Fridays 3-4 pm Capitol Campus 111 Mass Ave 7th Fl. Room 7414
Come build community and grow with the Earth Commons at this weekly seminar series with happy hour to follow. Participation is free and open to all. Light refreshments provided.
ECo Talks
Explore innovative ideas, groundbreaking research, and inspiring discussions focused on environmental research, sustainable practices, and the path to a greener future with ECo Talks from the Earth Commons.
Introducing: the AI & the Environment Distinguished Scholar Series
Select 2026-2027 ECo Talks will feature visiting scholars to explore both sides of the AI revolution: its extraordinary potential to advance environmental science and solutions and the growing environmental costs and consequences of these technologies.
Fall 2026 ECo Talks
September 11th, 2026: Dr. Jeffrey Marlow
“From the Deep Sea to the UN: Bringing Science to International Marine Policy.” Assistant Professor of Biology at Boston University
September 18th, 2026: Dr. Leah Stokes
“Electoral Returns from Climate Policy: The Effect of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Manufacturing Investments.” Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara
September 25th, 2026: William W. Buzbee, J.D.
“Regression and Resilience in Environmental Law.”Edward and Carole Walter Professor at Georgetown University Law Center
October 2nd, 2026: Dr. Melissa Cronin
“Marine Conservation in Shared Seas: Understanding Conflict and its Consequences for Biodiversity and People.” Assistant Professor in the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at UMass Dartmouth
October 23th, 2026: Johnny Uelmen
“Forecasting Disease in a Changing Climate: From Modern Zoonoses to Ancient Malaria.”Assistant Professor of Population Health Sciences in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
October 30th, 2026: Dr. Sasha Luccioni
“AI and Sustainability: Balancing Technological Promises with Environmental Impacts.” Artificial Intelligence & Climate Researcher. Presented through the AI & the Environment Distinguished Scholar Series
November 6th, 2026: James R. May, J.D.
“Do Environmental Rights Improve Environmental Outcomes?”. Richard S. Righter Distinguished Professor of Law at Washburn University
November 13th, 2026: Dr. David Vogel
“When Federal Climate Policy Works“. Professor Emeritus, the Haas School of Business and the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley
November 20th, 2026: Dr. James Robinson
“Coral Reefs, Climate Change & Food Security”. Associate Professor at Lancaster University
Spring 2026 ECo Talks
February 6th, 2026: Marisa Ensor
“Promoting Blue Resilience: Climate Change Adaptation in Coastal Communities.” Affiliate Researcher and Lecturer at the Earth Commons.
February 20th, 2026: David Shiffman
“The Causes and Consequences of Public Misunderstanding of Shark Conservation.” Environmental Studies and Earth Commons Adjunct.
January 23rd, 2026: Yifan (Flora) He
“Distributive Politics and Unequal Consequences in Natural Resource Governance: Evidence from Bolivia and Brazil.” Assistant Professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
January 30th, 2026: Sara Carlson and Jennifer Kane
“Policymaking for the Biodiversity Crisis: Lessons Learned from Developing the 2024 USAID Biodiversity Policy.” Senior biodiversity advisors at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
March 13th, 2026: Tim Bartley
“Climate Policies for Global Supply Chains: A Tale of Two Models.” Professor at the Earth Commons and Department of Sociology at Georgetown University.
March 20th, 2026: Abby Farmmartine
“Translating Science into Action for Foodservice.” Director of health and sustainability programs and research for the strategic initiatives group at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).
March 27th, 2026: Martha Weiss
Professor and Co-Director of Environmental Studies. Director, Major in Environmental Biology.
April 10th, 2026: Benjamin Rachunok
Assistant Professor in the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at NC State University.
April 17th, 2026: Dagomar Degroot
Associate Professor of Environmental History, Georgetown University.
Spring 2025 ECo Talks
September 5, 2025: Brian Griffiths
“Conservation, Management, and Ecology of Large-bodied Mammals in the Amazon”. Assistant Teaching Professor at the Earth Commons: Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability
September 12, 2025: Kathryn Zyla
“Subnational Leadership and Climate Action.“Executive Director of the Georgetown Climate Center
September 19, 2025: Rebecca Helm
“A Spiraling Mystery: the Causes and Consequences of Mirror Symmetry in a Globally-distributed Animal Species.”Assistant Professor at the Earth Commons: Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability
September 26, 2025: Peter Marra
“Studying Birds in the Context of the Full Annual Cycle“. Dean of the Earth Commons: Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability
October 3rd, 2025: Taylor Jones
“Solar-Induced Fluorescence in Croplands.” Assistant Professor at the Earth Commons: Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability
October 24, 2025: Dionysios Raitsos
“Sensing Marine Ecosystem Health Remotely from Space.” Associate Professor of Biological Oceanography at the Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
November 7th, 2025: Megan Lickley
“Narrowing Uncertainties of Halocarbon Emissions and Atmospheric Lifetimes and their Impacts on Ozone Recovery.”Assistant Professor at the Earth Commons: Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability
November 14th, 2025: Roshi Nateghi
“Integrated Approaches to Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure and Communities.” Assistant Professor at the Earth Commons: Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability
Spring 2025
Jan 24, 2025: Shizuka Hsieh
“Lessons from Advocating for Environmental Justice in DC with Air Quality Data “. Associate Professor of Chemistry at Trinity Washington University.
Jan 31, 2025: John Doherty
“What Does Climate Change Have to do With the Courts?“. Science and Policy Analyst at the Environmental Law Institute.
Feb 21, 2025: Stephen Bourguet
“Continued Emission of CFCs and a Reevaluation of their Lifetimes”. Earth Commons Postdoc.
Feb 28, 2025: Nicholas Ray
“Biogeochemical Consequences of Food Production in Aquatic Ecosystems”. Assistant Professor in the School of Marine Science & Policy at the University of Delaware.
March 21, 2025: Tara Shirvani
Global Lead for Transition Finance at the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
April 4, 2025: Jessica Green
“Global Climate Policy“. Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto.
Fall 2024
September 13: Morgan Grove
“Urban Ecology, Systems Thinking, and Problem Solving in Baltimore.” Research Scientist for the USDA Forest Service and lecturer at the Yale School of the Environment (YSE), where he teaches urban ecology.
September 20: Valerie J. Karplus
“Regional Decarbonization Drivers and the Geography of Global Industrial Supply Chains.” Professor in the department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and the Associate Director of the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation.
September 27: Ian C. Bourg
“Partitioning of PFAS and other Organic Contaminants Between Water, Air, and Mineral Surfaces.” Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University.
October 4: Ross Salawitch
“Protecting The Stratospheric Ozone Layer: Historical Successes and Recent Challenges“. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland.
October 18: Omar Tesdell
“Regeneration of Tree Crops in Palestine: Adaptation, Climate, History”. Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Birzeit University in Palestine.
October 25: Amanda Carrico
“Gendered Responses to Climate Change and the Well-Being of Girls and Women“. Associate Professor Department of Environmental Studies University of Colorado Boulder.
November 1: Fréderic Mortier
“Unveiling African Rainforest Composition and Vulnerability to Global Change”. Senior Researcher at CIRAD The French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development.
November 8: Amy Luer
Global Director, Sustainability Science in Microsoft.
November 15: Thomas Lowe Fleischner
“The Enduring and Elemental Importance of Natural History“. Founding Director of the Natural History Institute.
Spring 2024 ECo Talks
Jan 26: Song Gao
“Atmospheric Aerosols and Super Greenhouse Gases: chemical transformation and policy implications for global governance on ozone layer, climate and plastics.”Teaching Professor in the Chemistry Department, Georgetown University.
Feb. 9: Noelle Eckley Selin
“Addressing Climate Change and Sustainability through Data and Modeling.” Professor in the Institute for Data, Systems and Society and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and Director of MIT’s Technology and Policy Program.
Feb. 16: Qing Liang
“The NASA/NSF ACCLIP Aircraft Mission.” Research physical scientist in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratoryalso co-leads the NASA GEOS Chemistry Climate Model (GEOSCCM) project.
Feb. 23: Barwendé M. Sané
“The Contribution of Afrocentric Ecological Wisdom in Addressing the Climate Crisis.” Postdoctoral researcher at Georgetown University’s Environmental Justice Program.
March 1: Wil Burns
“Marine-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal Options and Governance.” Visiting Professor in the Environmental Policy & Culture program at Northwestern University and the Co-Founding Director of the Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal at American University.
March 15: Raha Hakimdavar
“The Future of Water Security in the Gulf.” Senior Advisor to the Dean of Georgetown University Earth Commons and the Dean of Georgetown University in Qatar.
March 22:
“The Role of Critical Raw Materials in the Energy Transition” PhD Candidate in Analytics for Economics and Management (AEM) at the University of Brescia (Italy) and Visiting PhD Student at MIT CEEPR (Boston).
April 5: Roshanak Nateghi
“Data-Centric Methods for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure and Communities.” Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering and the director of the Laboratory for Advancing Sustainable Critical Infrastructure at Purdue University.
April 19: Elizabeth L. Chalecki
“Eroding Sovereignty and Ecological Realism: How Climate Change is Making Fools of the Realists.” Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Nebraska Omaha, a Research Fellow in the Environmental Change & Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and a Research Chair with Fulbright Canada.
Fall 2023 ECo Talks
Sept. 1: Allen Collins
“Participatory Science in Ocean Exploration.” Research Zoologist with NOAA Fisheries and Curator of Invertebrates with the Smithsonian Natural Museum of Natural History.
Sept. 15: Nichola Clark
“The New High Seas Treaty: what’s in it, how we got there, and what’s next.” Senior Officer Ocean Governance. Pew Charitable Trust.
Sept. 22: Claudia Tebaldi
“From Narratives of Future Socio-economic Development to Calculations of Risk From Floods and Heatwaves. An Overview of Climate Change Scenarios.” Earth Scientist. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, UMD.
Sept. 29: Tess Carter
“Investigating how Humans Dominate Smoke Air Pollution and How Air Pollution Impacts Disadvantaged Communities.” Postdoctoral fellow. George Washington University. Congressional Joint Economic Committee
Oct. 6: Scot Miller
“Three Case Studies in Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering. Johns Hopkins.
Oct. 13: Anna Karion
“The NIST Greenhouse Gas Urban Testbed System.”Principal Investigator of the Northeast Corridor Urban Testbed Project.
National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Oct. 27: Oswaldo Villena
“Effects and implications of environmental, geographic, socio-economic, and demographic factors on human and avian malaria.” Post Doctoral Fellow. The Earth Commons Institute, Georgetown University.
Nov. 3: Tom Iwanicki
“Light and Vision in the Ocean.” Post Doctoral Fellow. The Earth Commons Institute, Georgetown University.
Nov. 10: Steve Kohn
“Blowing the Whistle on International Climate Corruption.” Attorney, author, and activist. Founding Partner of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP.
Nov 17th: Campbell Grey
“Locals, Leaders and the Reverberating Consequences of Disaster Intervention” Associate Professor of Classical Studies at The University of Pennsylvania.
Dec. 1: Silvia Danielak
“Infrastructure and Environment in UN Peace Operation.”Post Doctoral Fellow. The Earth Commons Institute, Georgetown University.
ECo Talks recordings can be found here.
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