Creation Care Pagosa is honored to bring eminent scientist Dr. Terry L. Root to our community to speak on the 2024 Earth Day theme: “Planet vs. Plastics.”
She will speak on Thursday, April 25, at 6 p.m. at the Community United Methodist Church (CUMC), located at 434 Lewis St.
For those of you who attended her previous talk at the Weminuche Audubon Society, you know she is a fun, energetic and engaging speaker.
Admission is free; donations are welcome to further environmental education here in Pagosa Springs.
“I’m hoping that the people of Archuleta County will come and learn how to help tackle this problem,” said Creation Care co-founder Sarah Riehm. “I recently learned that the biggest source of microplastics in lakes and oceans comes from our laundry.”
Synthetic textiles, such as polyester and especially fleece-type fabric, slough off microfibers during the wash cycle, and end up in our lakes, rivers and, eventually, in our oceans.
A recent study shows that microplastics ingested by aquatic fish lodges in their flesh and leads to damage of their digestive organs and a reduction in growth and reproductive output. These threats increase the risk to marine life and the health of humans who rely on seafood as a food source (from Advances and Challenges in Microplastics, January 2023).
Root is professor emerita at Stanford University. She was a lead author of the “Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change 4th Assessment Report” that in 2007 was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Vice President Al Gore. Also, she was a lead author for the “3rd Assessment Report” (2001) and a review editor for the “5th Assessment Report” (2014).
In addition to other honors, Root was awarded the Spirit of Defenders Award for Science by Defenders of Wildlife in 2010, and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for the conservation organization Point Blue. She served on the National Audubon Board of Directors from 2010 to 2019, currently serves on the board of Defenders of Wildlife, Birds Caribbean and is on numerous science advisory boards, including the Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute.
Creation Care Pagosa is a faith-based environmental stewardship organization open to everyone in the community. We meet on the fourth Thursday of every month (except for March) at CUMC.
If you have questions or would like to join our mailing list, please contact Sarah.Riehm@gmail.com.
