Leading Environmental Activist Bill McKibben to Speak at SUNY Canton

CANTON, NY (03/18/2015)(readMedia)-- Bestselling author and climate change pioneer Bill McKibben will discuss the consequences of global warming at 6:30 p.m., April 1, in SUNY Canton's Convocation, Athletic and Recreation Center. The event is free and open to the public.

McKibben has been on the forefront of environmental activism since the 1980s when his book "The End of Nature" brought the issue of global warming to the forefront of America's consciousness. Since then, the book has been translated into 24 languages and has earned McKibben a place as a foremost authority on climate change.

The event is cosponsored by the SUNY Canton Sustainability Lecture Series and the SUNY Canton Living Writers Series.

"Bill McKibben is one of the most predominant voices regarding greenhouse gases and climate change; his efforts at raising social awareness and political action go back thirty years," said SUNY Canton Associate Professor Matthew J. Burnett, who created the Sustainability Lecture Series. "His dedication to international well-being is a model for us all."

SUNY Canton Assistant Professor Phil K. LaMarche, who created the Living Writers Series, added, "We are pleased to welcome Bill McKibben to SUNY Canton. His message on the pressing issue of climate change is one we all need to hear."

Hailed by the Boston Globe as "probably the nation's most important environmentalist," McKibben is the founder of a massive grassroots climate change initiative, 350.org, which most notably led the charge against the Keystone XL oil pipeline. This campaign culminated in one of the largest U.S. acts of civil disobedience in thirty years with a protest against the pipeline in front of the White House.

McKibben is a recipient of the Gandhi Prize and Thomas Merton Award and holds honorary degrees from 18 colleges and universities. He has appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman," "Real Time with Bill Maher" and "The Colbert Report."

He has authored more than a dozen books and is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones and Rolling Stone, among others.

McKibben resides in Vermont and is a Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College. His most recent book, "Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist," is a memoir about his personal crusade to build and preserve a sustainable planet.

For more information about the event, visit http://www.canton.edu/writers/.

About SUNY Canton

SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses, as well as ten exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 14 athletic teams compete as provisional members of the NCAA Division III and the USCAA.

-www.canton.edu-