The program for SU Showcase on April 21 will include several anchor events that highlight
themes of sustainability and finding solutions to the climate crisis. Faculty, students and staff
from Syracuse University and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
(SUNY-ESF) have worked with the organizers of SU Showcase to highlight environmental
issues throughout the day.
A breakfast event at Heroy Auditorium for SU students, "Funk, Fossils 'n Waffles," will
feature a panel discussion on environmental sustainability and local and organic food from
Funk 'n' Waffles. The panel will include New York City musician and environmental activist
Johnny Dubowsky and photojournalist Mark Edwards, whose photography exhibit about
the links between climate change and human rights, "Hard Rain," will open the same day at
SU's Crouse College.
Graduate students in ecological economics at SUNY-ESF have organized "Lunchtime
Learning: The True Cost of Food," from 1-2 p.m. in Room 011 in the Life Sciences Complex.
They will lead a discussion with high school and college students about the impact of our
daily food choices on climate change and sustainability. Lunch is provided and space is
limited, so participants must register in advance at http://focusthenation.syr.edu.
Another sustainable feature of SU Showcase is the Green Art Challenge. Using trash and
recycled objects found on campus, student teams will create works to be displayed
throughout the day in the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center.
As previously announced, climate change issues will take center stage in the Life Sciences
Complex in the middle of the day. At "Sustainability Showcase," students in industrial and
interior design, architecture, landscape architecture, engineering and the Sustainable
Enterprise Partnership will show off their innovative design and research projects. Brief
visual presentations will run continuously from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in Room 105 of the Life
Sciences Complex, with poster presentations on sustainable enterprise and campus
sustainability available for viewing outside the auditorium.
During the same time period, faculty experts from many disciplines will lead more in-depth
discussion of climate change issues in the Focus the Nation Teach-In on Climate Change
Solutions. Topics include scientific, technological and architectural remedies, and
governmental and business interventions to address climate change. Participants can also
learn about global media coverage of the issue, environmental justice and who will pay the
cost of climate change, and take part in an art-based workshop on visualizing sustainability.
A full schedule is available at http://focusthenation.syr.edu.
SU Showcase takes place during Earth Week; additional related events will take place every
day that week at SUNY-ESF. A full schedule is available online at
http://www.esf.edu/ecenter/earthweek/.
The climate change events in the Life Sciences Complex are organized and sponsored by the
University Sustainability Action Coalition (USAC) and SU's Office of Academic Affairs.
USAC is also a co-sponsor of the breakfast event. For more information or to get involved,
contact Rachel May, director of the Office of Environment and Society, at enspire@syr.edu.
