ORONO — “Our Environment: Nurses Taking Action on Sustainable Health Solutions” will be the focus — at the University of Maine on Friday, April 9, — of the annual evidence-based practice conference of the Omicron Xi at-Large Chapter of the global nursing honor society Sigma Theta Tau International.

The virtual event, free and open to the public, will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring keynote speakers Nirav Shah, Paul Mayewski and Katie Huffling in the morning, a noon poster session and presentations focused on waste management in health care, the impact of climate change on adaptation among the Wabanaki, and addressing health disparities and food insecurity among vulnerable populations in the afternoon.

Shah, the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, will kick off the event at 9:05 a.m. when he will offer a coronavirus update and share insights into how environment and social determinants have contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayewski, the director of UMaine’s Climate Change Institute, will present “Maine’s Possible Future Given the Global Climate Crisis” at 9:30 a.m.

Huffling’s talk, “Building a Global Movement: Nurse Leadership in Environmental Health,” begins at 11 a.m. She is the executive director of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments.

Register by Thursday, April 8, by submitting a completed Registration Form to valerie.herbert@maine.edu. Payment of the $40 registration fee, drafted to Omicron Xi at-Large Chapter of Sigma, should be sent to the University of Maine School of Nursing, attention Cindy Therrien, 5724 Dunn Hall Room 239, Orono, ME 04469-5724. The fee for students is $20.

To obtain a registration form, for more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Valerie Herbert, president of UMaine’s Omicron Xi at-Large Chapter, at valerie.herbert@maine.edu.