The examination of how human populations are displaced around the world by climate change is the topic of an upcoming symposium at Utah Valley University, to be held Friday, March 3, in the Fulton Library.

The 28th annual David R. Keller Environmental Ethics Symposium is titled “Climate Refugees: A new Era of Environmental Migrants” and will begin at 9 a.m. in the library lecture hall. The effort is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Ethics and the College of Science and Health at UVU.

“The human impact of climate change is already being felt around the globe,” said Brian Birch, director of the Center for the Study of Ethics. “This event is an effort to identify some of the key challenges and provide students the opportunity to engage these issues through healthy and productive dialogue.”

Birch said sessions will feature a variety of scholars and activists, including Phil Sutter, vice president of TANGO International, a global consulting firm for non-governmental non-profit organizations, who will present on “Developing Resistance to Climate Change.” Other sessions address topics such as sea level rise, the displacement of South Pacific coastal populations, and issues concerning the definition of a refugee.

“The phenomenon of climate change challenges us to think carefully about a variety of issues related to sustainability, immigration, globalization, cultural integration, and more,” he said.

The event concludes at 4:30 p.m. following a panel discussion on refugees hosted by UVU faculty from English, political science, and integrated studies. The symposium is named in honor of David R. Keller, who was the director of the Center for the Study of Ethics from 1999 until his passing in 2013.

For more information contact Birch at 801.863.8361 or consult the website http://www.uvu.edu/ethics/emphasis/environment/eesymposium2017.html for a complete listing of events.

Fourth region (Section 1)