Upcoming in

Thinking Like A River Valley: Riparian Area Conservation in an Ecological Civilization

Presentation by Jay Fish, Great Rivers Ecology Instructor and Director of Campus Honors Environmental Research Program at University of Missouri – St. Louis

Jay Fish will look at the Missouri River as an example of how our culture can transform our relationship to our rivers to move into a future of ecological healing.

The Missouri River

Time and Place

Wednesday, August 10, 2016
7:00 pm

Big A's on the Riverfront
View on map

Presentation by Jay Fish, Instructor and Director of Campus Honors Environmental Research Project (CHERP) at University of Missouri – St. Louis

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

6. p.m. Social Hour at Big A’s Restaurant
7:00 p.m. Presentation

At Big A’s Restaurant (in the back room)
308 N Main St. –  St Charles, MO
(directions below)

Presentation is FREE and open to the public!

In a recent evaluation of the Missouri River Basin, the watershed received a C on its report card.  The good news is that its riparian area ecosystems got a C+; but America’s Watershed Initiative indicated that the Missouri River Basin and its riparian ecosystems are facing significant challenges as we move forward toward a healthy river system that harmoniously serves people, communities, wild nature.

Jay Fish, Director of the Campus Honors Environmental Research Project (CHERP) at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, will join us for a deeper look at how we can take on this challenge and the roles we can play as watershed citizens.

The great work of changing from an industrial civilization along our great rivers to an emerging Ecological Civilization will not be accomplished by professional ecologists, river managers, or conservation agency resource managers.  The great task of bringing about an ecological civilization will need to engage a much broader section of American society.

A first task for river advocacy networks is to help people think like a river valley and develop Aldo Leopold’s ecological consciousness.  The ability to think like a river valley will enable citizen ecologists to effectively work with river managers and natural resource professionals to image how people, human communities, migrating birds, sturgeon populations, and wild ecosystems can live creatively, dynamically, and harmoniously in the Missouri River Basin.

Jay Fish

Jay Fish, Great Rivers Ecology Instructor at UMSL.

Jay Fish is an urban ecology and great rivers ecology instructor at the Pierre Laclede Honors College and Office of Academic Innovation, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Missouri – St. Louis.  He directs the Campus Honors Environmental Research Project – an umbrella organization to integrate undergraduate student inquiry projects and citizen science and environmental activism with the rewilding of UMSL’s campus and sustainability efforts.
Doctoral student: Experiential and environmental education, College of Education, UMSL.

Directions

To Big A’s on the Riverfront, our host for the Speaker Series.

To get there from I-70

  • Take I-70 to exit 229B – the 5th St. Exit
  • Merge onto 5th St. headed north toward St. Charles.
  • After about 1 mile, turn right on Monroe St.
  • Turn left onto N. Main St.
  • Big A’s will be on your right (308 N. Main St.) Additional parking is available in the rear.
  • View on Google Maps.

ARTICLE – “CHERP helps to make UMSL campus greener” – by Anna Glushko, The Current, April 28, 2014

Sites That Jay Recommends

Here’s a few sites Jay recommends for deeper thinking and reading on the Ecological Civilization movement, urban rewilding and a deeper relationship between our culture and the world we share.

  • Pando Populus – “a platform for people who care about big ideas and the Earth”.
  • Earth Charter Initiative – “The mission of Earth Charter International is to actively participate, in a systemic and integrated way, in the present transition to sustainable ways of living on the planet, founded on a shared ethical framework that includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, social and economic justice, democracy, and a culture of peace.
  • Emerging Earth Community
  • The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale – a deep conversation weaving the histories of religious and ecological thought.

Big Muddy Speaker Series in St. Charles

is hosted by these wonderful partners:

All speakers are presenting for free and Big A’s is sharing the space for free! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with all of us!

The Big Muddy Speaker Series also takes place monthly in Rocheport and Kansas City.

A special thank you to Greg Poleski and Mike Garvey of Greenway Network for making this happen!