UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Climate Consortium will host a series of fall events examining some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities associated with a changing climate.
The Climate Consortium’s Climate Conversation Café series begins Sept. 21 with “Can the Grid Keep Up? Climate and America’s Electric Future.” The moderated virtual conversation will feature Penn State experts Michael Helbing, executive director of Penn State’s Center for Energy Law and Policy; Hannah Wiseman, professor of law and Wilson Faculty Fellow in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; and Anirudh Subramanyam, assistant professor in the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. The panel will examine how climate-driven extreme weather, rising electricity demand, aging infrastructure and emerging technologies are putting pressure on the nation’s electric grid and shaping decisions about its future. Register for the panel.
On Oct. 12, the series will host a fireside chat with climate grief scholar Britt Wray, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and award-winning author of “Generation Dread.” Held in partnership with Sustain Penn State, the Department of Psychology and the Climate Action Campaign, the hybrid event will explore climate anxiety and its effects on mental health. Register for the conversation.
The fall series concludes Nov. 12 with “Climate Lessons from Historic Drought in Kenya,” featuring Asher Rosinger, associate professor of biobehavioral health and anthropology and director of Penn State’s Water, Health and Nutrition Lab. With Rosinger’s recent research in Kenya as the backdrop, the event will explore how drought can reshape livelihoods, health and daily life. Registration details will be announced.