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Featured Event

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
April 15, 2014
A lecture and book signing about her latest book of the same name with Elizabeth Kolbert, staff writer for The New Yorker, and award winning author of "Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change". Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In The Sixth Extinction, two-time winner of the National Magazine Award and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field. She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, and through these stories, provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.
Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall **Note new location**
7:00 pm

Events at Smith

Earth Week Tabling and Activities
April 14, 2014
April 15, 2014
April 16, 2014
April 17, 2014
Come to the Chapin Lawn everyday during lunch for tabling and activities. Each day focuses around a theme, and there will be activities and information. Rain location for activities is inside the Campus Center TV lounge.
Chapin Lawn
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

LSS 100: Landscape, Design, and the Environment lecture
April 14, 2014
Andrea Olsen, Professor of Dance and Environmental Studies, Middlebury College: Designing Space with the Body in Mind
Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall
2:40 pm to 4:00 pm

Hydroponics Workshop
April 16, 2014
Engineers for a Sustainable World lead a hydroponics workshop as part of Earth Week.
CEEDS, Wright Hall 005
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Film Screening: Earth Days
April 16, 2014
The final film in the EARTH'S TURN series planned as a lead up to Earth Day. A discussion after the film will be led by the Smith College Sustainability Reps. Sponsored by CEEDS, Sustainability Reps, Green Team, Divest Smith College, SGA Sustainability Committee, Climate Action Now, 350 MA, Office of Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Science and Policy Program, Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, with support from the SGA.
Seelye 106
6:30 pm

Lecture with Elise Keaton from The Keeper of the Mountains Foundation
April 17, 2014
Learn about mountaintop removal coal mining from Donna Branham, Keeper of the Mountains activist and Appalachian native. Hear the perspective of a frontline community member and learn about how people are fighting back against the destruction and social injustice caused by fossil fuel companies. Event Co-Sponsored by Smith College Green Team and Divest Smith College as a part of Smith Earth Week.
Campus Center 103/104
4:00 pm

Bike Kitchen Open Hours
April 17, 2014
Maybe you are wondering where the bike paths are or where bike resources are in the area. Maybe you are having trouble with your brakes or something else on your bike and want to learn how to fix it yourself. Or maybe you just LOVE bikes. In any case, come to Open Hours and we can help!
Talbot basement
6:00 pm

An Activist Evening with Tanya Fields
April 17, 2014
Join us for an night of conversation, deliberation, and explanation! Ms. Fields will talk about her experience as a urban-based black woman activist, as well as her current initiatives to bring food justice and economic independence to her community. Free & Open to the Public! Tanya Fields ts a food justice activist, educator. urban farmer. food blogger. and the founder and executive director of the BLKProjek. This Bronx-based food justice and health organization serves underserved woman of color by creating women-led economic development opportunities and is committed to urban farming and the elimination of food deserts. Sponsored by The Smith Association of Class Activists.
Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall
7:00 pm

Open Mic at the MacLeish Field Station
April 17, 2014
Celebrating the intersections of science, activism, and performance. Bring your instruments, art, poetry, and science! Refreshments will be provided. The Ada and Archibald MacLeish Field Station is a 240-acre patchwork of forest and farmland located in West Whately, MA that provides opportunities for faculty and students to pursue environmental research, outdoor education, and low-impact recreation. The open mic will be a chance to explore the station and its environmental classroom. Meet at Chapin loading dock at 6:40pm, email edixon@smith.edu to reserve a space in a van.
Ada and Archibald MacLeish Field Station
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Film: "Meat the Truth"
April 17, 2014
Animal Advocates are showing the film "Meat the Truth" as part of Earth Week.
CEEDS, Wright Hall 005
7:30 pm

Events Off Campus

Amherst Community Co-op Kick-Off Event
April 12, 2014
Jonathan Lash and Gary Hirshberg are featured speakers at this membership drive kickoff for a new Amherst food co-op! Free food and Bart's Ice Cream! All are welcome - free childcare and live music!
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Immanuel Lutheran Church (867 N. Pleasant St.) Amherst

Conference: Global Health and Innovation
April 12, 2014
April 13, 2014
The Global Health & Innovation Conference is the world's largest global health conference and social entrepreneurship conference. This must-attend, thought-leading conference annually convenes 2,200 leaders, changemakers, students, and professionals from all fields of global health, international development, and social entrepreneurship. "A Meeting of Minds"-CNN.
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Yale University, New Haven, CT

Psymposium 2014: Workshops & lectures on the ethnobotany and culture of psychoactive
April 12, 2014
April 13, 2014
and medicinal plants. Speakers include Dennis McKenna,Ph.D, Lyle Craker, Ph.D, Hamilton Morris, Alexandre Tannous, Lily Ross, Lawrence Millman, Ph.D and other special guests. For more information and tickets, visit:
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UMass Amherst, Mahar Auditorium

Film premiere: Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America
April 13, 2014
WGBY-57 presents the world premiere of “Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America,” a new, one-hour documentary produced by Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey of Florentine Films/Hott Productions and WNED TV, Buffalo/Toronto. This film chronicles the career and lasting influence of America’s premiere landscape architect who designed New York’s Central Park, Boston’s Emerald Necklace, and many town commons and campuses right here in the Pioneer Valley. This is the first screening of the film, which will be broadcast on PBS stations later this year. Screening followed by a discussion and Q&A with producers Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey and landscape historian Ethan Carr. Free and Open to the Public
Academy of Music, Northampton
4:00 pm

Seminar: Massachusetts Action on Climate Change:
April 14, 2014
A discussion of the Commonwealth’s leadership in climate action and plans for the future. Massachusetts Senator Marc R. Pacheco will speak about Massachusetts’ status as a leader on green policies and clean energy practices, as well as plans for future climate legislation.
Room 203 Morrill Science Center (III), UMass Amherst
3:00 pm

Seminar with World Food Prize Laureate Daniel Hillel
April 14, 2014
Professor Emeritus Daniel Hillel, the Israeli water and soil scientist who developed micro-irrigation to improve agriculture in the Negev desert, returns to campus to speak on “Water supplies, water requirements and agricultural water use efficiency in a changing climate." Dr. Hillel was the 2012 World Food Prize Laureate.
UMass Bowker Auditorium
4:00 pm

Conference: Sustainability: Systems and Solutions
April 17, 2014
For more information and to register for this April 17th event, visit the web site listed below.
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UMASS Lowell Conference Center

Featured Event

Earth Week Friday Festival
April 18, 2014
Activities include live local music, a dance and music performance by Celebrations dance company, the Tinydance Project, and the Smiffenpoofs, arts and crafts projects, a campus wide free box, bicycle hay rides, and free food from Hungry Ghost Bread and Maple Valley Creamery.
Chapin Lawn
4:00 pm to 7:00 pm

We Put Our Bodies at the Gate: An Intergenerational Conversation
April 21, 2014
on Environmental Activism. Conversations about struggle often end with bewilderment about how to effect changes in our increasingly complex world. Join us for an inter-generational panel discussion to demonstrate vision and inspire hope, featuring 95 year old Frances Crowe from the "shut It Down" Vermont Yankee Affinity Group featured in the "Bodies at the gate" exhibit in Nolan Arts Lounge; local environmental activists, and others making a difference over time through organized resistance.
Campus Center 103/4
7:15 pm

Events at Smith

Earth Week Tabling and Activities
April 18, 2014
Come to the Chapin Lawn everyday during lunch for tabling and activities. Each day focuses around a theme, and there will be activities and information. Rain location for activities is inside the Campus Center TV lounge.
Chapin Lawn
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

Apple Tree Training Workshop-- Field Station Friday
April 18, 2014
Celebrate Earth Week at the MacLeish Field Station by learning about training apple trees at our fruit orchard! Renowned artist and sculptor Dan Ladd will be leading a workshop on tree training techniques and we will be doing some hands-on work in the orchard to train our young apples trees. Refreshments will be provided. A van will leave from Chapin at 1:00 p.m and return to Smith by 4:00 p.m. Sign up at http://doodle.com/reymequqvbn4ehmn to reserve a spot in the van.
Ada and Archibald MacLeish Field Station
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Webinar: The Role of Carbon Pricing and Other Approaches to Address Climate Change
April 18, 2014
In recent years, many climate experts have argued that the vast majority of fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground if we are to avoid passing critical climatic thresholds, and that the most effective way to achieve this by pricing carbon through a "fee-and-dividend" strategy. Under this approach, carbon would be taxed at various points of entry in the national economy, with the fee return direct to consumers in relation to their carbon consumption. The latest issue of The Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, a publication of the Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, includes two essays discussing the judiciousness of a carbon pricing approach vs. prescriptive regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. This event features two of the contributors to these essays.
CEEDS, Wright Hall 005
2:00 pm

Outing Club Sunset Hike
April 18, 2014
Join the outing club by the boathouse for a hike at sunset.
The Boathouse
6:30 pm

S'mores at the Athletic Field fire pit
April 18, 2014
Chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmellows! Enjoy the first S'mores of the season at the end of Earth Week.
Athletic Field Fire Pit
8:30 pm

Real Food Challenge Workshops
April 19, 2014
The Real Food Challenge is coming to Smith College to lead workshops about food justice and organizing skills. After the workshops, we'll cook and eat dinner together on campus. It's going to be a great opportunity to connect with networks of student real food leaders and make plans to bring more real food to campuses in the Pioneer Valley. If you have any questions about the workshops or real food challenge, feel free to email Maya at mkutz@smith.edu.
Campus Center 204
10:00 am

Catch Chestnut Fever!
April 19, 2014
Come help restore the American Chestnut at the MacLeish Field Station! One hundred years ago one out of every four trees in the eastern forests was an American Chestnut. The introduction of a fungal blight from Asia in the early 1900's drove the American Chestnut to extinction, completely transforming the eastern forests. The Center for the Environment is part of a national effort lead by the American Chestnut Foundation to restore the American Chestnuts to the eastern forests. A seed orchard is being established at the MacLeish Field Station to produce blight resistant nuts. Join us and be prepared to get dirty! We will meet on Saturday at 1:00 pm next to Chapin loading dock to drive up to MacLeish and should be back on campus by 4:30 or 5 pm. Want to join us? RSVP to Paul Wetzel (pwetzel@smith.edu). Why RSVP? So that there is enough van space, tools for planting and food to keep up your energy!
Ada and Archibald MacLeish Field Station
1:00 pm

LSS 100: Landscape, Design, and the Environment lecture
April 21, 2014
Julian Agyeman , Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University: Just Sustainabilities: Re-imagining e/quality, living within limits
Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall
2:40 pm to 4:00 pm

Opening: We Put Our Bodies at the Gate: Environmental Activism
April 21, 2014
and Nuclear Power An exhibit documenting both the history and calling attention to the urgency of issues related to the decommissioning of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vermont. Including a visual account of the civil disobedience campaign of the "Shut It Down" affinity group; displayed along with information and a call to action.
Nolan Arts Lounge/ 103/4, Campus Center
6:45 pm

ES&P capstone project presentations
April 22, 2014
Presentation 1: Bioregional Urbanism: Florence MacGregor and Apelila Joseph. Presentation 2: Fort Hill Estate Redevelopment: Alina Ahmad, Alexis Flora, Katherine Robb and Leanna Marans. Lunch provided.
Neilson Library Browsing Room
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

De-stress with the Smith Community Garden
April 23, 2014
Come plant seeds in our new raised beds! All are welcome, no experience necessary! We provide all knowledge, tools, seeds, and gloves.
Smith Community Garden
3:00 pm to 5:30 pm

Discussion with a Smith Alumna in Energy Sector
April 23, 2014
Investment banks, oil companies and private equity firms are some of the most significantly male-dominated industries in the economy. Smith alumna Sarah Wright 88' will share her experience, from building Goldman Sachs’ power trading business, to transitioning Constellation Energy from a regulated utility to the most ascendant energy merchant in the world. As an investor and manager with more than 25 years of experience in private equity, investment banking and energy companies, Wright will share her views on everything from career management, to the current day energy landscape and the financial viability of renewable energy technologies in the modern world.
Seelye 207
4:30 pm

Events Off Campus

Herbfest 2014
April 22, 2014
Join us to enjoy demonstrations and presentations on a wide variety topics related to the history, culture, traditional and modern uses of herbs, spices, and medicinal plants. Admission is Free.
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UMass Amherst, Student Union Ballroom
11:30 am to 2:00 pm

26th Annual Virginia A. Beal Lecture and Dinner: Food Security
April 22, 2014
The Department of Nutrition will host the 26th Annual Virginia A. Beal Lecture and Dinner on Tuesday, April 22, 2014. The event begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Cape Cod Lounge in the Student Union. This year’s program is titled “From Neighborhood to Nation: Changing Policies to Improve Nutrition and Food Security.” Donald (Diego) Rose, PhD, MPH, RD, Professor and Head of the Nutrition Section in the Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences at Tulane University, will deliver the keynote lecture titled “The Food Policy Landscape: Improving Nutrition from Farm to Fork.” The program will also feature a panel discussion entitled “Policies to Promote Good Nutrition: Are We Doing Enough?” Panelists include Paula Serafino-Cross, MS, RD, LDN, a Staff Dietitian with Baystate Medical Center, who will address federal food and nutrition legislation and its implications for consumers and dietitians, and John Gerber, PhD, Professor of Sustainable Food and Farming with the UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture, who will address local policies to support local foods.
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UMass Amherst, Student Union, Cape Cod Lounge
4:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Keynote Address by Dr. Robert Bullard, Father of Environmental Justice
April 22, 2014
Robert D. Bullard is dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. He previously served as Ware Professor of Sociology and Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University and is often described as the father of environmental justice. Bullard is author of 17 books addressing issues of sustainable development, environmental racism, urban land use, climate justice, emergency response, and regional equity. In 2008, Newsweek named Bullard one of 13 Environmental Leaders of the Century and in 2013, he was honored with the Sierra Club John Muir Award.
UMass Amherst, Mahar Auditorium
7:00 pm

Talk: Extreme Climate Events and Species Population Dynamics
April 23, 2014
Keith Nislow, UMass Amherst, Co-Principal Investigator, Northeast Climate Science Center, Adjunct Associate Professor of Environmental Conservation Extreme events (floods, droughts, and fires) have a high public profile and changes in their frequency, magnitude, and duration have been linked to changes in climate. For species populations, these events are often associated with high levels of mortality and major changes in habitat, suggesting a strong influence on population dynamics.In this talk, we review some of the basic determinants of population response to extreme events, using case studies based on long-term data from natural populations in the northeastern region, and present a modeling framework for evaluating the relative impacts of changes in timing, duration, and magnitude. We also consider the potential for human responses to perceived and actual risks from climate extremes to interact with, and in some cases override the direct effects of the events themselves.
UMass, Morrill Science Center, Conference Room
3:30 pm

Fossil Fuel Free Investing: Money, Power and The Planet
April 23, 2014
StakeHolders Capital and First Congregational Church Address the pros and cons of this strategy. April 23 Forum Promises a Heated Debate With the March 31 release of the United Nations report on the sweeping impacts of climate change on humans on every continent, the impact of burning fossil fuels on our planet can no longer be ignored. How best to move energy companies away from fossil fuels, whether by divestment or through shareholder advocacy, is at the heart of the debate. Those engaged in the debate will include Alice Swift, Fossil Free Divestment Working Group of Climate Action Now – MA, Terry Mollner of StakeHolders Capital and the Boards of Calvert Social Funds and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Tom Gainey of Pax World Funds, and Anurag Sharma, Professor Business Strategy, Isenberg School of Mgmt. UMass. Andrew Bellak of StakeHolders Capital, Inc. will moderate the debate. The evening is co-hosted by StakeHolders Capital, First Church’s Earth and Investment Ministry Teams, and Pax World Funds. It is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. StakeHolders Capital is a full service investment management firm committed to integrating clients’ values with their investment objectives. For more information visit www.stakeholderscapital.com or call 413/306-3244. This is not specific investment advice nor an offer to buy or sell securities.
First Congregational Church, 165 Main Street, Amherst
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Panel: Climate change and Human Survival-- Implications of the Report of the Intergovernmental Panel
April 23, 2014
on Climate Change (IGCC)on the Social Impacts of Climate Change With: President Jonathan Lash, Hampshire College; Prof. Betsy Hartmann, Hampshire College; Prof. Michael Klare, Five College Peace & World Security Studies. Free and Open to the Public
Franklin Patterson Hall, Main Lecture Hall, Hampshire College
7:30 pm

Community Meditation on Deep connection and honoring our relationship with Earth
April 24, 2014
A special meditation in celebration of Earth Week.
Hampshire College, Spiritual Life Center, Donut 5
4:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Voices from the Fossil Fuel Resistance
April 24, 2014
A panel discussion about the experiences of Crystal Lameman (from Beaver Lake Cree First Nation) and Yudith Nieto (from Houston, Texas)organizing against tar sands infrastructure.
Unitarian Universalist Church, 121 N Pleasant St., Amherst
8:00 pm

Featured Event

Catch Chestnut Fever and help make history!
April 25, 2014
April 26, 2014
100 years ago, 1 in 4 trees in the eastern forests was an American Chestnut. The introduction of a fungal blight in the early 1900's drove the American Chestnut to extinction, completely transforming our forests. Smith's Center for the Environment is part of a national effort to restore these trees. A seed orchard is being established at the MacLeish Field Station to produce blight resistant nuts. Join us to plant the orchard (be prepared to get dirty) and help us make history! We will meet at 1:00 pm near Chapin loading dock and will return to campus between 4:30/5 pm. RSVP to Paul Wetzel (pwetzel@smith.edu)so we can save you a seat in the van and buy enough snacks for everyone!
MacLeish Field Station
1:00 pm

Events at Smith

De-stress with the Smith Community Garden
April 26, 2014
Come plant seeds in our new raised beds! All are welcome, no experience necessary! We provide all knowledge, tools, seeds, and gloves.
Smith Community Garden
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

LSS 100: Landscape, Design, and the Environment lecture
April 28, 2014
Logan Werschky, Smith 04 Special Advisor to NYC’s Chief Analytics Officer, Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics: Pioneers in Civic Data: Breaking into the Open(Data) and other lessons on approaching a new frontier
Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall
2:40 pm to 4:00 pm

ES&P capstone project presentations
April 29, 2014
Food Waste: Theo Cielos, Sydney Parkmond, Catherine Aguilar and Cathryn Evangelista. Lunch provided.
Neilson Library Browsing Room
12:00 pm

Nature's Temples: Understanding and Honoring Old-Growth Forests
April 30, 2014
Presented by Joan Maloof for the Spring Bulb Show, Professor Emeritus at Salisbury University and Founder of the Old-Growth Forests Network to preserve, protect and promote the country's few remaining stands of old-growth forest. She is the author of several books on forests, their ecology, their conservation, and their importance to humanity, including Nature's Temple: The Complex World of Old-Growth Forests (2016).
Conference Center
12:00 am

Events Off Campus

Conference- Designing for Success: Ecological Restoration in Times of Change
April 25, 2014
April 26, 2014
At this conference, we will discuss many aspects of ecological restoration in times of change, with the general theme of designing for success, including a broad range of ecological restoration projects from small isolated sites to broad regional landscapes. TOPICS • Coastal restoration & management • Human ecology & ecosystem services • River restoration • Freshwater wetland restoration • Native, invasive, and rare plants • Field trips to a restoration sites with prescribed burning, dam removal, and riverbank stabilization • and more!
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Hampshire College

Mill River Walk
April 26, 2014
Join us! This week we'll be exploring River’s End: Spring Paddle in the Floodplain Forest, Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary. Sponsored by the Mill River Greenway Initiative, Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways and Smith College CEEDS (Center for the Environment, Ecological Design & Sustainability) SPACE IS LIMITED! Email us at info@millrivergreenway.org to reserve your spot and get directions to the starting point!