One Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speaker Series event at UIS that students will not want to miss is “Hiking The Keystone XL Pipeline: A 1700-Mile Eco- Adventure,” co-sponsored by the UIS Campus Senate Committee on Sustainability, UIS Department of Environmental Studies, UIS Green Fee Committee and Students Allied for a Greener Earth (SAGE).

Esteemed travel writer Ken Ilgunas will host this talk. He has won multiple awards for his works, which have been featured in the National Geographic as well as on NPR and The Tonight Show.

At 6 pm on Thursday, February 28, Ilgunas will discuss the legendary five-month, 1700-mile journey he took along the TransCanada Keystone XL oil pipeline in September of 2012. On his trek, he made waves in the way of political and environmental coverage, allowing him to reveal the pervasive influence that this pipe line has had on the nearby people, location and even the worldwide climate.

To be held in Brookens Auditorium on campus, “Hiking the Keystone XL Pipeline” will feature the stories of Ilgunas himself along with the locals continually affected by the pipeline.

These stories will be consolidated and enriched with disciplines in the range of politics, environmental science, philosophy (and subsequently, ethics), history and culture. It is important to mention that, according to US News, the Keystone XL pipeline has been attributed as the cause of multiple deleterious oil leaks since its Phase 1 completion in June of 2010. Recently, a section of the pipeline was shut down, presumably as a result of leakage that spilled 43 barrels, or 1800 gallons, of oil into St. Charles county. The owner of the pipeline, TransCanada, has had its members send out statements that excavations done with the purpose of finding the source of the leakage could take almost a week to accomplish.

Purportedly, this is the second of two similar oil leakage incidents that have happened just beyond the span of one year. It is worth noting that this source is slightly left-leaning in tendency.

To request disability or other accommodations in advance for this event, contact the UIS Speaker Series Office by email at [email protected] or by phone at (217)-206-8507. To learn more about ECCE Speaker Series and other events, go to www.uis.edu/speakerseries/.