Wallace Stegner Center 28th Annual Symposium: The Future of the Great Salt Lake
The Stegner Center’s 28th annual symposium. focused on the Great Salt Lake. Day one of the symposium considered the state of the lake and factors leading to its decline. The symposium then focused on the risks to human health and the millions of migratory birds dependent on the lake, along with economic impacts, if this ecosystem collapses. Day two focused on solutions to preserve the lake with presentations by scientists, water policy experts, politicians, community leaders, and others.
Keynote and Stegner Lectures include the following presentations. All symposium presentations are available using the list below.
A Perspective from the Governor’s Office
(Keynote) Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox
Great Salt Lake: The Key to Our Past and Future
(Keynote) Brad Wilson, Speaker of the House, Utah House of Representative
What’s at Stake?
(Keynote) Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall
A Perspective from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(Keynote) Christopher Waddell, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Framing the Problem: Causes and Consequences of a Shrinking Great Salt Lake
(Stegner Lecture) Kevin D. Perry, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah
The Great Salt Lake Food Chains: Fragility and Resiliency
(Stegner Lecture) Bonnie K. Baxter, Ph.D., Director, Great Salt Lake Institute; Professor of Biology, Westminster College
Consequences of a Shrinking Great Salt Lake for Human Health
Robert Paine III, M.D., Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair; Professor of Internal Medicine; Chief, Division of Respiratory, Critical Care and Occupational Pulmonary Medicine
Economic Implications of a Shrinking Lake
Natalie Gochnour, Director, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute (Moderator); Thomas MJG Bosteels, CEO, Great Salt Lake Brine Shrimp Cooperative Inc.; Joe Havasi, VP, Natural Resources, Compass Minerals; Charles W Holmgren, President, Holmgren Farms Inc.; Gabriel A. Lozada, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Utah
Finding and Moving Water to the Great Salt Lake
Laura Briefer, MPA, Director, Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities; Trevor J. Nielson, General Manager, Bear River Canal Company; Teresa Wilhelmsen, P.E., Utah State Engineer and Division Director, Division of Water Rights
How Do We Save the Great Salt Lake?
Bonnie K. Baxter, Ph.D., Director, Great Salt Lake Institute; Professor of Biology, Westminster College; Joel Ferry, Executive Director, Department of Natural Resources, State of Utah; Lynn de Freitas, Executive Director, FRIENDS of Great Salt Lake, Timothy Daniel Hawkes, Vice Chair and General Counsel, Great Salt Lake Shrimp Cooperative. Utah House of Representatives (2015-2022); Kevin D. Perry, Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah
Decades of Dust: Lessons from California’s Owens Lake
Alyse Bertenthal, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Law, Wake Forest University
Indigenous Perspective to Climate and Environment
Darren Parry, Former Chairman, Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation; Author of The Bear River Massacre, A Shoshone History