Earth Day activities scheduled for next week

Beginning Monday and continuing through Thursday, Purdue’s West Lafayette campus will hold several Earth Day activities, including the first Earth Day Soundscape Festival presented by Discovery Park and several continuing traditions such as the bike to school and Tree Campus USA events.

All events are free and open to the public. They include:

* Lectures. As a part of the Discovery Lecture Series, Rich Thorsten, director of international programs at Water.org, will present “The Value of Capital in Securing Safe Water and Sanitation Today and Tomorrow.” The lecture takes place at 7 p.m. Monday (April 20) in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. Additional details can be found here.

James Brainard, mayor of Carmel, Indiana, will speak from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday (April 22), also in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. His lecture is titled “Sustainable Communities.” Carmel recently received first place in the Climate Protection Awards from the U.S. Conference of Mayors for its roundabout program. The city was also the national runner-up of the Home Depot Awards of Excellence in Community Trees.

Brainard is a trustee and co-chair of the Energy Independence and Climate Protection Task Force for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and in November 2013, Brainard was appointed to the Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience by President Obama.

* Bike to school. Beginning at noon Wednesday (April 22), riders will meet at the “Gateway to the Future” arch west of Neil Armstrong Hall and end at the “Unfinished Block P” sculpture north of Stewart Center. A free grab-and-go lunch will be provided to all riders, but registration is required here.

* Earth Day Soundscape Festival. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday (April 22), Mann Hall’s lobby will combine science and art to celebrate the Earth’s biodiversity through sound from all over the world. The festival will feature an interactive art exhibit, mobile soundscapes of biomes displays, plein air painting and musical and dance performances.

In conjunction with the festival, Bryan Pijanowski, director of the Center for Global Soundscapes in Discovery Park, will give a lecture at 2:30 p.m. in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121.

* Tree planting. From noon to 2 p.m. Thursday (April 23) at McCutcheon Hall, students and staff will learn how to plant trees on Purdue’s campus and then break into groups to plant on their own. A free lunch will be provided to all who attend, but registration is required here.

Representatives from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana Wildlife Federation will kick off the event with a ceremonial speech and the presentation of Tree Campus USA and Indiana Wildlife Federation Conservation Education awards to the Purdue community.