The Eco House community is essentially created and perpetuated by the people involved in the house. We have many long-standing traditions and many new events that happen each year. Here is some information about the leaders in the house. There are many opportunities for leadership - look for them throughout the year so you can leave your mark on Eco House!

Residence Hall Director (RHD): The Residence Hall Director is the professional administrator in the house, and lives in the house.  He is active in supervising the staff, serving on Steering Committee, overseeing the programming and event planning, collaborating with other halls and RHDs, crisis management, counseling, advising, and housing procedures.

Resident Advisor (RA): Ecology House has four Resident Advisors. They live in the house and are upperclass students who act as advisors, teachers, event planners, role models, community-builders, counselors, policy enforcers, and general leaders for the house.

YOU! This year, Ecology House is filled with a wonderful mix of students from around the country and the world!  Many Eco Housers were involved in Environmental groups in their high schools and/or communities.  Some Eco Housers are interested in animals, some are interested in recycling, some have great knowledge about ecology, and some are new to environmentalism and ecology, but are eager to learn.  Most of them have an affinity for the outdoors.  It is always a great mix of people who have many different ideas and experiences to bring to the House!

The Faculty of Eco House:

Eco House is fortunate to work with three Faculty Fellows: Tom Eisner, Tom Whitlow, and Beth Buckles.  These faculty members participate in weekly house dinners as well as other informal house programs.

Professor Tom Eisner received a Ph.D. degree (1955) from Harvard University and has been a Cornell faculty member since 1957. He is the director of CIRCE (Cornell Institute for Research in Chemical Ecology) and a member of the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior. His research specialty is the chemical language of insects. He is active in various conservation issues, human rights affairs, photography, and filmmaking. He is also an amateur conductor and classical pianist.

Tom Whitlow is an Associate Professor of Horticulture.  When he was a small boy, Professor Whitlow wanted to be a herpetologist, but was persuaded by guidance counselors and key mentors that a better living was to be had in botany.  Ultimately the choice was a happy one.  Tom grew up to be a plant ecologist with a broad appetite for understanding how plants have adapted to stress.  He received his BS degree from the New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 1972 and his Ph.D. degree in Ecology from the University of California, Davis in 1982.  He currently works as a stress physiologist in the Urban Horticulture Institute where his research focuses on the effects of abiotic and biotic stresses on trees and the effect of trees on particulate air pollution.  Tom lives on a farm on an unpaved road with his family and too many horses to count. He enjoys bicycling, backpacking, kayaking, cooking, music, playing guitar, poetry, travel, photography, fine woodworking, and relaxing with his family.

Beth Buckles is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the College of Veterinary medicine.  She has always been interested in the diseases of wild animals, especially birds, and how diseases affect wild animal populations.  She received her BS degree in Ecology, Systematics and Evolution from Cornell in 1992.  While at Cornell she lived in Ecology house as a resident from 1989-1991 and was an Eco House RA from 1991-1992.  After leaving Ithaca, she received her DVM and MS from The Ohio State University in 1996,  and her PhD from University of California, Davis in 2004.  During this prolonged education, Dr. Buckles has studied the diseases of a diverse group of animals including rheas, cats, chickens, sea lions and island foxes.   Right now she is working on respiratory diseases of poultry and viral diseases of wild birds.  When not in the lab, Beth enjoys birding, hiking, Sci Fi  and spending time with her dogs and cats.

Spaces and Places:

In Ecology House, there are several common areas for play and study. 

For studying, there are two study lounges, and many groups choose to study in the Fireside Lounge or the lobby.

The Fireside Lounge has many opportunities for non-academic activities. It is a great place for students to meet and hang out. In the Fireside Lounge, there is a big screen TV, a piano, ping pong, pool and foosball tables, as well as a wood pellet stove.

Outside, the Ecology House is surrounded by lots of green space. There is a compost pile, sand volleyball court, outdoor furniture, a grill, and plenty of room outside to play (or study).

The Lobby of the house is a central meeting/study/socializing place and students often just hang out there. The lobby is also the home of the Eco Journal, (the House journal that everyone is welcome to read and contribute their thoughts). Our famous Community Hour, an informal talent hour, happens monthly in the lobby, as well as Ice Cream Night every week.

Eco House Programs:

In previous years, Eco Housers enjoyed many exciting programs and activities, including:

• Weekly Ice Cream Night
• Weekly Faculty Fellow Dinners in the dining halls
• House retreat to Camp Oswegatchie in the Adirondack Mountains
• Visit from Mission: Wolf from Colorado
• Active house government, called Steering Committee
• Seven different committees, each adding unique things to the house
• Halloween hayride at Professor Tom Whitlow's house
• Some great intramural sports, such as volleyball, basketball, and hockey
• Monthly Community Hour, a talent show where Eco House students strut their stuff
• The Annual Eco Disco, where "Disco isn' t dead, it s just been recycled", including a recycled clothing fashion show
• Visit from Susan Middleton and Davids Littschwager, two photographers from National Geographic who are best known for their work documenting endangered species
• Visit from Jane Goodall, who helped the residents with a community service project and had dinner in the house
• Visit from Bill Nye "The Science Guy", who had dinner with the house and played ultimate frisbee with some of the residents
• Share the Warmth, a clothing drive that encompasses the entire Cornell campus and occurs every November/December to help provide winter clothes for those that that need them

Eco House Committees:

Ecology House is a community-based, environmentally-aware program house. Its success is strongly linked to student participation. There are several student-run committees, which have input on the house's direction and atmosphere. Each resident is expected to participate in at least one committee. Remember Ecology House is what you make it. Below is a brief description of current committees:

• Recycling/Compost Committee is responsible for the house recycling efforts, including the compost. We also help to organize Share the Warmth, a yearly clothing recovery drive, and have been involved in a campaign to get the university to switch over to recycled paper.
• The Eco Players are a group of individuals who enact environmentally based performances. Our favorite is an adaptation of Dr Seuss The Lorax which we perform in an interactive style, followed by a discussion of the current day implications and possible actions one can take to ensure a healthy equilibrium with our earth, its resources and inhabitants.
• Social Committee provides social activities and opportunities. Activities include (but are not limited to!): Ice Cream Night, Eco Hoe Down, Community Hours (the infamous talentless talent show), intra-mural sports, Eco Disco and numerous other community-building activities.
• Eco Outdoor Adventurers Committee- This committee is just like the name sounds!  They go all over the great outdoors climbing, camping, hiking, and exploring all that mother nature has to offer!
• Eco Crafters plan craft projects that are environmentally conscious.  In Spring 2004, they created a workshop to make your own envelopes out of recycled paper, all while minding the envelope guidelines of the U.S. Postal Service!

• Steering Committee oversees all the committees and is the governing body of the House. This committee is the central communication point for house happenings. It guides the direction of the House, distributes finances and allocates housing spots.

The committees depend on resident participation, so come along with all your energy, enthusiasm and ideas to share! If you think we're missing something you could always start up a new committee.

For more information, please email ecologyhouse@cornell.edu.