Category Archives: Events

Dr. Curt Meine: “From Wild Lands to Working Lands to Urban Lands: Connecting Conservation Across the Landscape”

Thursday, Nov. 3, 7 p.m., CNS C101

In “The Land Ethic,” Aldo Leopold argued that our ethical framework must expand to include the land “as a community to which we belong.” He further stated that “nothing so important as an ethic is ever written… It evolves in the minds of a thinking community.”

In this presentation, conservation biologist and environmental historian Dr. Curt Meine will discuss the continuing relevance and evolution of Aldo Leopold’s land ethic in today’s society and reveal its position as the foundation upon which our current commitment to sustainability rests.

Dr. Meine is Director for Conservation Biology and History with the Center for Humans and Nature, a senior fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, a research associate with the International Crane Foundation, and an associate adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Film: Black Gold

Thursday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m.
Beckman Auditorium, The Ames Library

Black Gold is a 2006 documentary about the global coffee trade.

Multinational coffee companies now dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela, manager of a coffee farmers union, is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As the farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

Green Fire

Tuesday, Oct. 18, 7 p.m., CNS C101

Green Fire highlights Aldo Leopold’s extraordinary career, tracing how he shaped and influenced the modern environmental movement. This film provocatively examines Leopold’s thinking, renewing his idea of a land ethic for a population facing 21st century ecological challenges.

America Recycles Day: Mega Recycling Event

Saturday, Nov. 19, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Shirk Center Parking Lot

IWU Wellness and the Ecology Action Center want to help make recycling easier for you on America Recycles Day. While most families recycle the usual — plastic food containers, glass bottles, newspapers — what about other items?

Well, for one day only, you can recycle ‘the other’ recyclables all in one place, all at the same time. Start planning now to bring us your:

• Electronics
• Compact fluorescent Bulbs (CFLs)
• Household batteries (alkaline, watch batteries, rechargeable batteries)
• Clothes and textiles (usable or not)
• Shoes (usable or not)
• Plastic garden pots

Licensed recyclers will properly recycle all these items. If you have any questions about acceptable items, please contact IWU Wellness at 556-3334 or the Ecology Action Center at (309) 454-3169.

Environmental Programs Coming to Campus

The John Wesley Powell Audubon Society and Illinois Wesleyan’s Environmental Studies Program will sponsor four programs this fall. All programs start at 7 p.m. in CNS C101:

• The east-side highway environmental assessment update will be discussed tonight (Monday, Sept. 19) with representatives from Clark Dietz Engineers. The proposed transportation corridor would address projected growth. The presentation is co-sponsored by Friends of Kickapoo Creek.

• Wind and wildlife will be discussed on Tuesday, Sept. 27 with Keith Shank from Illinois Department of Natural Resources. He will address commercial wind turbines, wind energy development and its potential growth. The presentation is co-sponsored by the Prairie Group of the Sierra Club, Urbana.

• On Tuesday, Oct. 18, the film “Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time” explores legendary environmentalist Aldo Leopold.

• The “Green Fire” narrator, Curt Meine, also will speak Nov. 3 on “From Wild Lands to Working Lands to Urban Lands: Connecting Conservation Across the Landscape.” His talk is co-sponsored by The Ames Library, Biology Department, and Environmental Studies Program.

Utah’s Red Rock Canyonlands

America’s red rock canyon lands wilderness, located in southern Utah, draws pilgrims from across the country and around the world.  It is the largest network of undesignated wilderness lands remaining in the lower 48 states.

Illinois Wesleyan’s GREENetwork and Sierra Student Coalition; The Ecology Action Center; John Wesley Powell Audubon Society; and the Illinois Clergy and Laity for Utah Wilderness will host a traveling presentation entitled “Wild Utah: America’s Red Rock Wilderness” on Tuesday, September 20 at 7 p.m. at the Hansen Student Center (300 Beecher St.)

The speaker will be Clayton Daughenbaugh, conservation organizer with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and Chairperson of the Sierra Club’s National Wildlands and Wilderness Committee.

The program includes “Wild Utah”, a multi-media slideshow documenting citizen efforts to designate public lands in southern Utah’s spectacular canyon country as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. This 15-minute journey through red rock splendor, narrated by Robert Redford, invigorates and motivates viewers to participate in the movement to protect these unique lands.  It was made possible through the generous donation of photos, music and words from concerned Utahans who wish to pass this heritage on to future generations.

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Sierra Club and their partners in the Utah Wilderness Coalition seek to gain local support for the “Citizens’ Proposal” to protect wilderness areas in Utah’s red rock canyon lands.  Comprehensive legislation is pending in Congress and administrative decisions by the Department of Interior are ongoing.

For more information contact:  Carl Teichman at cteich@iwu.edu or Clayton Daughenbaugh at claytonhd@xmission.com

Finding Food in Farm Country — Why it Matters for our Health and Wealth

Thursday, Sept. 8, 12-1 p.m.

Joslin Atrium, Memorial Center

Speaker: Ken Meter, president of Crossroads Resource Center

Grab your lunch (and questions) and join us for an enlightening talk by Ken Meter, one of the leading food systems analysts in the U.S. He has conducted economic analyses of food and farm economies in over 63 regions in 27 states. His recent analysis of Central Illinois for the Edible Economy Project (pdf) reveals that our current food and farm economy effectively exports large amounts of wealth away from the region, while our residents spend substantial amounts of money on food imported from elsewhere. He will briefly share his research results, highlighting why shifting to local foods matters to our community’s health and wealth.

This brown bag lunch talk is part of Illinois Wesleyan’s “What We Eat. Why It Matters” fall symposium.

For more information, contact Visiting Associate Professor of Health and Environmental Studies Laurine Brown lbrown@iwu.edu or Assistant Professor of Nursing Lisabeth lsearing@iwu.edu.

Free Showing of Gasland

Gasland, the award-winning documentary on hydraulic fracturing, will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 15, at the Normal Theater (209 W. North St., Normal). The 2010 film by Josh Fox explores the issue of hydraulic fracturing, also known as hydrofracking, and its risks to clean water supplies.

An aborted request to change McLean County zoning rules early in 2011 has drawn attention to the possibility of hydraulic fracturing in central Illinois.

For more information on the event, click here.

E-Waste Collection Drive

The Illinois Wesleyan community is invited to join employees of Advocate BroMenn, who have teamed up with Advanced Technology Recycling for an electronic waste drive:

Thursday, May 26, 6 a.m.-10 a.m. at Advocate BroMenn in Normal, in the southwest corner of the parking lot off of Main and Apple streets.

Accepted Electronics:

Computers • Laptops • CRT Monitors • LCD Monitors • Printers • Servers • TVs • Digital Cameras • PDAs • Cell Phones • Telephones • Office Equipment • Stereo Equipment

Up to 10 items accepted per employee. No charge to bring in items. Items must be donated. Help keep electronics out of landfills by recycling!