“Climate, Flooding, and the Economy”
The CLE is free. Lunch is $30 in advance, $40 at the door.

Jim Blackburn is a professor in the practice of environmental law in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Rice University, teaching courses in sustainable development and environmental law. Jim is an environmental lawyer and planner as well as Professor in the Practice of Environmental Law in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department where he teaches environmental law and sustainable design. He is co-director of the Severe Storm Prevention, Education and Evacuation from Disaster (SSPEED) Center at Rice and a faculty scholar at the Baker Institute and Director of the undergraduate minor in energy and water sustainability. Blackburn set aside active environmental litigation to concentrate on research and teaching and expand his planning practice through his firm, Sustainable Planning and Design. He has authored two books published by Texas A&M Press – The Book of Texas Bays, published in 2004, and A Texan Plan for the Texas Coast, published in 2017 as well as co-author with artist Isabelle Chapman of a collection of poems and art work titled “Birds: A Book of Verse and Vision”. Blackburn received the Distinguished Alumni Laureate Award from Rice University in 2018, the Good Egg Award from the International Crane Foundation for litigation to protect the endangered whooping crane in 2015, the Barbara C. Jordan Community Advocate Award from Texas Southern University in 2007 and the Robert Eckhardt Lifetime Coastal Achievement Award from the General Land Office of the State of Texas in 1998, among others. Also active in civic affairs, Blackburn was among the founders of the Trinity Edwards Springs Association (TESPA), a Texas Hill Country non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting springs and groundwater, and he also founded the Bayou City Initiative (BCI), a Houston-based NGO focused on community recovery and long-term flood protection post Harvey and serves on the board of the Matagorda Bay Foundation and The Aransas Project, two NGOs committed to protecting the Texas coast.

Meet Mercer’s volunteer coordinator and explore the many volunteer opportunities at Mercer Botanic Gardens. Our volunteers not only help beautify the gardens and further educational programs, they also gain lifelong friendships and valuable knowledge of plants and horticulture.

Lunch Bunch is a free program offered at Mercer’s East Side Gardens, recommended for participants 12 and older. Attendees should bring a lunch and dress for the weather. Registration is required for each Lunch Bunch program. For more information or to register, call 713-274-4160.

Volunteers meet the second and fourth Thursday of every month to propagate plants from locally collected native seed. A typical workday may include seeding pots, bumping up trays into 1-gallon containers, separating seedlings, and weeding pots. They will also have special seed collecting trips, invasive species removal workdays, and planting events in restored prairies.

If you’re interested in volunteering for the Natural Resource Management Program, email kelli.ondracek@houstontx.gov or visit houstontx.gov/parks/naturalresources.html.

Held on the “2nd Saturdays” of each month, they will enjoy a delicious vegan potluck and meeting, along with a discussion, film screening, food demo or speaker presentation on intersectional issues of veganism, animal rights, environmentalism, nonviolence, health and more. Each month will be something new! Their new venue is at the HCC Conference Center.

They are asking for a donation of $5 per person to help cover our facility rental expenses. All attendees must bring a vegan entree to share at the potluck (serving size to feed 10 people)!

Please remember to bring a vegan dish to share with the group! Their events are always vegan, so please only vegan or raw vegan foods (no animal-derived ingredients). Also bring reusable dinnerware and plates to keep the event earth-friendly. If you have questions on ingredients, feel free to contact them.

They will also feature a new discussion topic on inter sectional issues each month, such as: animal rights, ethical vegan living, vegan health & nutrition, cooking, world hunger solutions, eco-friendly living, nonviolence and more! Some months will also include film screenings and/or guest speakers and food demos.

Houston Community College Conference Center is located at 3100 Main St, 3rd Floor, Houston, TX 77002. See below for map. Free Parking is available on level 7 & 8 of the HCC Administration parking garage at Main & Elgin. Use elevator from parking garage to 3rd floor breezeway, which leads to the Conference suites. You must enter the building through the parking garage and not street-level.

All attendees must sign in at the Security Desk.

RSVP is appreciated for seating!

The Memorial Park Conservancy has generously offered Katy Prairie Conservancy use of their greenhouse while the Native Seed Nursery at KPC’s field office in Waller is being renovated. Volunteers will help grow plants that will be used for various Katy Prairie Conservancy spring projects and for the Great Grow Out. The Memorial Park Conservancy Greenhouse is located in Memorial Park on the south side of Memorial Drive. All are welcome, no experience necessary.

Workdays are scheduled for the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month from 9:00 a.m. to noon.