Utah Bioneers

How can I practice a simpler lifestyle in a complicated world? Is our food supply secure? I always intend to recycle, but how can I make it a habit? What can I do, as one person, to ensure a better world for my grandchildren?

 

These questions and more will be explored at the annual Utah Bioneers Conference at Utah State University Eccles Conference Center Oct. 14-16. Registration is now in progress 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 or 'biological pioneers' are a diverse group of people focused on finding solutions to a variety of sustainability issues," said Leona Hawks, professor in USU's Department of Environment and Society, Extension environment and housing specialist and local conference organizer. "The conference addresses powerful issues that will broaden your thinking and education on a variety of environmental and sustainability topics."

 

Keynote speakers for the Utah gathering are sustainable agriculture and food security expert John Ikerd and political activist and author Chip Ward.

 

Ikerd, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri-Columbia, was described by the late John F. Kennedy, Jr. as an advocate of "a new capitalistic economy: one that is environmentally sound, socially just and economically sustainable."

 

Ikerd presents the lecture "Your Food Systems, Are They Secure?" Friday, Oct. 14, at 6:30 p.m. in the Eccles Conference Center auditorium on campus. His talk is free and open to the public.

 

Ward is co-founder of Families Against Incinerator Risk and HEAL Utah. He authored Canaries on the Rim: Living Downwind in the West and Hope's Horizon: Three Visions for Healing the American Land.

 

Ward presents “Hope's Horizon: Making Habitats Whole” for conference participants on Saturday, Oct. 15.

 

At the conference, local experts offer workshops on renewable energy and alternative transportation, land planning for quality of life, living wages in a sustainable economy, air quality, practicing voluntary simplicity, environmentally and socially friendly business practices, energy efficient design and more.

 

Several conference registration packages are offered, including three-day, two-day and one-day registration, with or without meals, ranging from $40 to $75.

 

The conference's Friday evening keynote lecture and alternative transportation display outside the Eccles Conference Center are free and open to the public. The gathering's Celebration of the Earth at Sunrise on Sunday, Oct. 16, at 8:30 a.m. at the outdoor amphitheater on the southwest corner of Old Main Hill, is also free and open to all.

 

Student registration for the three-day conference is $20 and includes continental breakfast each day, Friday night's reception and breaks. Student registration does not include meals. A limited number of student scholarships, provided by USU's colleges of Natural Resources, Business, Education and Human Services and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, are available. Scholarship applications are available in sponsoring deans' offices. Professional and university credit is also available.