TIC: A Fifty-Year History of Earth Day

A Fifty-Year History of Earth Day
Monday, January 25th
9:30 am - 11:00 am
William J. Mitsch

On the first Earth Day, in 1970, Bill Mitsch was working for energy giant Commonwealth Edison in Chicago but was inspired to join Edison's Environmental Affairs department and then pursue graduate studies at the University of Florida specializing in environmental engineering sciences and later systems ecology under renowned ecologist H. T. Odum.

Known as the "Father of Wetlands" for his textbook "Wetlands" and body of research, Bill is now Eminent Scholar and Juliet C. Sproul Chair at FGCU, while directing FGCU's Everglades Wetland Research Park in Naples. In his talk on environmental progress through the past 50 years, Mitsch will suggest that while there has been progress over the past 50 years, too many problems remain, such as Florida's use of in south Lake Okeechobee and excessive fertilizers in our agricultural landscapes that cause harmful algal blooms. Mitsch also will detail his promising "wetlaculture" (wetlands + agriculture) landscape renewal program.
Photo by B.B. Jiang

Complimentary (reservations required)