PSU hosts sustainability and values conference

Scientist Philip Mote will deliver keynote speech on climate change Corie Charnley Vanguard staff Portland State will host the “Making Choices: Sustainability in a World of Conflicting Values” conference, which will feature climatologist Philip Mote as the keynote speaker. The event starts today and will run until July 25. The conference-which is the 86th annual meeting of the Society for Values in Higher Education-will include discussion groups, presentation of research papers and interactive activities, according to a press release. “The society chose ‘Sustainability in Higher Education’ as its theme for this year,” said Marvin Kaiser, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “Part of the reason for this theme was the choice of Portland and PSU for the meeting. It was an explicit recognition of PSU’s leadership in sustainability.” The SVHE is a PSU-based fellowship that includes teachers and scholars who care about the ethical issues facing higher education, according to its website. It was founded in 1923 at Yale University, Kaiser said. However, its administrative offices moved to PSU in 1996. Mote will deliver the keynote speech, titled, “Can We Solve the Climate Problem? Should We Even Try?” at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom. It will cover how scientific knowledge can be used to solve complex environmental and societal issues. The keynote speech is free to the public. Mote is the director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University, and is also renowned for his research on the impacts of climate change. According to OSU’s website, he was also a lead author for the fourth assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which received a Nobel Prize. Workshop sessions will feature several authors leading discussions about sustainability, including “Environmental Values in Higher Education,” “Planning Sustainability in the Current Political Climate” and “Theorizing Culture: Research and Sustainability.” “While several of the speakers will be sustainability leaders from PSU and Portland, it is also important to reflect on the value sets that underpin our commitment to sustainability,” Kaiser said. “The values that lead PSU and Portland to embrace sustainability will be emphasized at the conference.” Registration for the conference is $240 for non-members and $50 for Portland residents. For more information, visit www.svhe.org or call 503-725-2575.