GVSU hosts environment symposium for women

Environmental impacts on women’s health, farming practices and eco-business are just some topics that will be discussed at a Grand Valley State University Women’s History Month event. 

Sponsored by Grand Valley's Women’s Center, Women and Gender Studies and Sustainable Community Development Initiative, and the West Michigan Environmental Action Council, the Women & Environment Symposium will take place on March 29 on Grand Valley’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus. It is the first large-scale meeting in West Michigan that will focus on women and the environment. Visit www.wmeac.org/women to register.

Brittany Dernberger, assistant director of the Women’s Center, said the symposium will be a great opportunity to explore the connections between gender and environmental topics. “Often these topics are discussed separately, but they’re intricately linked in many ways,” she said. “Women have been some of the foremost advocates for environmental topics throughout history.”

A team of representatives from Grand Valley, WMEAC, area universities and local nonprofits organized the event. The one-day symposium will begin with a luncheon panel and breakout sessions in the afternoon, and will close with a reception and keynote address from Susan Hedman, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 5. Appointed to the EPA by President Barack Obama, Hedman directs EPA operations in the six-state Great Lakes region. She also manages the Great Lakes National Program Office, which oversees restoration and protection of the Great Lakes.

The panels and keynote address are free and open to the public. The luncheon is $25, the reception is $15 and both can be purchased for $35. The luncheon and reception are free for university students.

For more information, contact Brittany Dernberger at (616) 331-2748 or [email protected].