Past Events
October 26, 2011
Speaker: Robert Solow (MIT), Nobel laureate in Economics (1987)
About the speaker: Robert M. Solow, Institute Professor, emeritus, and Professor of Economics, emeritus, is considered to be one of the founders of modern neoclassical economics. He utilized determinants of economic growth to be separated out into increases in inputs and technical progress. Using his model, he calculated that about four-fifths of the growth in U.S. output per worker was attributable to technical progress. Solow also was the first to develop a growth model with different vintages of capital.
October 24, 2011
Speaker: Steve Koonin, Under Secretary for Science, US Department of Energy
Abstract: The Department of Energy Quadrennial Technology Review is an assessment that binds together multiple energy technologies, as well as multiple DOE energy technology programs, in the common purpose of solving our energy challenges. Access to clean, affordable, secure, and reliable energy has been a cornerstone of America's prosperity. And yet, energy security, U.S. competitiveness, and the environmental impacts of energy are long-standing challenges.
October 24, 2011
Speaker: Prof. Stephan Fueglistaler (Princeton)
Abstract: Water plays a key role for climate, yet our theoretical understanding of its abundance in the atmosphere - both as vapour and condensate (clouds) - remains incomplete. In this talk, I will focus on water entering the stratosphere. Although a very specific problem, I will show that water entering the stratosphere has a few properties that render it highly interesting and promising for theoretical progress:
(i) its abundance is controlled by properties in a relatively confined region around the tropical tropopause;
October 21, 2011
Speaker: Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning and Danya Rumore, PHD Candidate, DUSP
Abstract: There are seventeen National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs) in the United States. These are coastal areas where salt water and fresh water meet. The four New England Reserves are trying to figure out how to engage the public in figuring out the best way to respond to climate change risks. The Science Impact Collaborative is designing a supportive public educational program to accomplish this.
October 20, 2011
Speaker: Prof. Paul F. Hoffman (Harvard)
The Lorenz Center Presents The John Carlson Lecture.
Abstract: The geological record shows that Earth’s climate has changed in dramatic and surprising ways. Harvard geologist Paul Hoffman will share his fascination with the give and take between those who discovered the ancient changes and those struggling to develop theories of climate change. His story ranges from the beginnings of climate change as a science to his own involvement in the controversy over the ultimate climatic disturbance: snowball Earth.
October 19, 2011
Speaker: Dr. Ian Hewitt (University of British Columbia)