Center for Social and Environmental Futures, C-SEF

C-SEF Events

Fall 2023

C-SEF "Here and Now" Seminar Series 
November 30 at 4 pm
Location: CIRES Auditorium (CIRES 338)

Sarah Stanford-McIntyre, Herbst Program for Engineering, Ethics & Society, CU Boulder 

More details coming soon. 

C-SEF "Get Serious" Seminar Series 
October 26 and 27
Location: SEEC Auditorium (C120), CU Boulder, 4001 Discovery Dr, Boulder, CO, 80303

Social and Environmental Futures Workshop 

This annual workshop is sponsored by the CIRES Center for Social and Environmental Futures. This year's theme is 'The devil is in the details'. Environmental discourse is often sweeping, polarized, and polemical. This workshop will instead emphasize important facts and challenges, which may be under appreciated, which people can sink their teeth into, and which can bring people together.

October 26, 9:00am-12:00pm
Session 1: Development, health, and the environment
G. David Tilman (U. Minnesota), Nathan Mueller (Colorado State U.), Audrey Gaudel (CU Boulder), Amanda Carrico (CU Boulder), Matt Burgess (CU Boulder)

1:00pm-5:00pm
Session 2: Data and Measurement
Chelsea Nagy (CU Boulder), Kris Karnauskas (CU Boulder), Scott Ortman (CU Boulder), Shelly Miller (CU Boulder), Nadav Orian Peer (CU Boulder)

October 27, 9:00am-1:40pm
Session 3: Policy and Security
Matthew Nisbet (Northeastern U.), Deserai Crow (UCD), Lisa Dilling (Environmental Defense Fund), Mark Serreze (CU Boulder), Jonathan David Moyer (U. Denver)

Register here.

Call for abstracts - Submit your abstract for the 2023 SEF Workshop Student Sessions

We are seeking graduate student and post-doctoral speakers for our student sessions. The talks will be 5-7 minutes each. To be considered, please submit your abstract (~150 words) focusing on the workshop theme. Please email submissions to: csef@colorado.edu.

Abstract Deadline: October 1, 2023

C-SEF "Come Together" Seminar Series
October 19 at 5:15 pm
Location: ECCS 201, Leeds Business School

Just Do Good: a Fireside Chat with Nike’s Chief Sustainability Officer
Noel Kinder, Nike's Chief Sustainability Officer
Kathryn Wendell, Executive Director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at Leeds
Renner Skidmore, President, CESR Fellows

Nike's Chief Sustainability Officer, Noel Kinder, will join Kathryn Wendell, Executive Director of the Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility at Leeds, and Renner Skidmore, Leeds undergraduate student, for a fireside chat at CU Boulder on Thursday, Oct. 19th at 5:15pm. Learn about Nike's commitments to a sustainable future and how Noel's journey was shaped by his time in the Peace Corps and in a variety of nonprofit and private sector positions. Food and refreshments will be available at the reception following the event. Doors open at 5 pm.

Co-hosted by the Leeds Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR) and the CIRES Center for Social and Environmental Futures (C-SEF).

Register here. This event is for CU students only. Buffpass Card must be presented to enter. 

C-SEF Webinar Series 
September 8, 1:00 pm 
Location: Zoom

Understanding flood risk from space: opportunities to adapt to changing risk and catalyze climate justice
Beth Tellman, Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, School of Geography, Development, and Environment 

Floods affect more people than any other hazard, and the frequency and magnitude of exposure is growing with demographic and climatic changes. Yet the ability to predict and monitor floods from local to global scales remains a challenge and limits access to financial protection for vulnerable populations. The increasing availability, frequency, and spatio-temporal resolution of satellite data provides new opportunities to monitor floods locally and globally. Advances in cloud computing and machine learning techniques enable increasingly accurate flood event monitoring by fusing observations from multiple sensors. I will show how these new methods and data can improve our ability to understand and adapt to flood risk from global to local scales. This talk will demonstrate how improved flood observations yield insight into where populations are moving into flood plains, inform decisions to relocate refugee camps, underpin innovative index insurance schemes in Colombia and Bangladesh. Beyond adaptation, satellite-based flood data could be used to catalyze climate justice. I’ll show examples from recent work in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where we are partnering with lawyers from Texas Rio Grande Legal Aide and community-based organizations to co-produce flood history data. Lawyers hope to use these data to hold FEMA accountable to doling out recovery funds for exposed populations and challenge infrastructure investments that protect wealthier communities from flooding at the expense of increased exposure to others.

Watch the recording here: https://youtu.be/oH-FO8Em01Y

Summer 2023

C-SEF "Here and Now" Seminar Series 
August 1 at 1 pm
Location: CIRES Fellows Room (Ekeley S274), CU Boulder and Zoom 

Atmospheric Epistemologies - ways of creating knowledge about cloud seeding
Alexandra Coțofană, Assistant Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates and 2023 CIRES Sabbatical Visiting Fellow

As seen most recently during the Covid-19 pandemic, science literacy has experienced a drastic decline amongst the general public. While this concern has been brought to the forefront of public debate now more than in the past, science literacy of the general public has been experiencing a dramatic decline for decades, across the board of scientific fields. Specifically, cloud seeding has been targeted in a larger conspiracy theory narrative that claims meteorologists and politicians are working hand in hand, falsifying and controlling science against the greater good. This has, in turn, led to global mass protests against what protesters are calling ‘geoengineering’. These misplaced civil society efforts end up slowing down scientific progress and deepen the divide between the general public and their capacity for greater science literacy. The project revolves around the concept of atmospheric epistemologies, or ways of making knowledge about clouds and the atmosphere. The project is a mirrored ethnography that analyzes, on the one hand, the ways in which scientists produce knowledge about cloud seeding and the atmosphere, and, on the other hand, ways in which the general population produces knowledge about the same topics. The project offers a new approach to STS, as well as the study of knowledge production in two communities that are epistemologically opposed. Dr. Cotofana is visiting CU to work with Matt Burgess on exploring how political polarization affects the views of scientists and citizens of cloud seeding as a method of combating drought. Colorado, as a state that invests in cloud-seeding technology, has substantial political diversity and also houses some of the world's leading climate science hubs, making it an ideal place to study this. 

Watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQe1wN9AsL8 

Photo by Kathy Bogan/CIRES

Spring 2023

C-SEF Webinar Series 
April 27, 11:00 am (Note: Date Changed from April 20)
Location: Zoom

Carbon Dioxide as a Risky Asset
Adam Bauer, NSF graduate research fellow in the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

We develop a financial-economic model for carbon pricing with an explicit representation of decision making under risk and uncertainty that is consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment report. We find that this approach provides economic support for the warming targets in the Paris Agreement across a variety of specifications. We show that risk associated with high damages in the long term leads to stringent mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions in the near term. Our results provide insight into how a systematic incorporation of climate-related risk influences 'optimal' emissions abatement pathways.

C-SEF "Here and Now" Seminar Series 
April 10 at 1 pm
Followed by a Reception at 2 pm
Location: CIRES Fellows Room (Ekeley S274), CU Boulder, University Avenue, CO, 80302

The Big Possibilities of Small Data: How Qualitative Methods Can Lead Change in Extreme Weather Hazards Research
Jen Henderson, Assistant Professor, Geosciences, Risk and Equity in Disasters (RED) Lab, Texas Tech University

Although increasing national attention has focused on the benefits of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data to address complex environmental problems, there is likewise tremendous, yet often untapped promise in small, rich data from qualitative studies in the social sciences to do the same. These methodological approaches—interviews, focus groups, ethnography—are commonly recognized for their generative capacity to offer insights into the processes of meaning-making, the diversity of human experience, and how and why people make decisions. Less visible are the ways qualitative data can offer knowledge that can be useful and usable, enabling problems to be identified, systems to be co-designed, and new tools and platforms for information sharing to be built in the here and now. Through three illustrations of qualitative-led collaborative research, this presentation will illustrate how a rich understanding of forecasting and warning systems for extreme weather can be built through a deep engagement with a variety of experts in the weather hazards community. Across different contexts—developing training for forecasters’ situational awareness of compound hazards, co-producing a platform for interrogating; visualizing, and sharing ensemble model information; and creating systems to reflect expert understanding of local vulnerability—these cases likewise demonstrate how qualitative research can lead generative and important changes in extreme weather prediction and communication for expert communities that help create resilience to future weather disasters.

Watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqLu6bu5DCc

C-SEF "Big Picture" Seminar Series 
March 1, 12:30 to 2 pm
Followed by a Reception at 2 pm
Location: Kittredge Central Hall, Kittredge Market, 2480 Kittredge Loop Dr., Boulder, CO 80309

Debating Divestment
Co-sponsored by C-SEF and the Leeds Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR)

Students at CU Boulder have been asking more questions about how CU's values align with its institutional investments, particularly when it comes to the oil and gas industry. This panel will explore whether a large investment fund with complex stakeholder groups can maximize both financial returns and positive social and environmental benefits, the trade offs of different approaches to shareholder activism, and how a strategic approach to investing applies to other important sustainability conversations.

Speakers include:

Betsy Moszeter, Chief Distribution & Marketing Officer and Portfolio Manager, Green Alpha Advisors
Devon Reynolds, PhD Candidate, CU Boulder
P. Noel Kullavanijaya, President of Capital Markets and Investor Networks, Equilibrium Capital
Shaun Davies, Associate Professor and Research Director of the Burridge Center for Finance, Leeds School of Business

Moderated by: Joshua Nunziato, PhD, Assistant Teaching Professor in the Social Responsibility and Sustainability division at Leeds

Watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERcas0yDHgU

C-SEF "Get Serious" Seminar Series 
February 23 at 3 pm (Note: date change from January 26)
Followed by a Reception at 4 pm
Location: SEEC Auditorium, CU Boulder, 4001 Discovery Dr, Boulder, CO, 80303

Climate action in government, business, and civil society 
Claudine Schneider, Former U.S. Congresswoman, Entrepreneur, and Climate Advocate 

In a fireside chat with C-SEF Director Matt Burgess, Rep. Claudine Schneider will share her experiences as a climate leader in government, business, and civil society. In Congress, Rep. Schneider sponsored the Global Warming Prevention Act of 1989, and she earned a reputation as one of the House’s strongest environmental advocates. Since leaving Congress, she has been an Emmy award recipient, a faculty member at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and an entrepreneur, consultant, and advocate for zero-carbon technology, climate action, and democracy. The conversation will focus on Rep. Schneider's insights into how to get things done and bring people together for the climate.

Watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWzcwt-jxOQ&t=1s

​Photo by Kathy Bogan/CIRES

C-SEF Webinar Series 
February 9 at 12 pm

Mitigation and adaptation emissions embedded in the broader climate transition​ 
Corey Lesk, Research Associate, Climate Modeling & Impacts Group, Dartmouth College

The broader climate transition will involve massive deployment of renewable energy and adaptations like enhanced space cooling and coastal protection and retreat. These interventions require energy and materials, resulting in CO2 emissions. But the magnitude of these emissions remains unconstrained, opening the potential for under-accounting of future emissions and conflicts or synergies between mitigation and adaptation goals. I’ll show that these embedded transition emissions are likely considerable, reaching 185GtCO2 under a pathway consistent with current policies (2.7 °C warming by 2100). But there is good news: embedded transition emissions can be minimized by a faster transition to clean energy. 

Fall 2022

C-SEF "Come Together" Seminar Series
December 4 from noon to 1:00 pm at Byron White Club Level, Folsom Stadium 

Bipartisan Youth Climate Advocacy, Panel 5 at the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit
Moderated by Matt Burgess, C-SEF Director

Interested in building bridges across the aisle to address climate change? This event will feature panelists from politically diverse and bipartisan-oriented youth climate advocacy groups in a conversation with a CU student audience.

Panelists: 

• Chris Barnard, national policy director, American Conservation Coalition

• Jameka Hodnett, Green for All campaign director, Dream.org

• Sarah Jensen, MENV student and co-founder of American Conservation Coalition Boulder chapter

• Emily Nocito, environmental studies PhD student and founder of 10 by 2020

Recording of this event is available here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0DF2jNccX07WoDZ6Jl7Ydo5i652ZaqyW

C-SEF "Big Picture" Seminar Series 
November 10 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at Benson Center Suite, Kittredge Central, N221. Pizza will be served.

What is Longtermism?
Taylor Jaworski (Economics) and Matt Burgess (Environmental Studies) 

The overwhelming majority of humans that will exist throughout our lifespan as a species have probably not been born yet. What moral implications does this possibility have for our decisions today? How should this possibility affect how we think about policy issues, such as climate change, and personal decisions, such as how much to save and spend, and on what. In this discussion, Taylor Jaworski (Economics) and Matt Burgess (Environmental Studies) consider these issues in the context of "longtermism" as a new social movement. The conversation will touch on environmental issues, existential risk, and the implications of future economic growth, among other topics.

Additional resources: https://www.colorado.edu/center/benson/free-minds-outside-classroom-resources

C-SEF "Big Picture" Seminar Series 
November 3 at 3:30 pm in the CIRES Auditorium (CIRES 338)
Followed by a Reception at 4:30 pm in CIRES Map Room (CIRES 340)

Environmental Change and Human Migration
Lori Hunter, Sociology Professor and Director of Institute of Behavioral Science, CU Boulder

This talk presents a general overview of the state of empirical, social science understanding of the connections between human migration and environmental context and change. Specific examples will be provided from Dr. Hunter’s research focused on rural Mexico, while important recent advancements and continuing gaps will also be explored.

A recording of this seminar is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuOLbiQIFzQ 

C-SEF "Here and Now" Seminar Series
October 21 from 9:10 am to 4:10 pm 

Social Science and Sustainability Technology Workshop 

Developing and deploying new technologies will be key to decoupling the dramatic improvements of the past century in human material well-being from their environmental impacts. Developing and deploying sustainability technologies at scale is a complex social, political, and engineering challenge. Please join us for an in-person workshop that will bring together North American thought leaders working on the social science aspects of this challenge. This event is co-sponsored by the CIRES Center for Social and Environmental Futures (C-SEF) and the Center for Creative Climate Communication and Behavior Change (C3BC).

Session 1: Food technology (9:10 am - 10:10 am) - Peter Newton (CU Boulder), Yoel Inbar (U. Toronto), Leaf Van Boven (CU Boulder)

Session 2: Climate risk and geoengineering (10:40 am - 12:00 pm) - Jonathon Moyer (U. Denver), Kaitlin Raimi (U. Michigan), Gernot Wagner (Columbia), Benjamin Converse (U. Virginia)

Session 3: Technology and motivation (1:00 pm - 2:20 pm) - Kyri Baker (CU Boulder), Ian Lange (Colorado School of Mines), Trisha Shrum (U. Vermont), Gabrielle Wong-Parodi (Stanford)

Session 4: Energy transition politics and policy (2:50 pm - 4:10 pm) - Lisa Dilling (CU Boulder), Maxwell Boykoff (CU Boulder), Ezra Markowitz (U. Mass Amherst), Matthew Burgess (CU Boulder)

A recording of this event is available here: https://youtu.be/7TmFvsUQFsc

C-SEF "Get Serious" Seminar Series 
September 29 at 3 pm in the CIRES Auditorium (CIRES 338)
Followed by a Reception at 4 pm in CIRES Map Room (CIRES 340)

Ocean Legacy: Inspiring marine conservation in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, and beyond
Cassandra Brooks, Environmental Studies Assistant Professor, CU Boulder and John Weller, John Weller Photography

Join Environmental Studies Assistant Professor Cassandra Brooks and award-winning photographer, filmmaker, and author John Weller as they tell the inspiring story of the Ross Sea. Weller and Brooks worked alongside a global coalition of organizations, scientists, diplomats, and more than a million people, which eventually entrained the attention of world leaders from the White House to the Kremlin. The process took five years of intense international negotiations and more than ten years of scientific planning and public outreach. But the work paid off: on October 2016, the international community made history by adopting the world’s largest marine protected area in the Ross Sea, Antarctica – by consensus. This demonstrated international leadership and inspired hope that despite political tensions in other parts of the world, the Antarctic continues to be a great global commons dedicated to peace, science, and conservation.

A recording of this event is available here.