Center for Sustainability seminar series continues with David Orr

October 3, 2018

Georgia Southern’s Center for Sustainability (CfS) will kick off its 2018-2019 Seminar Series with renowned environmental leader, David W. Orr, Ph.D, with a lecture titled The Climate of Democracy. An Emeritus Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, Orr served as Counselor to the President of Oberlin College for 10 years.

Orr’s seminar will highlight the intersection of climate change and democracy, building on his recent book, Dangerous Years: Climate Change and the Long Emergency (Yale, 2016). The event will be held on the Statesboro Campus in the Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24. The lecture will be simulcast to the Ogeechee Theatre on the Armstrong Campus.

Orr has authored more than 220 articles, reviews, book chapters and professional publications. He is also the author of eight books including, Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse (Oxford, 2009) and The Nature of Design: Ecology, Culture, and Human Intention (Oxford 2004), and is the co-editor of three others.

In the past 25 years he has served as a board member or advisor to 10 foundations and on the boards of many organizations including the Rocky Mountain Institute, Bioneers and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. He is currently a Trustee of the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, Children and Nature Network and the WorldWatch Institute.

He has been awarded nine honorary degrees and a dozen other awards including a Lyndhurst Prize, a National Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation and leadership awards from the U.S. Department of Energy. Orr’s design work for the Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center on Oberlin College’s campus also garnered a spot on the Building Design and Construction list for “52 game-changing buildings of the past 170 years.”

He is the founder of the Oberlin Project and a founder of the journal Solutions. His current work is on the state of American democracy. To learn more, visit www.stateofamericandemocracy.org.

Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research institution founded in 1906, offers 141 degree programs serving more than 27,000 students through nine colleges on three campuses in Statesboro, Savannah, Hinesville and online instruction. A leader in higher education in southeast Georgia, the University provides a diverse student population with expert faculty, world-class scholarship and hands-on learning opportunities. Georgia Southern creates lifelong learners who serve as responsible scholars, leaders and stewards in their communities. Visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu.