The Rock and Shoals Outcrop in Athens is a natural area of shoals harboring growths of mosses, lichens, ferns, and numerous other plants. In 2021, the Athens-Clarke County Commission approved a conservation easement to protect 22 acres of the land in a nature preserve, ensuring the area's protection for years to come. This Philosopher's Walk will feature Alfie Vick of the College of Environment + Design leading the hike. Vick is the director of the Environmental Ethics Certificate Program at UGA and is interested in green infrastructure and sustainable site design, landscape performance metrics, native plant communities, and Cherokee ethnobotany.

About the Host: The Environmental Ethics Certificate Program (EECP) is an interdisciplinary program at the University of Georgia that prepares students and community members to synthesize ideas from a wide variety of perspectives to solve complex environmental problems, both in theory and in practice. It is the first certificate of its type in the United States, established by Eugene Odum and Frederick Ferré in 1983.

The program emphasizes environmental leadership and the knowledge, skills, values, and competence necessary to address environmental issues in interdisciplinary and collaborative ways. The program provides a forum where philosophers, scientists, and people from all other disciplines can discuss social and scientific responsibilities toward our environment in a rational manner that clearly defines problems, considers all the information, and maintains our values.