April 15, 2016

Panel to discuss sustainability and poverty

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A panel discussion next week that includes Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty and staff will look at sustainability and poverty. 

“Sustainability for All Species: Insights for Communal Approaches to Poverty,” is from 5:30 to 7:15 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, at the Carbondale Public Library, 405 W. Main St. 

The Sparrow Coalition, Imagining Geographies Initiative, and the library are event sponsors. The event is part of the community forum series, “Challenges of Poverty.” The event is open to the public. 

The meeting will include a screening of “Mishkos Kenomagwen: The Teachings of the Grass,” a 2015 Bioneer presentation by Robin Kimmerer, a Native American plant biologist and director, Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at State University of New York (SUNY). There will also be discussion on possible communal actions that insure the sustainability of all species, including the poor, within a community. 

Panelists include Jonathan Gray, associate professor, Communication Studies; Geory Kurtzhals, SIU Carbondale sustainability coordinator; Sarah Lewison, associate professor, Radio, Television, and Digital Media; Karen Renzaglia, professor, plant biology; and Brent Ritzel, an SIU alumnus and director and co-owner of Equitech International, LLC. There will also be Q-and-A with the panelists.

For additional information, contact Peter Lemish, instructor, SIU School of Journalism, at 618/534-3989 or peterlemish@siu.edu