From a key kickoff event to raise community awareness for environmental education and public action to a public lecture that will focus on global climate and sea level change, the University of Nevada, Reno will be playing a key role in upcoming Earth Day week activities.

On Thursday, April 17, the University’s Academy for the Environment serves as one of the sponsors of a GreenUP! event from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Patagonia Outlet, 8550 White Fir Street off Mayberry Drive in west Reno.

GreenUP! is a springtime promotional event that helps identify and promote events and activities related to environmental education and public action. GreenUP!’s mission is to help communities in sustainability efforts by expanding and strengthening community awareness of events, organizations, initiatives, resources and opportunities for action and involvement in the environmental realm. Among the supporters of the GreenUP! effort is the Academy for the Environment.

The Academy’s Executive Director Michael Collopy, along with John Sagabiel, manager of environmental affairs for the University’s Department of Environmental Health & Safety, will be on hand to provide information on the University’s role in helping to create a more “green” northern Nevada. For more information: (775) 746-6878.

To highlight the University’s Mackay Centennial Week, April 20-26, Hans-Peter Plag, research professor at the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory and expert on solid Earth geophysics and sea level and global climate change, will deliver a public lecture on Tuesday, April 22, from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Joe Crowley Student Union Theatre. Plag’s lecture will center on the topic of sustainability as a mosaic of many small steps in the right direction that inhabitants of the Earth can take. For more information: (775) 784-4528.

Other Earth Day-related events include:

• Wild and Scenic Film Festival on Tour, April 18: The award-winning Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival will be shown in Reno at the University’s first green building, the Joe Crowley Student Union, in the Union’s theatre. The festival’s theme is “Take Action: Save Tahoe Meadows!” Displays will be open for viewing at 6 p.m., and doors open at 6:30 p.m., with films to start at 7 p.m. The festival hosts are Snowlands Network, the University’s Academy for the Environment and the Environmental Action Team (EnAcT), with support from Patagonia and REI Reno.
• Human-Powered Vehicle Competition, April 18-20: Fourteen mechanical engineering students will host and compete in the 25th annual Human Powered Vehicle Challenge in Reno, Friday, April 18 to Sunday, April 20. The University’s team will face 24 others in the upcoming Western regional contest for aerodynamic vehicles. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) sponsors the competition in hopes of finding a design that can be used for everyday activities like commuting to work and going to the grocery store. The three-day event will begin at Harrah's in downtown Reno, move to Stead Airport April 19, and finish at International Game Technology headquarters (9295 Prototype Drive in Reno) April 20.

In addition to these events, the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology has for many years partnered with the Nevada Mining Association education committee to be part of the children’s area of Reno’s annual Earth Day celebration. The area includes NBMG posters and hands-on activities such as encouraging children at the event to create small, decorated paving stones from Earth materials. Reno’s Earth Day celebration is slated for Sunday, April 20, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Idlewild Park.