Athens, Ga. – The Southern Energy Network, a nonprofit based in Athens, will host the sixth Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference, Oct. 1-3 at the University of Georgia. The conference is co-sponsored by Georgia Youth for Energy Solutions and UGA’s Go Green Alliance with support from the President’s Venture Fund and the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.
Keeping in line with past years’ conferences, the SSREC at UGA will bring more than 400 students and organizers together to engage in activism, network, learn about the most pressing environmental challenges in our region while developing the critical skills to work towards a just, environmentally sustainable South.
This year’s conference includes three days of speakers, panels, workshops, a resource fair, two documentary showings, and networking opportunities. Conference speakers will include Janisse Ray,an acclaimed Georgian writer, naturalist, activist, and author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, who will deliver the keynote address. Community members with Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizers and Coastal Women for Change will share their experiences with the BP Oil Spill. Other conference highlights include documentary screenings of Carbon Nation and Dirty Business as well as training sessions on the topics of environmental justice, developing candidate engagement skills, civil rights and youth, green campus initiatives, lobbying, and student leadership.
The conference will take place in the Tate Student Center and the Miller Learning Center. Conference registration is available online or at the door (UGA students pay $15, non-UGA students pay $35, young professionals pay $45, and adult allies pay $50). Information about volunteering and recruiting also can be found on the conference website at www.climateaction.net/ssrec.
Two SEN staff members are UGA graduates. Executive Director Stephanie Powell earned bachelor of arts degrees in anthropology and political science, and Jenna Garland, SEN’s Georgia organizer and the primary conference organizer, earned her bachelor of arts degree in anthropology.
The first SSREC was held in 2004, co-hosted by the University of North Carolina, Duke University, and North Carolina State University at an off-campus location. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Clemson University, and Valdosta State University have hosted the conference previously.
