Rice Environmental Fair Tackles Local, Global Issues

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Philip Montgomery
Phone: (713) 831-4792

RICE ENVIRONMENTAL FAIR TACKLES LOCAL, GLOBAL ISSUES

Houston’s environmental health, the destruction of primate
habitats in Madagascar and other topics will be the focus of an
environmental issues conference at Rice.

The 1996 Rice Environmental Conference, “Sustainable Ideas for
the Next Century,” will be held Friday, Feb. 2, and Saturday, Feb.
3. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the Kelly Lounge of
the Student Center.

The Rice Environmental Club, a student group, organized the
annual event, which provides a forum for discussion of environmental
issues. Speakers will address tropical deforestation, the fate of
primates losing habitat in Madagascar, the environmental problems
facing the Rio Grande Valley, the consequences of an exploding world
population, and innovations in protecting the environment.

Two Saturday panels will tackle issues involving humanity’s
conflict between preserving and using the environment. The topics
for those programs are “The Future of Environmental Protection” and”The Future of Houston’s Development.”

Activities at the conference include a hands-on seminar about
accessing environmental information on the Internet, a talk on using
community gardening as an environmental tool for education, tips for
improving the planetary environment through better diet, and a
seminar on creating grassroots environmental groups on high school
and college campuses.

The conference is free to all students and the general public.
For more information about the program, call Justus Baird at 957-
2223 or send E-mail to jody@rice.edu.

1996 Rice Environmental Conference|
February 2-3, 1996
For more information about the program, call Justus Baird at 957-2223 or send E-mail to jody@rice.edu.
NOTE: Sessions listed at the
same time are concurrent.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Friday, February 2, 1996
4:30 p.m.- Dr. Malcolm Gillis, President of Rice University,”Tropical Deforestation.” [Herring Hall 124]

Saturday, February 3, 1996
8:30 a.m. – Registration at Rice University Student Center
9:30 a.m. – Jim Blackburn, Principal, Blackburn & Carter and Lecturer, Rice University, “21st Century Environmental Thinking” [Hamman Hall]
10:00 a.m. – Bart Gruzalski, Founder, Institute for Sustainable Living, “At the Heart of Environmental Ethics: the Imperative to Live Sustainably.” Jurgen Schmandt, Director, Center for Global Studies, “Sustainable Development as a New Policy Paradigm.”
10:40 a.m. – Eugene Hargrove, Chair, Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies, University of North Texas, “Environmental Ethics.” Mary Kelly, Executive Director, Texas Center for Policy Studies; “Environment, Politics, and NAFTA”
11:20 a.m. – Judy Jacobson – UN Cairo Conference Delegate, “When Women Have a Say: How Feminism Has Changed the Population Issue.” Elwyn Simons – Scientific Director, Duke Primate Center, “Vanishing
Emurs and Their Environments in Madagascar.”
LUNCH BREAK – Visit the Environmental EXPO
1:30 p.m. – Jack Matson, Executive Director, Leonhard Center, Penn State University “Innovation in Environmental Protection”
2:00 p.m.
PANEL I: Future of Environmental Protection
Peter Bowman, Center for Conflict Analysis and Management, UH;
Moderator John Caudill, DuPont; Linda Shead, Executive Director,
Galveston Bay Foundation Ed Feith, Director of Environmental,
Houston Lighting & Power Andrew Neblett, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission George Farenthold, President, Citizen’s
Environmental Coalition
PANEL II: Future of Houston’s Development
Robert Litke, Director of Planning, City of Houston; Moderator John
Rogers, Architect; Dan Lynch, Traffic Engineers, Inc.; Kay Crooker,
Houston Planning Commission; Kevin Shanley, Landscape Architect,
Principal, SWA Group; John Walsh, President, Friendswood
Development; John Sedlak, Assistant General Manager, METRO

3:15 p.m. – Breakout Sessions and opportunity to talk with previous
speakers
Seminars: National Wildlife Federation-Campus Activism; Marian Bell,
Director of Healthy Lifestyles-Better Diet + Better Health = Better
Planet; Bob Randall, Director of Urban Harvest-Community Gardening
as an Environmental Education Tool; CIESIN Classroom Earth-
Environmental Resources on the Internet
4:00 p.m. Conference Ends