U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, Tom Skilling to discuss climate change

A suburban college that considers its Naperville campus a testing ground for renewable energy technology is hosting a forum on climate change at its new Science Center.

North Central College is hosting the free public event from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6, in Ratio Hall on the second story of its $60 million Science Center, which opened March 27 at 131 S. Loomis St.

The forum will feature U.S. Rep. Bill Foster and WGN Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling along with an environmentalist, a research meteorologist and a physics professor.

The policy implications of climate change can be debated, but North Central President Troy Hammond, a physicist before he was an administrator, says the issue is clearly one of the most pressing of this era.

Forum speaker Paul Bloom, an associate professor of physics at North Central, agrees.

"From my perspective, this is the scientific topic of our time," Bloom said. "So I think it's very timely, as part of the new Science Center that we've just opened on campus, to host a community conversation about this topic."

Foster's office organized the forum to discuss the local and global effects of climate change, which the Naperville Democrat says the "vast majority of scientists" believe is "real and man-made."

"The climate is changing - and is doing so very rapidly," Bloom said. "When you have so many uncorrelated, so many independent measures that are all telling you the same thing, then you really know that something is going on. And that's how science works."

Speakers including Mary Gade, president of Gade Environmental Group, an environmental consulting firm in Chicago, and Doug Sisterson, research meteorologist at Argonne National Laboratory, will approach the topic from a variety of perspectives.

"It's really an impressive array of expertise that's going to be available," Bloom said.

Doors open at 9 a.m. and the discussion begins at 9:30. Before and after the speakers, environmental organizations will have booths outside the hall to share additional information.

As host, Foster plans to focus the forum on what can be done to reverse the damaging effects of a warming planet.

North Central already has employed several measures to lessen the college's negative effects on the environment, Hammond says. The college has a large-scale solar panel system atop its Residence Hall/Recreation Center, a solar thermal system on a dorm, and a geothermal heating and cooling system in another major building, as well as high-efficiency LED lighting throughout campus and sustainable features in the new Science Center.

"North Central College is a real cutting-edge leader in terms of its implementation of renewable energy technology on our campus," Hammond said. "We're really excited about the statement the college is making in terms of existing in STEM education and our future in the sciences."

The college also is adding a new major in environmental studies in the fall, making now an even better time to host a wide-ranging, academic conversation about the environment.

"I hope it'll be a lively discussion," Bloom said.

If you go

What: Climate Change Forum

When: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6

Where: Ratio Hall on the second story of the North Central College Science Center, 131 S. Loomis St., Naperville

Details: Speakers include U.S. Rep. Bill Foster; WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling; Mary Gade, president of Gade Environmental Group; Dave Sisterson, research meteorologist at Argonne National Laboratory; and Paul Bloom, associate professor of physics at North Central College

Cost: Free, but tickets required

Info: Tickets available 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday at North Central College Box Office, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville; by calling (630) 637-7469; or online at <a href="http://northcentral.vbotickets.com/event/Climate_Change_Forum/19741">northcentral.vbotickets.com/event/Climate_Change_Forum/19741</a>