Campus Events

11/6 - 8 Bioneers Conference Returns to Westminster College

Conference hosts three days of local workshops, plenary speakers, food, music and discussion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Krista DeAngelis (801) 832-2682

Oct. 19, 2009

SALT LAKE CITY – Westminster College will host the annual Bioneers Conference from November 6 – 8, 2009, inside the Emma Eccles Jones Conservatory. Keynote speaker Joan Dye Gussow will kick off the event with a pre-conference presentation on Thursday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts.

Bioneers will host three days of local workshops, plenary speakers (rebroadcast from Bioneers headwaters in San Rafael, Calif.), food, music, art and discussion. This year’s conference will focus on human rights, living locally and sustainably, public transit, oil dependence, alternative economics and gardening.

“The purpose of Bioneers is to bring together people from different cultures and professions as a community – committed to preserving and supporting the future of life on Earth – in order to generate solutions to ecological and societal challenges," said Monica Ferreira, Westminster’s Bioneers coordinator. “We invite the public to come experience today’s most innovative and progressive thinkers without increasing their carbon footprint by traveling to a national conference.”

The conference will also feature local sessions presented by Rocky Anderson and many others, as well as rebroadcasts of plenary speakers, such as Michael Pollan, Joanna Macy, and Jerome Ringo. The Bioneers Conference schedule is as follows:

Thursday, November 5

7:30 p.m. Live keynote speaker – Joan Dye Gussow, author of This Organic Life

9 p.m. Book sales and signing

Friday, November 6

11 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Registration and check-in

Noon: Welcome

12:30 p.m. Opening remarks

1 – 3:30 p.m. Plenary speakers: Brock Dolman, Kari Fulton, Jack D. Hidary and Sarah James

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Local sessions that include:

· High Road for Human Rights
  Presenter: Rocky Anderson

· Living Locally: Finding ways to live locally for a more sustainable future
  Presenter: Alison Einerson, Betsy Burton

· Wasatch Front Challenges, Issues and Planning
  Panelists: Ralph Becker, SLC’s bicycling mayor; Roger Borgenicht, Utahns for Better Transportation; and Dave Iltis, editor of Cycling Utah and Chair of the SLC
  Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee

· Finding the Sweet Spot: Creating Good Work in Challenging Times
  Presenter: Ben Mates

· Grow, Gather, Eat
  Presenters: Realms of Inquiry students and Erika DuRoss, teacher

5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Share Fair

Saturday, November 7

8 a.m. Registration and check-in

9 – 11 a.m. Plenary speakers: Michael Pollan, Jason McLennan, Lily Yeh

10:45 a.m – 12:15 p.m. Local sessions that include:

· Public Transit Solutions and Innovations from around the World

· Transition from Oil Dependence to Local Resilience

· Sara House

· Alternative Economics and Community Integration

· Changing our Ways

1:45 – 3:30 p.m. Plenary speakers: Jensine Larsen, Andrew Weil M.D. and Arturo Sandoval

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Local sessions that include:

· Rising American Indian Nation (RAIN)

· Community Capital

· Cohousing

· The Case for Extremism

· ReSkilling: The Year-Round Garden

Sunday, November 8

8:00 a.m. Registration and check-in

10 a.m. – noon: Plenary speakers: Joanna Macy and Mari Margil

12:15 p.m. – 1:45: Plenary speakers: Jerome Ringo, Annie Leonard and Almir Narayamoga Surui

Registration is $120 for the general public and $40 for students. Scholarship and volunteer opportunities are available. For more information, email mailto:bioneers@westminstercollege.edu or visit www.westminstercollege.edu/bioneers.


About Joan Dye Gussow
Joan Dye Gussow is a long-time advocate of re-localizing the food system. She is the author of This Organic Life. Gussow is the former chair of the Nutrition Education Program at Columbia. She spent two terms on the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences, a term on the FDA’s Food Advisory Committee and a term on the National Organic Standards Board.

About Bioneers
The Bioneers Conference is a leading-edge forum where you can see tomorrow today: a future environment of hope. Social and scientific innovators focus on breakthrough solutions inspired by nature and human ingenuity. These visionaries are already creating the healthy, diverse, equitable and beautiful world we want to live in- our legacy for future generations and the web of life on which our lives depend. You can connect with hundreds or thousands of engaged folks making a real difference. For more information, visit www.bioneers.org.

About Westminster:
Westminster is a nationally recognized, comprehensive liberal arts college. With a broad array of graduate and undergraduate programs, Westminster is distinguished by its unique environment for learning. Westminster prepares students for success through active and engaged learning, real world experiences and its vibrant campus community. Westminster’s unique location, adjacent to the Rocky Mountains and to the dynamic city of Salt Lake, further enriches the college experience. For more information, visit http://www.westminstercollege.edu or follow WestminsterSLC or WestminsterPR on Twitter.