In an accessible format, both in person and online, these Climate 101 talks delve into how climate is interwoven with a variety of disciplines, helping to raise our climate literacy and prepare us to tackle one of the planet's greatest challenges. View recordings from past Climate 101 presentations below. Our Climate 101 series will return in Fall 2025.
Climate 101 for Spring 2025
Join us for our Spring 2025 Climate 101 lineup! Hear from Howard Neukrug, Benjamin Lee, Chenyi Ma, and Kathleen Morrison, speaking about how their discipline is thinking about climate change. We are offering these events in an in-person and virtual format in partnership with the Annenberg School for Communication.
April 2025: What do we need to know about climate change
Kathy Morrison, Sally and Alvin V. Shoemaker Professor of Anthropology, and Faculty Director of the Environmental Innovations Initiative, led a conversation with Penn students and asked: What do we need to know about climate change?
March 2025: Climate Change and Energy Insecurity
Chenyi Ma, Research Assistant Professor within the School of Social Policy and Practice, discussed how climate change and energy insecurity are linked, and how we can move forward as we face a future of extreme temperatures.
February 2025: Climate Change and Artificial Intelligence
Benjamin Lee is a professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering and Computer and Information Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Penn. Lee's talk surveyed strategies for reducing the carbon footprint of AI computation and data center infrastructure, drawing on data and experiences from industrial, hyperscale systems.
*EII apologizes for the poor sound quality of this video.January 2025: Climate Change and Philadelphia: A presentation by Howard Neukrug
Howard Neukrug, Professor of Practice and Executive Director of The Water Center at Penn, is the former Commissioner and CEO of Philadelphia Water. He now teaches and leads applied research on the water industry and the role of water in urban sustainability and resiliency.
December 2024: Climate Change and Human Health: A presentation by Farah Hussain, MD
The climate crisis is a health crisis. Climate change can have negative effects on almost every organ system and can exacerbate patients' underlying medical conditions. In addition, the healthcare sector itself contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions across the globe. In this talk on December 18, 2024, Dr. Hussain, an EII Faculty Fellow, provided an introduction to a few of the health consequences of climate change and what we can do to mitigate them.
November 2024: Climate Change and Wildlife Health: A presentation by Julie Ellis
From habitat degradation to water quality, Julie Ellis, adjunct associate professor of pathobiology at Penn Vet, and the Wildlife Futures Program, and EII Faculty Fellow, reviewed how shifts in temperature and other climatic factors may directly affect animals, plants, and ecosystems.
October 2024: Climate Change and the Cryosphere: A presentation by Jon Hawkings
Jon Hawkings, assistant professor in the Department of Earth & Environmental Science in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences and an EII Faculty Fellow offered a Climate 101 presentation on the impact of climate change on Earth’s cryosphere, the planet’s frozen regions such as the poles, glaciers, and permafrost.
April 2024: Beyond Despair: A Q&A with Michael Mann
Michael Mann, a member of EII's Internal Advisory Committee. In conversation with moderators from the Initiative—faculty director Kathy Morrison and staff director Katie Unger Baillie—he shared how to combat doomerism and despair when it comes to climate change and explained why he remains optimistic about our future.
Further reading:
- As the world warms how are young people faring? (Environmental Innovations Initiative)
- Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media
- Understanding climate stories (Penn Today)