The University of Chicago will host an Oct. 30 event featuring world-leading scholars and leaders from industry and government discussing climate and energy policy and research—culminating with the official launch of a groundbreaking new climate and energy institute at UChicago.
The new institute, which aims to address the urgent priority of confronting climate change while balancing society’s need for sustainable growth, will unite scholars and students across disciplines at UChicago to advance its field-defining research.
“Climate Frontiers: Energy and Climate at UChicago,” will feature a series of discussions focused on research areas that are central to the new institute. The event, which will be held at the David Rubenstein Forum, also will feature remarks from President Paul Alivisatos, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Prof. Michael Greenstone, the institute’s founding faculty director.
“If there’s one thing we need in this world right now, it’s people who can really understand the problems of climate and energy from different perspectives,” Alivisatos said in a video promoting the event. “I feel the University of Chicago is a very special place and has a great deal to contribute to the problems of climate change—and climate and energy.”
The first panel will feature a discussion with Greenstone and White House Senior Adviser for International Climate Policy John Podesta. Moderated by Institute of Politics Director Heidi Heitkamp, the conversation will focus on the state of U.S. and global climate policy, the need to balance climate and growth, and the role that UChicago can play through research and education.
The second discussion will focus on energy storage and clean technology. UChicago Prof. Shirley Meng will join former Department of Energy Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar and Exelon President and CEO Calvin Butler for a conversation on the future of clean tech, the state of energy storage, and the role UChicago researchers are playing in developing world-changing clean technologies.
The final discussion will examine research in climate systems engineering—the focus of a new initiative launched last year at UChicago. It will include Prof. David Keith, who leads the Climate Systems Engineering initiative; Nat Keohane, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions; and Hina Rabbani Khar, a member of the Pakistan National Assembly and a former foreign minister of Pakistan; and moderator Amy Harder, executive editor at Cipher, a news outlet that covers climate solutions. The conversation will explore the human, governance, and technical questions surrounding climate systems engineering technologies and approaches.
Climate Frontiers will also feature a climate showcase and student poster session, in which members of the UChicago community and public can learn about climate and energy research programs and centers, as well as student-led initiatives and research. Additionally, UChicago students will have the opportunity to learn about the diverse career paths during a career fair.
For more information and to register for the event, visit climatefrontiers.event.uchicago.edu.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
