Young people today are often seen with an IPod or Game Boy rather than connecting to the natural world, and a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point educator wants to raise awareness of the problem.

Jeremy Solin, director of the LEAF K-12 forestry education program at UWSP says many young people today have a "nature deficit disorder" and need alternative paths and programs to reconnect with the natural world in their communities.

Solin will give a talk on nature deficit disorder on Wednesday, September 24, at 7 p.m., at the Lincoln Senior Center, 1519 Water St., in Stevens Point. Part of the monthly programs sponsored by the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society, his presentation will provide an overview of the issue as well as creative approaches to reversing this societal trend.

"As society shifts to a more urban/suburban landscape our youth and young people are less and less connected to the natural world and hence often lack understanding on natural processes," said Solin. "What I refer to as a 'nature deficit disorder' is nothing more than young people living in a more modern, technology-driven consumer society which alone will not give them the adequate knowledge base on the many issues they will face in the coming years." Those issues are many and include clean water, global warming, loss of arable land, and countless others.

According to Solin, LEAF connects formal and nonformal educators in Wisconsin with quality forestry education materials through professional development for educators, lesson guides, materials from the existing forestry education community, and school forest services and consulting.

Solin joined the faculty in 2003. Last spring he received the Academic Staff Spirit of Community Service Award at UWSP. He is the founder of the Sustain Central Wisconsin Network and a founding member of Central Rivers Farmshed, an organization that focuses on growing and consuming local foods. He earned his bachelor's degree in water resources from UWSP in 1997 and holds a master's degree in environmental education from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Contact: Solin, (715) 346-4907 or jsolin@uwsp.edu