Utah Professor to Lead Climate Change Lecture and Panel Feb. 18 at MSU

Apr 09, 2020

Rob Davies, physicist and professor of professional practice at Utah State University, will present a lecture about how the climate crisis is changing our world today at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, in Inspiration Hall in Montana State University’s Norm Asbjornson Hall.

The lecture, which will discuss far-reaching global effects to disturbances in local mountain communities, is part of an event, “Climate Change, Now What? Creating a Sustainable Future, Today.” The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion and preceded by a master class. All events in the series are free. The members of the panel discussion will include Patrick Holmes, policy adviser for natural resources in the Office of the Governor; Bozeman City Commissioner Terry Cunningham; Dan Stevenson, associate vice president for MSU University Services; and Termaine Awanaakii (Rattle Woman), climate change coordinator for the Blackfeet Tribe. The lecture will be preceded by a master class that will allow students to discuss possible career paths and opportunities for tangible action and solutions. The class, which will also be open to the public if space is available, will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Inspiration Hall and will be followed by a reception.

Davies is a physicist who focuses on atmospheric physics, surface physics and quantum optics. He has spent more than a decade working in critical science communication. He has been a project scientist for USU’s Space Dynamics Laboratory, technical liaison for NASA’s International Space Station project, physicist and climate change communicator with the Utah Climate Center, and an officer and meteorologist in the U.S. Air Force. “The world now faces a bona fide crisis,” Davies said. “A great deal is beginning to shift in our response to climate change; however, it does not yet come close to rising to the response that is required.” He added that humanity has technology to help respond to climate change but needs the resolve to act.

“Our goal in providing this lecture, panel and master class is to expose our campus and community to not just the science behind the climate crisis but also the solutions available to all of us, right here at the local level,” said Paul Lachapelle, professor in the Department of Political Science and MSU Extension who is an organizer of the event.

“Climate Change, Now What? Creating a Sustainable Future, Today” is co-sponsored by the MSU Office of Sustainability, MSU College of Letters and Science, MSU College of Education, Health and Human Development, MSU School of Architecture, MSU Honors College, MSU Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, Montana Institute on Ecosystems, MSU Extension Community Development, and the City of Bozeman. The lecture and panel will be live-streamed and recorded. The event is organized in partnership with Climate Smart Missoula.

More information about the events are available at: http://www.msucommunitydevelopment.org/climatechange.html.

Via MSU News Service