UYES is a predominantly youth-of-color-led organization that empowers young people in Utah to mobilize around climate and environmental issues through legislation, education, and action.

Their mission is to connect young people to environmental advocacy by cultivating reciprocal relationships between youth, environmental organizations, and community leaders. They utilize systems-based thinking to pragmatically address local environmental issues and increase youth access to political engagement.

UYES leads campaigns to decouple the education system from fossil fuels, transition Utah school districts to 100% renewable energy, and address pressing water management concerns in Utah and the greater Southwest, with an emphasis on protecting the Great Salt Lake.

The David R. Keller Sustainability Prize will fund their annual Environmental Justice Training Program, which educates students about climate change and equips them with the tools they need to catalyze solutions in their communities. Students learn from scientists, grassroots organizers, and Tribal leaders about regional environmental issues, and practice tangible skills to support the movement in achieving environmental justice. Over the course of the program, participants have the opportunity to plan and implement an environmental action with guidance and support from UYES mentors. At the end of the program, graduates are supported in joining or starting a UYES campaign and using their skills to organize for environmental justice over the long term.

Pizza will be served  during this session

recording

Chad W. Linebaugh
Present & General Manager
Sundance Mountain Resort

Ben Stireman
Forestry, Fire, and State Lands

Moderated by:
Hilary Hungerford
Associate Professor of Geography, UVU

recording

George Handley
Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities
Brigham Young University

Kerry Soper
Professor, Department of Humanities
Classics, and Comparative Literature
Brigham Young University

Moderated by:
Kristina Gibby

Recording

Danielle Endres
Professor of Communication,
University of Utah

Moderated by:
Maria Blevins
Associate Professor of Communication, UVU

Danielle Endres is a Professor of Communication and Director of the Environmental Humanities Program at the University of Utah. Her research areas are Environmental Communication, Indigenous Communication, and Rhetorical Studies. Her research projects focus on the rhetoric of environmental and science controversies including nuclear waste siting decisions, climate change, and energy transitions. Her work is guided by principles of environmental justice and focuses on how underrepresented and marginalized groups, particularly Native peoples and nations, engage in environmental advocacy and activism.

Endres is the author of Nuclear Decolonization: Indigenous Resistance to High-Level Nuclear Waste Siting (forthcoming November 2023).

Recording

Kristina Gibby
Assistant Professor of Humanities, UVU

Brock Jones
Assistant Professor of English and Literature

Michael T. Stevens
Professor of Biology, UVU

Moderated by:
Thomas Bretz
Faculty Fellow for Environmental Ethics, UVU

Recording