CERC is The Overbrook Foundation funded Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia University. With this support and from a number of other institutions, an international conference entitled: "The Várzea: The decade past and the decade ahead" was held from 4-7 December in Manaus, Brazil. The focus of the conference on the Amazon floodplain -- or várzea in Portuguese -- reflects the overwhelming importance of the terrestrial-aquatic interface in the environmental, social, and economic past as well as future of the region.

Fighting global warming in 18 seconds - this is the time it takes to change an light bulb to one that is more energy efficient. This campaign's goal is to make Americans more aware of the amount of power they can save by simply switching to a different type of light bulb. Several large organizations are leading the pact, including WalMart and Yahoo.

The Forest Stewardship Council reports in their newsletter on the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center in Diablo Lake, Washington. Part of FSC "greenbuild" initiative, you can read more about this facility and their work.

In the forests of the Amanã Reserve, hunting is an important activity for the subsistence economy and culture of the local human population. With the legal climate related to hunting changing rapidly in Brazil, knowledge of what can and cannot be done in this reserve is being examined.

Women's rights are at risk in the battle over partial-birth abortions. The Center for Reproductive Rights covers legal expenses for several lawsuits, including one before the U.S. Supreme Court and assists Dr. Leroy Carhart in Nebraska where the most restrictive abortion laws are under court review.

In the Life's interview with former NBA star, John Amaechi - the son of a Nigerian father, he was raised in Stockport, England by his English mother. Amaechi moved to the U.S. to play high school basketball at St. John's High School in Toledo, Ohio. He began playing college basketball at Vanderbilt but transferred to Penn State where he was a two-time First Team Academic All-American selection. When he came out, the comments from other NBA players were unpleasant.

This past June, the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons, staffed by the Vera Institute of Justice and funded in part by The Overbrook Foundation, released its report, Confronting Confinement, which coincided with the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing on Corrections and Rehabilitation. Among the key recommendations presented in Confronting Confinement is that corrections systems should adopt a culture of rehabilitation and productivity.