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City Of Ann Arbor 2016 Sustainable Ann Arbor Forum: Resource Management

Join the conversation about sustainability in Ann Arbor as the City and the Ann Arbor District Library host their annual Sustainable Ann Arbor series. The series will include four events (held monthly through April) with each focusing on a different element of sustainability from Ann Arbor’s Sustainability Framework. The second event in this series centers on Resource Management, including discussions about improving Ann Arbor’s waste diversion rate and community-wide efforts to reduce different waste streams. A think tank of local stakeholders including representatives from community organizations, staff from both the City of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County will join the public to discuss local sustainability efforts and challenges in our community. Each program will include a series of short presentations followed by a question and answer session.

The forums offer an opportunity to learn more about sustainability in the community and tips for actions that residents can take to live more sustainably. Speakers for the Resource Management discussion include:

• Roger Bowser, Managing Partner, Zingerman's
• Eileen Spring, President and CEO, Food Gatherers
• Noelle Bowman, Solid Waste Specialist, Washtenaw County
• Tracy Artley, Sustainability Programs Coordinator, U-M Plant Building & Grounds Services
• Matt Naud, Environmental Coordinator, City of Ann Arbor

Details of this series will be posted online on The City of Ann Arbor's Sustainability site. For information and videos from current and past Sustainable Ann Arbor Forums, please visit the City’s Sustainability website.

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City Of Ann Arbor 2016 Sustainable Ann Arbor Forum: Climate and Energy

In this entry of the annual Sustainable Ann Arbor series, hosted by the City and the Ann Arbor District Library, the focus will be on climate and energy. This discussion will include updates on Ann Arbor’s Climate Action Plan, an overview of local climate impacts, and sustainable programs underway at the University of Michigan.

Speakers for the Climate and Energy discussion include:

o Mike Garfield, Executive Director, Ecology Center
o Anya Dale, Sustainability Rep, University of Michigan
o Sean Reed, Executive Director, Clean Energy Coalition
o Wayne Appleyard, Chair, Ann Arbor Energy Commission
o Nathan Geisler, Energy Programs Analyst, City of Ann Arbor

The Sustainable Ann Arbor series will include four events (held monthly through April) with each focusing on a different element of sustainability from Ann Arbor’s Sustainability Framework.

At each event, a think tank of local stakeholders including representatives from community organizations,and staff from both the City of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, will join the public to discuss local sustainability efforts and challenges in our community. Each program will include a series of short presentations followed by a question and answer session.

The forums offer an opportunity to learn more about sustainability in the community and tips for actions that residents can take to live more sustainably. Details of this series will be posted online on The City of Ann Arbor's Sustainability site. For information and videos from current and past Sustainable Ann Arbor Forums, please visit the City’s Sustainability website.

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Nerd Nite #31 - The Great Pleasure (and Long History) of Creating New Kinds of Plants

Basically as soon as agriculture began, humans started messing with plants, controlling their sex lives in order to transform the weeds around them into the grains and vegetables we depend on today. And while the crazy origin stories of things like corn and broccoli are in the distant past, I still use the exact same traditional methods to indulge my inner mad scientist and create new varieties of plants in my garden. The results are fun (and sometimes delicious) and will make you see the produce section of the grocery store in an entirely new way.

About Joseph Tychonievich: A life long gardener and lover of plants, Joseph has been a repeated guest on public radio’s food show The Splendid Table, wrote a book, Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener (Timber Press, 2013), spent two years working at the famed rare plants nursery Arrowhead Alpines and was named by Organic Gardening Magazine as one of “…six young horticulturists who are helping to shape how America gardens.” Joseph lives and gardens with his husband and an adorable black cat in Ypsilanti. You can find him on Twitter at @gsgardens, read his blog posts at gardenprofessors.com or http://www.facebook.com/TheGardenProfessors/

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It's Easy Being Green 2015: Plants, Pollinators, and Why They Matter with Joseph Tychonievich, Greensparrow Gardens

Joseph Tychonievich, author of Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener, explains the interesting ways plants have evolved to attract their preferred pollinators. Along with a tour of nature's most creative (and sometimes disgusting) methods of connecting pollinators and plants, Joseph discusses ways to foster biodiversity in your own garden and shows examples of managing garden pests by letting other insects do the dirty work.

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ICPJ Podcast: Bryan and Layle Weinert

In this episode, Ann Arbor couple Bryan and Layle Weinert talk about their 30-year involvement with the Ann Arbor Crop Walk, from its humble beginnings to a strong community movement that has led to related local efforts such as the Faith in Food program. Inspired by the interfaith nature of the event which draws 400-500 walkers annually and has raised over 2 million dollars, as well as its support of both fundamental justice issues and local efforts, the Weinert's make a compelling moral case for the practicality and power such a community-wide event can have in raising awareness on a personal and national level to fight global social injustice.

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How Faith Communities Can Change the World One Meal at a Time

In this event, part of a year-long Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice program entitled Food & Justice: An Interfaith Exploration of How Our Food Choices Impact Our Environment, Our Economy and Our Neighbors, a panel of interfaith leaders explores how their faith traditions take on issues of food justice and how their communities are making a meaningful impact in all areas of the food system addressing issues like hunger, worker's rights and climate change.

Hosted by Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice and Interfaith Round Table, the panelists include: Reverend Ryan Boes, Ann Arbor Christian Reformed Church; Yusuf Salloum, Islamic Center of Ann Arbor; Julie Ritter, Jewel Heart Ann Arbor; Reverend Kristin Reigel, First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor; and Rabbi Rob Dobrusin, Beth Israel Congregation.

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ICPJ Podcast: Jan Wright

ICPJ member Jan Wright discusses her initial involvement volunteering with the organization to becoming an active member, involved with initiatives regarding climate change, local food, and trade agreements.

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Bee Awareness: Protecting our Pollinators With Dr. Meghan Milbrath Of Sand Hill Apiaries

What is going on with bees? Honey bees have been all over the media lately with talks of colony collapse and the doom of our food system.

Dr. Meghan Milbrath gives a brief history of bees and beekeeping in the United States, and talks about their current role in Agriculture. She will untangle what we know are the root causes for their decline, and discuss ways that you can become involved to help their plight.

Dr. Meghan Milbrath owns and manages Sand Hill Apiaries, a small beekeeping and queen rearing operation in Munith, MI. She began working with bees with her father over 20 years ago, and has been hooked on bees since. She most recently worked as a postdoctoral research associate in the Entomology Department at Michigan State University, studying honey bee disease with renowned bee researcher, Zachary Huang.

This event was cosponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area (LWV-AAA).

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Connecting Food & Faith

A panel of interfaith leaders explore the connection between faith and food at this kickoff event for a year-long Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice program entitled Food & Justice: An Interfaith Exploration of How Our Food Choices Impact Our Environment, Our Economy and Our Neighbors.

There is tremendous interest in food system issues, not only as they affect the earth but also as they relate to racial and economic justice, hunger and other human rights challenges. This event will mark the beginning of a community-wide discussion of related issues.

Panel members include:
Moderator Chuck Warpehoski of the Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice
Reverend Kristin Riegel of the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor
Cathy Muha, Mindful Eating Coaltion leader at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor
Mansoor Qureshi, President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Michigan

Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice envisions a world free from violence, including the violence of war, poverty, oppression, and environmental devastation. To enact this vision, they commit to nurture a community in which compassion and respect foster actions that dismantle systems of violence while simultaneously creating systems of peace, justice, and ecological sustainability.

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Nerd Nite #17: Trees – Heroes or Villains in the Battle Against Air Pollution?

I’ll be looking at the role that certain chemicals produced and released by forests play in air pollution, and asking whether these chemicals alleviate or exacerbate the problems we encounter in such diverse places as LA and Beijing. I’ll be taking you into the nefarious world of plant communication, and letting you in on the secret of what stresses out a plant. We’ll also be considering how widespread these chemicals are and what their fate is once they leave the tree and hit the atmosphere. And of course, trying to decide which side trees are on…

About Kirsti Ashworth:
Kirsti is a Brit, who has only recently made it across the pond and into Michigan. She gained a PhD in Atmospheric Science from Lancaster University in 2012, where she pondered whether the cultivation of biofuels could affect human health and crop production. In between, she worked as a research scientist in deepest, darkest Bavaria – at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany’s premier alpine ski-resort (though sadly she did have to spend some time most days working). While loving the life in Ann Arbor, she does occasionally miss seeing the mountains!