BARD CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY TO HOST DOCUMENTARY VIEWING ON SEPTEMBER 8 AND FREE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING FOR COMMUNITY AND STUDENT ACTIVISTS ON SEPTEMBER 10

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Bard Center for Environmental Policy (BCEP) is hosting two free events in early September for community and student activists and those interested in global environmental trends. The events are cosponsored by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and the Izaak Walton League of America (IWL). On Thursday, September 8, there will be a viewing and discussion of World in the Balance, a PBS Earth Day special. On Saturday, September 10, there will be a professional development and training session for student and community activists featuring speakers from leading state and national environmental and population advocacy groups. The PBS screening takes place on Thursday, September 8 at 6:30 p.m. and the training takes place on Saturday, September 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public and take place in the multipurpose room of the Bertelsmann Campus Center. The September 8 viewing of World in the Balance, which explores radically changing global trends in population, economics, and the environment, will be followed by a discussion and a pizza dinner. The September 10 training session delves into communications strategies, media engagement, and grassroots organizing. Lunch will be provided. Speakers include Jeff Jones, communications director of Environmental Advocates of New York; Michelle Orzech, sustainable population campaign coordinator with IWL; and Julie Starr, population and environment specialist in NWF’s Northeast office. Jeff Jones is the communications director of Environmental Advocates of New York. He coordinates media policies, is responsible for relations with the press, and oversees publication of the Voters’ Guide, Albany Report, and The Green Sheet. -continued- Michelle Orzech is the sustainable population campaign coordinator with the Izaak Walton League of America. She works to expand education and advocacy efforts on the League's long-standing policies regarding population growth and related effects on natural resources. Previously, she was a project administrator and outreach coordinator at the University of Michigan-Flint's Regional Groundwater Center, where she assisted communities with drinking water protection and land-use planning. Orzech has a B.S. in public affairs from Indiana University and a M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Julie Starr is the population and environment specialist in National Wildlife Federation’s Northeast office in Vermont. She is responsible for coordinating public educational events on the linkages between population and the environment, and for encouraging local grassroots activism on these issues. Prior to joining NWF, Julie worked as an associate with the Advocacy Project on a variety of international human rights issues, and has worked both domestically and internationally on social and women’s issues. She has also taught both high school and adult level Spanish classes. Julie received her B.A. in political science and Spanish from the University of Vermont and her M.A. in International Development with a focus in public health from The George Washington University. The Bard Center for Environmental Policy promotes education, research, and public service on critical issues pertaining to the natural and built environments. Its primary goal is to improve the quality of environmental policies by incorporating the best available scientific knowledge into the policy-making process at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The Center’s innovative graduate program, launched in 2001, trains future leaders who can translate the science behind environmental and natural resource problems into creative, feasible policies. The Center’s unique modular program offers an intensive course of study, grounded in the sciences, as well as economics, law, politics, and ethics, and emphasizes communication skills and leadership training. After a period of internships, graduates are prepared for careers in nonprofit organizations, government, and the private sector. The program leads to a master of science degree or professional certificate in environmental policy, and the Center offers joint degree programs: a doctor of jurisprudence with Pace Law School and a master of arts in teaching with Bard College and is also affiliated with the Masters International program of the Peace Corps. Reservations are requested. For more information about the forum, please call 845-758-7073 or e-mail [email protected]. # # # (08.22.05)

Website: https://www.bard.edu/cep/

This event was last updated on 09-14-2005

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