Kent Cavender-Bares

Dialogue Earth
Initiative for Renewable Energy & the Environment
(612) 624-2450
bares@umn.edu

Kent Cavender-Bares directs Dialogue Earth, a new Institute on the Environment program focused on understanding dialogue related to the environment, and developing resources to promote shared understanding. His work focuses on translating and communicating science in such a way that it can contribute to a wide range of conversations linked to sustaining an ever-growing population.

He also serves as assistant director for bioenergy systems with the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment, a signature program of the IonE. In this role, he provides strategic leadership in the areas of biofuels production and bioproducts. His current focus areas include technical and economic modeling at the nexus of wastewater treatment and algal-based energy systems.

Prior to his current roles, Cavender-Bares was the Midwest liaison for Climate Central, a nonprofit science and media organization that provides clear and objective information about climate change and its potential solutions. He also spent eight years working on science-policy issues related to measuring the condition and use of U.S. ecosystems at the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, where he was a senior research associate. This work culminated with a book-length report, “The state of the nation’s ecosystems 2008.”

He holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural and biological engineering from Cornell University, a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Stanford University, and a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A transplant to the Twin Cities area in 2003, Cavender-Bares enjoys outdoor activities, including hiking, biking and cross-country skiing, with his wife and two girls. He’s always looking for a way to carve out time for his lifelong passion of woodworking.