Celebrate the U.P.! with the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition March 10-11; kickoff event March 4 with Michael Waite

The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC) will hold their annual Celebrate the U.P.! event Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11, in Marquette and Ishpeming and on Facebook Live. All events are free and open to all.

A kickoff event will be held from Noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, at Fancy Free, a curated resale store nourishing the creative spirit in Marquette at 131 E. Michigan St.

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Michael Waite will be making a special appearance at the Fancy Free event. A melding of earthy grace and campfire poeticism, Michael Waite weaves together a combination of folk, jazz, Americana, blues, and classic singer/songwriter elements. His songs explore the geography and nuances of everyday life while keeping a keen eye on the pursuit of happiness and wholeness.

Inset photo: Michael Waite. (Photo courtesy UPEC)

If you can attend in person, take 20 percent off everything during the event, which will also feature a popup flower shop and bakery! If you can't get to Marquette you can tune in to the livestream at facebook.com/upenvironment/live 

Michael Waite will also perform at the Celebrate the UP! afterparty, which starts at the Landmark Sky Room at 5 p.m. ET March 11. He’ll be playing music from his new album, "We’ve Always Been at Home."

Next weekend promises both in-person and livestream events, including music, comedy, tours of a community farm, a snow biking demonstration -- and many presentations on environmental topics from climate change and climate action to Native American issues, fisheries, mining challenges, community forest, wilderness, community investment and more.

Jenn Hill, 109th District State Representative, will deliver the Keynote Address, "Under New Management: What Can We Expect from Lansing," from 10 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. on Saturday, March 11, in the Peter White Library, 217 N. Front Street, Marquette. This and other presentations in the library will be livestreamed at facebook.com/upenvironment/live. All other events will be recorded and posted. UPDATE: You should be able to tune in to Facebook without signing in.

UPDATED: For the full schedule of events on March 10 and 11, UPDATES, and locations visit https://www.upenvironment.org/2023-celebrate-the-up.

UPEC to host livestream March 3: What are COPs for? An inside view of the global UN Climate Conference

This poster announces COP 28, the next United Nations Climate Conference, to be held next November in Dubai. (Image courtesy Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition)

Everyone has an opinion (or several) on what happens at the annual United Nations Climate Conference -- known as the COP, or Conference of the Parties. (The "parties" in question are countries that have signed the UN Climate Change treaty.) COPs are the world’s biggest stage for climate change action -- or, all too often, inaction.

The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC) will host Sarah Green, Michigan Tech University professor of chemistry, for a presentation titled "What are COPs for? An inside view of the global UN Climate Conference" at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT on Friday, March 3, via Zoom and Facebook Live.

Inset photo: Michigan Tech Professor Sarah Green. (File photo courtesy Michigan Tech University)

Michigan Tech Professor Sarah Green has participated in three recent COPs and led a Michigan Tech delegation to these meetings. She’ll bring perspectives from that experience and offer insights into the UN system. She’ll also tackle these questions: What are the criticisms of COPs and how can they be addressed? What can a COP accomplish and what are its limits? How do COP decisions get translated to actions? And how do national and local actions influence COPs?

Professor Sarah Green is interested in all aspects of environmental chemistry from molecular analytical methods to global climate change, including the science policy interface. Dr. Green has been a member of the Chemistry Department at Michigan Tech since 1994 and served as Department Chair from 2004 to 2013. She was awarded a Jefferson Science Fellowship to serve in the Bureau of East Asia-Pacific Affairs in the U.S. Department of State (2013-14). Dr. Green served as co-vice chair for the Scientific Advisory Panel on the Sixth Global Environmental Outlook, United Nations Environment Program. 

Join Livestream via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upenvironment/live

Join Livestream via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86075269466?pwd=OFZCTk1ERHdJSEJOUlNWbW5UaTA3QT09#success

Meeting ID: 860 7526 9466 | Passcode: 2023 

The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition’s Livestream Series keeps the public up-to-date with environmental issues facing the UP. The livestreams are co-hosted by Board President Horst Schmidt and Vice President Evan Zimmermann. This livestream and all archived past events are available at https://facebook.com/upenvironment/live. For more about UPEC, visit https://upenvironment.org.