John Francis, an environmental activist known as the “Planetwalker,” will lecture as a part of the Denison Goodspeed Series at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 28, in the Barney-Davis Hall Board Room (200 West Loop). Francis’ discussion on “Redefining Environment” is free and open to the public.

In his lecture, Francis will discuss how the current environmental crisis mirrors worldwide social and economic injustice. In order to face this environmental problem, he maintains that people must realize that their connection to the earth and each other is the core of this crisis.

After witnessing a San Francisco Bay oil spill in 1971, Francis gave up the use of motor vehicles due to a feeling of responsibility for the gruesome event, and he took a vow of silence six months later to demonstrate his personal resolve. His vehicle-free lifestyle lasted 22 years and his silence 17 years. During that time, Francis walked across the United States, founding Planetwalk, a nonprofit environmental awareness organization, earning a bachelor’s of science from Southern Oregon State College, a master’s in environmental studies from the University of Montana-Missoula, and a doctorate in land resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In 1991, Francis was appointed the United Nations Environmental Program’s Goodwill Ambassador to the World’s Grassroots Communities, through which he worked to raise awareness of environmental issues. Recently, Francis began studying organic agriculture and sustainable development while walking across Cuba. He has started to develop “Planetlines,” an environmental education curriculum based on his walking pilgrimages, for high school, college and civic organizations.

CALENDER LISTING: Denison University, Granville — Goodspeed Lecture Series: environmental activist John Francis, the “Planetwalker,” lecture “Redefining Environment” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 28, in the Barney-Davis Hall Board Room (200 West Loop). Free and open to the public. For more information, contact 740-587-6763, or visit www.planetwalker.org.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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