Stegner Center 26th Annual Symposium: “The Plastics Paradox: Societal Boon or Environmental Bane?”
The Wallace Stegner Center’s 26th annual symposium on “The Plastics Paradox: Societal Boon or Environmental Bane?” to be held on Thursday to Friday, March 25-26, 2020, will explore the role of plastics in the modern world; the environmental impacts of plastic production, use, and disposal; and the ongoing debate about the need, viability, and desirability of alternatives to plastics. The symposium will include presentations about the history of plastic and both its benefits and costs, and legal issues surrounding plastics regulation. The symposium will include presentations and panels on the impacts of plastic on the environment, from production to disposal. The annual Stegner Lecture will place plastics in the larger context of our consumptive lifestyles and day two will include an opening keynote and two facilitated panel discussions—with extensive audience dialogue—about global, national, and local solutions to the plastics paradox.
Confirmed symposium speakers include the following:
- Robert Adler, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law
- Anthony L. Andrady, Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC
- Joshua Becker, Founder of Becoming Minimalist (Stegner Lecture)
- Scott Belcher, Toxicology Program, North Carolina State University
- Christopher Bell, Department of Sustainability, Salt Lake City Corporation
- Michelle Bender, Earth Law Center
- Janice Brahney, Utah State University Department of Watershed Sciences
- Anela Choy, Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego
- Roland Geyer, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California Santa Barbara (Keynote)
- Rolf Halden, Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, The Biodesign Institute Arizona State University
- Monique Harden, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
- Sherri Mason, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
- Carmen Messerlian, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- Ramani Narayan, College of Engineering, Michigan State University
- Jim Puckett, Basil Action Network
- Catherine Plume, Blue-Green Plume LLC
- Matt Seaholm, Plastics Industry Association
- Rebecca Smith, Utah Department of Environmental Quality
- Br’ette J. Vanhouton, Photographer
- Michael Waas, TerraCycle, Inc.
- Oliver Whaley, Navajo Nation EPA
Additional information, including a full list of speakers and an agenda, will be posted online on the Stegner Center events website. Symposium registration will open after the first of the year.