Campus Connection

Alumnus who embarks on fierce challenges surrounding environmental, social issues returns to inspire change Sept. 24

UW-La Crosse Alumnus Rob Greenfield, ’09, has dived into thousands of dumpsters to raise awareness about the broken food system, wore all of the trash he generated for a month to show how much garbage the average Westerner creates, and lived off the grid in a tiny house to demonstrate sustainable living systems.

Now Greenfield will bring his stories of extreme adventure and activism to UWL for the 2nd Annual Prairie Springs Distinguished Environmental Sciences Lecture Series. He will present “Be the Change in A Messed Up World” at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, in Hesprich Auditorium, Graff Main Hall. The presentation will be followed by a Q & A. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Greenfield embarks on extreme adventures and activism campaigns to bring attention to important global issues and inspire change. He has been featured in thousands of media outlets, including: National Geographic, BBC, Discovery Channel, L.A. Times and The Guardian.

Greenfield, of Ashland, Wisconsin, is now amid a yearlong project to grow and forage 100% of his food.

Greenfield hasn’t always been this environmentally conscious. In his early days as a UWL student, he spent most of his free time partying on Third Street, shining his car and acquiring material possessions. Greenfield says watching documentaries and reading books made him more conscious of social and environmental issues. He decided he wanted to be part of the solution instead of the problem. He started with small steps from shopping local and moved on to bigger steps like ditching his car for a bike.

Greenfield majored in biology with a concentration in aquatic science and a minor in chemistry at UWL. He credits his former UWL biology professor, Roger Haro, now associate dean for the College of Science and Health, for getting him interested in science. Awareness of the Earth and everything living on it is an important first step to living an environmentally-conscious life, he says.

Read a previous UWL story on Greenfield: news.uwlax.edu/difference-dude/

About the lecture series

The Prairie Springs Distinguished Environmental Sciences Lecture Series was created as part of the $2 million endowment from the Prairie Springs: The Paul Fleckenstein Trust given to UW-La Crosse in 2018. This gift also named the university’s new science labs building — the Prairie Springs Science Center — along with establishing an endowment that supports environmental studies and education; wildlife and wildlife habitat protection; conservation; and ecological technology.

Other sponsors of the lecture series include: College of Science and Health, School of Education, River Studies Center, Environmental Studies, Department of Biology, and the Department of Recreational Management & Therapeutic Recreation.

Parking

Parking is available in metered parking lots: C-1 on State Street, C-9 on Campbell Street, or C-2 on Pine Street. Parking can be paid at the pay stations in each lot or pre-paid online at https://ppprk.com/park/.

Watch Greenfield in this TEDx video