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Wellesley’s Lise Olney & Dr. Robyn Riseberg named Class of ’25 Commonwealth Heroines

June 30, 2025 by admin 1 Comment

Former Wellesley Select Board Chair and member Lise Olney and Boston Community Pediatrics Founder Dr. Robyn Riseberg have been named as part of the Class of 2025 Commonwealth Heroines by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. They were nominated by state legislators who represent Wellesley.

The text from the nominations:

Lise OlneyLise Olney, Wellesley

Lise Olney served on the Wellesley Select Board for six years. During her time on the board, she served as both Chair and Vice Chair and on various boards and committees as the Select Board liaison. Prior to her time on the Select Board, she served on the Wellesley Natural Resources Commission for five years and on the board of Sustainable Wellesley for eight years. She has been a long-time advocate for climate action. As a member of the Climate Action Committee, she helped engage community members, creating greater understanding of the climate crisis and developing a Climate Action Plan. Beyond climate action, Lise initiated and served on the town’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force, served on the Wellesley Freedom Team to address incidents of discrimination and bias, and launched and coordinated the Wellesley Civil Discourse Initiative to build understanding and connection in the Wellesley community. – State Representative Alice Peisch

Robyn RisebergDr. Robyn Riseberg, Wellesley

I am proud to nominate Dr. Robyn Riseberg for the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women’s Woman of the Year award. A Wellesley resident and pediatrician with a visionary approach to healthcare equity, Dr. Riseberg founded Boston Community Pediatrics (BCP), the first nonprofit pediatric private practice in Massachusetts. Her groundbreaking model ensures that all children—regardless of income, race, or insurance status—receive the same high-quality, comprehensive care typically reserved for the most privileged. Through BCP, Dr. Riseberg has created a holistic, patient-centered environment where medical, behavioral, and social needs are addressed under one roof, in partnership with community organizations. Dr. Riseberg’s impact extends beyond her clinical work. She has dedicated her career to mentoring future healthcare professionals, serving as a teacher to medical, nurse practitioner, and pediatric residents. In addition to her work with Boston-area childcare centers and camps as a healthcare consultant, she has served on the board of Casa Myrna and is a corporation member of Beacon Academy. Her leadership and compassion have made a lasting impact on countless families, including many here in Wellesley. Dr. Riseberg exemplifies what it means to be a community change-maker, and her dedication to reimagining pediatric care makes her a truly outstanding candidate for this honor. – State Senator Cindy Creem


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Filed Under: Environment, Government, Health

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How to get in on Natural Resources Commission’s free spring 2025 tree program

June 3, 2025 by admin

The Natural Resources Commission is accepting requests from homeowners who would like to have a tree planted on their property this spring, for free.  Many types of trees are still available (such as red maple; sugar maple; downy serviceberry; sweetgum; white spruce; pin oak; and American Elm).

Trees are planted by the Department of Public Works and cared for by homeowners. Email the NRC to be considered for this program.

Help expand and protect Wellesley’s Tree Canopy and replace trees lost due to construction or natural causes.

Wellesley NRC, tree program
Photo by NRC.

Filed Under: Environment, Gardens

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Letter to the Editor: Addressing environment impacts of Wellesley College campus events

May 16, 2025 by admin

Have you ever wondered about the environmental impacts of campus events at Wellesley College?

That’s what the Wellesley College ES 300 (Environmental Decision-Making) capstone class worked on figuring out this semester.

ES 300 is one of two capstone courses the Environmental Studies (ES) department offers for the ES major. It is a semester-long, student-run course led by Camilla Chandler Frost Professor of Environmental Studies Beth DeSombre that centers around an environmental project to address an environmental problem relevant to Wellesley’s campus. The course allows students to apply the knowledge they have accumulated from the major and apply it to a project with real consequences for the College. After conducting analysis on the environmental problem, the class publishes a full report which contains recommendations to the College for where to improve.

Wellesley College ES 300 (Environmental Decision-Making) capstone class
Wellesley College ES 300 (Environmental Decision-Making) capstone class

 
This year, the idea for the project came from the Facilities Management office. They wanted to work on changes outside of energy generation, since the College already had a thorough plan for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through energy projects. Jennifer Garvin, Office of Sustainability Manager, believed students would be passionate about waste. So, Facilities requested that the class investigate the negative environmental impacts of on-campus events and deliver actionable suggestions to decrease these impacts.

The class chose to focus on the impacts of waste and GHG emissions from events.

To estimate the total amount of waste generated by on-campus events, the 18-student class audited over 35 representative events, both past and current, during a two week period. Students used an in-depth online auditing form created by the class to ensure uniform data collection (Appendix B). They then used the College’s event reservation platform with the audit data to estimate the total amount of waste produced at events over an entire academic year. Amount of waste could be translated into GHG emissions by looking at the lifecycle of waste products. Recommendations were made based on four metrics: ease, cost, GHG emission reduction and waste reduction.

The 200-page report covered Wellesley’s current waste stream system, the audit process, how they narrowed down recommendations, the metrics they used for evaluating recommendations, and their proposed recommendations.

The ES 300 students estimated that on-campus events produce 17,691 kg of trash and 67,815 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) GHG emissions per academic year. Of that, events with food and beverage produce the most waste and emissions, compared to audience-based, creative and giveaway events.

ES 300 strongly recommend four primary options:

1. Creating an easy-to-find website with information about event sustainability.

2. Expanding institutional composting to the Science Center and Alumnae Hall.

3. Mandating that beef may not be served at any college event.

4. Mandating that campus events may not distribute single-use plastic items or any plastic swag.

They also propose two alternative options that have smaller environmental impacts:

1. Mandate that all distributed plastics must be recyclable (with proper recycling receptacles available).

2. Create a storage room with shared resources where event organizers have access to reusable event materials.

Jennifer Garvin hopes that the College (or future ES 300 classes) will continue to look at waste production and diversion on campus in the future, as peer institutions are diverting more compared to Wellesley.

If you would like to learn about ES 300’s project, or learn how to evaluate waste in your community, you can read the report below. This class was student-run, so it goes to show that anyone can do a project like this!

Sincerely,

Camille Newman, Wellesley College ’25

Filed Under: Environment, Letters to the Editor, Wellesley College

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Shedding light on darkness: the truth about why Wellesley needs dark skies

May 14, 2025 by admin

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Filed Under: Environment, Health

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Bartlett Tree Experts—trusted to care for European Beech Trees at MassHort

May 9, 2025 by admin

SPONSORED POST:  Bartlett Tree Experts always look forward to spring, especially when their arborists are asked to provide species-specific scientific tree care for the much-loved European Beeches at Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Garden at Elm Bank in Wellesley.

Bartlett Arborist Representative Harrison Shaw and a team of his fellow Bartlett arborists recently pruned the spectacular
hardwood hedge that surrounds Elm Bank’s beautiful Italianate Garden. The pruning was completed by trained Bartlett experts who meticulously used hand tools for precision. In addition, the team provided soil care and treatments to the trees, to keep them in optimum health.

Such diligent care is essential to help ward off beech leaf disease, which can be lethal to both American and European beech trees. In the years since its discovery, beech leaf disease has spread to 15 states, affecting beeches throughout New England, and further north including Ontario, Canada, to as far south as Virginia.

Bartlett Tree Experts
Harrison Shaw beside the European Beeches at Elm Bank.

Shaw, who grew up in Grafton and makes his home in Wellesley, works closely with MassHort to provide scientific tree and shrub care to ensure the health and beauty of the organization’s wide collections of trees and woody plants.

Founded in 1907, Bartlett Tree Experts is the world’s leading scientific tree and shrub care company.

Let Bartlett care for your trees

The best approach to caring for beech trees is multi-dimensional with a focus on improving overall tree health and vigor. Research scientists at the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories continue to develop groundbreaking treatment strategies that have proven to be highly effective.

If you have beech trees on your property, contact your local Bartlett arborist to discuss treatment options and scientific tree care solutions to ensure the health and vitality of these beautiful trees.

Learn more about beech and beech leaf disease at the video linked here, European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)


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Filed Under: Environment, Gardens

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Wellesley now officially a Climate Leader Community

May 4, 2025 by Bob Brown

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has certified the first group of Climate Leader Communities, and Wellesley is among them.

These 19 municipalities are eligible to apply for grants of up to $1.15M each for emissions reduction projects.

Climate Leader Communities is the follow-up to the Green Communities program enacted in 2010 and of which Wellesley has been a member. Wellesley has secured grants for such projects as an LED retrofit project in the Department of Public Works Water and Sewer Garage and for buying hybrid police vehicles.

From left to right, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll; Marybeth Martello, Wellesley Sustainability Director; Janet Mosely, Wellesley Sustainability Analyst; DOER Commissioner Elizabeth Mahony.
From left to right, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll; Marybeth Martello, Wellesley Sustainability Director; Janet Mosely, Wellesley Sustainability Analyst; DOER Commissioner Elizabeth Mahony.

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Filed Under: Environment, Government

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