Changing Climates: Challenges
November 12, 2007
Changing Climates @ Colorado State
Challenges: Policy, Solar, Fuels, and Engines
Tuesday, November 13, 4-5:30 p.m.
Natural Resources 113
The challenges that global climate change presents to all of us are enormous. But what are some of the possible solutions - and what challenges do these solutions themselves pose? These questions will be our focus during the last two ChangingClimates seminars of this semester.
On Tuesday, November 13, we will hear from:
- Michele Betsill (Political Science) about key policy challenges facing the US and the world;
- Jim Sites (Physics) about solar power; and
- Bryan Willson (Mechanical Engineering) about new fuels and engines.
Then, on Tuesday, November 27 (almost immediately after Thanksgiving Break), we will hear from John Grant (Business, University of Northern Colorado), about changing the ways we do business; Robert Henson (Communications Office, NCAR), about the challenges of communicating climate change information; and Steve Ogle (NREL, and one of CSU's participants in the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the IPCC), about carbon sequestration (especially biological).
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Michele Betsill's research focuses on global environmental governance, especially the politics of climate change. Her current work addresses local climate change policies, transnational forms of climate change governance, and emissions trading. She has co-authored a book on cities and climate change and co-edited two others, one on international environmental politics and one on the influence of non-governmental organizations in international environmental negotiations.
Jim Sites studies the device physics of low-cost polycrystalline thin-film solar cells. His photovoltaics lab makes precision electrical and optical measurements on solar cells fabricated by several partners in the U.S. and abroad. The goals are to separate the various solar-cell losses, to explain the losses on a fundamental basis, and to suggest strategies for improved solar-cell performance. Professor Sites has an increasing leadership role in the thin-film solar-cell community. He has published 150 papers; 38 of his students have completed their M.S. degree and 22 their Ph.D.
Bryan Willson is director of CSU's Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory. His research includes work with large and small engines, engine controls, alternative fuels, and ways to reduce emissions and fuel consumption in internal combustion engines. He's the co-founder of Envirofit International, a nonprofit corporation committed to improving global health through the development and dissemination of technological solutions to environmental problems in the developing world. He's also the co-founder and director of the Global Innovation Center for Energy, Environment, and Health.
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Learn more about Changing Climates @ Colorado State online at http://changingclimates.colostate.edu/Home.html.
Contact: Margaret Saldana
Email: Margaret.Saldana@colostate.edu
Phone Number: (970) 491-7194
