Information provided by the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative
WHITING, Ind. (August 9, 2021) – Paul Labus of Whiting will talk about his decades of work restoring natural habitat in Northwest Indiana on Tuesday, Sept. 7, as the eighth year of Calumet Revisited Forums gets underway at Calumet College in Whiting.
Co-sponsored by the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative (AWLI) and Calumet College, the forums continue through May of 2022. They are partially funded by the Indiana Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Labus’ talk begins the series of monthly discussions at 5 p.m. in room 265. The forums shed light on the region’s rich human history and environmental treasures. Labus recently retired as Northwest Indiana Region Director for the Nature Conservancy, where his responsibilities included developing and implementing strategic plans and conservation programs for Northwest Indiana.
He was awarded the Paul H. Douglas Award by the Save the Dunes Council for contributing his talents for leadership and planning to the Indiana Dunes region. He currently serves on the Save the Dunes Board of Directors.
Labus earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he met his wife, Barbara.
AWLI is a not-for-profit organization and land trust.
Remaining speakers invited for the 2021-22 season are as follows:
- October 5, Walter Skiba, Associate professor of arts and humanities, and Dr. Amy McCormack, president of Calumet College, on the history of Calumet College and future plans
- November 2, Rod Sellers of the Southeast Chicago Historical Society, Dr. Christine Walley of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and author of Exit Zero, and Dr. Chris Boebel, also of MIT, on the new Southeast Chicago Archive and Storytelling Project website
- December 7, Dave McGowan of Ravenswood Media, on filming the Wolf Lake Watershed
- January 4, Matthew Kaplan, Whiting/Robertsdale native, on photographing the Calumet Region
- February 1, Dr. Larry McClellan, author, on Chicago’s contribution to the Underground Railroad in the Calumet Region
- March 1, Laura Barghusen of Openlands, on her work on the Cal-Sag Channel south of Chicago
- April 5, Wayne Schimpff and Jane Healy, members of the Calumet Nature Exchange, on ways science teachers and youth group leaders can reconnect youth with nature
- May 3, Madeleine Tudor of the Field Museum, on progress in establishing a national heritage area in the Calumet Region
Calumet College is located at 2400 New York Avenue, Whiting, IN.
