Eighth Annual Rice Environmental Conference

This upcoming academic year the Rice Environmental Club will host the Eighth Annual Rice Environmental Conference. The goal of the conference is to encourage open-minded debate about environmental issues concerning our community, our nation, and our world. The topic of the Eighth Annual Conference is transportation and its relationship to the environment. The conference will be held February 12, 2000, in the Ley Student Center (RMC) Grand Hall, and will include a full day of speakers, panels, and other presentations. Three panels will cover Houston Urban Planning, the Future of Transportation, and Air Quality.

The conference is free and open to the general public. It is intended for concerned citizens, students, public officials, business leaders, researchers, and anyone interested in the environment. Walk ins are VERY WELCOME! However, please pre-order for lunch through the registration form. A catered lunch will be provided for $5.

Schedule for Thursday, February 10th
12:00 - 4:00 pm The Career Fair and Expo in Farnsworth Pavillion. Representatives from environmental organizations, recruiters from industry, and community organizations will be in attendance. For more Career Fair information or if your company is interested in recruiting, email Rachel Krause.

Schedule for Friday, February 11th
4:00 - 6:00 pm TG!!! Held in conjunction with RSVP in the Ray Courtyard. Free food, beer, and live entertainment. Everyone is welcome!

Final schedule for Saturday Feb 12th (the main conference date)

8:45 - 9:15 am
9:15 - 9:30 am

9:30 - 11:00 am

11:00 - 11:30 am

11:30 - 12:00 pm
12:00 - 1:00 pm
1:00 - 1:30 pm
1:30 - 3:00 pm

3:00 - 3:30 pm

3:30 - 5:00 pm

5:00 - 5:15 pm

Registration
Opening Remarks
Alesha Herrera, Conference Co-Director
Urban Planning / Smart Growth Panel
David Crossley, President, Gulf Coast Institute
Glenn Gadbois, Director, Just Transportation Alliances Project
Roger Hord, President, West Houston Association
John Kain, Director, Cecil & Ida Green Center for the Study of
Science and Technology
Patti Knudson-Joiner, President, Knudson & Associates
John Sedlak, VP of Planning and Development, METRO
Keynote Speaker
Bob Lanier, former Mayor of Houston
Greene Prize for student environmental papers
Lunch catered by Whole Foods - $5 fee
Cars of the Future Display (cars will be on display all day in the parking lot)
Air Quality Panel
Pamela Berger, Director, Mayor's Environmental Policy Office
Larry Nettles, Partner, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.
Winifred Hamilton, Research Associate, Baylor College of Medicine
Rebecca Rentz, Policy Director of Environmental and Health Issues,
Office of Harris County Judge Robert Eckels
Keynote Speaker
John Johnson, Texas Transportation Commission
Future Transportation Technologies Panel
David Hitchcock, Associate Director, HARC Center for Global Studies
Gary Trietsch, District Engineer, Texas Department of Transportation
Sam Wernli, Public Relations, MDEChem, Inc.
Anita Burke, Sustainable Development Coordinator, Shell Oil Company
Closing Remarks
Hilary Schaffer, Conference Co-Director

Online Registration for the Conference
Directions to the Conference The Conference will be held in the Ley Student Center in the middle of the Rice campus.

For more information contact the Conference Directors

Alesha Herrera
alesha@rice.edu

Hilary Schaffer
hilschaf@rice.edu

About the Conference

For the past eight years, concerned Rice students have planned, organized, and run the Rice Environmental Conference. The goal of the Conference is to inform Houston citizens and Rice students about specific environmental issues and to raise awareness of the importance of protecting our environment. However, the Conference is more than an informative tool. It is a vehicle for generating excitement about the possibility of a sustainable planet, for bringing Rice students and the environmental community together, and for spreading the idea that every individual can really make a difference.

Since its inception by David Greene in 1992, the conference has remained entirely organized by Rice students. It features presentations by Rice students, community activists, researchers, and environmental professionals. It is heavily supported by Rice professors, programs and departments. We are very grateful for all of the support the Conference receives each year to make it bigger and better than the last.

The Conference has evolved each year and shows the influence of its many inspired participants. This started as a project to engage students in their own education, and environmental issues gave us a broad theme on which to base the conference. Environmental issues are not fading away but instead are demonstrating broader implications we are literally surrounded by them.
~ David Greene, Conference Founder

Conference History

About the Greene Prize

The purpose of the Greene Prize for Environmental Student Papers is to encourage original environmental work by undergraduate students at Rice. The contest is graciously endowed by the family of David Greene, who created the conference. Winning papers are presented at the Conference. You can read the contest announcement here. Conference sponsors include Rice's President's Programming Fund, EESi, and the Wray Trust.

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Last updated Jan 23, 2000.