Ever wonder how President Monaco takes his tea (spoiler alert: he doesn’t like tea) or what it’s like to live in Gifford House? Before his first commencement here at Tufts on Sunday, check out this “Interview with President Monaco” and get a glimpse into the life of Tony Monaco and his first year at Tufts:

Note: Thought recently posted, this video was filmed earlier this year.

You may be on campus this Sunday for commencement or you may be cheering on your friends and family from afar. Either way, you can get an inside look at the day by following Tufts Commencement 2012 online. We’d love to have you join the conversation, so check out how you can take part:

• Twitter: We’ll be live tweeting from @TuftsLive, so follow along from early morning preparation to the procession, the awarding of honorary degrees, and the commencement address. Use the hashtag #Tufts2012 to let us know what you’re up to.
•  Web: Watch the live streamed ceremony at commencement.tufts.edu, where you will also find the @TuftsLive and #Tufts2012 feeds, so you’ll be sure to not miss a thing.
• Instagram: We love photos! If you’re on campus, snap some pictures and tag them #Tufts or #Tufts2012. We’ll be capturing some shots too, so be sure to check them out (username: TuftsUniversity)
• Facebook: We’ve been getting ready for commencement, and will have tons more photos to share just after the ceremony ends.
• Foursquare: Check into Tufts University Commencement 2012 on Foursquare, include a shout out about graduation, and you’ll earn the Hats Off Badge.

What sounds more like Tufts than puns, civic engagement, and the environment? It won’t come as a surprise that Tufts alumni are essential to The Boston Tree Party.

The Party is a diverse coalition of organizations, institutions, and communities from across the Greater Boston Area coming together in support of Civic Fruit. We call for the planting of fruit trees in civic space and promote the fruits of civic engagement. Each community has committed to planting and caring for a pair of heirloom apple trees.

Three Tufts Alumni are leading the way at The Boston Tree Party. Lisa Gross is the Chairman and Founder, Maura Schorr Beaufait is the Chief of Operations, and Beth Nollner is Project Coordinator. Between them they hold degrees from Tufts/MFA, the Friedman School of Nutrition, and the Urban and Environmental Policy graduate program.

Check out this short documentary: “Growing Civic Fruit: A Documentary Film about the Boston Tree Party”

You can follow the Boston Tree Party on Twitter at @BostTreeParty

With finals upon us, things like healthy food, sleep, and trips to the gym tend to get put on the back burner. It’s much easier to grab some late night take-out than to prepare a well balanced meal in your kitchen. But, the worst thing that could happen to you during finals is getting sick, so Tufts Department of Health Education has provided a list of easy steps to follow to ensure you stay sniffles-free during this hectic time. The most unexpected tip? Staying hydrated:

During periods of intensive brain activity, water serves as the primary media and reactant in the massive metabolic reactions going on in your body and brain. To maintain health and a high level of functionality, you need to watch out for dehydration.

Head to their blog, Balance Your Life, for steps 1-4, as well as for more tips on creating a healthier lifestyle that expands outside of finals period.

If you care about the environment and want to do graduate work in the subject area, look no further! Tufts Institute of the Environment (TIE), which emphasizes the importance of sustainability and environmental research and awareness through interdisciplinary initiatives, has two exciting opportunities for post-grads.

The TIE Graduate Fellows program allows Tufts graduate students of any discipline to add an environmental component to his or her research. From biology to works of literature, Tufts students have found unique ways to delve into the natural world. Take a look:

On a different note, TIE Tufts Environmental Literacy Institute (TELI) brings faculty, staff and graduates together for a week-long workshop every year to increase environmental literacy.  Here’s more about this year’s program and what it accomplished:

Be sure to like TIE on Facebook and to check out some cool photos!

Slow Foods, an international non-profit organization that specializes in the defense of environmentally friendly, great tasting food, has had quite an influence on some Friedman School foodies. This past November, Elaine Siew, N12, took pleasure in hosting a Swiss-style fondue adventure for her fellow Slow Foods members. On the Slow Foods Tufts Blog, she explains in detail the assortment of cheese and chocolate fondue cooking options that seem to be both titillating to the taste and fun for groups of friends to share together. She describes the experience as:

a beautiful evening celebrating everything that is good and right about Swiss cheese, and proving yet again that you can never, never have too much cheese.

For more words of wisdom from Slow Foods Tufts, be sure to check out their blog for regular updates!

Gonzo Labs’ annual “Dance Your Ph.D.” contest provides a fun and creative way for Ph.D. students across the world to show off their theses through interpretive dance.

Lara Park, a current Friedman School Ph.D. student, recently became one of 16 2011 contest finalists. The 55 dance submissions provided the largest pool of contestants in the contest’s history. With her dance to “The Effect of Western Style Diet Consumption on Epigenetic Patterns,” Park hopes to win a cash prize and a trip to Belgium in order to attend the TEDxBrussels November event.

Dance Your Ph.D. 2011: The Effect of Western Style Diet Consumption on Epigenetic Patterns. Lara Park et al from Liza Voll on Vimeo.

To get a better idea about the “Dance your Ph.D.” competition, take a look at the 2010 winner here. You can also like the 2011 “Dance Your Ph.D.” contest on Facebook.

Dr. Miriam Nelson, professor of nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and founder and director of the John Hancock Research Center on Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity Prevention at Tufts University, has embarked on her StrongWomen Across America Tour.

Nelson describes her aims for the tour on the StrongWomen website:

Beginning in Kenai, Alaska and traveling east to Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, the StrongWomen Across America tour will focus on eight small communities with active StrongWomen programs.  Each community has developed what I call a Change Club – a group of 15 to 20 motivated women who will work to change the physical activity and food environments in their own communities.  It is my hope that this work will not only impact those individual communities, but will create a ripple effect that will reach communities across the nation.

Check out her Twitter account, Facebook page and most recent book, The Social Network Diet, which gives an interesting spin on how to perpetuate a healthy lifestyle through innovative social networking.

2010 Tufts School of Nutrition graduate Tara Anasti is a writer for the Seeds for Learning program’s blog “Beyond the Farm.” Seeds for Learning is a program dedicated to creating school-based farms in Philadelphia along with community outreach and entrepreneurial education. Anasti’s most recent post is about planning for the coming fall season in the garden:

Here at the farm, we are watching our summer crops become exhausted and beginning to prepare spent beds for fall planting. Using our crop plan from the last year’s season, we rotate the location of our fall plantings. Crop rotation is a critical technique for organic agriculture. Rotating crops prevents crops from depleting the soils of the same nutrients.

She also wrote about students’ classroom experience:

Our high school students gained much experience in growing, cooking and selling food to their community this summer and our K-8 campers learned about climate science in their new outdoor classroom space at the farm. For the fall, Seeds for Learning will continue to educate our student farmers about food justice and the food system.

Balance Your Life (BYL) is a healthy lifestyle campaign from the Department of Health Education at Tufts. Thanks to the Balance Your Life blog, managed by soon-to-be double jumbo, Kate Sweeney (A’05, N’11), Tufts students and beyond have access to ample information about the aspects of healthy living on a college campus.

Most recently, the advice has been regarding what you could replace your coffee or tea with as the weather gets warmer. For a more summer-inspired drink that is cool and refreshing, Sweeney recommends a chilled smoothie. A smoothie is not only easy and fast to make in the dorms, but it can be taken on-the-go, and can be made with healthful ingredients.

There are many different foods you can put into a smoothie, from carrots, to pineapple, to yogurt. Some of Sweeney’s favorite are those that also have nutritional benefits, like the chopped carrot and banana smoothie, full of fiber and anti-oxidants, or the peanut butter and chocolate smoothie, giving you mono- and poly-unsaturated fats. Head over to the BYL blog to find Sweeney’s favorite smoothie recipes.