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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Noted Environmentalist and Author to Speak on Campus David Orr, pioneer in environmental literacy, will give a public lecture, "Education and the Making of a World That Works," on Friday, Sept. 14, 4 p.m., in Holt 170, at California State University, Chico. Orr is the author of The Nature of Design (Oxford, 2001), Earth in Mind (Island, 1994), and Ecological Literacy (SUNY Press, 1991).Orr is professor and chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College in Ohio. A guest of the Department of Geography and Planning, he is visiting Chico as the first Rawlins Lecturer on the environment. "Orr is the foremost authority on education about the environment," said Professor Mark Stemen, coordinator of CSU, Chico's Environmental Studies Program. "Well known as an expert on global warming, he is in high demand by reporters and as a lecturer and keynote speaker across the country." In Earth in Mind, Orr shows academia no mercy: "Most people believe that education is good, and the more of it one has the better. The truth isÉeducation can simply equip people to be more efficient vandals of the earth." Orr challenges universities to rethink "what institutional success means at a time when the entire human enterprise is in jeopardy." Orr's lecture is part of a two-day visit that coincides with the announcement of the recent endowment of the Jack Rawlins Ecology and Conservation Awards. The awards support Orr's visit as part of a new environmental literacy lecture series. In addition, the awards endow a new faculty position, Professor of Environmental Literacy. Roger Lederer, director of the Bidwell Environmental Institute, is the first professor to fill the position. Stemen and Orr will conduct a special tour and formal opening of the Outdoor Classroom for K-12 students at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15 at the Honey Run Unit of the Butte Creek Ecological Preserve. The tour will feature the field observatory and 10 field stations connected by trails. The 93-acre preserve lies along Butte Creek between the Covered Bridge and Skyway overpass. The public is welcome at both the lecture and tour of the preserve. A book signing will follow the lecture. For more information, contact Greg Lavin, director of development, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, 530-898-6171. ###
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