Reserve your free tickets for the President’s Speaker Series
Dear Lumberjacks,
On Tuesday, we will launch the President’s Speaker Series with a lecture from Dr. Arturo Massol-Deyá, and I hope to see you there.
Since he agreed to speak at NAU, I have been excited about his lecture on “Building Energy Democracy,” not only because of his track record on issues of sustainability, but also because of his effective advocacy and activism on behalf of a more just society built on principles of environmental justice.
Today, I feel even more privileged that Dr. Massol-Deyá will be speaking to our Lumberjack community, given the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona on the island of Puerto Rico. He will be able to provide a real-time accounting of what has transpired, why the devastation has been as much as it is, and what options exist for a better future for Puerto Rico and other states and regions vulnerable to (un)natural disasters.
Please RSVP (tickets required) and bring a friend or two! If you’re unable to attend in person, the speech will be available via live-stream.
About the speaker
Dr. Massol-Deyá is from the mountainous area of Puerto Rico in the municipality where his parents founded Casa Pueblo, a community-based group with 38 years of services in natural resources conservation, education, and sustainable development. Now the executive director, Massol-Deyá has chaired its Board of Directors since 2007, which is responsible for protecting the central region and its critical watersheds from an open pit-mining proposal and a massive gas pipeline. Instead, new forest units, El Bosque del Pueblo, and Bosque La Olimpia were designated and have been managed by the community initiative, thus changing the Island’s forestry policy, and catalyzing an increase of protected areas from a mere 3.7 percent to a current 8 percent of its surface.
After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, Massol-Deyá and Casa Pueblo led a community aid response that is working to change the energy landscape of a country dependent on fossil fuels to one based on renewable energy sources.
Massol-Deyá is a graduate of the public school system in Puerto Rico as well as the University of Puerto Rico. He obtained his doctoral degree from Michigan State University and is a faculty member at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez.
I look forward to seeing you there!
All the best,
José Luis Cruz Rivera
President