“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”
―
Climate change is not only a political, economic, and social crisis, it presents one of the great moral problems of our time. This course is a way to introduce students to the science, policy, and ethics of climate change. Students will also meet some of the key individuals working on climate change here at Penn State, or their own respected university.
Here are just a few of our guest speakers:
Dr. Erica Smithwick
Erica Smithwick, Professor of Geography, is a landscape and ecosystem ecologist. She is the Director of the Ecology Institute, and the Center for Landscape Dynamics. She is also a Faculty Associate of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State, and Graduate Faculty in the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. Her laboratory group (LEAPS: Landscape Ecology at Penn State) is actively involved in understanding how a wide range of disturbances, especially fire, affect ecosystem function at landscape scales. Current research is focused on the influence of these changes on socio-ecological resilience and sustainability, with special attention to protected area management in Africa and the U.S. She recently served as a Fulbright Scholar in South Africa at Rhodes University.
Dr. Ray Najjar
Seeking a field where I could apply my love of math and science, I chose an engineering major in college. Studying fluid mechanics as a mechanical engineering major was an epiphany to me, but at the same time I became increasingly interested in the environment, inspired in no small part by brilliant science communicators like Rachel Carson, David Attenborough, and Carl Sagan. I made a lucky guess that graduate study in oceanography and atmospheric science would be a perfect marriage of my interests. My early research focused on large-scale, open-ocean biogeochemistry, particularly the cycling of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and silicon), oxygen, and carbon. A few years after arriving at Penn State in 1993, I became interested in coastal issues, such as eutrophication, hypoxia, and sea-level rise. I worked on numerous regional climate impact assessments, including one that was part of the first National Climate Assessment. I am mainly a data analyst, but I also use numerical models and remote sensing. Occasionally, I am lucky enough to go to sea, and have conducted studies in the Sargasso Sea and coastal waters of Antarctica and the Eastern United States. I’ve received funding for my research from the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and Pennsylvania Sea Grant.
Dr. Michael Mann
Dr. Michael E. Mann is Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI). He is also director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center (ESSC).
Mann is the author of several books including his most recent work, The Madhouse Effect, which features cartoons by Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Tom Toles. Through satire, “The Madhouse Effect” portrays the intellectual pretzels into which denialists must twist logic to explain away the clear evidence that man-made activity has changed our climate. To learn more about the book, click here.
Dr. Caitlin Grady
Dr. Grady is an Assistant Professor The Pennsylvania State University. She also holds a duel appointment in the College of Engineering Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and in the College of Liberal Arts Rock Ethics Institute. In 2018, Dr. Grady was named the inaugural Faculty Fellow for the Center for Security Research and Education. Dr. Grady also holds a courtesy appointment in the School of International Affairs.