Environmental justice speaker to discuss Lake Turkana preservation

Environmental justice advocate Ikal Angelei will discuss her work to help preserve the environmental integrity of Lake Turkana, a World Heritage Site in East Africa, at the University of Richmond Sept. 18, 7 p.m.

Sponsored by WILL and the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies programs, the talk will be held in Weinstein Hall, Brown-Alley Room. It is free and open to the public.

Lake Turkana’s fertile ecosystem provides a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of indigenous people. In 2006, Ethiopia began construction of a dam that would be the largest hydroelectric plant in Africa, but is expected to drop the lake’s water level 23–33 feet.

Through Angelei’s efforts, the Kenyan Parliament passed a unanimous resolution demanding an independent environmental assessment from Ethiopia, and she convinced major banks, including the World Bank, to withdraw financing for the project.

Angelei’s appearance is part of the 2013–14 Global Environment Speaker Series and is cosponsored by the Lewis T. Booker Professorship in Religion & Ethics and the Office of International Education.

For more information, please call 804-289-8579 or email koconne2@richmond.edu.

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