RE Log Fall 2019

FALL 2019 Ransom Everglades LOG 31 Day – propelled by a grant from a local non-profit, Dream in Green, and the initiative of RE faculty and the student- run RE Green Team. Middle schoolers helped kick off the new composting effort by depositing their apple cores and banana peels from the morning snack break into the compost bin. The new STEM Center that is under construction on the upper school campus was designed with sustainability in mind. It will include solar panels on its roof and be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certified. Suarez, the former Miami mayor and father of current Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez, told students during the symposium that “science is now at the forefront of American policy making,” sharing details about the threats to South Florida and other regions posed by climate change and sea-level rise. He brought with him Gavin Sitkoff ’14 , a member of his staff who attended Ransom Everglades, and encouraged students to consider careers in policymaking fields. “We need your input,” Suarez said. “We need people in government who know science and can assess things... You have to be a little bit of a rebel. Science gives you the ability to question.” Magill shared stories from his photographic journeys of the world to bring to life the problems that climate change has created in the animal kingdom. Reynolds, a 19-year-old marine science student at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, delighted RE’s young audience with her story: already a published author on climate change; she lives part-time on a 1,000-acre island with 43 solar powered homes in the Florida Keys called No Name Key. She is completing a new book on the impact of climate change and sea level rise in South Florida. On the symposium’s final evening, Lewis exhorted students to treasure and share what they had learned. “I want to see your heart,” she said. “I want you to tell me why this matters. [We] can’t fix this without you. It’s you as young people who can make a change.” Yanira Pineda, Miami Beach Ron Magill, Zoo Miami RE faculty Brooke Gintert, Alexandra Gunner and Kelly Jackson