Reoccurring Events
Sustainability Roundtable
Monday, May 12, 2025
3 - 5 pm in SEM2, E2105
Hybrid options upon request
Join the Sustainability Roundtable, a quarterly gathering of campus leaders, students, and staff committed to driving sustainability initiatives across Evergreen. This roundtable is an open forum for sharing updates, resources, and challenges from various stakeholder groups involved in food and agriculture, energy infrastructure, political and climate action, supply chain management, indigenous practices, and more.
Please RSVP to let us know you're attending. Plan to share a brief overview of any projects, initiatives, or opportunities you’d like to present.
Earth Week
Rachel Carson Forum
with MESA
Thursday, April 24
4 - 8 pm in Purce Hall 1
Join us for the annual Rachel Carson Forum, a cornerstone event hosted by the Master of Environmental Studies Association (MESA) at The Evergreen State College. This year, we also celebrate the 40th anniversary of the MES program with a special focus on “Stories of Adaptation." Asking how has environmental work changed over the last 40 years?
The Rachel Carson Forum honors the legacy of Rachel Carson, a pioneering environmental researcher, writer, and activist. This event brings together activists, scientists, writers, and speakers to engage with the community, promoting environmental awareness and discussion.
This event is free and open to the public. Attend in-person or online via Zoom.
Watch the Rachel Carson Forum on Zoom
Rachel Carson Forum Event Details
Save the Date
South Sound Climate Convention
Saturday, May 17, 2025
9 am - 5 pm in Purce Hall
Mark your calendars for the Thurston Climate Convention hosted by Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT) in partnership with Evergreen's Center for Climate Action and Sustainability (CCAS). This event will bring together sustainability and climate representatives from across Thurston County for a day of engaging activities, discussions, and workshops focused on climate action and sustainability.
Thurston Climate Action Team - Event Page
Sustainability & Climate Symposium Showcase
Saturday, May 17, 2025
5 - 9 pm in Evans Hall
Celebrate the incredible climate and sustainability work happening across our region! The community is invited to explore research, applied projects, and emerging ideas centered on sustainability, climate justice, and ecological resilience.
Call for Submissions
Are you a student, faculty, or staff member at Evergreen with a climate or sustainability-focused project, past or present? We invite you to showcase your work! Submissions can be passive posters/displays or be active presentations.
Climate Lecture Series
Weeks 3 and 7, Quarterly
Wednesdays, 11:30 am
Communications Building, Recital Hall 107
Guest lecturers and specialists are brought to campus to speak on a variety of topics for academic programs and the general public. Lectures occur Week 3 and Week 7 of each quarter on Wednesday at 11:30 am, Recital Hall.
Solarpunk and Climate Action Workshop
As part of this year's Equity Symposium, CCAS will be presenting our workshop hosted at WOHESC in collaboration with Evergreen Faculty.
In a world often overshadowed by dystopian tales, the "Solarpunk and You" workshop invites you to envision a brighter future through Solarpunk—a genre and movement dedicated to sustainable, equitable, and hopeful worlds. This interactive session introduces Solarpunk and Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs) as powerful tools for creativity, climate action, and personal empowerment.
Participants will engage in guided exercises to reflect on their strengths and explore practical ways to build a greener future. Whether you're grappling with climate anxiety or seeking active engagement, you'll gain actionable insights to harness your unique abilities for a Solarpunk-inspired world.
Join us to learn how Solarpunk and storytelling can transform the world. Create your TTRPG avatar and hero for social change, and begin imagining and building a brighter future today. This session welcomes students, educators, sustainability advocates, and anyone curious about rejecting dystopia in favor of collective innovation and hope.
Speakers
- Sam Saltiel | Evergreen Faculty
- Kendra Aguilar | Native Pathways Program Faculty
- Anthony Levenda | Director of the Center for Climate Action and Sustainability, PaCE and MES Faculty
- Michael Joseph | AD for the Climate Center, MPA Student
Empowering the Energy Workforce:
Navigating Governance, Policy, and Justice
Remote Session
In this online session, Nikki Luke will explore the intricate dynamics of energy governance and its impact on labor and communities. Drawing from her extensive research in urban geography, she will discuss how power relations rooted in race, gender, class, and ability influence energy policy and the organization of energy justice movements. With a particular focus on the US South, Nikki will highlight the challenges and opportunities faced by workers in the energy sector.
Attendees will gain insights into the critical role of equitable energy governance in fostering a just and sustainable energy workforce. This talk will also touch on the intersections of healthcare, unions, insurance, and energy apprenticeships, providing a comprehensive overview of the multifaceted nature of energy labor politics.
Speaker
- Nikki Luke | Energy Workforce Advisor in the Office of Energy Jobs at the U.S. Department of Energy.
Local Events
View a database of local upcoming events with your Evergreen account! We compile notes on events with our off-campus partners to curate a centralized list of sustainability and climate speakers, action days, and celebrations. Searchable by topic, remote/in-person, and more!
Past Events
Previous Topics & Speakers
2025
| CCAS Events 2025 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Speaker(s) | Topic | Date |
| Voices of Resistance | Jacob Johns, Jhajayra Machoa Mendúa, & Kayla Jenkins | This panel explored the intersection of climate justice and Indigenous rights, highlighting the challenges and triumphs of these communities. | January 22 |
| Just Transition | Dr. Mijin Cha | A discussion on the critical topic of strategies and policies needed to transition to a sustainable, carbon-free economy while protecting the rights and livelihoods of workers and communities. | February 19 |
| Imagining a Solarpunk Evergreen | An engaging, solutions-focused discussion and roundtable with students, staff, faculty, and community members on the future of sustainability at Evergreen. | February 26 | |
2024
| Title | Speaker | Topic | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unmaking the Bomb: Nuclear Waste and the Politics of Cleanup | Shannon Cram & Britany Kee' ya aa. Eichman-Lindley, Associate Professor, UW-Bothell | This talk asks a deceptively simple question: "what does it mean to clean up nuclear waste?" In particular, Shannon Cram and Britany Kee' ya aa. Eichman-Lindley consider the politics of waste, exposure, and cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a former weapons complex in southeastern Washington. Once the heart of American plutonium production, Hanford is now engaged in the nation’s largest environmental remediation effort, managing toxic materials that will long outlast their regulatory containers. Cram and Eichman-Lindley examine cleanup’s administrative frames and the stories that exceed them. They detail the practical challenges that come with environmental decision-making and discuss how to engage productively in both critique and action. | January 24, 2024 |
| Indigenous Legalities, Pipeline Viscosities: Colonial Extractivism and Wet'suwet'en Resistance | Tyler McCreary Associate Professor, Florida State University | This talk examines the politics of pipelines on unceded Wet’suwet’en territories in Northern British Columbia, Canada. Tyler McCreary offers historical context for the unfolding relationship between Indigenous peoples and colonialism and explores pipeline regulatory review processes. He explores corporate efforts to reconcile Indigeneity with pipeline development, alongside fundamental and enduring conflicts over territory and jurisdiction. Throughout, McCreary demonstrates how the cyclical and ongoing movements between resistance and reconciliation. | February 21, 2024 |
| The Extinction Paradox | Rosemary Collard Associate Professor, Simon Fraser University
Jess Dempsey Associate Professor, University of British Columbia | Domestic and international laws and agreements to protect wildlife from extinction have proliferated over the past half-century. But over the same period, wild animal abundance has nosedived. What explains this extinction paradox – why are environmental policies failing to turn the tide? The clearest answer is that the policies are not slowing the extractive land-use change that causes biodiversity loss. Our research investigates what holds extraction in place. To do so, we ask two questions. The first is a (classic academic) three-parter: who benefits from extraction; who bears the costs; and what systems of power uphold these geographical distributions? Second, why does the state approve extraction that harms endangered species the state is committed to protect? We draw two main conclusions: the state is at the centre of the extinction paradox, and biodiversity loss’s root drivers are entangled with racial, colonial and patriarchal systems of power. | April 24, 2024 |
| Washington Center Visiting Scholar: Sustainable Design, Systems Thinking, and Regenerative Practices | Rachel Beth Egenhoefer Design Professor of University of San Francisco, Editor of The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Design | Throughout her visit, Rachel will be conducting a variety of workshops focused on sustainable design, systems thinking, and regenerative practices. Each session aims to empower personal and community transformation towards a more sustainable and replenishing world. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with innovative ideas and take part in shaping a regenerative future. | April 24 - 25, 2024 |
| Making Climate Justice and Environmental Justice Real: Bold Ideas, Subversive Action, and Transformative Community Building | David Pellow Professor of Environmental Studies and Director, Global Environmental Justice Project, University of California, Santa Barbara | This presentation dives into the intricate worlds of environmental and climate justice within the academic realm and grassroots movements across the U.S. and globally. David N. Pellow brings his firsthand experiences from various community struggles against environmental hazards to highlight the dynamic interplay between activism and academia. The talk will explore the effective strategies and hopeful reflections from battles against environmental injustices in communities of color, ranging from toxic waste facilities to the broader impacts of climate change. | May 15, 2024 |
| Climate Lecture Series | Dr. Alida Cantor Assistant Professor of Geography at Portland State University | Dr. Alida Cantor is exploring the intersection of geography, policy, and community development in the context of water and land stewardship. This lecture will offer insights into how thoughtful land use and resource management can contribute to broader environmental and community well-being. | October 16, 2024 |
| Climate Action in Local Government | Dr. Pamela Braff, Climate Program Manager, City of Olympia
Alyssa Jones-Wood, Sustainability Coordinator, City of Tumwater
Linsey Fields, Climate and Sustainability Coordinator, City of Lacey
Rebecca Harvey, Climate Mitigation Senior Program Manager, Thurston County Government | Local governments have an important role to play in climate mitigation and adaptation, and have been able to push forward with innovative and place-based action. This panel invites local government officials, working to advance climate action in Thurston County, to share information about their work, challenges and opportunities. We will hold a moderated panel discussion with time for questions. Learn how to get involved in local climate action, policy, and climate focused careers. | November 13, 2024 |
2023
| Title | Topic | Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate Lecture Series | Professor Sarah Ray will be delivering a talk focused on her newest book, A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety. We will also be having a student-centered workshop in which Professor Ray will be available for further discussion. | January 25, 2023 | 11:30am - 1pm | Purce Hall 1 |
| Climate Lecture Series | Professor Kari Norgaard and Ron Reed will be delivering a talk that integrates work on climate emotions, denial and Indigenous climate justice building their longtime collaborative work. | February 22, 2023 | 11:30am - 1pm | Purce Hall 1 |
| Geographic Indigenous Futures | Dr. Deondre Smiles seeks to briefly explore the ways in which Geography as a discipline can make a break with our colonial past as we look to the future, embracing Indigenous environmental and geographic epistemologies in pursuit of what Indigenous scholars such as Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (2017) describe as radical, resurgent Indigenous politics connected to land and environment, in an era of climate crisis. | April 19, 2023 | 1 - 2:15pm | Purce Hall 1 |
| Career Panel | Explore Green work in the Professional World | May 5, 2023 | 1 - 3pm | |
| Climate Coloniality: Global to Local Challenges and Potential Pathways Forward | Joshua Long and Jennifer L. Rice examine the intersections of settler colonization and the climate crisis. We discuss the historical legacies of colonization and show how these have influenced our current global system, with an emphasis on environmental and climate harms. We consider how climate coloniality plays out in the more mundane and everyday aspects of urban life. We examine political commitments that might begin to reject climate coloniality in favor of more transformative climate justice. | May 12, 2023 | 12 noon | Sem II C 1107 |
Industrial Chemicals and the Problem of Too Much Food
Adam Romero | After WWII, US agricultural output exploded, due in large part to the massive influx of industrial chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers. The consumption of farm products, however, did not keep pace and immense surpluses quickly accrued. This talk explores the role that credit played in the creation of an agricultural system of high chemical input use and chronic surplus production. It examines how the expansion of public and private credit along with the creation of new financial technologies gave farmers the ability to pay for more and more chemicals despite falling crop prices caused by too much food. | October 11, 2023 | ||
| Facing the Climate: Turning Anxiety into Action | As a part of the Olympia campus annual Return to Evergreen, join us for a captivating dialogue and workshop, where together we’ll delve into the heart of Climate Anxiety and transform it into a force for positive change. This session features a diverse lineup of esteemed Evergreen alumni, representing a spectrum of sectors from private to public, who have not just asked the question "what can I do about it?" but have taken tangible steps to make a difference. Turn Climate Anxiety into Climate Action! Together, we forge a sustainable future. | October 14, 2023 | 10:30 - 11:45 am | Purce Hall |
Environmental Histories and Geographies of Public Recreation on Private Industrial Forests in the US South and Pacific Northwest
Kelly Kay | Since the 1990s, we have seen a major shift in who owns private industrial timberland in most forest-reliant communities in the United States, with formerly vertically integrated companies restructuring and making vast quantities of land available for purchase by institutional investors like pension funds and university endowments. One impact of this change has been that the norms of access for community members have shifted—with many communities experiencing the rise of gated forest roads, new paid permit systems, and increasingly expensive leases for hunting. In this presentation, I will draw extensively from archival materials collected from the Forest History Society in Durham, NC and the University of Washington’s special collections to trace how public recreation on private forestland has shifted. This material will be supplemented with interviews conducted in rural Oregon and Georgia to show how the changing nature of recreational access has impacted those who live, work, and play in the woods. | November 8, 2023 |
2022
| Title | Topic | Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate Justice Teach-in | Engage with Evergreen faculty and local climate leaders on important climate topics as a part of the Worldwide Climate Justice Teach-In. There will be two panel sessions followed by an interactive climate simulation game. | March 30th, 2022 | 2-5:30 pm | |
| Climate, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship Lunchtime Session #1 | Finding your way through Evergreen's curricular opportunities for climate and sustainability action | April 15th, 2022 | 12-1 pm | |
| Climate, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship Lunchtime Session #2 | Alternative business structures for sustainability- social enterprises, cooperatives, and beyond | April 29th, 2022 | 12-1 pm | |
| Climate, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship Lunchtime Session #3 | Sustainability and The Cooperative Ecosystem | May 13th, 2022 | 12-1 pm | |
| Climate, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship Lunchtime Session #4 | Green Climate Finance, Debt and Reparations | May 27th, 2022 | 12-1 pm | |
| Climate, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship Lunchtime Session #5 | Building a solidarity economy | June 3rd, 2022 | 12-1 pm | |
| Climate Lecture Series | Professor Jennifer Atkinson will deliver a talk entitled "Beyond Climate Despair: Reclaiming Hope in a Warming World." (Lecture Zoom Recording) | October 12th, 2022 | 11:30am-1:00pm | |
| Food Justice and Climate Change Symposium | The Political Economy,Global Studies & Environmental Justice (PEGSEJ)and the Food and Agriculture Paths of Study are collaborating with many partners on a two-day symposium that uses as a central theme Arundhati Roy’s phrase, “The Pandemic as Portal" as a lens to analyze contemporary political economy with a focus on the food system. Symposium Flier (PDF) | October 19-20th, 2022 | All day | |
| Native Cases Conference | Climate-focused conference focused on Native Nations and Indigenous climate leadership and education. Register by completing this form. | November 8-9th, 2022 | All day (9 am-5 pm) | Little Creek Casino and Resort |