Through a generous gift from the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation, Kent State University at Stark established the Herbert W. Hoover Initiative in Environmental Media in 2008. The Initiative, a collaboration between Kent State Stark and the University of Miami (Florida), utilizes emerging technology, films, speakers and projects to address world-changing issues, educating and inspiring others to protect and nurture the environment in which we live, work and learn.
 
The Initiative’s Speakers Series brings national and international experts to Kent State Stark to share their knowledge and insight on how each of us can positively impact our world.

Upcoming Speakers

Chris Palmer

Wednesday, April 3, 2013
7:30 p.m.
The University Center
Kent State University at Stark
Doors open at 6:45 p.m.

Tickets available Monday, March 11.



How to Film Bears and Sharks without Getting Eaten:
Making Environmental Films that Make a Difference

In 1983, Chris Palmer launched his film production career when he started National Audubon Society Productions. In 1994, he created National Wildlife Productions, which he led as president and CEO for 10 years. Palmer is currently president of the One World One Ocean Foundation, a multimillion-dollar global media campaign to save the oceans. He is also president of the MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation, which produces and funds IMAX films. In 2004, he joined American University’s faculty as a distinguished film producer in residence. There he founded, and currently directs, the Center for Environmental Filmmaking.

He has swum with dolphins and whales, come face-to-face with sharks and Kodiak bears, camped with wolf packs and waded through Everglade swamps. His 2010 book, Shooting in the Wild: An Insider’s Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom, reveals the dark side of wildlife filmmaking.

Palmer has won two Emmys and received an Oscar nomination. He has been honored with the Environmental Media Association’s Frank G. Wells Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Media and the award for Environmental Film Educator of the Decade at the Green Globe Awards.

Tickets
This event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available at the Main Hall Information Desk beginning Monday, March 11 at 8 a.m. There is a limit of four (4) tickets per person. No phone or email reservations will be accepted.

Past Speakers

Edith Widder

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Edith Widder, Ph.D., co-founder of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association (ORCA), and team members from her organization addressed Stark County college students and faculty as they embarked on a water sampling project funded by the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation. The project, Making the Invisible Visible: Water Quality in Stark County, utilized ORCA’s ground-breaking Fast Assessment of Sediment Toxicity procedure to analyze the county’s water, complementing EPA monitoring.

Led by Widder, ORCA is dedicated to protecting aquatic ecosystems and the species they sustain through the development of innovative technologies and science-based conservation action.

Sandra Steingraber

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Ecologist, cancer survivor, author and speaker, Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert on the links between cancer and the environment, reforming chemical policy and contamination without consent. 

Steingraber’s highly acclaimed book, Living Downstream: An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment presents cancer as a human rights issue. Originally published in 1997, it was the first to bring together data on toxic releases with data from U.S. cancer registries and won praise from international media including The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, The Lancet and The London Times.

Adding to many other awards, Steingraber recently received the The Heinz Award, administered by the Heinz Family Foundation, recognizing outstanding individuals for their contributions in the areas of: Arts and Humanities, Environment, Human Condition, Public Policy, Technology, the Economy and Employment.

 

Coordinators:

Mitch McKenney, M.B.A.
Assistant Professor
Journalism & Mass Communication
Kent State University at Stark
330-244-3364
mmckenne@kent.edu

Robert Hamilton IV, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Biological Sciences
Kent State University at Stark
330-244-3443
rhamilt6@kent.edu