Dr. John Wear, director of Catawba College's Center for the Environment, was one of the featured speakers at a national public conference, "Simple Living and the Rekindling of Public Life," held earlier this month in Leavenworth, Wash. Wear's topic was "Creating Sustainable Communities at the Grassroots Level."

In late October, Wear also moderated a panel entitled "Thinking Green & Smart: Sprawl, Energy, Water, and Waste" at the Cultivating Creative Communities Conference held in Charlotte.