April 21, 2020

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MILWAUKEE — With the 50th anniversary of Earth Day being celebrated on Wednesday, April 22, Marquette University has a variety of experts surrounding the environment and Earth Day.

The Office of Mission and Ministry will offer a virtual Mass on Earth Day at noon. The service will begin with a Land Acknowledgement, followed by Mass celebrated by Rev. James Voiss, S.J., vice president for mission and ministry.

(Photo of the Mass held as part of Marquette's first Earth Day celebration in 1971)

Experts available

Marquette faculty are available on a wide range of environmental topics. Experts are able to speak on the environment from social angles, such as ecological debt, ecology and environmental politics, philosophy, responsibility, economics, ethics, and history. Some experts include:

• Dr. Gerry Canavan, associate professor of English, has an expertise in ecological humanities, ecological debt, visions of ecological apocalypse, ecology and environmental politics.
• Dr. Heather Kohls, associate professor of practice in economics, can discuss environmental economics.
• Dr. Jame Schaefer, associate professor of theology, is an expert in environmental ethics, ecological problems and theological foundations for environmental ethics.

Other experts can cover technical aspects, including engineering and hazardous waste clean-up, as well as environmental chemistry and microbiology:

• Dr. Brooke Mayer, associate professor of construction and environmental engineering, is an expert in environmental engineering.
• Dr. Patrick McNamara, assistant professor of construction and environmental engineering, is an expert in environmental chemistry, environmental microbiology and wastewater treatment.
• Dr. Daniel Zitomer, chair and professor in the department of civil, construction and environmental engineering, has an expertise in toxic pollutants in wastewater and contaminated groundwater and soil.
• Dr. David Strifling, professor of law and director of the Water Law and Policy Initiative, wrote a faculty blog post on theeffects COVID-19 is having on water quality.

Media interested in reaching a faculty expert, these features or any other programs at Marquette University can contact Kevin Conway in the Office of Marketing and Communication at kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu.

Note: Marquette will exercise best practices in social distancing for all media interviews to protect the health, safety and well-being of our university community and our partners in the media. Interviews will be done remotely via Skype or a similar mutually agreed upon technology; b-roll footage may be captured on a limited basis and in close coordination with the Office of Marketing and Communication.

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About Kevin Conway

Kevin is the associate director for university communication in the Office of University Relations. Contact Kevin at (414) 288-4745 or kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu.