BCC’s free Earth Week celebration April 17-21 to feature Rep. Dave Reichert and author Michael Pollan

BELLEVUE, WASH.– Bellevue Community College’s (BCC’s) seventh annual Earth Week, a free, public celebration to be held April 17 – 21, will feature Congressman Dave Reichert speaking on “Protecting the Environment, Moving Washington Forward” and author Michael Pollan on his books, The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Pollan’s Botany of Desire is this year’s book selection for both Bellevue Regional Library’s “Bellevue Reads” program and the college’s “BCC Reads” program.

The full schedule for the week includes 16 in-depth presentations by environmental experts and activists, four films on environmental topics, displays by numerous environmental organizations and an opportunity to help restore the environment in Bellevue’s Mercer Slough wetland.

BCC’s Earth Week is believed to be one of the largest environmental celebrations in the greater Seattle area this year.

All lectures and films will be presented in room 130 of the C Building (student union) on Bellevue Community College's main campus (3000 Landerholm Circle SE, Bellevue, off 148th Ave. S.E.), except for the 7 p.m. presentation by author Michael Pollan on April 19, which will be held in Carlson Theatre on BCC’s main campus.

Earth Week is organized by the BCC Student Science Association.

For more information, visit the web at http://www.scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu/rv/earthweek/ or contact Rob Viens in the BCC Science Division at rviens@bcc.ctc.edu or (425) 564-3158.

A complete schedule of BCC’s Earth Week events follows:

Monday, April 17
8:30 a.m.	Lecture: Kent Short, BCC Oceanography Instructor, “Coral Reefs: Extinct During Your Lifetime?”
9:30 a.m.	Lecture: Dr. Katherine Davies, Antioch University Center for Creative Change, “How Much Do Childhood Environmental Diseases and Disabilities Cost Washington State?”
12:30 p.m.	Lecture: David Yamaguchi, Group Health Cooperative Center for Health Studies and co-author, The Orphan Tsunami, “Saving the Planet, From Mount St. Helens to Tokyo.”
3:30 p.m.	Lecture: Angela Storey, Washington Toxics Coalition, “Health and Environmental Impacts of Urban Pesticide Use in the Puget Sound.”
Tuesday, April 18
9:30 a.m.	Lecture: Mark Storey, BCC Philosophy Instructor, “Akira Kurosawa and Taoist Environmental Ethics.”
10:30 a.m.	Lecture: Running-Grass, EPA Office of Civil Rights and Environmental Justice, “Environmental Justice.”
12:30 p.m.	Film: "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of a Low Price"
2:30 p.m.	Film: "Grizzly Man"
Wednesday, April 19
8:30 a.m.	Lecture: Bronwyn Scott, BCC Life Science Instructor, “Invasive Species: What's the Big Deal?”
9:30 a.m.	Lecture: Matt Freeman-Gleeson, Environmental Home Center, “Green Building and the Environment.”
10:30 a.m.	Lecture: Tony Paulson, U.S. Geological Survey, “Cycling of Nitrate in Lynch Cove, Hood Canal, Washington.”
11:30 a.m.	Lecture: Ken Miller, Washington Farm Forestry Association President, “Trees Are the Answer: How We Can Save and Use Our Forests at the Same Time.”
1:30 p.m.	Lecture: Ellen Sollod, artist, “Creating ‘The American Dream’" (environmentally-themed artwork temporarily installed on BCC campus).
7:00 p.m.	Lecture: Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Journalism, University of California, on his book, The Botany of Desire.
Thursday, April 20
8:30 a.m.	Lecture: Tom Barry, City of Redmond, “Local Water Issues.”
9:30 a.m.	Lecture: U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert, “Protecting the Environment, Moving Washington Forward.”
10:30 a.m.	Lecture: Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Journalism, University of California, on his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma : A Natural History of Four Meals.
11:30 a.m.	Lecture: Patty Martin, Safe Food and Fertilizer, “Toxins in Feed and Fertilizer: How Waste Recycling Puts You and Your Environment at Risk.”
12:30 p.m.	Lecture: Erick Haakenson, Jubilee Organic Farm and BCC Philosophy Instructor, “Is organic enough?”
2:30 p.m.	Film: "The Future of Food"
Friday, April 21
10:30 a.m.	Film: "Affluenza"
11:30 a.m.	Mercer Slough Wetland Restoration Project (with the City of Bellevue Stream Team & Bellevue Parks)

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