Academic Year 2020-2021

Rutgers Climate Symposium 2020: Public Universities and Transformative Climate Action for A Just Recovery

More than 300 citizens; academics; federal, state, and local officials; and representatives from business and nongovernmental organizations from around the globe, participated in the 2020 symposium which was held as a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two plenary panels discussed the role of public universities in addressing climate action amidst the intersecting crises of a global pandemic, a racial reckoning, and climate change. Speakers provided insights on how universities have been educating and training their students, conducting and applying research, and working in their communities, while also highlighting ways to expand these opportunities in addressing climate change. Panelist included Stephen Gavazzi, Professor of Human Development and Family Science, in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University; Lisa Graumlich, Professor and Dean of the College of the Environment at the University of Washington, Rosina Bierbaum, Professor and Dean Emerita at the University of Michigan and the Roy Weston Chair in Natural Economics at the University of Maryland, Professor Kevin Lyons of the Department of Supply Chain Management, Rutgers University; Joel Rogers, the Noam Chomsky Professor of Law, Political Science, Public Affairs, and Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Jeanne Herb, Executive Director of the Environmental Analysis and Communications Group at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University.