Innovate~Educate~Collaborate

Category: Laudato Si

  • GREEN JUNCTION:Expanding area of agriculture science is vertical farming. BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

    One of my personal joys in the summer months is watching the plants in my backyard garden grow and produce food. Of course, another pleasure is eating fresh food. I continually find amazement in the transition of a tiny seed to a full-grown plant. However, many unfavorable circumstances can disrupt plant development. For example, excessive…

  • This is the Time of our Lives.

    “…That only the Church can provide ‘the vital energy to transform democracy into a true equality” ~Louis J Putz CSC This was Louis’ post-postmodern vision, he was a person who believed in social reform, the New Deal, Neo-Keynesian sorta, he took patristics seriously. Louis believed unity came through spiritual principles or order and logic. He…

  • Reading just may haunt us.

    I am what many call an “active retiree‘. I retired from a career job but not from being active in the world and helping it become better. I do virtual book clubs  along with public speaking, and the book clubs are more like discussion groups virtually via “Zoom”—all as a labor of love to encourage…

  • GREEN JUNCTION: The earth’s natural balances have been disrupted BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

    The severe, unprecedented weather associated with increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is more concerning every passing year. The recent record heat in the US Northwest made headline news for several days. Temperatures in Portland, Oregon, reached 116oF, higher than other cities in the US have ever reached, except Phoenix and Las Vegas.…

  • GREEN JUNCTION: What resources from Mother Nature do you treasure and protect? BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

    The reason we hear about semiconductors in the news is due to the shortage of semiconductor chips. Semiconductors are materials that have properties that are essential in most electronic devices. Silicon is the most widely used semiconductor. It is an element and is often produced by heating silicon dioxide (sand!) at very high temperatures, along…

  • Merton & Teilhard words to live by

    “Christianity is life and wisdom in Christ. It is a return to the Father in Christ. it is a return to the infinite abyss of pure reality in which our own reality is grounded, and in which we exist.” ~Merton, The Inner Experience pg 36 Christianity is living our lives in and with the Universal Christ. Jesus…

  • GREEN JUNCTION: Steel Production BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

    Green Junction Steel production in Northwest Indiana accounts for about a quarter of the output in the United States. According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, production in northern Indiana has led the nation since 1977. Worldwide, the United States is the fourth-largest producer of steel. If this industry were a country, it would…

  • What If Merton was Alive Today?

    When we think about Why Thomas Merton is relevant today? Sometimes think about what Merton would be doing today? For instance, say Merton was fifty years old, and the year is 2021. Think technology. Merton was a whiz on the typewriter, the modern device of his time, mailed many letters (USPS), and was an avid…

  • Green Junction: More on Water by Julie Peller Ph.D

    About 71% of the earth’s surface is water, and less than 3% of surface water is freshwater. Most of the earth’s surface water is in the ocean seas, home to over a million different species, although this is not known since many oceans have not been explored. It is thought that 50-80% of all life…

  • Green Junction: The Water Crisis by BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

    The water crisis in some regions of the western part of the US is being described as historic. The governor of California has declared a drought emergency in 41 of the state’s 58 counties. Some farmers are removing crops that depend on plentiful water, such as almond trees. The rights to fresh water in Oregon…