Category: Students

Green Fire in Schaumburg (post-Earth Day Reflections)

Normally Friday nights are pretty quiet at RU’s Schaumburg Campus. But not this past Friday night. Despite pounding rain and a brief hailstorm, around 60 people converged on Alumni Hall for the special Earth Day screening of the new Aldo Leopold documentary film, Green Fire. In attendance were several Roosevelt faculty, staff, and students; but the bulk of the crowd came from the larger community. Folks like Steve and Jill Flexman, veteran restoration volunteers from the Poplar Creek Prairie Stewards; Jean and Jim DeHorn of the Chicago chapter of Wild Ones; and a prospective student from Joliet Junior College who drove all the way from Joliet (just like me) to see the film and meet some current RU Sustainability Studies students.

This small sampling of the eclectic audience at last night’s screening gives a hint of what proved to be a dynamic gathering of academics, environmental stewards, and social activists who live and work in the northwest suburban region . . . and beyond. After the film we engaged in a spirited discussion of Leopold and his classic 1949 book A Sand County Almanac, local environmentalism, the need for a more ethical relation to the land (and each other), and the value of ecological stewardship. Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future, a website created as a collaborative research project by the students in my SUST 210 Sustainable Future class this spring at the Schaumburg Campus, aims to provide a platform for keeping that exciting conversation going.

Special thanks go to Gavin Van Horn, Director of Midwest Cultures of Conservation for the Center for Humans and Nature in Chicago (one of Green Fire‘s co-producers), who helped me introduce the film and moderate discussion afterward; Jessie Crow Mermel, a Sustainability Studies major and educator at Angelic Organics farm in Caldonia IL, who planted the idea of getting Green Fire to screen at Roosevelt and provided a student’s perspective on the important of Leopold’s Land Ethic in her introductory remarks; Schaumburg Campus Provost Doug Knerr, who provided planning support and encouragement for this event from the get-go; RU professional staff Yvette Joseph, Jackie Talerico, Tim Hopkins, Jon Resele, and Sharon Del Prete for their incredible support and hard work in the planning and logistics for last night’s screening; and the students of my SUST 210 class — particularly Mary Beth Radeck, who provided superb content for and great student leadership on this project.

“Past is Present” Undergraduate and Graduate Student Conference

Paper submissions for the “Past is Present: History, Social Movements and Justice” undergraduate and graduate student conference are due this Friday, Feb. 25 at 5 p.m. We request students provide a 200-word abstract and author information. All submissions can be emailed to pastispresent@roosevelt.edu. If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie Farmer in Sociology (sfarmer@roosevelt.edu) or Eric Gellman in History (egellman@roosevelt.edu).

The Call for Papers is available here: Past is Present — Call for Papers 2011 (pdf)

Address questions and replies to: sfarmer@roosevelt.edu

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.

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.

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