The University of Michigan is commemorating the 50 year anniversary of Earth Day with “Earth Day at 50”. Earth Day at 50 is a special year dedicated to bringing the U-M campus and community partners together to explore the impact we are currently making on sustainability and how we can rise to the challenge of creating a better future for our planet. To find out more information about Earth Day at 50, visit Earth Day at 50 (including how it came to be that the University of Michigan was the very first group to hold an Earth Day)!

One of the highlights of Earth Day at 50 is the College of Literature Science and the Arts  “Great Lakes Theme Semester: Lake Effects”. The Winter 2020 Great Lakes Theme Semester will feature theme-related activities in departments and units, in addition to speakers, films, exhibits, colloquia, and place-based experiential learning events open to the public. 

“Through courses, films, panels, exhibits, field trips, and other events, "Lake Effects" will encourage interdisciplinary exploration of how the environmental, political, and social issues facing our region have long been shaped by the Great Lakes, and how human activities continue to impact them in turn.”

Find more information about this semester’s theme and events at: Great Lakes Theme Semester | UM LSA Great Lakes Theme Semester

In conjunction with these events, Complex Systems will have two seminars as part of our Complex Systems Seminar series, with themes around sustainability and the Great Lakes:

 

 

Thursday, January 30 11:30am-1:00pm - William S. Currie from the School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan will present “Using a wetland community-ecosystem model to explore ecosystem interactions and dynamics from a perspective of complex adaptive systems”.

 

 

Tuesday, February 4, 11:30am-1:00pm - Kailin Kroetz, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, will present  “Human and Ecological System Characteristics Influence Gains from Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management”