Brian Castner, a war veteran and author, presented “The Challenge of Climate Change,” to a near capacity crowd at the Peggy & John Day University Honors Lecture on Thursday, October 11 in the Castellani Art Museum.
Using his most recent book, “Disappointment River,” Castner framed his discussion on climate change. He began by highlighting the New York Times Magazine’s recent issue dedicated to the topic. He continued the presentation focusing on Alexander Mackenzie’s 1793 expedition across North America, along with his personal reflections of his adventures on the same 1,125 mile journey on the Mackenzie River, which took him 40 days to complete in a canoe. He recounted his encounters with a number of people he met on his journey, and how global warming has changed the passageway from the time of Mackenzie’s initial journey 225 years ago.
And despite the challenges of climate change, Castner left the audience with a simple, yet optimistic thought, “Climate Change is a human problem, which means there is a human solution.”
The Peggy and John Day University Honors Lecture Series was established through a gift from Margaret Ranft, ’77, and John Day. The lecture is part of Niagara University’s October lecture series. The next event, the McNulty Lecture, will be held Tuesday, October 16 and will feature Daniel Scheid, Ph.D. from Duquesne University who will present “Catholic Social Thought and Ecological Ethics.” The event is sponsored by the Religious Studies Department