David W. Orr to speak at Siena Heights University

The Sustainable College Committee of Siena Heights is delighted to present David W. Orr as our Fall 2015 William Issa Endowment Speaker on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at the Dominican Hall (Rueckert) Auditorium in Adrian, Michigan. You can find a campus map and directions at: http://sienaheights.edu/About/CampusMap.aspx

David is “Counselor to the President” of Oberlin College. He is the author of seven books, including Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse (Oxford, 2009) and co-editor of three others. His eighth book, Dangerous Years: Climate Change and the Long Emergency will be published in 2016. He has authored over 220 articles, reviews, book chapters, and professional publications. In the past twenty-five years he has served as a board member or adviser to ten foundations and on the Boards of many organizations including the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Currently he is a Trustee of the Bioneers, Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, and the WorldWatch Institute. He has been awarded eight honorary degrees and a dozen other awards including a Lyndhurst Prize, a National Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation, leadership awards from the U.S. Green Building Council (2014) and from Second Nature (2012). He has lectured at hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He headed the effort to design, fund, and build the Adam Joseph Lewis Center, which was named by an AIA panel in 2010 as “the most important green building of the past thirty years,” and as “one of thirty milestone buildings of the twentieth century” by the U.S. Department of Energy. He is founder and Chair of the Board of the Oberlin project and a founding editor of the journal Solutions.

The title of David’s talk is "What's One to do in a Hotter World?” - Education and the Long Emergency"
David Orr does not convey the message that "all is lost" but he sees our call in higher education is to tell the truth as best as we can see it. The science of climate change is sobering and it gives us little time to make adjustments. David understands that the role of education is to engage students in the creation of solutions. At Oberlin he led the effort to design and build the Adam Joseph Lewis Center, which is still the only entirely solar powered building on an US college campus (it's also zero discharge). In addition, he is further promoting the Oberlin Project, and he is striving to equip students with the analytical skills and habits needed to solve environmental problems. He beliefs firmly that hope is indeed a verb with its sleeves rolled up.

The Talk and associated events (program below) are free for the public. We would appreciate if you could help us spread the word and forward this announcement to everybody that may be interested.

See You at SHU!

Tom
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Thomas Wassmer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Chair, Sustainable College Committee
Siena Heights University
1247 E. Siena Heights Dr.
Adrian, MI 49221
517-264-7637