Smithsonian Global Earth Optimism Summit

In celebration of Earth Day, and in partnership with the Smithsonian Global Earth Optimism Summit, the Whatcom Museum and the Whatcom Land Trust are co-sponsoring a presentation by esteemed science teacher and conservationist Harlan Kredit in the Rotunda Room of Old City Hall in Bellingham on Friday, April 21 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The event will be free to the public.

This event is presented in celebration of the Smithsonian Global Earth Optimism Summit. The Smithsonian Global Earth Optimism Summit celebrates a change in focus from problem to solution, from a sense of loss to one of hope, in the dialogue about conservation and sustainability. The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this event do not necessarily represent those of the Smithsonian Institution.

Kredit has taught science for the past 45 years at Lynden Christian High School, where he has been involved in a community project restoring salmon habitat along Fishtrap Creek in north Whatcom County. This decades-long project actively involves high school students in riparian zone enhancement by planting thousands of trees and shrubs along the creek. Students have also built and operated a school fish hatchery releasing more than two million Coho salmon into the Nooksack River system. Kredit will share slides and talk more about this project, as well as highlights of 30 other restoration projects that he has been involved with around Whatcom county.

He is an award-winning high school biology teacher and has taught environmental and earth science for 55 years. He has received more than 25 honors and awards for his work as an educator and conservation biologist, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and the National Conservation Teacher of the Year in 2004. For the past 45 summers, Kredit has worked as a park ranger-naturalist in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, leading daily walks focusing on environmental concerns. He also leads teacher training at the American Wilderness Leadership School in Jackson, Wyoming.

The event will be located in the Rotunda Room of the Whatcom Museum’s Old City Hall Building, 121 Prospect Street in downtown Bellingham. For more information about the Whatcom Museum visit www.whatcommuseum.org.

For more information about WLT visit www.whatcomlandtrust.org.