Faculty, students participate in climate summit April 22-24

Climate Summit logoWashington University faculty and students will participate in the Saint Louis Climate Summit, hosted by Saint Louis University (SLU). The event brings together some of today’s most authoritative minds in climate science, ecology, sustainable development and related disciplines for three days of discussion on climate change.

Washington University students, faculty and staff can get two free tickets to the keynote address with science educator Bill Nye, of “Science Guy” fame and host of “Bill Nye Saves the World” on Netflix, and Carl Pope, former Sierra Club president, at 7 p.m. Monday, April 23, at SLU’s Chaifetz Arena. Washington University community members will need to show their IDs at the ticket booth.

On Sunday, April 22, students from Washington University and SLU will host an evening screening of Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Before the Flood.” Beth Martin, associate director of the Washington University Climate Change Program, will help lead a discussion on the film, and the students will share their experiences and insights from attending the 2017 United Nations Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany. The movie and discussion are free and start at 6:30 p.m. at SLU’s Center for Global Citizenship.

On Monday, April 23, Rodrigo Reis, a professor in the Brown School, will moderate the first technical session of the day, “Setting the Stage: Global warming observations, predictions, and policy.”

Michael Wysession, a professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, will moderate a panel, titled “Whole Earth Systems,” focusing on the effects of natural resources’ destruction as a result of climate change on the functioning of the world and our economic models.

Barbara A. Schaal, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences and the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology, will moderate a panel, “Biodiversity and Ecology,” focused on the impact of climate change on the biosphere. The panel will feature Peter H. Raven, the George Engelmann Professor of Botany Emeritus at Washington University and president emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

To register or to view the full schedule, visit the climate summit website. For more information, contact Martin at martin@wustl.edu.

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