Speaking

A big part of my program is to make relevant ideas and concepts from environmental affairs accessible and understandable to the concerned public. In a sense, I am trying to bridge between academia and motivated citizens and organizations.

I am available to speak, give workshops, and teach courses on the following topics:

  • Environmental issues and problems in general
  • Environmental thought, ethics, and values
  • The challenge of sustainability
  • Climate disruption / global warming / climate change in general and its communication
  • Environmental communication in general
  • Environmental policy in general
  • Mass media and the environment, including
    • News coverage of environmental affairs
    • News coverage of climate disruption / global warming / climate change
    • Popular culture and the environment
    • Environmental advertising
    • Environmental films

Examples of my invited professional talks:

  • “Visualizing Nature and Environmental Issues,” IGERT Seminar, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2013.
  • “Possible roles for environmental communicators in the face of climate change denial,” Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC, 2012.
  • “Environmental Communication and Public Change Strategies,” WWF Conservation Communications Network Initiatives Workshop, WWF International secretariat, Gland, Switzerland, 2010.
  • “Environmental Problem Posing and Communication,” 2010 Environmental Communication Symposium, University of Maine, Orono, 2010.
  • “Issues in Climate Change Communication,” Second Annual Public Diplomacy Symposium, Maxwell School of Citizenship, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 2009.
  • “Media Lessons from the Environmental Movement,” Using Communication Approaches and Techniques to Support Anti-Corruption Efforts, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Bank’s Communication for Governance & Accountability Program, Vienna International Centre (United Nations Headquarters), Vienna, Austria, 2008.
  • “Domesticating Nature in the Media Landscape,” Colloquium Series, Department of Geography, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY,  2008.
  • “Mediating Nature in the Age of Hyper-Consumerism,” Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, 2008.
    “The Paradox of the Mediated Environment,” Counterpublics, Media and Social Change – Kern Communication Symposium, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, 2007.
  • “The Western Media System’s Obstacles to, and Opportunities for, Promoting Ecological Health,” People and the Environment: Public Health, Social Processes and Ecological Systems, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, 2004.
  • “Choosing Sustainability for U.P.E.I.: Campus, Curriculum, Culture & Community,” University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI, 2004.
  • “Representing Nature: Environmental Ideologies, Problems, and Politics in the Canadian Media,” Social Sciences and the Environment, Social Science Federation of Canada, Ottawa, ON, 1994.

Examples of outreach presentations appearances I have been invited to give:

  • “The Significance of Media Images of Nature,” Habitat Gardening in Central New York, 2011.
  • Post-Screening Discussion Panelist, Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy, 2010
  • Panelist, State of the Planet forum, 2009.
  • Environmental Art discussion video, 2009.
  • “The Fastest Food of All,” fast:slow food: a casual conversation, School of Architecture, Syracuse University, 2009.
  • “How the Media Portray Climate Change and Possible Responses to It,” Focus the Nation, 2008.
  • Post-Screening Discussion Panelist, An Inconvenient Truth, Syracuse University, 2007.
  • Post-Screening Discussion Panelist, Out of Balance: ExxonMobil’s Impact on Climate Change, Sierra Club Film Festival, 2007.
  • “Native Issues in the Media,” Environmental Stewardship: Finding Common Ground, 2006.
  • Facilitator and discussion leader, Seventh Annual Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, screening of Butterfly, 2003.
Mark speaking at Vienna International Centre

Speaking at a joint UNODC / World Bank meeting at the UN in Vienna, 2008 (Mark is on the far end).