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After a long week of mercury negotiations and international issues, it was only fitting to close our trip by learning about one of Switzerland’s finest exports: chocolate. In order to do this, we toured Maison Cailler, a chocolate factory home to Switzerland’s oldest chocolate brand that still exists, celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. As… Continue reading Maison Cailler – Sarah Bouhuys

On our final day of the trip, we took a rental van along the coast of Lake Leman (a.k.a. Lake Geneva) and to the northeast to the foothills of the Alps, to the town of Gruyères. We first visited the factory of Swiss chocolate manufacturer Cailler, which opened its doors in 1898 focusing on producing… Continue reading La Maison de Gruyere Tours- Jeff Estes

Today, November 28th, we all got up and ate breakfast at the hotel, and rushed out to hurry to get to our tour at the UN Headquarters.  We happened to go on the busiest day that they have ever seen, and we waited in line for a long while, trying to get through security and… Continue reading Day 4- Jenna Merry

On Thursday, November 28th, we visited the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG). Located at the Palais des Nations, it is the second largest after the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The building was constructed in the late 1930’s to be remodeled in the late 1960’s. During our visit, there were ongoing meetings at… Continue reading Day 4 – Pamela Flores

On our third day in Geneva, we started the day differently than the two days prior; rather than learn about international governmental collaboration at the UN, we learned about international science collaboration at the CERN. The CERN, or the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, was established in 1954 as a joint scientific venture of… Continue reading CERN- Tighe Gugerty

 

United Nations Geneva Our visit to the United Nations Office at Geneva was an incredibly enriching experience. Located in the Palais des Nations, it is the second largest of the UN’s major centers with only 200-300 fewer employees and annual meetings than the New York office. The building, originally constructed in the late 1920’s-early 1930’s,… Continue reading UN GVA – Linzy Dineen

Day three of the COP3 went a little differently than the first two days. Everyone got up early to catch an 8AM tram going to CERN. CERN is right on the border between Switzerland and France, and is home to the world’s largest particle accelerator. The large hadron collider (LHC) enabled physicists to confirm the… Continue reading Day 3 – Chris Stawarski

The second day of the COP3 of the Minamata Convention on Mercury proved to be even more interesting than the first.  Upon arrival, it was clear by the energy in the room that the delegates were tired from working late into the previous night but were energized to re-enter the negotiations. The morning plenary session… Continue reading Day 2 – Katharine Ryan

My first day at the 3rd Convention of the Parties (COP 3) of the Minamata Convention, was one filled with nervous excitement and anticipation. After months of preparing and familiarizing myself with mercury science and policy, the time had finally come to see environment policy in action. Through the research reports and simulations done in… Continue reading Day 1- Jo Wicki