18th Annual Sustainability Symposium

Central Connecticut State University Climate Change Studies Showcase of Courses: Alumni Hall, Central Student Center

Information about the BA and BS degrees in Climate Change Studies will be showcased at exhibition tables located in the rear of Alumni Hall throughout the day. Please stop by at your convenience to gather information about many of the newly created climate change courses that have begun to be offered by many academic disciplines at Central.

Climate Change Overview & Update: Alumni Hall, Central Student Center   
Dr. Charles E. Button, Central Professor, Geography & Sustainability

Dr. Button will provide an overview on the fundamental science of climate change and its current and projected impacts on social, economic, and environmental systems.

Parterre: Alumni Hall, Central Student Center
Bob Chaplin, Artist & Author

Bob Chaplin creates interactive art installations that grow in the landscape. They explore historical concepts of gardens, the introduction of invasive species, and how ecologies are being altered because of climate change.

Central Professors Perform Music: Alumni Hall, Central Student Center  

Drake Andersen, Central Assistant Professor & Musician 
We're used to seeing graphs and charts of scientific data, but have you ever wondered what this data sounds like? Join Dr. Andersen to explore the creative world of data sonification.

Sunny Knable, Central Assistant Professor & Musician
“Sound the Alarm” is a five-minute pre-recorded work representing 50 years of climate change data from 1975 to 2025. The notes and rhythms heard correspond to warming temperatures, carbon emissions, and melting ice caps.  While scientists have been metaphorically sounding the alarm for decades, this composition is the sonification of that data into the literal sound of an alarm.

Rewilding: A Cure: Alumni Hall, Central Student Center  

Claudia Dinep, Founder & Principle, Outside Landscape Architecture
Claudia will talk about suburban Connecticut and how where we live, work, learn and heal are prime for fostering biodiverse, rich, wild places.

Literature & the Environment: Alumni Hall, Central Student Center  

Dr. Aimee Pozorski, Central Professor, English
Dr. Eric Leonidas, Central Professor, English

This session will begin with Dr. Leonidas discussing Robert Frost’s “Gift Outright” to ask what it means to (re)present environment in art. The discussion will be followed by dramatic readings of poignant excerpts from Climate Fiction performed by students from Dr. Pozorski’s contemporary literature class and will end with Dr. Pozorski connecting Climate Fiction with a call to witness climate change in our midst. 

Illustrated Posters: Alumni Hall, Central Student Center  

Interact with faculty and student researchers and artists as they share their creative works, research methods, and findings regarding climate change and other sustainability topics.

Keynote Address: Alumni Hall, Central Student Center

Julie Forgues, University of Moncton, Professor of Photography 
Julie will address how human interactions in the environment have paralleled her artwork in different parts of the world. 

Panel Discussion: Central Art Galleries, Maloney Hall

Julie Forgues, Professor – University of Moncton
With Attending Artists

As the curator of Emerging Dialogues in the Midnight Sun, Julie will discuss,
with the artists’ on site, how their interpretations of climate change in the
Arctic have surfaced as artworks.    

Art Exhibition: Emerging Dialogues in the Midnight Sun: Central Art Galleries, Maloney Hall

Music Performance by Justin Wright