Environmental Forum: Virtual Discussion Series for Middle and High School Students , December 2020-January 2021
November 2nd, 2020
Wednesdays, 3 p.m., December 2, 2020-January 20, 2021 (excluding winter break) – Virtual sessions via Google Meet
HCPSS middle and high school students are invited to participate in a free weekly discussion series on environmental topics, offered in partnership with the Howard County Conservancy. Each week, participants will hear from an expert on an environmental topic, then join in a discussion on how the topic relates to our everyday life, both at home and in our community.
Pre-register to join the free series. All sessions will be held via Google Meet, and students will use their HCPSS credentials to sign in. Google Meet session codes will be emailed to all registrants prior to each session.
All sessions will take place on Wednesdays at 3 p.m.:
- December 2: Student Voice in the Time of Climate Change with HCPSS students Shay Kieley, Aria Ma, Mansi Patel, Lindsay Sands, and Oliver Song, who will share their stories of environmental activism and opportunities for student involvement.
- December 9: Intersectional Environmentalism with TiQuoria Jackson, Howard County NAACP, and Janssen Evelyn, Howard County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer. This presentation will look at environmental and climate justice from an intersectional lens in order to identify and understand the multiple layers of injustice in our environmental laws and policies.
- December 16: Local Composting Made Easy with Gina Bonomo, Recycling Outreach and Education Coordinator, Howard County’s Bureau of Environmental Services; Janine Grossman, Master Composter; and Ann Hackling, Howard County Library Enchanted Garden Coordinator and Research Specialist. Learn tips and tricks from local composting experts, who will share resources and ideas on how to compost food waste and yard waste in your neighborhood.
- January 6: Climate Solutions: Project Drawdown with Dr. Elizabeth Bagley. Explore the solution framework of sources, sinks and society, and dive deep into climate change solutions with Project Drawdown.
- January 13: Insect Disturbance and Climate Change with Aaron Shurtliff, Entomologist with the Maryland Department of Agriculture, who will discuss the Red Imported Fire Ant and the Lantern fly and their connection to climate change.
- January 20: Ocean Acidification and its connection to the Chesapeake Bay with Dr. Emily Rivest, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Dr. Rivest will describe ocean acidification and its impacts on the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, and will discuss actions we can take now to slow this process.
Additional resources for students wishing to explore the topic further will be posted online following each session.