The upcoming Public Interest Environmental Conference will give attendees a chance to learn about legal issues facing the environment and modern agriculture.
The UF Levin College of Law and the UF Environmental Land Use Law Program will host the 20th annual event Thursday through Saturday. It is open to the public, and tickets are free for UF students, faculty and staff. The conference is called Feeding the Future: Shrinking Resources, Growing Population and a Warming Planet.
Conference co-chair Chris Johns said agriculture has a long, well-established history in Florida.
“A lot of people that grow up in Florida have no idea how large of a presence agriculture has within the state and how much it affects statewide policy and environmental issues,” he said.
Publicity chairman Sean Bedford said he’s expecting about 200 people to attend the event.
“We do really think that this is something that will interest a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds,” Bedford said.
Nalowa Malafa, a 28-year-old UF third-year law student, wrote in an email she will be attending the conference for the third time.
“Studying the environment can be a daunting and depressing task,” Malafa wrote, “but coming together with individuals in different fields who are working towards solutions provides hope and encouragement.”
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 2/18/2014 under the headline "Law event to focus on agriculture issues"]
