The next week is packed – PACKED – with a slew of great events to the Earth Institute. If you’re looking for ways to expand your knowledge and hear about pressing issues, from politics and development to climate and energy policy, pay attention.
And for more details and to register for any of these events, start here.
Tomorrow – Thursday, April 18 – the Center for International Earth Science Information Network up at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory welcomes an all-day meeting of the World-Wide Human Geography Data Working Group. Panel sessions will focus on political stability, sustainable communities in the developing world, urban growth and other related issues.
The group was formed in 2011 to focus on the need to improve the quality of and access to data on human geography – gathering and mapping information about cultures, activities and attitudes across the globe. Composed of representatives from government agencies, programs of the United Nations and many other NGOs, private industry and academia, the group aims to make more and better information available to promote human security.
Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs will deliver the keynote address for the all-day conference, to be held at Lamont’s Monell Auditorium. (There is a registration fee, and registration is limited for this working meeting.)
On Friday, April 19, Sachs joins MSNBC talker Joe Scarborough at Columbia’s Miller Theater for a “Conversation on America’s Future” – which could go into any number of topics, from the budget and Washington politics to development and climate. That’s from 2-3:30 p.m.
The Lamont-Doherty Spring Lecture Series continues Sunday, April 21, up at Lamont’s Monell Auditorium, with a talk about “Volcanoes and Vents: A Hidden World Beneath the Sea,” by Emily M. Klein, professor of geology and Bass Fellow at Duke University. Klein is a visiting senior research scientist at Lamont-Doherty. The talk runs from 3-4 p.m.
On Monday, April 22, Haiti’s prime minister, Laurent Lamothe, will speak at the next World Leaders Forum, from 4-5 p.m. at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave.
The focus is on energy policy on Tuesday, April 23. Earth Institute Executive Director Steve Cohen will lead a panel on “Microgrids: A Smart Solution for Energy Efficiency and Resiliency,” from 6-8 p.m. at Low Memorial Library. The panel features Matthew Fairy, vice president for marketing, Pareto Energy; Joshua Milberg, vice president for business and operations, and director, Smart Grid, Willdan Energy Solutions; Vijay Modi, professor of mechanical engineering, Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science; and Mohammad Shahidehpour, Bodine Chair professor and director, Robert W. Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation, Illinois Institute of Technology.
“Future Africa: sharks, spies, and science” is the topic of a talk by Jonathan Ledgard, director, Afrotech lab, EPFL, and Africa correspondent at large for The Economist, on Wednesday, April 24. The lecture runs from noon-1:30 p.m. at the Faculty House Seminar Room.
Thursday, April 25 will see a screening of the acclaimed movie “Chasing Ice” and a panel discussion from 6:30-9 p.m. at Barnard College’s Altschul Hall 202, Lehman Auditorium. Speakers include Stephanie Pfirman, professor of environmental science at Barnard College; Maribeth Murray, executive director of the International Arctic Research Center; Edward Parson, professor of law at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law; Debika Shome, deputy director of the Harmony Institute; and Michael Lemonick, senior science writer at Climate Central.
The event is presented by the Columbia Climate Center and the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions. The panel will focus on the latest in Arctic climate science and policy, and also highlight the importance of novel methods for communicating climate change and include expert perspectives from a two-day sea ice restoration workshop.
Also on Thursday, Steve Cohen will moderate a discussion organized by the Earth Institute Student Advisory Council titled “Closing the Loop: Technology and Sustainability.” Speakers include Lisa Sachs, director of the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment; Marc Levy, deputy director of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network; Caroline Kruse, development director at the Lower East Side Ecology Center; and Steven Brautigam, assistant commissioner for environmental affairs, New York City Department of Sanitation. The panel will run from 7-10 p.m. at the International Affairs Building, Room 417, Altschul Auditorium.
