Fri 9/10 @ 9AM-5PM
Each year, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History hosts its day-long Conservation Symposium for those who want to do a deeper dive into protecting our environment.
This year’s theme is “Listening to the Land.” The event opens at 9am with remarks from CMNH’s president/CEO Sonia Winner. During the day, attendees will hear from speakers, including environmental activists, educators, artists and authors representing diverse organizations and ideas who’ll talk about the work they’re doing. Topics range from building a better food system to connecting undergrads with nature to crayfish conservation to using dredged material from the Cuyahoga for “beneficial use,” such as the creation of the Lakefront Nature Preserve.
Keynote speakers include Geo Rutherford, who recently did a program with CMNH and returns to talk about her Great Lakes-connected art; naturalist Dr. Drew Lanham, author of The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature’ and science journalist Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction.
The day also includes Q&A sessions where attendees can learn what other communities are doing to advance conservation efforts and make them more inclusive, to bring ideas back to their own communities. This symposium isn’t just for those who are already deeply engaged with conservation.
As CMNH’s Manager of Public Engagement Allison Grazia says, “This year’s Conservation Symposium will open the doors to people who perhaps have zero experience with conservation, or don’t know where to begin. These speakers — who are very in tune with listening to the land in their own ways — all have relatable approaches to environmental advocacy.”
People can attend Conservation Symposium in person and virtually and in-person attendees also have the option to purchase a lunch from CMNH’s Exploration: A Zack Bruell Restaurant. Ticket range from $25-$65. There is also a series of Saturday field trips, which can be purchased separately from the Symposium.
To see the full program and buy tickets, go to CMNH.org/Conservation-Symposium-2021.