More than 600 journalists, scientists, educators, government officials, business leaders and environmental advocates participated in the Society of Environmental Journalists’ 14th annual conference Oct. 20-24 at Carnegie Mellon. The conference, designed to improve and increase news coverage of environmental issues, featured discussions by key policy decision makers, Hollywood celebrities and world-class environmental researchers.
The five-day conference kicked off with a celebrity panel headed by Carnegie Mellon alumnus Ted Danson (A’72), an Emmy-winning television and film actor best known for his popular leading roles on “Cheers” and “Becker.”
Other keynote speakers and guests included Carnegie Mellon University President Jared L. Cohon; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeepers and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance; and Gov. Michael Leavitt, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“Don’t believe that you can’t have both a stronger environment and a stronger economy,” Danson said as a featured speaker on the SEJ panel “Entertainers, the Media and the Environment.”
“Decreasing the allowable levels of mercury now present in Pennsylvania’s waterways will preserve the state’s multimillion-dollar fishing industry while saving hundreds of thousands of young women—and their future children—from the risks of mercury poisoning. It’s not about hugging trees. It’s about protecting women and children,” Danson said.
The conference was designed to tap the expertise of researchers from all over North America, including Carnegie Mellon researchers and environmental experts such as Granger Morgan, head of a newly formed $6.9 million center designed to study the uncertainties inherent in climate change, and Chris Hendrickson and Lester Lave, co-directors of the university’s Green Design Initiative.
Related Links:
Green Design Initiative
Climate Decision Making Center
The Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research
Society of Environmental Journalists
