Northwestern Sustainability Lecture Series Returns with Six New Expert Talks

Building up its inaugural event in 2022, which brought together current and future leaders in sustainability, Northwestern University will host its second Northwestern Sustainability Lecture Series, a day-long summit on Wednesday, May 1. Titled “Earth-Human Interactions: Sustainability and Development,” the event will welcome sustainability experts, students, faculty, and members of the public to talk about critical challenges and advances related to energy, climate and the environment, and urban transformations. 

“Together with the sponsors of this event, we are thrilled to continue to offer an occasion to reflect on urgent challenges and emerging innovations in sustainability,” said Alessandro Rotta Loria, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and organizer of the event.

Open to the public, participation in this in-person event is free, but registration is required. The summit’s proceedings will take place in the Norris University Center’s Louis Room on the Evanston Campus.

The event will feature six keynote talks from renowned sustainability leaders. Topics will range from the role of the mining industry in the climate crisis to the future of wildfires to transforming cities in the wake of climate change.

This year, the featured speakers at the event will be: 

• Doug Aitken, general manager, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland
• Anders Nordelöf, associate professor, Chalmers University of Technology
• Toddi A. Steelman, professor, vice president, and vice provost for climate and sustainability, Duke University
• Kim Cobb, professor, Environment, Society & Earth, Lawrence and Barbara Margolis Director of IBES, Brown University
• Brian Stone Jr., professor and director, Urban Climate Lab, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Emily Talen, professor and director, Urbanism Lab, University of Chicago

The Northwestern Sustainability Lecture Series is an event created within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and sponsored by The Alumnae of Northwestern University, the Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience, and the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern.