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UPEP Seminar Series

All times U.S. ET unless noted.

Join the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the University Program in Environmental Policy (UPEP) for our seminar series featuring leading experts discussing a variety of pressing environmentally focused topics. Seminars are jointly sponsored by the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Sanford School for Public Policy.

Renewable Energy on American Indian Land

Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the second Nicholas Institute and UPEP Environmental Institutions Seminar Series presentation of the Spring 2023 semester. Our speaker will be Dr. Bryan Leonard, associate professor in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University.

Date and Time
Thursday, March 30, 2023 - 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Location
Ahmadieh Family Grand Hall (Gross 330)

Synergy Between Biodiversity Conservation, Climate Change, and Health: Pathways for Implementing a Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework in China

Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the first Nicholas Institute and UPEP Environmental Institutions Seminar Series presentation of the Spring 2023 semester. Our speaker will be Dr. Binbin Li, assistant professor of environmental sciences of the Environmental Research Center at Duke Kunshan University.

Date and Time
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 - 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Location
Field Auditorium, Grainger Hall

Advancing Climate Justice through Transdisciplinary Research: Developing STRONG Relationships

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend the second presentation of the Nicholas Institute and UPEP Environmental Institutions Seminar Series for the 2022-2023 school year. Our speaker will be Duke alumna Kimberly Marion Suiseeya Ph.D. ‘14, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and the Environmental Policy and Culture program at Northwestern University.

Date and Time
Friday, November 18, 2022 - 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Location
The Generator, 100C Gross Hall

Living With Wildlife: Insights from Science, Conservation and Education

Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the first Nicholas Institute and UPEP Environmental Institutions Seminar Series presentation of the Fall 2022 semester. Our speaker will be Krithi Karanth, Chief Conservation Scientist & Director, Centre for Wildlife Studies. 

Date and Time
Thursday, October 13, 2022 - 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Location
The Generator, 100C Gross Hall

Trust Your Farmer? Sustainable Practices, Home-grown Institutions, and the Quest for Resilient Food Systems

Third-party certification prevails as a necessary oversight mechanism in complex global food production systems. It is ultimately a substitute for trust. At local and regional scales, however, certification risks becoming a cumbersome and costly barrier—crowding out simpler, efficient and low-cost means for ensuring safety and sustainability. Relationship-centered, home-grown institutions—like community-supported agriculture (CSAs), farmers markets, and direct trade approaches—nurture trust among food system stakeholders and consumers.

Date and Time
Thursday, April 14, 2022 - 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Location
The Generator (Gross Hall 100C)

The Power of Deserts

The oil-rich countries of the Arabian/Persian Gulf currently face a dual challenge. As climate predictions for their region suggest conditions could become intolerable later this century, renewable energy stands to eclipse demand for oil. What if these countries decide it’s in their best interest to turn away from oil, harness their immense solar potential, and emerge as vanguards of global climate action?

Date and Time
Thursday, March 25, 2021 - 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Location
Webinar

Managing Climate Risks Through Geoengineering

Dr. Jesse Reynolds will offer an introduction to solar geoengineering’s capabilities and limitations for addressing the serious risks posed by anthropogenic climate change. This webinar is co-sponsored by the Duke Center on Risk seminar series on “Perspectives on Planetary Risks,” and the Environmental Institutions Seminar Series of Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, Sanford School of Public Policy, and Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

Date and Time
Friday, October 16, 2020 - 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Location
Online Webinar

The Creation of Social Norms Under Weak Institutions

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to join the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the University Program in Environmental Policy for the first presentation of their Fall 2019 seminar series. The featured speaker will be Florian Diekert, junior professor for resource and environmental economics at the University of Heidelberg.

Date and Time
Monday, October 21, 2019 - 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Location
Grainger Hall, Room 2102

Engagement or Control? The Chinese State’s Burgeoning Presence in Online Environmental Discourse

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to join the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the University Program in Environmental Policy for the first presentation of their Fall 2019 seminar series. The featured speaker will be Dr. Coraline Goron, an assistant professor of environmental policy at Duke Kunshan University.

Date and Time
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Location
Grainger Hall, Room 2102

Living With Wildlife: Insights from Conservation Research, Technology and Education Programs in India

Krithi Karanth presents “Living with Wildlife: Insights from conservation research, technology and education programs in India” on Monday, April 15, 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. EST in Duke University's Field Auditorium in Grainger Hall.

Date and Time
Monday, April 15, 2019 - 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Location
Field Auditorium, Grainger Hall (formerly Environment Hall), 9 Circuit Drive, Durham, North Carolina

Conflict and Coexistence: A Story of People and Elephants in the Okavango

Dr. Amanda Stronza presents "Conflict and Coexistence: A Story of People and Elephants in the Okavango" on Friday, March 29, 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. EST in Duke University's Field Auditorium in Grainger Hall.

Date and Time
Friday, March 29, 2019 - 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Location
Field Auditorium, Grainger Hall (formerly Environment Hall), 9 Circuit Drive, Durham, North Carolina

Bringing an Economic Focus to our Nation’s Water Challenges: An RFF Water Initiative

Ann M. Bartuska, Vice President for Land, Water, and nature at Resources for the Future, will present "Bringing an Economic Focus to our Nation’s Water Challenges: An RFF Water Initiative" on Friday, March 22, 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. EST in Duke University's Grainger Hall, Room 2102.

Date and Time
Friday, March 22, 2019 - 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Location
Field Auditorium, Grainger Hall (formerly Environment Hall), 9 Circuit Drive, Durham, North Carolina

Beyond Coal? Exploring Global Variation in Protests Against Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plants

Jennifer Hadden, Associate Professor in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, will present "Beyond Coal? Exploring Global Variation in Protests Against Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plants" on Friday, January 25.
 

Date and Time
Friday, January 25, 2019 - 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Location
Field Auditorium, Grainger Hall (formerly Environment Hall), 9 Circuit Drive, Durham, North Carolina

Quantifying the Rebound Effects of Residential Solar Panel Adoption

Yueming (Lucy) Qiu, assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland College Park, will present "Quantifying the Rebound Effects of Residential Solar Panel Adoption" on Friday, December 7.

Date and Time
Friday, December 7, 2018 - 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Location
Field Auditorium, Grainger Hall (formerly Environment Hall), 9 Circuit Drive, Durham, North Carolina

Economic Incentives in Policy for International and Interstate Resources Management

Linda Fernandez, associate professor of environmental and resource economics at Virginia Commonwealth University in the Department of Economics and Center for Environmental Studies, will present "Economic Incentives in Policy for International and Interstate Resources Management" on Friday, November 30.

Date and Time
Friday, November 30, 2018 - 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Location
Field Auditorium, Grainger Hall (formerly Environment Hall), 9 Circuit Drive, Durham, North Carolina

The Political Economy of Pricing Carbon for a 2°C World

Joseph E. Aldy, associate professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, university fellow at Resources for the Future, faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, will present The Political Economy of Pricing Carbon for a 2°C World on the Duke University campus, Friday, October 12.

Date and Time
Friday, October 12, 2018 - 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Location
Field Auditorium, Environmental Hall, 9 Circuit Drive, Durham, North Carolina

Future Design: Bequeathing Sustainable Natural Environments and Sustainable Societies to Future Generations

Tatsuyoshi Saijo, program director and member of the Board of Advisors at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, Japan, will discuss "Future Design: Bequeathing Sustainable Natural Environments and Sustainable Societies to Future Generations" at Duke University on Friday, September 7.  

Date and Time
Friday, September 7, 2018 - 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Location
Environment Hall, Room 2102

Is Wildness Over?

Paul Wapner, professor of global environmental politics in the School of International Service at American University, will present "Is Wildness Over?" on Wednesday, April 18, in Environment Hall on Duke University's west campus.

Date and Time
Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Location
Field Auditorium, Environment Hall, 9 Circuit Drive , Duke University's West Campus

Carbon Taxes in Theory and in Practice: Lessons from the I-732 Ballot Measure in Washington State

Yoram Bauman, a PhD environmental economist who founded Carbon Washington, will present "Carbon Taxes in Theory and in Practice: Lessons from the I-732 Ballot Measure in Washington State," on Tuesday, March 6, in Duke University's Gross Hall.

Date and Time
Tuesday, March 6, 2018 - 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Location
Gross Hall, 140 Science Drive, Duke University
Room 100C

The Roads To and From the Paris Climate Agreement

Andrew Light, professor of philosophy, public policy, and atmospheric sciences at George Mason University and a distinguished senior fellow with the World Resources Institute, will present the lecture "The Roads to and From the Paris Climate Agreement" on Friday, February 2 from 10-11 a.m. in the Levine Science Research Center on Duke University's west campus.

Date and Time
Friday, February 2, 2018 - 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Location
Levine Science Research Center, DEL Classroom A158