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Dr. Keith Kisselle will keynote the seventh annual Earth Day Texoma on April 25 with a talk titled “Climate Change: a Challenge for Our Time.”
He will be speaking in the Sherman Municipal Building ballroom at 11-12 a.m. that day.
An associate professor of biology and the academic chair of environmental studies at Austin College, Kisselle will address common questions about climate change and effects it is having on plant life and wildlife in the Texoma area. He will also discuss ways that ordinary citizens can prepare for and help address climate change.
“Learning Green” is the theme of this year’s festival, which runs 8:30-5:00 on the Sherman Municipal Building grounds, 405 N. Rusk.
Festival activities for the entire family include informative workshops, varied musical entertainment, art shows featuring artists of all ages, vendors of ecology-related products, and recycling opportunities for used items ranging from electronic waste to greeting cards to plastics and Styrofoam.
Dr. Kisselle has been at Austin College for 12 years, teaching Ecosystem Ecology, Fundamentals of Environmental Studies, and Globalization, among other courses.
Currently, he is researching nutrient cycling and the soil microbial community associated with prairie restoration in North Texas. He earlier did research with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, focusing on how land use changes and climate change affected Brazilian grasslands.
Registration forms for sponsors, vendors, art-show entrants, entertainers, and ecology-related workshop proposals are at http://earthdaytexoma.org.
Six levels of sponsorship by businesses or individuals range from Recycler at $150 to Stewardship at $5,000.
Rental fee for food and other regular vendors, for a 12’x12’ space, is $50 until April 1, then $75. Booths for non-profits (offering information only) cost $25 before April 1, $50 after that.
Deadline for workshop suggestions and art-show entries is April 19.
Questions about sponsorship or booth rental should be directed to festival chair Amy Hoffman-Shehan at amychs@cableone.net or 903-821-8198.