Saint Mary’s to host panel discussion on population

National Geographic editor serves as guest panelist

The public is invited to discuss “Population in Perspective: How Will 7 Billion People Change Your Life?” Tuesday and Wednesday, March 13-14, at Saint Mary’s.

This event is sponsored by Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership and UnderTold Stories Project, and part of a collaboration with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, PBS NewsHour and National Geographic.

How will our lives be affected and how can young Americans engage with solutions to the challenge of sustaining a planet that will have 9 billion inhabitants by 2050?

Special guest Dennis Dimick, executive editor on the environment for National Geographic, designed a year-long 2011 National Geographic series called “7 Billion” on global population and its impact. Dimick will join panelists Fred de Sam Lazaro, director of the “Undertold Stories Project” and a correspondent for PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer; and Dr. David Lynch, chair of the SMU Department of Social Science.

SMU will host two of these critical discussions. The first will be on the Twin Cities campus, Tuesday, March 13, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Saint Mary’s Event Center. The second is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, in Page Theatre.

The “Under-Told Stories Project,” produced by and in partnership with Saint Mary’s University, shares stories from some of the world’s most remote locations through PBS NewsHour and other media organizations. The partnership brings de Sam Lazaro to the university’s Minneapolis campus, provides new learning opportunities to Saint Mary’s students, and is intended to raise awareness for the local ramifications of global issues.

For more information, contact Sabrina Kelly at skelly@smumn.edu or (612) 238-4507.