The name Summer Rayne Oakes befits someone with a passion for nature - and it certainly does. Oakes, the host, environmental expert and board adviser to the Discovery Channel's Planet Green network, gave a presentation Tuesday evening urging students to take action in pursuing solutions to climate change.
The presentation titled "We Can Kick Climate Change, One Step at a Time: An Expanding Role for Youth" was in keeping with UCF's Unifying Theme of "The Environment and Global Climate Change." Oakes, a model and author of the upcoming book Style, Naturally: The Global Guide to Sustainable Fashion and Beauty, went beyond the familiar cliché of turning off the water while brushing and recycling cans in her call to action.
Oakes, who graduated from Cornell University with a degree in entomology and environmental science, said she chose her own path and made her own career, rather than focusing on just one aspect of environmentalism. "You don't have to [concentrate on just one thing,]" she said. "Do it all."
Oakes opened her presentation, which nearly filled the Pegasus Ballroom, by quoting The New York Times journalist Thomas L. Friedman. He called the current college generation "Generation Q," as in "quiet," and said this is a generation that is "quietly pursuing their idealism, at home and abroad.
"That makes me downright livid," Oakes says. "How dare he define or confine our generation ... and suggest that even for one second that we are quiet, that we are static and that we are silent."
She spent the rest of her discussion pointing out ways to be the change you want to see happen, rather than just talking about it.
Oakes tried to motivate students to take direct action in the fight against climate change. She encouraged students to participate in Power Shift, a four day conference in Washington D.C. that urges politicians to make climate-friendly changes, such as emissions reductions, and the creation of more green jobs. Oakes said green jobs are jobs that "can't be outsourced and help build clean energy."
Power Shift 2009 will take place from Feb. 27 to March 2. Oakes urged students to not only take part in the conference, but also in opportunities to learn leadership in political and lobbying fields.
Oakes also suggested taking political action by checking up on local senators and political figures. She suggested the League of Conservation Voters's Web site at http://www.lvc.org, where students can see comparative charts of local leaders as well as national politicians.
Oakes summed up her call to action by saying, "We need to put ourselves outside our comfort zone, and make a concerted effort to engage people who may not look like us, who may not think like us, who may not act like us because we might actually learn something."
Oaks also mentioned the Planet Green network, which features shows about eco-friendly topics. Also mentioned was TreeHugger, an eco-friendly Web site recently bought by Discovery Channel that offers green news, tips and merchandise.
Oakes also spoke directly to people who are skeptical of climate change.
"Find what you and that person have in common and build on that," she said. "People who don't believe in global warming or green jobs still want clean water, and want better and steady jobs."
Oakes offered a lot of information to students as far as pursuing passions. She quoted theologian and civil rights activist Howard Thurman by saying, "Don't ask what the world needs, ask what makes you come alive and go do it, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Audience members had varied opinions on the subject.
Rachael Sultzman, an environmental studies major, said she believes climate change "is just a natural process the Earth goes through."
Mohammed Alghamdi, an international graduate student, said he did not have "any real opinions on climate change," but was hoping to gain something from the presentation.
"It's a complex issue that we need to resolve within the next couple of decades," senior history major Stephen Ford said. "The direct causes and direct outpourings of it have yet to be seen. It should be interesting. We should do everything we can to get things back on track."
Oakes reiterated throughout the presentation that the world is relying on its youth to get up and make their own change.
"The greatest natural resource," Oakes said, "is the energy and passion and life that is in each and every one of us."
And as she answered in the Q&A that followed, yes, that is her real name. ÿ
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