speech at the 80th United Nations General Assembly. She said: “When we luck truth and we luck trust law becomes theater, News become spectacle, and science becomes just another opinion.” With respect to the ongoing ecocide in Gaza she quoted the Roman historian Tacitus quoted a Scottish chieftain: “They make it desert and they call it Peace.”

[Sep 21, 2026] Meta and Instagram ban ads with “social topics”: Stephen Burgen reports in the Guardian article “Meta bans ads for Virginia Woolf play in Spain because they relate to feminism” that Meta explained that “any mention of civil rights, feminism or social reform are usually classified as ‘social topics’ by our automatic system” and are filtered out. These topics are central to Woolf’s work. As reported, Meta recommended removing “key words” so that the text doesn’t appear to encourage activism. This underlines the importance of Place4Us, where social topics are at the forefront and activism is encouraged.

[Sep 21, 2026] End Times Fascism: The book “End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World” by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor underlines that the End Times Fascist have given up on humanity and this world. They are not only building the arks for themselves, they also accelerate the coming of the flood.

[Sep 13, 2026] "They are traitors to creation, to the wonders of here": Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor in their article “The end times fascists are plotting their escape from our world. Our mission is clear” make clear that the unholy alliance of the billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and others, who suffer from an absence of awe in the face of the unique beauty of our home planet, is working toward an apocalyptic future from which only they as the chosen few will emerge unscathed. The authors claim that it is becoming clear how we stop them.

[Aug 03, 2026] Alliance of World Scientists Declares Planetary Emergency: In the paper “ World scientists’ warning to humanity: a third notice” the Alliance of World Scientists includes the “Declaration of a planetary emergency.” The declaration states: “We, the undersigned, recognize that Earth is now in a state of planetary emergency. Climate change, biodiversity loss, land and freshwater degradation, pollution, and unsustainable production and consumption are destabilizing the Earth system that supports all life.”
You can sign the declaration here ...

[Aug 03, 2026] Hothouse Earth: arriving sooner than you think…: Julian Cribb writes in his latest blog: “Latest measurements, carefully analysed to exclude anomalies such as El Nino, reveal a planet cooking up at a steady 0.48 degrees per decade since 2015, in what is thought to be the most rapid heating event in all its geological history.” We are experiencing the most rapid heating event in Earth's billions of years long history! We have caused this event with a few hundred years of sole focus on unlimited growth using all the ancient solar energy accumulated by Earth's biosphere over more than 250 million years - just because we could! That is something to reflect on!