Black Warrior Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke will speak to students today from 5:30 p.m. to 7 in the Lloyd Lecture Hall, Room 38.
The University of Alabama Environmental Council is hosting Brooke’s talk. UAEC has worked with the Waterkeeper Alliance and Hurricane Creekkeeper in the past, most recently in the efforts to prevent strip mining on UA property near the Black Warrior River.
“This is a chance for students to hear how a personal passion became a career,” said Mallory Flowers, a sophomore majoring mathematics and vice president of UAEC. “Many think you can’t make a living by caring for the environment. Brooke shows us why that thinking is wrong.”
Caitlin McClusky, president of UAEC, echoed Flowers’ sentiments.
“I think many people are unaware that they could even do what Nelson does. Students desperately need to recognize and harness their power in face of environmental threats,” she said. “Nelson can teach a budding student conservationist or environmentalist that one can actually turn their love for the outdoors into a career that serves to help not just nature, but the general public and the well-being of an entire ecosystem.”
According to a biography on blackwarriorriver.org, Brooke graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in anthropology, but is a Birmingham native who spent his childhood hunting and fishing on the Black Warrior River.
Brooke’s work as the Black Warrior Riverkeeper ranges from speaking engagements to photographing the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. Brooke collects pollution samples for laboratory analysis and advocates compliance with environmental laws, McClusky said. According to her, Wednesday’s lecture will mainly focus on Brooke’s work with pollution from local coal mines.
“The Black Warrior River Watershed is probably the most important aspect of local ecology around Tuscaloosa. As of now there are a myriad of different man-made nuisances that are devastating the river, including over 95 active coal mines,” McClusky said. “Students need to know about these issues and learn from someone who has been actively working in the field how they are affecting not only wildlife, but people as well.”
McClusky said the proposed Shepherd Bend mine threatens to poison the water of Birmingham residents and possibly devastate a local community.
“If the mine is built, it will be the fault of the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama,” she said.
According to McClusky, students need to learn more about the strip mine issue—and Brooke will be an excellent teacher.
“Students need to understand the implications of this, educate themselves, and then stand up against the powers that would cause this to happen,” she said. “Nelson is a great citizen and a great man. Students would do well to hear what he has to say.”
