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Virtual events for Earth Month, Week and 50th Earth Day

Virtual Earth Month is underway, and Earth Week is coming up (April 20-24) and the 50th Anniversary of #EarthDay is next Wednesday, April 22, 2020!

This post will continue to be updated with virtual events by different organizations on and off campus that many of us can participate in during quarantine.

Climate Change: Meeting the Challenge in Virginia from GMU-TV on Vimeo.

Smithsonian

Don't miss the 6pm live kickoff of the Smithsonian's @EarthOptimism Digital Summit 2020 (April 22-26) with an all-night film marathon! A full slate of distinguished and exciting featured speakers includes our own Dr. Thomas Lovejoy. Live stream kicks off at 6pm Eastern on April 22, 2020 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our planet's day of recognition.

Website: https://earthoptimism.si.edu/

Full summit schedule: https://earthoptimism.si.edu/calendar/2020-dc-summit/

Watch Live: https://earthoptimism.si.edu/2020-summit/

Film Night schedule: https://earthoptimism.si.edu/calendar/2020-dc-summit/events/earth-optimism-film-night/

NCSE

Message From: Michelle Wyman,Executive Director, National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE)

I hope you, your families, and your communities are persevering through these challenging times.

I hope you will join NCSE and Earth Day Network in a virtual celebration of Earth Day next week. We will certainly be together in spirit and I look forward to our next opportunity to connect in person.

Earth Day is next Wednesday and presents a historic moment for us to reflect back on fifty years of environmental action. NCSE has partnered with Earth Day Network and MobilizeU and we want to share several opportunities to celebrate the first ever digital Earth Day:

  1. Participate in Online Events and Webinars.
    1. Explore the Digital Earth Day map for topics you are interested in. This is also where you can register any events you are hosting.
    2. Head to earthday.org during the 24 hours of Earth Day (EST time) for hourly rotating challenges you can do at home.
    3. Log in to Happiness & Sustainability Around the World, a live 24-hour webinar sponsored by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. At 2 p.m. EST the MobilizeU team will be featured to discuss the role of higher education in Earth Day and the climate crises, from 1970 to present.
    4. Catch continuous livestream content on Earth Day Live.
  2. Add your voice to The Campus Climate Project. Now that the environmental movement has been growing for 50+ years, let’s take a moment to reflect on our progress, particularly on the role of universities in the climate change fight. Today's students must be prepared to take on a slew of complex problems such as climate change, no matter their discipline. To help us collect data on how campuses are preparing students to address global environmental challenges, add your voice to the map now.
  3. Make Climate a Class. No matter the academic discipline, there are intersections between the environment and curriculum. We encourage professors to discuss these connections with your class. Even a brief conversation is valuable in illuminating this perspective in your students.

I also encourage you to join the NCSE Knowledge Network for One World (KNOW) Community, a space for knowledge sharing and connectivity across the NCSE community of scientists, decision-makers, and experts. We have a KNOW Community Slack workspace where you share resources and experiences -- it is intuitive and to use, though please let us know if you need help or have questions getting started.

Office of Sustainability

Mason's Office of Sustainability (OoS) has reached out to us with two opportunities, one for our students and and one for our faculty. Please see below:

  • Students interested in sustainability are invited to take over our Instagram throughout Earth Week (April 20-24). We invite students to post on our Instagram stories about their work and tips related to sustainability. Interested students should fill out this survey and we will reach out to them if they're selected to take over the account: go.gmu.edu/OoS_TakeOver. They must fill out the application by Thursday April 16th.
  • We're also accepting nominations for the May Sustainable Student Spotlight. Each month we want to recognize a student for their work in the field of sustainability (can be any type of work on or off campus, including volunteering, research, organization engagement, activism, etc.). We need faculty members to nominate students using this survey by April 27th. We will then randomly select a student to highlight and reach out to them for more information.

Questions may be directed to Emma Gregory, the Education and Outreach intern for the Office of Sustainability at egregor3@gmu.edu.