Advancing Stewardship: Innovative Approaches for a Thriving Planet
Our inaugural Sabin Center conference will bring together leaders in environmental stewardship from government, academia, NGOs, and the private sector to share emerging solutions to the urgent environmental crises facing our world.
Our keynote will be delivered by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert, one of the most prominent voices on the critical environmental issues of our time. Her remarks will be delivered Thursday, October 10, at 7pm, at Wake Forest’s Scales Fine Arts Center. This keynote will be free and open to the public, though registration is required.
Register now to attend this free conference.
Free panels and talks will take place throughout the day on Thursday at the Sutton Center, including:
- 9:15am. When Working Lands Meet the Wild: Living with Wolves, from Yellowstone to the Outer Banks: An engaging exploration of the different challenges of, and responses to, human-wildlife conflict, including Brian Yablonski, CEO of PERC, a national leader in market solutions for conservation, and Dr. Liz Rutledge, VP of Wildlife Resources for the North Carolina Wildlife Federation. This panel starts at 9:15am.
- 10:45am. Public-Private Partnerships: A Conversation with Laura Daniel-Davis, Department of the Interior Acting Deputy Secretary: A moderated discussion of the positive impact public-private partnerships can have in conservation.
- 2:00pm. Transformative Approaches to Stewardship: Capacity, Community, and Collaboration Across Our World: Highlighting truly game-changing approaches to global conservation challenges, including Julie Robinson, The Nature Conservancy Belize Program Director, Dr. Luis Fernandez, Executive Director of the Center for Amazon Scientific Innovation (CINCIA), and Dr. Carol Mitchell, Principal Investigator in a groundbreaking partnership with Peru’s National Parks.
Our Thursday lunch will be held at 12:15pm, featuring Professor Gary Machlis of Clemson University, speaking on A Unified Vision of Conservation. Prof. Machlis is a former advisor to the National Park Service under President Obama, and has authored many books including 2024’s Sustainability for the Forgotten, a book Science Magazine said “should be read again and again.”
We’ll wrap up our conference Friday morning at Farrell Hall. Breakfast and networking starts at 8:30am, and then we’ll kick off our Truist Future Forward Challenge with a 10:30am Circular Economy Round Table featuring industry leaders. The ongoing challenge, developed with the support of the Truist Foundation, will feature a short course later in the term, providing students with invaluable career and professional development opportunities to connect with industry leaders, learn about sustainability career pathways, and be inspired to craft practical solutions for environmental challenges. Partnering with the School of Business and the Office of Personal & Career Development, we are working to cultivate an innovative mindset and deepen environmental awareness among students, equipping them with the critical skills required to drive sustainable change in today’s economy.
We hope you will join us in October. You can learn more and register for the conference here. And as always, feel free to email us with any questions.