TEDxPurdueU Breakout Session: 'Confronting Our Environmental Health Risks'

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – TEDxPurdueU, Purdue's independently-organized TED conference, in partnership with the Purdue Cancer Culture and Community group, will present the Breakout Session, "Confronting Our Environment Health Risks" at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 in Fowler Hall.

The Breakout Session will feature TEDx talks by leading Purdue and Lafayette community researchers, as well as videos submitted from a student-based competition. The program aims to acknowledge, assess, and confront the complex health risks facing us all, both locally and globally. The event's speakers include:

* Leigh Raymond, professor of political science

* Daniel Aldrich, associate professor of political science

* Jason Cannon, assistant professor of toxicology

* Jennifer Freeman, associate professor of toxicology

* Sara Peel, director of Watershed Projects

"Our current season continues with this breakout session of five TED-style talks from professors and the local community. We are excited to come together with the CCC to generate a discussion on environment and health, prior to our eclectic TEDxPurdueU conference on April 11," said Christopher Soverns, TEDxPurdueU assistant director.

Following the talks, a post-event reception will be held for attendees in the attached Ringel Gallery of Stewart Center for guests to network with speakers, and interact with exhibits on the state of our local environment presented by the Wabash River Enhancement Corp.

This event is free and open to the public.

To purchase tickets for the flagship annual TEDxPurdueU conference on April 11, or for more information about this and other upcoming events, visit www.TEDxPurdueU.com.

TEDxPurdueU can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TEDxPurdueU and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TEDxPurdueU.

About TEDx

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to "ideas worth spreading." Starting as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available free, at http://new.ted.com/. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs, California; the annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include http://new.ted.com/, where new TEDTalks are posted daily; the recently launched TED-Ed platform for students and educators; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide; and TEDBooks, short e-books by speakers that elaborate on a single idea originally presented on TED's stage.

Contacts: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu

Sources: Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, 765-494-9712, aeeddy@purdue.edu

Jacqueline Hills, TEDxPurdueU marketing chair, 765-496-0094, jfhills@purdue.edu