Environmental Studies

“Batteries and the Matter of a Clean Energy Future” by Jay Turner, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies Program, Wellesley College.

Scaling up a clean energy future is going to require more than just solar panels and wind turbines. It will also require batteries. How can considering the environmental history of batteries in the 20th century help us think more carefully about the role of batteries in a more sustainable and just 21st century? Cosponsored by the departments of History and Political Science.

“Art in the Age of Planetary Distress” by Karen McCoy, Professor, Kansas City Art Institute Sculpture Department, and Social Practice

This talk questions how we might make art that contributes in a meaningful way to the current conversation surrounding climate change. While simultaneously seeking to deepen our own understanding of this complicated context, will we creative humans move beyond raising awareness to catalyze action? In order to discover what this art looks like we will examine a few selected examples and discuss them.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC?: Yes

“This Land Is Our Land: How We Lost the Right to Roam and How to Take It Back” by Ken Ilgunas, Author and Journalist.

Author and adventurer Ken Ilgunas will talk about his 1,700-mile hike across the Great Plains and how it inspired him to call for an American “right to roam.” Inspired by the United States’ history of roaming, and taking guidance from present-day Europe, Ilgunas calls into question our entrenched understanding of private property and provocatively proposes something unheard of: opening up American private property for public recreation.

Featuring Middlebury College Faculty Members:
Kathleen Doyle, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies
Rebecca Gould, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Joseph Holler, Assistant Professor of Geography
Chris Klyza, Stafford Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Environmental Studies

A colloquium talk by Jessica Beels, sculptor and installation artist, Washington, DC.

Jessica Beels delves into how people perceive their surroundings – natural and human-made – creating artwork that challenges viewers to reexamine their presumptions and take a closer look. Incorporating both found objects and unfamiliar materials, her sculpture and installation work sparks intrigue and spurs conversations about our complicated and changing relationship with the world around us.

“What’s Old is New Again: Activating Natural History Collections for Climate Change Research” a colloquium talk by Lauren Williams, Curator of the Blacker Wood Natural History Collection in the Rare Books department at McGill University Library.

A colloquium talk by Martha Caswell, Co-director, Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative at the University of Vermont.

Agroecology and Food Sovereignty are global movements for food systems transformation, but there are still many questions about what they represent and what they can achieve. This talk will explore their history and potential.

“Good for the poor, good for the forest? Land rights and biodiversity conservation in the Ecuadorian Amazon” a colloquium talk by Lisa Naughton, Professor, Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mez Baker-Medard, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Daniel Brayton, Professor of English and American Literatures, Director of the Environmental Studies Program
Jeff Howarth, Associate Professor of Geography
Peter Ryan, Professor of Geology

A colloquium talk by Michael Shank, Communications Director, Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance.

This talk highlights effective climate communication strategies and techniques to boost environmental campaign awareness and advocacy. Join us in a discussion on behavioral science-based principles to consider as well as creative approaches to employ when communicating and campaigning on climate change.