BEMIDJI, Minn. – Native American land rights activist, environmentalist, economist, politician and author will present the keynote address at the opening ceremonies of the ninth annual Bemidji State University Student Scholarship and Creative Achievement Conference on Wednesday, April 16.

The keynote address, which will be delivered at 8:40 a.m. in Memorial Hall 100 on the BSU campus, is entitled “Climate Change, Peak Oil and Food Security: Challenges and Strategies for this Millennium.”

A recent inductee into the Northern Minnesota Women’s Hall of Fame, LaDuke has spent her career working on a national level to advocate, raise public support and create funding for environmental groups. She has become known as a voice for Native American economic and environmental concerns around the globe and was the vice presidential candidate of Ralph Nader’s Green Party presidential campaigns in both 1996 and 2000.

She founded the White Earth Land Recovery Project to focus on land recovery, preservation and restoration of traditional practices and the strengthening of spiritual and cultural heritage. In 1985, she established the Indigenous Women’s Network, a group devoted to increasing the visibility of Native women and empowering them to participate in political, social, and cultural processes. She also is program director of the Honor the Earth Fund, a national advocacy group that seeks to educate and create public support and funding for native environmental groups.

The Student Scholarship and Creative Achievement Conference, which is open free to the public, celebrates the accomplishments of Bemidji State students in all fields and disciplines and features speakers involved in science and research. The presentations represent the range of academic disciplines and aesthetic pursuits that are the life of the university. Student research and innovation in the arts and sciences are real contributions to the process of learning and the increase in knowledge. More importantly, the work foreshadows even greater achievements that will come from these scholars and artists in years to come.

More information on the conference is available by contacting the Academic Affairs Office, located in Deputy Hall on the Bemidji State University campus, at (218) 755-2015.