University News

Environmental Summit Set for April 8; Logo Unveiled

January 22, 2009

Share |
Printer friendly version

MACOMB, IL -- "Clear blue skies-not too much to ask for; They were here before we came; Will they be here when we're gone? Clean water-not too much to hope for; It's the basis of our lives, And without it we are done." -- "Clear Blue Skies," Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

While Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recorded that song 20 years ago, the message is especially pertinent for today and is the focus of this year's Sixth Annual Western Illinois University Environmental Summit, "Healthy Planet, Healthy People." The 2009 summit will be held from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday, April 8 in the University Union Grand Ballroom. Jessica Ruebush, a senior graphic communication and instructional design and technology major from Macomb, who is a student-graphic designer in University Relations, developed the summit's new logo, which will be adapted slightly each year.

According to Mindy Pheiffer, program coordinator of Western's Horn Field Campus and summit chair, Western Illinois' Environmental Summit promotes environmentally sustainable values, lifestyle and educational activities for the campus community and surrounding region. The event features a keynote speaker, roundtable discussions, poster presentations and displays. The annual summit ties in with the Universitywide theme, which this year is "Health and Wellness -- Challenges and Responsibilities."

"The summit is a forum for information exchange between campus and community groups and organizations to promote environmental responsibility and sustainability," Pheiffer added.

Organizers are currently seeking individuals to host roundtable discussions related to the "Healthy Planet, Healthy People" theme. In addition, individuals, groups and organizations are invited to present displays and poster presentations that have an environmental focus.

Roundtable and presentation topics should be submitted to Pheiffer at (309) 833-5798 or MJ-Pheiffer@wiu.edu by Friday, March 13.

Ecologist, author and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber (Stine-GRAY-ber), an internationally recognized expert on the environmental links to cancer and reproductive health, will serve as this year's keynote speaker. The author of "Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment," "Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood" and "Post-Diagnosis," Steingraber will speak at noon in the Grand Ballroom. She will also speak at 7 p.m. at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, IA. Both presentations are open free to the public.

Steingraber received her doctorate in biology from the University of Michigan and master's degree in English from Illinois State University. She has taught biology at Columbia College in Chicago; held visiting fellowships at the University of Illinois, Radcliffe/Harvard and Northeastern University; and served on President Clinton's National Action Plan on Breast Cancer. Formerly on faculty at Cornell University, Steingraber is currently a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Ithaca College (NY).

Steingraber's book, "Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment," presents cancer as a human rights issue. It was the first to bring together data on toxic releases with newly released data from U.S. cancer registries. Continuing the investigation begun in "Living Downstream," Steingraber's work, "Having Faith," explores the ecology of motherhood. Both a memoir of her own pregnancy and an investigation of fetal toxicology, "Having Faith" reveals the extent to which environmental hazards now threaten each crucial stage of infant development.

Western's Environmental Summit is sponsored by the University Sustainability Committee, the University Theme Committee, Horn Field Campus, Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, Physical Plant, the Institute for Environmental Studies, Women's Center, Centennial Honors College, Purchasing Office, Program for the Study of Ethics, College of Education and Human Services, Sodexo Campus Services and the departments of health sciences, recreation, park and tourism administration and English and journalism.

For more information, contact Pheiffer at (309) 833-5798 or e-mail MJ-Pheiffer@wiu.edu.




Posted By: Darcie Shinberger (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing