Energy Lecture Series features live performance, movie screenings in fifth year

Emmy winner and Oscar and Drama Desk Award-nominated filmmaker, playwright and activist Josh Fox headlines the fifth season of the Youngstown State University Lecture Series on Energy and the Environment that runs Sept. 5 through Nov. 14 on the YSU campus.

The season also features a pre-release screening of the film, “Invisible Hand,” the new Rights of Nature documentary by Public Herald, an investigative news nonprofit that says it holds “accountable those who put rights at risk”, and a visit by Jon White, retired Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, and president/chief executive of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership.

Ray Beiersdorfer, YSU Distinguished Professor of Geology, started the free lecture series in 2013, sponsored in part by the YSU James Dale Ethics Center.

YSU 2018 Fall Semester Speaker Series on Energy and the Environment

• Sept. 5, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Dr. Wil Burns, University of California Irvine - School of Law, Into the Great Wide Open: The Potential Promise, and Perils, of Climate Geoengineering.
• Sept. 12, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Dr. Rosanna Esparza, Lost Hills California: the impact of oil and gas development on a fence line community.
• Sept. 13, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B112, Josh Fox, “The Truth Has Changed,” a live solo monologue tracing the arc of American political life from 9/11 to the Trump era. The piece traces Josh's experiences as a first responder during 9/11, his groundbreaking reporting on fracking, his eye-opening eco-flights over the Gulf of Mexico during the BP oil spill, Hurricane Sandy, the massive rallies during the 2016 election and the Democratic Convention, Standing Rock and beyond.
• Sept. 19, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Dr. Ted Auch, FracTracker, Pipeline mapping and frac sand mining.
• Sept. 20, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B112, “Invisible Hand” film screening and discussion.
• Sept. 26, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, “Living the Change” film screening and skype discussion with the filmmakers: Antoinette Wilson (in New Zealand) and Jordan Osmond (in Australia). livingthechangefilm.com. The movie explores solutions to many of today’s challenges through the inspiring stories of people pioneering change in their own lives and in their communities to live in a sustainable and regenerative way.
• Sept. 27, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B112, “We The People 2.0” film screening and discussion. wethepeople2.film. The movie is about the loss of democracy in the United States and how people are saving nature and themselves by regaining their rights to local lawmaking.
• Oct. 3, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Jimma McWilson, Youngstown NAACP, Environmental Justice and the NAACP.
• Oct. 10, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Dr. Deb Cowden, Family medicine doctor in Mount Vernon, Ohio, The Ohio Health Registry.
• Oct. 17, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Dr. Janet Currie, Princeton University, Fracking: Understanding the Costs and Benefits.
• Oct. 24, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Dr. Susan Krumdieck, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, Energy Transition Engineering.
• Oct. 31, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Dr. Ray’s Amazing Sideshow of Science - The Halloween Edition.
• Nov. 7, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Implications of Yesterday’s Election for Energy and the Environment, Open panel discussion moderated by Dr. Ray Beiersdorfer, YSU Geological & Environmental Sciences.
• Nov. 8, 12:30 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Jon White, retired Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, and president/chief executive of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, Ocean & Climate vs. National & Global Security.
• Nov. 14, 7 p.m. Cushwa Hall, Room B100, Dr. Mack Frantz, West Virginia University, Impacts of Fracking on the Louisiana Waterthrush in West Virginia.

There is ample free parking at the on-street metered-parking spaces along Lincoln Avenue and nearby streets for the evening events. Anyone needing assistance should call the YSU Student Security Service at 330-941-1515.

For more information visit online or contact Beiersdorfer at 330-941-1753 or ray@cc.ysu.edu.