Lectures to Focus on Freshwater Scarcity and Extinction of Species

Yearlong Series on Environment Continues at Holy Cross

Steven Solomon, author of Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization (HarperCollins, 2010), and Kierán Suckling ‘88, founder and executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, will speak at the College of the Holy Cross in February as part of the yearlong series, In Our Lifetimes: Environmental Change and Stewardship.

The series, sponsored by the College’s Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, presents environmental remediation and stewardship as challenges for the present, not future generations.

“The degradation of our planet will affect our students in meaningful ways during their lifetimes,” said Thomas M. Landy, director of the Center. “We want our students to think about how the choices we make today will play out even in the next 30-40 years.”

Journalist Steven Solomon will give a lecture titled “When the Well Runs Dry: Finding Solutions for the Freshwater Crisis” on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 4:30 p.m. Solomon, who has written for The New York Times, BusinessWeek, The Economist, Forbes, and Esquire and has appeared on many news radio and TV shows, asserts that freshwater scarcity is one of the 21st century's decisive, looming challenges and is driving new political, economic and environmental realities across the globe.

On Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 4:30 p.m., two members of the Presidential Task Force on the Environment at Holy Cross, John Cannon, associate director of physical plant, and Katherine Kiel, associate professor of economics, will talk about the efforts of the College and the actions of students that have the greatest positive and negative impacts on sustainability on campus. The Presidential Task Force drafted the College’s carbon neutral plan and is charged with promoting practices on campus that benefit the environment.

Kierán Suckling, a 1988 graduate of Holy Cross, returns to campus Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. to give a lecture titled “The Biodiversity Crisis: Why Driving Species Extinct Makes Us Less Human.” Executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, Suckling created and maintains the country's most comprehensive endangered species database. He acts as liaison between the Center and other environmental groups, negotiates with government agencies, and writes and lectures; he has authored scientific articles and critical essays on biodiversity issues.

All lectures will take place in Rehm Library, Smith Hall at the College of the Holy Cross. To learn more about the series, and to listen to past lectures online, visit www.holycross.edu/crec.

About The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture: Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College's commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope.  The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.