Geography & Environmental Sustainability Lecture Series

Donald Kennedy presented the inaugural Cornell Gladstone Hanlon Kaufmann Annual Lectureship in Environmental Studies and Communication on October 4, 2000. A distinguished scholar, Dr. Kennedy is the President Emeritus of Stanford University, Bing Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science and Co-Director of the Center for Environmental Science and Policy at Stanford, former editor-in-chief of Science, and author of The Last of Your Springs. Dr. Kennedy is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He served on the National Commission for Public Service and the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government. He was a founding director of the Health Effects Institute and the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. He currently serves as a director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and as co-chair of the National Academies’ Project on Science, Technology and Law. As the inaugural speaker in the Cornell Gladstone Hanlon Kaufmann Annual Lectureship in Environmental Studies and Communication, Donald Kennedy was the first in a long line of distinguished experts on the environment who have visited SUNY Oneonta in the past decade.

Founding Director of the Global Water Policy Project, Senior Fellow Emerita of the Worldwatch Institute, author of Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last? and Last Oasis: Facing Water Scarcity

Address: Human Impacts on Earth’s Freshwater: Implications for Agriculture, the Environment, and International Politics

Frederick Jackson Turner Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, President Emeritus of the American Society for Environmental History, author of Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England and Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West

Address: Human Environmentalism: A Manifesto

Independent journalist, author of Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future, The Eagle’s Shadow, and Nuclear, Inc.: The Men and Money Behind Nuclear Energy

Address: Earth Odyssey

J. Thomas McCarthy Trustee Chair in Law at the University of Southern California, author of Should Trees Have Standing: Towards Legal Rights for Natural Objects, The Gnat Is Older Than Man: Global Environment and Human Agenda, and Earth and Other Ethics

Address: Mending the Earth: The Ethical Dilemmas

Professor and Founder of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Arizona, author of Win-Win Ecology: How the Earth’s Species Can Survive in the Midst of Human Enterprise, developer of theory of Reconciliation Ecology, founder of journals Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Ecology Research

Address: Win-Win Ecology

Editor of China Environment Series at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Winthrop University, co-author of Reaching Across the Water: International Cooperation Promoting Sustainable River Basin Governance in China

Address: China: Environmental Issues Seen Through the Lens of Water

Founding Director of the Institute for Ecosystems Studies, co-founder of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study, recipient of National Medal of Science and World Prize for Environmental Achievement, co-editor of Dynamics of Lake, Watershed and Atmospheric Linkages

Address: Acid Rain: An Unfinished Environmental Problem

O’Neill Family Professor at the University of Notre Dame, Director of the Notre Dame Center for Environmental Justice and Children’s Health, recipient of World Technology Award in Ethics, Editor-in-chief of Environmental Ethics and Science Policy, Past-President of International Society for Environmental Ethics

Address: Why Nuclear Power Will Not Address Climate Change.

Kai Robertson: Director, Business & Industry Food and Agriculture World Wildlife Fund
Eric Holt Giménez: Executive Director, Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy
Tom Philpott: Co-Founder & Co-Director, Maverick Farms. Also reports on food politics for Seattle-based Grist.org
Jeff Moyer: Farm Director, Rockdale Institute, NOSB Board Chairman

Senior Fellow at American Progress specializing in climate, energy, and science policy. He coordinates American Progress’s participation in the Global Climate Network, focusing on international climate change policy and the future of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He is also director of the Center for Global Ethics at George Mason University.

John Barrie is an Architect and Industrial Designer and the Executive Director of the Appropriate Technology Collaborative, an award winning nonprofit company that designs low cost life enhancing technologies for low income people throughout the world. He is currently working with “World Challenge Design Teams” - groups of engineering, design and business students from colleges and universities across the United States to develop new technologies for low income people in the developing world.

Address: "Good Work for Hot Times: Sustainability Leadership in Business and Policy"

Dr. Goodstein directs two national educational initiatives on global warming: C2C and The National Climate Seminar. In recent years, he has coordinated climate education events at over 2500 colleges, universities, high schools and other institutions across the country. Goodstein is the author of a college textbook, Economics and the Environment, (John Wiley and Sons: 2010) now in its sixth edition; Fighting for Love in the Century of Extinction: How Passion and Politics Can Stop Global Warming (University Press of New England: 2007); and The Trade-off Myth: Fact and Fiction about Jobs and the Environment (Island Press: 1999).

Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History

Address: "Conservation from a Biocultural Approach: What, Why, and How"

Sterling is director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History. She has 25 years of field research experience in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where she has conducted behavioral, ecological and genetic studies of both terrestrial and aquatic species. She is considered a world authority on the aye-aye, a nocturnal lemur found in Madagascar.

Senior Fellow for Environmental Affairs, Pace University

Address: "The Earth We Imagine"

2014 marks John Cronin’s 41st year as a professional environmental advocate. He first gained international attention for his work as Hudson Riverkeeper from 1983-2000, for which Time magazine named him a Hero for the Planet. He has also worked as an educator, author, lobbyist, writer, filmmaker, legislative aide and commercial fisherman. John is senior fellow for environmental affairs at the Pace University Academy for Applied Environmental Studies where he is managing faculty of the groundbreaking Environmental Policy Clinic that trains undergraduates in law, policy and advocacy skills while they represent non-profit clients on real-world policy reform. He also is managing editor of Pace Academy’s EarthDesk blog.

Faculty Emeritus, Department of Environmental Studies, Antioch University New England

Address: "Self-Organization: The Key to Resiliency"

Wessels has conducted landscape ecology and sustainability workshops throughout the U.S. for over 30 year, and is the author of several books.

Research Professor, Institute of Marine Sciences University of California, Santa Cruz

Address: "Corals on Acid - Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs"

The major focus of Dr. Paytan’s research is past and present marine biogeochemical cycles, with an overarching goal of understanding the processes and feedbacks operating in the earth System and how they relate to global changes in climate and tectonics.

Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, and Principal Investigator, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO

Address: "The Effects of Climate Change on Wildflowers and Animals in the Colorado Rocky Mountains"

Inouye has worked at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory for 47 years, and has long-term research projects about the flowering, pollination and demography of many species of wildflowers, and the bumble bees and hummingbirds that pollinate them. Climate change is affecting these species and their interactions, making this an interesting time to be studying the wildflowers meadows where they occur.

Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences and Associate of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Penn State University

Address: "Powering the Planet: The Good News on Energy and the Environment"

Dr. Richard Alley’s research interests include glaciology; ice sheet stability; paleoclimates from ice cores; physical properties of ice cores; and erosion and sedimentation by ice sheets. Along with his many teaching accomplishments, Dr. Alley has authored more than 240 referred scientific publications, chaired the National Research Council's panel on abrupt climate change, been involved with advisory groups to improve national and international research, and been active with media outreach to translate research findings to a broad audience with appearances on television, radio and print outlets. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Alley received his B.S. and M.S. in Geology from Ohio State University, and his Ph.D. in Geology (Materials Science minor) from the University of Wisconsin.

Journalist, Director, Initiative on Communication Innovation & Impact at Columbia University's Earth Institute

Address: "My Climate Change"

Thirty-one years into reporting on global warming science, environmental change and related policy, from the North Pole to the White House, the Amazon rain forest to the Vatican – mostly for The New York Times – a leading environmental journalist lays out his biggest mistakes and most surprising insights. Andrew Revkin offers fresh strategies for effectively communicating climate risks and building a more resilient, enduring relationship between people and their dynamic fast-changing planet. Before moving to Columbia University, he served as Strategic Advisor for Environmental and Science Education for the National Geographic Society.

The 2020 CGHK annual event, held on October 27th, used the documentary "Mossville: When Great Trees Fall" as the springboard for a panel discussion on environmental racism. Mossville focuses on a centuries-old Black community in Louisiana that is contaminated and uprooted by petrochemical plants. As the community comes to terms with the loss of their ancestral home, one man standing in the way of a plant's expansion refuses to give up.

Panelists for the October 27th event included:

• Dr. E. Howard Ashford, Africana & Latinx Studies
• Dr. Trevor Fuller, Geography & Environmental Sustainability
• Katie Mathews, "Mossville" Producer
• Merton Simpson, Albany County Legislator and co-chair of the Sheridan Hollow Alliance for Renewable Energy (SHARE)

Mossville: When Great Trees Fall is available to SUNY Oneonta students, faculty and staff. The film can also be rented or purchased through Amazon; It is also one of the featured films for the Glimmerglass Film Days festival (available November 7-9).

Recording of the October 27th CGHK Panel Discussion on Environmental Racism.

Author of The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy

Address: "Anatomy of a Water Crisis"

Anna Clark is a reporter for ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to investigative journalism with moral force. The Poisoned City recounts the gripping story of Flint, Michigan’s poisoned water through the people who caused it, suffered from it, and exposed it. It is a chronicle of one town, but could also be about any American city, all made precarious by the neglect of infrastructure and the erosion of democratic decision-making. It won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism and the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award, and was named one of the year’s best books by the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Public Library, Audible, and others. Anna’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Elle, the New Republic, Politico, the Columbia Journalism Review, the Boston Review, Next City, and other publications.

Address: "The Power & Strength of Youth in Climate Action"

Arielle V. King is a 24-year-old environmental educator, facilitator, writer, and content creator passionate about making environmentalism inclusive and accessible to all. Arielle focuses on storytelling and amplifying the voices, work, and legacies of those traditionally excluded from mainstream environmentalism. She has a background in environmental racism analysis, developing anti-racism policies for municipalities and school districts, political ecology, civil rights law, and centering community input in environmental governance. She is the Tik Tok and Podcast Host for Intersectional Environmentalist, a climate justice nonprofit dedicated to radically imagining a more equitable and diverse future of environmentalism. Arielle has earned a BA in Environmental and Sustainability Studies, a Master’s in Environmental Law and Policy, and a Juris Doctor degree focused on environmental justice and civil rights law. She sits on the Board of Directors for Our Climate and Positive Tracks and is a member of the CDC Climate Action Plan Advisory Panel.

2024 Cornell-Gladstone-Hanlon-Kaufmann Lecture in Environmental Education and Communication

Bill McKibben
"Our Changing Climate, A Global Movement of Reform"

April 26, 2024
4 p.m.
Chase Gym, Chase Physical Education Building

View event on Campus Connection.

William McKibben is an environmental activist, author, and educator who has written extensively on the impact of global warming. His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change and has appeared in 24 languages. He’s gone on to write 20 books, and his work appears regularly in periodicals from the New Yorker to Rolling Stone. He serves as the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he has won the Gandhi Peace Prize as well as honorary degrees from 20 colleges and universities. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the alternative Nobel, in the Swedish Parliament. Foreign Policy named him to its inaugural list of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers.

Public parking was available at the Alumni Field House lot.