Sustainable Futures Speaker Series
This interdisciplinary speaker series, established in September 2005, is intended to stimulate cross disciplinary discussion, debate, and collaboration around issues related to energy, the environment, and society. The series is sponsored by the Environment and Community Program and the Schatz Energy Research Center. All members of the HSU community and the general public are welcome to attend these presentations.
Spring 2012
- Unless otherwise noted, events are 5:30pm-7:00pm Thursdays in Gist Hall 218
February 16
Antwi Akom
“Race, Power, and the Environment: Using Participatory Mapping and New Media to Build a Community-Based Climate Justice Movement”
Dr. Akom is an Associate Professor of Environmental Sociology, STEM Education, and African American Studies at San Francisco State University and during 2011 has been a Visiting Research Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2011 he founded the Institute for Sustainable Economic, Educational, and Environmental Design (ISEEED) which focuses on creating sustainable cities and schools so that people do not have to leave their communities in order to live, learn, work, and thrive. As a national leader in integrating youth development, workforce development, STEM education, and culturally responsive pedagogy, Dr. Akom’s solution-driven models help train the next generation of climate scientists and introduce new frameworks for reducing health and educational disparities, alleviating poverty, and competing in the 21st century clean energy economy. Dr. Akom has received numerous national awards. His forthcoming books are Building Sustainable Cities and Schools and Redemptions Songs: New Visions of Race, Schooling, and Sustainability.
February 23
Zack Zoller
“Solar Makes it Big: Scaling Up Solar Photovoltaics for Large Systems”
Zack Zoller is an Engineering Project Manager at Blue Oak Energy in Davis, California. He is a graduate of UC Davis with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Engineering. Zack has 5 years of experience in the Solar Photovoltaic Industry designing small and large commercial and utility scale generation systems. He was the lead designer on the 36 MW Long Island Solar Farm, which was recently commissioned and is feeding power into the grid. His current project is in Illinois with a 20MW plant selling power to the local utility company.
March 1
Lindsay Magnuson
“Land Conservation on the North Coast Using the Land Trust Model”
Lindsay has been the Executive Director of the Northcoast Regional Land Trust (NRLT) for the last two years. NRLT is dedicated to the protection and economic viability of working landscapes, farms, forests and grazing lands, and to the preservation and protection of land for its natural, educational, scenic and historic values. NRLT is focused on the nearly five million acres on California’s North Coast encompassing Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity Counties. Lindsay was born and raised in Humboldt County and has a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges of working to conserve land while preserving the rural culture of this region. She brings a wealth of leadership experience to NRLT spanning community development and conservation projects in West Africa to lecturing for five years at Humboldt State University and College of the Redwoods. Lindsay earned her Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University and a Master’s degree in Natural Resources from HSU while focusing on the ecology and conservation of Roloway monkeys in Ghana (2002). Lindsay was given the Koplin award for outstanding Wildlife graduate of the year in 2003.
March 8
Simone Pulver
“Addressing Climate Change through Carbon Markets: Lessons Learned in Brazil and India”
Simone Pulver is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her doctorate in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. Pulver has been analyzing international climate policy for the past 15 years, including a year as a Fulbright fellow at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. Her current research examines private sector responses to climate change in emerging economies.
March 22
Robin Kimmerer
“Restoration and Reciprocity: Finding Common Ground Between Traditional and Scientific Ecological Knowledge”
Dr. Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, writer and Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York and the founding Director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability. Her research interests include the role of traditional ecological knowledge in ecological restoration and building resilience for climate change. In collaboration with tribal partners, she and her students have an active research program in the ecology and restoration of plants of cultural significance to Native people. She is active in efforts to broaden access to environmental science training for Native students, and to introduce the benefits of traditional ecological knowledge to the scientific community, in a way that respects and protects indigenous knowledge.
April 5
Garvin Heath
“Environmental Impacts of Energy Technologies: A Life Cycle Perspective”
Garvin Heath is a senior scientist in the Strategic Energy Analysis Center of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). At NREL he specializes in analyzing the environmental impacts of energy systems using the tools of life cycle assessment, air quality modeling, and sustainability analysis. He received his PhD in Energy and Resources from the Energy and Resources Group of the University of California, Berkeley in 2006. He also holds an MS degree in Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley. His previous professional experience includes five years with the Indoor Environments Division of the US EPA, in addition to various assignments with researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Environmental Defense. He currently resides in Boulder, CO where he also holds an adjunct research position at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
April 12
Kathleen McAfee
“Cooling the Planet or Feeding the World: Do We Have To Choose?”
Kathleen McAfee is a geographer (UC Berkeley) who has been a policy analyst for Oxfam and a consultant to UN agencies. She has authored a book, Storm Signals: Structural Adjustment and Development Alternatives, and many articles on environment, hunger, agriculture, trade, and development. Before joining the International Relations Department at San Francisco State University, Dr. McAfee taught at Yale and held the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Sustainability. She maintains ties with NGOs and farmers organizations working to end hunger worldwide.
April 19
Seth Wilson
“Conservation on the Edge: Large Carnivores and Building Communities of Coexistence”
Seth Wilson is a Visiting Fellow at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. His research and applied conservation efforts focus on large-carnivore conservation, policy, human-wildlife conflict, landscape-scale conservation, and conservation planning on private lands. He is currently working on a multi-year research project involving a community-supported conservation plan to reduce human-grizzly bear and wolf-livestock conflicts on private agricultural land in Montana. In addition to conducting research, he works with conservation organizations including the Blackfoot Challenge and People and Carnivores. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Government from St. Lawrence University, a M.S. in Science from the Environmental Studies Program, and a Ph.D. from the College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. He is a Team Member of the IUCN Human-Bear Conflict Specialist Group and member of the Yale Large Carnivore Group.
May 3
- Miguel Altieri- EVENT CANCELLED
“Who Will Feed Us in a Planet in Crisis?”
Dr. Miguel A . Altieri is a professor of agroecology in the Department of Environmental Science, Management and Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Altieri has served as a Scientific Advisor to the Latin American Consortium on Agroecology and Development (CLADES) Chile, an NGO network promoting agroecology as a strategy for small farm sustainable development in the region, and as the General Coordinator for the United Nations Development Programme’s Sustainable Agriculture Networking and Extension Programme which aimed at capacity building on agroecology among NGOs and the scaling-up of successful local sustainable agricultural initiatives in Africa, Latin America and Asia. In addition, he was the chairman of the NGO committee of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research whose mission was to make sure that the research agenda of the 15 International Agricultural Research Centers benefited the poor farmers of the world. Currently, he is advisor to the FAO-GIAHS program (Globally Indigenous Agricultural Heritage Systems), a program devoted at identifying and dynamically conserving traditional farming systems in the developing world. He is the author of more than 200 publications, and numerous books including Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture and Biodiversity, Pest Management in Agroecosystems, and Agroecology and the Search for a Truly Sustainable Agriculture.
2011
September 22-23
“Traditional Ecological Knowledge Symposium”
Speakers include Dr. Henry P. Huntington, Dr. Frank Lake, Dennis Martinez, Dr. Beth Rose Middleton, Seafha Blount, Dr. Samantha Hatfield, Chris West, Tiana Williams, Dawn McCovey, Mark Higley, Josh Strange, and Lonyx Landry. 9am-12pm in the Black Box Theatre and 1pm-4pm in the Native American Forum
September 29
Jeff Mapes
“How the Bicycle is Changing American Cities”
Jeff Mapes spent more than three years researching and writing Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities. A longtime bike commuter, Mapes decided to write his book after watching the growth of a robust urban bike culture in Portland. He visited cities around the country and in Europe and charted the growth of cyclists’ political power. Pedaling Revolution was reviewed by The New York Times and numerous other publications and is now in its third printing. Mapes is also the senior political reporter for The Oregonian, the daily newspaper in Portland. He has covered numerous state, congressional and presidential campaigns as well as several sessions of the Oregon Legislature, and he is a former Washington correspondent. He is the author of a political blog, Mapes on Politics, and is a regular contributor to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Mapes continues to write and lecture about cycling and its importance as a means of transportation. He lives in Portland with his wife Karen. Their last transportation purchase was a cargo bike.
October 6
Evan Mills
“The Carbon Footprint of Indoor Cannabis Production”
Dr. Evan Mills is a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, which is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy. He has worked as an energy analyst since the early 1980s, specializing in ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions via improved energy end-use efficiency in buildings. He received a Masters of Science degree from the Energy and Resources Group (where he is now a Research Affiliate) at U.C. Berkeley in 1987 and a Ph.D. from the Department of Environmental and Energy Systems Studies at the University of Lund in Sweden in 1991. He has over 200 publications in his field. He is a member of the international body of scientists which has worked over the past two decades under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which collectively shared in the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”
October 13
Arne Jacobson
“Super Efficient Appliances, International Cooperation, and the Climate Challenge”
Arne Jacobson is an Associate Professor in the Environmental Resources Engineering department and a Co-Director of the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University. He served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, DC for a year during 2010-11 while on leave from HSU. During that time Arne played leading roles in two international initiatives associated with the Clean Energy Ministerial. These were the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative and the Solar and LED Energy Access (SLED) initiative. His talk on October 13 will focus on work associated with the SEAD initiative.
October 20
Amol Phadke
“Low Carbon Strategies for the Indian Electricity Sector: Opportunities for Leapfrogging”
Dr. Amol Phadke is a Principal Scientific Engineering Associate at the International Energy Studies Group, Energy Analysis Department at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). His research focuses on low carbon pathways for the electricity sector and policy and program innovation to achieve the same. He currently leads LBNL’s support to the U.S. Department of Energy on the Super Efficient Appliance Deployment Initiative (SEAD), a multi country collaboration to accelerate appliance and equipment efficiency. He also co-leads LBNL’s collaboration with the Regulatory Assistance Project as a Global Best Practice Network on Power where most of LBNL’s efforts are focused on clean energy policies and programs in India. Amol routinely advises national and state governments in India and the U.S. on clean energy policies and programs. Amol has a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Government College of Engineering, Pune, India and a M.S. and Ph.D. from the Energy and Resources Group, UC Berkeley.
October 27
Geeta Chowdry
To Bt or not to Bt? Transnational Capital, the State, Civil Society and the Struggle over Food Sovereignty in India
Geeta Chowdhry is Professor and Chair of Politics and International Affairs at Northern Arizona University. She is currently working on Food Justice Movements in India and a co-edited book on Postcolonial Feminism and International Relations. She has co-edited Power, Postcolonialism and International Relations: Reading Race, Gender and Class. Her recent publications include “Race(ing) Feminist International Relations (IR): A Critical Overview of Postcolonial Feminism in IR (2010) (co-authored); “Imagining the Other: Orientalist Representations of India in Social Science Textbooks” (2010) (co-authored); “Edward Said and Contrapuntal Reading: Implications for Critical Interventions in International Relations (2008).
Her research and teaching interests focus on international relations theory, feminist theory, postcolonialism, intersectionality particularly race and ethnicity, international political economy, globalization, development and sustainability, and South Asia.
November 3
Noah Zerbe
“Reshaping Globalization from the Ground Up: Community Resilience and Transformation in Durban, South Africa”
Noah Zerbe is Associate Professor of Politics and affiliated with the Master of Arts in Social Science: Environment and Community Program, and the Master of Science: Energy, Environment, and Society Program at Humboldt State University (HSU). Prior to arriving at HSU in 2004, Noah spent two years as a post doctoral fellow at the Centre de Philosophie du Droit at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium. He has also spent extensive time in Canada, Zimbabwe, and Russia.
Noah’s research and teaching interests consider the social, political and economic context of technological development and innovation. Empirically, he focuses on issues surrounding the adoption of agricultural biotechnology in Southern Africa. This includes both the technology itself as well as the international, regional and local context of adoption. His empirical research informs more theoretical questions regarding privatization and enclosure, the nature of value, theories of property, property rights and ownership, social conceptions of risk, the role of the state, the nature of regulation and public policy, and the role of social movements and local resistance. Noah’s more recent work, including a summer Fulbright grant to Germany, has focused on differing systems of regulation in the United States and Europe. He is the author of the Global Food Politics blog.
November 10
John Elliot
“UC Merced: Achieving Zero Net Energy and Zero Landfill Waste by 2020”
John Elliott is Director, Energy and Sustainability at UC Merced. As co-chair of the Chancellor‘s Advisory Committee on Sustainability, he is also responsible for shaping and implementing the campus sustainability strategy, which includes a “Triple-Zero” commitment to zero net energy, zero landfill waste, and climate neutrality by 2020. John is involved in new construction, operations, and planning, as well as engaged in faculty teaching and research to create a sustainability “living laboratory.”
Spring 2011
February 10
“Climate Change Policy in North America: Reasons for Optimism”
Jim Hight
As senior editor of Climate Change Business Journal, Jim covers policies, markets and business models for renewable energy, energy efficiency and other technologies and practices for mitigating climate change. Jim has been a journalist for more than 30 years, writing for publications as diverse as the Boston Globe, Technology Review, High Country News and North Coast Journal.
Despite setbacks in the November 2010 elections, policies to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are advancing on multiple fronts in North America. Jim will discuss EPA rules targeting coal power plants and other large GHG emitters; new cap and trade policies in California, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec; the RGGI cap-and-trade program in the Northeast; the status of the Western Climate Initiative and Midwest Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord; stakeholder pressure on corporations to reduce emissions; and more.
February 24
“The Economics of Clean Energy in Humboldt County”
Steven Hackett and Luke Scheidler
Dr. Steven Hackett is in his 22nd year as a professor, 17 of which have been at HSU. He has published many scholarly works on the economics of the environment, natural resource, and energy, and his work has been supported by organizations including the National Science Foundation, NOAA, the California Energy Commission, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the Headwaters Fund. Recipient of the 2005 HSU Scholar of the Year award, Hackett is a member of the Energy, Environment, and Society graduate faculty and is a faculty research associate at the Schatz Energy Research Center. He is currently serving as interim Associate Dean for Professional Studies.
Luke Scheidler is a second year graduate student in the Energy, Environment, and Society program at HSU and a graduate research assistant at the Schatz Energy Research Center. He has been working closely with Dr. Hackett on the economic analysis component of the RESCO project, which has further developed his interests in local renewable energy development and energy efficiency. Luke received a BA in Biology from DePauw University and has a diverse research background ranging from the medical field to conservation biology.
March 2 (Wednesday, check back for location information)
“Leadership Patterns in Environmental & Public Policy Dispute Resolution 1970- 2010 – 2050: Reflections & Explorations”
Tom Fee, National Association of Environmental Conflict Resolution
Thomas A. Fee is a public policy mediator, lawyer, facilitator, leadership coach and futures design and implementation consultant. Over the past 30 years, Tom has worked with leaders at all levels to address and resolve a variety of complex, multiparty public disputes involving environment, healthcare, housing, emergency management, agriculture, transportation, civil rights, philanthropy, juvenile justice, education, eldercare, finance systems, reorganizations, and violence prevention. He has served as a confidential advisor and counsel to several dozen organizations and has worked on major systems design innovations such as the state office of mediation movement, court dispute resolution, and leadership mentoring locally, nationally and internationally. Tom is admitted to the Bar in New Jersey and earned a J.D. from Rutgers University’s School of Law, Newark where he was elected to the University Senate. He earned his B.A. with High Honors from Rutgers College.
March 10
“Solutions to Plastic Proliferation In Our Oceans”
Mary Crowley
Mary Crowley is co-founder of Project Kaisei, founded in 2008 to help stem the flow of plastic and marine debris into our ocean. Project Kaisei is building a global collaboration of science, industry, technology, innovation and policy to help bring about solutions to the way we treat waste in our daily lives, much of which finds its way to the sea. The Project has been recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2009 as a Climate Hero for its collaborative work with Scripps Institute of Oceanography, by Google as a Google Earth Hero for its work with a video blogging voyage tracking system, and was recently part of the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2010. The 150 foot long Brigantine tall ship “Kaisei” is the project’s primary research vessel.
April 7
“The Challenges and Opportunities of Renewables from a Utility Perspective”
David Rubin
David Rubin is presently the Director of Service Analysis at Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco, where he has responsibility for economic development and distributed generation.
From 1982-1985, David was responsible for energy efficiency, cogeneration and district heating with the City and County of San Francisco. He joined PG&E in 1985, and spent seven years in the marketing and rates areas. He left PG&E in 1992 to join the International Energy Agency in Paris, France. While at the IEA, he had responsibility for electricity restructuring, energy efficiency and demand side management. During this period he participated in a number of energy sector studies throughout Europe and the former Soviet Union.
He returned to PG&E in 1995, and assumed his current job responsibilities in 1997. David is currently on the boards of the Solar Electric Power Association and SolarTech. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Maryland, and a Master of Science degree in engineering from MIT. David is a registered mechanical engineer in California.
April 14
“Borneo to California and Back”
Judith Mayer
Dr. Judith Mayer will discuss how Borneo indigenous communities are facing critical dilemmas for their own futures, and the roles of international initiatives in their struggles for environmental justice. She will discuss her research about community land uses and resilience in Borneo, and highlight an American citizens’ effort to help communities defend their forests.
Dr. Mayer is an environmental planner with extensive experience in the US and Southeast Asia. She has been Coordinator and a founding member of The Borneo Project, a California-based organization helping Borneo communities defend their rainforests, sustainable livelihoods, and human rights since 1991. Investigating indigenous agroforestry systems, timber plantations, and land policies, Judith has been a visiting researcher at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the Forestry Research Institute Samarinda, and Tanjungpura University (Indonesia). Judith has worked as a consulting planner for local, state, and federal agencies in the US, and serves on the City of Arcata’s Planning Commission. She has taught planning related courses at Virginia Tech and Humboldt State University. Judith holds a PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, a MS in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a BA in History from Swarthmore College.
April 21
“Food Rebellions: Crisis and the Hunger for Justice”
Eric Holt-Giménez
Eric Holt-Giménez, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy a “peoples’ think-and-do tank” dedicated to eliminating the injustices that cause hunger and environmental degradation. Previously, he worked as Latin American Program Manager at the Bank Information Center in Washington, D.C., where he monitored the projects and the policies of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. He has held positions as a lecturer in International Development and Agroecology at the University of California and Boston University’s Global Ecology program.
Throughout the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, Dr. Holt-Giménez lived and worked in Latin America where he helped organize and train farm leaders in agroecology and was a consultant to non-governmental organizations, government ministries, and foreign aid agencies. In his path-breaking participatory research, “Measuring Farmer’s Agroecological Resistance to Hurricane Mitch,” 2,000 farmers documented the superior sustainability of agroecologically-managed farms to conventional farms in Central America. His first book, Campesino a Campesino, chronicles nearly thirty years work with Latin America’s Farmer to Farmer Movement for sustainable agriculture. In his recent book, Food Rebellions! Crisis and the Hunger for Justice, co-authored with Raj Patel and Annie Shattuck, Dr. Holt-Giménez proposes equitable, sustainable solutions to the root causes of the global food crisis. He holds a Masters of Science in International Agricultural Development and a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies.
April 27 (Wednesday)
“Rivers of America”
Tim Palmer
Tim Palmer is the award-winning author of 20 books on rivers, conservation, and the environment. He is also an accomplished photographer. Tim’s writing and photography work have braided together his love of rivers and nature with his drive for creative expression and his deep commitment to conservation. Tim worked for eight years as a land-use planner on land use and environmental topics from 1971-1980. He started to write full-time in 1980. Through his photographs and writings, he seeks to encourage a sense of love and commitment to natural places; to promote better understanding of natural systems and the threats to them; and ultimately, to inspire people to take action to protect the environment.
FALL 2010
September 16
“Community-based Forestry: Past, Present, and Future” Nick Goulette and Lynn Jungwirth, Watershed Research and Training Center
Nick Goulette is the Executive Director of the Watershed Research and Training Center (WRTC). Nick’s work at the WRTC has focused on coordinating local collaboration with the US Forest Service associated with forest restoration and fuel reduction activities, community-based and regional research into forest work contracting and wood utilization, developing assistance programs for local contractors, training in stewardship authorities and collaboration throughout the west, and advocacy for national forest, energy, and development policies that benefit rural communities. Prior to coming to WRTC, Nick worked on private forest management planning and projects in the Northeast with a private forestry consulting firm. He earned a B.S. in Forestry from the University of Vermont (2004) with a concentration in Community-based Forestry.
Lynn Jungwirth is a Senior Fellow for Policy and Development at the WRTC. Lynn was born and raised in a milling and logging family in a small timber town in Oregon. She received a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Oregon in 1971. She has been an activist on social issues in forest towns and a leader in community-based forestry and sustainable development for twenty years. She has worked with various communities from across the West attempting to rebuild their economies around forest stewardship. She served on the Collaborative Stewardship Taskforce with Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck and on the Board of Directors for the National Network of Forest Practitioners. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Forest Guild, is an elected member of the Social Chamber of the Forest Stewardship Council – US, and serves on the Western Governors Association – Forest Health Advisory Committee. Lynn was the founding Chair of the Communities Committee of the 7th American Forest Congress from 1996 to 2000. Lynn is now on the Board of Directors for the Watershed Center and continues to run the Policy Program, while also contributing to organizational fundraising and development.
September 23
“Integrating Renewable Resources: Making the “Smart Grid” Work”
Dr. Alexandra “Sascha” von Meier is a professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and Planning at Sonoma State University, where she directs the Energy Management & Design program and teaches courses on energy technology and society, thermal and electrical energy management, small-scale energy sources, passive solar design, and quantitative methods. Her research has addressed both engineering and cultural dimensions of diverse aspects of energy technology, including electric power distribution, grid-connected photovoltaics, electric demand response, nuclear power plant operation, nuclear materials management, and green building performance.
At the California Institute for Energy and Environment, Dr. von Meier is currently collaborating with faculty from U.C. Berkeley and Sacramento State University on “smart grid” research, focusing on technical and operational issues associated with the integration of high levels of renewable energy. Her textbook, Electric Power Systems: A Conceptual Introduction (Wiley-IEEE, 2006), has been used in university courses and industry to help explain the complexities of operating the electric grid, and she regularly presents tutorials on electric power delivery to academic and professional audiences.
Professor von Meier received her Ph.D. in energy and resources (1995) and her B.A. in physics (1986) from the University of California, Berkeley. Also at Berkeley, she was a postdoctoral fellow in the electrical and nuclear engineering departments, and lecturer in energy and resources. She has been a consultant to Pacific Gas & Electric, the California ISO and the California State University on a variety of projects related to electric transmission, distributed generation and building energy management, and has testified before Congress on the potential contributions of energy efficiency and renewable resources. She serves on the Board of Directors of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). Away from the office, Sascha enjoys cycling, rock climbing and the mountains whenever possible.
October 7
“Is Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District’s water system sustainable? Is California’s water use sustainable?”
Aldaron Laird is a Director and Vice-President of the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District. Aldaron is also the Vice-Chair of the north coast regional board of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) and represents the north coast region on the state board of ACWA. Before joining the water district, Aldaron served for ten years on the City of Arcata’s Planning Commission. Aldaron is a professional environmental planner in private practice for twenty years who specializes in regulatory compliance for projects involving California’s waters and wetlands.
October 28
“Big Box Stores and Global Environmental Governance”
Peter Dauvergne is Professor of Political Science, Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Politics, and Director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia. He is also the founding and past editor (2001-2008) of the journal Global Environmental Politics. His book, The Shadows of Consumption (The MIT Press), won the 2009 Gerald L. Young Award, presented by the Society of Human Ecology for the best book authored in 2008 in the field of human ecology. His ninth book, Timber (co-authored with Jane Lister), is forthcoming with Polity Press in March 2011.
November 4
“Working in the Political Dead Zone”
Elizabeth “Betsy” Watson holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Rutgers University and is a Professor of Sociology at Humboldt State University where she is the Co- director of the Institute for Study of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ISADR). She offers courses in social theory, conflict resolution, social ecology, and public policy and public participation.
Dr. Watson has mediated timber harvest plans, land use conflicts, water disputes and conducted other collaborative problem improving processes. While providing mediation services for natural resource conflicts she continues to develop a “community building process” that promotes the healing of old conflicts so that a new way of engaging community issues may be developed. Through her work with rural communities she has learned to respect the power of addressing past grievances when working with contemporary problems. is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Study of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ISADR) at Humboldt State University.
December 2
“Humboldt County’s Renewable Energy Futures: Preliminary Results from a Renewable Energy Secure Communities (RESCO) Study”
Peter Alstone and Colin Sheppard, Schatz Energy Research Center Humboldt County is uniquely positioned to achieve high levels of renewable energy development, meeting a large fraction of our energy needs with local resources. The RESCO study is exploring Humboldt County’s possible energy futures in 2030, incorporating renewable energy resource assessments, economic impact analysis, and policy development to form a cohesive picture of the potential. This talk is the first in a two-part RESCO results series and presents preliminary results from the renewable energy resource and technology assessment. We discuss how a diverse set of emerging and existing energy technologies can meet our local energy needs while developing the capacity for Humboldt County to be an exporter of renewable electricity. Additionally, we examine the potential for Humboldt to serve as a test bed for emerging solutions like energy storage and demand response. The second talk in the RESCO series will occur in Spring 2011, and will focus on the economic impacts of renewable energy development in the County and policy pathways for encouraging smart energy development.
Peter Alstone and Colin Sheppard are Research Engineers at the Schatz Energy Research Center. They are both alumni of the HSU Environmental Resources Engineering Masters Program and have served as instructors in the Engineering Department.
SPRING 2010
February 11
Kim Berry, “Disowning Dependence: Single Women’s Collective Struggle for Land Rights in Northwestern India”
Kim Berry received her PhD in Anthropology from Cornell University in 1997. She currently serves as Professor and Program Leader of Women’s Studies and Co-director of Multicultural Queer Studies at Humboldt State University. Her research and teaching interests are in postcolonial and intersectional feminisms; postcolonial queer theory; theories of space, place and identity; the gendered and racialized effects of neoliberal globalization; and the ethics of transnational feminist research. She has been conducting research on rural women’s movements in northwestern India since 1992. Her current research focuses on single women’s collective demands for land rights and an independent identity.
5:30pm, Founders Hall 118
February 18
Garvin Heath, “Environmental Impacts of Energy Technologies: A Life Cycle Perspective”
Garvin Heath is a senior scientist in the Strategic Energy Analysis Center of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). At NREL he specializes in analyzing the environmental impacts of energy systems using the tools of life cycle assessment, air quality modeling and sustainability analysis. He received his PhD in Energy and Resources from the Energy and Resources Group of the University of California, Berkeley in 2006. He also holds an MS degree in Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley. His previous professional experience includes five years with the Indoor Environments Division of the US EPA, in addition to various assignments with researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Environmental Defense. He currently resides in Boulder, CO where he also holds an adjunct research position at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
6:30pm, Natural Resources 101
March 4
Cynthia Chandler, “Democracy Across Prison Walls”
Cynthia Chandler is a prison industrial complex abolitionist, writer, speaker, and social justice entrepreneur. Cynthia has worked on issues of women’s health and prison abolition for over 15 years. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Justice Now, a human rights organization dedicated to partnering with people in women’s prisons and local communities to build a safe, compassionate world without prisons. Justice Now is the first legal clinic program focused on abolition and women in prison, the first program internationally to train people in prison on international human rights, and leads the show in partnering with people in prison to generate human rights reports. Justice Now is at the forefront of a national movement to identify the ways that people of color, people from marginalized cultural and ethnic groups, queer people, and transpeople have been disproportionately impacted by the U.S. prison system. By focusing on the experience of people housed in women’s prisons, Cynthia Chandler will provide critical insight and perspective on several volatile issues in the United States – the right to gender expression and interrogating stratified gender roles, women’s health and the impact of HIV, and gendered and racialized violence. Cynthia will also give a history of Justice Now’s unique democratic organization strategies involving both people serving time and people on the outside.
5:30pm, Native Forum (Behavioral and Social Sciences 162)
April 8
Timothy Lipman, “Low Carbon Vehicle Research at UC Berkeley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center”
Timothy Lipman, PhD, is an energy and environmental technology, economics, and policy researcher and lecturer with the University of California, Berkeley. He is serving as Co-Director for the campus’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC), based at the Institute of Transportation Studies, and also as Director of the U.S. DOE Pacific Region Clean Energy Application Center (PCEAC). Tim’s research focuses on electric-drive vehicles, fuel cell technology, combined heat and power systems, renewable energy, and hydrogen infrastructure. He completed a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Policy Analysis with the Graduate Group in Ecology at UC Davis (1999), an M.S. degree in the technology track of the Graduate Group in Transportation Technology and Policy also at UC Davis (1998), and a B.A. from Stanford University (1990). A native of Golden, Colorado, he now lives in the Oakland hills with his wife Susan and son Rowan and enjoys outdoor recreation and travel in his spare time.
6:30pm, Natural Resources 101
April 15
Omar Masera, “Efficient Cookstoves – Mitigating Climate Change while Advacing Sustainable Development Priorities: The Case of Efficient Cookstoves”
Omar Raúl Masera is Director of the Bioenergy Laboratory at the Center for Ecosystems Research, National University of Mexico (UNAM) and President of the Mexican Network on Bioenergy. He is a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Dr. Masera’s research interests focus on the interactions between energy, forests, technology and climate change. Currently Dr. Masera leads the “Patsari Cookstove Project” in Mexico, an interdisciplinary and international collaborative approach directed to the development and dissemination of sustainable alternatives for rural cooking in Mexico, which has obtained international recognition.
5:30pm, Behavioral and Social Sciences 166
April 29
Jane Nielsen and Howard Wilshire, “The American West at Risk: Science, Myths, and Politics of Land Abuse and Recovery”
Jane Nielson worked as a field and research geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey for over 20 years, specializing in Mojave Desert geology and studies on the generation and transport of fluids in the deep Earth. Before her USGS career, Dr. Nielson taught Environmental Geology at California State University, Hayward, and after at Pomona College, Claremont, California. She is a co-founder of the Sebastopol Water Information Group, serves on the board of directors for the O.W.L. (Open-Space, Water, and Land Conservation) Foundation, and helps direct the Sonoma County Water Coalition.
Howard Wilshire worked for the U.S. Geological Survey as a research geologist after 5 years of teaching geology at Sydney University and research at the Australian National University. His 35-year USGS career included geologic mapping, Apollo astronaut training and lunar research, and broad-ranging studies on geologic processes at the land surface. Dr. Wilshire is Board Chairman of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a national environmental organization.
5:30pm, Behavioral and Social Sciences 166