The Program in the Environment presents a lecture by architect Doug Farr, who will be recognized as the 2013-14 Goldring Family Distinguished Visiting Lecturer. This event is made possible by the generous donation of the Goldring Family Foundation.
Farr (AIA, LEED AP) is the founding principal of Farr Associates, an award-winning architecture and planning firm identified by The New York Times as "the most prominent of the city's growing cadre of ecologically sensitive architects." Having a mission to design sustainable human environments, Farr's niche is in applying the principles of LEED at the scale of the neighborhood and in designing green buildings exclusively for urban contexts. Farr Associates has designed seven LEED Platinum-rated buildings in Chicago, including the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Chicago Center for Green Technology and Christy Webber Landscapes., which stand as models of urban architectural sustainability. In December 2012, the firm was named AIA Chicago’s Firm of the Year.
Farr was born in Detroit and received his undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Michigan and his graduate degree in architecture from Columbia University. He is Vice Chair of the board for the Congress for the New Urbanism, a member of the LEED Steering Committee and was the inaugural chair of the LEED for Neighborhood Development committee. He is the founder of the 2030 Communities Campaign that seeks to reduce vehicle miles traveled. Farr's work has been featured in Architectural Record, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and the PBS documentary "The Green Machine."
Based on the firm's pioneering sustainable design practice and his insights gained from chairing LEED-ND, Farr authored Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature (Wiley). This planning bestseller visualizes Sustainable Urbanism—the growing sustainable design convergence that integrates walkable and transit-served urbanism with high-performance infrastructure and buildings—as the normal pattern of development in the United States by 2030. Learn more at www.FarrSide.com.
Ever wonder how people understand and make sense of climate change? Ever wanted to convince people that the issue is important? Co-sponsored by: Erb Institute and Screen Arts & Cultures. This contest is open to U-M students and has a prize pool of $7,500.
Now is your chance!
The Erb Institute, in collaboration with the department of Screen Arts & Cultures, is hosting a competition to create the best student-produced video aimed at engaging the public in climate change. With a prize pool of $7,500, and four prizes to be won, this is your opportunity to show off your skills and make a difference.
We’re looking for public service announcement (PSA) videos, 30 to 90 seconds in length, that will capture the attention of diverse audiences and inspire positive action on climate change. We’re especially looking for PSAs that will increase social engagement, raise awareness about climate change solutions, encourage individual action, and/or provide people with an inspiring vision of what a sustainable future could look like. Winning PSAs may also be submitted for consideration of a Student Production Award by the Michigan Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (the organization that awards Emmys).
The contest is open to students from:
- The Erb Institute
- School of Natural Resources & Environment
- Ross School of Business
- Screen Arts and Cultures or students who have taken production courses in SAC
- Program in the Environment
- Other students who have taken environment-related courses
Actors and participants in the video may include individuals from outside the UM community and other departments.
Free pizza (but register first!!!)
RSVP | DETAILS:
The Erb Institute, in collaboration with the department of Screen Arts & Cultures, is hosting a competition to create the best student-produced video aimed at engaging the public in climate change.
Steward Pickett, an expert in the ecology of plants, landscapes, and urban systems, delivers the 2013 JJR Lecture as part of the School of Natural Resources & Environment's Dean's Speaker Series. The talk is titled "Changing Urban Realities and the Evolution of Urban Ecological Science."
WATCH EVENT LIVE VIA THIS STREAMING LINK
Abstract: Although much is made of the proportion of humanity that now lives in cities as a justification for urban ecological research, the changing nature of urbanization itself presents new opportunities for understanding human ecosystems. This presentation will present a new framework for urban systems in the global context, emphasizing global teleconnections, and contrasts in livelihood, lifestyle, and the local nature of specific urban ecosystems. Urban transformations in this complex context will be illustrated by trends in Baltimore, Maryland, and example data on the watershed function will be presented. The desire of jurisdictions in the metropolitan Baltimore region to become more sustainable drives new research efforts focusing on urban metacommunity structure, urban streams as an extension of the river continuum concept, and new approaches to locational choice of households. The Baltimore case is put in the context of other global urban transformations as a way to advance urban ecological theory.
Biography: Steward Pickett, a Distinguished Senior Scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, in Millbrook, New York, is an expert in the ecology of plants, landscapes, and urban systems. He was awarded the PhD by the University of Illinois in 1977. He directs the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, Long-Term Ecological Research program, and co-directs the Urban Sustainability Research Coordination Network. His research focuses on the ecological structure of urban areas and the temporal dynamics of vegetation, which has taken him to the primary forests of western Pennsylvania, the post-agricultural oldfields of New Jersey, and the riparian woodlands and savannas of Kruger National Park, South Africa. He has edited or written books on ecological heterogeneity, humans as components of ecosystems, conservation, the linkage of ecology and urban design, the philosophy of ecology, and ecological ethics. He has served as President of the Ecological Society of America, as well has having been that organization’s inaugural Vice President for Science.
Forty years ago the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed into law. The ESA's authority has been tested by numerous cases over its 40-year history, but the landmark environmental case -- Tennessee Valley Authority vs. Hill (1978) -- was the first Supreme Court decision interpreting the ESA. The Snail Darter case, as it is often called, remains one of the most studied American environmental law cases to date (as all current and former NRE562 students know too well).
To acknowledge the 40th anniversary of the ESA, the Environmental Policy and Planning field of study is pleased to announce that Zygmunt Plater, the lawyer who fought and won the case (with the help of SNRE students!), will be speaking at SNRE this coming Thursday September 26th from 10-11:30 in Dana 2024. In his talk, entitled "The Endangered Species Act at 40: From SNRE's role in the 'Snail Darter' case to today's implications," he will share his reflections and insights from the Snail Darter case and will touch on the case's role in understanding current environmental conflicts.
SNRED-Nation!
Are you interested in learning more about environmental justice in action and how graduates of SNRE use what they learn here in their careers? Then come join the SNRE Envoys for our first Diversity Speaker Series event of the year on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 6 p.m. in Dana 2024! SNRE alumna Diana Copeland from the East Michigan Environmental Action Council will be speaking to students about her work in environmental justice in Michigan and beyond and how SNRE shaped her career. Afterwards, Diana will be available for Q&A.
Food and refreshments will also be provided :)
About the SNRE Envoys:
We are a group of MS/MLA students working together to increase diversity, while creating an inclusive and supportive culture and community for all those who attend the school. For more information or if you are interested in working with us contact Daphne Medina (dcmedina@umich.edu).