Professor David Dornbos in Biology applied for a slot in the Writing Nook and was accepted. His plan was to work on three chapters for a book that will be titled Meat Consumption: Health, Environment, and Ethical Implications. Dornbos has discovered in his research that more healthful diets turn out to be those also more healthful for our environment! Meat production is a heavy-weight contributor to global climate change, soil erosion, water quality and biodiversity loss. For example, along with the methane contribution by ruminants in particular, carbon dioxide contributions to the atmosphere from soil tillage for feed production produce a greenhouse gas load greater than that from human transportation!

Dornbos says that the Writing Nook time was incredibly valuable in maintaining writing momentum during the first half of the semester, during which time he was also teaching two sections of Biology 230. He found himself looking forward to meeting colleagues in the library at 2 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. After a few minutes of devotional time, "[he] was effectively separated from the busyness of the days' tasks and focused on the book project."