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November 1-7

November 8-14

November 15-21

Events at Smith

Write and Speak and Stand Up: A Reading + Q&A with Zenaida Peterson
November 5, 2020
Spoken-word poet Zenaida Peterson combines art, activism, identity, and justice in their work. Join the Jandon Center for Community Engagement and the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center at Smith College for a poetry reading and conversation with this remarkable person. “I am afraid of the ways that I have to stay silent/ how the black community erases me/ how the queer community invalidates me/ and I defend them all anyway/ march for them all anyway” Register using the link below:
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Virtual via Zoom
7:00 pm

Events Off Campus

Lecture and Conversation with Farshid Moussavi, Principal Farshid Moussavi Architecture
November 4, 2020
Part of the Zube Lecture Series hosted by Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at UMass, Amherst. This event is also co-sponsored by the Architecture department. Register for this event using the link below:
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Zoom
4:00 pm

Food for Thought: Race, Place, and Change in the Food System
November 4, 2020
An interactive dialogue with racial justice and food systems activist Liz Wills-O'Gilvie on efforts to increase healthy food access and social awareness in the communities of Greater Springfield and beyond. Liz serves as the director of the Springfield Food Policy Council, the board chair of the youth driven, urban agriculture organization, Gardening the Community. She is also a member of the Steering Committee and Advisory Boards of the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative and Mass Farm to School. A critical thinker about issues relating to race, class, gender, culture and privilege, Liz is quite comfortable with the discomfort attached to conversations about race. Register using the link below:
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Virtual via Zoom
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

What if Nature Had a Seat at the Table?
November 5, 2020
The 2020s are a critical decade of urgent action to arrest the worst impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and in which to build resilience to changes as we cross planetary boundaries and tipping points. COVID-19 has shown us what happens when we ignore scientific evidence of the risks of our encroaching on nature. 75 years after the founding of the UN the governance of our international systems is outmoded, with institutions, organizations and mechanisms dominated by a few powers, many of whom have demonstrated, at best, benign neglect in recent years. These mechanisms have struggled to value planetary health and our wellbeing and to integrate that in economic, social and political decision making. As the UN celebrates an important milestone, amid unprecedented challenges to multilateral cooperation, can we imagine how we may give nature a seat at the table and what would change if its voice, needs and contributions could be heard. Rachel Kyte is the 14th dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University. Prior to joining Fletcher, Kyte served as special representative of the UN secretary-general and chief executive officer of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). She previously was the World Bank Group vice president and special envoy for climate change, leading the Bank Group's efforts to shift its operations and campaign for the Paris Agreement. Register for the event using the link below:
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Virtual via Zoom
12:00 pm

Construction of Nature in New York City: Governance, Discourse, and Materiality
November 5, 2020
with Lindsay K. Campbell, Research Social Scientist, USDA Forest Service. Part of the Zube Lecture Series hosted by Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at UMass, Amherst. Join using the link below:
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Zoom
4:00 pm

Building Political Will for Climate Solutions Workshop
November 7, 2020
Learn how to build political will for climate solutions using Citizens' Climate Lobby's five levers: lobbying congress, grasstops engagement, media relations, grassroots outreach, and group development. Led by CCL regional fellows, this workshop will help participants figure out how to use your time and talents to take concrete, meaningful action on climate change. This webinar is intended for students and anyone in higher ed. Please RSVP through Eventbrite (below) to obtain the Zoom meeting information in your confirmation email.
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Virtual via Zoom
3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Events at Smith

Sustainable Solutions for the Climate Crisis and Its Cascading Impacts to Humanity
November 9, 2020
Jana Ganion, will discuss her work as Sustainability and Government Affairs Director for Blue Lake Rancheria, a federally recognized tribe in California. She will give examples of how the community has created solutions around mega-wildfires and other climate impacts; these include implementing decarbonization policies and programs, and building sustainability community infrastructure. This is part of the ENX 100 lecture series.
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Virtual via zoom
3:15 pm to 4:30 pm

How to Take Action & Stay Hopeful in an Age of Climate Crisis:
November 12, 2020
A Conversation with International Smith Alums. Nearly every day brings news of devastating environmental challenges - from increasingly violent storms to plastics in our oceans to the production and unequal distribution of toxic wastes. In a world stretched thin for resources under threat of global climate change and the pandemic health crisis, how can we stay engaged, motivated and hopeful to enact real change? Use the link below to register and join us for a conversation with four alumni living in Africa and Europe who are working in the Climate/Sustainability/Environmental Protection fields. They will discuss their work and share specific actions they are taking to keep motivated and enact change in these challenging times. The conversation will be moderated by Professor Leslie King, Chair of Smith's Environmental Science and Policy Program, with time for questions.
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Virtual via Zoom
12:30 pm to 1:30 pm

Pacific Eco-Poetry. Online Reading by Craig Santos Perez
November 12, 2020
Craig Santos Perez, an indigenous Pacific Islander from Guam, is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently Habitat Threshold. He will share his poetry, focused on climate change, environmental justice, human-animal relations, and the anthropocene. This reading is in conjunction with the Kahn Institute 2020-21 yearlong project Imagining Climate Change: From Slow Violence to Fast Hope. Open to the public.
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Virtual via Zoom
5:00 pm

The Activists Post-election Playbook
November 12, 2020
with Kerene Tayloe, Director of Legislative Affairs for WeACT for Environmental Justice and Raquel Ortega '11, NoCAL ACLU Organizer. Register using the link below:
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Virtual via Zoom
7:00 pm

NOAA summer internship presentations
November 13, 2020
Join us to hear from three Smithies who spent their summer in virtual internships with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and find out how you might intern with NOAA in summer 2021! Today's presentations include Ciara Chen, '21: Status of Caribbean Corals Listed under the Endangered Species Act; Dominique Kelly, '22: Why do some dolphins and whales form mixed-species associations? An unresolved puzzle in community ecology; and Phoebe Lease, '21: Communicating the Science and Technology Missions of Exploration. Use your Smith email to join us at the link below:
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Virtual via Zoom
12:30 pm

Events Off Campus

Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age: Insights fromThe Optimist's Telescope
November 12, 2020
"If no one else seems to care about the future, why should I?" Many people today are disillusioned, even cynical, about what lies on the road ahead, and about humanity's capacity to thrive over the long term. In her 2019 book The Optimist's Telescope, Bina Venkataraman argues we can build a society of long-term thinkers, harnessing research, anecdotes, and case studies drawn from her background in public policy, climate change strategy, and journalism. In this talk, she will dispel myths about human shortsightedness and impart the lessons for thinking ahead even when the future is murkier than ever. Bina Venkataraman is an American journalist, author, and policy expert. She is currently the Editorial Page Editor of The Boston Globe and a fellow at New America. Since 2011, she has taught in the program on science, technology, and society at MIT. She is the author of The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age (Riverhead, 2019), named a top business book by The Financial Times and a best book of the year by Amazon, Science Friday, and National Public Radio. Bina formerly served as Senior Advisor for Climate Change Innovation in the Obama White House, where she forged partnerships among communities, companies, and government to prepare for climate disasters and to declassify data useful for global development. Register for the event using the link below:
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Virtual via Zoom
12:00 pm

Finding the Past: Documenting and Restoring the Palace at Pernstejn, Czech Republic
November 12, 2020
with Ina Truxova, Landscape Architect, National Heritage Institute, Czech Republic.Part of the Zube Lecture Series hosted by Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at UMass, Amherst. Join using the link below:
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Zoom
4:00 pm

Racism & Health Disparities
November 12, 2020
Dr. Evelynn Hammonds will talk about racial disparities in the age of coronavirus and how scientists developed categories of racial difference that shaped the practice of medicine, public health policy and the field of epidemiology. Dr.Hammonds, the Barbara Guttmann Rosenkrantz Professor of History of Science at Hampshire College, has written extensively about these topics. Her excellent book, Childhood’s Deadly Scourge: The Campaign to Control Diphtheria in New York City, 1880-1930, chronicles the first contentious struggle to apply bacteriology and immunology to the treatment of diphtheria. All are welcome, from A to Z: artists to zoologists! Join using the link below:
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Virtual via Zoom
4:05 pm to 5:30 pm

Environmental Policy in Historical Perspective
November 12, 2020
Panel Discussion with Bill McKibben, Robert Pollin, Ashwin Ravikumar, Thea Riofrancos & Eve Vogel. We have only a few years left to make deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. This event will reflect on the implications of the U.S. election results for meeting this imperative. What are the prospects for a Green New Deal and other urgently needed measures, in the United States and beyond? How can the destructive power of the fossil fuel industries be neutralized? The panelists will analyze the current moment while also offering a historical perspective on environmental policy and movements.Part of the 2020-21 Feinberg Series, Planet on a Precipice: Histories and Futures of the Environmental Emergency presented by the UMass Amherst History Department. Use the link below to register or for more information:
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Virtual via Zoom, FaceBook or YouTube.
6:00 pm

Webinar: How to Get a Job in Sustainability Purpose-Driven Careers in Business, NGOs, and Government
November 12, 2020
The Covid recession has made finding work more challenging. But it has also opened new opportunities for driving social and environmental progress. Dr. Eban Goodstein, Director of Graduate Programs in Sustainability at Bard College, will outline mission-focused career strategies for both soon-to-be and recent college graduates, and for professionals looking to make a move. Goodstein will provide participants with a concrete job-search strategy, discuss what the current political climate means for careers in social and environmental sustainability, and also field questions in a live, interactive webinar. Register at the link below:
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Virtual via Zoom
6:30 pm

Water Cooler Chat: Exploration of Modern Indigenous Knowledge and the Power of Indigenous Western S
November 13, 2020
Celebrate Native American Heritage month with James Rattling Leaf Sr, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, University of Colorado Boulder and Robert Newman, University of North Dakota from ESA’s Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section as we explore: What is Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)? How does the power of indigenous knowledge contribute to Western science? What insights can TEK provide into the way we teach our students to connect with the world? Bring your favorite beverage and join us for an inspiring Water Cooler Chat. Register below:
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Virtual via Zoom
4:00 pm

Events at Smith

Restoring a Cranberry Bog: Context, Science, Practice
November 16, 2020
Join Alex Hackman (Restoration Ecologist, Cranberry Bog Program Manager, Division of Ecological Restoration, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game) in this ENX 100 lecture series discussion on the Cranberry Bog Restoration project in Massachusetts. Learn the context, science, and practice behind this unique project!
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Virtual via zoom
3:15 pm to 4:30 pm

I-Collective: A Roundtable with Indigenous Chefs
November 16, 2020
On the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the mayflower, this crew of Indigenous chefs and activists are hoping to bring awareness to the results of colonization in the New England region and the original tribes. “Indigenous foods”, “traditional foods”, and “food sovereignty” are terms born from colonization and hundreds of years of genocide, laws, wars, burned crops, and stolen land. In this roundtable discussion, I-Collective members including chefs, ethnobotanists, and foragers, will discuss the effects of colonization on Indigenous people since 1492 and the resiliency that food and nature brings to their culture, then and now. This event is free and open to the Smith community and the public however registration is required. Please register at the link!
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Virtual via zoom
4:45 pm to 6:00 pm

Massachusetts GIS Day 2020
Wednesday, November 18
Join us as we celebrate GIS across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts! GIS Day 2020 will include many activities that are fun and engaging such as the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap mapathon, 2020 ArcGIS StoryMaps competition, an undergraduate virtual poster contest, "Grad Slam!" lightning talks, and a keynote talk by Dr. Arzu Çöltekin. The event is free and open to all! Visit the event's site to learn more about the schedule and registration: https://sites.google.com/umass.edu/magisday2020.
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Virtual via Zoom
9:00 am to 8:00 pm

Environmental Science & Policy Study Abroad Information Session
November 18, 2020
Hear from fellow students about their experience in a Smith-approved study abroad program with an environment-related focus! Lisa Johnson, Assistant Dean for International Study will be there to provide additional information and answer questions about all of the programs available.
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Virtual via zoom
12:30 pm to 1:20 pm

Public Voice Across Media: Speaking Out Against Climate Change
November 19, 2020
There are a number of channels through which we can amplify our voices on issues that matter to us. Join the Wurtele Center for Leadership in a conversation with three individuals who are passionate about one issue - ending climate change - but who share that passion through different media. Panelists include public artist Eve Mosher, journalist Audrea Lim, and political science scholar Leah Stokes. This session is part of the Amplify initiative.
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Virtual via zoom
7:30 pm to 9:00 pm

Events Off Campus

History from Below: Extractivism, Geology, and Power
November 18, 2020
Panel Discussion with Angélica Maria Bernal, Nigel Clark, Gregory Cushman & Andrea Marston. Human exploitation of the underground has been central to the unfolding climate and ecological emergency. Inseparable from empire-building, colonialism, and the rise of capitalism, extractions from the earth have expanded dramatically since the early modern era. Across the world, there have been unpredictable transformations in climate, landscapes, ecologies, affecting the lives of humans and nonhumans alike. In all this, however, the underground is not simply passive matter; human actions, to put it differently, are not the only force feeding these transformations. What kinds of stories, still untold, might we tell about human entanglements with the physical earth, and about geological agency and history? How might such inquiries help us to better comprehend and confront our contemporary planetary predicament? Part of the 2020-21 Feinberg Series, Planet on a Precipice: Histories and Futures of the Environmental Emergency presented by the UMass Amherst History Department. Use the link below to register or for more information:
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Virtual via Zoom, FaceBook or YouTube.
4:00 pm

Racial and Climate Justice in 2020 and Beyond
November 21, 2020
This critical conversation on climate and racial justice will feature two leaders in the field: Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley for MA-07 and Autumn Peltier a Canadian-Youth Water Activist. The discussion will be moderated by Rosanna Xia, Pulitzer Finalist for Environmental Journalism at the Los Angeles Times. Presented by the Harvard Student Climate Conference. Zoom link will be provided closer to the event. Register at the link below!
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Virtual via zoom
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm