Past Events
Monday, June 16; 9:30am at Coffman Memorial Union, Minneapolis Campus
Tuesday, June 17; 12:00pm at the St. Paul Campus Student Center
Two upcoming campus forums will provide opportunities for University faculty, staff and students to learn more about UMore Park and Vermillion Highlands, and view concept planning scenarios. Your suggestions can help to shape the future of the properties and create opportunities for research and learning experiences.
Other ways to be involved include:
Thursday, June 5, 2008
9:00am - 3:30pm
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum; Chaska, Minn.
Conference Web site
Climate change will bring tremendous change to Minnesota’s plant communities. Many species are unlikely to survive. Some will be unable to reach the new climate zones that can sustain their growth, while for others, suitable habitat may disappear altogether.
How will we respond to this risk? Are we prepared to manage and preserve Minnesota’s biodiversity in the face of climate change?
Keynote Speaker
Jim Motavalli, author, environmental journalist and editor of E Magazine, a national environmental bi-monthly will share his unique insights into the effects and impact of climate change and subsequent loss of plant life and habitat as witnessed from his own global journeys. Motavalli has written for The New York Times, The Nation, the Boston Globe, The Guardian, Sierra and many other magazines, newspapers and Web sites. Motavalli’s writing on population won a 1999 Global Media Award.
Climate Change speakers and panel participants
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Dr. Julie Etterson, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth
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Dr. Lee Frelich, Director, Hardwood Ecology Center, University of Minnesota
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Dr. Malcolm Hunter, Libra Professor of Conservation Biologist, University of Maine
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Dr. George Jacobson, Climate Change Institute, Professor, University of Maine
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Dr. Carter Johnson, Professor, South Dakota State University
May 6, 2008 “Biofuels Production and the Environment”
FEATURING:
Dr. Michael Wang; Manager of the Systems Assessment Section, Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National Laboratory
Dr. Stephen Polasky; Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological and Environmental Economics, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota
MODERATOR:
Richard Hemmingsen; Director of the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment
Oil is the dominant feedstock used to produce transportation fuel. But rapidly rising prices, reliance on imports from politically unstable regions, greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution have spurred the search for alternatives to oil. While renewable biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel offer potential benefits to the environment, recent studies have called those benefits into question. Stephen Polasky and Michael Wang examine the current debates over life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, water use, local air quality and other important environmental impacts of producing and consuming biofuels and fossil fuels for transportation.
Watch the May Roundtable
Download Stephen Polasky’s presentation (pdf)
Download Michael Wang’s presentation (pdf)
April 24, 2008 “Challenges of Climate & Land Use and Land Cover Change Modeling at a Regional Scale”
FEATURING:
Dr. William Gutowski; Professor, Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences; Iowa State University
Dr. Peter Snyder; Assistant Professor, Department of Soil, Water and Climate
Dr. Tracy Twine; Assistant Professor, Department of Soil, Water and Climate MODERATOR:
Dr. Richard Skaggs; Institute on the Environment Founding Fellow; Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography; Co-Director, Master of Geographic Information Science Program
Much of the interest in and concern about climate change derives from the results of Global Climate Models (GCMs). But the impacts of climate change differ from region to region, sometimes leading to discussions of “winners” and “losers.” These differences are not always specified by the GCMs. Furthermore, greenhouse gas emissions are just one of the drivers of climate change. Land use and land cover change (LULCC) also drives the climate regime, especially at regional and local levels. This Environment Roundtable focuses on a topic of particular interest to regional policymakers and
planners: The integration of climate modeling and LULCC modeling at spatial and temporal scales.
Watch the April Roundtable
March 13, 2008 “Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change”
FEATURING:
Dr. Stephen Pacala; Frederick D. Petrie Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Director, Princeton Environmental Institute
Dr. Anne Kapuscinski; Professor, Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology; Director, Institute for Social, Economic and Ecological Sustainability
MODERATOR:
Dr. Deborah Swackhamer; Interim Director, Institute on the Environment
How should society adapt to the levels of climate change that are now unavoidable? Human-induced climate change in recent decades is already affecting many physical and biological processes on every continent. Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, scientists predict major effects on nature and society due to past emissions. Some ecosystems and communities will experience greater harm than others, raising equity and ethical issues. What adaptation strategies are needed to reduce negative impacts to our natural resources, infrastructures and overall quality of life? Don’t miss the next Environment Roundtable, when Princeton ecologist Stephen Pacala and Institute on the Environment founding fellow Anne Kapuscinski introduce the science and policy of climate change adaptation and explore ideas for interdisciplinary research.
This Environment Roundtable was presented in partnership with the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences
Watch the March Roundtable
Listen to the podcast (mp3)
February 8, 2008 “Savannas Forever: the Intersection of Lion Conservation and Public Health in Tanzania”
FEATURING:
Dr. Craig Packer; Distinguished McKnight Professor, Ecology, Evolution & Behavior
Dr. Paul Glewwe; Department of Applied Economics
MODERATOR:
Deborah Swackhamer, Interim Director of the Institute on the Environment
What do Serengeti lions have to do with public health and poverty in rural Tanzania? Come find out during our next Environment Roundtable, when Craig Packer and Brian Atwood explore the scientific and social challenges of conserving natural resources while improving public health and reducing poverty in rural East Africa. Co-founder of Savannas Forever, Packer is a world-renowned authority on lion behavior and ecology. Atwood has spent most of his career life in foreign policy, and served as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development during the Clinton years. The two experts will discuss how poverty, malnutrition and disease have led to the unsustainable consumption of Tanzania's natural resources, putting pressure on the country's keystone predator: the lion. They'll also look at how sustainable management of these resources can provide a solid foundation for the nation's economic development.
Watch the February Roundtable
Listen to the podcast (mp3)
