April 2012
Issue #71

Finally, up for air

The past few months have been insanely busy — in a good way. I’ve worked on quite a collection of wonderful projects. I doubt any you has particularly noticed the absence of my newsletter in your in-box, but I’ve missed communicating with you. Now that things are calming down a bit, I have a moment to share with you some examples of the work that has kept me out of trouble (and out of touch).

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

The Lincoln Institute is one of my oldest and dearest clients. The Institute’s Director of Publications, Ann LeRoyer, is a real pro. I don’t think I could begin to count the hours we’ve spent — over the past two decades of collaboration — finessing the fit of hundreds of articles and report chapters. We are well suited to one another’s styles and quickly brainstorm solutions to the multitude of little “problems” that arise every time a new edit is requested by a writer or program director.

     The Institute’s mission is “to improve the quality of public debate and decisions in the areas of land policy and land-related taxation in the United States and around the world. Its goals are to integrate theory and practice to better shape land policy and to provide a nonpartisan forum for discussion of the multidisciplinary forces that influence public policy concerning the use, regulation, and taxation of land.”

     Ann and I produce a quarterly magazine, Land Lines and four 32–64-page Policy Focus Reports yearly to keep professionals up to date with various issues and practices in global land policy debates. In the past year, we’ve started producing quarterly Spanish versions of Land Lines, as well. Pictured above are recent issues of the magazine and reports.

     At the moment, we’re also working on a 400-page book on the expansion of urban population growth worldwide. But, more of that in a future newsletter.

     To learn more about the work of the Lincoln Institute and to download PDFs of various publications, visit www.lincolninst.edu.

The Union of Concerned Scientists

UCS is also a client in long standing. I produce their member magazine, reports, facts sheets and summaries, a yearly calendar, ads . . . and whatever else they ask of me.

     The Union of Concerned Scientists is “the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices. It is an alliance of more than 250,000 citizens and scientists, people from all walks of life — parents and businesspeople, biologists and physicists, teachers and students.”

In the past couple months, I’ve worked on many projects for UCS, including:

• “An Open Letter from California Scientists and Engineers on Advanced Clean Cars and Reducing Heat-Trapping Emissions”

• “Voices of Scientists at the FDA: Measuring Progress on Scientific Integrity”

• “U.S. Nuclear Power Safety One Year after Fukushima” (report & executive summary)

• “After the Storm: The Hidden Health Risks of Flooding in a Warming World” (part of the “Climate Change and Your Health” report series)

• multiple fact sheets and an executive summary for “After the Storm”

• the spring issue of Catalyst (UCS’s member magazine)

• multiple figures, for both an article being published by a UCS staff member in an academic journal and for a book being co-published by UCS

• a poster being used for display by UCS staff when doing on-site presentations

• magazine and program ads

To learn more about UCS and/or to download PDFs of some of these projects, go to www.ucsusa.org.

Newsletter City

On average, I produce two to three newsletters a month. Among my most recent are the four pictured here.

• Co-operative Management Advantage: For the past several years, I’ve been producing this newsletter for the Master of Management Co-operatives and Credit Unions Program, a partnership between Saint Mary’s University and the Cooperative
Management Education Co-operative in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

• Trees for Life is the newsletter of the Armenia Tree Project, a nonprofit program that has made enormous strides in combating desertification in Armenia. ATP’s goal is to assist the Armenian people in using trees to improve their standard of living and protect the global environment.

• The EcoLogical Landscape is the newsletter of the EcoLogic Development Fund. EcoLogic collaborates with the rural poor in Central America and Mexico and helps local communities identify, evaluate, and prioritize their conservation and natural resource needs. EcoLogic then works with the them to obtain what they need to restore and conserve the tropical ecosystems where they live and on which they rely for basic necessities and well-being.

• A Place at the Table is the newsletter of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. The Food Bank provides food to people in need and promotes long-term solutions to the problem of hunger. Since 1982, it has solicited, stored, and distributed surplus food and grocery products to member agency programs that serve the hungry. Millions of pounds of donated food and nonfood household products are distributed to the community through its network of more than 250 member agency food programs across Rhode Island.

She’s baaaaack....

Amanda has started working from home in recent weeks. She has remote access to my computer and archives and is working fairly regularly. It’s great to have her back. I know several of you have missed her. Given that she is working off-site, you’ll still have to put up with my gravelly voice at the end of the phone line for some time, but don’t be surprised if she calls or emails you directly one of these days. (PS: She and the twins are doing wonderfully!)