HCC holds second annual WNC Environmental Summit event

Press release from Haywood Community College:  

Haywood Community College will welcome multiple speakers, guests, and partners to campus on Friday, March 21, for the WNC Environmental Summit.

The WNC Environmental Summit will provide educational opportunities for regional groups to come together, share ideas, encourage each other, and take action to make a difference. Community leaders, experts, agencies, and partners will share expertise related to WNC environmental topics. The conference is designed for adults and youth, offering opportunities for everyone to share ideas and connect.

This conference will inspire hope to take action through various presentations and workshops. Programs will feature local youth action leaders, community leaders, and scientists. Special youth-led sessions will allow middle and high school students to collaborate and discover ways to step up as leaders.

The event will also include science speakers participating in two panels discussing fish and wildlife conservation and change and Resilience in WNC’s waterways and over 20 community partners in attendance teaching attendees in hands-on workshops and booth displays.

Topics at the conference include but are not limited to:

• Bridging Worlds: Ecology, Culture, and the Future of Conservation
• Environmental hope, health, and well-being
• Backyard Forestry/Invasives/Sustainable Gardens
• Wildlife Corridors and Bearwise
• Conservation of WNC’s natural and cultural resources
• Stream Ecology and Ecosystem Restoration
• Flooding impacts and resiliency in WNC
• Energy Conservation
• Pollinator Gardens
• Invasive Species Impacts
• Air Quality
• Art and Science Communication
• Waste, Recycling and Composting

The Environmental Summit will feature two keynote speakers. Dr. Caleb Hickman, a proud citizen of the Cherokee Nation, found his love for nature amidst the oak-hickory forests, lakes, and clear creeks in northeastern Oklahoma, where he was born and raised. His lifelong passion for understanding and preserving the natural world has led him from mountaintops to deserts, studying various ecosystems and organisms. As a supervisory biologist for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, he works with all wildlife, fish, and their ecosystems. He strives to reconnect with Cherokee lifeways through the natural world and wants to inspire others to deepen their connection to their native environment.

Amber Allen, Noquisi Initiative, Project Coordinator, grew up in the mountains of Leicester, NC. Throughout her childhood, she learned a lot about Cherokee and Appalachian traditions. She graduated CLMAP (Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program) in the Summer of 2023. Throughout her time in CLMAP, she also wanted to be more involved in conservation efforts of native plants and the land, especially traditional basket materials. She has participated in many conservation efforts, including blood root and rivercane. Amber is dedicated to revitalizing and preserving her language, culture, and the land she’s lived on her entire life. She wants her children and future generations to experience and learn the importance of these conservation efforts and hopes they will continue for generations to come.

This event will be held on the campus of Haywood Community College from 9am – 2pm on Friday, March 21. The conference is free to attend, with Ben’s Backdraft food truck available for lunch purchase, or attendees can bring their own lunch. For full details, to RSVP and view the conference schedule, please visit haywood.edu/events/summit. This event would not be possible without the generous support of the community, the HCC Foundation, The Smoky Mountains STEM Collaborative, the Barnes-Berry Family Trust, and The Sand Castle Foundation.