Clarksville, Ark. --- University of the Ozarks senior Jenny Levin, an environmental studies major from Clarksville, recently attended the Power Shift 2009 conference in Washington, D.C.
Levin made her second trip to a Power Shift conference in March, after first attending the 2007 conference. Power Shift is a movement aimed at today’s youth for planet change.
The purpose of this year’s conference was to encourage the passing of strong climate legislation. 12,000 students from the United States attended this year’s conference at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center in hopes of showing legislators that young people are concerned about climate change.
“[The organizers] were expecting 10,000 people,” said Levin. “It was a little overwhelming walking through the convention center with all of the people, but it was also really exciting.”
The conference had panels, workshops, discussions on the environment, a career fair, and a lobby day at Capitol Hill.
“I was able to meet with Senator Mark Pryor’s staffer [during lobby day] and Senator Blanche Lincoln’s staffer,” said Levin. “There were other students from Arkansas with me during this meeting.”
The informative four-day event was expected to motivate young people to take the information back to their community about the environment and climate change.
Levin, who is the former president of the Planet Club at Ozarks, is expected to graduate in May. She is currently working on plans for the Earth Week festival at Ozarks, along with the No New Coal Movement in the state of Arkansas, which would stop the construction of a fourth coal power plant in Hempstead County.
Following graduation, Levin plans on earning a master’s degree in environmental policy. She also has plans of interning with a non-profit organization.
Topics: Environmental Studies