The Badger Bioneers Conference is an annual 2-day conference hosted by Sustain Dane, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin’s Office of Sustainability and Global Health Institute.  This year’s conference will focus on the intersection of health, energy, and climate change.  The modular schedule features three tracks, which focus on deepening sustainability At Work, At School, and At Home.

Badger Bioneers will be held on December 12 & 13 at Union South on the UW-Madison campus.  At the heart of the event is a set of TED-style talks from our five Badger Bioneers.  These are five individuals, nominated from the Madison region, who are taking risks, forging new partnerships, and creating new spaces for action in economic, educational, social, and ecological sustainability.

This year’s Badger Bioneers are:

Kiera Mulvey, FairShare CSA Coalition

Randy Cortright, Virent

Jonathan Patz, Global Health Institute

Sam Dennis, UW-Madison Department of Landscape Architecture

Stephanie Rearick, Dane County TimeBank

Attendees can plug into the conference in a variety of ways.  There is music, local food, and exhibitors from across the Madison region, all of which strengthen the ties formed and the commitments made during the conference.  The Badger Bioneers Conference is inspired by and derived from the national Bioneers Conference in Marin County, California.  The national conference highlights social and scientific innovators who are changing the way we interact with our environments and communities. Badger Bioneers pays homage to that theme, while expanding the scope of what “sustainability” is all about, with a distinctive Wisconsin flavor.