Celebrate Sustainability Month at UB

A panel discussion featuring a longtime Patagonia executive, lots of community engagement and volunteer events, student competitions and a talk about climate change denial in the age of President Trump are among the many ways UB is celebrating Sustainability Month in April.

Later this week, several UB student teams will head to Detroit to pitch their ideas as part of the ErieHack semifinals. ErieHack is a tech-driven competition that seeks to solve some of Lake Erie’s biggest challenges. You can read about the Buffalo regional quarterfinal winners here.

UB’s celebration of Earth Week kicks off on April 17 in the Student Union, where daily events promoting sustainability will take place through April 21.

Other event highlights include:

WNY Sustainable Business Expo and Keynote: The Triple Bottom Line – 3-7:30 p.m., April 18 in the former American Axle building, 1001 E. Delavan Ave., Buffalo.

This event, hosted by the WNY Sustainable Business Roundtable, will feature local exhibitors, as well as a panel of speakers who will describe how their companies transformed and prospered using “Triple Bottom Line” practices.

Panelists include Vincent Stanley, who has been involved with the Patagonia clothing company on and off since 1973; John Fullerton from the Capital Institute; and Fred Keller of Cascade Engineering.

Register for this event and learn more online.

NYS Pollution Prevention Institute Student Summit – 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., April 21, Student Union lobby.

Each year, NYSP2I hosts an R&D competition that provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate student teams from colleges and universities across New York State to get involved by researching, developing and designing solutions to real-world environmental challenges.

Student teams selected to participate in the competition present their projects to environmental experts, gain insight from established professionals and receive recognition by potential future employers.

Learn more here.

UB RENEW Distinguished Lecture Series – 8:30-11:30 a.m., April 28, 101 Davis Hall, North Campus.

The talk, titled “The Madhouse Effect: Climate Change Denial in the Age of Trump,” will be delivered by Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State. Mann will offer a somewhat lighthearted take on a very serious issue — the threat of human-caused climate change and what to do about it — based on his collaboration with Washington Post editorial cartoonist and UB alumnus Tom Toles.

Register for this free event.

Plenty of other events are scheduled throughout the month. To check out the full list, visit UB Sustainability’s website.