Calendar

Environmental Justice for Environmental Science

Abstract: As environmental scientists, we sometimes think about our research as informing efforts to promote environmental justice (i.e., environmental science for environmental justice). This framing can be true and often yields impactful science, but we can also benefit from flipping our perspective to consider how the concepts and principles of environmental justice can sharpen our work as scientists (i.e., environmental justice for environmental science). This seminar focuses on the idea that scientific research can be informed, strengthened, and even transformed through deep integration of environmental justice thought and practice.  These ideas are brought to life using examples from long-term partnerships with Indigenous communities in North Carolina aimed at understanding the impacts of industrial livestock production, fossil fuel infrastructure, and climate change to wetlands and other culturally significant environments.

Bio: Ryan Emanuel is an associate professor of hydrology at Duke University and an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.  He studies the movement and status of water in the environment, and he is also interested in historical and cultural aspects of water with special attention to Indigenous peoples’ enduring relationships with rivers, wetlands, and other waterscapes. He partners with Indigenous communities to identify and address threats to culturally important waters that stem from pollution, climate change, and unsustainable development.  He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia and is the author of the forthcoming book, On the Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice.

Conservation and Environmental Justice across the Colorado Plateau: 30 years of lessons learned

Abstract: The Colorado Plateau contains invaluable biological and cultural diversity.  It is a region dominated by public lands, tribal lands, and various political geographies – the intersection of which have created conflict and a history of exploitation.  Amongst other NGO’s working in this region, the Grand Canyon Trust has worked since 1985 to conserve biological diversity – doing so with an ever-increasing commitment to working in partnership with tribal governments, NGOs, and communities.  Through a survey of several key initiatives across the Plateau over the last three decades, Ethan will explore trends, challenges, and opportunities in the realms of science and policy integration, conservation and environmental justice integration, and effective science-based advocacy in an increasingly politically divisive time.

Bio: Ethan Aumack currently serves as Executive Director at Grand Canyon Trust, a regional nonprofit environmental and environmental justice advocacy organization. Ethan grew up in Flagstaff and attended Swarthmore College then NAU for his undergraduate and Master’s work. After a brief stint working with the Nature Conservancy, Ethan began working with the Grand Canyon Trust in 1998.  Ethan has served a variety of roles at the Trust, and supported and provided leadership within initiatives ranging from the Four Forest Restoration Initiative to the Trust’s acquisition of the North Rim Ranches to national monument campaigns, and a variety of sustainable economic development and environmental justice initiatives.

Anika Staccone, Earthshot

Mike Koontz, Vibrant Planet

Shawn Taylor, Weecology

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Abstract: Join Bobby for a showcase of his detailed biological illustration, created under the pen name, NearsightGraphite. Highlighting his process, he’ll discuss the power of the observer and the illustrator’s role as a distiller of torrents of visual data. Bobby’s artwork amplifies intimate, obscure forms of life to give underrepresented organisms louder voices and to visualize their self-worlds. He aims to inspire curiosity in the intricacies of the natural world, and by extension, promote nature conservation.

Bio: Robert J. Long (“Bobby”) is a visual artist and educator from Silver Spring, Maryland. His zoologically-focused artwork has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally. In 2013 he became Arizona’s first and only finalist in the internationally juried Adobe Design Achievement Awards. His illustrations have been published by Frontiers in Microbiology, Manifest Press, the Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry, and Edible Magazine, among others. Bobby is also an amateur reef aquarist and an avid photographer with experience in macro-photography and an interest in natural subjects.