Join us for a thought-provoking day of presentations, discussion, entertainment, and great food.

Speakers & Topics Include:

Indoor Urban Agriculture

John Edel, a Chicago entrepreneur, has transformed an abandoned meatpacking facility into the nation’s first vertical farm. His goal is to bring large-scale, net-zero-waste food production right into the middle of the city.

Invasive Species Cuisine

Joe Roman, a biologist at University of Vermont, believes we can best tackle outbreaks of non-native species by serving them up—for dinner.

A More Verdant Tax Code

Yoram Bauman, a University of Washington economist and standup comedian, thinks we’ve got the tax system backwards. We tax things we want more of (i.e. paychecks), not things we want less of (i.e. pollution). Doing the opposite would yield cleaner air– and flusher bank accounts.

What is a Smart Building?

David Allen, executive vice president of the engineering, construction and energy services firm, McKinstry, designs super-efficient buildings that “know” when to consume, shift, store—and even generate their own energy.

Nature-Inspired Engineering

Sherry Ritter, research and education specialist with the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, teams biologists with engineers, architects, designers, chemists, and others to design super-efficient, ecofriendly technology based on nature’s time-tested strategies.

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