RIT Inaugurates Environment and Society Series

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A. Sue Weisler

James Winebrake

Rochester Institute of Technology’s new Environment and Society Series seeks to enhance understanding of the societal and cultural impacts of environmental problems and decision making.

The series of lectures, panel discussions and seminars, sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, will bring leaders in the field to campus to discuss topics from climate change to alternative energy development to the impact of pollution on the developing world.

The inaugural events include the lecture “Homo Sapiens and the Social Dimensions of Environmental Problems” on Nov. 2 and the seminar “Exposure of Demographic Groups to Toxic Air Pollutants in New York State, 1998-2007” on Nov. 5. Both events are free and open to the public.

The lecture will feature Stasa Puskaric, professor of environmental science at the American College of Management and Technology in Dobrovnik, Croatia, and will focus on what we can do to better preserve our survival as a species through enhanced environmental stewardship. It will be held at 10 a.m. Nov. 2 in the Carlson Auditorium.

The seminar will be led by Bríd Gleeson Hanna, associate professor of economics at RIT, and features her research on how air pollution exposure in New York varies according to income, race and other community characteristics. The seminar begins at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 5 in Eastman Hall, room 1310 and does require an RSVP.

“This series is designed to enhance and broaden understanding of the key environmental challenges we face and the often unintended consequences they have for society,” notes James Winebrake, chair of RIT’s Department of Science, Technology and Society/Public Policy and co-organizer of the series.

To register for the Nov. 5 seminar or to learn more about the series itself, contact the public policy department at stspp@rit.edu.