Registration Open for 2007 Bioneers Conference at USU

“Healthy Children, Healthy Planet” is the theme for the fourth annual Utah Bioneers Conference Oct. 19-21 at Utah State University.

Registration is under way for the gathering, which features live satellite broadcasts of national conference sessions along with a variety of on-site workshops, panel discussions and exhibits. 

 

“Bioneers provides a forum for bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to find solutions to a variety of sustainability issues,” said Jim Goodwin, a conference organizer and senior program officer for USU Extension’s Western Rural Development Center. “We encourage everyone to join us for stimulating discussion and fellowship. Many think the Bioneers Conference is the best conference on sustainability and the environment in the country.”

 

Keynote speaker for the Logan conference is Cheryl Charles, nationally known educator, author and organizational executive. Charles speaks Friday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Logan Tabernacle. Her talk, The Ecology of Hope: Building a Movement to Reconnect Children and Nature, is free and open to all. She also presents a children and nature workshop earlier in the day at the conference.

 

Since 1978, Charles has been owner and managing partner of Hawksong Associates, a consulting firm specializing in the development of interdisciplinary educational programs.

 

For nearly 20 years, Charles served as national director of Project Learning Tree and Project WILD, two of the most widely used K-12 environmental education programs in North America.

 

The conference’s 15 local workshop topics include Cache Valley air quality, “No Child Left Inside,” sustainable energy solutions for Utah, biofuels research at USU, Utah’s ecological footprint, Cache Valley mass transit and more. Meals served at the conference will be prepared with locally grown foods.

 

Walk-up registration for the conference is available, but advance registration is recommended. Several registration packages are offered, including three-day, two-day and one-day registration, with or without meals. Conference cost ranges from $50-90 for regular admission and $45-75 for seniors.

 

Student registration, including lunches, is $35 for the three-day conference.

 

Students and educators can receive class and CED credit for conference participation. See the Utah Bioneers Web site for details.

 

Goodwin said a past participant told organizers she can’t remember any event that moved and informed her as much as the Utah Bioneers Conference.

 

“I felt that way, too, after attending my first Bioneers Conference in California,” he said. “There’s nothing like it.”

 

For further information and registration, visit extension.usu.edu/bioneers or contact Brittney Hunt at 435-797-7462, brittney.hunt@usu.edu.

 

 

 

Contact: Jim Goodwin [jgoodwin@ext.usu.edu], 435-757-2352
Writer: Mary-Ann Muffoletto [maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu], 435-797-1429