UMRR prepares for more virtual meetings

Sigh.  As a multi-state organization with no office or physical footprint, LWV UMRR wrestled with the question of where to hold Board meetings.  We eventually developed a model where we traveled around the Upper Mississippi watershed, working with our member Leagues in diverse areas to hold educational meetings on local water issues in conjunction with our Board meetings.  This way UMRR Board members got to know League members around the watershed, and local Leagues got to know UMRR.  Covid has changed all of that.  

At the August 2 Board meeting, the Board adopted a plan to continue to hold virtual-only meetings through the end of 2020.  We began to plan for what these virtual meetings would hold for our members, and came up with a plan to find speakers to support a local or statewide focus for each meeting.  We may even have more educational meetings, since with out the need to physically travel we can do more.  (Our usual schedule was a meeting every other month, on the first Monday of even-numbered months.  This was a lot of fun, but took planning and a lot of time. Virtually, howver, we can do monthly virtual educational meetings, which would give us more opportunities to learn and share information about our watershed.)

Our October meeting will feature Dr. David Osterberg speaking on water issues in Iowa.  We will have more detail on his talk in our September newsletter - watch for this coming soon!  

Dr. David Osterberg is a power-house speaker who will provide us a good overview of the problems and solutions facing Iowa's waters. This session will be recorded on Facebook Live. Consider holding a watch party with your League and follow it up with a vibrant discussion through Zoom!

David Osterberg, Founder, Researcher and Former Director
Energy & Environment, Economic Opportunity

David is a former Iowa state representative who was chairman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee as well as the Agriculture Committee. David was the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 1998 and worked for one year as a consultant to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. David holds an M.S. in water resources management and another in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is professor emeritus in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa.

David co-founded the organization with Mark Smith, former president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and served as executive director from IPP’s inception through June 2013. He is co-author of several IPP energy and environment reports. David speaks widely to explain the findings of IPP reports. 

 https://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/david-osterberg-translating-research/

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=david+osterberg+iowa&docid=608023998820385520&mid=A142D9A2FB79C71FCB9AA142D9A2FB79C71FCB9A&view=detail&FORM=VIRE