Spring 2025 Colloquium Lecture Series
The Colloquium Committee of the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning is excited to announce the Spring 2025 speaker lineup. Join us for these insightful talks in Coor Hall, Room 5536, on the following dates and times:
- Jan. 31, 11am-12:30pm - Janos Kocsis, Corvinus University of Budapest
- Feb 7, 11am-12:30pm - Howard Wheater, Global Institute for Water Security
- April 4, 11am-12:30pm - Evelyn Blumenberg, UCLA
- April 25, 11am-12:30pm - Kathe Newman, Rutgers University
Anthony J. Brazel Distinguished Urban Climate Lecture and Reception
Mon, Feb 3 2025, 4-6 pm, Memorial Union, Alumni Lounge, Room 202 | Reception 4pm | Lecture 5-6pm. RSVP here >
Join us for the annual Anthony J. Brazel Distinguished Lecture with Dr. Timon McPhearson discussing the topic of Urban Systems, Risk and Resilience in the Anthropocene. Timon McPhearson has been a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report, an advisor at the World Resources Institute, and is director of the Urban Systems Lab and a professor at The New School in New York.
Abstract: We live on an urban planet, one that will become more urban in coming decades. Cities concentrate people, economic activity and infrastructure creating vulnerability and risk to climate-fueled, extreme weather events. With climate change continuing to accelerate and impacts on cities likely to accelerate as well, building resilience to an anthropocene climate will require aggressive upscaling in adaptation solutions.
What scientific information do cities need to effectively prioritize adaptation and resilience solutions to protect residents, critical infrastructure, and their economies? New York City will provide a case study in how co-producing actionable climate science with decision-makers can improve data driven approaches to protect vulnerable residents and build resilience to an increasingly uncertain future.
Results from the NYC Panel on Climate Change 4th Assessment Report and the recent NYC Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation Study will serve as a backdrop to examine how scenario modeling and vulnerability assessment can advance more equitable resilience planning and response.
Beyond NYC, how can we scale up climate risk information for less resourced cities to have access to similar actionable and cutting-edge science to prioritize investments and develop resilience plans? ClimateIQ, a new climate AI tool in development, will be presented that seeks to advance climate and data science using multiple forms of machine learning to scale operational climate risk data for urban areas across multiple climate hazards.