News > Events > All Events > Taconic Mountain Student Water Conference: PFOA

When:

May 19, 2017 to May 20, 2017

Where:

Bennington College, One College Drive Bennington, VT 05201 map

This conference, co-convened by David Bond (Bennington College) and Ken Facin (Hoosick Falls Central School District) and hosted by Bennington College, aims to introduce advanced high school students from our region to the problems and opportunities that define our water resources. Our inaugural conference will focus on PFOA.

In addition to a keynote and hands-on research training, there will be several breakout sessions focused on the following themes:

• The chemical properties of PFOA
• The environmental and biological pathways of PFOA
• How journalists have engaged PFOA
• The role of environmental policy and protections around PFOA contamination
• Advocacy and citizenship around water resources today

Bennington College and Hoosick Falls Central School District have longstanding commitments to engaging education with real world concerns. This conference brings such commitments into a more deliberate and collaborative conversation with educators and students across our region. Bringing together leading national voices on PFOA with advanced science students and teachers from 10 local high schools in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York, this conference aims to demonstrate the vital linkages between learning and citizenship in our contemporary world.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday’s events are aimed toward visiting local high schools; Saturday’s events are free and open to the public

Saturday, May 20

9:30 AM | Welcome | CAPA Symposium

David Bond (Bennington College)
Ken Facin (Hoosick Falls Central School District)
10:00 AM | Impacted Communities: Residents | CAPA Symposium

Jim Goodine (North Bennington)
Michael Hickey (Hoosick Falls)
Emily Marpe (Petersburg)
11:00 AM | Impacted Communities: Local Government | CAPA Symposium

Rob Allen (Mayor, Hoosick Falls)
Stuart Hurd (Town Manager, Bennington)
Matthew Patterson (Chair of Village Trustees, North Bennington)
Alan Webster (Town Board, Petersburg)
12:00 PM | Lunch

1:00 PM | Executive Roundtable: Environmental Governance and PFOA | Tishman Lecture Hall

Judith Enck (Visiting Scholar at Haub School of Law, Pace University and former EPA Administrator Region Two)
Alyssa Schuren (Partner at the Management Center and former Commissioner of Vermont DEC)
2:30 PM | Keynote Lecture | Tishman Lecture Hall

“Investigating and Addressing Human Health Threats from PFOA in Drinking Water: Legal Challenges” – Rob Bilott (Partner, Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister)
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Contact: [email protected]