All lectures are 7–8 p.m. in the Boat and Moore rooms in Maytag Student Center, free and open to the public.
Sponsored by: Academic Affairs, Faculty Development Committee
Dr. Paul Weihe, associate professor of biology
Wetland ecosystems are often considered wastelands, things to be replaced by something more useful, but they protect endangered species, clean our waters, and help fight climate change. Iowa’s wetlands are particularly valuable, but threatened. Join us for a tour of the state’s swamps, fens, sloughs, and floodplains, considering their subtle beauty, present status, and possible future.
Dr. Weihe is an associate professor of biology and chair of Central’s Biology Department. His interest areas span wetland ecosystems, ethnobotany, ecology and environmental science.
Dr. Jessica Schuring, associate professor of economics
In his Wealth of Nations (1776), Adam Smith noted the paradox that water represents: it has a significant value based on need, but relatively little value given its abundance. Economists have noted that the price of water, were its impact on others’ usage considered, would be much higher than it currently is. This phenomenon will be explored in more detail.
Dr. Schuring is an associate professor of economics, whose interests include environmental economics, health economics and the economics of discrimination.
Dr. Jeremia Njeru, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology
Water – clean water and sanitary living conditions – plays a fundamental role in community development. This discussion centers around the specific role that water resources play in economic and social development in sub-Saharan African nations, specifically Kenya.
Dr. Njeru is an assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, whose interest areas include human geography and community development.
Dr. Valerie Billing, assistant professor of English
Early modern literary texts use water metaphors as a staging ground in the struggle over how to define gender roles in a patriarchal culture ruled by a woman. Texts by and about Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned from 1558-1603, as well as plays by Shakespeare and some of his contemporaries, connect women and water. Modern ecofeminism stands to gain a significant amount by considering the impact of these early modern metaphors.
Dr. Billing is an assistant professor of English, whose interests include Shakespeare and other early modern literature, queer and gender studies, and disability studies.
Dr. Ashley Garr, assistant professor of chemistry
Water is a substance with which we are all intimately familiar: every day we’re surrounded by the water we use to cook, clean, and play. From a chemical standpoint, though, water is a highly unusual compound. Many of the features that make water a unique substance are ones we take for granted every day. However, without water’s unusual behavior, life as we know it could not exist.
Dr. Garr is an assistant professor of chemistry, whose expertise is in physical chemistry and computational chemistry.
Dr. Sara Shuger Fox, assistant professor of exercise science
Water is essential to life, yet water has become a global resource in which food consumption directly affects water demand. What would happen to consumption of water if we shifted from animal-based diets to plant-based diets? It is time to think about what is on our plate: not only how it directly correlates to our waistline, but also its implications for the planet.
Dr. Fox is an assistant professor of Exercise Science, whose specialties include sports nutrition, exercise as medicine, and electronic feedback for diet and physical activity.
