Month: January 2011

Midwest Real Food Summit 2011

Here’s another great opportunity to learn about sustainable food issues and systems, with a special focus on urban food production and consumption. This one’s to be held at Northwestern University in Evanston.

Midwest Real Food Summit 2011: Urban Food Systems in Development
Northwestern University, Evanston IL, Feb. 18 – 20.

Food is culture, food is community. It is what unites us, sharing a meal together. However, the system that produces and distributes and controls food in this country is flawed. The Midwest is the epicenter of our commodity food system and as students learning in midwest institutions we have the responsibility and the power to educate ourselves and those around us about the issues in the modern U.S. food system. That’s where this summit comes in!

For details and registration (students can attend for $25), see the Food Summit’s website.

Help RU Win a $250K Sustainability Grant

You and your friends can help Roosevelt University win a $250,000 grant from Pepsi that will be used to make the Schaumburg Campus an environmentally sustainable facility.

All you have to do is vote once a day during the month of January at this site: http://www.refresheverything.com/rugreenrooseveltuniversity. You can also vote on Facebook. The organization with the most votes receives the grant.

Should Roosevelt win, we plan to use the grant money in Schaumburg for the following projects:
— construction of a LEED-certified greenhouse that is powered by solar energy
— development of an organic garden to teach students how to grow native plants that will enhance the surrounding landscape
— replacement of the present asphalt in the parking lot with pervious concrete.

Roosevelt’s application is sponsored by RU Green, a student organization which was established to promote ecologically-conscious students, staff and faculty. Please help us win this major grant by voting only once a day!

Paul Matthews, Assistant Vice President, Campus Planning & Operations
Address replies to: pmatthews@roosevelt.edu

Student Conference on Sustainable Agriculture

I just got word via email of an interesting academic conference for students to be held at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, on April 2-3, 2011. The focus is on sustainable agriculture, and one of the keynote speakers is Milwaukee-based urban farmer Will Allen, founder of Growing Power. The conference is being organized by the Sustainable Lawrence University Gardens, and is described as

a regional conference for college students dedicated to sustainable gardening and farming initiatives (whether well established or not yet realized). SISA will facilitate a much needed exchange between students involved in and interested in agricultural projects at colleges and universities throughout the midwest. Interested faculty and staff are encouraged to attend as well.

 More information can be found at the conference website; the registration is inexpensive ($20) and lodging assistance is available.

Register Now for the Wild Things 2011 Environmental Conference

The Wild Things conference is a fun and educational all-day event sponsored biannually by the Chicago Wilderness organization and other partners, and covers a vast array of topics related to urban ecology, conservation, gardening, wildlife, science, politics, and environmental activism. Some of the presentations and workshops have more of a scientific bent; others are directed toward environmental policy; but many have a humanities component to them (such as how we represent and conceptualize the natural environment, apply concepts of “wilderness” to urban landscapes, think about environmental ethics, etc.).

Advance registration is required (the deadline is Jan. 30th for early online registration, which features a cheaper rate). Students can attend inexpensively for $15 — cheap for an event of this topic and quality. The conference will be a great potential source of ideas about urban ecology and other matters related to sustainability, wilderness, etc., and is also a cool networking opportunity. Professors Mike Bryson and Carl Zimring will be in attendance as well as co-presenting a talk at 4pm (session D6) on RU’s new Sustainability Studies program. In particular, we highly recommend the keynote address at 9am by Curt Meine, a terrific presenter who will discuss the life and legacy of Aldo Leopold, one of the most important American environmental writers (as well as an ecologist) of the 20th century. That talk will include a preview of a new film about Leopold, who exemplified the integration of science and the humanities in his engagement of the natural world.

Spring 2011 Semester Kicks Off for RU’s Sustainability Studies

Today snowy monday marks the start of the “spring” semester for RU’s Sustainability Studies program. My classes (PLS 392 Seminar in Humanities and SUST 210 The Sustainable Future) are now officially in session. If you’re registered in either of these courses, I’m looking forward to meeting you!

For a welcome message from my colleague Prof. Carl Zimring, check out the Sustainability Studies Blog’s post for today.

Friends of Volo Bog Offer Scholarships

I just received this email announcement from the Friends of Volo Bog about their scholarships available for academic year 2011-12.

The Friends of Volo Bog is offering an Entering College scholarship and a Continuing College scholarship for $1,000 each to outstanding students interested in pursuing an environmental career.

To be eligible for the Entering College scholarship the applicant must reside in Lake, McHenry, Kane, Cook, DuPage, Kendall, or Will County, attend a high school in one of these counties, have a minimum B average for the first three years, and plan to attend an accredited college or university. The applicant should be planning to enter a career directly related to preserving the environment.

To be eligible for the Continuing College scholarship the applicant must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university pursing a degree directly related to preserving the environment, have a permanent residence in Lake, McHenry, Kane, Cook, DuPage, Kendall, or Will County, have graduated from a high school from one of these counties with a minimum B average, and currently hold a minimum B average in their college studies.

Applications are due by March 31st each year for the school year starting in fall.

The Friends of Volo Bog is a not-for-profit organization, dedicated to the preservation of the natural heritage, maintenance of site facilities, and advancement of educational programming at Volo Bog State Natural Area.

www.friendsofvolobog.org

Application packets are available at

Spring Online Classes Begin Monday, Jan. 24

This spring semester at Roosevelt, most campus-based classes already have begun. My spring courses, PLS 392 Humanities and SUST 210 The Sustainable Future, begin on Monday, Jan. 24th. At that point the Blackboard (Bb) sites for these classes will be “live.”

The on-campus section of SUST 210 will have its first meeting of the semester on Thursday night at the Schaumburg Campus, 6:30-9pm. See you then!