Date: 3/25/10
Contact: Eric Jome
Actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. will be the keynote speaker for Illinois State University's Science and Technology Week, April 12-15. Other events during the week will focus on occupational safety, world agriculture, and jobs and energy security.
Science and Technology Week events run April 12-15 and are sponsored by the College of Applied Science and Technology. All listed events are free and open to the public. For more information visit www.cast.illinoisstate.edu/events/2010ScienceandTechnologyWeek.shtml
Ed Begley Jr. will hold an informal question and answer session on Wednesday, April 14, at 3 p.m. on the main floor of Milner Library. He will deliver his keynote presentation, "Live Simply So That Others Can Simply Live," at 7 p.m. that evening in the Bone Student Center Braden Auditorium. The keynote presentation is co-sponsored by Illinois State's Milner Library and Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology (CeMaST).
Considered an environmental leader in Hollywood, Begley serves on the boards of the Thoreau Institute, the Earth Communications Office, Tree People, and Friends of the Earth. He is the costar of the hit Planet Green series Living with Ed, a look at the day-to-day realities of living green with his not so environmentalist wife, Rachelle Carson. His work in the environmental community has earned him numerous awards from such groups as the California League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Coalition for Clean Air, Heal the Bay and the Santa Monica Baykeeper. He has appeared in such films and television series as Arrested Development, Veronica Mars, CSI: Miami, Pineapple Express, and Whatever Works.
"Prevention through Design National Initiative; Integrating Occupational Health and Safety into Sustainability" will be the topic of a presentation by occupational safety specialist Donna Heidel on Monday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m.in the Bone Student Center Old Main Room.
Heidel coordinates the Prevention through Design (PtD) program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC/NIOSH. She oversees research and practices that will reduce injuries and illnesses among workers by eliminating hazards and minimizing risk during the design process. Her presentation is co- sponsored by the Department of Health Sciences and the student sections of American Industrial Hygiene Association, American Society of Safety Engineers, and Student Environmental Health Association.
Agriculture development and policy specialist Robert L. Thompson will speak on "State of World Agriculture 2050" on Tuesday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the Bone Student Center Circus Room. His presentation is co-sponsored by the Illinois Soybean Association.
Thompson is the Gardner Endowed Chair in Agricultural Policy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he teaches courses in agricultural policy and international agricultural development. In addition to his on-campus teaching and extension public policy education responsibilities, he serves on the United States Department of Agriculture and Office of the United States Trade Representative (USDA-USTR) Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade and the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council.
Illinois State Representative Jay Hoffman (Collinsville) will speak on "Hope from the Heartland: Jobs, Clean Air, Energy Security" on Thursday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the Bone Student Center Old Main Room.
Hoffman, an Illinois State alumnus, has served as an Illinois State Representative since 1991. During his time in office, he has been a leader on transportation issues and has advanced legislation on education, job creation, child welfare, and healthcare. He is the author of Hope from the Heartland: Jobs, Clean Air Energy Security (2009), in which he examines how the Midwest has the resources necessary to spark a green revolution and lead the nation in job creation, clean air, and energy security.
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