Environmental center celebrates 10 years with signature event
The 10-year history of the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education at Florida Gulf Coast University has been filled with exciting events, passionate lectures, and prestigious guests.
The center’s signature event, the Rachel Carson Distinguished Lecture, has brought celebrated speakers and fascinating topics to Southwest Florida. The annual lecture seeks to engage the public in discussions on sustainability, ethics, and democracy with scholars and intellectuals.
Previous Rachel Carson Distinguished Lectures have featured acclaimed artists, authors, and educators such as Terry Tempest Williams, David W. Orr, Homero Aridjis, Mary Evelyn Tucker, Akpezi Ogbuigwe, Heila Lotz-Sisitka, Barbra Kingsolver, Alison Hawthorn Deming and Steven C. Rockefeller. For last year’s Rachel Carson Distinguished Lecture, the center had the honor of bringing world-renowned poet Mary Oliver to Sanibel Island. Her descriptive, inquisitive, and inspiring poetry made strong connections to the natural world and captivated an audience of nearly 400.
This year to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Rachel Carson Distinguished Lecture Series, we have invited actress Kaiulani Lee to perform her one-woman show “A Sense of Wonder”, in which she takes on the role of Rachel Carson. “A Sense of Wonder” is the story of Carson’s profound love for the natural world and her fight to defend it. It is the story of the extremely private Rachel Carson thrust into the role of controversial public figure. Please join us for this special event. We are delighted to have Lee evoke Carson’s spirit as a way of commemorating the center’s ten-year history.
Lee will perform “A Sense of Wonder” on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Schein Performance Hall at BIG ARTS on Sanibel. Immediately following the performance, join the center for its Tenth Anniversary Celebration in the Phillips Gallery at BIG ARTS.
The Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education is a scholarly center at Florida Gulf Coast University. It works toward realizing the dream of a sustainable and peaceful future for the Earth. To be added to our mailing list or to reserve seating to our 2014 Rachel Carson Distinguished Lecture, please contact the center at cese@fgcu.edu or at 590-7444. For more information visit our website fgcu.edu/cese.