Conference Talks

“Postage Stamp Prairies: How to Win Pollinator Friends and Influence Neighbors.” Wild Things biannual conference, Rosemont IL, 25 Feb 2023. (Pp) and (pdf)

“Takin’ the L to the Farm: Service, Sustainability, and Social Justice on Chicago’s South Side.” Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability, UW Stevens Point, 23 Sept 2021.

“From the Borders of Eden.” Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, UC Davis, 29 June 2019. (Pp) and (pdf)

“Writing Urban Nature: Engaging the City Landscape in the Field and Online.” Wild Things biannual conference, Rosemont IL, 23 Feb 2019. (Pp) and (pdf)

“Resilience and the Sustainable Future.” Resilience Studies Consortium Inaugural Summer Retreat, Western State Colorado University, Gunnison CO, 7 July 2017. (pdf)

“River Stories: Representing (and Restoring) the Chicago River through Story, Science, and Service.” Rust/Resistance: Works of Recovery, biannual conference of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, Wayne State University, Detroit MI, 20-24 June 2017. (pdf)

“Transformative Sustainability: STARS, SENCER, and the Future of the University” (with Maria Cancilla and Rebecca Quesnell). SENCER 2016 Summer Institute, Roosevelt University, Chicago IL, 31 July 2016. (Ppt)

“Out in the City, Down on the Farm: Service Learning and Sustainability at Roosevelt University.” Integrated Network for Social Sustainability Conference, Institute of Cultural Affairs, Chicago IL, 9 June 2016. (Ppt, 9MB; pdf, 2MB)

“Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future: A Student-Driven Social Media Project.” Roosevelt University Mini-Conference on Teaching, Chicago IL, 10 Apr 2015. (pdf)

“Kids, Urban Nature, and Environmental Education.” Urban Wild panel at the 25th Headwaters Conference, Western Colorado State University, Gunnison CO, 20 Sept 2014.

“Service Learning at an Urban Farm: Sustainability Studies, Community Development, and Social Justice.” Association of Environmental Studies and Science, Pace University, New York NY, 14 June 2014. (pdf)

“Sustainability at Roosevelt University: Facilities, Academics, Research, Partnerships” (with Aaron Shoults-Wilson). Research and Education towards Sustainability Symposium, Institute for Environmental Sustainability, Loyola University, Chicago IL, 4 June 2014. (pdf)

“Sustainability Studies at RU: Connecting Campus and Community through Education and Research.” GreenTown 2014 Conference, Univ of IL at Chicago, 28 May 2014. (pdf)

“Science, Sustainability, Service Learning, and Social Justice: Experiments and Opportunities in Field- and Community-Based Education.” Plenary address at SCI-Midwest Symposium (SENCER) on Teaching College Science and Math through Food, Health, and Sustainability Themes, Roosevelt University, Schaumburg IL, 8 March 2014. (program, pictures, and presentation).

“Water and the Postnatural City: Reversals, Invasions, and Prospects for Sustainability.” Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts annual conference, “Postnatural,” University of Notre Dame, South Bend IN, 3 October 2013. (abstract and presentation)

“Ten Reasons To Love the Chicago River.” Keynote address at the Chicago River Student Congress, Marie Curie High School, Chicago IL, 23 February 2013. (pdf)

Co-presenter with RU undergrads Ken Schmidt and Ron Taylor. “Sustainability and the Chicago River: from Urbanization to Pollution to Restoration.” Workshop presentation at the Chicago River Student Congress, Marie Curie High School, Chicago IL, 23 February 2013. (pdf)

“Mapping Sustainability Assets in Chicago’s Neighborhoods: Environmental Education and Community-based Research.” Presented with RU undergrads Conor Swenson and Katrina Wiecek at the Chicago Wilderness Congress, UIC, 15 November 2012.

Co-presenter with Lindy Biggs, Lisa Benton-Short, Geoffrey Habron, and Tom Schrand. “Teaching Sustainability 101: How Do We Structure an Introductory Course?” Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Los Angeles, CA, 15 October 2012. (blog post)

“The City as Ecosystem: The Science and Poetry of Loren Eiseley’s Urban Landscapes.” Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Milwaukee, WI, 27 September 2012. (pdf)

“Exploring the Chicago River: Ethics, Sustainability, and a Sense of Place.” Association of Environmental Studies and Science, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, 23 June 2012. (see pdf of slideshow and blog post about our session entitled “The Ethics of Place in Urban Areas”)

“Sustainability in the Suburbs: from Oak Park to Schaumburg to Joliet.” GR 2012 Celebrating Sustainability Festival, Joliet Junior College, Joliet IL, 19 May 2012. (pdf)

“Sustainability and Water: Exploring Science, Policy, and a Sense of Place.” Presented with RU undergrad Amanda Zeigler at the Chicago River Congress, Amundsen High School, Chicago IL, 25 February 2012. (Powerpoint and pdf)

“Greyways vs. Greenways: Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future.” Multimedia presentation with Mary Beth Radeck and Jessie Crow Mermel, “Lifeways and Greenways” Sustainability and Ethics Forum, Chicago Botanic Garden, 28 October 2011.

“From the City to the Farm: Pedagogy and Logistics of Field Trips in Online Courses.” College of Professional Studies Online Teaching Forum, Roosevelt University, 20 October 2011. (pdf)

“Teaching Sustainability: Multidisciplinary Perspectives and Approaches.” Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, Indiana University, 25 June 2011. (pdf)

Co-presenter with Carl Zimring. “Sustainability Studies at Roosevelt University: Re-envisioning Education in the Urban Environment.” Wild Things 2011 Conference on Chicago Wilderness, University of Illinois Chicago, 5 March 2011. (pdf)

That’s Some Fish Story: What the Asian Carp Controversy Can Tell Us about Science, Sustainability, and the Future of the Great Lakes Watershed.” Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Indianapolis, IN, October 2010.

“Sustainability Studies:  Toward the Greening of a Metropolitan University.” Association of Environmental Studies and Science, Lewis and Clark College, June 2010. (pdf)

“Sustainability Studies and the Greening of Roosevelt University.” Presentation to the Roosevelt University Board of Trustees, Chicago, IL, March 2010. (pdf)

Co-presenter with Carl Zimring. “Creating the Sustainable City: Developing an Introduction to Interdisciplinary Urban Environmental Studies for a General Education Curriculum.” Association of Environmental Studies and Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Oct. 2009. (pdf)

“Finding Nature in the Windy City:  Leonard Dubkin’s Explorations of Chicago.” Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, University of Victoria, BC, June 2009.

Co-presenter with Carl Zimring. “The Sustainable City: Developing an Interdisciplinary, Team-taught, Hybrid Course.” Roosevelt University Mini-Conference on Teaching, Chicago, IL, 3 Apr 2009. (pdf)

Co-presenter with Jennifer Lau-Bond, Monique Haller, Mairin Barney, and Carl Zimring. “Why Do They Love Wikipedia? Innovative Ways of Teaching Research Throughout the University.” Roosevelt University Mini-Conference on Teaching, Chicago, IL, 3 Apr 2009.

“Reading the Landscape of the City:  Interdisciplinary Investigations of Nature and Culture in the Chicago Region.” Nature in the Humanities, Humanities Education and Research Association, Chicago, IL, April 2009. (pdf)

“Representations of Wilderness in Chicago; or, Getting Back to the Right Nature.” Wild Things 2007 Conference on Chicago Wilderness, Northeastern Illinois University, March 2007. (pdf)

“The Historian and the Photographer:  Confronting Urban Sprawl in Data and Image.” Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, New York University, Nov. 2006. (pdf)