The sessions are free and held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in room 166 of the Behavioral & Social Sciences Building. Here’s the spring 2015 lineup:
February 26
Carolyn Finney
Righteous Road: Black Faces, White Spaces & Stories of Possibility
Carolyn Finney is a professor in Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley, where she explores how issues of difference impact participation in decision-making processes designed to address environmental issues.
The aim of her work is to develop greater cultural competency within environmental organizations and institutions, challenge media outlets on their representation of difference, and increase awareness of how privilege shapes who gets to speak to environmental issues and determine policy and action.
She has appeared on the Tavis Smiley show, MSNBC, NPR and serves on the U.S. National Parks Advisory Board that is working to assist the National Park Service in engaging in relations of reciprocity with diverse communities. Her first book, Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors explores the relationship of African Americans to the environment and the environmental movement (UNC Press, 2014). For more information, see carolynfinney.com.
April 9
John Meyer
Environmentalism and the Resonance Dilemma
John M. Meyer is Professor in the Department of Politics, Environmental Studies, and Environment and Community at Humboldt State University. His new book is Engaging the Everyday: Environmental Social Criticism and the Resonance Dilemma (MIT Press, 2015). He is also co-editor of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Environmental Political Theory.
April 16
Beckie Menten
Community Choice, Community Power: An In-Depth Look at California’s Emerging Model for Local Electricity Control
Beckie Menten is the Energy Efficiency Director for Marin Clean Energy (MCE), where she designs, develops, and delivers efficiency programs in the MCE service area. Beckie has an extensive background in both energy efficiency and local government, having worked at the city, county, and state level to design efficiency programs and research best practices in energy efficiency.
Beckie has a master of science degree in Environmental Systems from Humboldt State University, where her thesis research focused on development of a seven-county regional Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program on the north coast of California; she received a Switzer Fellowship for her work on the PACE program.
April 30
Janet Fiskio_
Welcome to Blockadia: Poetics and Protest in Climate Activism
Janet Fiskio is Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Comparative American Studies at Oberlin College. Her research and teaching focus on collaborative, community-based work in food justice and climate activism. She is currently finishing a book project, Counter Friction: Poetics, Performance, and Protest in Climate Justice.
For more information, visit humboldt.edu/envcomm/speaker_series.