Midwest SOARRING (Save Our Ancestor's Remains & Resources Indigeneous Network Group) Foundation has been growing its own bison herd since 1999 when the organization saved a four-year-old female bison named “Broken Horn” from slaughter. 
 
Midwest SOARRING Foundation is a Native American organization founded in 1996 to repatriate indigenous remains and resources, protect sacred sites, educate the public, and build community with all people around indigenous cultures. More bison were donated and saved from the butcher, and thanks to breeding, the herd has grown to several dozen animals. 
 
The herd is currently located on a Midwest SOARRING Foundation member’s farm in LeRoy, Illinois, where they are free to roam 30 acres of fenced land. Several tribes across the country support bison herds for food and ceremonial purposes, but Midwest SOARRING Foundation President Joseph Standing Bear Schranz, Ojibwe, has always envisioned keeping these bison as a “spirit herd” never to be used for consumption.
 
In an October interview with Brushwood Center, Schranz said he sees the creation and preservation of the herd as a way to honor the bison “for everything they did for our people.” Bison are a symbol of endurance and strength for native peoples and Schranz believes herds like this are symbolic of native people’s survival in a world when the odds are often stacked against them. 
 
The American Bison, America’s largest land mammal, was so abundant before Europeans colonized North America that experts estimate they numbered 30 to 70 million. To many Native American tribes, the bison was a spiritual symbol and essential resource for food, clothing, tools, and shelter. Once the United States was founded and expanded over the continent, native peoples were forced from their ancestral lands onto reservations and were killed by conflict and disease. Their story mirrored that of the bison, which suffered from diminished habitat, mass slaughter for their hides and pelts, and exposure to diseases introduced by cows. By the late 1800s, bison were on the verge of extinction with only a few hundred animals remaining in the United States. 
 
Without this source of livelihood, many Native American tribes were more easily confined to reservations. Despite the attempts to erase them, native peoples and the bison survived, and there are efforts underway to reintroduce bison back to the landscape and into the lives of native peoples. Midwest SOARRING Foundation is determined to honor this ancient connection and restore hope in a future where all people are more connected with the natural world. 
 
“If we can make some bison survive, we have a chance to, as well. It's a spirituality thing between us and the four-leggeds. I think it's really important that we protect them, and I've tried my very best,” expressed Schranz. 
 
Schranz described how the decimation of tribes has left scars on native people, who experience poverty and unemployment at rates much higher than the national average. Native peoples also suffer from higher than average school drop-out, addiction, and suicide rates. Access to quality housing and healthy food can be limited, with gas stations often being the only option for buying food on reservations – a contributing factor to the high diabetes rate among Native Americans. 
 
This is an especially personal issue for Schranz, who struggles with diabetes himself. Schranz believes the lack of good nutrition in native communities is part of a greater societal disconnect from food, and he thinks the Midwest SOARRING bison give people of all backgrounds an opportunity to examine their relationship with the animals that feed us. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Midwest SOARRING took visitors on wagon rides to connect up-close with the bison and the wild origins of food. 
 
Referencing our fast-food culture, Schranz explains, “The loss is that you don't see what that animal had to do to give its life for you. You don't see the spirit of the animal. So, I encourage people when they’re with us to look into the animal’s eyes and appreciate what they're going through in order to make you survive.” 
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RIVERWOODS, IL  --  Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods welcomed honorees Bill McKibben and Sue Halpern to the 37th Annual Smith Nature Symposium Awards Ceremony, live-streamed at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 9th.
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“Sue Halpern and Bill McKibben have helped shape one of the largest grassroots environmental movements of the 21st century and they are inspiring people around the world to take a stand for the environment and climate justice. This is a critical moment requiring thoughtful action to move our society toward more just and sustainable solutions and Brushwood Center is thrilled to honor Bill and Sue’s work in this pursuit,” said Gail Sturm, Chair of the Brushwood Center Board of Directors.

Brushwood Center bestowed the Environmental Leadership Award to Halpern and McKibben, a couple that has influenced millions of young people through their powerful writing and activism on behalf of nature, democracy, and the climate. Brushwood Center also welcomed environmental allies and Masters of Ceremonies Bill Kurtis and Donna La Pietra, live-streamed from their treehouse, to facilitate conversation with the honorees.

The program featured guest appearances from previous honorees, including Robert Redford, Sibylle Szaggars Redford, Amory Lovins, and Judy Hill Lovins.

The Symposium included a special musical performance as a tribute to nature during COVID-19 by Multi Grammy Award nominee and violinist Philippe Quint and former “Chicagoan of the Year in Classical Music” Vladimir Kulenovic. It was performed directly from Brushwood Center at the heart of Ryerson Woods as a calming tribute to nature in the midst of COVID-19.

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 work.

The Smith Nature Symposium memorializes the significant civic legacy of Hermon Dunlap and Ellen Thorne Smith, who donated their land and cabin to help form Ryerson Woods. The Awards Ceremony was the culmination of a seven-part live-streamed series on critical environmental issues that examined how we can shape a more just, sustainable future in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and growing climate crisis. This series was also a celebration of nature, arts and individuals who make extraordinary contributions to environmental conservation and deepen understanding of and appreciation for the natural world.

All funds raised from the Symposium directly supported Thrive Together, Brushwood Center’s COVID-19 crisis response for a more just and sustainable future.

Visit www.smithnaturesymposium.org to learn more about the 2020 Smith Nature Symposium series.
 
BIOGRAPHIES:
Bill McKibben is an author, environmentalist, and founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement, which has organized twenty thousand rallies around the world in every country save 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 is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has appeared in 24 languages; he’s gone on to write a dozen more books. Foreign Policy named him to their inaugural list of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers, and the Boston Globe said he was “probably America’s most important environmentalist.”

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 program in narrative journalism. Halpern was a columnist for Mother Jones, Ms., and Smithsonian Magazine. She has been the recipient of Guggenheim and Echoing Green Fellowships, and earned BA from Yale University and a doctorate in political theory from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
 
 

RIVERWOODS, IL -- Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods welcomed endocrinologist Dr. Disha Narang from Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, dietitian Monica Joyce from Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, and chef Catherine O’Meara of Heller Catering to Culinary Love: Cooking for You and the Planet at The Smith Nature Symposium.

This virtual cooking program took place on October 3rd. It was a special addition to a seven-part live-streamed series on critical environmental issues, which culminated in the October 9th Awards Ceremony honoring environmental leaders Bill McKibben and Sue Halpern. In previous years, Smith Nature Symposium guests would gather in person for the Awards Ceremony dinner at Brushwood Center, but this year, registrants gathered around Brushwood’s virtual table and prepared a delicious plant-based dinner from home.

“Food is such an essential part of eating well and feeling well, especially right now. Cooking together, even while physically apart, cultivates a sense of community. This expert team of presenters focused on plant-based eating using a recipe that was good for both our bodies and the environment,” said Catherine Game, Executive Director of Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods.

Brushwood Center teamed up with Dr. Narang, Joyce, and Chef O’Meara to bring this live demo and discussion to Symposium participants. Narang and Joyce shared the many health benefits of plant-based eating, and Chef O’Meara demonstrated the featured recipe with step-by-step instructions.

Dr. Narang, an endocrinologist at Northwestern’s Lake Forest Hospital, specializes in diabetes and metabolism and understands the importance of healthy eating in preventing chronic disease. Dr. Narang graduated from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and completed her residency and a subsequent fellowship at the University of Chicago.

Joyce, who works in an Endocrinology Practice at Northwestern Medicine in Lake Forest, has a long history of battling diabetes in the Chicagoland area and works to educate people about the importance of exercise and eating well. Joyce has over 47 years of experience as a registered dietitian nutritionist and is the founder and Executive Director of Slam Dunk for Diabetes, a basketball camp for children with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to have fun and learn how to manage their health. This free camp, which has locations in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Puerto Rico, was founded with assistance from the Chicago Bulls. Due to her work with Slam Dunk, Joyce was selected by the American Academy of Foods and Nutrition to be a part of a video series called Heroes: Showcasing the Registered Dietitian. The American Academy of Foods and Nutrition and the American Association of Diabetes Educators also recognized her nationally for her dedication to helping children with diabetes.
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Chef O’Meara, owner of Heller Catering in Lake Bluff since 2001, led the cooking instruction for this program. Her cooking philosophy centers on buying local ingredients, which is more sustainable for the planet and healthier for the consumer. O’Meara shared how to combine such local ingredients into a delicious plant-based meal for Smith Nature Symposium Awards Ceremony.
 
All funds raised from the Symposium directly supported Thrive Together, Brushwood Center’s COVID-19 crisis response for a more just and sustainable future. All presentations were available in English and Spanish.

Visit www.smithnaturesymposium.org to learn more about the 2020 Smith Nature Symposium series. 

dRIVERWOODS, IL –  Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods welcomes Vladimir Kulenovic as Director of Music and Wellness. Kulenovic has served as Music Director of the Lake Forest Symphony and his previous accolades include “Conductor of the Year” by The Illinois Council of Orchestras, “Chicagoan of the Year in Classical Music” by The Chicago Tribune, and winner of The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award.

Kulenovic will lead the Brushwood Center’s new Music and Nature initiative, opening the power of music as an artistic outlet, a means of connecting to the natural world, and a pathway to healing amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
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“The source of music is to be found in nature, and therefore all of our work as musicians is an inseparable extension of nature. To work at Brushwood is to work closest to this source, and to share a purposeful journey with admirable colleagues who inspire creativity and joy! Together, we bring music and nature together to those who need it most,” expressed Kulenovic.
 
Kulenovic was featured in a special virtual musical performance with Multi Grammy Award nominee and violinist Philippe Quint at Brushwood Center’s culminating Smith Nature Symposium Awards Ceremony on October 9th. These two artists performed a rendition of Jules Massenet’s soulful “Méditation” from the opera Thaïs, a beautifully passionate piece in which a solo violin takes the main stage. It was performed directly from Brushwood Center at the heart of Ryerson Woods as a calming tribute to nature in the midst of COVID-19.
 
“Vladimir is an internationally-renowned musician and conductor, and we are beyond thrilled that he will be leading Brushwood’s music and nature initiative. It is a gift to work in concert with such extraordinary talent, and together, we can merge the restorative experiences of music and nature for the public,” said Catherine Game, Executive Director of Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods.
 
Kulenovic, a Serbian native who came to the U.S. when he was 12 years old, has developed into one the finest and most imaginative conductors of his generation. In his fifth season as the Music Director of the Lake Forest Symphony (LFS), Kulenovic energized unprecedented growth in the symphony’s 60-year history, earning the orchestra a Grammy Nomination for their first-ever commercial CD recording “Liquid Melancholy” (2018 Cedille Records). Before his highly successful leadership at the LFS, Kulenovic was the Associate Conductor of the Utah Symphony at the Utah Opera and Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Lyric Opera. Kulenovic has been featured as a guest conductor across the United States and for dozens of symphonies in Europe and Asia. Notably, he served as principal conductor of the Kyoto International Music Festival in Japan. Kulenovic earned his graduate diploma in conducting from both The Juilliard School and the Peabody Institute.
 
Kawai Pianos and Family Pianos Co. are Brushwood Center’s featured sponsors for the new music and nature program, and they have generously underwritten the Center’s new pianos, which will be housed at Brushwood and used for live-streamed music programs like the Smith Nature Symposium. Brushwood Center is thrilled to be partnering with such charitable sponsors that share the center’s enthusiasm for bringing music to the community. 

​RIVERWOODS, IL -- Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods welcomed speakers Bill Sturm, Maria Smithburg, and moderator Dr. Martha Twaddle to Healing Spaces at The Smith Nature Symposium.
This conversation examined how we can improve human wellbeing through natural design in our personal and shared spaces. Nature should not solely exist in our forest preserves and parks, but in our homes, businesses, and communities, as natural elements create conditions for good physical and mental health. These health and design leaders came together to share why and how we should incorporate healing natural features into our daily lives and society at large.
“People have always needed nature to grow and to heal, but natural design is even more vital in this new era of Covid-19 where people are suffering from illness, isolation, and economic and emotional hardship. We greatly appreciated these leaders’ insights into how we can use natural elements to improve our wellbeing,” said Catherine Game, Executive Director of Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods.
Dr. Martha Twaddle is a national leader in the care of the seriously ill and their families and has been a major contributor to the study and implementation of end-of-life care for more than 30 years. She believes that despite all its advances, modern medicine misses the key objective in caring for patients by curing instead of healing. Modern Medicine too often cures ailments by prescribing remedies to one affected area of the body, instead of treating the body, psyche, and soul as a whole and guiding people towards a healing that brings peace in any stage of illness or recovery. From her own experience and research, Dr. Twaddle has come to believe that gardens are powerful tools in furthering healing that are not employed to their greatest capacity. Gardens are particularly effective healing tools because they respond to the fundamental human need for beauty, serenity, community, physical movement, sensory stimulation, and the opportunity for reflection.
This intersection of life that gardens represent helps us to make sense of suffering and come to peace with the cycles of life we experience.  Pain, depression, and the agitation of dementia have been shown to lessen with horticulture therapy and images of nature in hospitals can decrease anxiety and improve the ability to cope with pain. While promoting these healing benefits of gardens, Dr. Twaddle advances academic work, including developing curriculum, guidelines, and models of care for healthcare professionals to provide care for the seriously ill in all settings. She also works with others at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine exploring how technology and prescriptive nature can improve health outcomes, as well as collaborating nationally in the development of patient and family-centered quality metrics. In 2013, she was named one of the 30 most influential visionaries in Hospice and Palliative Medicine by nomination of her peers via the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Gardens are beneficial for all people, not only the sick and suffering. Designing gardens and incorporating them into our physical environment in a way that invites all people and flows with built surroundings is the job of architects and landscape designers. Bill Sturm, cofounder of Serena Sturm Architects, Ltd., is a recognized leader in environmentally sustainable and resource-efficient architectural design and land planning. His practice helped pioneer ecological design in Chicagoland and his firm has managed numerous award-winning projects.
Over Sturm’s 40-year career, he has established a reputation for delivering buildings that meld functionality with beauty and connect the outdoors to the indoors. Sturm has lectured extensively on sustainable design, juried multiple professional awards, and has been featured on the radio, TV, and in print.  He is a member of The American Institute of Architect’s (AIA) National Energy Leadership Group and served as the 2014 Chairman of AIA’s National Committee on the Environment Advisory Group. In this position, he advanced the profession’s practice of project performance analysis and strengthened adoption of the AIA 2030 Commitment, which challenges the global architecture and building community to make all buildings carbon-neutral by 2030.
While Sturm primarily uses his architectural expertise to design green buildings for people to live and work in, Maria Smithburg (landscape architect and owner of her own practice, Artemisia), focuses on creating inspirational outdoor spaces by using plants as a living medium.
Smithburg’s interest in art and her architectural background allow her to better understand the relationship between buildings and open space within an artistic context. This artistic side gives her an intuitive ability to unify the garden style to that of the built environment. Smithburg’s enchanting outdoor spaces invite a sense of tranquility that makes it easy for visitors to be present in the moment. Part of the magic of Smithburg’s highly admired residential, commercial, and public gardens is that she uses plants as an ever-evolving tool that shape the landscape and change it over time. Her gardens go through transitions with the seasons and years – just as humans do – and she must visualize these transformations years in advance.
Smithburg has been running Artemisia since 1992 and works on gardens in the Chicago area, as well as in Harbor County, Michigan. Her academic pursuits involve previously teaching landscape design theory at the University of Illinois in Chicago and garden design courses at the Chicago Botanic Garden. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Buenos Aires and her Masters in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University. She currently serves on The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s Stewardship Council where she extends her passion for connecting people to natural places.
All funds raised from the Symposium directly support Thrive Together, Brushwood Center’s COVID-19 crisis response for a more just and sustainable future. All presentations were available in English and Spanish.
To learn more about the series visit  www.smithnaturesymposium.org.

​RIVERWOODS, IL -- Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods welcomed speakers Celeste Flores and Dulce Ortiz to Environmental Justice in Lake County at the Smith Nature Symposium.
This conversation, part of a seven-part live-streamed series on critical environmental issues, examined environmental injustices in Lake County that disproportionally affect people of color and immigrant families and offered a vision of how to secure environmental, economic, and racial justice for these communities.
Flores and Ortiz are Co-Chairs of Clean Power Lake County, a community-driven coalition that organizes within frontline environmental justice communities to shift the county to healthy, sustainable, and renewable energy. This assembly of partners includes faith-based, environmental, and public health organizations working to achieve self-determination for vulnerable and underserved people. As leaders spearheading this local movement, Flores and Ortiz offered perspective on the current state of environmental justice in Lake County and shared their understanding of the progress that has yet to be made.
“The fact is that pollution does not affect all people equally in the United States, and certainly not in Lake County. Communities comprised largely of people of color, immigrants, and low-income households are more likely to be closely located to pollution sources, such as ethylene oxide and coal-fired power plants, than other portions of the population. Historically, these community members have been excluded from decision making and policymaking, and that is something that must change,” said Flores, Co-Chair of Clean Power Lake County.  She is also the Lake County Outreach Director for Faith in Place, an organization that empowers people of all faiths to care for the Earth.
Flores, the daughter of immigrant parents, was born and raised in Lake County, Illinois. She first became involved in environmental justice as a student at Bellarmine University in Kentucky, where she saw the devastation of mountaintop removal, a highly destructive mining practice. After graduation, she spent a year as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Appalachia. She then returned to Lake County where she learned about local environmental justice efforts of Clean Power Lake County to ensure the city of Waukegan a just transition away from its decades-old coal-fired plant. Flores has been a lifelong member of the Most Blessed Trinity Parish, and in 2017, she was awarded The Gaudium et Spes Award by The Consejo Hispano Arquidiócesis de Chicago (Archdiocese of Chicago) at the Noche de Gala, an annual dinner recognizing leaders in Hispanic ministry. Flores’s leadership has been recognized nationally, and she was Senator Tammy Duckworth’s guest for the State of the Union in 2020.
Securing a just and sustainable energy transition for all is already challenging, but it will be even more difficult because climate change is due to disproportionally impact environmental justice communities. Climate change is a threat multiplier, meaning it aggravates existing stressors, including pollution, health risks, flooding, droughts, poor infrastructure, and political instability, which unequally affect underserved communities. With the looming threat of climate change, transitioning Lake County to renewables does not necessarily ensure all people benefit equally. Careful government planning and community involvement at the local level is key to remedying current disparities and insuring they do not persist. Clean Power Lake County believes grassroots involvement from environmental justice groups is essential in this process and that government must actively seek these communities’ input. When the Waukegan coal plant is ultimately retired, for example, the plan should include a fair transition for plant workers and the community, so people’s livelihoods do not suffer and residents are not left to clean up residual pollution.
Though the task of creating a just future for all is daunting, it’s important to start with small steps at the community level that ripple into greater impacts and empower people to live healthy, happy lives. Dulce Ortiz (originally from Mexico City, Mexico) helps immigrant families be fully informed and participating members of the community as Co-Chair of Clean Power Lake County and Executive Director of Mano a Mano. Mano a Mano is an agency that serves the growing Lake County immigrant community through health resources and services, educational classes, and immigration legal services. Often, immigrant families struggle to integrate and advocate for themselves because they lack the necessary language skills, information, and connections to navigate the American job market, schools, and complex health system. Ortiz leads the Mano a Mano team in planning and programming community engagement that builds human dignity and teaches people the skills they need to advance their well-being despite prevailing inequalities. She also plays a key role in the development of strategic community partnerships and leads the Mano a Mano’s policy-advocacy agenda. Ortiz is an advocate with a deep understanding of community needs, and she uses her expertise to help immigrant families better integrate into American life. 
All funds raised from the Symposium directly supported Thrive Together, Brushwood Center’s COVID-19 crisis response for a more just and sustainable future. All presentations were available in English and Spanish.
To learn more about the series visit  www.smithnaturesymposium.org.

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods welcomed speakers Craig Sieben, Kelly Shelton, Jen Walling, and moderator John Wasik to Renewable Energy Surges, the fourth panel in this year’s Smith Nature Symposium.
This roundtable, part of a seven-part live-streamed series on critical environmental issues, explored the future of renewable energy in Illinois and the positive impact a clean energy transition would have on climate change and existing environmental inequities linked to fossil fuel pollution. These top energy consultants, policy leaders, and government officials shared their perspectives on the state of the private and public energy sector, current incentives to transition to renewables, and policy needs as we aim to build a cleaner future for our communities and the planet.

“We are excited about the current enthusiasm and political will behind a renewable energy transition in Illinois. It’s crucial to improve the health of our environment, maintain a robust economy, and ensure all people’s well-being,” expressed Catherine Game, Executive Director of Brushwood Center.

Over his 35-year career in energy efficiency, Craig Sieben has witnessed a significant transformation of the industry to one that increasingly values clean power. Since founding Sieben Energy Associates in 1990, Sieben has guided individuals and organizations in energy resource optimization and now uses his expertise to direct energy strategies at AECOM during this continued period of rapid industry change.

Kelly Shelton, President of Shelton Solutions, Inc., also witnessed this important shift in the sector over her more than 25-year-long career providing energy consulting services to Chicagoland. Shelton Solutions currently provides energy audits and energy modeling on behalf of the State of Illinois, and Shelton’s previous clients include the City of Chicago, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Public Schools, and Cook Country. In guiding one of the largest cities, public school networks, and counties in the United States to greater energy efficiency, Shelton demonstrated that simple restructuring of energy portfolios provides a significant return on investment in energy and cost savings for even the most complex of organizations.

Consultants’ work is key to restructuring the energy portfolios of organizations, governments, and businesses from within, but applying external pressure to government is also necessary to push society towards a future powered by renewables. This is precisely what Jen Walling, Executive Director for The Illinois Environmental Council, does as she lobbies government decision makers on environmental issues. Jen has directed The Illinois Environmental Council since 2011 and drafted, negotiated, lobbied, and passed hundreds of bills in Springfield while working to build the power, expertise and relationships of the region’s entire environmental community. Recently, as a steering committee member of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, Walling pushed hard for Illinois to ratify the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which aims to put Illinois on a path to 100% renewable energy by 2050, lower energy costs for consumers, and create new job opportunities. This would improve people’s livelihoods across the state and would be particularly positive for communities of color that are often more closely located to coal-fired electricity plants than other portions of the population.

Moderator John Wasik, Commissioner of the Lake County Board, also has a direct role in local government and uses his position as a public servant to advocate for a smaller county carbon footprint and the careful stewardship of community resources. Wasik pushes for greater energy efficiency as Chair of the Forest Preserve’s Planning Committee and Vice Chair of the Lake County Energy and Environment Committee. For Wasik, greening Lake County means preserving it for future generations by protecting the environment, creating good-paying jobs, and lowering government operating expenses. He has authored 18 books, spoken all across North America and contributed to The New York Times, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and other national publications.

This year’s Smith Nature Symposium is virtual for the first time, which presents an exciting opportunity for Brushwood Center to reach as many people as possible with these timely discussions. Ticket prices are “give what you can” with a free option available for students and those who are unable to donate. The series began on August 13th and culminates in the Smith Nature Symposium Awards Ceremony on Friday, October 9th, with honorees Bill McKibben and Sue Halpern and Masters of Ceremonies Bill Kurtis and Donna La Pietra.
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All funds raised from the Symposium directly supported Thrive Together, Brushwood Center’s COVID-19 crisis response for a more just and sustainable future. All presentations were available in English and Spanish.
To learn more about the series visit  www.smithnaturesymposium.org.

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods welcomed speakers Elena Grossman, Vidya Venkataramanan, Aaron Feggestad, and moderator Ted Haffner to It’s Raining, It’s Pouring during the Smith Nature Symposium.
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This roundtable, part of a seven-part live-streamed series on critical environmental issues, examined the local implications of climate change in the form of altered ecosystems, more frequent and intense floods, and increased public health threats. These researchers, designers, and strategic planners shared their perspectives and solutions for this defining crisis of our time.

The coronavirus pandemic exposed how economies, health, and futures are inextricably intertwined. The climate crisis – also an all-encompassing, but less tangible threat – will likewise worsen human and environmental health and deepen existing inequalities.
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“This year’s Smith Nature Symposium is all about exploring a more just and sustainable future amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis, two of the greatest global challenges facing our world. These speakers illuminated why nature, health, climate change, and racial equity are all critical parts of the solution,” expressed Catherine Game, Executive Director of Brushwood Center.

Panelist Elena Grossman is the Program Director for BRACE-Illinois (Building Resilience Against Climate Effects), a partnership between the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and the Illinois Department of Public Health. This program, which Grossman develops and designs, is formulated to prepare Illinois for the health effects of climate change. In leading this program, Grossman researches the relationships between climate change and health, creates education and training tools, and facilitates the strategic process for local health departments to address climate change. She also collaborates in developing and writing state reports to share possible solutions to these problems and increase awareness that climate change will disproportionally affect disadvantaged communities.

While Grossman focuses on designing strategic processes that mitigate the effects of climate change on public health, Vidya Venkataramanan (a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Northwestern University) is interested in understanding the flipside of the equation: how communities perceive these interventions and value environmental sustainability programs. Venkataramanan’s research is specifically focused on water sanitation and hygiene programs, and she uses her findings on community engagement and participation to understand how to set sustainability initiatives up for success. She uses qualitative and quantitative methods, particularly drawing on tools from policy and implementation research. Her current research goals are two-fold: understanding community perceptions and impacts of green stormwater management interventions to prevent flooding in Chicago and understanding perceived value of urban green spaces to inform education and outreach for conservation programs.

Green spaces are crucial to mitigating the impacts of climate change, because they provide habitat for local flora and fauna and reduce surrounding temperatures for human and non-human residents in urban areas. Green spaces also provide a connection to nature that people need for good mental and physical health in a rapidly urbanizing world.

Aaron Feggestad, a restoration ecologist at the design and consulting firm, Stantec, has deep knowledge of how restoring natural areas mitigates the effects of change by creating a buffer for plant, wildlife, and human communities. Working from his base in Madison, Wisconsin, he uses his understanding of ecology and project management experience to restore the health of degraded ecosystems, making land hospitable to native flora and fauna and bringing beauty to communities. He sees projects through all phases from planning and design and on-the-ground implementation to natural resource assessments and monitoring. He works with clients to promote resiliency in natural systems and is currently managing several large restoration projects in the Great Lakes Region.

Moderator Ted Haffner, a Climate Fellow and Landscape Architect at Openlands, also approaches climate challenges from a land-based background. Prior to Openlands, Ted served as Senior Associate and Project Manager with Terry Guen Design Associates, a landscape architecture firm specializing in public and institutional landscape design. His deep technical knowledge and project leadership helps Openlands design spaces that are refuges for wildlife and people. When realizing urban green infrastructure projects, Ted takes existing community contexts into account and works innovatively to connect the natural world to the built. As climate change makes the future more uncertain, ecological restoration and landscape design are an increasingly important part of the solution in protecting the health of natural and human communities.

This year’s Smith Nature Symposium is virtual for the first time, which presents an exciting opportunity for Brushwood Center to reach as many people as possible with these timely discussions. Ticket prices are “give what you can” with a free option available for students and those who are unable to donate. The series began on August 13th and culminates in the Smith Nature Symposium Awards Ceremony on Friday, October 9th, with honorees Bill McKibben and Sue Halpern and Masters of Ceremonies Bill Kurtis and Donna La Pietra.
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To learn more about the series visit www.smithnaturesymposium.org.

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods welcomed two global advocates for the oceans, artist Arica Hilton and biochemist Dr. Janet Angel Welch, to the 37th Annual Smith Nature Symposium.

The panel, part of a seven-part live-streamed series exploring current environmental issues, was moderated by Gail Sturm (Chair of Brushwood Center’s Board of Directors) and dove into threats facing the world’s oceans and water sources. This program also featured a special musical performance, “Reflections on Earth – Oceans,” created by Sibylle Szaggars Redford, The Way of the Rain Artistic Director, with music by Tim Janis, and spoken word by Robert Redford.

From ubiquitous plastic pollution to devastating oil spills, Hilton and Dr. Welch told their underwater stories, shared thoughts on the current state of aquatic environments, and illuminated solutions to today’s marine challenges. Though these advocates took very different approaches to preserving the world of water, they share the same ambition for restoring it and work to inspire people to be better stewards of this precious resource.

“If we can inform and educate people, and convince them to modify their harmful behaviors, that would be a great step toward protecting the co-inhabitants of our earth,” said Hilton.

Hilton, a Mediterranean-born artist, uses fine art to capture the beauty and vulnerability of the watery world. She feels moving people to the plight of the oceans is something art is uniquely equipped to do.  Some of her most touching pieces are works from I Flow Like Water, a series of paintings incorporating recycled plastics. She was invited to participate in a scientific expedition with Ocean Geographic Magazine to Raja Ampat, an Indonesian archipelago and part of the Coral Triangle. This hot-spot for biodiversity is endangered by illegal fishing, climate change, and most visibly – plastic pollution.

Upon her return, she created a series of multi-media paintings incorporating microplastics – small fragments of plastic that float in the ocean, leach toxins, are eaten by marine life, and ultimately, end up in our bodies when we consume marine food. These works of art are whimsical and calming, with fairy-tale colors revealing a sunrise, waterfall, or drops of rain rippling a pool of water. Upon closer examination, the shimmering layers embedded in the paintings turn out to be thousands of pieces of plastic, some, recycled, and some of which were pulled directly from Raja Ampat’s waters. Hilton’s works are a reminder that even the waters of paradise cannot escape the effects of human carelessness and they will continue to be degraded unless we take action.

Dr. Janet Angel Welch has responded to marine degradation with a scientific approach: EcoBioClean®, her revolutionary green technology that rapidly removes oil contaminants from the environment. She was inspired to develop EcoBioClean® after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest oil spill in the history of marine oil drilling operations, which emptied four million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

“As I considered what happened to the ocean following the Deepwater spill, I thought, ‘why not remove toxins from the ocean the way microorganisms and enzymes break down substances in nature?’” explained Welch.

EcoBioClean® works by breaking down crude oil into tiny particles in seconds, which allows indigenous microbes to more easily biodegrade them. It is safe for use on water, land, vegetation, and around wildlife. EcoBioClean® was nominated for the prestigious 2017 United States Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge award and was approved by the EPA in 2019. It is now listed on the National Contingency Plan as an effective and safe method to remediate crude oil spills if a disaster should occur in USA navigable waters. Additionally, EcoBioClean® was one of just three US Companies chosen from around the globe to present to the United Nations Environmental Program alongside dozens of internationally known chemists and Nobel Prize Laureates. Dr. Welch was also the only US company executive and inventor invited to represent the US at a similar conference in Vienna, Austria, and her company was the only bioremediation company chosen to participate in the Canadian Government’s new Environmental Lakes Area freshwater research project.

“Hilton and Welch are global leaders for their work in preserving the marine world and inspiring others to take responsibility for its care. We were honored to welcome these two advocates at the Smith Nature Symposium and appreciated the opportunity to learn how we can better steward precious aquatic ecosystems,” said Gail Sturm, Chair of the Board of Brushwood Center.

This year’s Smith Nature Symposium is virtual for the first time, which presents an exciting opportunity for Brushwood Center to reach as many people as possible with these timely discussions. Ticket prices are “give what you can” with a free option available for students and those who are unable to donate. The series began on August 13th and culminates in the Smith Nature Symposium Awards Ceremony on Friday, October 9th, with honorees Bill McKibben and Sue Halpern and Masters of Ceremonies Bill Kurtis and Donna La Pietra.

All funds raised from the Symposium directly support Thrive Together, Brushwood Center’s COVID-19 crisis response for a more just and sustainable future. All presentations are available in English and Spanish.
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To learn more about the series, visit www.smithnaturesymposium.org.

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods welcomed youth of the distinguished nature and community-based program, Cool Learning Experience (CLE), for the opening of this year’s Smith Nature Symposium.
Brushwood Center believes it was important to start the Symposium, a seven-part live-streamed series exploring current environmental issues, with these voices of the future. CLE (partner of Brushwood Center) is based in Waukegan, IL and nurtures children’s well-being through innovative learning programs that foster healthy relationships between families, the community, and the natural world. These talented nature buddies collaborated both virtually and live to create structural art and spoken word that reflected their life experiences. Their collective presentation, titled Black, Brown, and Green, explored their visions and actions for a more just and sustainable future.
“CLE was honored to be the first to bring youth voices to a Smith Nature Symposium. Their thoughtful art and powerful poetry spoke to the realities of our changing world. We know those who joined us were inspired by their bravery, creativity, joy, and resilience!” shared CLE Executive Director Barbara “Coyote” Waller.
For over a decade, CLE has helped students grow a love of the outdoors through eco-excursions to local treasures like Lake Michigan. While CLE youth typically create work connected to outdoor experiences and environmental stewardship, these expressions spoke to the challenges of connecting to themselves, one another, and the natural word amidst a landscape marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The innovative instructional strategies of their coaches, Jackie “Frog” Lopez, Angye “Bumble Bee” Zamudio, and Deeksha “Flourite” Pagar were on full display as the youth showed how they brought the “Outdoors, Indoors.” The students also revealed their secrets to building community, celebrating nature, and inspiring well-being through a digital platform. For this special event, the 6th through 9th grade students joined forces to bring Smith Nature Symposium attendees a peek into their inquisitive minds and a deeper understanding of how CLE serves families, educates children, and cares for the world around us.
The 6th and 7th grade Planet Protectors earned their moniker from their serious study of environmental, food, and social justice issues that cross national and international borders. This summer’s deep dive into the life cycle of plastics empowered students to be vocal environmental stewards at home and in their community. Although digital, students connected to nature through experiments with local water sources, independent time outdoors, and growing plants. Their online blog was a safe space to exchange ideas, share feelings, and give tips on everything from recipes for food scraps to how to reduce landfill waste. When not posting on their blog, these budding activists were learning healthy ways to communicate across cultures about the tough topics in today’s headlines.
CLE’s eldest group, the Future Champions, was made up of 8th and 9th graders poised to make their mark on the world. Like their namesake says, these nature buddies engaged in forward-thinking activities related to future career choices. Along with designing their own websites, they led an ongoing oral history project, Talking the Wauk, that centers on the Waukegan lakefront and its surrounding community. Through interviews and research, these students amplified a diverse cadre of voices that re-imagined their city and their place within it. The Future Champions truly became ambassadors for nature and are ready to continue their journeys exploring the world and diverse career pathways with confidence, creativity, and critical thinking. 
“Brushwood Center was proud to partner with these future leaders and share their visions. We know that CLE’s work is life-changing and inspires the next generation of environmental stewards,” said Catherine Game, Executive Director of Brushwood Center.
CLE has been positively impacting lives since 2008 when two First Baptist pastors hosted the first CLE summer learning program to link children and their families to nature with the belief that what one cares about, one cares for through actions and words.  Brushwood could not have seen a more fitting group to commence the Smith Nature Symposium, which was created to celebrate nature, the arts, and individuals who have connected their communities to the environment and deepened understanding of the natural world. 
This year’s Smith Nature Symposium is virtual for the first time, which presents an exciting opportunity for Brushwood Center to reach as many people as possible with these timely discussions. Ticket prices are “give what you can” with a free option available for students and those who are unable to donate. The series began on August 13th and culminates in the Smith Nature Symposium Awards Ceremony on Friday, October 9th, with honorees Bill McKibben and Sue Halpern and Masters of Ceremonies Bill Kurtis and Donna La Pietra.
All funds raised from the Symposium directly support Thrive Together, Brushwood Center’s COVID-19 crisis response for a more just and sustainable future. All presentations are available in English and Spanish.
To learn more about the series visit www.smithnaturesymposium.org.