MIT
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Clean coal and low-carbon roadmap of China Huaneng Group
Speaker: Mr. JIANG Minhua, Assistant President of China Huaneng Group, Senior Research Fellow
Time: 3:00p–4:30p
Location: 6-120
MIT CEER and MIT China Forum are proud to announce a distinguished lecture by Mr. JIANG Minhua, the assistant president of China Huaneng Group (CHNG), with the CHNG management team delegation. What is the clean energy roadmap of the largest power generation company in China and the second largest in the world? Mr. Jiang will share his ideas about the technology challenges and solutions of low-carbon energy in China power generation industry.
BIO: Mr. JIANG Minhua, Assistant President of China Huaneng Group (CHNG). Since his graduation from Zhejiang University in 1982, Mr. Jiang has worked for technology development and management in Thermal Power Research Institute (TPRI). He was the president of TPRI for 8 years prior to the present position as assistant president of CHNG, director of Science and Technology Department and director of R&D Center of CHNG.
He has engaged in R&D and its management on circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler, low NOx combustion and Supervisory Information System (SIS) for power plant for over 20 years and obtained many achievements and awards including the National Technology Progress Award.
Web site: http://ceer.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT China Energy and Envrionment Research Group, MIT China Forum
For more information, contact:
Lei Chen
ceer_board@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Misha Chertkov-Talk: Optimization and Control Theory for Smart (Power) Grids
Speaker: Misha Chertkov
Time: 11:00a–12:00p
Location: 32-144
Abstract: Research project with this name has been started at LANL in Oct of
2009. In this talk I will report on the first results derived under the auspices
of the project. In particular, I will discuss algorithms and phase
transition analysis for switching over a distribution power grid, optimization
of reactive flow in a feeder line, analysis of distance to failure in the space
of fluctuating loads, and if time permits, queuing scheme for scheduling of
plug-in-electric vehicle charging.
Web site: http://lids.mit.edu/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): LIDS Events Calendar
For more information, contact:
Jennifer Donovan
617-253-2142
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Ecological Urbanism
Time: 12:30p–2:00p
Location: 9-450
DUSP Speaker Series
Weekly Lecture Series of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Light lunch served.
Weekly Lecture Series of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:
Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
eglenn@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Atmosphere and the Blogosphere: Bringing Science to Bear on Climate Policy in a Distracted Age
Speaker: Dr. Peter C. Frumhoff, Ph.D, Director of Science and Policy and Chief Scientist of the Climate Campaign at the Union of Concerned Scientists
Time: 2:00p–3:30p
Location: Whitehead-1st Floor, Whitehead Institute Auditorium (1st floor)
Lecture by Dr. Peter C. Frumhoff, Ph.D, Director of Science and Policy and Chief Scientist of the Climate Campaign at the Union of Concerned Scientists. This talk will address the new interaction between climate science and policy in the age of distributed media and a distracted public.
Open to: the general public
Cost: 0
Tickets: 0
Sponsor(s): EAPS Graduate Student Advisory Council, Program on Atmospheres Oceans and Climate
For more information, contact:
Chavas, Daniel R
773-936-4510
drchavas@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Fast and Slow Components of Global Warming
Speaker: Professor Isaac M. Held, Senior Research Scientist and Lecturer, GFDL, NOAA
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 54-915
EAPS Department Lecture Series
Web site: http://eapsweb.mit.edu/news/dls.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: 0.00
Tickets: N/A
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
For more information, contact:
Jacqui Taylor
253-2127
jtaylor@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy -- Free Screening/Q&A with filmmaker Randy Olson followed by book signing
Time: 5:00p–7:00p
Location: 32-123
Randy Olson, University of New Hampshire marine biology professor-turned Hollywood filmmaker and author, will be on hand for a free screening of his latest science-oriented mockumentary "Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy." This film, in which Randy also stars, has a lot of fun taking an irreverent look at the very real and important problem of communicating about climate science.
Randy's first film was the notorious "Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus," and he is the author of the recently released book "Don't Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style"....making it pretty clear where he's coming from. So, whether you love him, hate him, or have no idea who he is but are curious, come to MIT's Kirsch Auditorium to enjoy the show and just maybe learn something about communication.
Randy will introduce the film and field audience questions afterward. He will also sign copies of his book "Don't Be Such a Scientist," available for purchase on-site at a steep discount courtesy of the MIT Press Bookstore.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/esi/sizzle.pdf
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Tickets: first-come, first-seated
Sponsor(s): Earth System Initiative, Sloan School Sustainability Initiative, MIT Press Bookstore, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences
For more information, contact:
Kurt Sternlof
kurtster@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
D-lab's Innovators Night
Speaker: Fatuma Acan, Suprio Das, Harish Hande, Ralf Hotckiss, Benard Kiwia
Time: 7:00p–9:00p
Location: 6-120
International. Innovation. Invention. Ingenuity. Inspiration. Are you IN?
Hear the amazing stories of 5 innovators who are blazing trails on the ground in India, Tanzania and Uganda. Get their insights on how to take action on societal issues in creative and effective ways. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to meet 5 unique leaders and change agents in one room!
Featuring:
• Fatuma Acan ~ Uganda ~ Director of MADE (Mobility Appliances for Disabled Women Entrepreneurs) and the Pan-African Wheelchair Association, wheelchair rider from childhood polio and the first woman in Africa to train as a wheelchair technologist
• Suprio Das ~ India ~ Senior Adviser to Aqua Welfare Society and an independent inventor of water treatment and power generation devices
• Harish Hande ~ India ~ Co-Founder and Director of SELCO Solar, a social enterprise that provides sustainable energy solutions and services to under-served households and businesses
• Ralf Hotchkiss ~ US ~ Co-Founder of Whirlwind Wheelchair International and a wheelchair rider who has over 35 years experience working in 42 countries teaching people who need wheelchairs how to build and maintain them for themselves
• Bernard Kiwia ~ Tanzania ~ Head of Technology for Global Cycle Solutions and a prolific inventor of pedal-powered devices, including a pedal-power hacksaw and mobile phone charger
The panel will be moderated by MIT leader and entrepreneur Joost Bonsen, Co-Founder of Howtoons and MIT Instructor of Development Ventures who has also advised several start-ups and sits on the Board of Directors of the MIT $100K Competition
Web site: d-lab.mit.edu/innovators
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): International Development Initiative
For more information, contact:
Laura Sampath
617-253-7052
lsampath@mit.edu; jahuang@mit.edu
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Earth Day Fair
Speaker: Various workshops during the fair
Time: 11:30a–1:30p
Location: Lobby-10, Bush Room and Student Center
Earth Day Fair
40 Years of Earth Day at MIT: 40 Ways to be Green. Learn how to help the planet on a daily basis
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free to the public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Marshall-Howarth
617-715-5382
rhowarth@mit.edu
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Integrated Urban Ecosystem Research: Strategy and Insights from Baltimore, Maryland
Speaker: Steward Pickett, MIT Martin Luther King Visiting Scholar
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 48-316
Dr. Pickett heads one of the two pioneering urban long-term research projects established in 1997 by the National Science Foundation. This project, the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES), builds on earlier research on ecology of forest patches he co-led in the New York metropolitan region. Based on patch dynamics and watershed ecology approach, BES links physical, social, and biological approaches to generate new understanding of the function of urban socio-ecological systems.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Civil and Environmental Engineering, Parsons Lab
For more information, contact:
Long, James M
3-6569
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Legatum Lecture featuring A.E. Abdul Muhaimen
Speaker: A.E. Abdul Muhaimen
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 32-155
"New Frontier in SME Banking: A Model with a Difference"
Mr. Muhaimen will speak on banking for small and medium enterprises, drawing from his current experience as managing director and CEO of Brac Bank, Bangladesh's fasted growing bank, and his 25 years of working experience in the banking sector in Asia.
Web site: http://legatum.mit.edu/muhaimenlecture
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship
For more information, contact:
Anna Omura
617-324-1875
legatum@mit.edu
Thursday, April 22, 2010
From Cradle to Cradle: A Strategy of Hope
Speaker: Bill McDonough, Founding Principal, William McDonough + Partners
Time: 4:00p–5:30p
Location: Wong Auditorium
MIT Energy Initiative Colloquium
Abstract: The current design of human industry and the products and systems that result from its "cradle to grave" characteristics puts humans on a collision course with nature.
If all the detrimental defects of our current system were actually planned; climate destabilization, acidified oceans, toxic landscapes and rivers, etc. -- one might say the human species has become strategically tragic as it creates a world of limited resources and destitution for billions of people.
Mr. McDonough will present an alternative design which he calls a strategy of hope based on the concept of cradle to cradle, co-developed with chemist Dr. Michael Braungart from Germany.
He will examine a positive agenda which can manifest the opportunity to provide for a population of nine billion souls expected to inhabit the planet this century in a celebration of human innovation and creativity aligned with the laws of nature.
He will articulate strategies which will help lead us to a simply stated goal; a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world, with clean air, soil, water and power -- ecologically, economically, equitably and elegantly enjoyed.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, United Technologies Corporation
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Marshall-Howarth
617-715-5382
rhowarth@mit.edu
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tesla Motor's Powertrain Technology and Manufacturing Strategy
Speaker: Jim Dunlay, VP of Powertrain Hardware Engineering and Milo Werner, New Product Planning
Time: 5:00p–6:30p
Location: 66-110
Tesla Motors produces the world?s only highway-capable electric vehicle. The Tesla Roadster accelerates faster than nearly any other supercar and is twice as energy efficient as a hybrid. The Roadster's Powertrain technology developed in under three years is unlike any other in the automotive industry. Jim Dunlay and Milo Werner both MIT alums will talk on taking the propulsion system from prototype to production.
As for the agenda, we plan to spend Thursday on campus meeting with a variety of student groups and professors. Friday, we will be available for interviewing and hosting a lunch/dinner for students we have already extended offers to.
Kate Randall, who heads our college recruitment is also accompanying us. She will be reaching out to the career office, MIT corporate relations and in general helping to get the word out we will be on campus. Any guidance or direction you can give her would be greatly appreciated.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
MIT Energy Club
energyclub@mit.edu
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Energy Discussions: Renewables in China
Speaker: Prof. Ed Steinfeld
Time: 6:00p–7:00p
Location: 26-204
China has recently taken the lead in investment in clean power, spending $34.6 billion on alternative energy infrastructure in 2009. This is up from just $2.5 billion five years ago, an much more than the $18.6 billion invested here in the United States last year. Join members of the MIT Energy Club to learn more about China's goals and accomplishments in the renewable energy sector.
Please prepare for the discussion with the readings given on the Energy Club website.
A light dinner will be served.
Web site: http://www.mitenergyclub.org/events-and-programs/discussion-series/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Campus Events
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Dell
rwdell(at)mit.edu
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Talking Science in an Age of Sound Bites
Time: 6:30p–8:00p
Location: 32-123
A Special Earth Day Panel Discussion:
TALKING SCIENCE IN AN AGE OF SOUND BITES
In the face of ever more complex and pressing global environmental issues, broad scientific literacy has never been more vital. Yet in this polarized, populist world of IT overload--this Age of Sound Bites--communicating science to the public and policymakers alike has never been more challenging. Who's responsible and what's to be done? Our distinguished and lively panel will dive in and dig for answers:
BETH DALEY--Environmental Reporter for the Boston Globe.
JOHN STERMAN--MIT Professor of Management at the Sloan School.
EVAN HADINGHAM--Senior Science Editor for NOVA.
JUDITH LAYZER--MIT Associate Professor of Environmental Policy in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning.
RANDY OLSON--Biology professor turned Hollywood filmmaker.
JOHN HAGAN--President of the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION WILL BE ENCOURAGED,
A RECEPTION WILL FOLLOW.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/esi/talkingscience.pdf
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Tickets: email kurtster@mit.edu to register
Sponsor(s): Earth System Initiative, Sloan School Sustainability Initiative, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:
Kurt Sternlof
kurtster@mit.edu
Friday, April 23, 2010
Seminar on Enviromental and Agricultural History
Speaker: Donna Haraway, University of California at Santa Cruz
Time: 2:30p–4:30p
Location: E51-095
"Reintroducing the US West's Creatures of Empire with Navaho Churro Sheep and California Tamspot Pigs: Gleaning Pasts and Futures in Thickened Presents"
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/history/www/nande/modTimes.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): History Office, STS
For more information, contact:
Margot Collet
253-4965
history-info@mit.edu
Earth Week: Detroit agriculture film screenings
Friday, April 23rd.
6-8 pm. MIT. EG&G Education Center, Room 101, Cambridge.
The Tufts Food System Planning Coalition and Planners Network Boston Chapter presents a special screening of Grown in Detroit and Detroit:green + a panel discussion about the role of agriculture and justice in community development and urban revitalization.
Panelists include:
Julian Agyeman, moderator (Tufts Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Department
Chair)
Matt Kochka (reVision House Urban Farm)
Alice Leung (Top Sprouts)
Betsy Johnson (Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness, South End/Lower Roxbury Open
Space Land Trust)
More information at http://www.go.tufts.edu/foodplanning.
Harvard
Biodiversity, Ecology, and Global Change Series
WHEN
Thu., Apr. 22, 2010, 5 p.m.
WHERE
Biolabs Lecture Hall, 16 Divinity Ave.
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard University Center for the Environment
SPEAKER(S)
Mary Power, University of California, Berkeley
COST
Free and open to the public
NOTE
Reception to follow.
LINK
www.environment.harvard.edu
Other
Tuesday, April 20, 7-9 pm
Central Square Library, 45 Pearl St.
GreenPort Forum
Another Economy is Possible: Introduction to the Solidarity Economy
Can we solve the current environmental crisis in an economy driven by profit and dependent on growth? Or must we rethink and transform economic institutions and their underlying values? In fact, we are already surrounded by a rich diversity of economic practices and institutions rooted in values of sharing, cooperation, sustainability, equality, subsidiarity/local-first, democracy, and justice. This “solidarity economy” is growing in every continent, often in response to the crises created by the dominant system.
In this interactive workshop, presenter Julie Matthaei, Professor of Economics at Wellesley College and co-founder of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (www.ussen.org) will introduce the solidarity economy framework, and related practices and institutions, with special focus on the emergence of sustainable technologies and lifestyles.
For more information, contact Steve Morr-Wineman at swineman@gis.net
April 22, 6:30 - 8:45pm
Cambridge Public Library's Main Auditorium
Is Solar Right for My House?
Please join us on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day to learn how solar can suit your home’s needs. A panel of experts will be available to answer your questions and walk you through their solar installation experiences in Cambridge.
Speakers will include:
• Paul Lyons President of Zapotec Energy, an energy consulting and contracting practice based in Cambridge
• Garrett Avery Architect and owner of 2-family home in Somerville with a particular interest in home energy efficiency and green design
Please RSVP at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WZYBGM7
Sponsored by:
Cambridge Renewable Energy Action Team Effort, the Office of the Mayor and Vice Mayor, Cambridge/Green Decade, MA Green Jobs Coalition, Sierra Club, Friends of the Fresh Pond Reservation, and Cambridge Energy Alliance
April 24 - May 2
Cambridge Science Festival
http://www.cambridgesciencefestival.org/2010Festival/2010ScheduleOfEvents.aspx
from HMSnively@aol.com
The Spring 2010 Mid-Cambridge PLANT SWAP
will be on
Saturday May 1
NOON to 2 pm
Rain date—in case of DOWNPOUR—is Sunday, May 2, 12-2
at Fayette Park
(near the corner of Broadway and Fayette St., across from former Longfellow School)
Bring anything that's growing in too much abundance in your garden. Elegant packaging not required, but please do write down the names of plants. We expect to have perennials, biennial seedlings, seeds, indoor plants, catalogs, pots, and lots of "whatever." Feel free to just come and talk gardening.
MID-CAMBRIDGE GARDENERS’ LISTSERV now has about 75 people on it. We swap plants, advice, resources. I’d be happy to add you.
GARDEN SHARING. You’ve noticed: gardening is IN and everyone wants to do it. But not everyone has space. One interesting response is yard sharing. Do you have (or know someone who has) a few untended square yards where someone else could put a few tomato plants, or containers with lettuce, or whatever? Or do you know someone who’d like to help a neighbor garden? I’m keeping a list of people who’d like to match up—so let me know. And I’m gathering other options for those who don’t have land: public weeding/planting projects, projects with kids, other community gardens, etc. Happy to share the list.
That’s it… Feel free to pass this on, and let me know if you want me to take you off the list, change an email address, etc. Helen
Editorial Comment: I will be away next week-end and that means those of you interested in these kinds of events are on your own. You can find links to the public lecture information from over 30 Boston area colleges and universities right here at http://hubevents.blogspot.com
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Energy (and Other) Events - April 11, 2010
MIT
Monday, April 12, 2010
Transportation@MIT presents Mohammed Quddus on Advanced Map-Matching Techniques
Speaker: Mohammed Quddus, Department of Civil and Building Loughborough University, UK
Time: 11:45a–1:00p
Location: 32-G449
Advanced map-matching techniques for critical surface transportation applications
Map-matching techniques integrate positioning data with spatial road network data in order to provide the real-time, accurate and reliable positioning information required by many location-based Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Map-matching, as a core element of ITS, has the potential to make a significant contribution to tackling transportation-related problems including the alleviation of congestion and its negative impacts on health, the environment, safety, and the economy. Furthermore, map-matching brings with it the added potential for facilitating an unprecedented capability to support the navigation functions of emerging high-end ITS services. Critical to the performance of map-matching techniques are the various relevant data (positioning sensors data, digital spatial road network data and roadway attributes, and traffic data), and the methods used in map-matching processes. Although significant advances have been achieved in all of these areas, map-matching still struggles to support the more demanding (e.g., mission critical) surface transportation applications, especially those requiring high navigation accuracy, quality (integrity), continuity, and availability. This is partly due to poor quality data, reliable methods to integrate data from different sources and no or poor treatment of the corresponding uncertainties.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Transportation@MIT
For more information, contact:
Sally Chapman
transportation.seminars-bounces@MIT.EDU
Monday, April 12, 2010
Building Technology Lecture Series / THE COST BARRIER IN ACHIEVING DEEP ENERGY SAVINGS IN HOUSING
Speaker: ED CONNELLY, President, New Ecology, Inc., Boston MA
Time: 12:30p–2:00p
Location: 7-431, AVT
Building Technology Lecture Series
THE COST BARRIER IN ACHIEVING DEEP ENERGY SAVINGS IN HOUSING
Through presentation of a case study on a successful deep energy retrofit, Ed will discuss the challenges of achieving deep energy savings in housing renovation, including whether seeking to make projects cost-effective on a building-by-building basis limits deeper energy savings. He will draw on New Ecology?s work as consultant on multiple projects, on recent efforts to track energy use in large multifamily portfolios, and on his long term interest in the costs and benefits of greening.
For the past two decades Ed has worked to integrate environmental stewardship and development. His work at NEI has combined providing practical advice on greening new construction projects and building retrofits with research and dissemination of findings to help transform the practices of developers, community organizations, builders, architects and engineers. Current projects include developing WegoWise, an on-line data base to track utility usage in portfolios of multifamily housing; launching BuildingWell, a wiki for practitioners in retrofitting existing housing; advising on the development of a new utility-sponsored conservation program for low-income multifamily properties, and developing a program to provide energy management services to small and mid-sized property owners.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture, Building Technology Program
For more information, contact:
Alexandra Mulcahy
617-253-0463
amulcahy@mit.edu
Monday, April 12, 2010
Urbanization, Poverty and Land-Use in the Megacities of South Asia
Speaker: Elizabeth Dean Hermann Professor of Urban Studies and Landscape Architecture, Design for Development, and the History of Islamic Architecture and Urbanism, Rhode Island School of Design
Time: 5:30p–7:30p
Location: 3-133
Aga Khan Lecture
Open to: the general public
Monday, April 12, 2010
"The Story Behind the Food"
Speaker: Bon Appetit Fellow Dayna Burtness
Time: 7:00p–9:30p
Location: 4-145
A presentation about Bon Appetit's initiatives such as Farm to Fork, Low Carbon Diet, and the new farm surveys the fellows are conducting. All students and faculty interested in learning more about where their food comes from, sustainable agricultural practices, and social and economic justice for farmers and farm workers are encouraged to attend. The event is free.
Web site: www.circleofresponsibility.com
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Bon Appetit Management Co.
For more information, contact:
Marietta Lamarre-Buck
617-253-4951
mlbuck@mit.edu
Sponsor(s): Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
For more information, contact:
Jose Luis Arguello
253-1400
akpiarch@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Lunchtime talk with Top Sprouts CEO Alice Leung
Speaker: Alice Leung
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: E51-151
The MIT Food & Agriculture Collaboration and Net Impact are hosting Top Sprouts (http://topsprouts.com) for a talk at noon on Tuesday April 13. Lunch will be provided through the generous support of the GSC Funding Board.
Top Sprouts is a local company that works with building owners to develop sustainably-designed rooftop greenhouse systems for year round food production, green building synergies and a healthy return on investment. Their goal is to develop efficient on-site food production systems for every community in need of local fresh produce. Top Sprouts is looking for early adopter partners to install modular greenhouse systems that will both provide freshly-picked produce for that community and catalyze action from more institutions.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Agriculture Forum, MIT Food and Agriculture Collaborative
For more information, contact:
Kerrie Lenhart
kerrie.lenhart@sloan.mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Creating a Non-Linear Visual Language
Speaker: Timothee Ingen-Housz
Time: 3:00p–4:30p
Location: E14-633
The lecture will start with a presentation of the non-linear graphic language "Elephant's Memory" and its core feature?an associative grammar dubbed "molecular." A series of illustrated and animated examples will attempt to accustom the audience with its basics. Several exercises may involve audience participation.
We shall then discuss the communication tools and toys that could be developed around this language, or any linguistic system based on a similar grammatical premise. We will then engage in a discussion on various topics openly related to invented languages, their developmental process and semantic scope, the relationship between technology and new language utopias, and how could such a system be reflecting the nature of language learning at all.
Web site: http://media.mit.edu/events/2010/04/13/talk-creating-non-linear-visua
l-language
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Media Lab, Cognitive Machines
For more information, contact:
Karina Lundahl
4-3057
lundahl@media.mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Environmental Impacts of Aviation
Speaker: Ian Waitz, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 3-270
Transportation@MIT Seminar Series
In Spring 2010, the Transportation@MIT seminar series continues by drawing knowledge from MIT research that is applicable to transportation. Our goal is to strengthen the community of MIT researchers by sharing information in the following areas: airlines, automation, behavior and economics, energy sources, environmental impacts, logistics and supply chains, networks, propulsion, system control, urban challenges, and vehicles.
Web site: http://transportation.mit.edu/events.php
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free Admission to MIT and General Public
Sponsor(s): Transportation@MIT
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Fearing
transportation@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Micro Energy Harvesters: Challenges and Opportunities
Speaker: Khalil Najafi, Professor, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 34-101
MTL Seminar Series
Refreshments at 3:30 p.m.
MTL hosts a series of talks each semester known as the MTL Seminar Series. Speakers for the series are selected on the basis of their knowledge and competence in the areas of microelectronics research, manufacturing, or policy. The series is held on the MIT Campus during the academic year on Tuesdays at 4:00 pm. For more information regarding the MTL Seminar Series, send e-mail to valeried@mit.edu.
Web site: http://www-mtl.mit.edu/seminars
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Microsystems Technology Laboratories
For more information, contact:
Valerie DiNardo
253-9328
valeried@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Antarctica 2009: A Continent in a State of Alert: HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco
Speaker: His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco
Time: 4:00p–5:30p
Location: 10-250
His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II of Monaco, will be featuring his film, Antarctica 2009: A Continent in a State of Alert, and will remark about his 17-day trek to meet researchers and to learn about the scientific projects being conducted in Antarctica. His journey was facilitated in response to an invitation by the scientific community to 'bring Antarctic Science to the public eye,'according to Jose Retamales, Director of the Chilean Polar Institute. A panel discussion with the Prince, and Professors Ernest Moniz, Ronald Prinn, and Thomas Herring and a question and answer session will follow.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Resource Development, President's Office, MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Marshall-Howarth
617-715-5382
rhowarth@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
MIT Energy Club and Sustainability@MIT Social + Pledge Effort Kickoff
Time: 5:30p–7:30p
Location: 50, Muddy Charles Pub
Come join Sustainability@MIT and the MIT Energy Club for a joint social. Enjoy refreshments and meet others interested in energy, the environment, and sustainability. Also, find out what the MIT Pledge Effort is all about and how you can get involved (graduationpledge.org). Hope to see you there!
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Sustainability@MIT, MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
Cecilia Scott
cecilias@MIT.EDU
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Energy 101: Biofuels
Speaker: Addison Stark
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: 3-133
Energy 101
Energy 101 is a lecture series put on by the MIT Energy Club focusing on the basic technology, policy, business, and economic issues surrounding many basic energy topics. Lectures will be held once or twice and month and are delivered by students.
Come hear a student who is an expert in biofuels give a primer on this emerging energy source. Topics will include but are not limited to technology, economics, and regulation and policy surrounding this source of energy.
Food will be provided.
This event is co-sponsored with the GSC.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
Tim Heidel
energy-events@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
SMARTpower: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities
Speaker: Dr. Peter Fox-Penner
Time: 3:00p–5:00p
Location: E51-325
Dr. Peter Fox-Penner will provide attendees with an overview of the rapidly changing landscape of the utility industry and how current challenges will shape its transformation. The potential for a national policy to address the impact of climate change is pressuring utilities to shift their focus to the development and acquisition of new sources of renewable energy and low-carbon power. Meanwhile, a technical revolution known as the Smart Grid is underway in the electric power sector, providing dramatic new opportunities for customers to control their power usage and for utilities to change the way they operate. In addition, interest in renewable energy infrastructure has exploded and the electric industry is planning significant expansion of transmission lines and the creation of a national transmission superhighway.
These unprecedented developments will prompt utilities to undergo the largest and most significant changes in their history, transforming them from regulated commodity energy firms to low-carbon network operators. Dr. Fox-Penner will discuss how and why the utility industry must adapt to the climate imperative by examining the industry?s technology, cost characteristics, and ability to function as a sustainable business, as well as the practi?cal and political dimensions of making these dramatic changes.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
MIT Energy Club
energyclub@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Energy Discussions: Agriculture and Energy with Christina Ingersoll
Time: 6:00p–7:00p
Location: 26-210
Join members of the MIT Energy Club for a discussion of energy issues related to agriculture. Our discussion on energy and agriculture will go beyond biofuels to talk more broadly about the energy use required by
different types of agriculture: commodity crop, specialty crop, dairy, livestock, conservation tillage, organic, and permaculture. We will
discuss food miles, renewable energy use on farm, and some of the cutting edge opportunities for farmers to reduce their reliance on imported sources of energy for a more efficient food production system.
Please prepare for the event by looking at the documents given in the links provided on the event web page.
A light dinner will be served.
Web site: http://www.mitenergyclub.org/events-and-programs/discussion-series/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Walsh Dell
rwdell@mit.edu
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Legatum Lecture featuring venture investor Chuck Lacy
Speaker: Chuck Lacy; Founder and President of The Barred Rock Fund
Time: 5:00p–6:00p
Location: 54-100, Reception in the Bush Room at 6 p.m.
"Financing your start-up like you want to own it." Don't sell your start-up before you start! Hear from a veteran entrepreneur and venture investor about financing options for the go getter start-up.
Web site: http://legatum.mit.edu/LacyLecture2
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship
For more information, contact:
Anna Omura
617-324-1875
legatum@mit.edu
Friday, April 16, 2010
Lunch with TLO Head of Energy Technology, Chris Noble
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Discuss the ins-and-outs of energy entrepreneurship with Chris Noble, head of energy technology at the MIT Technology Licensing Office. With exposure to all the energy tech rolling out of MIT labs, Chris has his finger to the pulse of energy entrepreneurship in Cambridge. This event is only open to members of the MIT community. If you're interested in attending, please e-mail zcordero@mit.edu for the lunch location.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
MIT Energy Club
zcordero@mit.edu
Harvard
Water Scarcity: How Technology Can Help Solve the Problem
WHEN
Mon., Apr. 12, 2010, 12 – 1 p.m.
WHERE
Room 226, Suite 200-North, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Classes/Workshops, Environmental Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation; Program on Conservation Innovation at The Harvard Forest, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S)
Richard Allen, University of Idaho
William J. Kramber, Idaho Department of Water Resources
COST
Free
CONTACT INFO
617.496.4491, christina_marchand@hks.harvard.edu
NOTE
A light lunch will be served.
http://www.ash.harvard.edu/Home/News-Events/Events2/Water-Scarcity-How-Technology-Can-Help-Solve-the-Problem
Biodiversity, Ecology, and Global Change Series. "Population Dynamics in Epidemic Malaria: Climate Forcing and Parasite Evolution"
WHEN
Mon., Apr. 12, 2010, 5 p.m.
WHERE
Sherman Fairchild Lecture Hall, 7 Divinity Ave.
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard University Center for the Environment
SPEAKER(S)
Mercedes Pascual, University of Michigan
COST
Free and open to the public
NOTE
Reception to follow.
LINK
www.environment.harvard.edu
What's Enough? A Conversation Between Harvard Business School and Harvard Divinity School
WHEN
Mon., Apr. 12, 2010, 5:15 – 7 p.m.
WHERE
Sperry Room, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Ave.
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
The Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School, the Harvard Business School, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Harvard University Center for the Environment, and the Initiative on Religion in International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S)
Howard Stevenson, co-author of "Just Enough: Tools for Creating Success in Your Work and Life," Sarofim-Rock Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration, senior associate dean, and director of HBS Publishing; with responses from Dan McKanan, Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity at the Harvard Divinity School, and Candice Carpenter, HBS graduate and co-founder and chairman of iVillage Inc., the largest online service for women and one of the largest content sites on the World Wide Web.
COST
Free; registration required
CONTACT INFO
617.495.4476, resterson@hds.harvard.edu
NOTE
Part of the "Ecologies of Human Flourishing" lecture series. Reservations are required for this event. Register online athttps://www.hds.harvard.edu/cswr/events/registration.cfm
International Climate Change Policy: Next Steps for Japan and the World
WHEN
Tue., Apr. 13, 2010, 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
WHERE
Deland Classroom, 332 Littauer, Harvard Kennedy School
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
SPEAKER(S)
Amb. Makio Miyagawa, deputy director-general for global issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
CONTACT INFO
tyler_gumpright@harvard.edu
http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/4307/international_climate_change_policy.html
Building a Green Energy Economy through Accelerated Innovation
WHEN
Tue., Apr. 13, 2010, 11:45 a.m.
WHERE
Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, Graduate School of Design, 48 Quincy St., 02138
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Presentation/Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Graduate School of Design, Harvard University Center for the Environment
SPEAKER(S)
Kristina Johnson, under secretary of energy, US Department of Energy
COST
Free
LINK
www.environment.harvard.edu
"Unconventional Takes on the Climate-Energy Problem."
April 13, 2010 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Prof. John Schellnhuber, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
Bell Hall - Belfer Building Harvard Kennedy School 79 JFK St. Cambridge, MA
Contact Name: Louisa Lund louisa_lund@hks.harvard.edu
Afghanistan: How To End Violent Conflict and Promote Reconciliation
WHEN
Tue., Apr. 13, 2010, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE
Room N-262, CGIS Building, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Kelman Seminar Series co-sponsored with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Nieman Foundation, and the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy
SPEAKER(S)
Peter Galbraith, former ambassador to Croatia and former deputy special representative of the secretary-general of the United Nations to Afghanistan and an assistant secretary-general of the UN
http://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/reporting-on-afghanistan-how-to-end-violent-conflict-and-promote-reconciliation/
Transforming Affordable Housing Through Innovation
WHEN
Tue., Apr. 13, 2010, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE
Suite 200-North, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and the Joint Center for Housing, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S)
Rafael E. Cestero, Department of Housing Preservation & Development
John B. Rhea, New York City Housing Authority
COST
Free
CONTACT INFO
617.496.4491, christina_marchand@hks.harvard.edu
NOTE
Light refreshments will be served.
http://www.ash.harvard.edu/Home/News-Events/Events/Transforming-Affordable-Housing-Through-Innovation
2 - 3:30p. "Green Conversations with Tata Technologies." A panel discussion. Northwest Labs B101, 52 Oxford St., Cambridge
Sustaining Our Earth's Ecosystems: Centennial Panel on the Environment
WHEN
Wed., Apr. 14, 2010, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE
Lowell Lecture Hall, corner of Kirkland and Oxford streets
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Environmental Sciences, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard Extension School
SPEAKER(S)
Alexandra Cousteau, founder, Blue Legacy, water advocate; Mark Plotkin, ethnobotanist, president, Amazon Conservation Team; Eric Chivian, founder and director, Harvard Center for Health and Global Environment, winner, 1985 Nobel Peace Prize; Steve Curwood, executive producer and host, NPR's Living on Earth, moderator
COST
Free and open to the public, seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.
CONTACT INFO
617.495.4024
NOTE
Doors open at 3:30 p.m.
LINK
www.extension.harvard.edu
From Small Idea to Global Phenomenon (And Back Again to Startup): A Talk with Dries Buytaert, Founder of Drupal
WHEN
Thu., Apr. 15, 2010, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE
Emerson 105
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Information Technology, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
abcd-www, IQSS, and Acquia
SPEAKER(S)
Dries Buytaert
COST
Free and open to the public
NOTE
In this presentation, Dries will talk about the history of Drupal, and give an update on Drupal 7, the next major version. Reception to follow at CGIS, Fisher Family Commons, 1737 Cambridge St.
BU
Presidential Lecture on Energy & Environmental Sustainability: Ernest J. Moniz, MIT Energy Initiative Department
"Energy Technology and Policy - A Post-Copenhagen View"
Ernest J. Moniz is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, Director of the Energy Initiative, and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has served on the faculty since 1973. Professor Moniz served as Under Secretary of the Department of Energy from 1997 until January 2001 and, from 1995-97, as Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President.
The BU Distinguished Presidential Lecture provide a forum to learn from leaders about best practices, leading edge research,and, policy and market trends in the fields of clean technology and energy sustainability. Drawing a diverse audience from academia, industry, venture and government, these lectures provide a catalyst for discussion around technology, development, and research requirements that drive market growth and innovation in this crucial sector.
When
Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 4:00pm until 5:15pm on Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010
Where
Photonics Center, 8 St. Mary's Street, PHO 206
More Info
http://www.bu.edu/energy/newsevents/pres-lectures/moniz1/
registration requested
Others
Representative Denise Provost, Somerville Climate Action, the Initiating Committee of Transition Somerville and the Women's Institute for Leadership Development invite you to a showing of
Sisters on the Planet
Monday, April 12
6:30 to 8:30pm
Somerville Public Library
79 Highland Ave 02143
Sisters on the Planet tells the stories of four inspirational women around the world who are fighting climate change.
From the producers: "As obvious as it sounds, climate change affects everybody. But climate change is already having a disproportionate impact on people in poor communities, and it’s hitting women hardest.
It's not the easiest idea to understand, so to help explain we’ve made these short films about women, in both rich and poor countries, who are determined to do whatever they can to put a stop to climate change.
Watch them and become aware of the impact our changing climate is having on people’s lives. And be inspired to join the fight against climate change too."
This is our fifth in a series of films that will change the way you think about the planet. The film will be followed by a short discussion.
For more information:
www.transitionsomerville.org
www.somervilleclimateaction.org
Also coming up next week:
Why We Fight
A community screening and discussion of an award-winning film, directed by Eugene Jarecki (2005).
Thursday, April 15, 6:30-9pm.
Somerville Public Library
79 Highland Ave.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Transportation@MIT presents Mohammed Quddus on Advanced Map-Matching Techniques
Speaker: Mohammed Quddus, Department of Civil and Building Loughborough University, UK
Time: 11:45a–1:00p
Location: 32-G449
Advanced map-matching techniques for critical surface transportation applications
Map-matching techniques integrate positioning data with spatial road network data in order to provide the real-time, accurate and reliable positioning information required by many location-based Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Map-matching, as a core element of ITS, has the potential to make a significant contribution to tackling transportation-related problems including the alleviation of congestion and its negative impacts on health, the environment, safety, and the economy. Furthermore, map-matching brings with it the added potential for facilitating an unprecedented capability to support the navigation functions of emerging high-end ITS services. Critical to the performance of map-matching techniques are the various relevant data (positioning sensors data, digital spatial road network data and roadway attributes, and traffic data), and the methods used in map-matching processes. Although significant advances have been achieved in all of these areas, map-matching still struggles to support the more demanding (e.g., mission critical) surface transportation applications, especially those requiring high navigation accuracy, quality (integrity), continuity, and availability. This is partly due to poor quality data, reliable methods to integrate data from different sources and no or poor treatment of the corresponding uncertainties.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Transportation@MIT
For more information, contact:
Sally Chapman
transportation.seminars-bounces@MIT.EDU
Monday, April 12, 2010
Building Technology Lecture Series / THE COST BARRIER IN ACHIEVING DEEP ENERGY SAVINGS IN HOUSING
Speaker: ED CONNELLY, President, New Ecology, Inc., Boston MA
Time: 12:30p–2:00p
Location: 7-431, AVT
Building Technology Lecture Series
THE COST BARRIER IN ACHIEVING DEEP ENERGY SAVINGS IN HOUSING
Through presentation of a case study on a successful deep energy retrofit, Ed will discuss the challenges of achieving deep energy savings in housing renovation, including whether seeking to make projects cost-effective on a building-by-building basis limits deeper energy savings. He will draw on New Ecology?s work as consultant on multiple projects, on recent efforts to track energy use in large multifamily portfolios, and on his long term interest in the costs and benefits of greening.
For the past two decades Ed has worked to integrate environmental stewardship and development. His work at NEI has combined providing practical advice on greening new construction projects and building retrofits with research and dissemination of findings to help transform the practices of developers, community organizations, builders, architects and engineers. Current projects include developing WegoWise, an on-line data base to track utility usage in portfolios of multifamily housing; launching BuildingWell, a wiki for practitioners in retrofitting existing housing; advising on the development of a new utility-sponsored conservation program for low-income multifamily properties, and developing a program to provide energy management services to small and mid-sized property owners.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture, Building Technology Program
For more information, contact:
Alexandra Mulcahy
617-253-0463
amulcahy@mit.edu
Monday, April 12, 2010
Urbanization, Poverty and Land-Use in the Megacities of South Asia
Speaker: Elizabeth Dean Hermann Professor of Urban Studies and Landscape Architecture, Design for Development, and the History of Islamic Architecture and Urbanism, Rhode Island School of Design
Time: 5:30p–7:30p
Location: 3-133
Aga Khan Lecture
Open to: the general public
Monday, April 12, 2010
"The Story Behind the Food"
Speaker: Bon Appetit Fellow Dayna Burtness
Time: 7:00p–9:30p
Location: 4-145
A presentation about Bon Appetit's initiatives such as Farm to Fork, Low Carbon Diet, and the new farm surveys the fellows are conducting. All students and faculty interested in learning more about where their food comes from, sustainable agricultural practices, and social and economic justice for farmers and farm workers are encouraged to attend. The event is free.
Web site: www.circleofresponsibility.com
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Bon Appetit Management Co.
For more information, contact:
Marietta Lamarre-Buck
617-253-4951
mlbuck@mit.edu
Sponsor(s): Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
For more information, contact:
Jose Luis Arguello
253-1400
akpiarch@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Lunchtime talk with Top Sprouts CEO Alice Leung
Speaker: Alice Leung
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: E51-151
The MIT Food & Agriculture Collaboration and Net Impact are hosting Top Sprouts (http://topsprouts.com) for a talk at noon on Tuesday April 13. Lunch will be provided through the generous support of the GSC Funding Board.
Top Sprouts is a local company that works with building owners to develop sustainably-designed rooftop greenhouse systems for year round food production, green building synergies and a healthy return on investment. Their goal is to develop efficient on-site food production systems for every community in need of local fresh produce. Top Sprouts is looking for early adopter partners to install modular greenhouse systems that will both provide freshly-picked produce for that community and catalyze action from more institutions.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Agriculture Forum, MIT Food and Agriculture Collaborative
For more information, contact:
Kerrie Lenhart
kerrie.lenhart@sloan.mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Creating a Non-Linear Visual Language
Speaker: Timothee Ingen-Housz
Time: 3:00p–4:30p
Location: E14-633
The lecture will start with a presentation of the non-linear graphic language "Elephant's Memory" and its core feature?an associative grammar dubbed "molecular." A series of illustrated and animated examples will attempt to accustom the audience with its basics. Several exercises may involve audience participation.
We shall then discuss the communication tools and toys that could be developed around this language, or any linguistic system based on a similar grammatical premise. We will then engage in a discussion on various topics openly related to invented languages, their developmental process and semantic scope, the relationship between technology and new language utopias, and how could such a system be reflecting the nature of language learning at all.
Web site: http://media.mit.edu/events/2010/04/13/talk-creating-non-linear-visua
l-language
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Media Lab, Cognitive Machines
For more information, contact:
Karina Lundahl
4-3057
lundahl@media.mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Environmental Impacts of Aviation
Speaker: Ian Waitz, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 3-270
Transportation@MIT Seminar Series
In Spring 2010, the Transportation@MIT seminar series continues by drawing knowledge from MIT research that is applicable to transportation. Our goal is to strengthen the community of MIT researchers by sharing information in the following areas: airlines, automation, behavior and economics, energy sources, environmental impacts, logistics and supply chains, networks, propulsion, system control, urban challenges, and vehicles.
Web site: http://transportation.mit.edu/events.php
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free Admission to MIT and General Public
Sponsor(s): Transportation@MIT
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Fearing
transportation@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Micro Energy Harvesters: Challenges and Opportunities
Speaker: Khalil Najafi, Professor, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 34-101
MTL Seminar Series
Refreshments at 3:30 p.m.
MTL hosts a series of talks each semester known as the MTL Seminar Series. Speakers for the series are selected on the basis of their knowledge and competence in the areas of microelectronics research, manufacturing, or policy. The series is held on the MIT Campus during the academic year on Tuesdays at 4:00 pm. For more information regarding the MTL Seminar Series, send e-mail to valeried@mit.edu.
Web site: http://www-mtl.mit.edu/seminars
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Microsystems Technology Laboratories
For more information, contact:
Valerie DiNardo
253-9328
valeried@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Antarctica 2009: A Continent in a State of Alert: HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco
Speaker: His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco
Time: 4:00p–5:30p
Location: 10-250
His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II of Monaco, will be featuring his film, Antarctica 2009: A Continent in a State of Alert, and will remark about his 17-day trek to meet researchers and to learn about the scientific projects being conducted in Antarctica. His journey was facilitated in response to an invitation by the scientific community to 'bring Antarctic Science to the public eye,'according to Jose Retamales, Director of the Chilean Polar Institute. A panel discussion with the Prince, and Professors Ernest Moniz, Ronald Prinn, and Thomas Herring and a question and answer session will follow.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Resource Development, President's Office, MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Marshall-Howarth
617-715-5382
rhowarth@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
MIT Energy Club and Sustainability@MIT Social + Pledge Effort Kickoff
Time: 5:30p–7:30p
Location: 50, Muddy Charles Pub
Come join Sustainability@MIT and the MIT Energy Club for a joint social. Enjoy refreshments and meet others interested in energy, the environment, and sustainability. Also, find out what the MIT Pledge Effort is all about and how you can get involved (graduationpledge.org). Hope to see you there!
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Sustainability@MIT, MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
Cecilia Scott
cecilias@MIT.EDU
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Energy 101: Biofuels
Speaker: Addison Stark
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: 3-133
Energy 101
Energy 101 is a lecture series put on by the MIT Energy Club focusing on the basic technology, policy, business, and economic issues surrounding many basic energy topics. Lectures will be held once or twice and month and are delivered by students.
Come hear a student who is an expert in biofuels give a primer on this emerging energy source. Topics will include but are not limited to technology, economics, and regulation and policy surrounding this source of energy.
Food will be provided.
This event is co-sponsored with the GSC.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
Tim Heidel
energy-events@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
SMARTpower: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities
Speaker: Dr. Peter Fox-Penner
Time: 3:00p–5:00p
Location: E51-325
Dr. Peter Fox-Penner will provide attendees with an overview of the rapidly changing landscape of the utility industry and how current challenges will shape its transformation. The potential for a national policy to address the impact of climate change is pressuring utilities to shift their focus to the development and acquisition of new sources of renewable energy and low-carbon power. Meanwhile, a technical revolution known as the Smart Grid is underway in the electric power sector, providing dramatic new opportunities for customers to control their power usage and for utilities to change the way they operate. In addition, interest in renewable energy infrastructure has exploded and the electric industry is planning significant expansion of transmission lines and the creation of a national transmission superhighway.
These unprecedented developments will prompt utilities to undergo the largest and most significant changes in their history, transforming them from regulated commodity energy firms to low-carbon network operators. Dr. Fox-Penner will discuss how and why the utility industry must adapt to the climate imperative by examining the industry?s technology, cost characteristics, and ability to function as a sustainable business, as well as the practi?cal and political dimensions of making these dramatic changes.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
MIT Energy Club
energyclub@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Energy Discussions: Agriculture and Energy with Christina Ingersoll
Time: 6:00p–7:00p
Location: 26-210
Join members of the MIT Energy Club for a discussion of energy issues related to agriculture. Our discussion on energy and agriculture will go beyond biofuels to talk more broadly about the energy use required by
different types of agriculture: commodity crop, specialty crop, dairy, livestock, conservation tillage, organic, and permaculture. We will
discuss food miles, renewable energy use on farm, and some of the cutting edge opportunities for farmers to reduce their reliance on imported sources of energy for a more efficient food production system.
Please prepare for the event by looking at the documents given in the links provided on the event web page.
A light dinner will be served.
Web site: http://www.mitenergyclub.org/events-and-programs/discussion-series/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Walsh Dell
rwdell@mit.edu
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Legatum Lecture featuring venture investor Chuck Lacy
Speaker: Chuck Lacy; Founder and President of The Barred Rock Fund
Time: 5:00p–6:00p
Location: 54-100, Reception in the Bush Room at 6 p.m.
"Financing your start-up like you want to own it." Don't sell your start-up before you start! Hear from a veteran entrepreneur and venture investor about financing options for the go getter start-up.
Web site: http://legatum.mit.edu/LacyLecture2
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship
For more information, contact:
Anna Omura
617-324-1875
legatum@mit.edu
Friday, April 16, 2010
Lunch with TLO Head of Energy Technology, Chris Noble
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Discuss the ins-and-outs of energy entrepreneurship with Chris Noble, head of energy technology at the MIT Technology Licensing Office. With exposure to all the energy tech rolling out of MIT labs, Chris has his finger to the pulse of energy entrepreneurship in Cambridge. This event is only open to members of the MIT community. If you're interested in attending, please e-mail zcordero@mit.edu for the lunch location.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
MIT Energy Club
zcordero@mit.edu
Harvard
Water Scarcity: How Technology Can Help Solve the Problem
WHEN
Mon., Apr. 12, 2010, 12 – 1 p.m.
WHERE
Room 226, Suite 200-North, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Classes/Workshops, Environmental Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation; Program on Conservation Innovation at The Harvard Forest, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S)
Richard Allen, University of Idaho
William J. Kramber, Idaho Department of Water Resources
COST
Free
CONTACT INFO
617.496.4491, christina_marchand@hks.harvard.edu
NOTE
A light lunch will be served.
http://www.ash.harvard.edu/Home/News-Events/Events2/Water-Scarcity-How-Technology-Can-Help-Solve-the-Problem
Biodiversity, Ecology, and Global Change Series. "Population Dynamics in Epidemic Malaria: Climate Forcing and Parasite Evolution"
WHEN
Mon., Apr. 12, 2010, 5 p.m.
WHERE
Sherman Fairchild Lecture Hall, 7 Divinity Ave.
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard University Center for the Environment
SPEAKER(S)
Mercedes Pascual, University of Michigan
COST
Free and open to the public
NOTE
Reception to follow.
LINK
www.environment.harvard.edu
What's Enough? A Conversation Between Harvard Business School and Harvard Divinity School
WHEN
Mon., Apr. 12, 2010, 5:15 – 7 p.m.
WHERE
Sperry Room, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Ave.
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
The Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School, the Harvard Business School, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Harvard University Center for the Environment, and the Initiative on Religion in International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S)
Howard Stevenson, co-author of "Just Enough: Tools for Creating Success in Your Work and Life," Sarofim-Rock Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration, senior associate dean, and director of HBS Publishing; with responses from Dan McKanan, Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity at the Harvard Divinity School, and Candice Carpenter, HBS graduate and co-founder and chairman of iVillage Inc., the largest online service for women and one of the largest content sites on the World Wide Web.
COST
Free; registration required
CONTACT INFO
617.495.4476, resterson@hds.harvard.edu
NOTE
Part of the "Ecologies of Human Flourishing" lecture series. Reservations are required for this event. Register online athttps://www.hds.harvard.edu/cswr/events/registration.cfm
International Climate Change Policy: Next Steps for Japan and the World
WHEN
Tue., Apr. 13, 2010, 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
WHERE
Deland Classroom, 332 Littauer, Harvard Kennedy School
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
SPEAKER(S)
Amb. Makio Miyagawa, deputy director-general for global issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
CONTACT INFO
tyler_gumpright@harvard.edu
http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/4307/international_climate_change_policy.html
Building a Green Energy Economy through Accelerated Innovation
WHEN
Tue., Apr. 13, 2010, 11:45 a.m.
WHERE
Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, Graduate School of Design, 48 Quincy St., 02138
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Presentation/Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Graduate School of Design, Harvard University Center for the Environment
SPEAKER(S)
Kristina Johnson, under secretary of energy, US Department of Energy
COST
Free
LINK
www.environment.harvard.edu
"Unconventional Takes on the Climate-Energy Problem."
April 13, 2010 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Prof. John Schellnhuber, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
Bell Hall - Belfer Building Harvard Kennedy School 79 JFK St. Cambridge, MA
Contact Name: Louisa Lund louisa_lund@hks.harvard.edu
Afghanistan: How To End Violent Conflict and Promote Reconciliation
WHEN
Tue., Apr. 13, 2010, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE
Room N-262, CGIS Building, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Kelman Seminar Series co-sponsored with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Nieman Foundation, and the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy
SPEAKER(S)
Peter Galbraith, former ambassador to Croatia and former deputy special representative of the secretary-general of the United Nations to Afghanistan and an assistant secretary-general of the UN
http://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/reporting-on-afghanistan-how-to-end-violent-conflict-and-promote-reconciliation/
Transforming Affordable Housing Through Innovation
WHEN
Tue., Apr. 13, 2010, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE
Suite 200-North, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and the Joint Center for Housing, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S)
Rafael E. Cestero, Department of Housing Preservation & Development
John B. Rhea, New York City Housing Authority
COST
Free
CONTACT INFO
617.496.4491, christina_marchand@hks.harvard.edu
NOTE
Light refreshments will be served.
http://www.ash.harvard.edu/Home/News-Events/Events/Transforming-Affordable-Housing-Through-Innovation
2 - 3:30p. "Green Conversations with Tata Technologies." A panel discussion. Northwest Labs B101, 52 Oxford St., Cambridge
Sustaining Our Earth's Ecosystems: Centennial Panel on the Environment
WHEN
Wed., Apr. 14, 2010, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE
Lowell Lecture Hall, corner of Kirkland and Oxford streets
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Environmental Sciences, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard Extension School
SPEAKER(S)
Alexandra Cousteau, founder, Blue Legacy, water advocate; Mark Plotkin, ethnobotanist, president, Amazon Conservation Team; Eric Chivian, founder and director, Harvard Center for Health and Global Environment, winner, 1985 Nobel Peace Prize; Steve Curwood, executive producer and host, NPR's Living on Earth, moderator
COST
Free and open to the public, seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.
CONTACT INFO
617.495.4024
NOTE
Doors open at 3:30 p.m.
LINK
www.extension.harvard.edu
From Small Idea to Global Phenomenon (And Back Again to Startup): A Talk with Dries Buytaert, Founder of Drupal
WHEN
Thu., Apr. 15, 2010, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE
Emerson 105
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Information Technology, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
abcd-www, IQSS, and Acquia
SPEAKER(S)
Dries Buytaert
COST
Free and open to the public
NOTE
In this presentation, Dries will talk about the history of Drupal, and give an update on Drupal 7, the next major version. Reception to follow at CGIS, Fisher Family Commons, 1737 Cambridge St.
BU
Presidential Lecture on Energy & Environmental Sustainability: Ernest J. Moniz, MIT Energy Initiative Department
"Energy Technology and Policy - A Post-Copenhagen View"
Ernest J. Moniz is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, Director of the Energy Initiative, and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has served on the faculty since 1973. Professor Moniz served as Under Secretary of the Department of Energy from 1997 until January 2001 and, from 1995-97, as Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President.
The BU Distinguished Presidential Lecture provide a forum to learn from leaders about best practices, leading edge research,and, policy and market trends in the fields of clean technology and energy sustainability. Drawing a diverse audience from academia, industry, venture and government, these lectures provide a catalyst for discussion around technology, development, and research requirements that drive market growth and innovation in this crucial sector.
When
Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 4:00pm until 5:15pm on Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010
Where
Photonics Center, 8 St. Mary's Street, PHO 206
More Info
http://www.bu.edu/energy/newsevents/pres-lectures/moniz1/
registration requested
Others
Representative Denise Provost, Somerville Climate Action, the Initiating Committee of Transition Somerville and the Women's Institute for Leadership Development invite you to a showing of
Sisters on the Planet
Monday, April 12
6:30 to 8:30pm
Somerville Public Library
79 Highland Ave 02143
Sisters on the Planet tells the stories of four inspirational women around the world who are fighting climate change.
From the producers: "As obvious as it sounds, climate change affects everybody. But climate change is already having a disproportionate impact on people in poor communities, and it’s hitting women hardest.
It's not the easiest idea to understand, so to help explain we’ve made these short films about women, in both rich and poor countries, who are determined to do whatever they can to put a stop to climate change.
Watch them and become aware of the impact our changing climate is having on people’s lives. And be inspired to join the fight against climate change too."
This is our fifth in a series of films that will change the way you think about the planet. The film will be followed by a short discussion.
For more information:
www.transitionsomerville.org
www.somervilleclimateaction.org
Also coming up next week:
Why We Fight
A community screening and discussion of an award-winning film, directed by Eugene Jarecki (2005).
Thursday, April 15, 6:30-9pm.
Somerville Public Library
79 Highland Ave.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Energy (and Other) Events - April 4, 2010
MIT
Monday, April 05, 2010
Transportation@MIT: Reliable Route Planning with Evdokia Nikolova
Speaker: Evdokia Nikolova, EECS, MIT
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: 33-116
The evolution of the different modes of transport has undeniably led to a tremendous improvement in the productivity and comfort of our society and bettered our standard of living. Yet it has brought about significant new challenges, which are seemingly reversing that trend. Although we can traverse far longer distances in an hour's time than half a century ago, we have moved further away from work, our commutes are physically and psychologically exacerbated by heavy congestion, traffic accidents have become more severe and deadly, there is more pollution. In this talk, I will address a fundamental problem in transportation: reliable route planning.
How do we get to the airport on time? Ideally we would like to take the shortest path, but in the presence of uncertain traffic what does that mean? One natural objective is to choose the path that maximizes our probability of arriving on time. We develop algorithms that bridge stochastic, nonconvex, and combinatorial optimization to solve a class of reliable route planning problems, and show how they generalize to other situations. We also ask the question: What happens when drivers have a general idea of how long it will take them to reach their destination, and while driving, ?look out of the window? and make myopic choices for their route. We show that this natural behavior can lead to vastly suboptimal route plans which exacerbate congestion, and we contrast it with the optimal routing strategy.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Transportation@MIT
For more information, contact:
Sally Chapman
sallyc@mit.edu
Monday, April 05, 2010
Profiting From Regulation: An Event Study of the European Carbon Market (Joint with Energy & Environmental Economics Workshop)
Speaker: Erin Mansur (Yale)
Time: 2:30p–4:00p
Location: E52-244
Profiting From Regulation: An Event Study of the European Carbon Market
Web site: http://econ-www.mit.edu/files/5424
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): IO Workshop (Sponsored by Analysis Group)
For more information, contact:
Theresa Benevento
theresa@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Community-based Energy Innovations
Time: 12:00p–2:30p
Location: 9-450B
Presentations by students:
Jacquelyn Dadakis
Eric Mackres
Joshua Sklarsky
Shiva Prakash
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): EPP
For more information, contact:
Nina Tamburello
617.253.1509
epprequest@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Transportation@MIT presents: Chris Zegras on "Transportation, the Built Environment and Green House Gas Emissions in Developing Cities."
Speaker: Chris Zegras, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 3-270
Transportation@MIT Seminar Series
This semester, the Transportation@MIT seminar series will cover a variety of transportation topics including: Propulsion, Vehicles, Sources of Transportation Energy, Environmental Impacts and Climate Change, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Urban Transportation, Automation, Transportation Networks, Dynamic System Control, and Behavioral and Economic Sciences.
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have reached their highest levels since before the industrial revolution. And, yet, under current trends, greenhouse gas emissions will only increase. Much of this forecast growth will occur in urbanizing areas of the developing world. After all, the 21st Century will be an urban century. Already over one-half the planet's population lives in urban areas and almost all net global population growth this Century will likely be in the world's developing cities. Thus, mitigating the climate change risk will require a strong focus on the urbanizing developing world.
In this presentation I examine the potential for altering the patterns of urban growth in developing cities as a way to mitigate transportation's contribution to the climate change risk. I first outline a basic framework for understanding the factors contributing to transportation greenhouse gas emissions, including the potential influence of the built environment - that is, the form and design of the cities we build. I then examine evidence of the relationship between urban passenger transportation energy use/greenhouse gas emissions and the built environment in two very different developing contexts: Chile and China. I end with some discussion of the implications of this evidence, including within the context of the current global climate regime.
Web site: http://transportation.mit.edu/events.php
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Transportation@MIT
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Frank DiSalvo: Materials Challenges in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells
Speaker: Frank DiSalvo, Cornell University
Time: 4:15p–5:45p
Location: 66-110
MITEI Seminar Series
A year-long series of seminars given by leaders in the energy field sponsored by the MIT Energy Initiative.
Fuel cells are the only technology that theoretically can convert chemical energy to electrical energy at nearly 100% efficiency. This compares to about 35 % efficient for the average power plant and perhaps 25-30 % for transportation vehicles.
Yet many barriers remain to realizing the full promise of fuel cell technology, especially for automotive applications. The main barrier is that the materials uses in the heart of the fuel cell (the electrodes and membranes) are not up to the job. They are too expensive and have poor durability. Finally relatively few fuels can be directly used in the cells.
This presentation will focus on the challenge to find better electrode catalysts and catalyst supports. Catalysts are easily poisoned and/or have low activity. If nearly ideal catalysts can be found, then fuel cell technology has a much better chance to transform the way we use energy and to greatly increase the efficiency of the process. Current catalyst supports are based on carbon blacks, but corrode too rapidly.
In this seminar, we will discuss the research at the Energy Materials Center at Cornell (EMC2) that is directed at addressing the above challenges.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Jameson Twomey
4-2408
jtwomey@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Oil Markets and Politics: Why the Left and the Right Both Get It Wrong
Speaker: Robert Vitalis, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Time: 4:30p–6:30p
Location: E51-095
Emile Bustani Middle East Seminar
A recent history of US policy, "Imagining the Middle East," starts from the premise that longstanding US interests in control of or access to oil is to be contrasted with those dimensions of policy that are more properly understood as culturally constituted through "a framework of meaning." In fact, the idea of access to oil is no less culturally constituted. It takes a great deal of work to make it seem both tangible and commonsensical. Its materiality is a mirage.
Robert Vitalis is a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. The London Guardian named his last book, "America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier," a book of the year in 2006. His next book, "The End of Empire in American Political Science," moves away from the Middle East to explore the unwritten history of race and empire in American international relations theory and its critical African-American internationalist tradition.
The Bustani Middle East Seminar is organized under the auspices of the MIT Center for International Studies, which conducts research on contemporary international issues and provides an opportunity for faculty and students to share perspectives and exchange views. Each year the Bustani Seminar invites scholars, journalists, consultants, and other experts from the Middle East, Europe, and the United States to MIT to present recent research findings on contemporary politics, society and culture, and economic and technological development in the Middle East.
Web site:http://web.mit.edu/shass/temp/bustani/bustani_seminar.htm
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies
For more information, contact:
Pardis Parsa
617.252.1888
pardisp@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
MITEI presents Christof Ruhl, the Chief Economist at BP
Speaker: Christof Ruhl, the Chief Economist at BP
Time: 10:30a–11:30a
Location: E19-319
The subject of the talk will be Global Oil & Gas Markets.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
John Parsons
jparsons@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Making the Case for Arts and Culture: Why Focus on the Arts When Job Creation and Affordable Housing Are So Pressing?
Speaker: Susan Silberberg-Robinson, Emily Axelrod, Maria Rosario Jackson
Time: 12:30p–2:00p
Location: 9-450
DUSP Speaker Series
Weekly Lecture Series of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Light lunch served.
For a number of years, arts advocates have been looking at the impact of arts and culture in communities. From regional economic impact studies to a more focused look at impacts on social networking, there are a number of research initiatives underway across the country. This session presents information from some of those initiatives and also explores anecdotal evidence of community impact from a variety of projects, including research at the Urban Institute, insights from the newly created MetLife Innovative Space Awards, and anecdotes from almost two decades of experience at The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence.
Susan Silberberg-Robinson is a Lecturer in Urban Design and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. Her planning consulting practice largely centers on arts and culture and also on waterfront planning in the City of Boston. She is the Associate Director of the MetLife Innovative Space Awards which seeks to identify innovative ways organizations provide affordable artist space and engage with communities.
Emily Axelrod has been Director of the Rudy Bruner Award since 1996. Prior to this, she worked in a variety of planning positions in both the private and public sectors.
Maria Rosario Jackson is a senior research associate and director of the Urban Institute's Culture, Creativity and Communities Program.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:
Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
eglenn@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
MIT Food and Ag Collaborative - Poster Session
Time: 5:45p–8:00p
Location: 32-124
Come see the projects MIT students have been working on in the field of food and agriculture! We are presenting this work in conjunction with the Legatum Center's poster session, so please stop by and learn more about how MIT students are transforming food systems.
Web site: http://food-ag.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Agriculture Forum
For more information, contact:
Elizabeth McVay Greene
elizabeth.greene@sloan.mit.edu
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Post-Disaster Response + DUSP: a student-faculty discussion
Speaker: Cherie Abbanat, Lorlene Hoyt, Amy Stitely, Phil Thompson, Larry Vale
Time: 5:30p–7:00p
Location: 9-450
Post-Disaster Response + DUSP: a student-faculty discussion
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Friday, April 09, 2010
Seminar on Environmental and Agricultural History
Speaker: Anne Secord, University of Cambridge
Time: 2:30p–4:30p
Location: E51-095
"Observing Nature at the Edges: British Naturalist on the Shore during the Napoleonic Wars"
During twenty two years of military action against France the British developed near-obsessive habits of watchfulness. Fears of infiltration by spies and invasion by the French combined with worries about deceptions by fellow citizens to produce regimes of vigilance and surveillance. This watchfulness extended to the study of nature, especially of organisms such as seaweeds, which did not form readily perceived natural families. British marine botanists quelled taxonomic anxiety by adopting a cautious empiricism based on scrutiny; they ascertained ?true appearances? through both self-surveillance and the continual appraisal of other observers.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/history/www/nande/modTimes.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): History Office, STS
For more information, contact:
Margot Collet
253-4965
history-info@mit.edu
Friday, April 09, 2010
Clean Energy and International Development
Mathias Craig, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Blue Energy Group (MIT, MS - Civil and Environmental Engineering)
Time: 3:00p–5:00p
Location: 4-153
How can MIT graduates foster meaningful change after life in Cambridge, MA? Ask Mathias Craig, an MIT alumnus who founded Blue Energy Group. Mathias' sustainable energy organization brings jobs and hybrid wind-solar technology to remote communities in Nicaragua.
Co-sponsored by Department of Urban Studies and Planning - Environmental Policy and Planning Group; MIT Renewable Energy Projects in Action; and the MIT Wind Energy Group
Web site: http://www.blueenergygroup.org/spip.php?rubrique59
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): EPP
For more information, contact:
Kathy Araujo
kmaraujo@MIT.EDU
Friday, April 09, 2010
International Development Night @ the MIT Museum
Time: 6:00p–8:00p
Location: N51, MIT Museum
Showcasing activities, programs, and ventures pursuing international development innovations in clean energy, future cities, safe water, healthcare, microfinance,village utilities, mobiles, humanitarian innovations, and much more!
Free and Open to the public
Hosted in collaboration with the 16th Annual
International Development Conference at
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government
http://www.harvard-idc.com/
Web site: web.mit.edu/idn/events
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Graduate Student Life Grants, The Technology and Culture Forum at MIT, International Development Initiative
For more information, contact:
Laura Sampath
617-253-7052
idn-contact@mit.edu
Harvard
Monday, April 5, 2010
12:30 - 1:30 PM
"The Public Health Emergency Response to the Recent Earthquake in Haiti"
Jean-Rénald Clérismé, PhD
Member and Advisor to the Office of President René Préval
Republic of Haiti
Introduction by Dean Julio Frenk.
Q&A to follow.
A light lunch will be provided.
Harvard School of Public Health
Kresge Building, Room G1
677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
Prather Lecture: E.O. Wilson on "Biodiversity and the Future of Biology"
WHEN
Mon., Apr. 5, 2010, 6 p.m.
WHERE
Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge MA
TYPE OF EVENT
Environmental Sciences, Presentation/Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
The Departments of Molecular & Cellular Biology and Organismic & Evolutionary Biology at Harvard
COST
Regular: $10 (4 ticket limit per person); Students: $5; Harvard ID Holders: Free (limit of 2 tickets per person while supplies last)
TICKET INFO
617.496.2222
http://www.ofa.fas.harvard.edu/cal/details.php?ID=40839
Tuesday, April 6:
4:00 PM.
"The Superorganism."
EO Wilson
Location: Harvard Science Center
The study of insect societies is today one of the fastest growing major branches of evolutionary biology. It has revealed a great deal about the general principles of the origin and evolution of advanced social behavior, and has shed light on the enormous ecological success of the social insects (with ants and termites making up over half of the insect biomass around the world). The evolution from organism to superorganism has been the major transition between levels of biological organization, easiest to penetrate and understand.
Free, advance tickets not required.
For more information on the Prather Lecture Series, please call 617.495.5891
Wednesday, April 7
4:00 PM.
"Consilience."
EO Wilson
Location: Science Center
The boundary between science on one side and the humanities and humanistic social sciences on the other is not an intrinsic epistemological divide but a broad borderland of previously poorly understood causal relationships. The borderland is now being explored, and offers increasing opportunities for collaboration across three great branches of learning. A definition of human nature will be offered and examples from the borderland will be used to illustrate it.
Free, advance tickets not required.
For more information on the Prather Lecture Series, please call 617.495.5891
It's Easy Being Green: Prospects for the Green Party in Germany and Europe
WHEN
Wed., Apr. 7, 2010, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE
Lower level conference room, 27 Kirkland St., 02138
TYPE OF EVENT
Presentation/Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Center for European Studies
http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/
Bigger than Carnegie, Faster than Starbucks: Business Lessons from a Global Nonprofit Leader
WHEN
Thu., Apr. 8, 2010, 4 – 5 p.m.
WHERE
Spangler Auditorium, Harvard Business School, 280 Soldiers Field Road
TYPE OF EVENT
Business, Presentation/Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard Business School
SPEAKER(S)
John Wood, founder and executive chairman, Room to Read
COST
Free and open to the public ($10 suggested donation for non-students)
TICKET INFO
Registration required
CONTACT INFO
sviv@mba2011.hbs.edu
https://www.roomtoread.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=647
International Diffusion of Microfinance
WHEN
Thu., Apr. 8, 2010, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE
Room 226, Suite 200-North, 124 Mt. Auburn, Cambridge MA
TYPE OF EVENT
Business, Presentation/Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
SPEAKER(S)
Guy Stuart
COST
Free
CONTACT INFO
christina_marchand@harvard.edu
NOTE
In the past 30 years, microfinance has evolved from small experiments in lending to the poor in Latin America and Bangladesh to a global financial services industry with access to global capital markets. In this seminar, Guy Stuart will argue that the diffusion of microfinance across the globe is the tale of two dynamics: one in which credit-led microfinance easily diffused throughout the developing world "beneath the radar" of regulators, and another in which savings-based microfinance has struggled in many countries to take hold because of the lack of an appropriate enabling environment, most prominently government regulations.
A light dinner will be served.
SPEAKER(S)
Claus Offe, visiting professor of government, Harvard University
COST
Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO
beerman@fas.harvard.edu
NOTE
Reception to follow in the Atrium.
Saturday, April 9
16th Annual International Development Conference
http://www.harvard-idc.com/
16th Annual International Development Conference
The 2010 Harvard International Development Conference will be held April 9th-10th, 2010 at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Check back for future announcements of keynote speakers, panels, and registration details.
The Harvard International Development Conference is a student-run event providing a world-class interdisciplinary forum on global sustainable development for practitioners and academics. Each year the conference attracts over 400 participants from every corner of the world. Serving as a forum to foster dialogue among various stakeholders, including senior level policy makers, academics, and practitioners, the Conference proposes multidisciplinary strategies for economic, sociopolitical, cultural, and institutional changes.
Opening Keynote I:
Friday, April 9th, 2010, 4:30-6PM
Free and Open to the Public
Ms. Rebeca Grynspan,
UN Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP
Tufts
Monday, April 5
6PM
"Inside the Activist's Study" featuring prominent journalist Amy Goodman and
environmentalist Bill McKibben.
Tufts, Barnum Hall 008.
The event is free, open to the public and no tickets are required.
"We're very excited that Amy Goodman will be returning to Tufts for our second "Inside the Activist's Study," and that our other guest is Bill McKibben. Bill's work on environmental issues is more important than ever given the pressing issues of climate change, and we know that the dialogue between one of American's best and most progressive interviewers and one of the country's leading environmental educators will yield important information in a lively format," said Communications and Media Studies Director Julie Dobrow.
The first "Inside the Activist's Study" event featuring Amy and David Goodman was at capacity and well received by students and community members alike. Modeled after the "Inside the Actor's Studio" TV show, this new series brings together prominent journalists, actors, filmmakers, and a wide-array of activist leaders to discuss the use of media to promote social change. The event features in-depth interviews and audience participation.
An American environmentalist and writer, Bill McKibben is the founder of 350.org http://350.org, an international climate campaign. Bill frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering. Beginning in the summer of 2006, he led the organization of the largest demonstrations against global warming in American history. His books include /The End of Nature; The Age of Missing Information;The Comforting Whirlwind: God, Job and the Scale of Creation; A Year of Living Strenuously; Enough; Wandering Home, Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. Bill is a frequent contributor to various magazines including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, and Outside. He is also a board member and
contributor to Grist Magazine.
Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 800 TV and radio stations in North America. David Goodman is a contributing writer for Mother Jones and co-author of Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders and the People Who Fight Back.
For more information about this event or the Communications and Media
Studies program at Tufts University, please visit
http://ase.tufts.edu/cms/. For information on the Peace and Justice
Studies program, please visit http://pjs.tufts.edu/. For more
information about the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service,
please visit http://activecitizen.tufts.edu
Contact: Julie Dobrow, (617) 627-4744, Dale Bryan, (617) 627-2216
Thursday, April 08, 2010
CIERP presents Climate Change and Economic Development
Speaker: Dr. Rosina Bierbaum
Time: 12:00p–2:00p
Location: Alumnae Lounge, 15 South Campus Road on the Tufts Meford/Sommerville Campus
The Energy, Climate, and Innovation Program in Fletcher's Center for International Environment and Natural Resource Policy and the International Development Group Present:
Climate Change and Economic Development
Featuring distinguished guest speaker:
Dr. Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment and Co-Director of the World Bank's World Development Report 2010
Dr. Bierbaum has served as Dean of the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment since October 2001. In April 2009, President Obama named her to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). She was selected in April 2008 to author the recently released World Development Report 2010. This report features a different topic every year, with the 2010 edition focusing on helping states to think about how sustainability, mitigation, adaptation to climate change, and development can be achieved simultaneously.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Campus Events, CIERP
For more information, contact:
Mieke Wansem
Mieke.Wansem@tufts.edu
Other
April 9, 2010
12 noon - 2:00 p.m.
Patrick Bond on South Africa, the World Bank, and Climate Justice
encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Ave, 5th floor, Boston, MA
South Africa now has its 4th post-Apartheid president... But the country is more unequal than ever! It is also under consideration for a World Bank loan to "modernize" it ailing electrical power generation and distribution infrastructure. Revamping its grid would normally be a decisive opportunity to set a new course, redress inequalities and develop a green strategy. But activist-intellectual Patrick Bond warns that the opposite seems likely with the Bank loan. It will strengthen the private sector and sharpen the gap between rich and poor: urban residents prepay their electricity at 4 times the rate of large transnational corporations. Further, the proposed loan will finance the world's 4th largest coal-fired plant and raise rates on working people.
On April 8, 2010, the World Bank will make its decision. Patrick Bond will reflect on the outcome on Friday, April 9, 2010, from noon to
2:00 p.m. at encuentro 5 (in Boston's Chinatown, see below for more
information).
Also invited to the conversation is Tufts University professor, William Moomaw who consulted with the World Bank and who is in support of the loan.
This Bank critic meets Bank supporter discussion allows for a reasoned engagement of ideas.
For Patrick Bond's biography, see:
http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?10,24,8,55
For William Moomaw's biography, see: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/faculty/Moomaw/
This event is hosted at encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Ave, 5th floor,
Boston, MA 02111. It is within blocks of the Orange, Red and Green
line stops (Chinatown, Downtown Crossing and Boylston). See
http://www.encuentro5.org for more directions. Also check website for
updates before coming to the event.
Down:2:Earth Boston - April 9,10,11
Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA
A variety of events including talks by James Hansen and Mayim Bialik, workshops on everything from the future of energy to butter-making and special features such as our Local Bites event and a Water Sculpture by Christine Destrempes.
http://d2eboston.com/
Monday, April 05, 2010
Transportation@MIT: Reliable Route Planning with Evdokia Nikolova
Speaker: Evdokia Nikolova, EECS, MIT
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: 33-116
The evolution of the different modes of transport has undeniably led to a tremendous improvement in the productivity and comfort of our society and bettered our standard of living. Yet it has brought about significant new challenges, which are seemingly reversing that trend. Although we can traverse far longer distances in an hour's time than half a century ago, we have moved further away from work, our commutes are physically and psychologically exacerbated by heavy congestion, traffic accidents have become more severe and deadly, there is more pollution. In this talk, I will address a fundamental problem in transportation: reliable route planning.
How do we get to the airport on time? Ideally we would like to take the shortest path, but in the presence of uncertain traffic what does that mean? One natural objective is to choose the path that maximizes our probability of arriving on time. We develop algorithms that bridge stochastic, nonconvex, and combinatorial optimization to solve a class of reliable route planning problems, and show how they generalize to other situations. We also ask the question: What happens when drivers have a general idea of how long it will take them to reach their destination, and while driving, ?look out of the window? and make myopic choices for their route. We show that this natural behavior can lead to vastly suboptimal route plans which exacerbate congestion, and we contrast it with the optimal routing strategy.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Transportation@MIT
For more information, contact:
Sally Chapman
sallyc@mit.edu
Monday, April 05, 2010
Profiting From Regulation: An Event Study of the European Carbon Market (Joint with Energy & Environmental Economics Workshop)
Speaker: Erin Mansur (Yale)
Time: 2:30p–4:00p
Location: E52-244
Profiting From Regulation: An Event Study of the European Carbon Market
Web site: http://econ-www.mit.edu/files/5424
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): IO Workshop (Sponsored by Analysis Group)
For more information, contact:
Theresa Benevento
theresa@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Community-based Energy Innovations
Time: 12:00p–2:30p
Location: 9-450B
Presentations by students:
Jacquelyn Dadakis
Eric Mackres
Joshua Sklarsky
Shiva Prakash
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): EPP
For more information, contact:
Nina Tamburello
617.253.1509
epprequest@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Transportation@MIT presents: Chris Zegras on "Transportation, the Built Environment and Green House Gas Emissions in Developing Cities."
Speaker: Chris Zegras, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 3-270
Transportation@MIT Seminar Series
This semester, the Transportation@MIT seminar series will cover a variety of transportation topics including: Propulsion, Vehicles, Sources of Transportation Energy, Environmental Impacts and Climate Change, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Urban Transportation, Automation, Transportation Networks, Dynamic System Control, and Behavioral and Economic Sciences.
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have reached their highest levels since before the industrial revolution. And, yet, under current trends, greenhouse gas emissions will only increase. Much of this forecast growth will occur in urbanizing areas of the developing world. After all, the 21st Century will be an urban century. Already over one-half the planet's population lives in urban areas and almost all net global population growth this Century will likely be in the world's developing cities. Thus, mitigating the climate change risk will require a strong focus on the urbanizing developing world.
In this presentation I examine the potential for altering the patterns of urban growth in developing cities as a way to mitigate transportation's contribution to the climate change risk. I first outline a basic framework for understanding the factors contributing to transportation greenhouse gas emissions, including the potential influence of the built environment - that is, the form and design of the cities we build. I then examine evidence of the relationship between urban passenger transportation energy use/greenhouse gas emissions and the built environment in two very different developing contexts: Chile and China. I end with some discussion of the implications of this evidence, including within the context of the current global climate regime.
Web site: http://transportation.mit.edu/events.php
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Transportation@MIT
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Frank DiSalvo: Materials Challenges in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells
Speaker: Frank DiSalvo, Cornell University
Time: 4:15p–5:45p
Location: 66-110
MITEI Seminar Series
A year-long series of seminars given by leaders in the energy field sponsored by the MIT Energy Initiative.
Fuel cells are the only technology that theoretically can convert chemical energy to electrical energy at nearly 100% efficiency. This compares to about 35 % efficient for the average power plant and perhaps 25-30 % for transportation vehicles.
Yet many barriers remain to realizing the full promise of fuel cell technology, especially for automotive applications. The main barrier is that the materials uses in the heart of the fuel cell (the electrodes and membranes) are not up to the job. They are too expensive and have poor durability. Finally relatively few fuels can be directly used in the cells.
This presentation will focus on the challenge to find better electrode catalysts and catalyst supports. Catalysts are easily poisoned and/or have low activity. If nearly ideal catalysts can be found, then fuel cell technology has a much better chance to transform the way we use energy and to greatly increase the efficiency of the process. Current catalyst supports are based on carbon blacks, but corrode too rapidly.
In this seminar, we will discuss the research at the Energy Materials Center at Cornell (EMC2) that is directed at addressing the above challenges.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Jameson Twomey
4-2408
jtwomey@mit.edu
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Oil Markets and Politics: Why the Left and the Right Both Get It Wrong
Speaker: Robert Vitalis, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Time: 4:30p–6:30p
Location: E51-095
Emile Bustani Middle East Seminar
A recent history of US policy, "Imagining the Middle East," starts from the premise that longstanding US interests in control of or access to oil is to be contrasted with those dimensions of policy that are more properly understood as culturally constituted through "a framework of meaning." In fact, the idea of access to oil is no less culturally constituted. It takes a great deal of work to make it seem both tangible and commonsensical. Its materiality is a mirage.
Robert Vitalis is a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. The London Guardian named his last book, "America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier," a book of the year in 2006. His next book, "The End of Empire in American Political Science," moves away from the Middle East to explore the unwritten history of race and empire in American international relations theory and its critical African-American internationalist tradition.
The Bustani Middle East Seminar is organized under the auspices of the MIT Center for International Studies, which conducts research on contemporary international issues and provides an opportunity for faculty and students to share perspectives and exchange views. Each year the Bustani Seminar invites scholars, journalists, consultants, and other experts from the Middle East, Europe, and the United States to MIT to present recent research findings on contemporary politics, society and culture, and economic and technological development in the Middle East.
Web site:http://web.mit.edu/shass/temp/bustani/bustani_seminar.htm
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies
For more information, contact:
Pardis Parsa
617.252.1888
pardisp@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
MITEI presents Christof Ruhl, the Chief Economist at BP
Speaker: Christof Ruhl, the Chief Economist at BP
Time: 10:30a–11:30a
Location: E19-319
The subject of the talk will be Global Oil & Gas Markets.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
John Parsons
jparsons@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Making the Case for Arts and Culture: Why Focus on the Arts When Job Creation and Affordable Housing Are So Pressing?
Speaker: Susan Silberberg-Robinson, Emily Axelrod, Maria Rosario Jackson
Time: 12:30p–2:00p
Location: 9-450
DUSP Speaker Series
Weekly Lecture Series of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Light lunch served.
For a number of years, arts advocates have been looking at the impact of arts and culture in communities. From regional economic impact studies to a more focused look at impacts on social networking, there are a number of research initiatives underway across the country. This session presents information from some of those initiatives and also explores anecdotal evidence of community impact from a variety of projects, including research at the Urban Institute, insights from the newly created MetLife Innovative Space Awards, and anecdotes from almost two decades of experience at The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence.
Susan Silberberg-Robinson is a Lecturer in Urban Design and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. Her planning consulting practice largely centers on arts and culture and also on waterfront planning in the City of Boston. She is the Associate Director of the MetLife Innovative Space Awards which seeks to identify innovative ways organizations provide affordable artist space and engage with communities.
Emily Axelrod has been Director of the Rudy Bruner Award since 1996. Prior to this, she worked in a variety of planning positions in both the private and public sectors.
Maria Rosario Jackson is a senior research associate and director of the Urban Institute's Culture, Creativity and Communities Program.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:
Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
eglenn@mit.edu
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
MIT Food and Ag Collaborative - Poster Session
Time: 5:45p–8:00p
Location: 32-124
Come see the projects MIT students have been working on in the field of food and agriculture! We are presenting this work in conjunction with the Legatum Center's poster session, so please stop by and learn more about how MIT students are transforming food systems.
Web site: http://food-ag.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Agriculture Forum
For more information, contact:
Elizabeth McVay Greene
elizabeth.greene@sloan.mit.edu
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Post-Disaster Response + DUSP: a student-faculty discussion
Speaker: Cherie Abbanat, Lorlene Hoyt, Amy Stitely, Phil Thompson, Larry Vale
Time: 5:30p–7:00p
Location: 9-450
Post-Disaster Response + DUSP: a student-faculty discussion
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Friday, April 09, 2010
Seminar on Environmental and Agricultural History
Speaker: Anne Secord, University of Cambridge
Time: 2:30p–4:30p
Location: E51-095
"Observing Nature at the Edges: British Naturalist on the Shore during the Napoleonic Wars"
During twenty two years of military action against France the British developed near-obsessive habits of watchfulness. Fears of infiltration by spies and invasion by the French combined with worries about deceptions by fellow citizens to produce regimes of vigilance and surveillance. This watchfulness extended to the study of nature, especially of organisms such as seaweeds, which did not form readily perceived natural families. British marine botanists quelled taxonomic anxiety by adopting a cautious empiricism based on scrutiny; they ascertained ?true appearances? through both self-surveillance and the continual appraisal of other observers.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/history/www/nande/modTimes.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): History Office, STS
For more information, contact:
Margot Collet
253-4965
history-info@mit.edu
Friday, April 09, 2010
Clean Energy and International Development
Mathias Craig, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Blue Energy Group (MIT, MS - Civil and Environmental Engineering)
Time: 3:00p–5:00p
Location: 4-153
How can MIT graduates foster meaningful change after life in Cambridge, MA? Ask Mathias Craig, an MIT alumnus who founded Blue Energy Group. Mathias' sustainable energy organization brings jobs and hybrid wind-solar technology to remote communities in Nicaragua.
Co-sponsored by Department of Urban Studies and Planning - Environmental Policy and Planning Group; MIT Renewable Energy Projects in Action; and the MIT Wind Energy Group
Web site: http://www.blueenergygroup.org/spip.php?rubrique59
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): EPP
For more information, contact:
Kathy Araujo
kmaraujo@MIT.EDU
Friday, April 09, 2010
International Development Night @ the MIT Museum
Time: 6:00p–8:00p
Location: N51, MIT Museum
Showcasing activities, programs, and ventures pursuing international development innovations in clean energy, future cities, safe water, healthcare, microfinance,village utilities, mobiles, humanitarian innovations, and much more!
Free and Open to the public
Hosted in collaboration with the 16th Annual
International Development Conference at
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government
http://www.harvard-idc.com/
Web site: web.mit.edu/idn/events
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Graduate Student Life Grants, The Technology and Culture Forum at MIT, International Development Initiative
For more information, contact:
Laura Sampath
617-253-7052
idn-contact@mit.edu
Harvard
Monday, April 5, 2010
12:30 - 1:30 PM
"The Public Health Emergency Response to the Recent Earthquake in Haiti"
Jean-Rénald Clérismé, PhD
Member and Advisor to the Office of President René Préval
Republic of Haiti
Introduction by Dean Julio Frenk.
Q&A to follow.
A light lunch will be provided.
Harvard School of Public Health
Kresge Building, Room G1
677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
Prather Lecture: E.O. Wilson on "Biodiversity and the Future of Biology"
WHEN
Mon., Apr. 5, 2010, 6 p.m.
WHERE
Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge MA
TYPE OF EVENT
Environmental Sciences, Presentation/Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
The Departments of Molecular & Cellular Biology and Organismic & Evolutionary Biology at Harvard
COST
Regular: $10 (4 ticket limit per person); Students: $5; Harvard ID Holders: Free (limit of 2 tickets per person while supplies last)
TICKET INFO
617.496.2222
http://www.ofa.fas.harvard.edu/cal/details.php?ID=40839
Tuesday, April 6:
4:00 PM.
"The Superorganism."
EO Wilson
Location: Harvard Science Center
The study of insect societies is today one of the fastest growing major branches of evolutionary biology. It has revealed a great deal about the general principles of the origin and evolution of advanced social behavior, and has shed light on the enormous ecological success of the social insects (with ants and termites making up over half of the insect biomass around the world). The evolution from organism to superorganism has been the major transition between levels of biological organization, easiest to penetrate and understand.
Free, advance tickets not required.
For more information on the Prather Lecture Series, please call 617.495.5891
Wednesday, April 7
4:00 PM.
"Consilience."
EO Wilson
Location: Science Center
The boundary between science on one side and the humanities and humanistic social sciences on the other is not an intrinsic epistemological divide but a broad borderland of previously poorly understood causal relationships. The borderland is now being explored, and offers increasing opportunities for collaboration across three great branches of learning. A definition of human nature will be offered and examples from the borderland will be used to illustrate it.
Free, advance tickets not required.
For more information on the Prather Lecture Series, please call 617.495.5891
It's Easy Being Green: Prospects for the Green Party in Germany and Europe
WHEN
Wed., Apr. 7, 2010, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE
Lower level conference room, 27 Kirkland St., 02138
TYPE OF EVENT
Presentation/Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Center for European Studies
http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/
Bigger than Carnegie, Faster than Starbucks: Business Lessons from a Global Nonprofit Leader
WHEN
Thu., Apr. 8, 2010, 4 – 5 p.m.
WHERE
Spangler Auditorium, Harvard Business School, 280 Soldiers Field Road
TYPE OF EVENT
Business, Presentation/Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard Business School
SPEAKER(S)
John Wood, founder and executive chairman, Room to Read
COST
Free and open to the public ($10 suggested donation for non-students)
TICKET INFO
Registration required
CONTACT INFO
sviv@mba2011.hbs.edu
https://www.roomtoread.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=647
International Diffusion of Microfinance
WHEN
Thu., Apr. 8, 2010, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE
Room 226, Suite 200-North, 124 Mt. Auburn, Cambridge MA
TYPE OF EVENT
Business, Presentation/Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
SPEAKER(S)
Guy Stuart
COST
Free
CONTACT INFO
christina_marchand@harvard.edu
NOTE
In the past 30 years, microfinance has evolved from small experiments in lending to the poor in Latin America and Bangladesh to a global financial services industry with access to global capital markets. In this seminar, Guy Stuart will argue that the diffusion of microfinance across the globe is the tale of two dynamics: one in which credit-led microfinance easily diffused throughout the developing world "beneath the radar" of regulators, and another in which savings-based microfinance has struggled in many countries to take hold because of the lack of an appropriate enabling environment, most prominently government regulations.
A light dinner will be served.
SPEAKER(S)
Claus Offe, visiting professor of government, Harvard University
COST
Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO
beerman@fas.harvard.edu
NOTE
Reception to follow in the Atrium.
Saturday, April 9
16th Annual International Development Conference
http://www.harvard-idc.com/
16th Annual International Development Conference
The 2010 Harvard International Development Conference will be held April 9th-10th, 2010 at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Check back for future announcements of keynote speakers, panels, and registration details.
The Harvard International Development Conference is a student-run event providing a world-class interdisciplinary forum on global sustainable development for practitioners and academics. Each year the conference attracts over 400 participants from every corner of the world. Serving as a forum to foster dialogue among various stakeholders, including senior level policy makers, academics, and practitioners, the Conference proposes multidisciplinary strategies for economic, sociopolitical, cultural, and institutional changes.
Opening Keynote I:
Friday, April 9th, 2010, 4:30-6PM
Free and Open to the Public
Ms. Rebeca Grynspan,
UN Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP
Tufts
Monday, April 5
6PM
"Inside the Activist's Study" featuring prominent journalist Amy Goodman and
environmentalist Bill McKibben.
Tufts, Barnum Hall 008.
The event is free, open to the public and no tickets are required.
"We're very excited that Amy Goodman will be returning to Tufts for our second "Inside the Activist's Study," and that our other guest is Bill McKibben. Bill's work on environmental issues is more important than ever given the pressing issues of climate change, and we know that the dialogue between one of American's best and most progressive interviewers and one of the country's leading environmental educators will yield important information in a lively format," said Communications and Media Studies Director Julie Dobrow.
The first "Inside the Activist's Study" event featuring Amy and David Goodman was at capacity and well received by students and community members alike. Modeled after the "Inside the Actor's Studio" TV show, this new series brings together prominent journalists, actors, filmmakers, and a wide-array of activist leaders to discuss the use of media to promote social change. The event features in-depth interviews and audience participation.
An American environmentalist and writer, Bill McKibben is the founder of 350.org http://350.org, an international climate campaign. Bill frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering. Beginning in the summer of 2006, he led the organization of the largest demonstrations against global warming in American history. His books include /The End of Nature; The Age of Missing Information;The Comforting Whirlwind: God, Job and the Scale of Creation; A Year of Living Strenuously; Enough; Wandering Home, Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. Bill is a frequent contributor to various magazines including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, and Outside. He is also a board member and
contributor to Grist Magazine.
Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 800 TV and radio stations in North America. David Goodman is a contributing writer for Mother Jones and co-author of Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders and the People Who Fight Back.
For more information about this event or the Communications and Media
Studies program at Tufts University, please visit
http://ase.tufts.edu/cms/. For information on the Peace and Justice
Studies program, please visit http://pjs.tufts.edu/. For more
information about the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service,
please visit http://activecitizen.tufts.edu
Contact: Julie Dobrow, (617) 627-4744, Dale Bryan, (617) 627-2216
Thursday, April 08, 2010
CIERP presents Climate Change and Economic Development
Speaker: Dr. Rosina Bierbaum
Time: 12:00p–2:00p
Location: Alumnae Lounge, 15 South Campus Road on the Tufts Meford/Sommerville Campus
The Energy, Climate, and Innovation Program in Fletcher's Center for International Environment and Natural Resource Policy and the International Development Group Present:
Climate Change and Economic Development
Featuring distinguished guest speaker:
Dr. Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment and Co-Director of the World Bank's World Development Report 2010
Dr. Bierbaum has served as Dean of the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment since October 2001. In April 2009, President Obama named her to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). She was selected in April 2008 to author the recently released World Development Report 2010. This report features a different topic every year, with the 2010 edition focusing on helping states to think about how sustainability, mitigation, adaptation to climate change, and development can be achieved simultaneously.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Campus Events, CIERP
For more information, contact:
Mieke Wansem
Mieke.Wansem@tufts.edu
Other
April 9, 2010
12 noon - 2:00 p.m.
Patrick Bond on South Africa, the World Bank, and Climate Justice
encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Ave, 5th floor, Boston, MA
South Africa now has its 4th post-Apartheid president... But the country is more unequal than ever! It is also under consideration for a World Bank loan to "modernize" it ailing electrical power generation and distribution infrastructure. Revamping its grid would normally be a decisive opportunity to set a new course, redress inequalities and develop a green strategy. But activist-intellectual Patrick Bond warns that the opposite seems likely with the Bank loan. It will strengthen the private sector and sharpen the gap between rich and poor: urban residents prepay their electricity at 4 times the rate of large transnational corporations. Further, the proposed loan will finance the world's 4th largest coal-fired plant and raise rates on working people.
On April 8, 2010, the World Bank will make its decision. Patrick Bond will reflect on the outcome on Friday, April 9, 2010, from noon to
2:00 p.m. at encuentro 5 (in Boston's Chinatown, see below for more
information).
Also invited to the conversation is Tufts University professor, William Moomaw who consulted with the World Bank and who is in support of the loan.
This Bank critic meets Bank supporter discussion allows for a reasoned engagement of ideas.
For Patrick Bond's biography, see:
http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?10,24,8,55
For William Moomaw's biography, see: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/faculty/Moomaw/
This event is hosted at encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Ave, 5th floor,
Boston, MA 02111. It is within blocks of the Orange, Red and Green
line stops (Chinatown, Downtown Crossing and Boylston). See
http://www.encuentro5.org for more directions. Also check website for
updates before coming to the event.
Down:2:Earth Boston - April 9,10,11
Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA
A variety of events including talks by James Hansen and Mayim Bialik, workshops on everything from the future of energy to butter-making and special features such as our Local Bites event and a Water Sculpture by Christine Destrempes.
http://d2eboston.com/
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