Important Annual Events

Earle Bates Memorial Lecture (September / October)
This is our annual visiting speaker event that kicks off the year for us.  The guest speaker usually visits with ENV classes and there are opportunities for students to meet with them informally as well.

Pre-Capstone Poster Session (November)
The capstone students present their project plans at this event in the Fall.  The intent is for them to get feedback from the program faculty, but this is also a great chance for students who are not yet seniors to see examples of capstone projects and get ideas for their own.  You can enjoy some free food and beverages at the same time.

Environmental and Geoscience Alumni Career Panel (March)
Each year we invite five alumni from ENV and Geology to return to W&L to talk about the path they took into their career.  The event starts with the entire panel taking questions from students in an “open forum” format.  We then move to the individual “breakout session” where students can speak with individual alumni in small groups.  This is an outstanding opportunity to learn from the experience of who have forged careers in environmental fields, and also to network with alumni who might become excellent contacts to help you find the path into YOUR career.

Capstone Poster Session (March)
The senior capstone students present their final project results to the ENV faculty in a poster session, usually about two weeks before the end of the term.  This is a great chance to see the outcomes of capstone projects and to talk with the seniors about their capstone experience.  And of course there’s free food and beverages to enjoy while you do it.

Majors/Minors End of Year Picnic (end of Spring Term)
The end-of-year celebration is hosted off campus at the house of one of the Environmental Studies faculty.  This event is intended to honor our graduating seniors and is open to all declared majors and minors.  This is when senior awards are presented.  We source as much of the food as possible locally, prepare most of it ourselves, and can happily provide carpooling so you don’t need to drive.  Please plan to join us to celebrate the end of another outstanding year at W&L!