Roundtable talk to address climate change on NE college campuses

A roundtable discussion, "Institutional Responses to Climate Change: Implications for College Campuses in Nebraska," will take place at 9 a.m., Oct. 1 in the Nebraska Union.
A roundtable discussion, "Institutional Responses to Climate Change: Implications for College Campuses in Nebraska," will take place at 9 a.m., Oct. 1 in the Nebraska Union.

A roundtable discussion on the ways that college and university campuses can embrace sustainability measures in response to climate change will take place at 9 a.m., Oct. 1 in the Nebraska Union. The event is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are requested at http://go.unl.edu/7gmf.

Titled "Institutional Responses to Climate Change: Implications for College Campuses in Nebraska," the roundtable will bring together facilities managers from UNL, UNO, UNK, UNMC, Union College, Metropolitan Community College and Peru State to discuss strategies for reducing the carbon footprint of Nebraska's campuses. The group will discuss mitigation and adaptation strategies for responding to climate change, as well as identify potential research and policy areas in this area.

"I see great interest in colleges and campuses in Nebraska on the subject matter," said Prabhakar Shrestha, UNL sustainability coordinator. "We have a great potential driving forward and I look forward to a healthy discussion."

The roundtable agenda includes a presentation by Don Wilhite (professor, School of Natural Resources, UNL) on future climate impacts to Nebraska and by Don Guckert (vice president of facilities, University of Iowa) on programs undertaken at the University of Iowa.

"I am really looking forward to interacting with colleagues from other colleges and campuses in Nebraska to discover our common challenges and opportunities as we address impacts of a changing climate," Shrestha said. "The roundtable provides us the platform to address what we need: policy, engagement and cooperation to ensure that we continue to serve our communities throughout Nebraska."

For more information, visit http://go.unl.edu/geex.

— Mekita Rivas, Natural Resources

More details at: http://go.unl.edu/geex