Public Events

Monday, January 26th, 5:00-6:30pm
Lindner Hall room 4350, University of Cincinnati, 2906 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati.

Sponsored by Student Government, PEWS, SEaS, the Office of Sustainability, and the Center for Entrepreneurship

Join us for the official kickoff of Sustainability @ UC Week featuring keynote remarks from Kim Polman, a screening of the Imaginal Cells short film, and a fireside conversation exploring values, leadership, and systems change. The evening invites participants to reflect on how our choices—what we do, why we do it, and who we do it for—shape our communities and the wider world. A book signing will follow.

Wednesday, January 28th, 12:30-2:00pm
Aronoff Center room 3430, College of DAAP, 342 Clifton Ct, Cincinnati.

Sponsored by PEWS

Join Evan Walker, World Wildlife Fund US Director of Corporate Engagement, for a talk about his work around the US to bring sustainability to Fortune 500 Companies.

Evan Walker is Director of Corporate Engagement at World Wildlife Fund (WWF) where he works with business leaders to advance sustainability, fund global conservation, and inspire people to protect places and save species. Prior to joining WWF in 2012, Evan received a Master of Science degree in the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, with a specialization in Conservation Leadership, from Colorado State University and Mexico’s El Colegio De La Frontera Sur. He began his conservation career at The Nature Conservancy. In his spare time, Evan leads the Cincinnati Skatepark Project and serves on the board of Groundwork Ohio River Valley.

Thursday, January 29th, 5:00-6:30pm
Clifton Court Hall Lobby/Atrium, University of Cincinnati, 2800 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati

Sponsored by the Office of Sustainability and PEWS

Check out student research on sustainability from a variety of disciplines, and network with community organizations working on sustainability around Cincinnati. Open to all!

Reception included!

Sponsored by PEWS and the Office of Sustainability.

Thursday, January 29th, 6:30-7:15pm
Clifton Court Hall 1170, University of Cincinnati, 2800 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati

Sponsored by the Office of Sustainability

Motivating the UC community to foster a culture of sustainability while advancing academic excellence, urban impact, and innovation. Awards will be given for each of the following categories: student, teaching/service (faculty), staff, and research.

Come early to enjoy the reception and student poster session/community tabling event, and then stay for the public keynote afterwards!

Thursday, January 29th, 7:30-9:00pm
Clifton Court Hall 1170, University of Cincinnati, 2800 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati

Sponsored by the SEaS and PEWS

Join us for the Sustainability@UC Week 2026 Public Keynote by Dr. Teresa Mares: Biting the Hands that Feed US: Labor and Social Sustainability in the Food System

Talk Description: Consumers are increasingly concerned with what goes into their food and are demanding a healthier and more ecologically focused food system. However, labor is rarely part of the so-called sustainable food discussion. This talk examines the legal, social, and political contexts of labor in the food system, highlighting themes of migration, agrarian exceptionalism, and racial and gendered inequality. Stretching from dairy farms in Vermont to superstores around the country, today’s food and farmworkers are on the frontlines. Given that their work is essential to a sustainable food system, what will it take to bring dignity to their lives and labor?

Bio: Teresa Mares is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Vermont, where she has been a faculty member since 2011. She is also affiliated faculty with the Graduate Program in Food Systems. For the past two decades, Dr. Mares has been conducting ethnographic research on topics related to food security, immigration, labor, and food justice, both in the Pacific Northwest and in New England. She is the author of Life on the Other Border: Farmworkers and Food Justice in Vermont (UC Press 2019) and co-author of Will Work for Food: Labor Across the Food Chain (UC Press 2025). 

Friday, January 30th, 4:30-6:00pm
Clifton Court Hall 1170, University of Cincinnati, 2800 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati

Sponsored by SEAS.

Wrap up Sustainabiltiy@UC week with a screening of a 60-minute documentary and talk with director Ella Marcil. Popcorn and snacks! 

“When Silence Becomes The Song” is a documentary following a determined film student as she teams up with passionate biologists and conservation videographers on a journey across the remote and rain-soaked Alakaʻi Plateau in search of the ʻAkikiki, a critically endangered forest bird found solely in the mountains of Kauaʻi.

Director bio: Emmanuella (Ella) Marcil is a student at The University of Cincinnati. She grew up on the island of Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi, where she developed an appreciation for community and conservation work. She is an extremely passionate storyteller, with an interest in digital media. Once out of college, Ella aspires to write and produce web/television shows and films for audiences of all ages.

Saturday, January 31st, 12:15-2:00pm
Meet at Sitwell’s Coffehouse, 324 Ludlow Ave, Cincinnati, OH

Sponsored by SEaS and Taft Floats

Please note: Given the temperature outlook, alternative (indoor) programming will be available during this time period – the meet up location is the same.

Please join us for a critical walking workshop inspired by how we ‘float’, ‘flow’ and are “carried” through space. We will use floating as a guiding concept—in how more-than-humans and other-than-humans move—taking a particular note of the local ecology. Departing from a range of movement and writing prompts, we will explore and listen to how life ‘floats’ by us, and how we float through it. We will tune into floating, spilling, and leaking sounds and/or debris/objects and collectively consider how floating might demand different forms of presence and attention across the seen and unseen.