Climate change is the focus of the 2014 Winter Lecture Series that will take place on consecutive Sundays (excluding Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2) through March 16 at Hardin Hall auditorium. The lectures are free and open to the public.
“Our lecture series is designed to provide an understanding of how people in various niches of the world are confronting the climate changes that have already begun, and how those patterns of coping may develop in the future,” said Don Wilhite, climatologist and professor who serves on the lecture series planning committee. “Knowledge about other cultures plays a major role in expanding perspectives on one’s own culture and nation. Most importantly, we hope to impart the information that will allow our attendees to be well-informed citizens.”
Chuck Kutscher, principal engineer/group manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, opens the series on Jan. 26. He will present “Climate Change: The Latest Findings and What We Must Do.”
Each event starts at 7 p.m. with the lecture by the speaker for about an hour. After a 20-minute refreshment break, the audience is invited back to engage the speaker in a question and answer session that may last until 9 p.m. The series concludes with two sessions of panel discussion.
Each presentation will be posted online at http://www.prairiefirenewspaper.com within a week of delivery.
Other lectures in the 2014 series:
Feb. 9 — “Responding to a Changing Climate: Challenges and Opportunities in Pacific Islands,” Eileen Shea, Chief of the Climate Services Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Asheville, North Carolina
Feb. 16 — “Tackling deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon,” Adriana Moreira, Senior Environmental Specialist at the World Bank in Brasilia, Brazil
Feb. 23 — “China’s Water-Energy-Climate Conundrum,” Jennifer Turner, Director, China Environment Forum, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC
March 2 — “Implications of Desertification, Land Degregadation and Drouught (DLDD) on the Economic, Social, and Political Landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Melchiade Bukuru, Chief of UNCCD Liaison office, United Nations Headquarters, New York
March 9 — “Effects of Climate Change in Our Region,” Panelists:
• Mace Hack, Adjunct Associate Professor, SNR, UNL
• Clint Rowe, Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, UNL
• Mike Hayes, Director, National Drought Mitigation Center, UNL
March 16 — “Public Policy Issues of Climate Change in Our Region,” Panelists: • Ken Haar, Nebraska State Senator, District 21 • Ann Bleed, Natural Resource Scientist, SNR, UNL • Milo Mumgaard, Senior Policy Aide for Sustainability at Mayor’s Office, City of Lincoln
The Winter Lecture Series is sponsored in part by Humanities Nebraska, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, the UNL School of Natural Resources, the UNL Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and the Unitarian Church of Lincoln.
