Contact: Cindy Tyson, 277-7688 Media Contact: Michael Padilla, 277-1816

March 11, 2003 CLIMATE CHANGE TOPIC OF ALBUQUERQUE CONFERENCE The University of New Mexico Center for the Southwest hosts its second annual conference, “Heating Up: Coming to Terms with Climate Change in the Southwest,” April 11-13, in Albuquerque. “Heating Up” brings together scientists, writers, historians, resource law experts, activists and political leaders to discuss the science and social implications of climate change in the Southwest. All events are free and open to the public. On Friday, April 11, author and poet V.B. Price delivers the conference keynote address, “Don’t Call It a Drought.” The lecture begins at 7 p.m. at the National Atomic Museum, 1905 Mountain Road NW. A reception follows and the museum will be open to visitors. The conference continues on Saturday, April 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Dane Smith Hall, room 125 on the UNM campus. At 8:30 a.m., Jonathan Overpeck, director of the Institute for the Study of the Planet Earth at the University of Arizona, will open the day’s events with a lecture titled, “Global Climate Change: Science vs. Perception.” A roundtable discussion will follow from 9:45-11:15 a.m. focusing on the problem of communicating the science of climate change to the public. Panelists include John Fleck, science writer, Albuquerque Journal; Lucy Lippard, author, art critic and community activist, Galisteo, N.M.; and physicists Mark Boslough and Alan Zelicoff, M.D., from Sandia National Laboratories. Conference participants are invited to lunch from 11:30-12:45 p.m. at the University House, courtesy of the Western History Association, Center for the Southwest and the UNM Water Resources Program. Reservations are required. At 1 p.m., Timothy Moy, associate professor of History at UNM, presents a lecture titled “Trading Ideas without Trading Places: The Humanities, the Sciences, and the Publics.” A roundtable discussion will follow, from 2:15 to 3:30, exploring the ethical, political and social implications of environmental choices. Panelists include Kate Nelson, city columnist, Albuquerque Tribune; Denise Fort, UNM professor of Law; Sylvia Rodriguez, UNM associate professor of Anthropology; Tom Rutherford, Bernalillo County commissioner; and Samuel Truett, UNM assistant professor of History. The final day of “Heating Up,” Sunday, April 13, will feature an all-day field trip to one of the nation’s foremost climate research stations, the Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research Field Station, 60 miles south of Albuquerque. Participants will tour the field station, field site and four distinct biomes—pines, woodland, grasslands and desert. The Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research Station is a collaboration of UNM, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife. Transportation to the Sevilleta Research Field Station will be provided, but availability is limited, reservations are required in advance. All events are free and open to the public. The conference is made possible by a grant from the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities, with additional support from the Center for the Southwest, Department of History, Water Resources Program, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Office of the Vice Provost for Research, the Biology Department and the Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research Program, the University of New Mexico; Western History Association; KUNM; Einstein’s Bagels; Rio Grande Brewery; and Casa Roñdena Winery. For further information or to make event reservations, contact the Center for the Southwest at 277-7688, or e-mail Cindy Tyson, administrative assistant, at ctyson@unm.edu. ###

The University of New Mexico
Public Affairs Department
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