“Something in the Air: Climate Change, Science and Policy”
Radcliffe Gymnasium, 10 Garden Street, Radcliffe Yard, 617-495-8600
Registration is required.
This year's science symposium will take a cross-disciplinary approach to the topic of climate and policy. Atmospheric and environmental scientists, engineers, archaeologists, and scholars of public health, economics, and government will come together to address and debate topics fundamental to our understanding of the science of climate change and the policies that result. These issues will be considered in relation to the recent UN Climate Change Conferences and the worldwide economic downturn.
Videos
Post-symposium Coverage
Schedule
Speaker Biographies
Experience the proceedings on-line. Streaming video of the conference is now available on Harvard's YouTube and iTunes channels:
- Welcome and “Human Adaptation to Climate Change in the Archaeological Past”
- “Water Vapor, the Hydrological Cycle, and Climate Change”
- “Climate, Oceans, and Human Health”
- “Solar Geoengineering as a Tool to Manage Climate Risks”
- “The Global Politics of Clean Energy Innovation”
- Panel Discussion and Closing Remarks
News
“Climate Change for the Long Haul” (Harvard Gazette)
Symposium sees long-term changes ahead, even if emissions are stopped
“Curbing the Chemistry of Climate Change” (Science in the News)
The root of the problem: carbon chemistry, climate change, and you
Summary
“Something in the Air: Climate Change, Science and Policy” symposium summary
| 8 a.m. |
Registration opens |
| 9 a.m. |
Welcome Dimitar D. Sasselov, Senior Advisor to the Science Program, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; Professor of Astronomy, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University |
| 9:15 a.m. |
“Understanding Climate Change, Irreversibility, and the Societal Challenge” Susan Solomon, Senior Scientist, Chemical Sciences Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |
| 10 a.m. |
“Human Adaptation to Climate Change in the Archaeological Past” Jennifer R. Smith, Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis |
| 10:45 a.m. |
Break |
| 11:15 a.m. |
“Water Vapor, the Hydrological Cycle, and Climate Change” Isaac M. Held, Senior Research Scientist, head of Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics Group, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory/NOAA (Princeton, NJ); Lecturer with rank of Professor in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program, Princeton University |
| 12 p.m. |
“Climate, Oceans, and Human Health” Rita Colwell, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland at College Park and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; Senior Advisor and Chairman Emeritus, Canon US Life Sciences; President and CEO, CosmosID, Inc. |
| 12:45 p.m. |
Break |
| 2 p.m. |
“Solar Geoengineering as a Tool to Manage Climate Risks” David Keith, Canada Research Chair in Energy and the Environment, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary |
| 2:45 p.m. |
"The Global Politics of Clean Energy Innovation" Michael A. Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment; Director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change, Council on Foreign Relations |
| 3:30 p.m. |
Break |
| 4 p.m. |
Panel Discussion David S. Battisti, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Tamaki Endowed Chair, University of Washington Kerry Emanuel, Professor of Atmospheric Science; Director, Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Daniel Schrag, Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University; Director, Harvard University Center for the Environment Carl Wunsch, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physical Oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Maria Zuber, E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and Head of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 4:45 p.m. |
Closing Remarks Rosalind A. Segal, Senior Advisor to the Science Program, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School; Member of the Departments of Pediatric Oncology and Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University |
