MCLA Green Living Seminars Begin January 27

01/24/2011

NORTH ADAMS, MA - "Water wars: Protecting our Water resources" will be the theme of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' (MCLA) spring semester Green Living Seminar Series. The series begins on Thursday, Jan. 27, at 5:30 p.m. with a screening of the documentary "Flow," by Irena Salina.                                                                                              

The film will be shown in room 218 of Murdock Hall on the MCLA campus. The Green Living Seminar Series is free and open to the public.

This documentary screening is the first offering in a 12-week series that will consider issues of local and global water quantity and quality.

"These presentations will inform both students and community members about the impending global water crisis, as well as provide an overview of our local water infrastructure," said Elena Traister, MCLA professor of environmental science.

"The organizing theme for this year's series considers the challenge of managing water globally and how we can best manage water in Berkshire County," Traister continued. "Lectures address the issue from a wide variety of angles - water privatization, water quality locally and internationally, the influence of climate change and population on water availability, treatment of drinking and wastewater, managing water across political borders, and strategies for best managing local and global water resources."

"I hope participants will come away with a greater awareness of the imperative to manage our global waters responsibly and what we are doing at the local level," said Traister.

Every semester, MCLA's Green Living Seminar Series hosts lectures by local, regional, and national experts organized around a central theme related to the environment and sustainability. The series is sponsored by Eos Ventures, Inc. and Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, as well as the MCLA's Berkshire Environmental Resource Center (BERC) and the MCLA environmental studies program.

The seminars will take place every Thursday at 5:30 p.m., from Jan. 27 to April 28. For more information, please visit www.mcla.edu/greenliving or contact Elena Traister at (413) 662-5303.

 

Future Green Living presentations include:

Feb. 3, "Introduction to Water Resources and Human Impacts," presented by Traister                                                                                          

Feb. 10, "Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment," presented by Matt Poach, marine biogeochemist at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration                                                                                       

Feb. 17, "Dams, Flow, and Stream Ecology," presented by Russ Cohen, river advocate at the Massachusetts Riverways Program

Feb. 24, "Climate Change, Population, and Global Water Availability," presented by

Steve Frolking, research professor of biogeochemical modeling at the University of New Hampshire             

March 3, "Local Water Infrastructure," presented by Brad Furlon, operating manager at the Hoosac Water Quality District

March 10, "Water Quality in Massachusetts," presented by Cindy Delpapa, stream ecologist at the Massachusetts Riverways Program

March 24, "Future of Local Water Infrastructure," presented by Tim Lescarbeau, commissioner of public services for the City of North Adams

March 31, "Water Quality in Developing Countries," presented by Sarah Miller, Ph.D. candidate at Yale University                                                                                                                   

April 7, "Organic pollutants in local water," presented by David Richardson, professor of chemistry at Williams College

April 14, "Transboundary Challenges: Managing Water Resources of the Great Lakes," presented by Todd Ambs, president of the River Network                                

April 28, "A Better Approach to Water Management," presented by Shimon Anisfeld, senior lecturer and research scientist in water resources and environmental chemistry at Yale University