Events and Workshops

Reoccurring Events

Climate Cafe

Wednesdays, 12 - 3 pm (Weeks 3 - 10)
Daniel J. Evans Library, Rm. 2205

Hosted weekly, come grab a cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa and either sit and sip at the SustainabiliTEA table to socialize, grab a quiet spot in the corner Nook to read, listen to jams, or mindfully zone out with some adult coloring sheets.

The Greener Sustainability Network (GSN) or the Roundtable Talk, is a repeating time and space to connect with people across campus that might be working on similar or connected missions or projects as you. Exact times and dates coming soon.

The Design Clinic Lab/Sustainability Incubator Hub

An upcoming drop-in style (virtual and in-person) space to bring your ideas. Be they raw or refined! And get help carrying them forward. Such as finding grant funding, practicing proposals, or locating who to get permissions from. More information coming soon.

Upcoming Events 

Upcoming Workshop & Community Discussion

"Facing the Climate: Turning Anxiety into Action"

October 14, 10:30 - 11:45 am
Purce Hall

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. Don't miss this chance to turn Climate Anxiety into Climate Action! Together, we forge a sustainable future.

You can read more of the sessions details on Return to Evergreen's Olympia Event Page

Climate Lecture Series

Wednesdays, 11:30 am
Weeks 3 & 7 Quarterly
Purce Hall 1

Off-campus guest lecturers/specialists are brought to speak on a variety of topics for Academic Programs and the general public. These occur in Week 3 and Week 7 of each quarter on Wednesday at 11:30 am in Purce Hall 1 (exceptions detailed below).

https://evergreen.zoom.us/j/83649852908

Speaker bios and lecture descriptions will be added over time.

Fall Quarter

October 11 | Adam Romero
Associate Professor, UW-Bothell

"Industrial Chemicals and the Problem of Too Much Food"
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.

Speaker Bio:
Adam M. Romero is an Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at the University of Washington Bothell. He authored "Economic Poisoning: Industrial Waste and the Chemicalization of American Agriculture" which won the 2022 Agricultural History Society Theodore Saloutos Memorial Award and the 2022 American Association of Geographers Cultural and Political Ecology Group Outstanding Publication Award for innovative scholarship in cultural and political ecology.

November 8 | Kelly Kay
Associate Professor, University of California, Los Angeles

"Environmental Histories and Geographies of Public Recreation on Private Industrial Forests in the US South and Pacific Northwest"
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.

Speaker Bio: 
Kelly Kay is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a political ecologist and economic geographer, and her current research is concerned with how the rapid rise of investor-ownership of private timberland is impacting forest-reliant communities in the United States. Kelly is currently writing a book on the topic, and has published articles on the political economy of land conservation, energy transitions, and water politics, among other topics.

Winter Quarter

January 24 Shannon Cram
Associate Professor, UW-Bothell 
February 21 Tyler McCreary
Associate Professor, Florida State University

Spring Quarter

April 24 | Rosemary Collard & Jess Dempsey
Associate Professor, Simon Fraser University
& Associate Professor, University of British Columbia 
May 15 David Pellow
Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara 

Past Events

Previous Topics & Speakers
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
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