On January 27th 2021, President Biden signed an executive order to tackle the climate crisis at home and abroad. This action included a call for modernizing and expanding the popular program from the New Deal, in order to “mobilize the next generation of conservation and resilience workers and maximize the creation of accessible training opportunities and good jobs.”
For decades, Service Corps have been a critical source of support and aid to many communities. This panel brings together Service Corps program leaders and researchers who are in the midst of helping to train the next generation to be environmental stewards and put them on a path for a lifetime of civic engagement and environmental and climate protection. Panelists will share how the Service Corps builds on and expands existing civic capacity to steward the environment across different communities, landscapes and settings.
The audience will learn more about how these programs directly positioned improve the quality of the local environments in which they work, both socially and environmentally. Learn about the hope for strengthening peer networks, addressing issues of diversity from all angles and growing the green workforce from these legendary service and volunteer programs. This panel includes leading practitioners and researchers active in expanding the historic work of our nation’s conservation service corps to address issues of climate change, diversity and disaster relief in communities throughout the country.
Attendees will have the opportunity to pose questions and participate in a live discussion with panelists including:
Dr. Dana R. Fisher, Professor of Sociology, UMD and Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution Ken Goodson, Director of AmeriCorps NCCC Merlene Mazyck, Program Manager for Volunteers and Service for the USDA Forest Service George McDonald, Chief, Youth Programs Division, National Parks Service (on detail at DOI) Sylvia Staples, National Resource Assistants Program Manager, USDA Forest Service Moderated by: Dr. Erika S. Svendsen, Research Social Scientist with the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station and team lead for the NYC Urban Field Station.