Environmental Awareness
Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
727-562-7381
[email protected]
Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Fla., landscapes with native plants. Click for high-resolution image.
Stetson University students and faculty take environmental responsibility seriously, and it shows. From engaging in environmental education to dining green and encouraging smart commuting, Stetson students and faculty have declared their commitment to helping out the planet.
Two Florida universities, Stetson University and the University of Florida, are featured in the current issue of Southern Living’s photo spread on “Saving the Planet.” The spread highlights Stetson University’s Vera Lea Rinker Native Plant Garden in DeLand, its student-staffed native plant education program in Volusia County K-5 schools, and students working to protect native species in Blue Spring.
On March 26-27, the law school’s Gulfport campus will host the two-day 11th International Wildlife Law Conference, bringing together a distinguished panel of international scholars and experts to discuss topical environmental issues such as biofuel production and biodiversity, sustainable ecotourism, regional fisheries and the fragile Antarctic ecosystem. Speakers from eight countries include Wil Burns, editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy; Johannes Huber, executive secretary of the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Julia Jabour of the University of Tasmania’s Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies; and Andi Pearl, manager of the Antarctic Krill Conservation Project for The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C.
“At its best, environmental education is an impetus to both discuss and act wisely to make responsible and sustainable choices for ourselves and for the environment in which we live,” said Professor Royal Gardner, the director of Stetson’s Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy who recently co-authored a chapter with 2007 Stetson Law graduate Ezequiel Lugo in Agenda for a Sustainable America.
The Wildlife Law Conference is being held in conjunction with the International Finals of the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition. Students from ten different countries, including Brazil, China, India, Nepal and Ukraine, will travel to Stetson to participate in this advocacy event and attend the conference.
Gardner also advises Stetson Law’s Go Green Committee, which recently brought waste and recycling experts from the City of Clearwater to the Gulfport campus to encourage students, staff and faculty to recycle at home as well as at school.
Post date: March 23, 2009
Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
[email protected] | 727-430-1580