The Spotlight Award considers architects from around the world within the first 15 years of their professional practice who have demonstrated design excellence and curiosity through their body of work. Rice Design Alliance has selected DUST as the recipient of the Spotlight Award 2019.

DUST Principals, Cade Hayes and Jesús E. Robles, Jr., will be delivering the Spotlight Lecture 2019 at The Museum of Fine Arts Brown Auditorium designed by Mies van der Rohe.

The next Going Green Sustainability Lecture, sponsored by The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N., is entitled “Pollinators: From Bees And Bats To Butterflies.” Kendall Clark, Environmental Education Specialist with The Woodlands Township and specializing in Sustainable Landscapes, will speak to the group about the importance of pollination and pollinators and the Woodlands Township’s new program to become a Monarch Champion City as recognized by the National Wildlife Federation. For more details, visit thewoodlandsgreen.org.

Those who attend will also enjoy learning about HARC’s energy and water efficient building. This event is free and open to the public.

The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N. is sponsoring a Going Green Sustainability Lecture “Texas Forest Pests; Some Old and Some New”. Allen Smith, Forest Health Coordinator for East Texas for the Texas Forest Service, will speak to the group about the common threats to forest health in Texas and the region, as well as updating the group on the new threat to Ash and other tree species from the Emerald Ash Borer. For more information, visit www.thewoodlandsgreen.org/lectures.

On April 25, 2019, beginning at at 7 p.m., The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N. is sponsoring a Going Green Sustainability Lecture by Mary Anne Weber, education director for Houston Audubon’s Raptor and Education Center, titled “Enraptured by Raptors: What Would We Do Without Them,” at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), 8801 Gosling Road, The Woodlands. Weber will discuss the environmental benefits of these magnificent birds and the dangers they face in an urban and suburban setting. For more information, visit thewoodlandsgreen.org.

Environment for the Americas coordinates World Migratory Bird Day in North and South America to increase awareness and promote the conservation of migratory birds that we share across borders. Armand Bayou Nature Center will host a full day celebration dedicated to WMBD, featuring 3 Events for you to choose from.

1. Fun-filled Family Event (12-4 p.m.)
   • Lectures, games, and demos
   • Advance tickets available, no reservation required
2. Guided Morning Birding Hike (7-9 a.m.)
   • 1.5-mile hike
   • Reservations required (limited)
3. Behind The Scenes at the Rookery (9:30-11:30 a.m.)
   • Watch herons, egrets, ibis, spoonbills, and anhingas
   • Reservations required (limited)

The AIA Historic Resources committee welcomes Michael Kubo, PhD, Asst. Prof. of architectural history and theory at UofH College of Architecture & Design, to present Concrete & Steel: Reimagining the Modern, Thu, May 30, 6:00pm at Café Brasil. Register here.

Experts are alarmed that climate disruption could collapse our global civilization. In July 2018, U. K. sustainability professor Jem Bendell published the academic paper “Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy”. In it, he predicts the “near-term collapse in society with serious ramifications for the lives of readers”. He asks us to shift our focus to Deep Adaptation, that is, resilience, relinquishment, restoration and reconciliation.

Our speaker, Tim Mock, will summarize this academic paper.

Citizens took Bendell’s warning seriously. They dowloaded his paper 500,000 times. A growing movement of visionaries have repeated the call to action. In April, David Attenborough said in a special BBC TV program “… if we have not taken dramatic action within the next decade we could face irreversible damage to the natural world and the collapse of our societies. … if we better understand the threat we face, the more likely it is that we can avoid such a catastrophic future.”

In May, Australian experts issued a similar paper “Existential climate-related security risk”. They predict collapse of agriculture in the tropics and a billion climate refugees. They warn that unless we take serious action in the next decade, there’s a good chance society could collapse as soon as 2050.

On May 1, the UK Parliament declared an environmental and climate emergency. On June 14, Pope Francis declared a climate emergency.

The cloud of collapse has a silver lining. Only twice since 1970 have emissions dropped: the 1990 collapse of the Soviet Union and the near-collapse of the global economy in 2008.

The future is calling us to greatness says Reverend Michael Dowd.

Visit their website to register for this event.

Jacob Martin, greenhouse manager at Mercer Botanic Gardens and owner of Old School Produce, will teach participants how to preserve tropical plants in your garden over the wintertime. He will demonstrate how to cut and cover large tropicals and give tips for storing smaller plants when the temperatures drop.

Lunch Bunch is recommended for ages 12+. Bring lunch and enjoy this gardening presentation. Call Mercer Botanic Gardens at 713-274-4160 to make a reservation or receive more information

A principal creator of the climate movement, Bill McKibben returns to The Progressive Forum on the eve of worldwide climate demonstrations scheduled in September, while the City of Houston develops its Climate Action Plan for year-end. Furthering the importance of the event, McKibben will be joined onstage by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner for a brief Q&A on climate change and planning at the local level.

McKibben is the co-founder of 350.org, the first organization to launch a planet-wide movement including 20,000 rallies held in every country except North Korea, while spearheading the fast-growing fossil fuel divestment movement. Foreign Policy magazine named him to its inaugural list of the world’s most important global thinkers. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science and the recipient of the Right Livelihood Prize, called the “alternative Nobel,” as well as the Gandhi Prize and the Thomas Merton Prize. He wrote the first book for a general audience on climate change, The End of Nature, in 1989, plus a dozen other books. In May, he published Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? He is the Schuman Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College in Vermont.

Books will be on sale at the event, and McKibben will sign books and greet fans at the end of the evening

Three levels of ticket prices. A $150 ticket includes a private speaker reception and reserve seating near the front. $70 and $45 general admission.