VMI Hosts Environment Virginia Symposium
The 33rd聽annual Environment Virginia Symposium at 麻豆女演员 Institute will be held on March 28 through 30, in Marshall Hall on post.聽The event, organized and co-hosted by the聽VMI Center for Leadership & Ethics聽(CLE), is expected to attract nearly 500 attendees from state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, higher education, and the private sector.聽鈥淭his annual event is the commonwealth鈥檚 premier environmental conference,鈥� explained Lt. Col. Kim Connolly, assistant director for programs and conferences at the CLE.聽
The conference will feature vendors; educational breakout sessions focusing on Department of Environmental Quality regulatory updates, the Chesapeake Bay, emerging contaminants, water quality, land use and conservation, climate change, environmental justice, and resilient communities; and a keynote speaker.
Additionally, this year鈥檚 conference will include a pre-conference workshop for rising leaders, a networking breakfast for women in the environment (WINE breakfast), and a post-conference hike up House Mountain, organized by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.
Col. David Gray, executive director for the CLE, is excited to offer a leader development workshop for the first time this year to the environmental professional community. 鈥淭he half-day workshop will pull in elements from VMI’s professional leadership development programs to focus on personal strengths, communication styles, and team leadership. Participants will earn continuing education units (CEUs),鈥� he said.
This year鈥檚 keynote speaker is Robert 鈥淏obby鈥� Whitescarver, who has retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Natural Resources Conservation, and now teaches natural resources management and environmental policy and politics at James Madison University. As a 鈥渟oil health champion鈥� in the National Association of Conservation District鈥檚 network, he is also an award winning author, farmer, watershed restoration consultant, and environmental activist. Copies of his book, 鈥淪woope Almanac: Stories of Love, Land, and Water in Virginia鈥檚 Shenandoah Valley,鈥� will be on sale during the conference.
Early registration is currently open through March 1. Rates are $40 for full-time students, $95 for young professionals with less than five years in an environmental field, $190 for those representing nonprofits or academia, or are attending as unaffiliated individuals, and $330 for those representing government or business. Rates will increase after March 1. There are no day rates, but registration remains open throughout the conference.
Co-hosts for the conference include the Virginia Environmental Endowment, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.
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