| Description: | In conjunction with World Environment Day and to celebrate the opening of the new Abbotsleigh Centre for Environmental Education (ACEE), Abbotsleigh are hosting a youth environmental forum entitled “The Future is Ours”. Video conferencing technology will enable students from Australian and International schools to participate in the event. The sessions that are available, are as follows: 9.15-10am – Kylee Ingram Kylee Ingram has a long background producing and production managing live television events, sports documentaries and specialist broadcasts for national and international television. As the founder of Australian Documentaries, Kylee has spent the last six years creating documentaries for NGOs and government sector focusing on sustainability. She has a passionate commitment to leaving this world a better place and is working through the IT media to make this happen. As well as her documentary work Kylee is developing serious interactive games that take sustainability issues into real life. Kylee is giving the opening address. It will include games that she will play with the audience and she will show some of her work in game development and documentary making – all based around the issue of sustainability. 10.30-11am – Peter Rutherford “What you can do in your backyard” Peter Rutherford has been referred to as a gifted educator and has inspired thousands of people at many levels in society. For the last twelve years Peter has managed the Eco House & Garden Education Centre at Kimbriki Environmental Enterprises at Terry Hills (Sydney, Australia), teaching sustainable living skills to thousands of school children and adults. Peter has a degree in Agriculture, and a Masters Degree in Social Ecology. He is an educator of Ecological thinking, and has developed a passion for understanding the soil and the magical processes of composting, worms & microbes. Peter will be talking about sustainable living and demonstrating the sorts of things that you can do in your own backyard and school yards. 11.30-12pm – Fiona Simson “What’s it like being an activist” Fiona is a Gunnedah (Northern New South Wales, Australia) grazier with a Bachelor of Business who is a councillor on the Liverpool Plains Shire Council and vice-president of the Farmers Association’s mining task force. She has campaigned vigorously against the mining that has threatened to destroy agriculture on the Liverpool Plains. “This land is too precious to dig up” is what has driven her and she has pushed strongly for a map of the state to be drawn up that quarantines productive agricultural land. Fiona will be talking about what it’s like to be an activist. The pitfalls and problems that she has faced and how to tackle the politics that drives a lot of today’s development. 12-12.30pm - Chad Crittle “How volunteering can open opportunities for you” Chad, a 20 year old, who currently works at Cairns Tropical Zoo (Queensland, Australia), is from Roots & Shoots Foundation founded by Dr Jane Goodall. He started as a volunteer at Taronga zoo whilst at high school and now is the lead keeper of animal training at the zoo - a great example of how volunteering can set you apart from others when applying for work. Chad will be talking about the difference volunteering has made to his life and how it has helped him get his present job 2-2.45pm – Dr Jane Goodall “In the summer of 1960, 26-year-old Jane Goodall arrived on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in East Africa to study the area's wild chimpanzee population. Although at the time it was unheard of for a woman to venture into the African wilderness, Jane persisted as the trip meant the fulfillment of her childhood dream. Jane’s work in Tanzania would prove to be more successful than anyone could have possibly imagined. At first, the Gombe chimps fled whenever they noticed Jane. However, gradually the chimps allowed her to come closer and closer. In October 1960 Jane observed two chimps, David Graybeard and Goliath, striping leaves off twigs in order to make tools for fishing termites from a nest. This was a ground breaking moment for science as until that moment scientists thought that only humans were capable of making tools! "Now we must redefine tool, redefine man, or accept chimpanzees as humans." (Jane's mentor, Louis Leakey) In 1965, Jane was awarded her Ph.D in Ethology from Cambridge University. Shortly afterwards she returned to Tanzania to continue her research and establish the Gombe Stream Research Center. Information taken from http://www.janegoodall.org.au/jane-goodall The following youtube video features Dr Goodall presenting the topic ‘What separates us from the apes?’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51z7WRDjOjM This session is being hosted by Polycom. Please visit http://projects.twice.cc/?l=connections&o=open&s=9 to make a booking. |
| Dates: | Monday June 6, 2011 from 9:15-14:45 EST (Sydney time) |
| Sign up method: | Email: bennettm@abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au |
| Grades: | 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
| Subjects: | Career Education, Science (Life), Science (Physical), Science (Earth), Social Studies/History |
Megan Bennett
bennettm@abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au
Phone: 0294737817
Abbotsleigh
Time Zone: GMT+10: Eastern Russia, Sydney
Open