November 3rd Class

Today we had presentations from University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future. The first presentation was from the chapters about Rachel Carson. The chapter opens with a story about a world where humans ran out of food because they did not live in a smart and sustainable way. It talked about how man is polluting and destroying the environment and that things that were once minor threats are actually major ones and if we do not start paying attention it is going to kill us. It talks about the dangers of pesticides and the chemicals they carry are dangerous to both
the environment and people.


The next presentation was on the chapter about Jane Goodall, and she talks about her four reasons for hope: our extraordinary intellect, the resilience of nature, the energy and commitment of the informed young people who are empowered to act, and the indomitable human spirit. She believes that the youth of this world can make the change our planet needs to survive. A few things worth mentioning in the chapter are the transformation of a five-hundered-acre "wasteland," off the coast of Kenya. This wasteland was created by quarrying but Rene Haller restored it to a self-sustaining habitat for wildlife. There was also Paul Rokich who wanted to put the trees back on the mountains as a kid and when he grew up, he did this through a restoration project in the Oquirrh Mountains. Goodall was passionate about the importance of women and how education is key and worked with an organization called TACARE. Family planning and counseling can help reduce the amount of children women in third-world countries have. They also provide scholarships to girls and some are now in college. Goodall also helped to endure that every village is required to create a Land Management Plan to help protect and restore forest cover. She had strong feelings that animals belong on the land and it is important to save endangered species.

The third presentation was on David Orr. He is passionate about the biophilia hypothesis, which is the belief that people have an innate need to be in nature and be in touch with it. He believes we are bound to living things and this starts in childhood. There are even studies that have shown that people in hospital rooms recovered faster if they were overlooking gardens or greenery than those patients
who were looking at parking lots or other buildings.  But there are some people who have biophobia, which causes an explicit urge to control nature. It is just important that people do not lose their sense of biophilia because it will ultimately lead to the demise of our planet. Education is key in making sure this does not happen.