‘Rewilding’ Symposium At W&L
Washington and Lee University’s Mudd Center for Ethics will present a symposium about rewilding and its associated conservation practices of land preservation, restoration and rematriation this Thursday, Feb. 12, in Hillel 101.
The symposium, titled “Rewilding Place: Ethical Considerations of Theory and Practice,” is free and open to the public, and lunch will be provided.
The full symposium schedule can be found online: ht tps://www.wlu.edu/mudd- center/ programs-and-events/2025-2026-taking-place-landuse- and-environmental-impact/rewilding-place-ethicalconsiderations- of-theory-and-practice.
“This symposium marks a key moment in the Mudd Center’s yearlong focus on land use and environmental impact, inviting the public to explore often overlooked histories of land preservation, restoration and rematriation and to ask who has the power to shape ecological practice and our shared future,” said Melissa Kerin, the director of the Mudd Center.
“At a time when environmental policy and politics are increasingly at odds, ‘Rewilding Place’ underscores how community-led, local approaches can chart more sustainable futures, drawing on the distinct perspectives of our participants working across biology, herbalism and farming, environmental sociology and conceptual art,” she said.
Kerin will deliver the opening remarks, and the symposium will feature talks by Shannon Bell, professor of sociology at Virginia Tech; Ruby Daniels, a natural resources specialist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; Bill Hamilton, the John T. Perry Professor in Research Science at W&L; Leigh Ann Beavers, instructor of art at W&L; and Elise Sheffield, program director at Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Garden.
