Twenty-one Nebraska Wesleyan University student organizations will collaborate on a week-long Earth Week celebration, April 18-21.
Nebraska Wesleyan’s Earth Week celebration includes the eco-series, “Changing the Climate on Climate Change.” The series begins with a keynote lecture by Donald Wilhite, professor emeritus of applied climate science in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Wilhite’s lecture, “Understanding and Assessing Climate Change and its Implications for Nebraska,” will be held Tuesday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Olin B Lecture Hall.
Wilhite’s lecture will address how Nebraska can prepare for the challenges associated with climate change in order to avoid or reduce the deleterious effects of climate change. Prior to his work at the UNL, Wilhite was the founding director of the National Drought Mitigation Center and the International Drought Information Center.
On Wednesday, April 19, Kelly Clancy, assistant professor of political science at Nebraska Wesleyan, will deliver the lecture, “The (Good) News About Climate Change Politics?” Clancy’s lecture will focus on how the debate over climate change is no longer scientific, but cultural. Her lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in Olin B Lecture Hall.
The lecture series concludes on Thursday, April 20 with Frank Ferraro, associate professor of psychology at Nebraska Wesleyan. Ferraro’s talk, “What Can Psychology Teach Us About Nature and Climate Change” will address student-faculty research conducted at NWU on how students respond to nature and urban environments. The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in Olin B Lecture Hall.
All Earth Week lectures are free and open to the public.
In addition to the lecture series, students will participate in:
- Tuesday, April 18 — 9-10 p.m., planetarium viewing, NWU planetarium located in Olin Hall of Science.
- Wednesday, April 19 — 9 a.m.-6 p.m., all campus nature walk; 12:30 p.m., tree planting ceremony.
- Thursday, April 20 — 8-10 p.m., plant potting party, Prairie Wolf A & B.
- Friday, April 21 — 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m., EcoFair, Story Student Center lawn; 2 p.m., community garden ribbon cutting, NWU greenhouse; 4 p.m., yoga, Story Student Center lawn.