At the end of May, 17 cyclists will hit the pavement in Seattle, Washington to begin a two-month, 4,000 mile journey. They’ll pedal through the northern Rockies of Montana; Yellowstone National Park; the midwestern plains; and the Ohio Amish countryside en route to Washington DC. Their goal is simple: get folks interested in saving the world.

The trip, dubbed the “Climate Ride,” was organized by the (CSCS) — a partnership between ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø (EMU), Goshen College, and Mennonite Central Committee — to raise awareness about climate change and connect Anabaptist environmentalists all over the country.

Seminary student and assistant cross-country and triathlon coach Joanna Friesen will lead the trip, with David Landis ’05, the founder of Village to Village Press, which publishes adventure travel guides and develops walking and biking trails. The group includes seven EMU undergraduate and graduate students, and a staff member.

The best way to stay up-to-date on the riders’ preparations, and make sure you don’t miss the kick-off on May 31, is to . The updates include participant profiles and more information about scheduled events and visits along their route.

The following climate riders from EMU …

• Anna Paetkau, senior,  
• Vanessa Gardiner, first-year,
• Elizabeth Miller, senior, 
• Thomas Guadalupe-Johnson, junior, 
• Micah Buckwalter, junior, 
• Isaac Alderfer, senior, 
• Caleb Schrock-Hurst, seminary student, and 
• Tyler Goss, assistant director of student programs,

… will be joined by:

• Samantha Lioi, alumna of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary,
• Toby Bartlett, Fresno Pacific University, 
• Sierra Richer, Goshen College, 
• Loren Friesen, Fresno Pacific University,
• Denver Beck, Goshen College, 
• Miriam Huebner, Canadian Mennonite University, and 
• Greta Klassen, Goshen College.

The seminar, at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 20 in Science Center 106, is free and open to the public.

Graber Neufeld will describe three (MCC) projects: sand dams for community water harvesting in semi-arid regions, conservation agriculture for increased crop production in rainfed agriculture, and solar disinfection for clean water supplies in urban slums of Nairobi.

Rigorous monitoring and experimentation is playing a key role in the successes of these projects, which promote changes in behavior and technology. Lessons coming out of this emphasis center on the importance of participatory approaches coupled with advances in understanding how social change happens and how individuals make decisions.

Graber Neufeld has worked for MCC on water-related projects twice, first for two years in Cambodia, and more recently for two years in Kenya [to view a blog about his family’s adventures, click .]

In addition, he works with water projects locally, with a focus on water quality impacts in area streams.

At EMU, he teaches courses related to environmental sustainability and health. He is also the first director of the , a collaborative effort of EMU, and MCC. [Read his reflections on the new center’s mission .]

Graber Neufeld received his BA from Tabor College and his PhD from the University of Texas, Austin. He held postdoctoral research positions at medical schools at the University of Arizona and the University of Otago, New Zealand, before coming to EMU in 1998.

The Suter Science Seminars are made possible by the sponsorship of the and the co-sponsorship of supporting programs.