9:00am – 10:00am

Why Farm Animals Matter: Saving the Planet and Animals with Your Fork

Erin is co-author of Why Animals Matter: The Case for Animal Protection, which offers an overview of industries that exploit animals and addresses the connections between the ways we mistreat animals, the environment, and other people. Erin also works in the factory farming campaign at The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization. Her concern for animals was sparked as a result of spending much of her childhood on her family's dairy farm in rural Illinois. Over the past dozen years, she's worked or volunteered for a number of animal protection and environmental organizations, from small student groups to international nonprofits.

Publishers Weekly calls Why Animals Matter “a tough but fair-minded revelation of how mass production of animals for food and other purposes results in cruelty that usually remains hidden from sight.” VegNews praises the book as “a compelling resource that is certain to widen our circle of compassion.”

10:05am – 11:00am

Why Build Green? - And the health effects of toxic building materials

Executive Director Barbara Warren has a long record of environmental research and advocacy and has achieved successful policy and program reforms on a range of environmental and health issues. She has been recognized with environmental awards by her community, local and state public officials, and statewide environmental organizations. For over ten years, Barbara directed Consumers Union's New York Project, which focused on toxics, environmental justice and solid waste. She is a Registered Nurse with a Masters degree in Environmental Health Science. She has extensive experience on toxins, health and public policy issues, working for over 10 years; she has provided technical assistance to grassroots groups and coalitions. She has authored reports and prepared testimony on proposed regulations and legislation at the local, state and federal levels. In the past year, she has assisted CEC with several programs including the Pollution Prevention Institute (PPI) and Green Purchasing state policy proposals, which would phase out the purchase of products containing the most toxic substances.

11:05am – 12:00

You can reverse disease by eating healthy. I'm living proof!

Motivational/Inspirational speaker on the subject of diet, exercise, health and spirituality; author, Discovered Secrets; a Self-Metamorphosis, Inspiration for Self-Healing. Serves as Ambassador for (PCRM) Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine and gives presentations on “Healthy Hearts.” Articles relating to her miraculous survival and accomplishments in spite of cardiomyopathy and traditional MD's doomsday predictions have appeared in at least nine newspapers, and various publications. Dr. Ellicott is a Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist, School Psychologist, Certified Learning Consultant, Certified Teacher of the Handicapped, Certified Teacher of Arts and Drama to list a few. She has been elected to: Who's Who Heritage Registry '08-'09, National Reference Registry Who's Who in American Education '87-'88 and the National Register's Who's Who in Executive & Professionals '01- '02. Dr. Ellicott believes that a life that is balanced spiritually, physically, and cognitively, combined with a plant-based diet is the secret of growth, success, and fulfillment.

12:05pm – 1:00pm

The Success Team: Animal Rights, Veganism, and Religion

Frank and Mary celebrated their 48^th wedding anniversary this year. About 35 years ago they first became aware of the true plight of animals, and began eliminating animal products from their lives, until they became vegans more than 22 years ago. They began working on Animal Rights issues, and soon realized that the supposedly loving and compassionate religious community was one of the major contributing factors in animal exploitation, because of their silence and acquiescence. This was even more amazing, because Frank was a pastor. In 1997 they formed The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, to help further their efforts to make this a more peaceful world for humans, other animals, and the environment. The www.all-creatures.org web site began in January 1998, and has expanded ever since. Today they have more than 55,000 documents on the internet, and host over 35 other like-minded organizations.

1:05pm – 2:30

The Latest in Human Nutrition

Dr. Greger introduces an engaging new interactive quiz show format that lets us test our nutrition knowledge with some surprising outcomes. Dr. Greger has scoured the world's scholarly literature on clinical nutrition and developed this brand-new talk of the latest in cutting-edge research. Focusing on studies published just over the last year in peer-reviewed scientific nutrition journals, Dr. Greger offers practical advice on how best to feed ourselves and our families to prevent, treat, and even reverse chronic disease.

A founding member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Michael Greger, MD, is a physician, author, and internationally recognized speaker on nutrition, food safety, and public health issues. He has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, the International Bird Flu Summit, the National Institutes of Health, testified before Congress, and was invited as an expert witness in the defense of Oprah Winfrey in the infamous "meat defamation" trial. He is a graduate of Cornell University School of Agriculture and Tufts University School of Medicine. Currently Dr. Greger serves as the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States.

2:35pm – 3:30pm

Animal Research: Is It Good For Your Health?

A licensed psychologist with more than 30 years of experience. She has taught at several colleges and has worked extensively in private practice with individuals who suffered psychological trauma. She has authored and co-authored several papers including on the use of chimpanzees in research and the psychological suffering they endure. Dr. Capaldo has served on the boards and advisory boards of several national animal advocacy organizations and has presented at numerous national and international conferences.

She is currently president and executive director of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS), one of the oldest animal protection organizations in the country; its educational affiliate, the Ethical Science and Education Coalition (ESEC); and spearheaded NEAVS' national campaign Project R&R: Release and Restitution for Chimpanzees in U.S. Laboratories (releasechimps.org). During her tenure, NEAVS has committed to a three-pronged strategy to end the use of animals in science:

1. keep compassionate students in science by making alternatives to animal use available at all levels of education
2. end the use of the first non-human species — chimpanzees — in biomedical research (which led to the Great Ape Protection Act, federal legislation to end invasive research on all great apes); and,
3. make the use of existing research alternatives to animals mandatory.

3:45pm – 5:00pm

Q & A Panel Session

3:45pm – 5:00pm

Q & A Panel Session

3:45pm – 5:00pm

Moderator for Q & A Panel Session