Climate Action Film Series
Tse Lang Yim, Kaylee Brent, Patrick Healy Moran
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Every Thursday over IAP, from 7:00-9:00pm, we will be watching a different climate-related film. In the third week, the executive producer of Age of Consequences, Sophie Robinson, will host a Q&A session after the film!
1/12/17 in room 32-123:Years of Living Dangerously (selected episodes)
1/19/17 in room 4-270: Before the Flood
1/26/17 in room 32-123: Age of Consequences
2/2/17 in room 4-270: How to Let Go of the World (and love all the things climate can't change)
Sponsor(s): Fossil Free MIT
Contact: Kaylee Brent, 360-852-6604, KBRENT@MIT.EDU
Climate Action Hands On: Harnessing Science with Communities to Cut Carbon
Dave Damm-Luhr, Rajesh Kasturirangan, Britta Voss, Patrick Brown
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/18
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Looking to put your skills into action to tackle climate change? Regardless of your field, this course will engage participants in the practical side of collecting data, using technical solutions to climate challenges and working with diverse community groups to accelerate progress.
Through in-class lectures and discussion, as well as a data collection field trip and a “maker”-style activity session in 10-150 at MIT , participants will get background about effective science-based community action and practice putting that knowledge into action themselves. The course will focus on approaches to applying scientific data and new technologies to climate-related research needs, community risks, and policy actions, with a particular emphasis on urban methane emissions.
Problem solvers of all backgrounds and experience levels are welcome! Just bring a passion for changing the world for the better and an eagerness to roll up your sleeves.
Register for the course at: http://bit.ly/climatex-iap17
Sponsor(s): Fossil Free MIT
Contact: Curt Newton, cjnewton@mit.edu
| Jan/18 | Wed | 01:00PM-03:30PM | 4-153 |
Introduction to citizen/community science networks in operation, including PublicLab; future of community science and why climate science could benefit from a community approach.
Dave Damm-Luhr, Rajesh Kasturirangan, Britta Voss
| Jan/23 | Mon | 09:00AM-01:00PM | 10-150 |
Mini-hackathon on database building, app development, data collection equipment design/construction, data visualization, GIS data processing, animation/infographic design, and emissions modeling. Details on the history of natural gas infrastructure nationally and in Boston area, protocols for reporting and fixing leaks, methane monitoring methods, opportunities for community involvement.
Dave Damm-Luhr, Rajesh Kasturirangan, Nathan Phillips, Britta Voss
| Jan/31 | Tue | 10:00AM-02:00PM | Location TBD |
Hands-on activity collecting data on real-word methane leaks from natural gas infrastructure across Cambridge.
Dave Damm-Luhr, Rajesh Kasturirangan, Britta Voss, Nathan Phillips
| Feb/01 | Wed | 01:00PM-03:30PM | 4-153 |
Debrief data collection on methane gas leaks and understand the value, uses and cautions of citizen-collected data. Discuss problems of field data collection and implications and explore the policy questions for which citizen science data can be used, including the history and record of results of environmental law in practice, science as evidence in legal battles, and leveraging media attention.
Dave Damm-Luhr, Rajesh Kasturirangan, Britta Voss, Nathan Phillips, Chris Nidel
Climate Science and Policy, now more than ever!
Christoph Tries
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: These sessions are not for credit
The MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change provides a fast-paced , accessible introduction to the climate system, linking the social and scientific aspects of Climate change. These sessions aim to contextualize current global and local climate policy and provide an introduction to current research in climate.
Our opening session on Monday, January 30, will be about the fundamentals of climate science, followed by a discussion that will help understand both domestic and international environmental policies in practice. The second day, we will examine how the climate system responds to both natural and human-caused forcings, and how scientists can detect and attribute observed changes in the climate system to human activity, followed by a discussion about what the influence of the United States has been in shaping global climate policy. Finally, on Thursday participants will interact in a mock of international climate negotiation and examine the outcomes in real-time.
REGISTRATION : Click here to register.
NOTE: although advance registration is not required, we encourage you to register to as many sessions as you can as they are all related. Registration will also help us get the right head count for refreshments for each session.
LINK TO ABSTRACTS: Read
(This link takes you to the long versions of abstracts)
Sponsor(s): Joint Program/Science and Policy of Global Change
Contact: Dimonika Bray, E19-411R, 617 324-7375, DBIZI@MIT.EDU
| Jan/30 | Mon | 05:00PM-06:00PM | Bldg E51-325 |
Climate 101: Fundamentals of Climate Science
This lecture will begin with the history of climate science and will provide a broad overview of the physics of the climate system. The goal is to allow participants to develop a broad understanding of Earth 's climate system and understand the basic tools of climate science.
Justin Bandoro - Master's Student, School Of Science
| Jan/30 | Mon | 06:00PM-07:00PM | Bldg E51-325 |
Introduction to Economics and Policy of Climate Change: How Will You Design a Climate Policy?
If you are a designer for climate policy, what do you think is important and how will you design a good policy? This session will introduce basic concepts in environmental economics and environmental policy. We will examine the policy options and guide the audience to think about what is important in the process.
Minghao Qiu - Master's Student
| Jan/31 | Tue | 05:00PM-06:00PM | E51-325 |
Climate Science 102: The Global Climate System and Climate Modeling
This lecture will build on 101 and dive into an overview of how the climate system responds to both natural and human-caused forcings, and how scientists can detect and attribute observed changes in the climate system to human activity.
Justin Bandoro - Master's Student, School Of Science
| Jan/31 | Tue | 06:00PM-07:00PM | E51-325 |
International Climate Governance and the Role of the United States
First part: What is the history and institutional basis of this process of international climate governance?
Second part: What has the role of the United States been in shaping global climate policy? What are the achievements and failures of US climate policy? And most importantly, what can we expect post 2016 elections?
Arun Singh - Master's Student, TPP, Michael Davidson - PhD Student, JP - ESD
| Feb/01 | Wed | 05:00PM-06:00PM | E25-111 |
Can carbon pricing solve climate change: Lessons from climate policy efforts around the world
Why politicians and economists are diametrically opposed on the idea of carbon price, and why Secretary Hillary Clinton 's platform didn't feature a carbon price. The talk will draw on real world experience with carbon pricing to derive lessons about its potential to mitigate climate change.
Emil Dimantchev - Master's Student, JP - TPP - ESD
| Feb/01 | Wed | 06:00PM-07:00PM | E25-111 |
Embracing Uncertainty: How our society deals with not knowing and what we can do to prepare for climate change
We will look at the substantial role which uncertainty plays in our economy, politics and science. We will close out with some suggestions how to adequately adapt to climate change and how to communicate uncertainty issues to the public, and then open for a discussion with the audience.
Christoph Tries
| Feb/02 | Thu | 04:00PM-07:00PM | E51-325 |
World Climate Negotiations Simulation
Participant groups will represent regions of the world with various goals for mitigation, adaptation, and economic growth, then participate in a mock international climate negotiation. The computer simulation C-ROADS will be used to examine the outcomes of the mock negotiation in real-time.
Christoph Tries
ESI Hackathon for Climate
John Fernandez, Director, Environmental Solutions Initiative
| Jan/27 | Fri | 08:30AM-05:30PM | E52 (Samberg), pre-readings will be sent to registrants |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/20
Limited to 50 participants
Got a game-changing climate idea?
MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative and Conservation International are teaming up for this year's Hackathon for Climate, where minds from across MIT come together to brainstorm, propose, and develop nature-based solutions to climate change.
Teams can choose to problem-solve in one of three themes:
All MIT students, faculty, alumni, and staff are welcome! Lunch and coffee breaks included.
Advance registration is required - please register here: https://esi-hackathon.eventbrite.com
Sponsor(s): Environmental Solutions Initiative
Contact: Hannah Loomis, E70-1201G, 617 715-4048, HLOOMIS@MIT.EDU
Fusion energy and MIT's pathway for accelerated demonstration with high-magnetic field tokamaks
Zach Hartwig, Professor
| Jan/11 | Wed | 02:00PM-03:00PM | 1-190 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
This talk will introduce the key concepts of producing clean, safe, and carbon-free electricity from magnetic fusion energy. It will review the present state of fusion energy research and then introduce MIT's proposed pathway to use high-field superconducting magnets to achieve fusion energy at smaller unit size, at lower cost, and on a timescale relevant to climate change.
Sponsor(s): Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Contact: Paul Rivenberg, NW16-284, 617 253-8101, RIVENBERG@PSFC.MIT.EDU
How to control the climate
David Keith, Professor of Applied Physics
| Feb/02 | Thu | 02:00PM-03:00PM | NW17-218 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
What tools exist, or could reasonably be developed, to directly alter the Earth's climate? What are the limits to solar geoengineering? What are the ethics might apply to the development of such tools?
Sponsor(s): Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Contact: Paul Rivenberg, NW16-284, 617 253-8101, RIVENBERG@PSFC.MIT.EDU
Contact Information
COPYRIGHT 2017