Truman’s Environmental Studies Conference this weekend

Announcement from Michael Berman and Susan Zhu

Hello!

I’m writing to inform you that this Saturday, April 5, is Truman’s Environmental Studies Conference. Fellow senior Susan Zhu and I are organizing this year’s conference. Titled “From Local to Global: Mapping out Environmentalism”, the conference will examine the diverse human connections to the environment and will feature student and faculty presentations from a wide range of disciplines. In the evening, please join us as this semester’s Restoration Ecology class debate the feasibility, ethics, and ecology of restoring Bear Creek on Truman’s campus.

Several presentations are focused on ongoing and future projects at Truman and within the Kirksville community. As representatives of a university that strives for sustainability, your support of current and potential initiatives is critical to transforming Truman into a more sustainable institution. Your presence would be greatly appreciated.

Presentations will be held from 10 AM to 5 PM and the debate will be held at 6:30 PM in Violette Hall 1000.

FREE ADMISSION — LUNCH PROVIDED
Violette Hall 1000

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
10 – 11 AM: Literary Ecocriticism and Biomimicry
Ecocomposition Readings from Monica Barron’s Environmental Literature class
Sebastian Maldonado-Velez: “Walking Trees Attack!: A Collection of Poems about Nature and the Kirksville Community”
Emily Bowen: “Biomimicry, Nature, and Design”

11 AM – 12 PM: Bear Creek Clean-up
August Kersten and Michele Woolbright: “Ongoing Efforts to Clean Up Bear Creek on Truman’s Campus”
Dawa Sherpa: “Water Quality Indicators for Bear Creek”

12 – 1 PM: Ecology and Disease
Andrew Gibson: “Effects of Small-Scale Urbanization on Small-Mammal Distribution and Abundance”
Jason Luscier: “Avian Window Strike Mortality on the Truman State University Campus”
Stephanie Fore: “Drivers and Implications of Emerging Infectious Disease in Wildlife”

1 – 2 PM: LUNCH (provided)

2 – 3 PM: Women and Environment
Chloe Jackson: “The Effects of Environmental Changes on Cancer Rates in the U.S.”
Summer Jensen: “Healing the Land and Healing Women: How Liberative Praxis Theologies Catalyze Social Change”

3 – 4 PM: Alternative Solutions to Institutional Models
Sidney Daller – “Revolving Loan Funds on Truman’s Campus”
Lara Redmond: “Demystifying ‘Sustainability’ in Agriculture & Future Predictions”
Jim Bell: “Potential Solutions to Kirksville’s Glass Recycling Problem”

4 – 5 PM: Environmental Education
Sarah Bakker: “Evaluating the Effectiveness of the ‘Ethics of Food’ Course”
Sara Chappell: “The Importance of Pollinators and Efforts to Bring Bees to the Kirksville R-3 School District”
Michael Kelrick, Corlin Clark, Katelyn Gribble: “Nature and Human Nature: A Course that Mattered”

6:30 PM: Costs and Benefits of Restoring Bear Creek: A Debate
Dr. Brandt and Professor Wodika’s Restoration Ecology class will debate the costs and benefits of restoring Bear Creek. The debate will be interdisciplinary and will not be limited to an ecological mode of thinking.

Best,

Michael Berman and Susan Zhu