Spoerl Lecture Series

Tag: Spoerl Lecture Series

Urban Agriculture Focus of Author Presentation

Jennifer Cockrall-King

Award-winning Canadian food journalist Jennifer Cockrall-King discusses alternative food systems in a Lawrence University presentation Monday, April 22 at 7 p.m. in Thomas Steitz Hall of Science Room 102. Cockrall-King’s appearance, sponsored by Lawrence’s Spoerl Lecture in Science and Society, is free and open to the public.

Based on her book “Food and the City: Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution,” the address examines  food systems in cities around the world that are shortening their food chains by utilizing community gardens, collective orchards and vertical farms within their city limits and taking “food security” into their own hands.

“Food and the City” received the 2011 Dave Greber Freelance Book Award, a Canadian national award that recognizes excellence in social justice writing. Cockrall-King’s appearance is part of the 2013 Fox Cities Book Festival.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

 

National Sustainability Expert Closes Environmental Lecture Series

Debra Rowe, president of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, examines the national challenges, solutions, trends and resources regarding sustainability in the final installment of Lawrence University’s 2010 Spoerl Lectures in Science and Society series “The Greening of Higher Education.

Rowe presents “Education and Action for a Sustainable Future” Wednesday, May 18 at 7 p.m. in Thomas Steitz Science Hall Room 202.  The event is free and open to the public.

The presentation will include information for individuals and organizations on ways to build a higher quality of life based on a future of less scarcity and more sustainable abundance.

Debra-Rowe_web
Debra Rowe

A national leader on sustainability initiatives, Rowe has been a professor of energy management and renewable energy for 30 years at Oakland Community College in Michigan. As director of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, Rowe works with business, education, civic, government and faith leaders to engage them in sustainability initiatives.

Rowe is a frequent keynote speaker at national and international education conferences and has written extensively on the integration of sustainability into education.

The environmental lecture series is sponsored by the Spoerl Lectureship in Science in Society. Established in 1999 by Milwaukee-Downer College graduate Barbara Gray Spoerl and her husband, Edward, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on the role of science and technology in societies worldwide.

Environmental Series Presentation Looks Relationship Between the Arts, Sustainable Development

Amara Geffen, professor of art at Allegheny College, discusses the economic impact of the arts and their capacity to stimulate civic and community engagement in the second installment of Lawrence University’s 2010 Spoerl Lectures in Science and Society series, “The Greening of Higher Education.”

Geffen presents “The Role of the Arts in Sustainable Community Development,” Tuesday, May 18 at 7 p.m. in Thomas Steitz Science Hall Room 102. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Using examples of endeavors in Allegheny’s hometown of Meadville, Pa., and other locales, Geffen will discuss ways arts initiatives have stimulated creative economies and helped create healthy, vibrant communities.

Amara-Geffen_web
Amara Geffen

A member of the Allegheny art department since 1982, Geffen specializes in projects that emphasize community collaboration and creative reuse and repurposing of materials and sites to illustrate the role of arts-based and sustainable community and economic development. Projects she has been involved with include an initiative that merges Earth art with best management practices in the environmental mitigation of stormwater runoff as part of an interstate highway interchange.

Geffen also directs Allegheny’s Center for Economic and Environmental Development and serves as the project director of the center’s Arts & Environment Initiative. She has been the recipient of grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation’s Artists and Communities program for collaborations with students and artist colleagues on behalf of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the greater Meadville community.

The environmental lecture series is sponsored by the Spoerl Lectureship in Science in Society. Established in 1999 by Milwaukee-Downer College graduate Barbara Gray Spoerl and her husband, Edward, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on the role of science and technology in societies worldwide.

Spoerl Environmental Series Focuses on the “Greening” of Higher Education

A scholar on the integration of environmental studies and sustainability programs in higher education opens Lawrence University’s 2010 Spoerl Lectures in Science and Society series. The theme for this year’s three-part series is “The Greening of Higher Education.”

Nan Jenks-Jay, dean of environmental affairs at Vermont’s Middlebury College, presents “Sustainability and the Liberal Arts,” Wednesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. in Thomas Steitz Science Hall Room 102. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Nan-Jenks-Jay_web
Nan Jenks-Jay

As dean of environmental affairs, Jenks-Jay had been instrumental in raising Middlebury’s nationally recognized environmental academic program to new heights and integration. She will examine Middlebury’s success in integrating sustainability as a visible aspect of the culture of the college, present examples on how sustainability is integrated into the academic program and discuss the importance of empowering students.

For nearly three decades, Jenks-Jay has been involved in environmentally related work as an administrator, educator, ecologist and consultant. She has been associated with the two oldest undergraduate environmental studies programs in the country, spending 15 years at Williams College and the past 14 at Middlebury. She also has developed new undergraduate and graduate environmental programs for the University of Redlands in California.

Her extensive experience has earned Jenks-Jay invitations to chair external review committees for more than a dozen college and university environmental programs. She has served on several international and national committees, state governmental boards and numerous commissions and lectures frequently on topics related to the environment, sustainability and transformational change within higher education.

Other presentations on this year’s series include:

• May 18, “The Role of the Arts in Sustainable Community Development,” Amara Geffen, professor of art and director of the Center for Economic and Environmental Development, Allegheny College.

• May 19, “Education in Action for a Sustainable Future,” Debra Rowe, president, U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development and professor, sustainable energies and behavioral sciences, Oakland Community College.

The environmental lecture series is sponsored by the Spoerl Lectureship in Science in Society. Established in 1999 by Milwaukee-Downer College graduate Barbara Gray Spoerl and her husband, Edward, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on the role of science and technology in societies worldwide.