Faith AND Science: Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship

Goals of the Event:

1)  Define the problem of climate change and discuss the interplay between faith and science.

2)  Explore the Vatican document Laudate Se, its origins, and its meaning for us.

3)  Discuss the Church’s role in as an institution with climate change and environmental sustainability.

Most of us can agree that as stewards of the Earth, we have a responsibility in protecting it.  The discussions surrounding potential solutions often became energized and leave people feeling frustrated.

The ITE Project is hosting its first faith AND science workshop to ask the really hard questions and talk about the uncomfortable aspects regarding our role in creation.

To do this well, we have found experts to guide us through these discussions whose profiles can be discovered below.

There will also be a panel discussion after the presentations where professionals will help debrief the audience on what it has heard, coordinate questions from the audience, and facilitate balanced discussions between the speakers.  Also joining the panel will be the Summit County Metro Parks to help give a local perspective on what we can do and change in our every day to affect our future.

*RSVP required for planning purposes*

This is not a young-adult-only event.  This event is open to all who are concerned for our environment and wish to participate in healthy discussions about it.

Background of the Presenters

From OSU’s website:

Dr. Greg Hitzhusen is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University (OSU); he was the founding Director and now serves as Board Chair of Ohio Interfaith Power and Light. His work and research center on the intersection of faith and the environment and on developing partnerships between scientific and faith communities; his teaching focuses on religion and ecology, environmental communications, and community sustainability projects.

Dr. Hitzhusen sits on the President and Provost’s Council on Sustainability, serves as Faculty Fellow for the Environment and Natural Resources Scholars program, and advises Students for a Sustainable Campus and the Au Sable Graduate Fellows chapter at OSU. His students’ research on sustainability projects at Ohio State has helped to establish the Campus as a Living Laboratory project and digital archive. Dr. Hitzhusen completed his B.S. at Cornell University (biological sciences/ecology, with honors), his MDiv (eco-theology focus, cum laude) at Yale Divinity School while jointly studying at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and his PhD at Cornell focusing on environmental education and ethics in North American faith communities.  He has previously worked for the National Wildlife Federation, the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, and the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs. He is Vice-Chair of the Environmental Justice Section of the Ecological Society of America, where he coordinates the Scientists Speakers Bureau for Earth Stewardship Outreach to Faith Communities. He completed an Ironman triathlon in 2015 and lives with his wife and two sons in Worthington, Ohio.

Father Dominic Gideon:  Father Dominic Gideon is a recently ordained priest in the Diocese of Cleveland currently assigned to St. Albert the Great in North Royalton.  He grew up in Cleveland Hts, entered Borromeo Seminary out of high school, and is finishing up his theological studies at St. Mary Seminary. From his youth, Fr. Dominic has been interested in how the Catholic faith informs one’s relationship with creation and the global community. He was active in environmental and humanitarian efforts in high school, participating in Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice and organizing events such as an ecological speaker series and an ethical pop-up market. In college, he was a leader in the John Carroll Fair Trade club, advocating for a greater respect for workers and the earth in the economy. While studying at St. Mary Seminary, he put a good deal of thought and study into the theology of environmentalism and its practical application in the moral life.

Molly Burhans: Molly Burhans has experience nationally and internationally on the topic of climate change. Find out more information about her in this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Burhans

Faciliatator, Erin Buchan: Erin is a local nurse educator. In this role, she frequently creates innovative curriculum through evidence-based science and adult-learning principles for staff, and clinically debriefs real and simulated crisis situations to develop knowledge and practice growth. She brings her skill set forward to this event as a facilitator to encourage discussion on the topics.