April 15, 2011
Two leading innovators in the sustainability movement will give free public lectures as part of the fifth annual Nelson Institute Earth Day Conference April 20 on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farm chairman, president and CEO, will speak at 3 p.m. with an address titled "Inventing the Future: Feeding the World Safely & Sustainably." Stonyfield is a leading producer of organic yogurt, ice cream, milk and other foods.
And at 4 p.m., Green for All CEO Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins will speak about "Building an Inclusive Green Economy: Innovating Today to Build a Sustainable Tomorrow." Green For All is a national organization working to build a green economy that lifts people out of poverty. You can read more about Phaedra's work in this recent interview with the Nelson Institute.
Both lectures will be held in the Union South Varsity Hall, 1308 W. Dayton St., and are free and open to the public.
Ecotones 2, the Nelson Institute's second annual Earth Day Concert, is also free and open to the public. The outdoor concert, set for 5 to 7 p.m. April 22 at the Memorial Union Terrace, 800 Langdon St., will feature ambient environmental music by UW-Madison students Chris Bocast and Emily Blessing and an ecologically inspired blend of classical and bluegrass acoustic music by Madison "class-grass" ensemble Graminy.
The fifth annual Earth Day Conference is presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, Wisconsin Union, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative.