Global Change & Sustainability Center

September 6, 2022

August 31, 2021

October 19, 2021

• Heather Tanana, College of Law, University of Utah
  "Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribal Communities"  Read more

November 2, 2021

• Taylor Sparks, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Utah
  "Why does humanity need new energy materials, and where will we find them?" Read more
  

November 16, 2021

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

• Divya Chandrasekhar, City and Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah
  “A grassroots view of disaster recovery”
  How communities recover from disasters, the interactions underlying this recovery, and what it means to be disaster resilient in a complex, uncertain and unjust world.    Read more here

SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

• Julie Sze, Professor of American Studies at UC Davis
  “Interdisciplinarity, Intersectionality and Environmental Justice: The Time is Now ”
  What role can colleges and universities in particular, and specific fields (sustainability, environmental policy, etc.)  play in addressing climate and other crises?     Read more here

OCTOBER 13, 2020

• Daniel Mendoza, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah
  “The confluence of air quality, urban development, health, and social justice”
  Read more here

NOVEMBER 10, 2020

• Sarah Hinners, Director, Center for Ecological Planning + Design, Department of City and Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah
  “Campus as a Living Lab: Embedded Research for Sustainability Innovation in the Built Environment”
   Read more here

DECEMBER 1, 2020

• Joan Nassauer, Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Michigan
  “Cues to care in socio-hydro-ecological systems”
  This talk will describe how mechanisms for the effectiveness of cues to care relate to properties of socio-hydro-ecological systems as exemplified by a transdisciplinary green stormwater infrastructure project in Detroit, MI, USA.
  Read more here

february 2, 2021

• Steven Burian, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering; Director, U Water Center, University of Utah.
  "Catalyzing Higher Education Capacity to Advance Water Security in Pakistan"

february 9, 2021

• Daniel Sarewitz, Professor of Science and Society, Arizona State University
  "The Science of Modeling Through"  Read more.

february 16, 2021

• Lawson Brigham, Distinguished Research Professor of Geography and Arctic Policy, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Wilson Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
  "The New Maritime Arctic: Changing Access, Global Connections and Geopolitics" Read more.

february 23, 2021

• Mercedes Pascual, Professor of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago
  "Changing climate and vector-borne infections: some challenges of scale" Read more.

march 9, 2021

• Mary Miss, artist
  "City as Living Laboratory (CALL): Artists+Scientists+Communities"
  CALL works to advance the role of artists in making cities more livable and resilient. This seminar will discuss projects that help people connect environmental challenges to personal experience and take action.
  

march 16, 2021

• Adrienne Cachelin, Professor (Lecturer), Environmental & Sustainability Studies, U Utah
  Nalini Nadkarni, Professor, School of Biological Sciences, U Utah
  Austin Green, PhD candidate in the School of Biological Sciences, U Utah
  “Citizen Scientists or Scientist Citizens: Exploring Research-based Inclusive Public Engagement” 
  Read more.   This seminar will not be recorded.

March 23, 2021

• Pamela McElwee, Associate Professor, Department of Human Ecology, Rutgers University
  "Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia in a Post-COVID Era"   Read more.
  Co-sponsored with the Asia Center.  

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY STUDENT research symposium

• View students' presentations and posters here.

april 6, 2021

• Asia Dowtin, Assistant Professor of Urban and Community Forestry, Michigan State University
  "Linking Water, Trees, and Stakeholders in the Urban Forest"  Read more.

April 13, 2021

• Liliana Caughman, Faculty, Native Environmental Science, Northwest Indian College
  "From Climate Action to Climate Justice: How scenarios, partnerships, and community priorities are driving equitable urban sustainability and resilience planning in Portland, Oregon"
  Read more.

April 20, 2021

• Jessica Grindstaff, Founder, Director, Playwright and Set Designer,  Phantom Limb Company
  "Storytelling, Imagism and Empathy: Awakening an Audience"  Read more here.

AUGUST 27, 2019

• Barbara Reck, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
  “Why Using Metals Efficiently Matters”
  This presentation discusses the challenges of metal recycling in the context of broader material cycles and the role of interdependencies among metals– from byproducts in ores, to alloying elements and complex multi-material products. Read more here.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019

• Masood Parvania, University of Utah Electrical & Computer Engineering
  “Sustainability at the Intersection of Power and Water Infrastructure: An Engineering Perspective”
  This seminar will outline the ongoing research on how closer collaboration and operation co-optimization of interdependent power and water infrastructure enhances the energy and economic efficiency of both systems. Read more here.

OCTOBER 1, 2019

• Ken D. Tape, University of Alaska Geophysical Institute
  “The Changing Arctic Landscape”
  This talk explores a century of changes in the arctic tundra landscape and its wildlife.  Read more here.

OCTOBER 22, 2019

• Doug Kennett, U.C. Santa Barbara Department of Anthropology
  “Drought and long-term sociopolitical dynamics west of the hundredth meridian”  Abstract/flyer
  Lessons from archaeological records provide insights into the complexity of sociopolitical responses in the past and to drought west of the hundredth meridian going into the future.

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

• Jeff Rose, University of Utah Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
  “Homelessness, Political Ecology, and Critical Sustainability”
  A critical spatial approach to unsheltered homelessness positions it as both a social and environmental justice concern that confronts common understandings of sustainability.   Abstract/flyer

JANUARY 14, 2020

• Elizabeth Kronk Warner, Dean, S.J. Quincy College of Law
  “Tribal Environmental Law”  Read more here.

JANUARY 28, 2020

• Juliet Carlisle, U Utah Department of Political Science
  “Driving the Agenda? California Drought in the 21st Century”  Read more here.

FEBRUARY 11, 2020

• Hilary Swain, Archbold Biological Station
  “The confluence of biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and socio-economic factors in Florida ranchlands”  Read more here.

FEBRUARY 25, 2020

• Nancy Grimm, Distinguished Sustainability Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University
  “Rivers of our dreams: water futures in urban central Arizona”.   Read more here.

• Gabriel Bowen, Professor, Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah – August 28, 2018. ″Water in the Critical Zone: How Soils Control Flows and Chemistry in the Terrestrial Water Cycle”  Abstract / flyer

• John C. Lin, Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah – September 11, 2018. ″The greenhouse gas-air quality nexus: experiences from the Western U.S.”  Abstract / flyer

• Diane Pataki, Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah – September 25, 2018. “Projecting nature: Reflections on the science of ‘ecology for cities’”  Abstract / flyer

• Seth Arens, Research Integration Specialist, Western Water Assessment Utah – October 16, 2018  “Planning for drought and climate change in Utah: working with resource managers to develop usable science” Abstract / flyer

• Gaby Katul, Theodore S. Coile Professor of Hydrology and Micrometeorology, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University – October 30, 2018  ″Evapotranspiration: From kinetic theory to the limits of plant life”    Read more here.

• Steven “Kealoha” Wong, Hawai’i Poet Laureate, cohosted with Utah Presents and the Sustainability Office – November 13, 2018 “So many different crossroads, but the paths look the same.”  Abstract / flyer

• Lauren Barth-Cohen, Educational Psychology, University of Utah – January 15, 2019 ″Capturing Three-Dimensional Science Learning about Climate Change in Classrooms through Embodied Modeling” Read more

• Robert Bullard, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy, Texas Southern University – January 31, 2019 ″Race, Place, and the Politics of Pollution“ This event is not part of the regular GCSC seminar series, but is a special seminar co-sponsored by the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, Global Change & Sustainability Center, University of Utah Sustainability Office, and the University of Utah Office of Equity and Diversity.  Read more
  

• Giovanna Di Chiro, Professor, Environmental Studies, Swarthmore College – February 12, 2019 ″Imagining Sustainable Futures: Collaborative ‘Soul’-utions for Earthly Survival”  Read more

• Aradhna Tripati, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA – February 26, 2019 ″Frontiers in the study of past climate and environmental change: From new tracers to piloting a new inclusive science model”  Read more

• Brenda Ekwurzel, Sr. Climate Scientist, Director of Climate Science for the Union of Concerned Scientists – March 20, 2019 ″Assessing and mitigating risks to water resources from climate change”

• Diana Tomback, Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver – April 2, 2019 ″Biodiversity catastrophe in real time: Loss of five-needle white pine communities and cascading consequences”  Read more

• David Pellow, Environmental Studies, Global Environmental Justice Project, UC Santa Barbara – April 16, 2019 ″Toward a Critical Environmental Justice: Exploring State Violence and the Settler Colonial Conflicts” Read more here.

August 22, 2017

• Amy Wildermuth, Associate V.P. for Faculty, Academic Affairs; Chief Sustainability Officer; Professor, College Of Law, U of Utah ”Navigating renewable energy challenges on campus”   Abstract, flyer

September 5, 2017

• Ryan Smith, Associate Dean, College of Architecture + Planning; Director, Integrated Technology in Architecture Collaborative, U of Utah ”Building Systems: ecological design and construction”   Abstract, flyer

September 19, 2017

• Natalie Gochnour, Associate Dean, David Eccles School of Business; Director, Gardner Policy Institute, University of Utah ”What’s missing in Utah’s economic prosperity?”

October 3, 2017

• Lisa Dilling, Director, NOAA Western Water Assessment; Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado ”Learning lessons from managing drought: Adaptation in an interconnected, uncertain world”  abstract

October 24, 2017

• Ananya Chatterjea, Professor of Dance, University of Minnesota ”Choreographies of Resistance: Dancing Ecosystems”  abstract |  Read more

November 7, 2017

• Terry Irwin, Director, School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University ”Designing for Systems-Level Change”   Read more

November 28, 2017

• Jack Williams, Professor of Climate, People, and Environment, University of Wisconsin ”Achieving global ecology via dispersed community curated data resources:  Neotoma and PalEON”  abstract/flyer

January 9, 2018

• Kari Norgaard, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Oregon “Climate Change as Strategic Opportunity: Imagination, Responsibility, and Community”

January 23, 2018

• Kip Solomon, Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah ”Can Groundwater Feed the World? It’s All About Time”

February 6, 2018

• Edella Schlager, School of Government & Public Policy, University of Arizona ”Water Scarcity, Governance, and Adaptation in Western Transboundary River Basins”  download flyer

February 20, 2018

• Sarah Kanouse, Department of Art + Design, Northeastern University ”Entanglements: artistic strategies for complex ecologies”  Read more here

March 6, 2018

• Sarah George, Executive Director, Natural History Museum of Utah “Climate Change at the Natural History Museum:  Research and Interpretation”

March 27, 2018

• Peter Wilson, Visiting Distinguished Professor, University of South Florida, Associate Dean, University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies ”Antarctica – fishes, adaptations and dealing with ice”   Read about Dr. Wilson’s research

April 10, 2018

• Sara K. Yeo, Department of Communication, University of Utah”The Science of Science Communication”

August 30, 2016

• Robin Craig, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law ”Rethinking Sustainability to Deal with the Climate Change Trickster: Resilience Theory, the Anthropocene, and the Example of Marine Fisheries”  Read more

September 13, 2016

• Marc Parlange, University of British Columbia, Department of Civil Engineering ”West African Savanna hydrology under landscape transformation” Co-sponsored by Department of Mechanical Engineering   Read more

September 27, 2016

• Leah Sprain, University of Colorado Boulder College of Media, Communication and Information ”Democratic dilemmas of energy system transformation” Co-sponsored by the Communication Institute     Read more

October 18, 2016

• Julie Guthman, University of California Santa Cruz Program in Community Studies, Division of Social Sciences ”Pathogens, plant breeding, chemicals, land, and workers in the making and unmaking of California’s strawberry industry“   Read more

November 1, 2016

• Fernando Bosco, San Diego State University Department of Geography ”Journeys in a ‘Food Desert’: Place, Mobility, and the Everyday Food Practices of Young People”  Read more

November 15, 2016

• Andrew Richardson, Harvard University Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology “Climate change, phenology, and ecosystem processes: What we are learning from the PhenoCam network”  Read more

November 29, 2016

•  Manisha Anantharaman, St Mary’s College Department of Justice. Community, & Leadership ”Class, poverty and urban sustainability in Bangalore, India”  Read more

January 17, 2017

• Joerg Schaefer, Columbia University Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences ”Ice Sheets, Glaciers and Society: past and present cryospheric change and its impact on society”  Read more

January 31, 2017

• Wendy Wischer, University of Utah Department of Art and Art History ”Transcending data through creative expression”  Read more

February 14, 2017

• Brett Clark, University of Utah Department of Sociology ”Pacific Northwest salmon, commodification, and the marine nutrient-land exchange” Abstract, flyer

February 28, 2017

• Anthony Barnosky, Stanford University, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ”Tipping Point for Planet Earth—How Close Are We To The Edge?”  Read more

March 21, 2017

• Lance Gunderson, Department of Environmental Science, Emory University ”Adaptation and Transformation in Managed Riparian and Wetland Systems across the US.”  Read more

April 4, 2017

• Jeffrey McCarthy, Director of Environmental Humanities, University of Utah “The Watery Part of the World: The Humanities, the Ocean and the Anthropocene”   Read more

April 18, 2017

• Jennifer McIntosh, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona ”Tracing environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing and oil/gas production”    Read more

August 25, 2015

• Paul Brooks, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah. ”What happens to the rain? Linking advances in fundamental research to applied challenges in sustainable water resources”

September 8, 2015

• Danya Rumore, Environmental Dispute Resolution Program, College of Law, U. of Utah. ”Ready or Not: Helping Communities Adapt to Climate Change through Collaborative Action Research”

September 22, 2015

• Gary Machlis, Science Advisor to the Director, National Park Service. ”Desolation Row: Sustainability for the Oft-Forgotten”

October 6, 2015

• Joanna Ganning, Metropolitan Research Center, University of Utah. ”How Effective is Commuter Rail in Spatially Pairing Supply and Demand for Commuting Infrastructure?”

October 20, 2015

• Erica Gaddis, Division of Water Quality, Utah Dept. of Environmental Quality. “Integrated Water Resources Management in the Great Salt Lake Basin: Opportunities for Research to Inform Management”

November 3, 2015

• Steven Burian, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Utah. “Mixing Water and Cities: Don’t Worry, It’s a Sustainable and Resilient Mocktail”

November 17, 2015

• John Abatzoglou, University of Idaho Department of Geography. “Western US Wildfire in the Anthropocene: Is anthropogenic climate change responsible for the new normal of wildfire activity across the western US?”

December 1, 2015

• Kathy Jacobs, Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions, University of Arizona. “The Science/Policy Interface: Climate Adaptation and Decision-making”

January 26, 2016

• Timothy M. Waring, School of Economics, University of Maine. “An Integrative Evolutionary Approach to Sustainability Science”

February 9, 2016

• Elizabeth Wilson, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. “Integrating Renewable Energy in the Western United States”

March 8, 2016

• Jim Steenburgh, Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Utah. ”Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth”

March 22, 2016

• Reid Ewing, Department of City and Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah  ”Cost of Sprawl 2015″

April 5, 2016

• Dorothy J. Merritts, Dept. of Earth and Environment, Franklin & Marshall College. ”Freeze-dried, rapidly thawed permafrost landscapes, breached milldams, and their relation to modern wetland-stream restoration, eastern US”

April 19, 2016

• Noah Diffenbaugh, Stanford School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences  ”Quantifying the influence of historical global warming on the probability of unprecedented extreme climate events”

August 26, 2014

• Stephen Goldsmith, Department of City and Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah. ”Making the invisible visible”

September 9, 2014

• Tabitha Benney, Department of Political Science, University of Utah. ”Making Environmental Markets Work: The Case of Capitalism in the Emerging Economies”

September 23, 2014

• Kelly Bricker, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, University of Utah"Sustainable Tourism – A system for positive change?"

October 7, 2014

• Mark Lewis, Canada Research Chair in Mathematical Biology, University of Alberta"Aquaculture and Sustainability of Coastal Ecosystems”

October 21, 2014

• Philip Dennison, Department of Geography, University of Utah.  ”Facing a Fiery Future: Wildfire Applications of Remote Sensing”

November 4, 2014

• Robert Grow, Director, Envision Utah. ”Your Utah, Your Future”

November 18, 2014

• Michelle Baker, Utah State University; iUTAH. ”Lost in translation: adventures in applied ecosystem ecology and combat science”

December 2, 2014

• Kevin Gurney, Arizona State University Global Institute of Sustainability. ”Revisiting anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions: how new science can enable reductions from the building to the globe”

January 13, 2015

• Rob Jackson, Douglas Provostial Professor in Stanford University School of Earth Sciences. ”Hydraulic Fracturing and Water and Air Resources”

January 27, 2015

• Adil Najam, the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University. “Environment, Development & Security in the Age of Climate Change Adaptation”

February 10, 2015

• David Whiteman, Department of Atmospheric Sciences. ”Meteorology of winter inversions in the Salt Lake Valley and in the Bingham Copper Mine”Cosponsored with the Program for Air Quality, Health, and Society

February 24, 2015

• Bryce Bird, Director, Utah Division of Air Quality. ”Utah’s Air Quality; Progress and Practice under the Utah Air Conservation Act”

March 10, 2015

• Chris Field, Director, the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology.  ”Climate Change, 2015″

March 24, 2015

• Lonnie Thompson, Ohio State University. ”Climate Change: Glaciers, People, and Options”

April 7, 2015

• Lucy Hutyra, Boston University. ”Quantifying and modeling the urban carbon cycle – A examination of land use change, vegetation responses, and emissions”

April 21, 2015

• Amanda Smith, Department of Mechanical Engineering.  "Analyzing energy systems technology through a site-specific lens"

August 27, 2013

• Robert Keiter, College of Law, University of Utah. ”The National Park Idea and the Future of the National Park System.”

September 10, 2013

• Alexander Glazer, University of California, Berkeley. ”Mountain Top Removal/Valley Fill: Cheap Coal at High Cost”

September 24, 2013

• Brian Codding, Department of Anthropology, University of Utah. ”The Origins of Anthropogenic Fire in Arid Australia”

October 8, 2013

• Brenda Bowen, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah. ”Can carbon capture and storage turn black to green?”

October 22, 2013

• Wallace Akerley, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Utah School of Medicine. ”Radon: A Stealthy Assasin”cosponsored with the Program for Air Quality, Health, and Society

November 5, 2013

• Andrea Brunelle, Department of Geography, University of Utah. ”Climate driven dynamics in southwestern US desert ecosystems”

November 19, 2013

• Michelle Hofmann, University of Utah School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics”Children and Ambient Air Pollution: 21st Century Canaries in a Coal Mine”cosponsored with the Program for Air Quality, Health, and Society

December 3, 2013

• Scott Denning, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Colorado State University. ”I’m not a Warmist! Effective Engagement of Hostile Audiences on Climate Change”

January 14, 2014

• Sarah Hinners, Ecological Planning Center, University of Utah. “Ecological planning for human habitat on a crowded planet”

January 28, 2014

• Jonathon Overpeck, Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona. ”Assessing Future Drought and Megadrought Risk”

February 11, 2014

• Eli Kintisch, Journalist, Contributing Correspondent for Science magazine. ”The Two Most Important Words in the World: How to Truly Reach People on Climate Change”

February 25, 2014

• Michelle A. Simon, Environmental Protection Agency. ”Kansas City Middle Blue River Green Infrastructure Project”

March 18, 2014

• Henry Pollack, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan. ”Earth’s Changing Climate: The Transformation of the Arctic”

April 1, 2014

• Terri S. Hogue, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines. ”Anthropogenic Disturbance and Hydrologic Behavior: Case Studies in Southern California”

April 15, 2014

• Danielle Endres, Department of Communication, University of Utah  “Composing Energy Policy: The Influence of Low-Carbon Energy Scientists and Engineers on the Composition of Energy Policy”