Speakers' Bureau Speakers

Speakers' Bureau Confirmed Speakers

Ken Barnard, Professor, Aviation, KSU-Salina,
   Topics:
      • Environmental Ethics: Decision Making in Uncertain Times
      • Galaxy Gamble: An Interactive game to reduce your carbon
                 footprint
      • Climate Change: Are You Ready?
      • Why Sustainability Matters

Ken Barnard received his Bachelor of Science degree at Kansas State University, Master of Science degree at Pittsburg State University, and a Doctorate degree at Oklahoma State University in Aviation and Space. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Army. Holds Federal Aviation Administration Airline Transport Ratings, Certified Flight Instructor in Airplanes and Helicopters is an Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic. He has many awards to include the Marchbanks Memorial award for Teaching Excellence at the university level, Wakonse Fellow for teaching innovation, the Kansas Governors Aviation Honor award, and the William Weatley award for Teaching Excellence and Contributions to Aviation Education at the National level. He is a lecturer of the President Lecture Series at Kansas State University on Climate Change. He has attended training at The Climate Project with scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He currently teaches Aviation Meteorology at K-State Salina.

Terrie Boguski, CHSR and Harmony Environmental
    Topic: Developing Greenhouse Gas Inventories

This presentation gives an overview of how a greenhouse gas inventory is completed. The presentation covers the questions:
      • What are greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions?
      • Why do we want to estimate GHG emissions?
      • How are GHG emissions estimated?

Websites to learn more about GHG inventories:

EPA Climate Leaders, http://www.epa.gov/climateleaders/
GHG Protocol, http://www.ghgprotocol.org/

For more information about Harmony Environmental, please click here.

Tonya Bronleewe, Extension Service
    Topics:
      • Everyday Living Green
      • Taking Children Outside

Ben Champion, Director of Sustainability, Assistant Professor
    of Geography, KSU

   Topics:
      • Universities and the Sustainability Movement
      • K-State Efforts in Sustainability
      • Past, Present, and Future of the Local Foods Movement
      • Struggles of Food Systems Organizing from the Ground Up:
              Farming, Distributing, Retailing, and Eating

Ben Champion, a 2002 Kansas State University graduate and Rhodes scholar, was appointed in June 2008 as K-State's first director of sustainability. His job is developing a university-wide approach for addressing sustainability at K-State. Champion provides leadership and oversight to existing initiatives, such as campus recycling and construction of green buildings on campus, and he also identifies opportunities for new initiatives, helps develop curriculum, facilitates interdisciplinary research, works with students, and engages the broader community in areas where K-State can be a leader in terms of sustainability. Read more about sustainability at K-State at http://sustainability.k-state.edu/.

Barry M. Dicker, President, Decent Energy, Inc.
   Topics:
      • Getting the Results We Want: Integrating Energy Efficiency
              Measures and Renewable Energy Systems
      • Commercializing Green Innovations Here In the Heartland:
              Opportunities and Obstacles

Barry Dicker is founder and President of Decent, Energy, Inc., an energy efficiency and renewable energy company based in Leawood, KS. Barry brings a blend of local market conditions in the efficiency and renewable energy industries along with a national commercial and policy context. Barry is certified as a Building Analyst I, by the Building Performance Institute, and as a Missouri Certified Home Energy Auditor. He has also earned the designation of Certified Licensing Professional sm for his work in technology and intellectual property commercialization, licensing and transfer. An attorney by background, Barry spent 15 years in legal practice with an emphasis on technology commercialization, early stage financing, and mergers and acquisitions. He is a member of E2: Environmental Entrepreneurs, a group of business people that regards strong environmental policy as the underpinning for strong economic growth, www.e2.org. E2 is partnered with the National Resources Defense Council, www.nrdc.org. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Heartland Renewable Energy Society, www.heartlandrenewable.org.

Larry Erickson, Professor and Director, Chemical Engineering, KSU
    Specific research areas include: Biochemical Engineering; Biological Waste Treatment; Process Design and Synthesis; Transport Theory; Environmental Engineering; Bioremediation; Food Engineering; Reaction Engineering; Sustainability; Phytotechnologies

Larry Erickson is the Director of the Center for Hazardous Substance Research (CHSR), and Professor of Chemical Engineering at Kansas State University. As director, he oversees national environmental remediation research, technology transfer, and outreach programs. Under his direction, the Center has provided long- and short-term environmental research related to key hazardous substance problems. These include soil and ground water remediation, waste minimization and pollution prevention associated with agriculture, forestry; mining and mineral processing with emphasis is on contaminated soil remediation. Significant advances in techniques for the remediation of contaminated soil developed through Erickson's research have resulted in cost savings at many field sites, including some in Kansas. In addition, Dr. Erickson successfully creates and leads multidisciplinary research teams of faculty, students, and industry collaborators. He has been a key leader of a Department of Defense program which performs basic and applied research to develop new, environmentally acceptable, sustainable technologies that give our military forces the advantage in urban operations.

Lisa Harrington, Professor, Geography, KSU
   Topic: Introduction to Sustainability Concepts

John Harrington, Jr., Professor, Geography, KSU
   Topic: Natural and Human-induced Climate Change

Rhonda Janke, Associate Professor - Horticulture, Forestry & |
    Recreation, KSU

    Topic: Local food

Ruth Miller, Electrical and Computer Engineering, KSU
    Topic: Wind Energy

Ruth Douglas Miller directs the Kansas Wind Applications Center, which provides instruction in wind and solar energy technologies and system design to engineering students at KSU. It also oversees the Wind for Schools program in Kansas, which helps K-12 schools in the state install small wind turbines for educational purposes. Dr Miller will provide an overview of the progress of wind energy in the country and state in general, and/or a how-to tutorial on installing your own wind turbine for electricity generation.

For more information on Dr. Miller and wind energy, please visit www.ece.ksu.edu/~rdmiller and www.ece.ksu.edu/psg/wac

Jim Steichen, NILMT, Bio and Ag Engineering, KSU
    Topics:  
      • Land sustainability
      • Water sustainability

Mike Steinke, Wind Energy Consulting and Contracting
    Topic: Wind Energy