Calendar
Civic Science: Inquiry to Action
This six-session synchronous course will delve into CELF’s Inquiry to Action Framework to enhance real-world learning in your school community and engage student learning through inquiry, place and action. You will join a multi-state cohort of 5th-12th grade educators, developing and building upon place-based projects and exploring environmental pathways, such as water, biodiversity and air. This program is designed to support educators at any point in their civic science journey providing the opportunity for students to become civic scientists, equipped to confront 21st-century challenges.
Seaside Chats is an annual speaker series about ocean topics associated with Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and the Gulf of Mexico. These presentations take place on Wednesday evenings in February, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. (Central Time)
Civic Science: Inquiry to Action
This six-session synchronous course will delve into CELF’s Inquiry to Action Framework to enhance real-world learning in your school community and engage student learning through inquiry, place and action. You will join a multi-state cohort of 5th-12th grade educators, developing and building upon place-based projects and exploring environmental pathways, such as water, biodiversity and air. This program is designed to support educators at any point in their civic science journey providing the opportunity for students to become civic scientists, equipped to confront 21st-century challenges.
Prepared Air
Join Rice University for a conversation with Salmaan Craig, assistant professor of Architecture at McGill University, who studies turning biogenic building materials into heat-exchangers, Rafael Beneytez-Durán, associate professor and of Architecture at the University of Houston and an expert on “Atmosphere as Form in Architecture,” and Heather Davis, assistant professor of Culture and Media at The New School, where she her recent work has examined plastic saturation and materiality. Joseph Campana, the William Shakespeare Professor of English and director of Rice’s Center for Environmental Studies, and Liz Galvez, visiting critic at Rice’s Department of Architecture, will moderate.
Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church in Houston invites you to a monthly environmental education web meeting series whose theme in 2022 is Planet Earth & You. In February, join Jim Blackburn, Professor in the Practice in Environmental Law at Rice University, who will discuss his new book, Earth Church, which he co-authored with artist Isabelle Scurry Chapman. Earth Church is a book about Earth-based spirituality, a subject that will become much more prominent in a future defined by a changing climate and the creation of a new economic system that is circular rather than linear. At the center of Earth-based spirituality is the Earth itself, that wonderful planet without which we would not be. Blackburn will weave a narrative around the poetry and art of Earth-based spirituality. Time for interactive Q&A with the speaker will be provided.
The Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston invites you to celebrate Earth Day/Month by joining our team for the online Earth Month EcoChallenge. This EcoChallenge focuses on the sustainable development goals of the United Nations, with categories of: basic needs & security, health & equity, education & livelihood, economy & communities and climate & ecosystems. You pick your challenges to complete during the month – to build a new sustainable habit, learn about an environmental issue, advocate for eco-justice, volunteer or spend more time in nature (among the many, many choices). Join the Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston team & we’ll support each other along the journey. To sign up or to learn more, go to https://earthmonth.ecochallenge.org/. Questions? – Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com.
You are invited to join an online discussion series built around 15-minute videos featuring interviews with US faith leaders, representatives of climate-impacted communities from the global South, and presentations by UN officials and other experts. The videos walk viewers through four key climate policy issues that intersect with universal faith concerns for vulnerable and marginalized people. The series focuses on how climate change is impacting the core ministries of faith communities around the world, how those impacts will increase in the future, and why these impacts create an imperative for people of faith to advocate for strong US climate action.  A discussion guide is included that asks participants to think deeply about how their own local faith community’s direct service programs intersect with climate impacts, and how knowledge and experiences gained through these programs might help to inform climate policy. The study’s Action Center provides practical, step-by-step instructions for advocacy activities, as well as recommended policy asks for local, state, and national leaders.  Join us! Please register on www.eventbrite.com at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-path-of-hope-a-study-on-climate-action-for-faith-communities-tickets-273103288287. Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com for more information.
Calling people of all faiths or no faith at all in Houston to care for our shared environment in observance of Earth Day/Month!  We will engage in hands-on environmental stewardship at the Willow Waterhole Conservation Reserve. This event will offer activities for all ages and skill. Meet at the Swartz Gazebo in the park to sign in. Metro bus line 7 stops nearby, and line 49 is not far. Tools/supplies will be provided. This event is organized by Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston, in partnership with the Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy. The conservancy requires signing of a waiver to participate. Please register for planning purposes on www.eventbrite.com at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/spring-2022-interfaith-environmental-stewardship-event-tickets-273115956177. Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com for more information.
You are invited to join an online discussion series built around 15-minute videos featuring interviews with US faith leaders, representatives of climate-impacted communities from the global South, and presentations by UN officials and other experts. The videos walk viewers through four key climate policy issues that intersect with universal faith concerns for vulnerable and marginalized people. The series focuses on how climate change is impacting the core ministries of faith communities around the world, how those impacts will increase in the future, and why these impacts create an imperative for people of faith to advocate for strong US climate action.  A discussion guide is included that asks participants to think deeply about how their own local faith community’s direct service programs intersect with climate impacts, and how knowledge and experiences gained through these programs might help to inform climate policy. The study’s Action Center provides practical, step-by-step instructions for advocacy activities, as well as recommended policy asks for local, state, and national leaders.  Join us! Please register on www.eventbrite.com at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-path-of-hope-a-study-on-climate-action-for-faith-communities-tickets-273103288287. Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com for more information.
Conservation Grants
Conservation Grants can be awarded to projects anywhere in Texas. In its first 25 years the Birding Classic has donated $1,071,000 in conservation funding to nature tourism and avian habitat restoration, enhancement, and acquisition projects throughout the state!
Number of grants awarded (and their amounts) are determined based on team registration fees (independent and sponsored) and corporate sponsorship dollars collected each year. The Birding Classic is a cost-recovery event, so once minimal event costs are covered all remaining funds go to conservation grants in Texas. Organizations are not required to register a team in the Birding Classic to be eligible to submit a project proposal.
All approved projects submitted by the May 1st deadline will be provided to winning Birding Classic teams to select which projects are funded by Conservation Grants.