MARQUETTE, Mich.--Environmentalist Chad Pregracke, who was named the 2013 CNN Hero of the Year, will present "From the Bottom Up: One Man's Crusade to Clean America's Rivers" at Northern Michigan University. His talk begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 24, in the University Center Great Lakes Rooms. Admission is free for students and $5 for the public.

Growing up just a few yards from the Mississippi River and working as a commercial shell diver during summers, Pregracke witnessed firsthand the spoiling of our rivers. What began as a weekend clean-up project has ballooned into a nonprofit organization with a $1.6 million annual operating budget and a staggering list of achievements. Since its inception, Pregracke’s crew and more than 70,000 volunteers have removed more than 8 million pounds of garbage from 17 major U.S. rivers. Counted among the haul: 63,000 tires, 18 porta-potties, 14,733 balls, 19 tractors, four pianos, and 63 messages in bottles.

The Environmental Science Organization is sponsoring this National Geographic Live presentation. For more information, call 227-2500.