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Conversations on the Politics and Science of Climate Change in the Buckeye State

Oct 13, 2020, 10:00am - 2:00pm

 

 

 


EPN Webinar  - Resource List

This list was generated from the resources shared in the Chat box during the webinar by attendees, panelists and guest speaker, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe. This document is not comprehensive and offers only a sampling of resources to help you better engage with the topics and reserach discussed during this virtual program. 


Agenda:  

10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Dr. Katharine Hayhoe presents Talking Climate in a Purple State

Description of "Talking Climate in a purple State"

Climate change has become one of the most politically polarized topics in the entire country. Today, the extent to which we agree with the simple facts that climate is changing, humans are responsible, the impacts are serious, and action is needed, has nothing to do with how much science we know and everything to do with where we fall on the political spectrum. In such a polarized environment, how can we have constructive conversations that move us forward together rather than driving us further apart?

Ohio is a classic swing state. Some regions traditionally vote Republican “Red”; others tend to go Democratic “Blue;” and still others are mixed, making Ohio a very “Purple” state. Politically, statewide and local attitudes towards climate change primarily track with political affiliations, and corresponding support or aversion to what we perceive to be the solutions.

Join Dr. Katharine Hayhoe as she untangles the science behind how our beliefs shape our identity and highlights the key role values and solutions can play in shaping our conversations on the crucial topic of climate change here in the Buckeye State.

About Dr. Katharine Hayhoe

Dr. Katherine HayhoeKatharine Hayhoe, PhD, Political Science Endowed Professor in Public Policy and Public Law and co-director the Climate Center, Texas Tech University

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is an accomplished atmospheric scientist who studies climate change and why it matters to us here and now. She is also a remarkable communicator who has received the American Geophysical Union’s climate communication prize, the Stephen Schneider Climate Communication award, the United Nations Champion of the Earth award, and been named to a number of lists including Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Thinkers, and FORTUNE magazine’s World’s Greatest Leaders. She has a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Toronto and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois.


 10-minute break 


11:10 – 11:50 a.m. Ohio leaders and experts discuss Talking Climate in a Purple State, featuring Troy Tofil, Fred Yoder, SeMia Bray, and Dr. Aaron Wilson

  • Troy Tofil, Biology major, University Senator and Deputy Director of Sustainability, Undergraduate Student Government, The Ohio State University
  • Fred Yoder, farmer, chair, North American Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance, Solutions from the Land, and US President's Agriculture Advisory Committee
  • SeMia Bray, MBA. Principal Consultant, Cray Consulting Group, Inc.
  • Aaron Wilson, PhD. Atmospheric scientist, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center

About our Panelists

Troy TofilTroy Tofil, biology major, university senator and deputy director of sustainability, The Ohio State University’s Undergraduate Student Government  

Mr. Troy Tofil is from Cuyahoga Falls, OH majoring in Biology and minoring in Philosophy and Society and Environmental Issues. He is a Resident Advisor working in Park-Stradley Hall and serves as both a University Senator and Deputy Director of Sustainability within the Undergraduate Student Government.   


Fred Yoder, farmer, chair, North American Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance, Solutions from the Land, and US President's Agriculture Advisory CommitteeFred Yoder

Mr. Fred Yoder
has been farming for over 40 years near Plain City, Ohio. Fred currently serves on the US President's Agriculture Advisory Committee, and is Chair of the North American Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance as well as Co-Chair of Solutions from the Land, a non-profit organization identifying solutions that agriculture can offer for a changing world. He served on the Ohio Corn Growers Association Board of Directors for 18 years and as president of the National Corn Growers Association for two years. Fred strives to develop sustainable solutions to food production, has testified before congress on behalf of farmers, and he has traveled abroad to advocate for agriculture. With his family, Fred raises corn, soybeans, and wheat on a total of 1500 acres in two counties, and the Yoder family formed Yoder Ag Services to address demands for goods and services in the Ag industry.


SeMia Bray, MBA, principal consultant, Cray Consulting Group, Inc.SeMia Bray

Ms. SeMia Bray
is a professional consultant providing services in the clean energy space at the intersection of democracy, equity, and the environment. She currently serves in a leadership role for the Black Environmental Leaders Association and is the former senior director for Emerging Programs and Institutional Advancement for the Urban League of Greater Cleveland. She holds degrees from Hondros College of Business (Real Estate), Baldwin Wallace University (MBA), and Ursuline College (BA).


Aaron Wilson, PhD, research scientist, The Ohio State University Aaron Wilson

Dr. Aaron B. Wilson is an Atmospheric Scientist at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and climate specialist with OSU Extension. He is also a member of the State Climate Office of Ohio. Aaron’s expertise in Ohio weather and climate, and passion for education and outreach has led to him dedicating many hours towards working with students, faculty, and Ohioans across the state in a variety of programs. Such programs include Farm Science Review, events with OSU Extension, weekly hydrologic assessments, Byrd Center tour groups, and more. 


10-minute break


Noon – 1:00 p.m.   Dr. Hayhoe presents High Resolution Climate Projections to Quantify Future Impacts

Description of "high Resolution Climate Projections to Quantify Future Impacts"

Much of our society, including our agriculture, our dependence on natural resources, and our infrastructure, is built on an assumption that is rarely explicit in future planning: that individual weather events and average conditions may vary from year to year, but over the long term the climate of a given region can be predicted based on past climate “normals”. This assumption is no longer valid; today, human-induced climate change is altering average conditions as well as the risk of many types of weather extremes.  

Observed trends and projected future changes in mean climate and in the frequency and severity of temperature extremes, heat waves, heavy precipitation events, coastal flooding, and storms are clearly documented in the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment, as well as by a host of other regional impact assessments. While future projections are inherently uncertain, these assessments make one fact clear: future planning for any sector or region affected by climate change that fails to take into account long-term trends will end up with the wrong answer. 

This concept of non-stationarity, that future climate will differ from that experienced in the past, challenges regional planners, water managers, city managers and engineers to incorporate future climate change into present-day planning. From the perspective of scientists, translating climate projections into information that can be used by stakeholders and decision-makers presents a challenge of equal magnitude.  

Here, I draw on my experience working with the agriculture, ecosystem, energy, health, infrastructure, insurance, and water sectors to propose a framework for, and highlight some of the main challenges inherent to, incorporating climate information into practical, on-the-ground planning at the local to regional scale. This approach, which we have developed through working with a range of cities, states, and regions including Austin, Cambridge, California, Chicago, Delaware, the Northeast, and most recently Washington DC, is based on identifying known vulnerabilities within the systems of interest, and developing appropriate information compatible with existing planning mechanisms to ensure the relevance and utility of the climate information for increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate risks.  


10-minute break


1:10 – 1:50 p.m. Ohio leaders and experts discuss High Resolution Climate Projections to Quantify Future Impacts, featuring faculty at The Ohio State University, including Drs. Jeff Bielicki, Cinnamon Carlarne, Bryan Mark, Steven Quiring and Robyn Wilson

  • Jeff Bielicki, PhD, associate professor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering and John Glenn College of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University
  • Cinnamon Carlarne, PhD, associate dean, Faculty and Intellectual Life & the Alumni Society Designated Professor of Law at the Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University
  • Bryan Mark, PhD, professor, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University
  • Steven Quiring, PhD, professor, Atmospheric Sciences Program, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University
  • Robyn Wilson, PhD, professor, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University

About our Panelists

Jeff Bielicki, Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering and John Glenn College of Public Affairs, The Ohio State UniversityDr. Jeff Bielicki

Dr. Jeff Bielicki runs the Energy Sustainability Research Laboratory where he and his students research issues in which energy and environmental systems and policy interact, specifically on topics related to carbon management, renewable energy, and the energy-water nexus.He is a research co-lead for Sustainable Energy at the Sustainability Institute at Ohio State, where e is an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering and in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. Dr. Bielicki is also on the faculty of the Environmental Science Graduate Program and has a courtesy appointment in the City and Regional Planning section of the Knowlton School of Architecture. Dr. Bielicki holds a Ph.D. (Harvard University), an M.P.A. (Harvard University), an M.B.A. (University of Chicago), and a B.S. (Valparaiso University).Prior to returning to graduate school, Dr. Bielicki was a mechanical engineer at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, where he primarily worked on devices and infrastructure that produce antiprotons. His academic and research appointments have included being a Visiting Professor at ETH-Zurich, a Research Associate at the University of Minnesota, a Weinberg Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a Fellow at the Baker Center for Public Policy (University of Tennessee), and a Research Fellow with the Energy Technology Innovation Policy group at Harvard University.


Cinnamon Carlarne, Associate Dean for Faculty and Intellectual Life & the Alumni Society Designated Professor of Law at the Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University
Dr. Cinnamon Carlarne

Dr. Cinnamon Carlarne i
s the Associate Dean for Faculty and Intellectual Life & the Alumni Society Designated Professor of Law at the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University. Carlarne’s scholarship focuses on the evolution of system of domestic and international environmental law and includes a book on comparative climate change law and policy with Oxford University Press; a west Casebook on International Environmental Law; a Foundation Press text on climate law; the Oxford Handbook of International Climate Change Law; a series of articles and chapters exploring questions of domestic and international environmental law; and a textbook on oceans and human health.


Bryan Mark, Professor, Department of Geography, The Ohio State UniversityDr. Bryan Mark

Dr. Bryan Mark
is a Professor in the Department of Geography, where he teaches a GE undergraduate class each semester, GEOG 3900: “Global Climate Change: Causes & Consequences.” He is PI at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, where he leads the Glacier Environmental Change research group. He is also the acting State Climatologist, directing the State Climate Office of Ohio (SCOO), which unites faculty & staff from different units across OSU with a private business associate in serving the State with climate information to improve outcomes. He has a Bachelor's in History from Brown University, a Master's in Geography from Ohio State, and a PhD in Earth Sciences from Syracuse University. Before coming to OSU in 2004, he was employed as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany, while living in Scotland. Bryan has a passion for water, climate, mountains and people. With graduate students and colleagues, he conducts interdisciplinary research on processes related to climate and water in different landscapes, often in the developing world and near/on glaciers. He has conducted scientific expeditions in regions of the Andes, Alps, Asia, Africa, Antarctica and North America. He collaborates with scientists at OSU and around the world; on his sabbatical in 2015 he was a Fulbright Scholar to Peru and visiting scholar in Switzerland. Outside the academic realm, he serves on the Board of Directors for Hope International Development Agency, USA, a non-profit agency serving to help the poor.


Steven Quiring, Professor, Atmospheric Sciences Program, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University Dr. Steven Quiring

Dr. Steven Quiring  is a  Professor in the Atmospheric Sciences Program, Department of Geography at The Ohio State University. He is also a Fellow at The Risk Institute at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and a member of the Translational Data Analytics Institute and the Sustainability Institute at Ohio State University. Prior to his arrival at Ohio State in 2016, Dr. Quiring spent 11 years at Texas A&M University. His research focuses on hydroclimatology, weather data analytics and modeling the impact of storms on electrical infrastructure. Dr. Quiring has published more than 90 journal articles and has received more than $14M in funding from federal (DOE, NSF, NOAA) and state (TWDB and TXDEM) agencies, including an NSF CAREER award in 2010. Dr. Quiring is an Associate Editor for Physical Geography and Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. Dr. Quiring received a BA(Hons.) in geography from the University of Winnipeg in 1999, a MA in geography from the University of Manitoba in 2001, and a PhD in climatology from the University of Delaware in 2005.  More details are available at https://geography.osu.edu/people/quiring.10 and https://u.osu.edu/quiring.10/.   

Robyn Wilson, Professor, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State UniversityDr. Robyn Wilson

Dr. Robyn Wilson is a behavioral decision scientist studying individual decisions under risk. She is also interested in the development of strategic communication efforts, as well as the design of decision support tools that assist individuals in making more informed choices. Her current research focus is on adaptation to climate-exacerbated hazards, and what motivates and constrains different land use and land management decisions on private and public lands. She is the incoming President of the Society for Risk Analysis, and member of the National Academies Board on Environmental Change and Society. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. from Ohio State’s SENR and her B.A. in Environmental Studies from Denison University.

 


A week of conversations on climate change, science, and faith
in the Buckeye State with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe

Associated Events October 14 - 16, 2020

Hosting Dr. Hayhoe, virtually, in central Ohio for this series of talks is the result of a yearlong, collaborative effort of regional individuals and organizations. The EPN is delighted to be a part of it and we strongly encourage all to attend our event above and these associated events throughout the coming days.

A special thanks to Dr. Matt Pratola (Associate Professor of Statistics, The Ohio State University), the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, COSI, the Metro School, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Water Management Association of Ohio, and the American Scientific Affiliation – Ohio Chapter for their collaboration to create this program, and resources provided by Ohio State’s Office of Outreach and Engagement.

View Associated Events with Dr. Katherine Hayhoe

 


NEED ACCOMMODATIONS? 

We strive to host events that are inclusive and accessible to everyone. If you have a disability and require accommodations to fully participate in this activity, please reach out to Nicole Jackson (jackson.1457@osu.edu). Requests made five business days in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access. However, we will make every effort to meet requests made after this time frame. You will be contacted by someone from our staff to discuss your specific needs.

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