Mariah Escobar 
THE RIDER FILE PHOTO
The College of Liberal Arts will host its 11th Annual Eco Rio Symposium from noon to 4 p.m. today in Liberal Arts North Room 207 on the Edinburg campus and from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Main Building Salón Cassia on the Brownsville campus.
The event will feature numerous guest speakers advocating and educating those in attendance about environmental issues in the Rio Grande Valley, according to a UTRGV faculty member.
“Eco Rio is an environmental studies symposium, so every year what we do is highlight environmental problems and environmental solutions here in el Valle,” said Marla Perez-Lugo, a professor of sociology and associate director of the School of Interdisciplinary Programs and Community Engagement.
This is the first year the symposium has a specific theme focusing on environmental justice as, years prior, the events have had a broad overview encompassing all areas of environmental studies, according to Silvia Solis, a lecturer of the subject.
“I’m very proud of this,” Perez-Lugo said. “[It] is the 11th year that we are organizing Eco Rio. This started as a very small event for the Environmental Studies Program students and, now, it is a campuswide initiative.”
She added the event brings together nongovernmental organizations, leaders, members of the community, professors and students working on environmental solutions in the Valley.
Apolino Flores, vice president of the Environmental Awareness Club, said it is important to raise awareness because not many people in our community have a super accessible connection to the environmental world.
“A lot of the stuff that happens here, ecologically, can get swept under the rug, and … this event kind of encompasses a lot of different organizations and nature institutions and stuff of that sort within the Valley,” said Flores, an environmental science senior.
Solis said people in the Valley believe that ongoing issues, for instance, flooding are due to political issues and poor infrastructure, so the event gives the public an opportunity to dive deeper into understanding these.
“There is actually a political, a philosophical, a spiritual component … to the environmental issues [and] health issues, so … environmental issues intersect a very broad scope in our lives,” she said.
Perez-Lugo added she wants the program to keep growing and bring more people from outside the Valley for future events.
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