ECO Fest Home

Events Calendar - all events are free and open to the Public

The Science Education Center at Glendale Community College is hosting a month-long Eco Fest in April. The series will feature films, panel discussions and exhibits during the month of April. On Thursday, April 6, the campus will celebrate Earth Day at GCC

Description of Events

Tuesday, March 28 Noon until 1 pm, Room SB243
“Alternative Fuels”
Professor Rick Guglielmino will give the talk as part of the Science Lecture Series.

More than half of the energy sources that we use today will be gone within 50 years. The other remaining major energy source (coal) is polluting the planet at an alarming rate and is a major contributor to excessive CO2 and global warming. In the future we must develop alternative energy sources and alternative fuels. But realistically, are they a viable option? Will it be wind, solar, cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel from microbes, hydrogen, the next generation of nuclear fission plants or coal gasification and sequestration?

Wednesday, April 5 Noon until 1 pm, Room SB243
“Careers in Energy”

A panel discussion moderated by GCC Alumni Edwin Hornquist and featuring energy industry experts Aline Dew, Craig Pals and Mary Jane Parks, who together represent over 70 years of experience in the field.

It is estimated that about half of the utility workers employed today, or about 300,000 workers, are expected to retire in the next 15 years, according to a 2005 study by the Utility Business Education Coalition. According to a separate study by Sierra Energy Group, positions that will experience the most retirements during the next five years are those that will be difficult to replace jobs that range from line workers to system operators to engineers. This is compounded by the fact that over the last 15 years, colleges and universities reported a 50 percent drop in the numbers of graduating engineers. This panel of experts discuss the evolution of the industry will outline career opportunities in the areas of energy management, energy efficiency, and renewable energy resources.

This panel will be held during the GCC Job Fair.

EARTH DAY FAIR at GCC – April 6 Day Long Event
10:00 am to 7:00 pm

On the Plaza: exhibits, food and a campus-wide GAME and RAP SESSION: “15 Steps to a Better World” Begins at 10am

A unique interactive Game called “15 Steps to a Better World” will make it’s debut on the Plaza Vaquero lawn. Students will learn about individual responses to global warming throughout the day. At noon, professor Paul Kazarian will lead an open discussion on how scientists, governments, and industry are working to address the global warming trends.

Research materials and results of the game will be featured on the GCC website at http://www.glendale.edu/ecofest

Earth Day Event, Thurs April 6
“Community Organizing for A Better Environment and Safer Communities”
A workshop with Liseth Romero, Associate Director of Pacoima Beautiful.
12:30 pm Room CS177

Pacoima Beautiful is a remarkable local organization, training community members to insure safe and healthy homes and neighborhoods. The produce workshop-style institutes to empower students and residents on issues ranging from Environmental Justice, Home Health, Community Space, Affordable Housing and Toxic Sites. They train mothers, students, businesses and other members of the public to recognize and take action on a full range of environmental issues, from lead poisoning to asthma triggers to toxic materials and others. Budding and seasoned activists will gain insights at this important session.

Earth Day Event, Thurs April 6
“Bringing the Eco Revolution Home”
Workshop with Path to Freedom founder Jules Dervaes.
1:00 pm Room CR137

Path to Freedom is an “urban homestead” in Pasadena. The Dervaes family has opened their home and hearts to sharing a lifetime of experience in and impressive range of back-to-basicspractices such as permaculture methods, bio-intensive farming and appropriate technologies including biodiesel and solar energy. Their example and training can help anyone with an open mind to successfully reduced their own "footprint" on the earth.

Earth Day Event, Thurs April 6
“Being Caribou”
Documentary film screening hosted by SAGA
3:30 to 4:45 pm, Room SC212

Environmentalist Leanne Allison and wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer follow a herd of 120,000 caribou on foot, across 1,500 kilometres of rugged Arctic tundra. The husband-and-wife team wants to raise awareness of threats to the caribou's survival. They let the caribou guide them through a wild and remote landscape, from the central Yukon to coastal Alaska and back. During the five-month journey, they ski and hike across mountains, swim icy rivers, brave Arctic weather and endure hordes of mosquitoes. They survive an encounter with a hungry grizzly bear that forces them to reconcile what it means to be a part of true wilderness. Hunger, fatigue and pain become routine, but the sacrifice is worth it when they witness the miracle of birth just metres from their tent.

Dramatic footage and video diaries provide an intimate perspective of an epic expedition. At stake is the herd's delicate habitat, which could be devastated if proposed oil and gas development goes ahead in the herd's calving grounds in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

We will show this film twice, with a break between the two screenings for snacks and a social hour.

Monday, April 10
Noon until 1pm Room SB243
“Reclaiming Rivers and Creeks in Los Angeles”
A presentation by river activist and author Joe Linton.

Yes, there is a Los Angeles River! The Los Angeles River was a natural river that nourished Los Angeles in its early days. Due to floods and neglect, the river was concreted for most of its 51 miles. Friends of the Los Angeles River have been working for 20 years to bring our forgotten river back to life. In recent years the river is emerging as an inviting greenway with new parks, native plant restoration, public art, walking/bicycling trails and more. Come and learn about the past, present and future of the LA River from the author of Down By The Los Angeles River (Wilderness Press, 2005). Joe Linton, is also the Executive Director of Friends of the Los Angeles River.
 

1-2 pm Room AD217

Bike to GCC: A Panel Discussion "You don't have to look good in Lycra  to be a bicycle commuter!" Panelists, Erik Hovland, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition; Charles Eastman, GCC professor and bicycle commuter; Joe Linton, Friends of the Los Angeles River and bicycle commuter; Mike Eberts, GCC professor and bicycle commuter.

In celebration of EcoFest, a panel of experts will discuss the challenges and joys of using a bicycle as a primary means of transportation to work or school. Among the topics covered will be how to get started, selecting a commuter-friendly bike and equipment, how to stay safe, what your rights are as a cyclist, and imagining your life as a bicycle commuter.



Thursday, April 13
Noon until 1pm Krieter Hall SR138
“Converging Storms”: The Crises of Energy, Environment and the Global Economy."
A presentation by Dr. Lisa Lubow (History)

This lecture will examine issues associated with a global system whose petroleum dependency and imperative to expand is precipitating, and colliding with, the ecological realities of diminishing fossil fuels, global warming, resource depletion and contamination (food, water, land etc.), species extinction, and over-population. What is the nature of the environmental crises now challenging the global system as we now know it, and what is its relationship to our global economy? Why should this issue influence our analysis of everything from Hurricane Katrina to the war in Iraq? And what should we be doing about it? While many environmental reforms never fully address the systemic dimensions of current ecological problems, too many systemic analyses never fully address the centrality (and urgency) of the energy and environmental crises. Dr. Lubow invites you to consider how we should centrally position ecological concerns in our overall assessment of our global realities today, as well as in developing our strategies for the future.

Thursday, April 13
6:00 PM to 7:15 SC212
“The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream”
Documentary film screening hosted by Justice Coalition

[exerpt of review by by Sandy Lyon and Nick Vander Puy] This film advises us to think about worldwide oil extraction as a bell curve. We are near the top of the bell right now; world oil and gas extraction has peaked. About half the oil reserve in the Earth has been extracted, and the population has doubled since the 1970s oil crisis. Because the developing world wants something Americans have, energy demand exceeds supply. As the The End of Suburbia points out, “It’s the end of the three-thousand mile Caesar salad.”

Friday, April 28
Campus Clean Up: Everyone's Invited!
The campus is our home, let’s keep it beautiful! Please sign up to help in this campus clean-up, sponsored by SAGA and the EcoFest production team.

TO VOLUNTEER

GCC CLUBS
Contact: Gloria Tapia at SAGA to sign up your club in hosting
your own Eco-Fest information display or Event.  
Email: saga_gcc@yahoo.com
 
For more information, contact:
Nalini Lasiewicz
Glendale Community College
1500 No. Verdugo Road
Glendale, CA 91208-2894
(818) 240-1000 Ext. 1534, Room CS 173
 Email: nalinil@glendale.edu