Cornell University

Join us for Cornell University's first annual Climate Action Month, a call to action on climate change. You are invited to take part in conversations and events happening throughout the month aimed to build community and generate action.

Inspired by Cornell's Climate Action Plan, our overarching plan for achieving carbon neutrality in campus operations by 2035, this month features opportunities designed to educate and engage students, faculty, and staff across campus and within the community. 
 

HOW TO HOST AN EVENT
Events for Climate Action Month can be hosted by anyone. Simply create an event and follow the instructions below to have your program featured in campus-wide publicity. 

  • Post your event in the Cornell Events Calendar
    • Events hosted from mid-October through mid-December will be included
  • Tag "Sustainability" under Departments and as a University Focus Area. Use Ctrl button to choose multiple departments.

Events can be submitted anytime before and throughout November. Submit your event by October 30th to be considered for inclusion in our initial campus-wide promotions. 
 

FEATURED EVENTS

Student Sustainability Leadership Summit
Sunday, October 20, 10:00am-3:30pm | Register by Friday, October 11th
Stocking Hall  (FREE, lunch provided)
The Sustainability Leadership Summit (SLS) is designed to educate students, staff and faculty about the latest practices and innovations in sustainability, train them in key skills such as leadership and project management, inspire them to initiate or participate in sustainability initiatives, and provide networking opportunities with peers, staff, and professionals in the sustainability field.

Scenes of Extraction 
Tuesday, October 29, 7:00pm
Cornell Cinema  (FREE)
Scenes of Extraction (صحنه های استخراج) — directed by Sanaz Sohrabi — traces the technical and social entanglement between the infrastructures of oil and the camera during the operations of British Petroleum across the Iranian oil belt. The screening will be introduced by Caroline Levine, David and Kathleen Ryan Professor of Humanities in the Department of Literatures in English, and is presented in conjunction with her "Communicating Climate Change" course (ENG 3795).

What Can An Economist Have to Say About Climate Change?
Tuesday, October 29, 4:30pm
Warren Hall, B25
Professor Robert N. Stavins '80 (Harvard University, A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell) will describe how economics can greatly increase understanding of environmental problems, including climate change, and thereby play an important role in identifying and designing policy options that are scientifically effective, economically sensible, and politically pragmatic. He will begin by illustrating two key realities about climate change – one spatial and one temporal – that take us from science to economics to geopolitics and policy. From there, he will examine the role that economic policy instruments have played and may play in the future in countries around the world.
>>An A.D. White Professors-at-Large keynote public event

Teaching about Climate Change
Monday, November 4, 3:00-4:30pm
ILR Conference Center (Register)
Join colleagues experienced and new to explore the how and why of teaching about climate change. Given the diversity of approaches and educational priorities, how are instructors managing the fear and anxiety of the immediate threat, possibilities for action and advocacy, and accurate engagement with climate science? What does cross-discipline engagement look like down to the assignment level? In this workshop, come ready to explore the roles, responsibilities, creativity, teaching challenges and opportunities, and find connections across disciplines for future collaborations.

Constantine Samaras (Carnegie Mellon University)
Thursday, November 7, 5:00pm
Myron Taylor Hall, 184  (Register)
Constantine (Costa) Samaras is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Affiliated Faculty in the Energy Science, Technology and Policy Program at Carnegie Mellon University. His research focuses on the pathways to clean, climate-safe, equitable, and secure energy and infrastructure systems. From 2021-2024, he served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as the Principal Assistant Director for Energy, OSTP Chief Advisor for Energy Policy, and then OSTP Chief Advisor for the Clean Energy Transition.
>> Part of the Cornell Climate Impact Speaker Series organized and sponsored by The 2030 Project and Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.

COP 29: Climate Finance at Scale for Global Decarbonization Webinar
Organized by: E-Axes Forum | Cornell Atkinson Center for SustainabilityBrookings CRM
Friday, November 8, 1-2:30 pm | Registration required
Join us for a webinar on Climate Finance at Scale for Global Decarbonization organized by E-Axes Forum, the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, and the Brookings Center on Regulation and Markets (CRM). The event will feature a panel discussion with Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis, Avinash Persaud, Bella Tonkonogy, and Lisa Sachs, moderated by Sanjay Patnaik.

On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America
Friday, November 8,  7:30-9pm
Call Auditorium, Kennedy Hall
Abrahm Lustgarten, Award-winning Investigative Reporter, Author, Filmmaker, and Public Speaker, will discuss his most recent book, On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America.
Zoom Option: For those who can't join in person please register for a Zoom link here:  https://tinyurl.com/24xfv4ak

Food Power Politics: Exploring the Dimensions of the Civil Rights Movement
Wednesday, November 13th, 12:20-1:10pm
Warren Hall 175 | Register to attend via Zoom.
In this talk, Bobby J. Smith II briefly outlines the key interventions of his book, Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, the inaugural book of the new Black Food Justice series at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Press. Smith looks beyond the plate and kitchen table to explore how food emerged as a contested site of Black freedom during the Civil Rights Movement. Focusing on the movement in Mississippi, Smith shows how food was used as a political and economic weapon against rural Black communities and illuminates how these communities fought back by creating their own agricultural systems and food networks. Looking forward, Smith concludes the talk with thinking about how his book clarifies a blueprint for Black food futures and the future of the food justice movement. Futures that will be sustainable, equitable, and inclusive.

2024 Bouchet Lecture: The Emancipatory Vision of L. C. Dorsey - Black Food Futures and the Struggle for Civil Rights
Thursday, November 14, 2024 3:30pm to 5pm
G10 Biotechnology BuildingThis lecture challenges us to reconsider how we think and talk about food. Drawing on research from his award-winning book, Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement (UNC Press, 2023), Dr. Bobby J. Smith II narrates how food emerged as a contested site of Black freedom during the American Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. He focuses on the emancipatory vision of Mrs. L. C. Dorsey, a woefully forgotten civil rights activist, and her role as the leader of the North Bolivar County Farm Cooperative, an innovate local Black food network of activists, community members, healthcare professionals, and farmers. While the development of the cooperative is overlooked in stories about the struggle for civil rights, Smith shows how Dorsey and the cooperative network used the civil rights movement as incubator for the creation of innovative food systems. Looking forward, such food systems provide blueprints for Black food futures—where Black communities have the full autonomy and capacity to imagine, create and sustain a self-sufficient local food system designed by them. 

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) Energy Seminar: Jin Wen
Thursday, November 14, 12:20pm-1:10pm
Upson Hall, 142
Jin Wen, Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at Drexel University.Dr. Wen has more than twenty years of experience in the smart building field, firstly as an application engineer working for Johnson Controls Inc. and later as a researcher in the areas of automated fault detection and diagnosis, building-to-grid integration, model predictive control, regional energy modeling, and occupant behavior simulation.

The Role of NIST in Advancing the Circular Economy of Textiles
Friday, November 15, 11am-12pm
Rhodes Hall, 253 | Zoom
The textile and apparel (T&A) sector operates under an increasingly unsustainable linear economic model. Virgin, petroleum-based fibers are perversely incentivized over recycled fibers, and used textiles are accumulating in landfills due to underdeveloped recycling processes. A circular economic (CE) model provides pathways for strategic resource usage for sustainability of environmental, financial, and public health of our communities and future generations.  

Ezra Systems Seminar: Petar Varbanov (Széchenyi István University)
Friday, November 15th, 12:20pm-1:10pm
Human Ecology Building (HEB), T01
Peter Sabev Varbanov is the head of the Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory at the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic. Professor Varbanov’s main fields of research are energy saving and efficiency, development and implementation of process integration, total site and regional integration for energy and water, waste to energy.

Bokashi Composting Class
Saturday November 16,10:00am-12:00pm / Register-Fee: $15 per household includes bokashi starter kit.
CCE Tompkins, 615 Willow Ave. Ithaca
This Japanese composting technique involves natural fermentation and offers a way for people to manage food scraps. The liquid produced can be used to water houseplants while the food scraps are pre-digested, and can then be composted or buried in the soil to finish. Join local bokashi enthusiasts to learn about the practice and go home with your own bokashi starter kit. 

Navigating Sustainability Transitions in Managed Landscapes
Tuesday, November 19 at 3:30pm
G24 Fernow Hall

Global Cornell Experience Showcase
Tuesday, November 19th, 4:00-6:00pm
Physical Sciences Building Baker Portico & Atrium
Over 70 undergraduate students will present their international summer experiences in a poster session. Their work includes conducting research, working in Global Internships, and putting leadership into action as Laidlaw scholars. Global Internships give undergraduate students valuable international experience in fields spanning global development, climate and sustainability, international relations, communication, business, governance, and more. Light refreshments will be served.

Energy Expo
Wednesday, November 20, 10:00am-5:00pm
Cornell Ag Quad and Mann Library Foyer  (FREE)
Join us on the Cornell Ag Quad and the Mann Library lobby for a day of exploring and learning about fossil-free equipment, tools and management strategies being developed in New York! Learn more

  • Come learn about great innovations to de-carbonize our lives!
  • See energy efficient technologies on display
  • Find current state, federal, and utility incentives
  • Identify support to help decarbonize homes, landscapes, farms, municipalities, and businesses in your community!

 

Bee Breeding and IPM for Better Pollinator Health (Virtual)
Wednesday, November 20, 11am / ZOOM Registration required
This presentation will focus on recently published and current research on the genetics and breeding of mite-resistant stocks in honey bees, and a recent study using a sustainable method to manage varroa mites in bee hives.

Lisa Yun Lee: The Worlds We Make Together
Wednesday, November 20, 4:30pm
Abby and Howard Milstein Auditorium
Cultural activist and the Executive Director of the National Public Housing Museum, Dr. Lisa Yun Lee, will share insights into her work building and leading organizations committed to social justice, community, and joy.

Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz-Runners Book Talk
Thursday, November 21, 4:30pm-5:30pm
Mann Library, 160
Join us for a Chats in the Stacks book talk with Thomas D. Seeley, Horace White Professor Emeritus in Biology in the Dept. of Neurobiology and Behavior on his new book Piping-Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz-Runners: 20 Mysteries of Honey Bee Behavior Solved (Princeton University Press, 2024). 
Seeley, who has devoted nearly six decades to the study of honey bees and their colonies, takes us inside a world seldom seen even by beekeepers, to illuminate mysteries of honey bee behavior including how they choose a home for their colony, keep the colony inhabitants warm, and defended the colony from intruders. Weaving personal stories with the latest science, Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz-Runners shows both the excitement of scientific discovery and how it continues to shape our understanding of these vitally important insects. 
This talk is hosted by Mann Library. Light refreshments will be served. 
 

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) Energy Seminar: Stefano Galelli (Cornell CEE)
Thursday, November 21,12:20pm to 1:10pm-1:10pm
Upson Hall, 142
Stefano Galelli is a tenured associate professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, Prof. Galelli’s research focuses on the interactions between critical infrastructure systems and the natural environment. Specifically, he studies how hydro-climatic variability affects interconnected water-energy infrastructures and develops adaptive management solutions that balance reliability, resilience, and sustainability. His lab combines process-based modeling, climatology, statistical learning, control theory, and optimization to achieve these goals.

Jeff Cody: New Building in Old Cities: Lessons for Sustainable New Design from an Early 20th Century Italian Master
Friday, November 22, 12:20pm
Abby and Howard Milstein Auditorium
This lecture will center on the largely forgotten architectural work of Gustavo Giovannoni (1873–1947), who promoted a scientific approach to architectural restoration and rehabilitation based on the simultaneous consideration of the historical, technical, environmental, social, and aesthetic dimensions of "monuments" and ordinary buildings. Learn more.

Cornell Energy Connection 2024
Friday, November 22, 10am-5pm 
Baker Lab 119
Join us for this one-day event to engage with professionals and influencers across the energy landscape on emergent trends and challenges facing the industry. Agenda.

C&CB Seminar: Professor Jarad Mason
Monday, November 25, 4:00pm
Baker Lab 119
Title: "Manipulating Phase Transitions and Free Volume: From Solid Refrigerants to Microporous Water”
Abstract:
Materials that undergo phase transitions in response to specific stimuli and that contain pores tailored to interact with specific guest molecules offer unique opportunities for addressing many important global challenges. Here, I will describe two recent examples of how phase-change materials and microporous materials can be leveraged for a range of energy and biomedical applications, including sustainable heat pumps, electrocatalysis, organ preservation, bioreactors, and in vivo gas delivery. First, I will discuss how hydrocarbon order–disorder phase transitions in layered organic and metal–organic materials can be manipulated to drive large barocaloric effects—thermal changes induced by hydrostatic pressure—in a new class of solid refrigerants. Second, I will describe a new approach to transporting gas molecules in aqueous solutions that overcomes limitations associated with the low solubility of nearly all gases in water. Specifically, I will show how aqueous solutions of microporous nanocrystals can be designed with low viscosities, long-term colloidal stability, and micropores that remain permanently dry even when surrounded by liquid water. This allows high densities of gas molecules, including oxygen, to be stored and released within aqueous environments.

Information Session: Global Internships
Wednesday, November 27, 1pm-2pm  
Register for this virtual session
Go global in summer 2025! Global Internships give you valuable international work experience in fields spanning global development, climate and sustainability, international relations, communication, business, governance, and more.

Robinson Meyer (Heatmap)
Thursday, December 5, 5:00pm
184 Myron Taylor Hall  (Register)
Robinson Meyer is the founding executive editor of Heatmap. He was previously a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covered climate change, energy, and technology.
>> Part of the Cornell Climate Impact Speaker Series organized and sponsored by The 2030 Project and Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.

Ezra Systems Seminar: Aidong Yang (Oxford)
Friday, December 6, 12:20-1:10pm
Frank H. T. Rhodes Hall, 253, ZOOM
To tackle climate change and other environmental and socioeconomic challenges, production systems for supplying food, chemicals and materials are expected to transition from their dependence on fossil fuels to the utilisation of renewable energy. As renewable resources possess rather different characteristics than their fossil counterpart, various challenges will arise which need to be addressed to make the transition successful. This talk shares several studies where mathematical modelling has been used to analyse emerging renewable energy-powered systems, including controlled-environment farming, chemical production and steel making. Through these studies, opportunities and challenges are discussed with respect to the implications of the interconnectedness of multiple resources, the strategies for handling variability in renewable energy supply, and the importance of regional resource synergies.

Sustainable Cornell Summit 2024  
Tuesday, Decemeber 10, 8:30am / Register by Monday, December 2nd
Statler Hall 
The Sustainable Cornell Summit brings together the campus community for networking and learning opportunities. All Cornell community members are welcome to participate! 
Our overarching theme for the event is Planetary Health and we are excited to announce Dr. Steve Osofsky, Director of the K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health, as our keynote speaker. We chose the topic of planetary health as way to demonstrate how all our work in human and ecological sustainability is connected. 
Registration is required to limit food waste.

EXHIBITIONS

Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel: MycoShell
Friday, Nov 8th – Thursday, Nov 14th 
Bibliowicz Family Gallery, Milstein Hall
MycoShell is an installation originally situated in Bethel Woods, NY for the 2024 Build Fest. It exhibits the potential of biological self-growing and adaptive building materials toward a collaborative future of the digital and the analog. Designed to reflect the advancing research of the MycoBuilt project, a cross-disciplinary collaboration of faculty and students in mycology, engineering, and architecture at Cornell University, MycoShell is constructed of structural mycelium-bound composite panels that have been grown from a local fungal strain of the Ganoderma family on regional agricultural by-products of corn and hemp. Additionally reinforced with natural fibers, the result is a bio-based, carbon-negative, and fully circular building component with structural capacities. 
The exhibition in the Bibliowicz Gallery illustrates three aspects of the project: material sourcing and raw material selection (room 1), the prototype construction at Bethel Woods (room 2) and the growth conditions and production processes (room 3).
 

More coming soon! Keep checking back.

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