Brushwood Center to honor environmentalists at symposium
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods will honor global environmentalists Sue Halpern and Bill McKibben at the 37th annual Smith Nature Symposium, a seven-part series of livestreamed conversations with the Chicago region's top environmental scientists, doctors, artists and leaders of all ages.
The symposium will illuminate solutions for a more just and sustainable future in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing climate crisis. The series begins n Aug. 13, and will culminate in the Smith Nature Symposium Awards Ceremony Friday, Oct. 2, with Bill Kurtis and Donna La Pietra serving as masters of ceremonies.
The Smith Nature Symposium is a celebration of nature, the arts, and individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the science of conservation and deepened the study and understanding of the natural world.
This year, Brushwood Center will recognize Sue Halpern and Bill McKibben, a couple that has influenced millions of young people through their writing and activism on behalf of nature, democracy, and the climate.
"Sue Halpern and Bill McKibben are truly heroes of our time," said Gail Sturm, chair of the Brushwood Center board of directors. "Brushwood Center is thrilled to honor their accomplishments and engage in this critical moment of action to move our society toward more just and sustainable solutions."
Sue Halpern is a contributing writer at The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone, covering science, technology and social issues.
She is the author of seven books, including "Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly," which was made into an Emmy-nominated film.
She is a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College, where she serves as director of the Narrative Journalism Program. Halpern was a columnist for Mother Jones, Ms., and Smithsonian Magazine.
She has been the recipient of Guggenheim and Echoing Green Fellowships, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and a doctorate in political theory from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
Bill McKibben is the founder of 350.org, a planet-wide, grass-roots climate change movement, which has organized 20,000 rallies around the world in every country except North Korea. He is the recipient of the Right Livelihood Prize, Gandhi Prize, Thomas Merton Prize, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, with honorary degrees from 18 colleges and universities.
McKibben's 1989 book "The End of Nature" has been described as the first book about climate change for a general audience and has appeared in 24 languages; he's gone on to write a dozen more books.
Foreign Policy named him to its inaugural list of the world's 100 most important global thinkers, and The Boston Globe said he was "probably America's most important environmentalist."
Brushwood Center looks forward to virtually hosting the Smith Nature Symposium for the first time. This is a new chapter for the symposium, which memorializes the civic legacy of Hermon Dunlap and Ellen Thorne Smith, who donated their land and cabin to help form Ryerson Woods.
The Distinguished Environmental Leadership Award was first presented in 1984 to Roger Tory Peterson, the esteemed American naturalist, ornithologist, artist, and educator.
In 2019, Amory Lovins and Judy Hill Lovins were recognized for their commitment to a low-carbon energy future and for using their art to inspire people to be environmental stewards. In 2018, the award was presented to Robert Redford and Sibylle Szaggars Redford for their lifelong devotion to land preservation and climate change.
All funds raised from the symposium will directly support Thrive Together, Brushwood Center's COVID-19 crisis response for a more just and sustainable future. All presentations will be available in English and Spanish.
To learn more about the series, register to attend, or become a sponsor, visit www.smithnaturesymposium.org.