EASTON, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley Youth Climate Summit is going to look different this year, adapting to student interests and regional needs, Kathryn A. Semmens said.
“This year, we are focused on taking action and youth will help us plant trees, clean up local trails and conduct a trash audit, create a community poem and more,” said Semmens, Nurture Nature Center’s science director.
- The Nurture Nature Center on Saturday is hosting its 4th Youth Climate Summit
- The free event is open to students, and includes a lecture that is open to the public
- Presentations include local efforts from students to fight climate change, as well as interactive activities
For the fourth year, the Nurture Nature Center on Saturday is hosting its Youth Climate Summit. Starting at 9 a.m., sessions include a showcase with presentations about local efforts from students to fight climate change, as well as interactive activities. While the free event focuses on youth, residents are invited to a mid-morning lecture about plastic pollution.
We are excited to connect with new faces from across the region and share our unique blend of science, art and community in learning about local environmental issues.Kathryn A. Semmens, Nurture Nature Center’s science director
“We are excited to connect with new faces from across the region and share our unique blend of science, art and community in learning about local environmental issues,” Semmens said.
So far, there are 20 students from Souderton, Philipsburg, Easton, Bethlehem and Nazareth registered to attend.
After an introduction and student showcase, which includes participating in writing a community poem, exploring a climate resiliency activity book and creating reusable bags out of old t-shirts, Megan J. Wolff is slated to present “They found plastic where? … Understanding the global plastic problem, its local impact and how to change it.”
Wolff, a public health historian who serves as policy director with Beyond Plastics, an effort out of Bennington College in Vermont aimed at ending plastic pollution, at 10 a.m. will talk with students and other participants.
“Since the 1950s, the world population has only tripled, but the production of plastics has grown over 70-fold,” according to details provided by the center about the event. “Eighty percent of litter is plastic.
“By 2025, scientists predict that for every 3 lbs of fish in the ocean there will be 1lb of plastic. Learn why this is happening, what it is impacting and what you can do to stop it.”
After Wolff’s presentation, there will be a guided tour of the center’s current art exhibit, “Risky Beauty: Aesthetics and Climate Change.” The exhibit, which runs through June 26, features the artwork of seven Philadelphia-area artists about the impacts of climate change.
Curated by Cynthia Haveson Veloric, an art historian, writer, lecturer and environmentalist, artists showcased in the exhibit include: Diane Burko, Maureen Drdak, Stacy Levy, Deirdre Murphy, Amie Potsic, Hiro Sakaguchi and Chantal Westby.
“As the risks associated with climate change grow globally and locally, artists are exploring diverse methods to widen climate communications beyond the written word of scientists and journalists,“ Veloric said. “The exhibition will challenge viewers to consider how their aesthetic experience of nature might change in light of the scientific consensus about the validity of the climate crisis, the known societal forces that hasten environmental degradation and the impact of climate change in their personal environments.”
An additional installation, “Disrupted Forest,” will feature works made by Lehigh University students in the art and climate change seminar, an experiential learning, cross-disciplinary course taught by Murphy, of the artists included in “Risky Beauty.”
The summit’s afternoon schedule previously included a tree planting, a guided tour of the Karl Stirner Arts Trail, a session on water quality monitoring and a trash clean-up and audit with Wolff. However, an active weather pattern expected to bring rain over the weekend to the region has forced activities inside.
For more information, or to register for the summit, visit nurturenaturecenter.org.
