Education

UConn@COP22 applications due Oct 10

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UConn@COP

UConn COP 22 Marrakech Climate Change Conference

 

Trip Description

COP 22 is the United Nations Climate Change Conference, and will be held this year in Marrakech, Morocco from November 7th to November 18th, 2016. The event will bring together diplomats, business executives, heads of government and other delegates to discuss action on climate change. The objective of COP 22 is to make the voices of vulnerable countries to climate change heard and will be one of action.

The University of Connecticut will be providing full funding, excluding meals other than breakfast, for a select group of undergraduate students to travel to Marrakech from November 13th – November 18th to attend events centered on the conference. In addition, students will have the opportunity to experience the beautiful city of Marrakech, Morocco. Events and cultural destinations that the students will be able to experience are laid out in a rough itinerary below.

This application must be completed and submitted to <envpolicy@uconn.edu> by 11:59pm EST on Monday, October 10th in order to be considered by the Selection Committee for the trip. Only complete applications will be considered. Airfare, housing, and city transportation will be provided.

 

Clerical

1. Do you have a passport that is valid through April of 2017?

2. What is your cumulative GPA? (3.0 minimum requirement)

3. What is your major and minor (if applicable)?

4. What is your expected date of graduation?

5. How many credits have you completed?

6. Please list any relevant student leadership activities (e.g., service hours, officer position in clubs, etc.)

7. How did you hear about this program?

 

Requirements

1. Write one 600-word essay on the following topic:

 

  • Describe what you hope to share with the UConn community from your COP 22 trip. Examples include participating and presenting in a conference, presenting what you learned to a class, etc. These goals should be attainable and reasonable. Essay should also include how this trip will be beneficial to your future career.

 

2. List the contact information for three academic or employer references (at least one must be an academic reference).

3. Attach a one-page copy of your current resume to this application.

4. During AND after your trip, you must develop a series of blogs and social media posts pertaining to COP22.

 

This page originated at the UConn OEP site <http://ecohusky.uconn.edu/engagement/COP22.html>

Fall 2016 Teale Lectures

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October 20, 2016
“Just Sustainabilities: Re-imagining e/quality, Living Within Limits”
Julien Agyeman 
Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
Tufts University

November 3, 2016
“Our Rivers on Drugs: Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products as Agents of Ecological Change in Aquatic Ecosystems”
Emma Rosi-Marshall 
Senior Scientist
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY

December 1, 2016
“Wanting the Wild”
Harriet Ritvo 
Arthur J. Conner Professor of History
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Lectures are free, open to the public and, unless otherwise noted, held at 4:00 pm in the Konover Auditorium at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center 

See poster below for the full academic year below.

more details at: http://lib.uconn.edu/about/events/tealelectures/

teale-16-17_12x18-web

COP21 Paris: All Hands on Deck for the next 20 years.

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Anji Seth

“Welcome to those who are working to save our planet”

“Later will be too late”

“We can’t tell our children we didn’t know”

“The world is in our hands”

“7 Billion people, one planet”

 

IMG_4353 (1)Billboards across Paris,  in Charles DeGalle airport, in metro stations, and on historic buildings, reminded us constantly why we were there. Our group of 12 students and 6 faculty/staff from UConn were on a mission to learn about and participate in the historic events taking place, as UN Envoys and negotiators work on an international agreement that would limit global warming to [2C][1.5C]*.  This is the 21st UN Conference of the Parties, or COP21.

IMG_4241More than 20 years ago the United Nations agreed to “talk” about Global Warming. The road to Paris has been long and the stars are now aligning for an international agreement to “act”.  The scientific evidence is overwhelming and indisputable, global leaders have been educated and show some understanding of the threats to nations, people and ecosystems, and people across the planet are calling for action.  Clearly those who deny the science are on the wrong side of history.  The final agreement to act from the Paris 2015 COP21 will not be perfect, there should be a review process in place to further reduce emissions over time, but the agreement will be a starting point for action over the next 20 years.

IMG_4250We travelled to Paris with a 12 students from across the UConn colleges, each passionate about their discipline and the global context in which they will make their marks. During the last 20 years global warming has been in the realms of climate-related sciences, economics and policy, the next 20 years there will be a role for everyone.

Implementation of the Paris agreement will require artists and engineers, teachers and health professionals, ecologists, attorneys and business leaders.  The careers of UConn students will follow the implementation of the Paris agreement over the next 20+ years.  Today’s students will be in the driver’s seat for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, implementing carbon pricing, adapting local infrastructure, and assisting ecosystems in need.

These are exciting times.  Let’s get to work.

*[brackets] indicate items under negotiation.

 

Anji Seth is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography with expertise in climate science. See http://climate.lab.uconn.edu

Spring 2016 Geography 4098: Paris 2015 Climate Conference Debrief

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I will be instructing a variable topics course in the spring to discuss outcomes from the Paris 2015 Climate Conference. Questions? Send me an e-mail <anji.seth@uconn.edu>.

GEOG 4098 Variable Topics:
The UN COP21 Paris 2015 Climate Conference Debrief
Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: none
Recommended preparation: GEOG 2300 or equivalent
CLAS 446 W 4-6:30pm (time/location may be adjusted after first class)

In December 2015, UConn is sending a delegation of students [Apply now at Paris Application, deadline Oct 9] and faculty to the Paris 2015 Climate Conference (COP21) to join the expected 50,000 participants including 25,000 official delegates from government, intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society.

Professor Seth, a faculty co-Chair of the UConn COP21 delegation, will instruct this one-time course, informed by the experience of the delegation, with guest lectures and readings designed to help us unpack the outcomes and implications of the historic conference for people and the planet. The course is open to students interested in Global Warming from all disciplines/perspectives, including those who travel to Paris as part of the delegation, and those who do not.

Contact: Professor Anji Seth <anji.seth@uconn.edu>

FlyerGEOG4098

Teale Lecture: Steward Pickett

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UConn’s Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series on Nature & the Environment kicks off this Thursday with Steward Pickett, speaking about The Global Urban Crisis and an Ecological Way Forward.

Thursday, September 25, 4 pm

Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, Konover Auditorium

University of Connecticut, Storrs



Here’s the abstract:  Urban areas today are expanding at an unprecedented rate across the globe.  There are more and more new cities by the year, and the largest of existing cities are growing still larger.  On the one hand, cities can be the epitome of sustainability, reaping the benefits of proximity, efficiency, and innovation.  On the other hand, they can be graveyards of dreams and sources of contamination.  As cities grow, change, and become ever more connected to global networks, societies are presented with choices.  Cities are in crisis: do they move toward sustainability, or do they slip backwards into unsanitary and vulnerable states?

The Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series brings leading scholars and scientists to the University of Connecticut to present public lectures on nature and the environment.

 

Debate? or Entertainment?

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This week I was asked to be a guest on a local morning radio show, which I’ve done twice in the past, to talk global warming science. On this occasion the producer stated, “We are also inviting another guest who is convinced that man does not directly effect global climate change, to produce a lively debate.”   My response is copied below:

Thank you for this invitation. I have enjoyed being a guest on [the] show twice in the past, and would be happy to do so again. However, I cannot accept this invitation under its present conditions.
A one-on-one debate regarding the science serves to confuse the issue in the public sphere.  In the scientific community there is no debate about the basic facts of global warming.  It has been shown through observations, theory and modeling that the release of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of the present global warming, and continued emissions will accelerate the warming through the 21st century and beyond. Every major scientific body on the planet has written a statement to this effect , and more than 97 out of 100 scientists who are active in research on the topic agree on the facts. See for example,  the scientific consensus.
 
If a debate format is what you are looking for then a balanced view would require a minimum of 32 scientists arguing for the science for each person arguing the anti-science point of view.
John Oliver did a piece on this very topic in his new show [Last Week Tonight].  You can view the 4 minute video here:
 
If you’d like to do a discussion/debate on what actions should be taken to address global warming, [i.e., The Conversation We Need to Have] I’d be happy to participate, and can recommend a few others who would be appropriate guests on that topic.

Funded PhD Opportunity in Climate Lab

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Funded PhD opportunity at the University of Connecticut, Department of Geography, Climate Lab,  Fall 2014

Contact: Professor Anji Seth (anji.seth@uconn.edu

Climate Lab:  http://climate.lab.uconn.edu

PhD: Climate Change in the Northeast U.S.

The Climate Lab at the University of Connecticut Department of Geography, in Storrs, CT, is seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join our group. The graduate student will be expected to analyze large datasets from observations and global climate models to investigate the regional response of climate to anthropogenic and natural drivers on time scales from decades to centuries.

The successful applicant will have a solid quantitative background, the ability to communicate effectively (writing and speaking), and to thrive in an interdisciplinary environment.   Experience working in a UNIX computing environment and with analysis tools such as UNIX, R, Python, NCL/MATLAB, and Perl are desirable.

Suitable backgrounds for applicants include MS or MA degrees in Geography, Atmospheric Sciences, or related fields.  This PhD position will take the form of a graduate research assistantship, funded for 3 years by an NSF grant, beginning Fall 2014.

The Department of Geography (http://geography.uconn.edu) at the University of Connecticut (http://uconn.edu) is a dynamic, growing and collaborative environment for 15 faculty and 30 graduate students.  The department is a charter member of the cross-university Atmospheric Sciences Group, which involves more than 20 faculty members working on climate related research.

Please contact Dr. Anji Seth (anji.seth@uconn.edu) for further information.

CIMA3 Events in March and April

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Here’s a list of springtime events at UConn related to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.

March 31, Monday

CIMA3/2014   Conference  –  Rapid Responses to Climate Change: The Actions We Need To Take

  • 9:00 – Introductory remarks by Provost Mun Choi
  • 9:15 – Keynote address from Curt Spalding, EPA’s top official in New England
  • 10:00 – A panel of TED talks on the impacts of climate change on environmental systems, featuring a variety of  UConn faculty experts
  • 11:30 – 1:00 – The “CIMA Café” & Plain-Language Poster Session – a free networking lunch – enjoy finger food from Dining Services’ sustainable catering menu as you mingle with students, faculty, staff and others during a “plain language” poster session explaining CIMA-related UConn research, centers and programs
  • 12:30 – Closing plenary remarks by Dr. Eban Goodstein, Director of Bard College’s Center of Environmental Policy and Sustainability MBA, best known as lead organizer of Power Shift, Focus the Nation, 350.org and other higher ed-focused climate action initiatives.
  • 1:30 – Conference concludes
  • All events in SU Theatre and SU rm 104

April 2, Wednesday

Film Screening  –  Carbon Nation –  with Panel Discussion

“The film is an optimistic (and witty) discovery of what people are already doing, what we as a nation could be doing and what the world needs to do to prevent (or at least slow down) the impending climate crisis.” IMDB

  • 4:30-5:00-Refreshments
  • 5:00-6:30-Screening
  • 6:30-7:15-Panel Discussion
  • @ Konover Auditorium, Dodd Center
  • Panelists: Kathleen Segerson (Economics), Norman Garrick (ENVE), Carol Atkinson-Palombo (Geography). Moderated by Anji Seth (Geography)

April 10, Thursday

Teale Lecture – Jane Lubchenco – former  director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “Climate, Weather, Oceans, and Biodiversity:  Science, Policy and Politics”  4pm @ Dodd Center

April 22, Tuesday

UConn Earth Day Spring Fling