The free lecture series promotes open discussion and interdisciplinary debate around issues related to the environment, energy and society.
Lectures begin at 5:30 p.m. and take place in Room 166 of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Building, unless otherwise noted.
Fall 2014 Speaker Schedule
Oct. 2
Sam Arons
Scaling Renewable Energy: A Perspective from Google
Over the past seven years, Sam Arons has held a variety of roles at Google focused on sustainability and renewable energy and led a number of initiatives including calculating Google’s global carbon footprint and implementing a feature in the Google Finance product to show companies’ carbon scores. He is a member of the Global Infrastructure team at Google where he helps lead the development and implementation of the company’s global renewable energy strategy. Key efforts of the team include managing the company’s energy portfolio and sourcing as much renewable energy as possible to power Google’s datacenters.
Oct. 9
Joan Ogden
A Portfolio Approach to Sustainable Transportation
Joan Ogden is Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California, Davis and Director of the Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways Program at the campus’s Institute of Transportation Studies. Her research interest is the technical and economic assessment of new energy technologies, especially alternative fuels, fuel cells, renewable energy and energy conservation. Her recent work centers on the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier, hydrogen infrastructure strategies, and applications of fuel cell technology in transportation and stationary power production. In this talk, Ogden will examine the options for meeting sustainability and energy security goals in the transport sector, and discuss barriers to their implementation.
Nov. 6
Matt Johnson
Reconciling Agriculture & Wildlife Conservation: Examples with Coffee Farmers and Birds in Jamaica, Kenya, and India
Matt Johnson is a professor of Wildlife at Humboldt State University, where he has taught since 1999. He studies wildlife conservation, including the relationships between wildlife habitat and human livelihood. Recent interests revolve around the integration of agriculture and biodiversity. His work has also involved the interdisciplinary valuation of ecosystem services provisioned by wildlife. He lives in Freshwater with his wife and two kids.
Nov. 13
Jesse Abrams
The Importance of Communities of Place and Interest to the Sustainability of Forest-based Bioenergy Development
Jesse Abrams is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon. His current research includes investigating the social and political dimensions of bioenergy development in six countries across the Americas, studying the impact of state and federal biomass policy on business decision-making and innovation, and researching the institutional context for community fire resiliency. His past work included research on amenity-driven land ownership change, the development of community-based public lands governance models, and public opinions of forest restoration practices. He is co-editor of the book Human Dimensions of Ecological Restoration: Integrating Science, Nature, and Culture (Island Press, 2011).
Nov. 20
Trevor Houser, Partner, Rhodium Group
China’s Energy Future: Domestic Drivers and Global Consequences
Trevor Houser is a partner with the Rhodium Group (RHG) and leads the firm’s energy and natural resources work. Houser’s work supports the investment management, strategic planning and policy needs of RHG clients in the financial, corporate and government sectors. During 2009, Houser left RHG temporarily to serve as Senior Advisor to the US State Department where he worked on a broad range of international energy, natural resource and environmental policy issues. While in government, he negotiated seven bilateral US-China energy agreements, including the US-China Shale Gas Initiative and the establishment of the US-China Clean Energy Research Center.
The Sustainable Futures Speaker Series is sponsored by the Schatz Energy Research Center and Humboldt State’s Environment & Community graduate program. Lectures are available for viewing online through SERC’s YouTube channel for checkout through the HSU Library and for download via Humboldt Digital Scholar.
For more information on the Sustainable Futures Speaker Series, contact SERC at (707) 826-4345 or serc@humboldt.edu.