Robert Andrews Deans, Debra Demske and Ulrike Wiethaus will discuss the environmental risks associated with hyperscale data centers, how Rural Hall residents organized and executed successful resistance to the development, and the ongoing efforts to close the regulatory gaps and reduce the risks of unmanaged growth in Forsyth County.

Robert Andrews Deans, Ph.D. has a doctorate in ecology. He studied aquatic insects but has a passion for learning about all living things. He currently works for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

Debra Demske is Executive Committee Chair of the Foothills Group of the NC Sierra Club and also works with the group Citizens Climate Lobby to support bipartisan legislation on climate change. She worked with No Data Center Rural Hall and Stokes County Strong, Data Center Wrong to oppose hyperscale data center rezonings.

Ulrike Wiethaus is Wake Forest University professor emerita in the Department for the Study of Religions and in American Ethnic Studies. She served as a Community Solutions Fellow with the Institute for Public Engagement at Wake Forest University, and is a recipient of the Donald O. Schoonmaker Faculty Award for Community Service.”

Gathering and informal conversation begins at 9 am. The presentation/discussion begins at 9:15 am.

To attend in person: 4055 Robinhood Road, Winston-Salem, in the Big Classroom (Emerson Thoreau). Enter the main doors, go left and continue down to the end of the hall.

To attend online via Zoom: https://uufws.org/virtual-forum