Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater
Boston area that catch the editor's eye.
Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.
If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke@world.std.com
What I Do and Why I Do It: The Story of Energy (and Other) Events
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Index
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Full event information follows the Index and notices of my latest writings.
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Monday, March 28
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12pm MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar (MASS) - Climate Phase Space
12pm Renewable Power Integration in China
4pm Rethinking the Place of People in Sustainable Development: Well-Being, Population, Education, Health, and Agency
4pm Energy Prices, Pass-Through, and Incidence in U.S. Manufacturing
4pm Technology and the Commodification of Agricultural Risk
4:45pm The Paris Agreement and the Race of Our Lives
5pm Tiling the Genome: Naming the Parts of Your Genome That Make You You
5pm Intersections of Irrelevance: Violence Against Women's Intellect in a Knowledge Based Economy
5:30pm 21st Century: Security vs. Privacy, with PayPal CEO Dan Schulman and Eli Sugarman of the Hewlett Foundation
6pm Anna-Sophie Springer: Curating the Anthropocene
6pm Boston Creates Town Hall
6pm Film Screening of Dan Ariely's (Dis)Honesty
6:30pm Mobilizing the Energy Revolution
7pm Catalyst Conversations Tod Machover & Kevin Esvelt
7:30pm Ethics, Engineers, and Emissions: A multifaceted look at the VW incident
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Tuesday, March 29
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8:30am COP21 Paris Climate Talks unConference
8:30am Making A Difference In A Complex World: Reimagining The Social Change Toolkit
12pm Sarah Kliff
1:30pm EAPS Special Seminar on Ice Sheet-Atmosphere Interactions - Marcus Lofverstrom, NCAR
2:30pm Free Software: Computing in Freedom, Developing Freedom
3:30pm Irreversibility, information and the second law of thermodynamics at the nanoscale
4pm Building Civic Tech at the Middle of the Venn: Lessons Learned From a Co-founder and CEO
4:15pm Migration Crisis in the Mediterranean Region: A Humanitarian Perspective
6pm Learning From Elinor Ostrom: A Case on the Actors and Incentives that Shape Household Waste Management in Muzaffarnagar, India
6pm 100-day Urban Agriculture Plan for Venezuela
6pm Confronting Climate Change: A Conversation with the Women at the Forefront of Climate Change Action and Environmental Advocacy
6pm Boston Green Drinks - March Happy Hour
6pm Urban Identity Quest: A conversation with the Mayor Karl Dean of Nashville
6:30pm Making a Global Plan for Climate Change
6:30pm Climate Café: Exploring Your Place in the Climate Movement
6:30pm Conservation Law Foundation Film Screening: Merchants of Doubt
7pm The Mind Club: Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters
7pm Maria Sibylla Merian: The First Ecologist?
8pm Brunella Alfinito Wearable Technology, MassArt & MIT Embr Labs
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Wednesday, March 30
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9am Community of Scholars Day
Symposium: The MIT campus--Then, Now, Next
9am Colloquium on Human Learning + Machine Learning
11:45am Transportation@MIT Seminar
12:30pm Challenges and Opportunities of China's Urban Renewal
4pm Future of the Campus Panel with David Adjaye: Designing A Place for Inventing the Future: The MIT Campus, Then, Now, Next - Part of the MIT 2016 Symposium
4pm Self-Aggregation of Tropical Convection: How does it work? Does it matter for climate?
4:15pm Collective Action in an Asymmetric World
5pm Ecological Systems in the Anthropocene Series: "Ecological Novelty, Old and New: Conservation in a post-normal world”
5pm Hannah Arendt Lecture Series: Eichmann in Jerusalem: Conscience, Normality, and the Rule of Narrative
5:15pm The Role of Natural Gas in the Energy Transition
6pm Conserving the Great Apes in a Changing World
6pm Synthetic Biology: Redesigning Life
6pm Political Polarization in the United States
6pm POVERTY, INC. + Filmmaker Q&A | SEID (MIT Sloan)
6:30pm Local Action, Big Results
6:30pm Food + Tech Mystery Speaker Series: Cai Rintoul from Provender
7pm Cambridge Forum: The Future of Food, An Urban Answer?
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Thursday, March 31
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The Spirit of Sustainable Agriculture
Symposium: The MIT campus--Then, Now, Next
11:45am Sustainability at Wellington Asset Management
12pm Projecting Climate Change Impacts on Global Marine Biodiversity and Fisheries
12pm Book talk: "Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War”
12pm Remaking the Rust Belt: the Postindustrial Transformation of North America
12:30pm Sitting in the Driver’s Seat: Business and Global Well-Being
1:30pm Xconomy Forum: Robo Madness–The A.I. Explosion
2pm Addressing Chemical of Concern on Campus: Furniture Purchasing Can Lead to Creating a Healthier Environment
3pm Lecture by Michelle K. Lee, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
4pm Quantitative Biology: A Fusion Between Physics and Biology
4pm Hypotheses for a Less Negative Aerosol Radiative Forcing
4pm Fail Better: The United Nations and Syria
4pm Future of Media
4:30pm Media Marathoning and Affective Involvement
5pm Politics of Invention
6pm Climate Change: The Role of the University
6pm Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change and Emotional Awakening
6pm CORE Resiliency Seminar Series - Planning Meeting
6pm Envision Cambridge Public Workshop
6pm Engage: Boston Designs for Good
6pm Reclaiming Land and Defending Food Sovereignty Dialogue
6pm Powering Our Statehouse Forward: Will We Break Away from Fossil Fuels?
7pm Streetlight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution
7pm Using Technology to Save the World
7pm "The Armor of Light" Film Screening and Discussion
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Friday, April 1
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8:30am 10th Annual Babson Energy and Environment Conference
8:30am MIT Scaling Development Ventures Conference 2016
8:45am Climate Change: The Role of the University
12pm The Future is Not The Past: Megadroughts and Climate Change in Western North America
1pm Global Business Conference
3pm The Cultural Defense of Nations: A Liberal Theory of Majority Rights
3:30pm Privacy in 2016: Policy and Technology
5pm Harvard Yale Pitch-Off
6pm 2016 Boston Cleanweb Hackathon
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Saturday, April 2
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8am Harvard International Development Conference
8:30am Harvard China Clean Air Forum
9am Sustainable House of Worship Workshop
9am Reducing the Dangers of Nuclear War
10am Boston Interfaith Community Solar Project Round-Table #3
12pm IDEAS Innovation Showcase + Awards
1:30pm Envision Cambridge Public Workshop
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Sunday, April 3
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5pm Film Screening, Refreshments & Discussion: This Changes Everything
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Monday, April 4
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12pm MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar (MASS) - Shaojie Song (MIT)
12pm Solar geoengineering: an update and case for research
12pm Religion in the News-When Rights Collide: Abortion, Contraceptives, and Religious Liberty at the Supreme Court in 2016
12:15pm Sudanese Economics: Between an Environmental and a Political Imagination
5:30pm Social Equity In The Built Environment
6pm Power Dialog
6pm Towards a Multiscale Human Environment: Islamic sub-Saharan Africa and Post-war Modern Urbanism
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Tuesday, April 5
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12pm Investigating the causes for a long-term trend of increasing carbon uptake at the Howland Forest, Maine
12pm The National Security Implications of the Genetics Revolution
12:30pm Fukushima Five Years Later: A View from the Ocean
4:30pm Special Seminar: Book Night with Steve Silberman on Neurotribes and Neurodiversity
6pm Taking It All In: Environmental Toxins and Your Health
6pm April BASG: Environmental Justice
6pm Time to Choose - Film Screening
6:30pm Design for Good: To Go
7pm Learn more about the egalitarian revolution in Rojava from someone involved!
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My rough notes on some of the events I go to and notes on books I’ve read are at:
Recycled Solar: Three Toned Tuned Solar Cloche
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Monday, March 28
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MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar (MASS) - Colin Thackray, MIT
Monday, March 28
12:00pm to 1:00pm
MIT, Building 54-923 (the tallest building on campus), Cambridge
About the Series
MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar [MASS] is a student-run weekly seminar series. Topics include all research concerning the atmosphere and climate, but also talks about e.g. societal impacts of climatic processes. The seminars usually take place on Mondays in 54-915 from 12.00-1pm unless otherwise noted (term-time only). Talks are generally followed by a lunch with graduate students. Besides the seminar, individual meetings with professors, postdocs, and students are arranged. The seminar series is run by graduate students and is intended mainly for students to interact with individuals outside the department, but faculty and postdocs certainly participate. 2015/2016 Coordinator: Marianna Linz (mlinz@mit.edu).
Event website: http://bit.ly/1P33yOq
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Renewable Power Integration in China
Monday, March 28
12:00PM TO 1:30PM
Harvard, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Chen Xinyu, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard China Project
China Project Seminar
The Harvard China Project is an interdisciplinary research program on China's atmospheric environment, energy system, and economy based at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, collaborating across Harvard and partner universities in China
The China Project is a co-sponsor of this event, sponsored by the Consortium of Energy Policy Research and the Energy Technology Innovation Policy program at the Harvard Kennedy School in their Monday seminar series. Lunch is provided.
Contact Name: Chris Nielsen
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Rethinking the Place of People in Sustainable Development: Well-Being, Population, Education, Health, and Agency
WHEN Mon., Mar. 28, 2016, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Pop Center Seminar, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
SPEAKER(S) William Clark, Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy and Human Development, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School
COST Open to faculty, researchers, post-docs, and students
CONTACT INFO ksmall@hsph.harvard.edu
DETAILS Frameworks for understanding sustainable development have begun to treat “people” in more nuanced and multi-dimensional ways.Dr. Clark will sketch the state of play in this conceptual progress, discuss its implications for policy and research, and highlight some of the most problematic questions that remain about the role the people should play in our thinking about sustainability.
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Energy Prices, Pass-Through, and Incidence in U.S. Manufacturing
Monday, March 28
4:00p–5:30p
MIT, Building E62-450, 100 Main Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Reed Walker (UC-Berkeley)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Microeconomic Applications
For more information, contact: economics calendar
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Technology and the Commodification of Agricultural Risk
Monday, March 28
4:00p–5:30p
MIT, Building E51-095, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Shane Hamilton, York U, and David Lucsko, Auburn U
MIT STS Speaker Series Colloquium
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/sts/index.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): HASTS
For more information, contact: Gus Zahariadis
617-253-3452
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The Paris Agreement and the Race of Our Lives
Monday, March 28
4:45p–6:30p
MIT, Building E51-7th Floor, 70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Speaker: Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund
The Paris climate agreement represents an enormous breakthrough in the long struggle to come to grips with global climate change. For the first time, developed and developing nations - 195 in all - agreed to cut the pollution that is causing rapid and dangerous changes to our environment. But now the hard work begins in earnest. If the Paris Agreement acts as a catalyst for a transformational change in the way we power the world economy, success is within our grasp. If, however, nations treat their commitments as an end in themselves, we will fall short. Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund and a preeminent U.S. climate leader, assesses the post-Paris landscape, including the Supreme Court's decision to stay the EPA's Clean Power Plan, and outlines the keys to getting where we need to go: momentum toward clean energy in the United States, the rise of China as a climate problem solver, and the necessary ingredients for comprehensive climate policy.
Reception to Follow
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
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Tiling the Genome: Naming the Parts of Your Genome That Make You You
WHEN Mon., Mar. 28, 2016, 5 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, CambridgeGAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Alexander Wait Zaranek, chief scientist, Curoverse Inc., and director of informatics, Harvard Personal Genome Project
COST Free
CONTACT INFO events@radcliffe.harvard.edu
DETAILS Almost every cell in your body has about six billion characters (As,Cs, Gs, and Ts) of nearly identical DNA that make up your genome. A particular sequence of As, Cs, Gs, or Ts can indicate a growing tumor, a predisposition to a serious disease much later in life, or nothing at all. As millions of people get their genome sequenced, physicians and researchers as well as the individuals themselves will want to ask questions of these data. To ask questions, a consistent naming scheme is needed for parts of the genome. This lecture examines a naming process called tiling—a DNA sequencing technique—and how it supports simple and consistent names, annotation, queries, machine learning, and clinical screening.
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Intersections of Irrelevance: Violence Against Women's Intellect in a Knowledge Based Economy
WHEN Mon., Mar. 28, 2016, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Agassiz Theater, Radcliffe Yard, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Humanities, Law, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Harvard College Women's Center
SPEAKER(S) Melissa Harris-Perry, Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University, executive director of the Pro Humanitate Institute, and founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Center
Introduction by Anita Hill, University Professor of Social Policy, Law, and Women's Studies, Brandeis University
COST Free and open to the public; tickets required
TICKET WEB LINK http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/boxoffice
TICKET INFO Tickets are available at the Harvard Box Office. Limit 2 per person.
CONTACT INFO duffy@fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS 4th Annual Anita Hill Lecture on Gender Justice
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21st Century: Security vs. Privacy, with PayPal CEO Dan Schulman and Eli Sugarman of the Hewlett Foundation
Monday March 28
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Tufts, 160 Packard Avenue, Medford
SPEAKER
Dan Schulman, President and CEO of PayPal and Eli Sugarman, Program Officer, Cyber Initiative The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Lindsey Kelley
617-627-3086
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Anna-Sophie Springer: Curating the Anthropocene
Monday, March 28
6:00p–8:00p
MIT, Building E15-001, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
On Monday, March 28, ACT presents a public lecture given by Anna-Sophie Springer, as part of ACT's fall 2016 lecture series, "Curation: Agencies + Urgencies".
Arguing that current matters in natural history are messier than some of the most compelling scientific and artistic representations seem to suggest, Springer will discuss her current research and previous exhibitions and publications which have engaged a complex spectrum of species and spaces to create possible affective and conceptual affinities beyond representation.
Anna-Sophie Springer is a writer, editor, curator, and co-director (with Charles Stankievech) of K. Verlag, an independent press exploring the book as a site for exhibition making. Her practice stimulates fluid relations among images, artifacts, and texts in order to produce new geographical, physical, and cognitive proximities, often in relation to historical archives. As a member of the SYNAPSE International Curators' Network of the Berlin Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Springer co-edits the six-part intercalations: paginated exhibition series co-published by K. and the HKW. Together with Etienne Turpin she is the co-curator of the exhibition project 125,660 Specimens of Natural History (Jakarta, 2015/Berlin, 2016). She is currently doing researching for her PhD at the Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths College, London.
Curation: Agencies + Urgencies
ACT's Spring 2016 lecture series Curation: Agencies + Urgencies addresses the contexts and forces shaping the practice of curation today. Bringing together a cast of influential curators, critics, and educators operating across institutional boundaries and political scales- from the book to the biennial- these lectures consider the curator- as diplomat, as researcher, as (para-)artist, as speculator, as provocateur, as censor- and the varying roles and forms curation itself: What defines spaces of curation today? What are the politics pressurizing the practice? What role does the emerging discipline of curatorial studies play in the institutionalization of art? What are the limits and possibilities of curation as a mode of publicity?
In many ways, these are timely questions for an evolving artistic research program such as ACT. Indeed, ACT is in the midst of its own curatorial moment: The program is currently reconceiving the accessibility and presentation of its archive, experimenting with new forms of publication, and developing lines of pedagogy and research that naturally overlap with the basic associative impulse of curatorial praxis- that is, the drive to find new forms and spaces of relief, to form new associations and ecologies of works, people, venues, and sites.
Web site: http://act.mit.edu/projects-and-events/lectures-series/2016-spring/fall-2016-about-series/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and Open to the Public
Sponsor(s): Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology, Department of Architecture, Arts at MIT, School of Architecture and Planning, Council for the Arts at MIT (CAMIT)
For more information, contact: Marion Cunningham
617-253-5229
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Boston Creates Town Hall
Monday, March 28
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
Bunker Hill Community College, A300 Auditorium, 250 Rutherford Avenue, Charlestown
After sharing the initial findings from the community engagement phase back in November, the Boston Creates team has been hard at work analyzing the data and refining the goals and strategies for the cultural plan.
On March 28th, the cultural planning team will share the goals and strategies of the cultural plan with the community. Ultimately, these goals and strategies will form the overall framework for the cultural plan that will be complete in June 2016. It is important that Boston's residents, communities, and organizations see themselves within the plan.
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Film Screening of Dan Ariely's (Dis)Honesty
Monday, March 28
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Pivotal, 145 Broadway, 3rd Floor, Cambridge
Join us for a free film screening of (Dis)Honesty – The Truth About Lies: a documentary feature film that explores the human tendency to be dishonest. Inspired by the work of behavioral economist, Dan Ariely, the film interweaves personal stories, expert opinions, behavioral experiments, and archival footage to reveal how and why people lie.
Dan Ariely teaches at Duke University and is the founder of The Center for Advanced Hindsight and the co-founder of BEworks. Ariely's talks on TED have been watched over 7.8 million times. He is the author of Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality, both of which became New York Times best sellers, as well as The Honest Truth about Dishonesty.
*Space is limited to 85 people. Please RSVP. And... wait for it... be *honest* if you can't make it so that we can give your spot to someone on the waiting list*
Here's the schedule:
6:00 - 6:30 Free food & drink while networking
6:30 - 8:00 Film screening of (Dis)Honesty
8:00 - 9:00 Folks are free to stick around for a short discussion of the film and networking
Event Sponsor: Pivotal Labs is a software development consultancy helping startups and enterprise build software applications using proven agile methods including extreme programming, lean product development, and balanced teams. Pivotal Labs has been a leader in agile philosophies for 20 years, helping small and large organizations transform their development practices by collaborating to build and launch market-tested, innovative products.
Pivotal Labs has generously donated the space in which the screening and event will take place, food, and drinks.
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Mobilizing the Energy Revolution
Monday, March 28
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Brookline Public Library, 361 Washington Street, Hunneman Hall, Brooklin
How do we convert our entire energy supply to renewables? Mara Prentiss, author of Energy Revolution: The Physics and the Promise of Efficient Technology, tells us about the opportunities and choices that must be made. “Most people aren’t aware of the enormous positive opportunities for change. I wrote the book to encourage people to embrace some of those changes.”
For more information about Brookline Climate Week see http://www.brooklineclimateweek.org
Event Contact: david.pantalone@verizon.net
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Catalyst Conversations Tod Machover & Kevin Esvelt
Monday, March 28
7:00p–8:30p
MIT, Building E-15, Bartos Theater, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
Catalyst Conversations is pleased to present a conversation between composer Tod Machover and evolutionary biologist Kevin Esvelt. In a world capable of destroying itself, both speakers are interested in helping our society make big and imperative changes: Machover with his crowd-sourced City Symphonies and Esvelt with Sculpting Evolution, which invents new ways to study and influence the evolution of ecosystems. They ask many questions, among them are these: Can the boundaries of hatred be broken? Can art do this? Can science do this? Can music be a way to radically break down boundaries? Can changes be made by tweaking nature itself? Their conversation will explore issues they are both passionate about and compelled by in their respective projects.
The conversation will be followed by a reception in the Lower Atrium. Arrive early for the conversation and visit the List galleries, open specially at 6 pm.
Open to: the general public
Cost: FREE
Tickets: https://socialseam.org/events/145
Sponsor(s): List Visual Arts Center
For more information, contact: Mark Linga
617-253-4680
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Ethics, Engineers, and Emissions: A multifaceted look at the VW incident
Monday, March 28
7:30pm to 9:00pm
Harvard Law School's Langdell South, Room 272, Kirkland and Ellis Hall
Register for your free ticket today! Please note there is limited seating.
The panel will include the following scholars:
Wai Cheng, Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Director, Sloan Automotive Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
David Keith, Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy at Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Lynn Paine, John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean at Harvard Business School.
Jonathan Zittrain, George Bemis Professor of International Law, Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources, Faculty Director, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Professor of Computer Science, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Professor, Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Host: Center for Research on Computation & Society
Contact: Kimia Mavon
Phone: 617-384-9466
Email: kmavon@seas.harvard.edu
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Tuesday, March 29
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COP21 Paris Climate Talks unConference
Tuesday, March 29
8:30 AM to 11:30 AM (EDT)
50 Milk Street, 17th Floor, "Milky Way" conference room, Boston
Cost: $15 - $35.00
More than 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions are related to the built environment. Emissions could double by 2050 if we carry on with business as usual. Failure to change increases the vulnerabilities of countries, regions and local communities to climate change. Yet:
The buildings sector offers one of the most cost-effective and economically beneficial paths for reducing energy demand and associated emissions, while at the same time supporting adaptation and resilience to climate change.
Many low-energy, renewable and deep- renovation solutions are available. Proven policy, finance and technology actions exist.
The economic, health, and social benefits of sustainable buildings are significant. Buildings provide shelter, places to live, work, learn and socialize, directly affecting our daily lives.
Buildings are long-term ventures. Today’s new buildings are tomorrow’s existing stock. Failure to act now will lock in growth in GHG emissions for decades.
Please join us as a community of advocates and practitioners as we explore how to leverage the public awareness and policy momentum generated by COP21 to drive policy gains in Massachusetts.
Agenda:
8:30 - 9 Registration and networking
9 - 9:15 Keynote and opening
9:15 - 10:30 Breakout with Discussion Leaders (unConference)
10:30 - 10:40 Break + Networking
10:40 - 12:00 Paris Panel with questions from audience
Our Paris Panelists:
Michael Green, Executive Director, Climate Action Business Association
Christopher Mackey, Building Scientist, Payette Architects
John Sterman, Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management & Director, MIT System Dynamics Group
Our unConference Discussion Leaders:
Elizabeth Saunders, Massachusetts Director, Clean Water Action
Josh Craft, Program Director, Environmental League of Massachusetts
Henrietta Davis, former Mayor of the City of Cambridge
Quinton Zondervan, Climate Action Business Association
This event will gather our community of experts from a variety of organizations and firms. Panelists who attended the Paris climate talks will be present, with break-out groups led by local issue experts.
Both the panel and breakout sessions will focus on the following topics and will provide perspectives from various professional backgrounds:
Value Chain Transformation: is the building sector capable of massive deployment of low emitting buildings and deep renovations? How will building sector stakeholders better work together to scale up solutions adapted to local circumstances.
Bridging the investment gap: how ready is the financial sector to increase investment in building efficiency? How will we address the critical need to scale up the public and private financing of EE and sustainable buildings? We will explore how buildings and EE can contribute to realizing MA's carbon goals and how the financial sector can help support that.
Public Policies: what is the readiness to implement long term action plans to address the key role of local jurisdictions to organize and facilitate integrated policy packages and collaborative approaches that shift to a low carbon and resilient built environment?
Building rating & reporting systems: how do they support the COP21 momentum?
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Making A Difference In A Complex World: Reimagining The Social Change Toolkit
Tuesday, March 29
8:30 AM to 5:00 PM (EDT)
Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston
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Sarah Kliff
Tuesday, March 29
12:00-1:00pm
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Sarah Kliff is an experienced health care reporter who spent six years covering the Affordable Care Act debate in Washington for outlets including Vox, the Washington Post, Politico, and Newsweek. Since 2009, she’s had a front row seat to the tumultuous Congressional battle over the law’s passage and the White House’s ensuing implementation struggle. The Supreme Court cited Kliff’s work in its 2011 decision upholding the health care. She is a recipient of fellowships from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Association of Health Care Journalists. She is currently the deputy managing editor for visuals at Vox, where she makes sure that every graphic and interactive on the news site tells a great story.
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EAPS Special Seminar on Ice Sheet-Atmosphere Interactions - Marcus Lofverstrom, NCAR
Tuesday, March 29
1:30p–2:30p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)
"The Mutual Interaction Between Atmosphere and Ice Sheets Over the Last Glacial Cycle”
Website: https://eapsweb.mit.edu/eaps-special-seminar-ice-sheet-atmosphere-interactions-marcus-löfverström-ncar
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact: Melody Abedinejad
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Free Software: Computing in Freedom, Developing Freedom
Tuesday, March 29
2:30p–4:00p
MIT, Building 54-100 (the tallest building on campus)
Speaker: Dr. Richard Stallman, President, Free Software Foundation
Richard Stallman will speak about the goals and philosophy of the Free Software Movement, and the status and history of the GNU operating system, which in combination with the kernel Linux is now used by tens of millions of users world-wide.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): CSAIL, Prof. Saman Amarasinghe
For more information, contact: Mary McDavitt
617.253.9620
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Irreversibility, information and the second law of thermodynamics at the nanoscale
Tuesday, March 29
3:30PM to 4:30PM
BU, SCI 109, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Speaker: Christopher Jarzynski, University of Maryland, College Park
What do the laws of thermodynamics look like, when applied to microscopic systems such as optically trapped colloidal particles, single molecules manipulated with laser tweezers, and biomolecular machines? In recent years it has become apparent that the fluctuations of small systems far from thermal equilibrium satisfy strong and unexpected laws, which allow us to rewrite familiar inequalities of macroscopic thermodynamics as equalities. These results in turn have spurred a renewed interest in the feedback control of small systems and the closely related Maxwell’s demon paradox. I will describe some of this progress, and will argue that it has refined our understanding of irreversibility, the second law, and the thermodynamic arrow of time.
This event is part of the Physics Department Colloquia Series. Refreshments will be served at 3:00 in the 1st Floor Lounge.
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Building Civic Tech at the Middle of the Venn: Lessons Learned From a Co-founder and CEO
Tuesday, March 29
4:00 PM to 7:00 PM (EDT)
Harvard, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, 124 Mount Auburn Street 2nd Floor North, Cambridge
Marci Harris, Co-founder and CEO, POPVOX
Marci Harris will share frank lessons from her experience launching and scaling one of the first civic tech startups. The workshop will examine the leadership and strategic challenges facing a mission-driven, for-profit enterprise, from comparing funding models to measuring impact. Participants will apply these lessons to their own civic startup idea, through time-boxed brainstorming, stacking and prioritizing ideas, developing a mission statement, and more. This workshop is for future startup founders who care about the distinctions between GovTech, Advocacy Tech, Political Tech, Media Tech, and Civic Tech.
Part of the Technology and Democracy Workshop Series
About the Technology and Democracy Workshop Series
The Ash Center’s non-resident Technology and Democracy Fellows will design and lead a series of hands-on workshops for Harvard Kennedy School students, co-sponsored by Tech4Change. Each workshop will help participants develop their “technological intelligence” and learn skills related to understanding, managing, or creating digital technologies with the potential to improve the quality of democratic governance. Visit ash.harvard.edu to read more. RSVP is required. Space is limited.
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Migration Crisis in the Mediterranean Region: A Humanitarian Perspective
WHEN Tue., Mar. 29, 2016, 4:15 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Lower Level Conference Room, Busch Hall, Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The CES Director's Seminar; The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
SPEAKER(S) Peter Maurer, President, International Committee of the Red Cross; Discussant: Melani Cammett, Professor of Government, Harvard University; Discussant: Jennifer Leaning, Director, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights; Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Introduction by: Michael VanRooyen, Director, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative; Chaired by: Grzegorz Ekiert, Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Professor of Government, Harvard University
COST free
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Learning From Elinor Ostrom: A Case on the Actors and Incentives that Shape Household Waste Management in Muzaffarnagar, India
Tuesday, March 29
6pm-7pm
MIT, Building E19-319, 400 Main Street, Cambridge
RSVP at
Kate Mytty, Waste Instructor, D-Lab
e4Dev Weekly Speaker Series
Editorial Comment: Elinor Ostrom studied common pool resources and documented the ways in which people have managed them sustainably for hundreds and even thousands of years. For her work she won the Nobel Prize for economics and laid out a method by which all of us can preserve and even restore the world through the considered management of the commons. Elinor Ostrom showed time and again that a commons becomes a tragedy only when it is not managed, demonstrating that the so-called tragedy of the commons is not inevitable but simply a measure of our own folly.
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100-day Urban Agriculture Plan for Venezuela
Tuesday March 29
6pm
Consulate General of Venezuela, 545 Boylston, suite 301, Boston
NOTE: Space is limited, please Reserve by email (events.venezuelan.consulate@gmail.com) not later than Tuesday March 29th 3:00PM
Join us for a conversation with Yurani Godoy, a Venezuelan agronomic engineer, former viceminister of agriculture and a researcher in the Institute of Advanced Studies, adscript to the Ministry of Science,Technology and Superior Education (http://www.idea.gob.ve/). Yurani is also a PhD candidate in Sustainable Development at Simon
Bolivar University in Caracas.
Yurani's area of expertise is sustainable agriculture, and she is collaborating with the 100-day Urban Agriculture plan that was kicked off on February 28, 2016 by the Venezuelan national government.
The plan began with the sowing of 1,200 hectares with 13 different crops, and at the close of 100 days, the plan is to have expanded cultivation to 12,000 hectares in order to meet 20% of the consumer demand in the eight participating cities. It is estimated that it will be possible to produce 30,000 tons of food with the help of various organized communities such as the communes, communal councils and eco-socialist brigades.
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Confronting Climate Change: A Conversation with the Women at the Forefront of Climate Change Action and Environmental Advocacy
WHEN Tue., Mar. 29, 2016, 6 – 8 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Starr Auditorium, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR HKS Center for Public Leadership and HKS Belfer Center's Environment and Natural Resources Program
SPEAKER(S) Amy Larkin, vice chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Climate Change
Amy Luers, assistant director, Climate Resilience and Information, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy
Elsie Sunderland, associate professor of environmental science and engineering at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and in the Department of Environmental Health in the Harvard School of Public Health
Moderator: Patricia Bellinger, executive director of the Center for Public Leadership and adjunct lecturer at HKS
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS The Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership and the Belfer Center’s Environment and Natural Resources Program are organizing a panel of women who are at the forefront of climate change action and advocacy in the various communities they serve and represent.
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Boston Green Drinks - March Happy Hour
Tuesday, March 29
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
Scholars, 25 School Street, Boston
Join the conversation with sustainability professionals and hobbyists. Enjoy a drink and build your connection with our green community!
Boston Green Drinks builds a community of sustainably-minded Bostonians, provides a forum for exchange of sustainability career resources, and serves as a central point of information about emerging green issues. We support the exchange of ideas and resources about sustainable energy, environment, food, health, education.
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Urban Identity Quest: A conversation with the Mayor Karl Dean of Nashville
Tuesday, March 29
6-8pm
Boston Society of Architects Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
During Mayor Karl Dean's tenure, the City of Nashville experienced an extraordinary construction boom, as it worked to expand public transit, connect neighborhoods, and strengthen the city's brand. What can the Boston region learn from Nashville's efforts? Please join a conversation between Geeta Pradhan, President of the Cambridge Community Foundation and Nashville’s former Mayor Dean, the first Mayor in Residence at the Boston University Initiative on Cities. The conversation will touch on issues of equity, access, and exploring the relationship between civic goals and the physical city.
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Making a Global Plan for Climate Change
Tuesday, March 29
6:30 PM
Belmont Media Center, 9 Lexington Street, Belmont
Henrik Selin, Ph.D., Associate Professor of International Relations, Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies; Director of Curricular Innovation & Initiatives, Pardee School of Global Studies.
Henrik Selin's research focus is global and regional politics and policy making on environment and sustainable development. In this discussion he explains the urgent need for a serious international commitment to deal with climate change and its impact on all nations. He assesses the recent Paris agreement and he explains why public engagement and pressure will be essential to establishing a viable climate policy.
Recent publications for the general public by Henrik Selin:
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Biggest Sticking Point in the Paris Climate Talks: Money
The Risk of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals: Too Many Goals, Too Little Focus
Can the Paris Climate Talks Prevent a Planetary Strike-Out?
The Climate Change Election
Dr. Selin has authored/co-edited several books: Global Governance of Hazardous Chemicals: Challenges of Multilevel Management (MIT Press), Changing Climates in North American Politics: Institutions, Policy Making and Multilevel Governance (Co-editor w/Stacy VanDeveer, MIT Press) and Transatlantic Environment and Energy Politics: Comparative and International Perspectives (Co-editor w/Miranda Schreurs and Stacy VanDeveer, Ashgate Press).
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Climate Café: Exploring Your Place in the Climate Movement
Tuesday, March 29
6:30–7pm refreshments 7-8:30pm program
Temple Sinai, 50 Sewall Ave., Brookline
Dan Ruben, Boston Green Tourism & Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman, Asst. Rabbi Temple Sinai & MA Interfaith Coalition for Climate Action (MAICCA)
Facing climate change can be overwhelming. It is also a profound opportunity to come together for service and justice. Join two pioneering climate leaders for their TED talk style presentations about their journeys into the climate movement. After the presentations, break into small groups to explore ways to deepen our commitment to address climate change personally and in society.
Fossil Fuel Free Action: bring your electric bill and switch to clean renewable electricity.
More on Brookline Climate Week at http://www.brooklineclimateweek.org
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Conservation Law Foundation Film Screening: Merchants of Doubt
Tuesday, March 29
6:30 PM to 9:30 PM (EDT)
Kendall Theater, 355 Binney Street, Cambridge
Cost: $10 suggested donation
Join CLF for a special screening of the acclaimed documentary Merchants of Doubt with special guests Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University and John Passacantando, Former Executive Director of Greenpeace USA.
Merchants of Doubt lifts the curtain on a secretive group of silver-tongued pundits-for-hire who present themselves as scientific authorities - but whose real aim is to spread doubt about very real public health threats, from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change.
7:00PM Film Screening followed by Q&A at 8:45PM
Stay after the film for a Q&A with two of the film's key characters - Naomi Oreskes, a historian of science at Harvard University on whose book the film is based, and John Passacantando, former executive director of Greenpeace USA.
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The Mind Club: Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters
Tuesday, March 29
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge,
Harvard Book Store welcomes psychology professors KURT GRAY and DANIEL GILBERT for a discussion of Gray's book The Mind Club: Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters, co-authored with Daniel M. Wegner.
About The Mind Club
Nothing seems more real than the minds of other people. When you consider what your boss is thinking or whether your spouse is happy, you are admitting them into the "mind club." It's easy to assume other humans can think and feel, but what about a cow, a computer, a corporation? What kinds of mind do they have? Daniel M. Wegner and Kurt Gray are award-winning psychologists who have discovered that minds—while incredibly important—are a matter of perception. Their research opens a trove of new findings, with insights into human behavior that are fascinating, frightening and funny. The Mind Club explains why we love some animals and eat others, why people debate the existence of God so intensely, how good people can be so cruel, and why robots make such poor lovers.
By investigating the mind perception of extraordinary targets—animals, machines, comatose people, god—Wegner and Gray explain what it means to have a mind, and why it matters so much.
Fusing cutting-edge research and personal anecdotes, The Mind Club explores the moral dimensions of mind perception with wit and compassion, revealing the surprisingly simple basis for what compels us to love and hate, to harm and to protect.
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Maria Sibylla Merian: The First Ecologist?
Tuesday, March 29
7:00–8:30pm
Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain
RSVP at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277
Cost: $5 member, $10 nonmember
Kay Etheridge, PhD, Professor of Biology, Gettysburg College
In 1699 a 52 year-old artist/naturalist embarked in Amsterdam for a two-month sailing voyage to the Dutch colony of Surinam in South America. Maria Sibylla Merian then spent two years in the tropical forests of Surinam studying insects and their food plants, an undertaking which today would be considered ecological science. The book that resulted from this extraordinary undertaking, Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, was the first to show New World plants and animals together in colorful images. By this time in her life Merian was a renowned naturalist, and already had published two books on European moths and butterflies, in which she pioneered the depiction of plants as hosts for specific insect species. Kay Etheridge, PhD, will provide an overview of Merian’s major contributions to the study of natural history and her considerable influence on naturalists and scientists who followed her.
Kay Etheridge is Professor of Biology at Gettysburg College. Her current scholarship centers on the integration of natural history images and the history of biology with a focus on Maria Sibylla Merian. She is a founding member of the Maria Sibylla Merian Society, and her forthcoming book on the biology of Merian’s caterpillar books will be published by Brill. Earlier publications in physiology and ecology include studies on tropical bats, manatees, lizards, and salamanders. In addition to biology courses she teaches a seminar on creativity in art and science and a course on Renaissance Kunstkammer.
Offered with Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens
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Brunella Alfinito Wearable Technology, MassArt & MIT Embr Labs
Tuesday, March 29
8 PM - 11 PM
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Brunella Alfinito is an Italian born citizen doing her graduate studies at Alchimia Contemporay School of Jewelry, Florence, Italy.
Brunealla is presently an exchange student at MassArt and is fulfilling an internship at MIT with Embr Labs. Embr Labs is a startup founded by four MIT materials engineering students and has invented a bracelet that locally heats and cools the wrist and enables wearers to make themselves comfortable while reducing overall building energy use. Brunella will give an artist's talk and share her experience as an intern at MIT.
Event cosponsored with the Sustainability Incubator, 3D Department, and MIT’s Embr Labs, Inc.
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Wednesday, March 30
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Community of Scholars Day
Wednesday, March 30
9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Lesley University, University Hall, Porter Square, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
See free exhibitions, presentations and panel discussions on topics running the gamut from digital classrooms, Islamophobia, Japanese manga and anime, psychology, treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, advocacy, culinary arts, and more – all during Lesley University’s annual Community of Scholars Day.
Events are free and open to all.
Attendees will enjoy more than 40 workshops, installations, performances and poster sessions by faculty, staff and students, including undergraduates, graduates, and PhD candidates, all of which showcase research and scholarship at Lesley.
Presentations highlight inquiry across disciplines, such as building community through service, teaching counselors and psychologists cultural competency to serve immigrant communities, exploring visual mathematics and themes of emerging adulthood and teaching adolescents.
Dr. Rafael Campo, a founding faculty member of Lesley’s MFA in Creative Writing program and a Harvard Medical School professor, will deliver a plenary address at 4 p.m., titled “Just the Facts versus the Whole Truth: Poetry, or the Practice of Medicine.”
See a full schedule of workshops and times at: lesley.edu/community-of-scholars-day-2016/workshops.
Call arutstei@lesley.edu
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Symposium: The MIT campus--Then, Now, Next
Wednesday, March 30
All day
MIT, Building W-16, 48 Massachusetts Avenue (Rear), Cambridge
The first symposium will examine MIT architecture and the campuses of past, present, and future.
Additional program details will be posted on the event website as soon as they are available.
Web site: http://mit2016.mit.edu/symposia/campus
Open to: the general public
This event occurs daily through March 31, 2016.
Sponsor(s): Institute Events
For more information, contact: MIT Institute Events
617-253-4795
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Colloquium on Human Learning + Machine Learning
Wednesday, March 30
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM (EDT)
swissnex Boston, Consulate of Switzerland,420 Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/colloquium-on-human-learning-machine-learning-tickets-22504651017
Join us for an interactive colloquium looking at the intersection of Machine Learning and Human Learning taking place simultaneously at swissnex Boston and at the University of Geneva. This event is organized by the Center for Curriculum Redesign and supported by the Montes Alti Educational Foundation and the Fondation Helvetica Educatio.
Computer science and neuroscience are two of the fastest moving fields in the world. Join us for an interactive colloquium taking place simultaneously at swissnex Boston and at the University of Geneva, which will discuss the highly timely topics of Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence and Human Learning / Intelligence, and their intersection. The colloquium will concentrate on the following questions, with an accent towards unearthing the next levels of questions to ask and research:
How can Machine Learning foster and shoulder Human Learning?
What is the state-of-the-art of Machine Intelligence and what are its extrapolated hopes?
What is our present understanding of Human Intelligence, and the extrapolated developments of such understanding?
How are the two Intelligences similar and different?
What tasks are Humans particularly suited for, vs Artificial Intelligence?
What does this mean for what should Humans focus on? (occupations, skills, education)
This colloquium will take place in Geneva and Boston simultaneously and is open to faculty, students and other interested participants.The colloquium will be streamed live (details on how to watch it online will follow).
Colloquium Agenda
8:30 am Doors open
9:00 am Colloquium begins
9:50 am Break
10:00 am Colloquium resumes
10:50 am Break
11:00 am Colloquium resumes
12:00 pm Networking reception
1:00 pm Doors close
Panelists at swissnex Boston
Rick Miller, President, Olin College of Engineering (TBC)
Richard K. Miller is professor of mechanical engineering and president of Olin College of Engineering. He earned his B.S. from the University of California at Davis, his M.S. from MIT and he has a Ph.D. in applied mechanics from the California Institute of Technology. He spent 17 years on the Engineering faculty at USC in Los Angeles and UCSB in Santa Barbara before he served as Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Iowa from 1992-99. In 1999 he was then appointed president of Olin College of Engineering. With a background in applied mechanics and interests in innovation in higher education, Richard K. Miller is the author of more than 100 publications and has received several awards for his work. He served as Chair of the Engineering Advisory Committee of the U.S. National Science Foundation and has served on advisory boards and committees for Harvard University, Stanford University, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), in addition to others.
Robert Plotkin, patent attorney and author “The Genie in the Machine”
Robert Plotkin is a patent attorney. His firm specializes in software patent application preparation and prosecution, software patent infringement and validity analysis, and on consultation on software-related litigation. He has a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. In 2000 he founded his law firm Robert Plotkin, P.C. From 2004 to 2010 he taught an advanced course on “Software and Law” at Boston University School of Law. He is the author of the book “The Genie in the Machine: How Computer-Automated Inventing is Revolutionizing Law and Business”
Todd Rose, Director, Mind Brain and Education program, Harvard University
Todd Rose is the Director of the Mind, Brain, & Education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he also leads the Laboratory for the Science of the Individual. He has a B.S. in Psychology from the Weber State University, a Master of Education (Ed.M.) from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education in Mind, Brain, and Education. He also obtained his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Developmental Science from Harvard University Graduate School of Education. After his Ed.D. he became a Faculty Member at the same institution and in 2012 became President of the Center for Individual Opportunity. Since 2015 he is the Director of Mind, Brain, and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He teaches Educational Neuroscience and is the author of “The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World that Values” and “Square Peg: My Story and What it Means for Raising Innovators, Visionaries, and Out-of-the-box Thinkers”.
Frank Levy, Professor emeritus of Economics, MIT
Frank Levy is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. He has a Masters and Ph.D. in economics from Yale. Before joining MIT in 1992, he taught for ten years at University of California, Berkeley and eleven years at the University of Maryland at College Park and worked for four years at the Urban Institute in Washington DC. In 2015 he published a Paper with Dana Remus “Can Robots be Lawyers? Computers, Lawyers, and the Practice of Law”.
Moderator: Charles Fadel, Founder and Chairman, Center for Curriculum Redesign
Charles Fadel is a global education thought leader, futurist and inventor; founder and chairman of the Center for Curriculum Redesign; visiting scholar at Harvard GSE; Chair of the education committee at BIAC/OECD; co-author of “Four-Dimensional Education” and best-selling “21st Century Skills”; founder of the Fondation Helvetica Educatio (Geneva, Switzerland). He has worked with education systems and institutions in more than thirty countries. He was formerly Global Education Lead at Cisco Systems, and holds a BSEE, an MBA, and six patents.
Panelists at University of Geneva
Pierre Dillembourg, Professor, Computer-Human Interaction Lab for Learning & Instruction, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Pierre Dillenbourg is professor in learning technologies in the School of Computer & Communication Sciences at EPFL, where he is the head of the CHILI Lab: “Computer-Human Interaction for Learning & Instruction“. He is also the academic director of Center for Digital Education, which implements the MOOC strategy of EPFL. Pierre Dillenbourg graduated in educational sciences from University of Mons (Belgium). He started research on learning technologies in 1984 and completed his Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Lancaster (UK) in the domain of artificial intelligence applications for educational software. Before he joined EPFL in 2002 he was an assistant professor at the University of Geneva.
Conrad Hughes, Campus and Secondary Principal at La Grande Boissière, International School of Geneva (ISG/EIG)
Conrad Hughes is Campus and Secondary Principal at the International School of Geneva, La Grande Boissière, the oldest international school in the world. He has been school principal, Director of Education, International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Coordinator and teacher in schools in Switzerland, France, India and the Netherlands. He teaches Theory of Knowledge.
His PhD (2008) is in English literature: The Treatment of the Body in the Fiction of JM Coetzee. He is writing his EdD thesis on the relationship between prejudice and education with specific focus on how education can reduce prejudice. He is the author of numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and as Director of Education at the International School of Geneva he led the publication of Guiding Principles for Learning in the 21st Century with UNESCO. He was chief editor for a special edition of Springer’s Prospects Journal on Learning in the 21st Century with entries by leading academics such as Sugata Mitra, Steve Higgins, Doug & Lynn Newton, Scilla Elworthy, Paul Black and Juan Carols Tedesco.
Stéphane Marchand-Maillet, Associate Professor of Computer Science, head of the Viper group, Universite de Geneve (UNIGE)
Stéphane Marchand-Maillet is Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and head of the Viper (Visual Information Processing for Enhanced Retrieval) group. The Viper group deals with the development of Machine Learning and Data Mining techniques. Stéphane Marchand-Maillet received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at Imperial College (University of London, UK) in 1997. He then completed a postdoctoral stay at Eurécom (France). He joined the Computer Science Department of the University of Geneva in 2000 as an assistant professor.
The Center for Curriculum Redesign (CCR) is a global non-profit organization dedicated to improving education by focusing on what students should learn in the 21st century. To this end it designs and propagates new curricula and brings together international organizations, jurisdictions, academic institutions, corporations, and non-profit organizations.
The Montes Alti Educational Foundation is dedicated to assisting educators in using cutting-edge teaching technologies in programs for children and young adults. The Montes Alti Educational Foundation supports promising research programs encouraging development of new teaching technologies in Geneva, Switzerland, and the world.
The Fondation Helvetica Educatio seeks to improve global understanding, societal wisdom, and human prosperity by redesigning school, university and adult education and by developing deeply transformational policies adapting curricula to the needs of the 21st century.
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Transportation@MIT Seminar
Wednesday, March 30
11:45a–1:00p
MIT, Building E51-315, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Kevin Webb, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Sidewalk Labs
Join us for a presentation by Kevin Webb of Sidewalk Labs. Sidewalk Labs is a new Google-funded urban data startup. The company is involved in projects like LinkNYC: a free public gigabit wireless internet system for the City of New York. For more information on Sidewalk Labs, see http://www.sidewalkinc.com/
Lunch will be provided.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Transportation Club, GSC Funding Board
For more information, contact:
Patton Doyle
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Challenges and Opportunities of China's Urban Renewal
Wednesday, March 30
12:30p–2:00p
MIT, Building 9-450, 105 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Dr. WANG Shifu
Dr. WANG Shifu is a Fulbright scholar at MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning. He is professor and chair of the Urban Planning Department at South China University of Technology. His research and teaching areas include urbanization studies and urban design, with a primary focus on theories and methods of planning practice. He authored the book "Implementation Oriented Urban Design" (2005). Dr. Wang works as an urban planner and city designer on projects, including different scales of strategy and/or physical planning. He also serves as a planning committee member for the municipalities of Guangzhou, Foshan, and Fuzhou.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact: Heather Mooney
617-715-2352
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Future of the Campus Panel with David Adjaye: Designing A Place for Inventing the Future: The MIT Campus, Then, Now, Next - Part of the MIT 2016 Symposium
Wednesday, March 30
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
The Intersections of Architecture and Campus Culture
with David Adjaye, Principal, Adjaye Associates, London, and 2016 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT recipient
This two day symposium is co-sponsored with the MIT 2016 Committee and the MIT Department of Architecture. The symposium will examine architecture and cultures at MIT and their influences on education and student life on campus. With past, present and future lenses, speakers will explore the prescient design of the original buildings and the interdisciplinary, innovative research that they fomented, as well as imagine the teaching and maker spaces of the future.
David Adjaye will present during Designing A Place for Inventing the Future: The MIT Campus, Then, Now, Next on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 4:00pm.
Registration and more information available at http://mit2016.mit.edu/symposia/campus
Symposium Chairs
Hashim Sarkis, Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning
John Ochsendorf, Class of 1942 Professor of Architecture and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Arts at MIT
For more information, contact: Leah Talatinian
617.252.1888
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Self-Aggregation of Tropical Convection: How does it work? Does it matter for climate?
Wednesday, March 30
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus), Cambridge
Speaker: Sandrine Bony (Universite Pierre et Marie Curie)
EAPS Department Lecture Series
Refreshments, 3:30 pm, Ida Green Lounge
Weekly talks given by leading thinkers in the areas of geology, geophysics, geobiology, geochemistry, atmospheric science, oceanography, climatology, and planetary science.
Web site: http://bit.ly/232fNPb
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact: Jen Fentress
617-253-2127
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Collective Action in an Asymmetric World
Wednesday, March 30
4:15pm to 5:30pm
Harvard, Room L-382, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Cuicui Chen and Richard Zeckhauser, Ramsey Professor of Political Economy and HUCE faculty associate
Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy
Contact: Bryan J. Galcik bryan_galcik@hks.harvard.edu
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Ecological Systems in the Anthropocene Series: "Ecological Novelty, Old and New: Conservation in a post-normal world”
WHEN Wed., Mar. 30, 2016, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Science Center Lecture Hall A, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Science, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard University Center for the Environment
SPEAKER(S) Stephen Jackson, director, Southwest Climate Science Center, University of Arizona
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO laura_hanrahan@harvard.edu
DETAILS Dr. Stephen Jackson is a world leader in the study of ecological communities of the past (paleoecology) from tree rings, fossil rodent middens, lake sediments, and other preserved snapshots. His work covers a sweep of space and time to understand how past climate and ecosystems can inform those of today and the future. His papers have catalyzed and shaped discussions of ecological novelty and no-analog communities.
Jackson is director of the Southwest Climate Science Center and former professor of botany and founding director of the doctoral program in ecology at the University of Wyoming. He is past president of the American Quaternary Association and is on the governing board of the Ecological Society of America and the editorial boards of Ecosystems, Frontiers in Ecology & Environment, and Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
This series, hosted by HUCE and organized by Elizabeth Wolkovich, assistant professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, examines the future of ecological systems in a world heavily impacted by humans and aims to bring in a large, cross-disciplinary audience. This year’s theme is “Novel Ecosystems, Novel Climates: Is Today’s Environment Unprecedented?”
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Hannah Arendt Lecture Series: Eichmann in Jerusalem: Conscience, Normality, and the Rule of Narrative
WHEN Wed., Mar. 30, 2016, 5 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Lower Level Conference Room, Busch Hall, Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History; Harvard Center for Jewish Studies; The Political Theory Colloquium
SPEAKER(S) Dana Villa, Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame
COST free
CONTACT INFO Peter Gordon, pgordon@fas.harvard.edu
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The Role of Natural Gas in the Energy Transition
Wednesday, March 30
5:15p–6:15p
MIT, Building 32-141, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Greg Guidry, EVP, Shell
Our world today is exciting, dynamic, and fast moving. We have never been more connected, with more and more people enjoying better opportunities, better health, better lives. Our progress depends on a reliable, accessible hydrocarbon energy system to power our homes, our travel, work spaces... even the touchscreen technology on our smart phones. With this progress comes a global challenge. Achieving a decent quality of life for everyone on the planet is driving demand for energy in our cities and our economies; but addressing environmental stresses, including climate change, has never been more important.
The big challenge, simply put, is: how the world can produce and consume much more energy while emitting much less CO2? Meeting this challenge requires a mixture of vision and realism, urgency and long-term thoughtfulness. Renewable energies will eventually become the largest source of energy globally. But this will only be possible in combination with cleaner and convenient natural gas and oil products that can provide a full suite of energy products and overcome the current challenges for renewables in volume, availability, intermittency, storage, and energy density.
Join Greg Guidry, Executive Vice President of Shell Unconventionals, and Robert Armstrong, Director of MIT Energy Initiative for a lively discussion about the role of natural gas in the energy transition - and the role that each of us can play, now and in the future.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact: MIT Energy Initiative
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Conserving the Great Apes in a Changing World
WHEN Wed., Mar. 30, 2016, 6 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Museums of Science and Culture, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Co-sponsored by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and Harvard Museum of Natural History.
Presented in collaboration with the Project on Race & Gender in Science & Medicine at the Hutchins Center for African and African-American Research, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Annette Lanjouw, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Great Ape Program, Arcus Foundation
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO 617.496.1027
DETAILS Conserving species, particularly the “charismatic megafauna,” has been a focus of conservation efforts for many decades. With a growing human population, the protection of any single species—compared to the conservation of a landscape or ecosystem—can easily be questioned. Annette Lanjouw will discuss why the conservation of individual species is critical and how this effort enables us to connect with the environment in ways that make action and responses meaningful.
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Synthetic Biology: Redesigning Life
WHEN Wed., Mar. 30, 2016, 6 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Auditorium, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
SPEAKER(S) Jim Collins
COST Free and open to the public
TICKET WEB LINK sfas2016-collins.eventbrite.com
CONTACT INFO events@broadinstitute.org
DETAILS Synthetic biology is bringing together engineers, physicists, and biologists to construct biological circuits out of proteins, genes, and other bits of DNA, and to use these circuits to rewire and reprogram organisms. These re-engineered organisms are going to change our lives in the coming years, leading to cheaper drugs, rapid diagnostic tests, and synthetic probiotics to treat infections and a range of complex diseases. In this talk, we highlight recent efforts to create synthetic gene networks and programmable cells and discuss a variety of synthetic biology applications in biotechnology and biomedicine.
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Political Polarization in the United States
Wednesday, March 30
6:00 PM to 8:15 PM (EDT)
Workbar Cambridge, 45 Prospect Street, Cambridge
Americans increasingly report dissatisfaction with government in Washington, D.C., hold both parties in low esteem, and exit the party system to be Independents: today, Independents number 45% of the electorate, up from 30% only 8 years ago. DC appears to be gridlocked, and inter-party antipathy has reached new highs.
Many Americans are worried about the state of the nation's political atmosphere, and are wondering how we have reached this state and what we can do about it.
How can we measure political polarization in the United States and how has it changed over time?
Why have U.S. politics become more polarized? Is it because Americans’ positions on policy issues have become more extreme?
What can be done?
Join us for a brief presentation about the results of our speakers' research on the subject, followed by Q&A and open discussion.
Speakers: Erik Fogg and Nathaniel Greene are the co-founders of MidTide Media and lead the Something to Consider Movement, with the mission of rebuilding the lost middle ground in US politics. MitTide is part of the transpartisan Bridge Alliance.In 2015 they published Wedged: How You Became a Tool of the Partisan Political Establishment, and How to Start Thinking For Yourself Again. The book uncovers the root causes behind growing political polarization in the United States. Erik received Bachelors and Masters degrees from MIT in Political Science. Nat received a Masters degree from Oxford in Engineering and a PGC from Cambridge in Design, Manufacturing, and Management.
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POVERTY, INC. + Filmmaker Q&A | SEID (MIT Sloan)
Wednesday, March 30
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
MIT, Building 32-123, Stata Center, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Join us Wednesday, March 30th, as MIT SEID hosts a screening of the award-winning documentary, Poverty, Inc., at 6 PM.
Program: Screening starts at 6 PM.
Q&A discussion with Filmmaker Mark Weber at 7:30 PM.
Watch the film trailer: https://vimeo.com/109863354
Share with your friends on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #PovertyINC
Website: http://www.povertyinc.org/
POVERTY, INC. has earned 40 international film festival honors and was recently selected to the "Best of Fests" category in IDFA Amsterdam - the biggest documentary festival in the world. It has already screened in 16 countries and numerous top universities, sparking a fast-growing grassroots dialogue to ignite change around the world.
Bring the film to your city by emailing screenings@povertyinc.org or visiting our screenings page: http://www.povertyinc.org/screenings/.
FILM SYNOPSIS
“I see multiple colonial governors,” says Ghanaian software entrepreneur Herman Chinery-Hesse of the international development establishment in Africa. “We are held captive by the donor community.”
The West has positioned itself as the protagonist of development, giving rise to a vast multi-billion dollar poverty industry — the business of doing good has never been better.
Yet the results have been mixed, in some cases even catastrophic, and leaders in the developing world are growing increasingly vocal in calling for change. Drawing from over 200 interviews filmed in 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. unearths an uncomfortable side of charity we can no longer ignore.
From TOMs Shoes to international adoptions, from solar panels to U.S. agricultural subsidies, the film challenges each of us to ask the tough question: Could I be part of the problem?
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Local Action, Big Results
Wednesday, March 30
6:30–7pm refreshments 7-9pm program
All Saints Parish, 1773 Beacon Street, Brookline
Carol Oldham, Exec. Dir. MA Climate Action Network;
Dr. Tommy Vitolo, Sr. Assoc., Synapse Energy Economics; Audrey Schulman, Pres. & Co-Founder HEET; Nathan Phillips, BU Professor of Earth and Environment; André LeRoux, Exec. Dir. MA Smart Growth Alliance.
Municipal climate initiatives are accelerating now across the Commonwealth. Leaders examine three ways communities are innovating: implementing options for local renewable electricity, eliminating methane gas leaks, and promoting smart growth through long range community vision to raise the bar on sustainable town and school expansion. Break out into workshops for developing impactful actions.
More on Brookline Climate Week at http://www.brooklineclimateweek.org
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Food + Tech Mystery Speaker Series: Cai Rintoul from Provender
Wednesday, March 30
6:30 PM
CIC Boston, 50 Milk Street, 16th Floor, Einstein Conference Room, Boston
This is your LAST chance to learn from our Food+Tech Mystery Speakers!
On March 30th, Branchfood will host Cai from Provender to tell the story of how he launched a successful food tech enterprise.
Cai will dive deep into the challenges and lessons learned of launching a food tech company. We'll be covering early pitfalls of starting a biz, obtaining partners and funding, and reaching buyers and users, and more!
Do not miss the opportunity to learn from this savvy founder! Hear his #BOSFoodStory, network with him, and soak in some of his #hustle.
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Cambridge Forum: The Future of Food, An Urban Answer?
Wednesday,March 30
7 PM
First Parish Church, 1446 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Climate change has forced us to rethink our options about many things, including how and where we grow our food.
James Miner, Principal of urban design and planning at Sasaki Associates in Watertown, has focused much of his practice on creating more sustainable communities for future generations. Miner lectures and writes extensively on the various ways in which local food can be used to promote economic development and other advantages.
Joining the Cambridge Forum discussion will be Jessie Banhazl, founder and CEO of Green City Growers, who over the past five years has proven that sustainable agriculture can be both healthy and profitable. Last year, she planted a barren rooftop at Fenway Park and it yielded 4,000 pounds of produce for urban farmers. By growing fresh food in the most unlikely places, Jessie is helping change people’s perception of what is possible by launching her own rooftop farming revolution.
Please join us for a free, informative evening at Cambridge Forum. All are welcome!
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Thursday, March 31
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The Spirit of Sustainable Agriculture
Sunday, March 31- Monday, April 1
Harvard Divinity School, 42 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
It has been more than ninety years since Rudolf Steiner offered his Agriculture Course, seventy-five since Sir Albert Howard published An Agricultural Testament, and almost forty since Wendell Berry published The Unsettling of America.
Concepts such as agroecology, biodynamics, permaculture, food miles, food deserts, food justice, and local food have all proliferated in both popular and scholarly venues over the past ten to fifteen years. Such a sustainable agriculture gestalt is vibrant and worthy of more sustained discussion and critical attention. In this spirit, “The Spirit of Sustainable Agriculture” aims to bring together farmers, religious and spiritual leaders, and academics, respectively, to join in a robust and stimulating discussion about the spirit of sustainable agriculture, delineating its past, celebrating and investigating its present, and theorizing its future.
Nigel Savage of Hazon will offer the keynote address.
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Symposium: The MIT campus--Then, Now, Next
Thursday, March 31
All day
MIT, Building W-16, 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
The first symposium will examine MIT architecture and the campuses of past, present, and future.
Additional program details will be posted on the event website as soon as they are available.
Web site: http://mit2016.mit.edu/symposia/campus
Open to: the general public
This event occurs daily through March 31, 2016.
Sponsor(s): Institute Events
For more information, contact: MIT Institute Events
617-253-4795
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Sustainability at Wellington Asset Management
Thursday, March 31
11:45am
MIT, Building E62-250, 100 Main Street, Cambridge
As part of Wellington’s approach to integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics into the investment decision-making process, the firm’s portfolio management and ESG teams engage with hundreds of companies each year to discuss a broad range of ESG topics. This level of interaction allows their portfolio managers and analysts to thoroughly assess ESG issues and address ESG risks within these companies. Christina Zimmermann, ESG Strategist at Wellington, will discuss various hot topics, such as climate change and water scarcity, and share insights into how investors can encourage companies to become more sustainable.
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Projecting Climate Change Impacts on Global Marine Biodiversity and Fisheries
Thursday, March 31
12–1 pm
Harvard, 100F Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
with William Cheung, The University of British Columbia.
Changes in temperature, oxygen level, acidity and other ocean properties directly affect marine ecosystems through shifts in biogeography, phenology, productivity and trophic interactions. This talk highlights some of the latest understanding on the extent to which climate change and ocean acidification are affecting global marine biodiversity and fisheries. As shown by analyzing global marine biogeography records and fisheries data, ocean warming has already been altering marine species assemblages in the past four decades. Moreover, mapping of vulnerability of almost 1000 species marine fishes in the global ocean based on their exposure to climate stressors, biological sensitivity and adaptive capacity indicates that most of the studied marine fishes become highly vulnerable to climate change under high greenhouse gas emission scenarios.
Such findings corroborate with results from simulation modeling of global shifts in distributions of marine fishes and invertebrates, highlighting the large climate risks of regional ecosystems, particularly in the tropics and Arctic Ocean, in terms of changes in community structure and key ecosystem services such as fisheries. The resulting economic impacts are particularly large in developing countries with low adaptive capacity. Such evidence demonstrates the multi-facet responses of marine ecosystems to climate change, identify hotspots of vulnerable ocean regions, and highlights the need for immediate actions and their scope to mitigate the impacts from climate change and ocean acidification.
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Book talk: "Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War”
WHEN Thu., Mar. 31, 2016, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Kalb Seminar Room, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Poetry/Prose, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The CMES Middle East Forum; Shorenstein on Media, Politics and Public Policy; Middle East Initiative at HKS; Nieman Foundation for Journalism
SPEAKER(S) Co-authors, Robin Yassin-Kassab and Leila Al-Shami.
Robin Yassin-Kassab, journalist & regular media commentator on Syria and the Middle East; author of the novel "The Road from Damascus". He co-edits www.pulsemedia.org and blogs at www.qunfuz.com.
Leila Al-Shami, founding member of Tahrir-ICN, a network connecting anti-authoritarian struggles across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
DETAILS Unless otherwise noted in the event description, CMES events are open to the public (no registration required), and off the record. Please note that events may be filmed and photographed by CMES for record-keeping and for use on the CMES website and publications.
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Remaking the Rust Belt: the Postindustrial Transformation of North America
WHEN Thu., Mar. 31, 2016, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Room 202, 61 Kirkland Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Business, Humanities, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Canada Program, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
SPEAKER(S) Tracy Neumann, Department of History, Harvard University and Wayne State University, Michigan
COST free and open to the public - but RSVP required: canada@wcfia.harvard.edu
CONTACT INFO Canada@wcfia.harvard.edu
(617) 495-3671
DETAILS The Canada Program Seminar is chaired by Alison Mountz, the 2015-16 William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies.
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Sitting in the Driver’s Seat: Business and Global Well-Being
Thursday, March 31
12:30–1:30 pm
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, FXB G-12, 651 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Join Dr. Eileen McNeely for this Director's Lecture Series installment.
What does the future of sustainability and human health look like?
This spring, the Center for Health and the Global Environment will be hosting a Director's Lecture Series showcasing how its latest research is re-envisioning health and sustainability. This series will offer deep insight into many of the research programs and initiatives at the Center which are tackling some of the biggest sustainability challenges of the 21st century.
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Xconomy Forum: Robo Madness–The A.I. Explosion
Thursday, March 31
1:30pm - 5:30pm
Google, 355 Main Street, 5th Floor Cambridge
Major advances are happening in robotics and the driving force behind it—artificial intelligence. Now companies of all sizes are using emerging A.I. technologies from deep learning to computer vision to natural language processing to build their businesses—and impact our daily lives. Think Google, Facebook, iRobot, and a whole new generation of startups: the technologies are already starting to transform retail, advertising, social media, transportation, connected homes, and other industries.
But what are the real opportunities and risks for entrepreneurs and investors? How will A.I. and robotics reshape the competitive landscape of business and society? And what can Boston-area innovators do to harness the region’s strengths in technology, talent, and research?
At this special Xconomy conference, hosted by Google, we’ll address these questions—and much more—in a series of interactive talks, chats, and demos.
Spotlight
Wyss Institute Core Faculty member Conor Walsh will join this event as a plenary speaker.
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Addressing Chemical of Concern on Campus: Furniture Purchasing Can Lead to Creating a Healthier Environment
Thursday, March 31
2pm - 3pm EDT
Webinar
Well documented scientific research has clearly shown that the chemical flame retardants, widely used in upholstered furniture, are harmful to public health and provide no fire safety benefit. Due to a change in regulations and a shifting market, higher education institutions can now take concrete steps toward reducing risk and promoting a safe and healthy indoor environment by purchasing furniture that meet the necessary fire safety codes without harmful chemicals. This presentation will inform you about the chemicals and materials of concern used in furniture, the latest information on the new flammability regulations, ways to reduce exposure to these toxic chemicals. The Center for Environmental Health will review many of the eco-labels and provide concrete purchasing tips.
In addition, Harvard University will provide a case study with general guidelines for how to easily procure flame retardant free furniture in a cost-neutral or even cost-saving manner.
Speakers:
Heather Henriksen, MPA, Director, Harvard Office for Sustainability
Judy Levin, MSW, Pollution Prevention Director, Center for Environmental Health
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Lecture by Michelle K. Lee, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
Thursday, March 31
3:00p–4:00p
MIT, Building 10-250, Huntington Hall,77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Michelle K. Lee
MIT welcomes Michelle K. Lee, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to deliver a lecture, titled "On the Front Lines of Promoting Innovation: From MIT to Washington, D.C."
Web site: spi.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Cost: n/a
Sponsor(s): Office of the Vice President for Research , Science Policy Initiative
For more information, contact: The Science Policy Initiative
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Quantitative Biology: A Fusion Between Physics and Biology
Thursday, March 31
4:00 pm
MIT, Building 34-101, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Refreshments at 3:30 pm in 34-101 lobby
TERENCE HWA, University of California, San Diego
Advances in biology have presented a multitude of opportunities for physicists and for physics. I will illustrate the different types of opportunities using examples encountered during my personal journey as a theoretical physicist. At the molecular scale, a maximum entropy principle turns variations in the sequence composition of related proteins into a procedure to inform the prediction of protein structures and protein-protein interactions. At the cellular level, discovery and application of phenomenological "growth laws" lead to quantitatively accurate predictions on bacterial response to genetic and environmental perturbations. At the population level, physical expansion of population and tissue open up simple dynamic mechanisms to generate spatiotemporal patterns.
Host: MIT Physics Graduate Student Council
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Hypotheses for a Less Negative Aerosol Radiative Forcing
Thursday, March 31
4:00pm to 5:00pm
Harvard, Haller Hall (102), Geology Museum, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Bjorn Stevens, Director, Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology and Professor, University of Hamburg
Harvard Climate Seminar series presented by the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Sponsored by the Harvard Oceanography Committee and HUCE.
Contact: Laura Hanrahan laura_hanrahan@harvard.edu
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Fail Better: The United Nations and Syria
WHEN Thu., Mar. 31, 2016, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Allison Dining Room, Fifth Floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Middle East Initiative, the Middle East Forum at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
SPEAKER(S) A seminar with Mouin Rabbani, Former Head of Political Affairs, Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria
COST Free and open to the public
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Future of Media
Thursday, March 31
4:00 PM to 6:00 PM (EDT)
Northeastern, East Village, 17th Floor, 291 Saint Botolph Street, Boston
A talk with The Washington Post executive editor and digital media innovator Martin “Marty” Baron
Please join President Joseph E. Aoun and Pulitzer Prize-winning editor and digital media innovator Marty Baron for a conversation about the future of media. Currently leading one of the most influential news organizations, The Washington Post, Baron has been a news media pioneer with remarkable successes in an industry that has recently experienced profound disruption
The two will discuss the exciting future of the media industry in the digital world.
Previously, Baron had been editor of The Boston Globe. During his tenure, the Globe won six Pulitzer Prizes, including one for their Spotlight investigation which inspired the Academy Award-winning movie Spotlight.
This event is part of "The Future of…”, a presidential speaker series that explores what's on the horizon for the topics that shape our lives. Each event features a conversation with a leading thinker and innovator on themes like food, dating, the media — and more.
“The Future of Media”
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Askwith Forum - Against the Odds: Educating Girls Globally
WHEN Thu., Mar. 31, 2016, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Longfellow Hall, 13 Appian Way, Cambridge
TYPE OF EVENT Discussion, Forum, Lecture, Question & Answer Session
PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT Alumni, AskWith Forum
BUILDING/ROOM Askwith Hall
CONTACT NAME Roger Falcon
CONTACT EMAIL askwith_forums@gse.harvard.edu
CONTACT PHONE 617-384-9968
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION/DEPARTMENT Harvard Graduate School of Education
REGISTRATION REQUIRED No
ADMISSION FEE This event is free and open to the public.
RSVP REQUIRED No
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education
DETAILS
Speakers:
Irina Bokova, Director-General, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Sakena Yacoobi, CEO, Afghan Institute of Learning; Co- Founder and Vice President, Creating Hope International
Discussants:
Monica Higgins, Kathleen McCartney Professor of Education Leadership, HGSE; Faculty Co-Chair, Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Chair and Director, Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative
Fernando Reimers, Ed.M.’84, Ed.D.’88, Ford Foundation Professor of Practice in International Education and Director of the International Education Policy Program and of the Global Education Innovation Initiative, HGSE; Faculty Co-Chair, Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative
This forum will examine the challenges that remain for girls around the world to access a high quality education that empowers them, and the work that activists, teachers, governments and intergovernmental organizations are advancing to address these challenges. Yacoobi will discuss the constraints that girls and women face to receiving an education in Afghanistan, and highlight the work of that she and other social entrepreneurs have advanced, under the most challenging conditions, to support the educational opportunities of girls against the odds. She is an award-winning social innovator who has devoted her life to creating educational opportunities for girls and women. Bokova will address the same issues from the perspective of the international development community, and of UNESCO specifically. After these presentations, there will be a panel discussion with Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative faculty.
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Media Marathoning and Affective Involvement
Thursday, March 31
5:00p
MIT, Building 56-114, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
Although the popular press primarily uses the negatively connoted phrase "binge-watching," Lisa Glebatis Perks employs the label "media marathoning"to describe viewers' rapid engagement with a story world. Rather than positioning these media experiences as mindless indulgences, the phrase media marathoning intimates engrossment, effort, and purpose. These media engagement efforts can be rewarded with pleasurable experiences, but they can also lead to feelings of disappointment. Perks draws from discourse gathered from over 100 marathoners to describe some of marathoners' most common emotional experiences, including anger, empathy, parasocial mourning, nostalgia, and regret. The theme of the talk is that characters become the marathoners' pseudo-avatars, gaining shape, texture, and life through viewers' affective investments.
Lisa Glebatis Perks (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Merrimack College. She recently published Media Marathoning: Immersions in Morality, which explores the ways readers and viewers become absorbed in a fictive text and dedicate many hours to exploring its narrative contours.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
For more information, contact: Andrew Whitacre
617-324-0490
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Politics of Invention
Thursday, March 31
5:00p–7:00p
MIT, Building N51, MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Amy Smith, David Sengeh, Sasha Costanza-Chock, Pagan Kennedy
Hear from a panel of engaging researchers including writer Pagan Kennedy, Sasha Costanza-Chock from the MIT Center for Civic Media, Lemelson awardee David Sengeh, and D-Lab founder Amy Smith, and join the conversation about who is spearheading innovation and where it is happening today.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Tickets: MIT Museum
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum
For more information, contact: Jennifer Novotney
617.324.7313
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Climate Change: The Role of the University
Thursday, March 31at 6:00 PM - Friday, April 1, 2016 at 3:00 PM (EDT)
Tufts, Pearson Hall - Room 104, 419 Boston Avenue, Medford
Keynote: Jeffrey Sachs
This is the 25th anniversary of the Talloires Declaration, the pioneering commitment by university leaders to environmental sustainability that was spearheaded by Jean Mayer, the president of Tufts University at the time. Today there are over 350 signatories to this Declaration from more than 40 countries. As the world moves to implementing the Paris Agreement, universities will play a critical leadership role in developing green technologies, assessing and crafting low-cost policies to help the world make the shift to a fossil free society, and to train the next generation of leaders in the importance of sustainability in both developed and developing economies. The symposium is a university-wide examination of the role Tufts in particular and universities more generally can play on this issue, and students, faculty and the administration have shared in its planning and execution.
Panel Discussions
April 1, 8:45AM - 3:00PM (Alumnae Lounge)
Tufts University, Alumnae Lounge 40 Talbot Avenue, Medford
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Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change and Emotional Awakening
Thursday, March 31
6:00 PM (Doors at 5:30)
Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge
Cost: $5.00
Harvard Book Store welcomes bestselling author of Look Me in the Eye JOHN ELDER ROBISON and Harvard Medical School professor of Neurology ALVARO PASCUAL-LEONE for a discussion of Robison's latest book, Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change and Emotional Awakening, for which Dr. Pascual-Leone wrote the foreword.
About Switched On
It has long been assumed that people living with autism are born with the diminished ability to read the emotions of others, even as they feel emotion deeply. But what if we’ve been wrong all this time? What if that “missing” emotional insight was there all along, locked away and inaccessible in the mind?
In 2007 John Elder Robison wrote the international bestseller Look Me in the Eye, a memoir about growing up with Asperger’s syndrome. Amid the blaze of publicity that followed, he received a unique invitation: a team of Harvard neuroscientists asked him if he would participate in a study led by Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone, one of the world’s foremost neuroscientists at Harvard University. They wanted to use Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)—a new experimental brain therapy—in an effort to understand and then address the issues at the heart of autism and Aspergers. If they could stimulate the outer layer of John’s brain, it might induce it to rewire itself and increase his emotional IQ. Switched On is the extraordinary story of what happened next.
Having spent forty years as a social outcast, misreading others’ emotions or missing them completely, John is suddenly able to sense a powerful range of feelings in other people. However, this newfound insight brings unforeseen problems and serious questions. As the emotional ground shifts beneath his feet, John struggles with the very real possibility that choosing to diminish his disability might also mean sacrificing his unique gifts and even some of his closest relationships. Switched On is a real-life Flowers for Algernon, a fascinating and intimate window into what it means to be neurologically different, and what happens when the world as you know it is upended overnight.
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CORE Resiliency Seminar Series - Planning Meeting
Thursday, March 31
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Suite 200, Boston
Boston Society of Architects’ Committee on Resilient Environments
Please join CORE for its kickoff planning meeting regarding its fall 2016 Resiliency Seminar Series. CORE will discuss what topics make up resiliency, including but not limited to, design, engineering, ecology, economics, community network & activism, and health.
The goal of this meeting is to create an outline for the fall seminar series that will provide the group with action items to move forward on.
To learn more about the Committee on Resilient Environments, visit architects.org/committees/committee-resilient-environments-core
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Envision Cambridge Public Workshop
Thursday, March 31
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
John M. Tobin School Cafeteria, 197 Vassal Street, Cambridge
Envision Cambridge, the citywide planning process, wants to hear from you! Join us at a public workshop to tell us what matters most to you and what you want Envision Cambridge to address.
Translation and childcare can be provided with prior request. The City of Cambridge does not discriminate on the basis of disability. The City will provide auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative format, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures to individuals with disabilities with prior request.
Please notify us at envision@cambridgema.gov at least 48 hours before the event with any requests.
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Engage: Boston Designs for Good
Thursday, March 31
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
RSVP at rsvp@architects.org
Price: Free and open to the public.
“Design like you give a damn.” —Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr, cofounders, Architecture for Humanity
Oh, baby, we do! Ever since McKim, Mead, and White emblazoned “Free to all” above the entrance to the nation’s first urban public library, Boston architecture and its architects have embraced design for the greater good. Join today’s top designers for a lively slideshow and survey of Boston’s recent humanitarian design projects, along with innovative approaches to engaging the audiences they serve.
This is a program of the BSA Foundation.
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Reclaiming Land and Defending Food Sovereignty Dialogue
Thursday, March 31
6:00-8:00pm
Tufts University Dental School, Alumnae Lounge Room 1514, 1 Kneeland Street, Boston
Join us for an evening with two inspiring leaders who are growing the movement to reclaim land and defend food sovereignty.
Debora Nunes Lino Da Silva is a member of the National Coordination of Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement (MST), a major social justice force, reclaiming rural land and building communities based on cooperative and solidarity economics since 1984. The MST is recognized globally as a peasant movement defending land rights and is part of the international La Vía Campesina movement for food sovereignty.
Yasmin Lopez is a member of the Women’s Regional Commission of La Vía Campesina–Central America. La Vía Campesina International is a global social movement led by landless peasants, small scale farmers, fisher people, women, indigenous people, and migrant workers from around the world. La Vía Campesina defends small-scale sustainable agriculture as a way to promote food sovereignty, social justice and dignity.
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Powering Our Statehouse Forward: Will We Break Away from Fossil Fuels?
Thursday, March 31
6pm refreshments 6:30–8:30pm program
Main Library, Hunneman Hall, 361 Washington Street, Brookline
Mass. Power Forward coalition members: Joel Wool, Clean Water Action; Eugenia Gibbons, Mass. Energy Consumers Alliance; Marla Marcum, Climate Disobedience Center; Isaac Baker, Coop Power
We are currently making decisions regarding our state’s infrastructure that will determine how our energy is delivered over the next sixty years. Join Mass. Power Forward leaders who are fighting for our future. Break into workshops for powering the state toward clean, renewable energy, stopping new gas lines, and developing community owned power.
More on Brookline Climate Week at http://www.brooklineclimateweek.org
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Streetlight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution
Thursday, March 31
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store welcomes New York City’s former transportation commissioner JANETTE SADIK-KHAN and JEROLD KAYDEN, Frank Backus Williams Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, for a discussion of Sadik-Khan's book Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution, an empowering road map for rethinking, reinvigorating, and redesigning our cities, from a pioneer in the movement for safer, more livable streets.
About Streetfight
As New York City’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan managed the seemingly impossible and transformed the streets of one of the world’s greatest, toughest cities into dynamic spaces safe for pedestrians and bikers. Her approach was dramatic and effective: Simply painting a part of the street to make it into a plaza or bus lane not only made the street safer, but it also lessened congestion and increased foot traffic, which improved the bottom line of businesses. Real-life experience confirmed that if you know how to read the street, you can make it function better by not totally reconstructing it but by reallocating the space that’s already there.
Breaking the street into its component parts, Streetfight demonstrates, with step-by-step visuals, how to rewrite the underlying “source code” of a street, with pointers on how to add protected bike paths, improve crosswalk space, and provide visual cues to reduce speeding. Achieving such a radical overhaul wasn’t easy, and Streetfight pulls back the curtain on the battles Sadik-Khan won to make her approach work. She includes examples of how this new way to read the streets has already made its way around the world, from pocket parks in Mexico City and Los Angeles to more pedestrian-friendly streets in Auckland and Buenos Aires, and innovative bike-lane designs and plazas in Austin, Indianapolis, and San Francisco. Many are inspired by the changes taking place in New York City and are based on the same techniques. Streetfight deconstructs, reassembles, and reinvents the street, inviting readers to see it in ways they never imagined.
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Using Technology to Save the World
Thursday, March 31
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Simons IMAX Theatre New England Aquarium
Shah Selbe, Conservation Technologist, National Geographic Society Explorer and Marine Conservation Action Fund Fellow *
Earth is currently in the midst of the sixth mass extinction, where poaching, overfishing, and habitat destruction are driving wildlife populations to critically low levels. Conservation needs better methods to help mitigate the effects of climate change and human impact. Thankfully, we are living in age where technology has improved nearly everything we deal with on a daily basis. Shah Selbe has, through his work as a National Geographic Explorer, developed innovative conservation technologies to deal with protecting wildlife and protected areas globally. This work has taken him from the beaches of Palau, wetlands of Botswana, mangroves on Caribbean islands.
Join us to hear Selbe tell stories of using drones, satellites, and the Internet of Earth Things (focused on connecting ecosystems using the same technology as “smart homes”) to help stop wildlife crime and ensure a future full of iconic animals like elephants, bluefin tuna, and tigers.
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"The Armor of Light" Film Screening and Discussion
WHEN Thu., Mar. 31, 2016, 7 – 10 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Law School, Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall, 1515 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Film
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School; Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School; Pforzheimer House at Harvard University; and Religions and the Practice of Peace Initiative at Harvard Divinity School.
SPEAKER(S) Abigail Disney, director of "The Armor of Light" and CEO and president of Fork Films, and Rev. Rob Schenck, evangelical minister and founder of Faith in Action. Discussion moderated by Professor Iris Bohnet, director, Women and Public Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School.
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO mhamlen@law.harvard.edu
DETAILS "The Armor of Light" follows the journey of Reverend Rob Schenck, anti-abortion activist and fixture on the political far right, who breaks with orthodoxy by questioning whether being pro-gun is consistent with being pro-life. Following the screening of the film, we'll host a discussion with the film's director, Abigail Disney, and the film's protagonist, Rev. Schenck. Pizza and soda will be served.
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Friday, April 1
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10th Annual Babson Energy and Environment Conference
Friday, April 1
8:30 AM to 6:00 PM (EDT)
Babson College, Sorenson Theater, 19 Babson College Drive, Wellesley
Cost: $25 – $75
The Babson Energy and Environment Club is excited to celebrate its 10th annual conference on Friday, April 1st 2016.
This year’s theme is Redefining Consumption.
Topics will include the impacts of megatrends such as the Sharing Economy (Uber, AirBnB, ZipCar), Artificial Intelligence & Augmented Reality (Oculus), Recycling and “Upcycling” (eBay), Demand Response (EnerNoc), the Internet of Things, and the need for a shift to conscious consumption. The conference will feature talks by some of the leading minds and voices in the energy and environmental sectors. Keynote speakers include Ken Kimmell, the President of the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Jim Heppelmann, CEO of PTC, a technology company and leader in IoT.
More info at babsonenergy.com
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MIT Scaling Development Ventures Conference 2016
Friday, April 1
8:30 AM to 6:00 PM (EDT)
MIT, Bartos Theater, 20 Ames Street Wiesner Building, Cambridge
Cost: $10 - $75
Join us for a day of conversation on innovative solutions to international development challenges. Hear from leading entrepreneurs and practitioners — from within and outside MIT — as well as representatives from industry, government agencies, and NGOs.
For more information and a complete conference program please visit our website.
Please note that the conference agenda includes two separate breakout panel sessions, the first from 2:15 - 3:45pm and the second from 4:00 - 5:00pm. Panel descriptions can be found here.
*As part of the registration process within Eventbrite, we will prompt you to indicate your first and second choice for both the 2:15 - 3:45pm and 4:00 - 5:00pm sessions. We will do our best to accommodate your first choice. If we cannot do so, we will contact you individually.
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Climate Change: The Role of the University
Friday, April 1
8:45AM - 3:00PM (Alumnae Lounge)
Tufts University, Alumnae Lounge 40 Talbot Avenue, Medford
Panel Discussions
This is the 25th anniversary of the Talloires Declaration, the pioneering commitment by university leaders to environmental sustainability that was spearheaded by Jean Mayer, the president of Tufts University at the time. Today there are over 350 signatories to this Declaration from more than 40 countries. As the world moves to implementing the Paris Agreement, universities will play a critical leadership role in developing green technologies, assessing and crafting low-cost policies to help the world make the shift to a fossil free society, and to train the next generation of leaders in the importance of sustainability in both developed and developing economies. The symposium is a university-wide examination of the role Tufts in particular and universities more generally can play on this issue, and students, faculty and the administration have shared in its planning and execution.
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The Future is Not The Past: Megadroughts and Climate Change in Western North America
Friday, April 1
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Harvard, 100F Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Ben Cook, Columbia/GISS
Atmospheric Sciences Seminar
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Global Business Conference
Friday, April 1
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM (EDT)
Suffolk University, David J Sargent Hall, 5th Floor Common Area, 120 Tremont Street, Boston
The Global Business Conference is an annual event organized and hosted by the Sawyer Ambassadors. The event discusses global issues and involves the entire Suffolk community: Students, Faculty, Alumni, Professors, and Business Professionals. There will be speakers discussing global issues and a round table discussion. Food and drinks will be provided.
Theme: "D-Conomy" The Digitization of the Economy
For more information contact: ahdesai@suffolk.edu
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The Cultural Defense of Nations: A Liberal Theory of Majority Rights
Friday, April 1
3:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store and the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics welcome Fellow-in-Residence for the Safra Center LIAV OGRAD for a discussion of his book The Cultural Defense of Nations: A Liberal Theory of Majority Rights.
About The Cultural Defense of Nations
The book addresses one of the greatest challenges facing liberalism today: When is a liberal state justified in restricting immigration in order to protect the majority culture? With more than 250 million immigrants worldwide, this question has become central in public and academic debates, particularly in Europe.
This book shifts the focus from the prevailing discussion of cultural minority rights and, for the first time, confronts the topic of cultural rights of majorities. The findings reveal a troubling trend in liberal states, which, ironically, in order to protect liberal values, violate the very same values. The book criticizes this state of affairs and proposes a new approach by which liberal democracies can welcome immigrants without fundamentally changing their cultural heritage, forsaking their liberal traditions, or slipping into extreme nationalism.
The Cultural Defense of Nations presents a timely, thought-provoking thesis on some of the most pressing issues of our time—global immigration, majority groups, and national identity.
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Privacy in 2016: Policy and Technology
Friday, April 1
3:30 PM
Tufts, Anderson Hall: Nelson Auditorium, 200 College Avenue Medford
Concerned about your privacy on the Internet? Wondering why there is so much controversy over the FBI forcing apple to unlock an iPhone?
Join Tufts ACLU for a panel discussion on electronic privacy rights in the U.S.
Privacy and security have headlined the news in the past few months but few people understand the technical, political, and legal issues behind the debate. What are the tools that people can use to protect their privacy and data? What rights do people have with regard to electronic privacy and surveillance? In this panel, Kade Crockford (Director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts) and Ming Chow (Senior Lecturer in the Computer Science Department) will discuss these questions with each other and with the audience. Please join us to help us advance our understanding of the different facets of this issue.
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Harvard Yale Pitch-Off
WHEN Fri., Apr. 1, 2016, 5 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Innovation Lab, 125 Western Avenue, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Concerts, Music, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Innovation Lab
COST Free and open to the public
TICKET WEB LINK https://i-lab.harvard.edu/event/harvard-yale-pitch-off/
DETAILS Experience the passion on stage and the innovation community on the ground – come meet the next breakout ventures from the Harvard Innovation Labs and the Yale Entrepreneurship Institute.
One night.
Two rival universities.
Three teams each.
Five judges.
Winner takes all…the braggin’ rights.
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2016 Boston Cleanweb Hackathon
Friday, April 1, 2016 at 6:00 PM - Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 4:30 PM (EDT)
LogMeIn, 320 Summer Street, Boston
Join MassCEC for the 5th Annual Boston Cleanweb Hackathon
Two-day technology competition to create user-friendly web and mobile applications designed to help consumers and businesses use energy and natural resources more efficiently
Challenge brings together programmers, software developers, students, entrepreneurs, energy experts and thought leaders
Teams could win thousands of dollars in cash prizes!
For the past four years, the annual Boston Cleanweb Hackathon and Haccelerator have spun out successful businesses including past winners MySunBuddy and EnerScore(2015), Water Hero (2014) and Crowd Comfort (2013).
Check out the Hackathon DevPost Website for more details! This site hosts Hackathon rules, judging list and criteria, discussion boards, and provides a space for participants to connect with one another to begin team formation. The deadline to register is Thursday, March 31st 2016. Depending on availability, day-of tickets may be sold at the door.
An optional eight-week Cleanweb Haccelerator will follow the conclusion of the Hackathon where teams have the option to develop their work by building actual products and companies. The Haccelerator features weekly sessions that provide teams with expert support and guidance regarding company formation, legal issues, pitching, bootstrapping, attracting investors, networking and more. Cash prizes are also awarded, independent from the Hackathon.
Schedule for the Weekend:
Friday, April 1st
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Hackathon Kickoff Mixer (start of team formation, 30 second idea pitches and industry challenge presentation)
Saturday, April 2nd
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM | Breakfast & Registration
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM | Ideation Session & Intro to Datasets
9:30 AM - 8:30 PM | Hack Away! Workshops and Office Hours Available
8:30 PM | LogMeIn closes for the day - Rest up and come back ready to hack on Sunday
Sunday, April 3rd
8:00 AM - 2:00 PM | Race to the finish! Submissions are due by 2:00 PM sharp
2:15 PM - 3:30 PM | Pitches
3:30 PM - 4:15 PM | Judge Deliberations & Awards Ceremony
Contact Us
To discuss sponsorship opportunities or for more information please contact Tom Reid - (617) 315-9316 / treid@masscec.com or Katie Dobbins - (617) 315 9317 / kdobbins@masscec.com
For information regarding media outreach and relations contact Matt Kakley at (617) 315-9339 / mkakley@masscec.com
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Saturday, April 2
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Harvard International Development Conference
Saturday, April 2
8am - 10pm
Harvard, Science Center, 1 Oxford Street (Harvard Square),
Cambridge
Cambridge
Cost: $30 - $60
For over 20 years, the International Development Conference (IDC) has offered a world-class forum for discussion and exploration of new trends in the international development world. The conference is a thriving platform for students, practitioners, and academics to engage with one another and share innovative ideas. Each year the conference attracts over 500 participants, inspiring new connections and encouraging rich discussion about the best way to address some of the most pressing problems of our time. In recent years, we have had the privilege of hosting Ban Ki-Moon, Felipe Calderón, Martin Wolf, Daron Acemoglu and Abhijit Banerjee.
This year, the IDC will explore instances of success in development and opportunities for progress. The field of international development has seen more than its fair share of failure. The study of this failure has become central to the development field, and rightly so, but there is also a great deal to learn from success and innovation.
At the 2016 International Development Conference, We will explore three broad topics:
Track I Looks at what success means, how we measure it, and how to improve the use of evidence.
Track II Brings entrepreneurs, policymakers, and innovators together to discuss the best ways of promoting private sector growth, whether it be through big business or small enterprises.
Track III Explores the opportunities presented by multi-sector collaboration in a wide range of fields including agriculture, female representation, and urbanization.
Please also consider to join our sister-conference, the Global Entrepreneurship & Policy Conference (GEPC) the following day on April 3rd. This conference will complement IDC’s tracks by exploring how the collaboration between entrepreneurship and policy can catalyze future innovation and development in emerging markets.
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Harvard China Clean Air Forum
Saturday, April 2
8:30 AM to 12:30 PM (EDT)
Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue G1, Boston
The first Harvard China Clean Air Forum will be held on April 2nd (Saturday) at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This half-day forum brings together eminent researchers and policy makers from a variety of perspective to discuss urgent and complex questions related to air pollution in China.
Agenda:
8:30 am breakfast
8:50 am Welcome speech from CSSA
Session 1: Health Effects of Air pollution
9:00~9:30 am Presentations from three speakers (10 min each)
9:30~10:20 am Q&A session
10:25~10:40 am coffee break;
Session 2: Policy Interventions
10:45~11:15 am Presentations from three speakers
11:15~12:15 pm Q&A
12:15-12:20 pm Conclusion remark
Speakers:
Gary Adamkiewicz
Assistant Professor, Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Dr. Adamkiewicz is an assistant Professor of Environmental Health and Exposure Disparities in the Department of Environmental Health, where much of his work focuses on the connections between housing and health, especially within low-income communities. Dr. Adamkiewicz is a member of the Science Advisory Committee for the National Center for Healthy Housing, and has served as an advisor to the World Health Organization’s effort to establish indoor air quality guidelines. Dr. Adamkiewicz also serves as the Healthy Cities Program Leader at the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHGE). Through his work at CHGE, he is leading China-based studies that examine the intersection between urbanization, sustainability, and health.
Steve Bergstrom
Director, Office of Sustainability, Intermountain Healthcare
Steven has been with Intermountain Healthcare for over thirty years with experience in the Supply Chain, environmental preferred purchasing, vendor certification/relations, and inventory management. He was promoted to Director of Sustainability for Intermountain Healthcare in 2010. He is currently on the board of Utah Recycling Alliance, the Health Care Without Harm Health Care Climate Council, a member of Practice Greenhealth, a member of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce- Clean Air Committee, Water Committee, and Natural Resource Business Council, and has served on several energy committees for the State of Utah.
Qingchen Chao
Deputy Director, China National Climate Center
Dr. Chao is in charge of the planning and coordination of climate related policies including research and public education of climate change. She has participated in the Climate Change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention, as well as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meetings.
Douglas Dockery
John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Environmental Epidemiology
Chairman, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Dr. Dockery is a Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, Chair of the Department of Environmental Health, and Director of the Harvard-NIEHS Center for Environmental Health. He is internationally known for his innovative work in environmental epidemiology, particularly in understanding the relationship between air pollution and respiratory and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. He continues to research the health effects of air pollution, exposure estimation and misclassification, and the benefits of air pollution controls.
Henry Lee
Director, Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program, Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
Dr. Lee has served on numerous state, federal, and private boards, and advisory committees on both energy and environmental issues. Additionally, he has worked with private and public organizations, including the InterAmerican Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the State of Sao Paulo, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Interior, the National Research Council, the Intercontinental Energy Corporation, General Electric, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the U.S. EPA. His recent research interests focus on energy and transportation, China's energy policy, and public infrastructure projects in developing countries. Mr. Lee is the author of recent papers on both the U.S. and China, the economic viability of electric vehicles, as well as case studies on Iceland's green energy agenda, Liberia's electricity sector, the privatization of Rio de Janeiro's airport, and the carbon tax in British Columbia.
Joel Schwartz
Professor, Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Dr. Schwartz's work has examined both acute and chronic effects of air pollution exposure. Recent research has established that exposure to fine combustion particles in the air at concentrations well below current standards are associated with a range of adverse health effects from increased respiratory symptoms, to increased hospital admissions, to increased deaths. This work has led to a tightening of the U.S. air quality standards.
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Sustainable House of Worship Workshop
Saturday April 2
9:00 am-1:00 pm
Eliot Church of Newton, 474 Centre Street, Newton
RSVP at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07eceinil6abd5d075&llr=evkqo7bab
Cost: $20 per person payable at the door.
Lowering your house of worship energy use is a way to care for God's creation by reducing your carbon footprint. It also frees up financial resources needed for other important programs!
In this half-day session conducted by Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light you will learn:
How to track your energy use, cost and carbon footprint
How to find no-cost and low-cost projects that can have a big impact on your electricity and heating bills
How to evaluate energy using systems to determine whether they should be updated
Incentives, rebates and other financial help available through utility companies
Registration and light refreshments at 8:30 am
Workshop begins at 9:00 am
All are welcome!
We encourage two people from each congregation to attend.
For more information contact Vince Maraventano at vince@MIPandL.org or 617-244-0755.
Sponsored by The Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ
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Reducing the Dangers of Nuclear War
Saturday, April 2
9:00a–5:00p
MIT, Building 34-101, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Responding to the continuing risk of nuclear war or accident, this conference is intended to focus on reducing the risks of a nuclear event. The conference will address the political and economic realities and will attempt to energize a local, social movement that will ultimately influence national policy.
Plenary session topics will include: The Dangers of Nuclear War; Destabilizing Factors; and Reducing the Dangers.
Workshop topics will include: engaging youth; creating connection between climate change activists and nuclear non-proliferation activists; hazards of the construction, maintenance, storage and decommissioning of nuclear weapons; reducing international tensions through negotiations and treaties; examining state and federal budgets, i.e. transit vs nuclear submarines; de-alerting; and divestment.
Web site: radius.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Cost: $20 pre-registered; $25 at the door; students free
Tickets: Registration site to be added
Sponsor(s): Radius/T&C, Mass Peace Action, American Friends Service Committee
For more information, contact: Patricia-Maria Weinmann
617-253-0108
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Boston Interfaith Community Solar Project Round-Table #3
Saturday, April 2
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM (EDT)
First Church in Jamaica Plain, 6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain
All are welcome to join this Round-Table, even if you did not attend the previous Round-Tables. This month's event will highlight the legal aspect of the project. We will distribute sample Letters of Intent (LOIs) for institutions that would like to host solar systems and field questions and suggestions. We ask that interested institutions review LOIs in preparation for the signing deadline of May 27.
Questions? Read more here, and don't hesitate to contact Co-op Power's Co-Director of Community Solar, Ben Underwood: ben[at]cooppower[dot]coop
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IDEAS Innovation Showcase + Awards
Saturday, April 2
12:00 PM to 3:00 PM (EDT)
MIT Media Lab, Building E14-6th Floor, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Come join the MIT IDEAS Global Challenge for a celebration of the spirit of innovation, entrepreneurship, and public service and the program’s 15th anniversary! For the first time ever, we’ll be combining our Innovation Showcase and Awards Ceremony into one exciting event!
Join us on Saturday, April 2nd to meet the ~40 teams competing in the final round, celebrate their work, check out prototypes, and hear which teams will be awarded up to $15,000 to make their ideas a reality. This is where ideas come to life!
This is one of the best chances to hear many ideas that have the potential to make substantial impact around the world. We'll have light snacks to enjoy as you peruse, discover and learn.
Schedule:
12:00 – 2:00pm Innovation Showcase
2:00 – 3:00pm Awards Ceremony
What Voters Need to Know: Our Climate and the Elections of 2016
Sunday, April 3
3–4pm followed by reception
United Parish, 15 Marion Street, Willett Hall, Brookline
Gov. Michael Dukakis
Can America break free of fossil fuels? Governor Michael Dukakis steps up debate on the consequences of the fossil fuel industry’s face off with climate champions in upcoming elections. Shaped by candidates, parties, the press, money, activists and voter turnout, the outcome will determine policy for years to come. Tune in for a lively discussion.
More on Brookline Climate Week at http://www.brooklineclimateweek.org
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Envision Cambridge Public Workshop
Saturday, April 2
1:30 PM to 3:30 PM (EDT)
Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Envision Cambridge, the citywide planning process, wants to hear from you! Join us at a public workshop to tell us what matters most to you and what you want Envision Cambridge to address.
Translation and childcare can be provided with prior request. The City of Cambridge does not discriminate on the basis of disability. The City will provide auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative format, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures to individuals with disabilities with prior request.
Please notify us at envision@cambridgema.gov at least 48 hours before the event with any requests.
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Sunday, April 3
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Film Screening, Refreshments & Discussion: This Changes Everything
Sunday, April 3
5:00pm
First Church in Jamaica Plain, 6 Eliot Street, Parish Hall, Jamaica Plain
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/film-screening-discussion-this-changes-everything-tickets-21629696003
View the documentary based on Naomi Klein's book of the same name that weaves together the threats of climate, racial and economic justice and the movement of movements already rising for a new, non-extractive economy.
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Monday, April 4
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MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar (MASS) - Shaojie Song (MIT)
Monday, April 4
12:00pm to 1:00pm
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus), Cambridge
About the Speaker
Speaker: Shaojie Song (MIT)
His research at MIT improves the understanding of the global atmosphere-surface exchange of a toxic trace metal, mercury (Hg), by combining atmospheric observations and chemical transport modeling. Before joining in MIT, he focused on urban air quality and participated in field campaigns in China. See Selin Group for more info.
About this Series
MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar [MASS] is a student-run weekly seminar series. Topics include all research concerning the atmosphere and climate, but also talks about e.g. societal impacts of climatic processes. The seminars usually take place on Mondays in 54-915 from 12.00-1pm unless otherwise noted (term-time only). Talks are generally followed by a lunch with graduate students. Besides the seminar, individual meetings with professors, postdocs, and students are arranged. The seminar series is run by graduate students and is intended mainly for students to interact with individuals outside the department, but faculty and postdocs certainly participate. 2015/2016 Coordinator: Marianna Linz (mlinz@mit.edu).
Event website: http://bit.ly/1P33yOq
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Solar geoengineering: an update and case for research
Monday, April 4
12:00PM TO 1:30PM
Harvard, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
David Keith, Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics for the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy for the Harvard Kennedy School
This series is presented by the Energy Technology Innovation Policy/Consortium for Energy Policy Research at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard. Lunch will be provided.
HKS Energy Policy Seminar Series
Contact Name: Louisa Lund
(617) 495-8693
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Religion in the News-When Rights Collide: Abortion, Contraceptives, and Religious Liberty at the Supreme Court in 2016
WHEN Mon., Apr. 4, 2016, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Conference Room, CSWR, 42 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Law
SPONSOR Center for the Study of World Religions
CONTACT CSWR, 617.495.4476
DETAILS Please join us for this lunch discussion, part of the CSWR series Religion in the News. Visitors to campus—especially newly admitted students (congrats!)—are welcome to drop in, whether for the duration or just for part of the lunch.
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Sudanese Economics: Between an Environmental and a Political Imagination
Monday, April 4
12:15 pm to 2:00 pm
HUCE Seminar Room, 24 Oxford Street, 3rd Floor, Cambridge
Alden Young (Drexel University)
STS Circle at Harvard
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Social Equity In The Built Environment
Monday, April 4
5:30PM - 7:30PM
50 Milk Street, 15th Floor, Conf Room “Aristotle”, Boston,
Cost: $15.00 - $35.00
Social Equity has long been conceptualized as the third (and often last) leg of a triple bottom line sustainability stool. While LEED has driven environmental concerns to have equal footing with economic ones, we are just at the beginning of developing tools that allow us to measure and examine social equity results in a similar way.
New programs from the International Living Future Institute like the Living Building Challenge, and JUST Organizations label, as well as new Social Equity Pilot credits in LEED v4 are beginning to raise the discourse around social equity to allow us to examine the social equity impacts of our organizations, our work, and our communities.
This special event will include presentations from Francis Janes – director of the JUST Organizations labeling program for ILFI, Shawn Hesse – co-author of the new LEED Social Equity Pilot Credits, andTBD – Chair of the the Boston chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (BosNOMA) discussing the importance of a focus on social equity in design, construction, and operations of our buildings, communities, and our organizations.
PANELISTS:
Francis Janes
Francis Janes serves as the Social Justice Program Manager at the International Living Future Institute and has extensive management experience in the Information Technology, Food Service, Financial Services and Non-Profit sectors. Prior to his role at the Institute, Francis served as Vice President at Beneficial State Bank, a mission driven community bank and a pioneer in socially responsible banking practices. Francis is active in the community and has served on a number of Non-Profit boards including The Whidbey Institute, EarthSave International, iLEAP and Pigs Peace Sanctuary. Francis has a Certificate in Sustainable Business Management from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Shawn Hesse
Shawn is an NCARB Certified and licensed architect in Ohio and Massachusetts, and earned his B.S. and Masters of Architecture degrees from the University of Cincinnati. His project consulting work includes LEED Certification, Energy Star Portfolio Manager, building envelope efficiency analysis, and greenhouse gas inventories for clients ranging from single family dwellings to universities and entire cities. He has consulted with city, county, state and federal policy makers on issues related to green building policies, incentives, and green jobs, and has published several articles and interviews on green trends, and green jobs.
In addition to consulting, Shawn has developed over 100 courses on sustainability topics, and he has been invited to present at international conferences including Greenbuild and the Good Jobs Green Jobs Conference. Shawn is also an adjunct professor at Cincinnati State and the University of Cincinnati where he teaches courses on global sustainability, and is
currently developing a course titled, "Zombies: Lessons for today from the apocalypse of tomorrow".
As a volunteer for the USGBC, Shawn has held leadership positions with the
Massachusetts Chapter, the Cincinnati Chapter, the Heartland Regional Council, and National USGBC task forces ranging from the LEED Regionalism Task Force, the Chapter Board Diversity Task Force, and most recently, the LEED Technical Committee Social Equity Working Group, where he is helping to integrate social equity into the LEED rating system.
Tony Ransom
Tony Ransom is a Program Manager in the Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Design Group in the Office of Facilities Management & Maintenance for the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance (DCAMM). Prior to joining DCAMM, Mr. Ransom spent over 30 years providing architectural and construction services, including 16 years as the owner of the Ransom Design Studio. His firm specialized in multi-family residential and commercial rehabilitation projects.
After closing his firm in 2005, he set his focus on Agency Construction Management, and joined PMA Consultants, an Owner’s Project Representation, Construction Management and Claims Management firm. While at PMA, Mr. Ransom provided construction management services on hotel, school, healthcare and highway projects, and promoted the transition to Integrated Project Delivery.
Mr. Ransom is a registered architect in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a Certified Construction Manager, a LEED Accredited Professional, and a Level 1 Certified Building Operator. He has served as the Co-chair of the BIM Roundtable at the Boston Society of Architects, and as a member of the Construction Administration and the Integrated Project Delivery Committees.
Mr. Ransom is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Youth Build Boston organization, where he works to promote the inclusion of inner-city youth into the construction and design industries.
As a member Of BosNOMA, he served as a Co-Coordinator of NOMA 2010 Conference in Boston, and is currently the Treasurer of the local chapter.
Email: info@usgbcma.org
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Power Dialog
Monday, April 4
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM (EDT)
BU, School of Law, 765 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Join students from across Massachusetts in an open forum on Massachusetts' implementation of the Clean Power Plan, requiring 32% cuts in global warming pollution by 2030. This is a unique opportunity for students to take part in shaping public discourse on Massachusetts' climate policy as the US focuses on meeting post-Paris climate committments. Join us afterwards for networking with fellow students and environmental organizations.
Panelists: MassDEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg, State Senator Marc Pacheco
Faculty can visit http://www.bard.edu/cep/powerdialog/ for more information on how to get involved and to find teaching materials.
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Towards a Multiscale Human Environment: Islamic sub-Saharan Africa and Post-war Modern Urbanism
Monday, April 4
6:00p–8:00p
MIT, Building 3-133, 33 Massachusetts Avenue (Rear), Cambridge
Speaker: Filippo de Dominicis
MIT Architecture Lecture Series
Part of the Spring 2016 Architecture and Aga Khan Program in Islamic Architecture Lecture Series.
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Department of Architecture
For more information, contact: Jose Luis Arguello
(617) 253-1400
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Tuesday, April 5
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Investigating the causes for a long-term trend of increasing carbon uptake at the Howland Forest, Maine
Tuesday, April 5
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Seminar Room, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
David Hollinger, USDA Forest Service
Herbaria Seminar Series
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The National Security Implications of the Genetics Revolution
WHEN Tue., Apr. 5, 2016, 12 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Law School, Pound Hall, Room 101, 1536 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Information Technology, Law, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Cosponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, the Harvard National Security & Law Association, the Harvard National Security Journal, and the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School, with support from the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Jamie Metzl, JD '97, Senior Fellow for Technology and National Security of the Atlantic Council. He has served on the U.S. National Security Council, State Department, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as Executive Vice President of the Asia Society and with the United Nations in Cambodia. A globally syndicated columnist and regular guest on national and international media, he is the author of a history of the Cambodian genocide and the novels The Depths of the Sea and Genesis Code.
George J. Annas, JD, MPH, William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights, Boston University School of Public Health; Professor in the Boston University School of Medicine, and School of Law
Jonathan D. Moreno, PhD, David and Lyn Silfen University Professor of Ethics, Perelman School of Medicine, Universty of Pennsylvania
COST Free and open to the public
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Fukushima Five Years Later: A View from the Ocean
WHEN Tue., Apr. 5, 2016, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Bowie-Vernon Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Program on U.S.-Japan Relations
SPEAKER(S) Ken Buesseler, senior scientist, Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Moderated by Susan Pharr, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics and director, WCFIA Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, Harvard University
COST Free and open to the public
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Special Seminar: Book Night with Steve Silberman on Neurotribes and Neurodiversity
Tuesday, April 5
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
MIT, Building 46-3002 (Singleton Auditorium), 3rd Floor, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Description: Steve Silberman, an award-winning science writer, long time writer for Wired, and freelancer for publications ranging from The New Yorker to Salon, is the author of the 2015 international best seller, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity.
The book, both a history and a compelling argument against conventional thinking about autism, suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and participation in society for people who think differently. Silberman’s book won the coveted 2015 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction and was chosen as one of the best books of 2015 by The New York Times, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Boston Globe, The Independent, National Public Radio, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications. His TED talk, “The Forgotten History of Autism,” has been viewed more than a million times and translated into 25 languages.
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Taking It All In: Environmental Toxins and Your Health
Tuesday, April 5
6pm - 7:30pm
Harvard Medical School, The Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, The New Research Building, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston
Chemicals are used in plastics, furniture, cosmetics and even in the foods we eat, while other pollutants contaminate our air and water. But do you know how these environmental exposures impact your health? Harvard Medical School researchers will present the data behind this silent threat to your health and how you can protect yourself and your family.
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April BASG: Environmental Justice
Tuesday, April 5
6:00 PM to 8:30 PM (EDT)
The Venture Cafe - Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, 5th Floor, Cambridge
Cost: $10 - $12
Environmental Justice: Does access to safe drinking water depend on race and class?
In the unfolding tragedy of the Flint, Michigan water crisis, social and environmental justice issues are once again a critical focus for American citizens, who are concerned about environmental health and safety as well as environmental justice.
In April, BASG member, Arnold Sapenter, will moderate a panel discussing environmental justice and related social issues as they apply to Boston and Massachusetts. The panel will talk about programs that exist in greater Boston to address environmental justice issues and the challenges and opportunities that exist here. In addition, they'll explore the connection between environmental justice and sustainability and lead our follow-on discussion.
Arnold Sapenter, MBA and LEED GRA, is the recent Director of Sustainability and past Director of Diversity and Program Monitoring for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. He has served on many advisory boards and committees including the Massachusetts Leading By Example Committee and the Advisory Committee for the Governor’s Diversity Initiative. As Director of Diversity and Program Monitoring Arnold Sapenter created and chaired the Cultural Diversity and Environmental Justice Committees for MassDEP from 1993 to 2003.
As a community leader and volunteer Mr. Sapenter serves as President of the National Council of Presidents for the National Forum of Black Public Administrators and has served over 12 years as President of the NFBPA Boston Chapter. In addition, he is an active member of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Board of Overseers and past co-chair of the Employment and Training Systems Committee for the Boston Private Industry Council, as well as past Board Vice President for The Fenway Health Center.
Mr. Sapenter has served in Massachusetts state government since 1987 and retired in 2015 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Sam Lipson is Director of Environmental Health for the Cambridge Public Health Department. He came to the CPHD in 1996 and established the Environmental Health Division in 1998. He has 20 years of experience in public health risk assessment, biological safety, environmental health policies and other environmental health sub-disciplines, and has served as a board member of the American Lung Association in Massachusetts, Mass. Public Health Association Leadership Board, and currently serves as a Commissioner for the Suffolk County Mosquito Control Commission and as the public health representative on the Toxic Use Reduction Advisory Committee (Mass. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs). Sam has organized Cambridge Biosafety Forums in 2002 and 2008 to train community members, biosafety professionals, and public health officials and co-organized the Risk Assessment for Nanomaterials: Current Developments and Trends in 2007 to educate occupational health and risk assessment professionals. Sam has led community stakeholder processes that have helped CPHD to generate policies on West Nile virus response, nanomaterials health and safety, and an expansion of biosafety oversight authority held by the Cambridge Biosafety Committee.
With cooperation from Harvard and MIT faculty and staff at the Museum of Science Sam has staged a series of local air quality studies in Cambridge that have utilized community volunteers and graduate students to examine pervasive air quality on a much smaller scale than offered by existing regulatory infrastructure. This has led to publications and grant awards to support further work. A primary goal of this research is the development of community-based air quality monitoring strategies capable of producing longitudinal, high quality data that will assist the municipality to generate health -sustaining policies for transportation and land-use. The recently completed study of bicycle commuter routes has produced data that indicates the relative burden of vehicle pollution on cyclists. Prior to coming to the CPHD, Sam was an analytical chemist in Massachusetts and California. He holds a B.S. from the University of California Berkeley and completed his M.S. coursework at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Rebecca Herst is Senior Climate Project Manager for UMass and the Boston Harbor Association. She will join us to talk about The Boston Harbor Association's work on climate resillance for highly vulnerable harbor communities. Her full profile is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaherst
If your organization is interested in co-hosting this event or a future BASG event, please contact carolbaroudi[at]bostonareasustainability.org
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Time to Choose - Film Screening
Tuesday, April 5
6pm - 9pm
MIT, Building 2-190, 2 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Free film screening of Oscar-winning filmmaker and MIT Alum Charles Ferguson’s Time to Choose. A solutions film about climate change, the most pressing issue of our time, examining the main contributing factors to this global phenomenon, and what we can do to alleviate this crisis. Join the Sustainability Initiative and the Environmental Solutions Initiative for this screening followed by a Q & A with producer, MIT alumnus, and solar entrepreneur, Tom Dinwoodie.
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Design for Good: To Go
Tuesday, April 5
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM (EDT)
Microsoft New England Research and Development Center, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Cost: $14.64
Connecting with communities, in their communities.
Taking a cue from the humble ice cream truck, many socially conscious organizations have taken their services to the streets by operating out of trucks. By creating more accessible services, they have been able to connect with their audiences more directly and expand their reach.
In this discussion we'll explore the lessons a few of these organizations have learned from designing experiences that brought them closer to their communities. Can a city increase engagement by putting City Hall into a truck? Can you help more people by putting healthcare on wheels? What advantages and opportunities do community-minded organizations discover when they become portable?
This conversation will feature organizations offering mobile services in the city: Boston City Hall To Go, The Family Van, sparc! The ArtMobile and Mei Mei food truck.
Who should attend:
Socially-minded individuals
Bostonians who care about their community and its future
Designers and creative professionals interested in creating experiences with communities in mind
Food truck fiends eager to see other applications for the concept
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Learn more about the egalitarian revolution in Rojava from someone involved!
Tuesday, April 5
7:00 PM
Rojava is an area about the size of Connecticut in the Kurdish land along the Turkish and Syrian border. The women and men there are building an egalitarian society based at least in part on the writings of the late Murray Bookchin, a U.S. Anarchist. They are fighting against Isis and also against capitalist nations who oppose what they are doing. Their goal is not to establish a separate nation for the Kurds, but to build a grass-roots society of neighborhoods and communities that practice real egalitarianism including between the sexes (which is especially remarkable in that part of the world). For example, all major offices in Rojava are held by two individuals, one male and one female.
You can search on line for "Rojava" and several links will come up, including one to an article that appeared in the New York TImes Magazine last November. I recommend that you explore these to get some background information, which will enrich our discussion; but if you don't, that's fine and you are still welcome to come and participate!
We are very fortunate to have a speaker for this meetup with first-hand knowledge of current events in Rojava. He is Jonas Linde, a Swedish man who works with the Swedish Rojava Groups. Here is his own description of his work:
"Our goal is to build a clinic in the self-administrated socialist area of Rojava inside Syria, more precisely in the city of Kobane.
One of our first projects is going to be the sending of ambulances from Sweden to Rojava. our group is founded on the basis of socialism, feminism, antifacism and internationalism."
We will have an opportunity to listen to what Jonas has to say and then ask questions, make comments, and engage in a discussion.
I have invited several folks who are not members of B.A.E.R. to this meetup, all people who are interested in learning more about the topic, so be prepared to see some new faces!
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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, April 6
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Power Electronics for the Future: Research Trends and Challenges
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 34-401
Speaker: Yogesh Ramadass, Texas Instruments
Power electronics can be found in everything from cellphones and laptops that we use on an everyday basis to gasoline and electric vehicles, industrial motors and inverters that connect solar panels to the electric grid. With the rapid miniaturization and increased electrical power consumption of our devices and appliances, unique challenges related to energy efficiency, power density and electromagnetic compatibility are imposed on the power electronics within these systems. This talk will look at the trends in power electronics across the consumer, industrial and automotive applications and will describe the ongoing research efforts and highlight the challenges moving forward.
MTL Seminar Series
MTL seminar speakers for the series are selected on the basis of their knowledge and competence in the areas of microelectronics research, manufacturing, or policy. This series is held during the academic year on Wednesdays at noon. The seminars are open to the public. Lunch is served at 11:30am
Web site: https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mtlseminar/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Microsystems Technology Laboratories
For more information, contact: Valerie DiNardo
617- 253-9328
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Charging Ahead: Prepaid Metering and Electricity Use in South Africa
Wednesday, April 6
4:15PM TO 5:30PM
Harvard, Room L-382, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Kelsey Jack, Tufts University, and Grant Smith, University of Cape Town
Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy
Support from Enel Endowment for Environmental Economics and the Department of Economics is gratefully acknowledged. For more information, contact Professor Stavins (617-495-1820), Professor Weitzman (617-495-5133), or the course assistant, Jason Chapman (617-496-8054).
Contact Name: Bryan J. Galcik
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Commercial Urban Farming & Design: Jessie Banhazl of Green City Growers
Wednesday, April 6
4:30 PM to 6:00 PM (EDT)
Ver-Tex Experience Center, 263 Summer Street, Boston
Ver-Tex invites you for an exploration of how New England's design professionals are tackling commercial urban farming to grow fresh produce within city limits. Green City Grower’s Jessie Banhazl will introduce cutting edge trends and materials used in commercial urban design during an interactive workshop, followed by Q&A.
For seven years, Green City Growers has been educating designers, consumers and students to the ins and outs of successfully implementing urban agriculture. As a regional leader in urban farming, Green City Growers has provided the expertise and ongoing maintenance to make projects like Fenway Farms for the Boston Red Sox, and a 1/2 acre rooftop farm for Whole Foods Market Lynnfield a reality. Urban farming is taking off in some of the most densely populated places around Greater Boston in interesting and unexpected ways. This lecture will highlight the ever-changing landscape of growing technologies that is making this possible and how to apply these techniques in your community.
Following the presentation, light refreshments and beverages will be served at the Ver-Tex Experience Center, 263 Summer Street, Boston. This is a free event, however due to limited space, an RSVP is required to attend the presentation and reception.
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Climate at a Crossroads: UMass Boston Speaker Series presents Christiana Figures
Wednesday, April 6
5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, 210 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston
As executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres was a linchpin in solidifying the Paris Agreement in December 2015. She will reflect on how this universal agreement can be a turning point in global economic, energy, environment, and development policy, and a catalyst for bringing the poor out of poverty worldwide.
More information at https://www.umb.edu/news_events_media/events/christiana_figueres_to_present_at_umass_bostons_sustainable_solutions_lab
Editorial Comment: Christina Figueres was an instrumental figure in making international, regional, and local climate agreements possible. She is one of the heroes of climate change in my estimation and is well worth listening to.
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Stepping up to the Plate: Creating Tasty, Healthy & Affordable School Lunch
Wednesday, April 6
6:00PM - 8:00PM
Boston Public Market, The Kitchen, 100 Hanover Street, Boston
Did you know that the average school only has $1.44 to spend per student on lunches? For most schools, it can be a challenge to create healthy lunches on this budget. Join The Boston Globe in collaboration with Let's Talk About Food on April 6th to hear from some of the leading advocates in the fight to create healthy lunches that students will actually eat! To begin, Chef Guy Koppe of Project Bread and Chef Jody Adams will team up in a culinary demonstration showing foods you can make that will keep your school within budget.
Following the demonstration, attendees will hear from:
Scott Richardson, Northbound Ventures
Peggy Kemp, Fenway High School (featured in the below article)
Donna Lombardi, Worcester Public Schools
Brendan Ryan, Framingham Public Schools
Doors open at 5:30pm, program to start at 6:00pm. To learn more about school lunches before attending the event, read "Fresh-made meals a learning experience in schools" by James Vaznis of The Boston Globe.
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Algorithms, Identity, and Society: The Politics of Information
Wednesday, April 6
6:00p–9:00p
MIT, Building E15, Bartos Theater, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Luciano Floridi, Oxford U, and Nicholar Carr, Author
STS Special Event
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/sts/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): HASTS
For more information, contact: Gus Zahariadis
617-253-3452
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IDB Ideas: The Future of Making Things
Wednesday, April 6
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EDT)
Autodesk, 23 Drydock Avenue, 6th Floor, Boston
IDB Ideas is a speaker series that focuses on the intersection of design, technology, and innovation in a variety of fields. Co-hosted by the Innovation and Design Building and Autodesk, this edition reviews the way disruptive technologies are changing how we design, plan, build, and manufacture. Engage in thoughtful conversation with:
Paul Kassabian, SGH Engineering
Janos Stone, Co-Founder of Kwambio and faculty of Art + Design at Northeastern University
Skylar Tibbits, Director of MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab
Haik Tokatlyan, Jaywalk Studio
Rachel Vroman, Harvard University
Networking and refreshments will follow the panel discussion. Tour the new Autodesk office and BUILD Space including new installations by Jaywalk Studio and check out a private showing of Recontextualizing Objects, an exhibition of Northeastern University student design work.
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ArtScience @ Le Lab Lecture Series: Art, Design, Engineering & Biology
Wednesday, April 6
6:30pm to 7:30pm
Honeycomb, Le Laboratoire Cambridge, 650 East Kendall Street, Cambridge
Core faculty from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University will participate in a four-part lecture series hosted by Le Laboratoire Cambridge on how the arts and design are informing the frontiers of science. In the third lecture, Pam Silver will give a lecture titled "Designing Biology”.
All lectures will take place at Le Laboratoire Cambridge from 6:30 - 7:30 PM. Seating is limited and reservations are encouraged. Please contact Ankica Koldzic at programs@lelabcambridge.com.
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Disrupted
Wednesday, April 6
7pm
WorkBar Cambridge, 45 Prospect Street, Cambridge
Journalist and screenwriter Dan Lyons, co-producer and writer for the HBO series Silicon Valley, presents his book his book Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble, a look at his rise and fall at the Cambridge start-up HubSpot.
"In wildly entertaining fashion, Disrupted explores the ways in which many technology companies have come to fool the public and themselves. Lyons has injected a dose of sanity into a world gone mad." --Ashlee Vance
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Spring Wildflowers: Ephemeral Beauty with a Purpose
Wednesday, April 6
7pm - 8:30pm
Cambridge Main Library, 499 Broadway, Cambridge
Carol Gracie, Author of Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast
Our native spring wildflowers evolved in the once contiguous forests that stretched the length of the East Coast and west to the prairies. Their flowering coincides with increased sunlight and warmth before the forest canopy leafs out, and their associations with the early-flying insects of spring are remarkable. Come learn about the life cycles of selected species in detail— and why many populations are in a marked decline due to human activity. By understanding their evolutionary relationships to forest habitat, we can better protect these ephemeral beauties on all lands, and integrate them into our woodland gardens.
Carol Gracie is a botanist and highly-skilled photographer. In addition to Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History,she has authored several field guides. Her botanizing in South and Central America has led to seven tropical plant species and one genus being named for her.
Co-sponsored by The Friends of Fresh Pond Reservation
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Air Pollution Knows No Boundaries
Wednesday, April 6
7 - 9p
Harvard, Pfizer Lecture Hall, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge
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Responding to Climate Change Through Storytelling
Wednesday, April 6
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EDT)
Old West United Methodist Church, 131 Cambridge Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/responding-to-climate-change-through-storytelling-tickets-22120706629
Cost: $10.00
Climate change is big. It can be overwhelming and even paralyzing, and touches on so many facets of our lives.
Come hear and share stories...
that touch our emotions
move us to action
ultimately move us toward a world (even one impacted by climate change) in which we care for and take care of each other
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Thursday, April 7
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From Entrepreneur to Activist: Fighting for our Future with Mothers Out Front
Thursday, April 7
11:45am
MIT, Building E62-250, 100 Main Street, Cambridge
Climate change is here, in the form of rising sea levels, more frequent heat waves and drought, burning forests, and acidifying oceans. Yet, our leaders still fail to respond with bold action, and leading environmental groups have failed to organize sufficient public pressure to change thier minds. Founded just 3 years ago, Mothers Out Front is developing mothers as a cohesive, empowered and activated constituency that will alter the political landscape by providing both the outside support and pressure for our elected officials to lead on climate, while making it far more challenging for polluters to continue their actions unchecked.
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Seasonality and cold hardiness of temperate tree species under global warming
Thursday, April 7
12:10PM
Wolkovich Lab, Weld Hill, 1300 Centre Street, Boston
Yann Vitasse, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Arnold Arboretum Research Talks
Contact: arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu
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Planetary-Scale Primary Prevention for the 21st Century: Health and Climate Benefits of Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Carbon Mitigation
Thursday, April 7
12:30–1:30 pm
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, FXB G-12, 651 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Join Dr. Jonathan Buonocore for this Director's Lecture Series installment.
What does the future of sustainability and human health look like?
This spring, the Center for Health and the Global Environment will be hosting a Director's Lecture Series showcasing how its latest research is re-envisioning health and sustainability. This series will offer deep insight into many of the research programs and initiatives at the Center which are tackling some of the biggest sustainability challenges of the 21st century.
More at: http://green.harvard.edu/events/health-and-climate-benefits-renewable-energy#sthash.7YDXUVgk.dpuf
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Rethinking the Dynamics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and Implications for Long-Term Climate
Thursday, April 7
4:00PM
Harvard, Haller Hall (102), Geo Museum, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
David Marshall, Professor of Physical Oceanography and Head of the Sub-Department Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Oxford University
Harvard Climate Seminar Series presented by the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Sponsored by the Harvard Oceanography Committee and the Harvard University Center for the Environment.
Contact Name: Laura Hanrahan
More at: http://environment.harvard.edu/events/2016-04-07-200000/harvard-climate-seminar#sthash.T2SMTw6u.dpuf
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Online social interactions: a lens on humans and a world for humans
Thursday, April 7
4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Refreshments: 3:45 PM
MIT, Building 32-G449, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Chenhao Tan , Cornell University
Abstract: Online social interactions have become an integral part of people's lives, e.g., presidential candidates use Facebook and Twitter to engage with the public, programmers rely on Stackoverflow to write code, and various communities have been forming online. This unprecedented amount of social interaction offers tremendous opportunities to understand human behavior. Such an understanding can induce significant social impact, ranging from influencing election outcomes to better communication for everyone.
My research leverages newly available massive datasets of social interactions to understand human behavior and predict human decisions. These results can be used to build or improve socio-technical systems. In this talk, I will explain my research at both micro and macro levels. At the micro level, I investigate the effect of wording in message sharing via natural experiments. I develop a classifier that outperforms humans in predicting which tweet will be retweeted more. At the macro level, I examine how users engage with multiple communities and find that, surprisingly, users continually explore new communities on Reddit. Moreover, their exploration patterns in their early ``life'' can be used to predict whether they will eventually abandon Reddit. I will finish with some discussion of future research directions in understanding human behavior.
Short bio: Chenhao Tan is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Computer Science at Cornell University. He earned Bachelor degrees in Computer Science and in Economics from Tsinghua University. His research spans a wide range of topics in social computing. He has published papers primarily at ACL and WWW, and also at KDD, WSDM, ICWSM, etc. His work has been covered by many news media outlets, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. He also won a Facebook fellowship and a Yahoo! Key Scientific Challenges award.
Contact: Joanne Talbot Hanley, 617-253-4602, joanne@csail.mit.edu
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Starr Forum: Bitcoin and the Global Economy
Thursday, April 7
4:30p–6:00p
MIT, Building E51-345, 2 MHWEAR AREWWR, Xmveisfw
Speaker: Cristina Dolan, Michael Casey
Panel discussion on Bitcoin and the global economy.
Speakers Include:
Michael Casey, Senior Advisor, Digital Currency Initiative, MIT Media Lab
Former journalist, The Wall Street Journal
Co-author: "The Age of Cryptocurrency How Bitcoin & Digital Money are Challenging the Global Economic Order"
Cristina Dolan, Head, Marketing and Content and Communications Products; Initiative Lead, BlockChain TradingScreen Internet Pioneer and MIT Media Lab Alumna
CIS Starr Forum
A public events series on pressing issues in international affairs, sponsored by the MIT Center for International Studies.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies
For more information, contact:
617- 253-8306
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Energy Bar: PROPEL Final Showcase
Thursday, April 7, 2016
5:30-8:30pm
Greentown Labs, 28 Dane Street, Somerville
Join us for the PROPEL Final Showcase to celebrate the many successes of the PROPEL startups during their time at Greentown Labs! Teams will present their major achievements and demonstrate their latest prototypes.
PROPEL is a startup acceleration program for prototype development. With the vision of a smarter, interconnected, resource-efficient world, PROPEL sought out complementary innovations in self-powered Wireless Sensor-Actuator Networks (WSANs). During the program, startups developed their individual products toward integrated solutions and viable business models that can--and will--radically change how we interact with our environment.
The participating PROPEL teams are:
BitSence: 2015 graduates of CleanTech Open Northeast, BitSence offers a cyber security platform for the Industrial IoT, helping secure smart machines and sensors to enable energy and operational efficiency for industrial applications. Their team includes Nissia Sabri and Pallavi Mishra.
TagUP: Founded out of Harvard Business School and MIT, Tagup offers industrial equipment manufacturers a cloud-based solution to track products’ sensor, location, and static data in real-time. They enable manufacturers and their supply chain partners to have complete visibility into a product’s operational status, improving service contracts and generating new sales opportunities. Tagup is led by co-founders Jon Garrity and Will Vega-Brown.
MultiSensor Scientific: MultiSensor Scientific is developing a multispectral infrared (non-thermal) camera system to visualize and quantify methane leaks from natural gas infrastructure in real-time. By simultaneously imaging and determining gas density at every pixel, inspectors can locate and prioritize critical repairs, and reduce harmful methane emissions that are driving climate change. Their two co-founders are Allen Waxman and Jason Blysma.
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Baby BOOM or Bust: Planning for our grandparents through design & technology
Thursday, April 7
6:30 PM to 7:30 PM (EDT)
Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, Cambridge
Hear from thought leaders in design, technology, and housing about how they are serving the growing senior market, and explore the mutual benefits of intergenerational collaboration on product design. Our panel will include Dr. Joe Coughlin, Director of the AgeLab at MIT, Grace Nicklin, Senior Designer at IDEO, Anna Hall, Director Resident Programs Engagement at Brookdale Senior Living Solutions, and Bern Terry, Vice President, Healthcare for Vecna Technologies.
Co-sponsored by Boston Bridge and Aging 2.0 in collaboration with the Venture Cafe.Venture Cafe
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Bacterial Bonanza
Thursday, April 7
6:30p–8:30p
MIT, Building N-51, MIT Museum: 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Julie Button, Dr. Nirav Desai, Dr. Jason Zhang, Dr. Benjamin Wolfe, Dr. Amy Apprill, Carolyn Edelstein
"Speed Geek" your way through the MIT Museum and learn from the experts about the microbiomes that shape our world! There is more than meets the eye when it comes to the microscopic communities of bacteria that live in our bodies, food and environment. This fun evening will feature local scientists and researchers set up to talk and teach in a non-traditional environment at stations throughout the Museum!
The Policy and Politics of Poop
Carolyn Edelstein - Director of Policy and Global Partnerships, OpenBiome
What the Microbiomes of Corals and Whales Can Tell us About Animal Health and Ecology
Dr. Amy Apprill - Assistant Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Delicious Rot: Cheese Microbiomes
Dr. Benjamin Wolfe - Assistant Professor, Tufts University
A Medical Look
Dr. Jason Zhang - Boston Children's Hospital
Dr. Nirav Desai - Medical Director, Boston Children's Hospital, Bariatric Surgery Program
Medicines Powered by the Human Biome
Julie Button - Seres Therapeutics
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free admission
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum
For more information, contact:
617-324-7313
Jennifer Novotney
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Friday, April 8
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The roles of climate variability and emissions on U.S. surface ozone means and extremes
Friday, April 8
12:00PM TO 1:00PM
Harvard, 100F Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Meiyun Lin, Princeton University & NOAA GFDL
Speaker Bio: http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/meiyun-lin-homepage
Atmospheric Sciences Seminar
Contact Name: Lu L. Shen
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Climate science and climate risks
Friday, April 8
3:00p–4:00p
MIT, Building NW17, 175 Albany Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Kerry Emanuel
This talk provides a broad overview of climate science, including the history of the science itself, and what we have learned about the Earth???s climate system through analysis of paleoclimate data, the instrumental record, and, most importantly, the fundamental physics, chemistry, and biology underlying the climate system. Projections of future climates, made using both simple and complex models, will be discussed, with an emphasis on sources of uncertainty together with an assessment of whether and to what extent the level of uncertainty can be reduced. Toward the end of the talk, the problem of global warming will be framed as a problem of risk assessment and management, including the difficulties in dealing with fat-tailed risk probabilities, and various technical and policy options for dealing with climate change will be described.
Plasma Science and Fusion Center Seminar Series
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Plasma Science and Fusion Center
For more information, contact: Paul Rivenberg
617-253-8101
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Managing Uncertainty in Future Smart Grid: An Online-Algorithmic Approach Towards Robust and Efficient Decisions
Friday, April 8
3-4 pm
BU, 8 St. Mary’s Street, PHO 210, Boston
Refreshments at 2:45 pm
Xiaojun Lin, Purdue University
Advances in smart grid allow us to utilize tools from computing, communication, and control to solve pressing challenges in power systems. One of such critical challenges is how to respond to the significant uncertainty both in the renewable supply (wind/solar) and in the demand patterns. Such uncertainty is often revealed sequentially in time, and thus the decision at each time instant must be adjusted based on the information that has already been revealed, and yet be prepared for the remaining uncertainty towards the future. Further, the nature of the power systems often dictates that robust performance guarantees must be assured even at the worst-case uncertainty, e.g., the energy supply must always meet the demand, and otherwise the entire power grid may fall apart. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop sequential decision algorithms that can achieve not only efficient outcomes on average, but also robust worst-case performance guarantees against future uncertainty.
In this talk, we argue that competitive online algorithms could be a useful framework for solving this type of sequential decision problems in future smart grid. We present one such study in the context of managing EV (Electric Vehicle) charging along with renewable supply to minimize the peak consumption from the grid. In the typical CS literature, an optimal competitive online algorithm, which achieves the smallest possible worst-case competitive ratio compared to the offline solution, can be found even when there is absolutely no prior information about the future input. However, in power systems, such competitive results could be quite pessimistic because they do not exploit any partial (yet inaccurate) future information that may be available. Instead, we demonstrate how to utilize partial future knowledge in the form of day-ahead and hour-ahead forecasts to develop new online algorithms with both greatly-reduced worst-case competitive ratios and superior average-case performance.
Xiaojun Lin received his B.S. from Zhongshan University, Guangzhou, China, in 1994, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, in 2000 and 2005, respectively. He is currently an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Lin’s research interests are in the analysis, control and optimization of large and complex networked systems, including both communication networks and cyber-physical systems. He received the IEEE INFOCOM 2008 best paper award and 2005 best paper of the year award from Journal of Communications and Networks. His paper was also one of two runner-up papers for the best-paper award at IEEE INFOCOM 2005. He received the NSF CAREER award in 2007. He is currently serving as an Area Editor for (Elsevier) Computer Networks journal and an Associate Editor for IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, and has served as a Guest Editor for (Elsevier) Ad Hoc Networks journal.
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Integrating nano-biomaterials for future bio-hybrid solar fuel conversions
Friday, April 8
3:00 PM
BU, 15 St. Mary’s Street, Room 105, Boston
Refreshments served at 2:45 PM
Dibyendu Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT)
Abstract: The grand challenge in harvesting electrochemical and solar energy as carbon-neutral and sustainable energy sources remain in the development of advanced fuel and photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells that can sustain efficient electrocatalytic and photocatalytic energy conversions while maintaining their long-term stability, durability, and economic viability. To this end, the first part of this talk will focus on advanced laser-based syntheses and characterizations of intermetallic (IM) nanoparticles wherein tandem laser ablation synthesis in solution-galvanic replacement reactions (tandem LASiS-GRR) will be presented as a facile, “green” technique developed in our group for the synthesis of complex IM nanocomposites (NCs) and nanoalloys (NAs) as electrocatalysts and photocatalysts. Results presented for NCs of PtCo NAs embedded in CoOx matrices and PtCo NAs indicate superior bifunctional electrocatalytic activities and stability in alkaline and acid conditions respectively for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER) along with a 20-25% reduction in Pt loading that outperform commercial carbon supported catalysts. Furthermore, preliminary results for future plasmonic coupled photocatalysts will be discussed. The second part of the talk will conclude with harnessing solar energy by putting nature’s lessons at work through the use of Photosystem I (PS I), the photosynthetic protein complex that undergoes photoactivated (l=680 nm) charge separation and unidirectional electron transfer. Results will be presented for uniform monolayer assembly and PEC characterizations of directionally oriented PS I at organic/inorganic interfaces as the first critical step towards bridging the robust structural and optoelectronic properties of PS I with suitably designed nanocatalysts for the rational design of future bio-hybrid solar energy conversion devices.
Biography: Dibyendu Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT). He received a B.E. and M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University at Buffalo (SUNY, Buffalo) and the M. S. University of Baroda, India respectively. He joined as a tenure-track faculty in UT after earning his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Center for NanoEnergetics Research (CNER) at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and working as a postdoctoral researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and a Gibson research fellow with the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) at UT. His research focusses on the synthesis, assembly, and characterization of novel functional nano-biomaterials that can alleviate three critical and interconnected areas of significance namely, energy, energetics and environment. Dibyendu was an invited speaker at the 2014 MRS fall meeting in Boston, MA and is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Materials Research Society (MRS), American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
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MIT Water Innovation Prize Final Pitch Night
Friday, April 8
5:30p–8:30p
MIT, Building 32-123, Kirsch Auditorium, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Christine Boyle
Come watch student entrepreneurs compete for up to $30,000 in innovation grants for their startups in the water sector. Keynote address by last year's winners and Christine Boyle, the founder of Valor Water Analytics.
Web site: mitwaterinnovation.com
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Water Club
For more information, contact: Peter Chamberlain
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Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?
Friday, April 8
7:00 PM (EDT)
First Parish Church, 1446 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Cost: $5
Thomas Frank discusses Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? with an introduction by JOHN SUMMERS
Harvard Book Store and The Baffler welcome bestselling author and founding Baffler editor THOMAS FRANK for a discussion of his book Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?, a scathing look at the standard-bearers of liberal politics—a book that asks: what's the matter with Democrats? The Baffler editor John Summers will provide an introduction.
Learn more at http://www.harvard.com/event/thomas_frank1/
All pre-sales tickets include a copy of Listen, Liberal, admission into the event, and a $5 coupon for use in the bookstore. Pre-sales tickets are available online for two weeks only, after which a $5 ticket option will go on sale. Books bundled with pre-sale tickets may only be picked up at the venue the night of the event, and cannot be picked up in-store beforehand.
$5 tickets will also be available at Harvard Book Store and over the phone at 617-661-1515. Unless the event is sold out, any remaining tickets will be on sale at the door of the venue when doors open.
Tickets are non-refundable and non-returnable.
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Monday, April 11
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MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar (MASS) - Meiyun Lin, GFDL
Monday, April 11,
12:00pm to 1:00pm
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)
Meiyun Lin (GFDL)
Meiyun Lin is a research scientist at NOAA and Princeton University's Cooperative Institute for Climate Science (2010-present). Lin's research seeks to advance knowledge on the interactions of air quality with weather and climate. Specifically, she investigates how climate variability & change affect the long-range transport of Asian pollution, intrusions of stratospheric ozone deep into the troposphere, and their impacts on western US ozone air quality. Focusing on these research themes, Lin's work has led to a stream of high-profile publications. The US Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to lower the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone from 75 to 65-70 ppbv. Process-level understanding on daily to multi-decadal time scales is thus relevant for effective implementation of the ozone standard in western states. Meiyun Lin is also an investigator of the NASA Aura Sciences Team in Atmospheric Composition and the NASA Air Quality Applied Sciences Team. Lin earned her Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo (2007) and completed her postdoctoral work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008-2010).
Event website: http://bit.ly/1P33yOq
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How has British Columbia’s revenue-neutral carbon tax worked? A synthesis of the evidence
Monday, April 11
12:00PM TO 1:30PM
Harvard, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Brian Murray, Director, Environmental Economics Program, Nicholas Institute, Duke University
HKS Energy Policy Seminar Series
This series is presented by the Energy Technology Innovation Policy/Consortium for Energy Policy Research at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard. Lunch will be provided.
Contact Name: Louisa Lund
(617) 495-8693
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Healthy Forever? Aging, Mobility, and the Transformation of Later Life
12:15PM TO 2:00PM
Harvard, HUCE Seminar Room, 24 Oxford Street, 3rd Floor, Cambridge
Cara Kieran Fallon, Harvard, History of Science
Sandwich lunches are provided. Please RSVP to sts@hks.harvard.edu by Wednesday at 5PM the week before.
STS Circle at Harvard
The Harvard STS Circle is co-sponsored by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Contact Name: Shana Rabinowich
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2016 Norton Lecture 5 of 6: "Narrating the Other”
WHEN Mon., Apr. 11, 2016, 4 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Mahindra Humanities Center
SPEAKER(S) Toni Morrison
TICKET INFO Events are free, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available starting at noon on the day of each lecture. Tickets will be available in person at Sanders Theatre or online (handling fees apply). Limit of two tickets per person. Tickets valid until 3:45 p.m.
DETAILS
2016 Norton Lectures. "The Origin of Others: The Literature of Belonging"
Lecture One: Romancing Slavery
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Lecture Two: Being and Becoming the Stranger
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Lecture Three: The Color Fetish
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Lecture Four: Configurations of Blackness
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Lecture Five: Narrating the Other
Monday, April 11, 2016
Lecture Six: The Foreigner's Home
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Events are free, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available starting at noon on the day of each lecture. Tickets will be available in person at Sanders Theatre or online (handling fees apply). Limit of two tickets per person. Tickets valid until 3:45 p.m.
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The Future of Nature: Climate After The Paris Agreement
Monday, April 11
5:30 p.m. reception, 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. talk
Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts
527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA
Cost: $25, students $10
The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate affirmed the power of nature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help communities adapt to climate change impacts.
What role can nature—through such things as carbon-storing forests, wave-absorbing salt marshes and protective floodplains—play in meeting the historic challenge of climate change?
How do communities like Boston’s best use these nature-based solutions alongside engineered solutions, to adapt and thrive?
An hour-long networking reception starts at 5:30 p.m. Talk begins at 6:30 p.m. and will include a closing audience Q&A.
We’ll kick off the talk with a screening of the Conservancy’s “The Nature of People,” a short documentary focusing on climate change and nature-based adaptation.
Panelists:
Austin Blackmon, Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Spaces, City of Boston
Bud Ris, Senior Advisor, Climate, Barr Foundation
Glenn Prickett, Chief External Affairs Officer, The Nature Conservancy
Moderator:
Deborah Becker, Senior Correspondent and Host, WBUR
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An Introduction to Machine Learning for Law, Journalism, and Public Policy
Monday, April 11
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
Engagement Lab, 160 Boylston Street 4th Floor, Boston
Join us at the Engagement Lab for an introductory talk about machine learning featuring Harvard Fellow William Li. The talk will take approximately 45 minutes, followed by a 15-20 minute Q&A session. Refreshments will be served.
This talk focuses on machine learning techniques to uncover patterns and insights from large open government datasets. William Li will introduce some concepts of machine learning through two projects: First, he'll discuss an authorship attribution model of unsigned U.S. Supreme Court opinions, offering insights into the authorship of important cases and the dynamics of Supreme Court decision-making. Second, he'll present a novel model, Probabilistic Text Reuse (PTR), for finding repeated passages of text in large document collections. He'll illustrate the utility of PTR by capturing the structure of a large collection of public comments on the FCC's proposed regulations on net neutrality. Finally, he'll conclude with some thoughts on the challenges for machine learning in journalism, legal aid, and civic technologies.
About Our Speaker: William Li is a 2015-2016 Fellow at the Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society and a 2016 PhD computer science graduate from MIT. He develops and applies machine learning methods to answer social science questions computationally and to promote public understanding of law, politics, and public policy. His projects include predicting the authors of unsigned Supreme Court opinions, visualizing the complexity of our laws, and discovering ideas from large collections of public comments on proposed regulations. William has also worked on recommender systems, speech recognition, and user activity prediction at Apple and Mitsubishi Electric.
He did his master’s degrees at MIT in computer science and the Technology and Policy Program, founded the MIT Assistive Technology Club, and has taught classes that involve civic collaborations with organizations such as the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services, Greater Boston Legal Services, and the Cambridge Commission for People with Disabilities.
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Boston New Technology April 2016 Product Showcase #BNT64
Monday, April 11
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Akamai Technologies, 150 Broadway, Cambridge
Akamai staff will be escorting attendees from the lobby up the stairs to the first floor, where you'll find our check-in table. Type the first few letters of your name on the screen and tap your name to print your name tag.
Free event! Come learn about 7 innovative and exciting technology products and network with the Boston/Cambridge startup community!
Each presenter gets 5 minutes for product demonstration and 5 minutes for Q&A.
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Microsoft Speakers Series: Future of Big Data
Monday, April 11
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EDT)
Microsoft New England Research and Development Center, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/microsoft-speakers-series-future-of-big-data-tickets-23481669305
HackerX has partnered with Microsoft to connect diverse tech talent with people who believe diversity is an advantage, and that inclusive teams are stronger, smarter, and better. Come join us for an inside look at what's new at Microsoft, including face-to-face interaction with Microsoft New England R&D teams. Come if you're curious about what's next at Microsoft or just want to connect with other talented people in the industry. The evening will be filled with food, drinks, and raffle prizes provided by the Microsoft team. This is Microsoft (Speaker Series), presented by HackerX.
GET AN INSIDE LOOK AT MICROSOFT
Want a chance to meet face-to-face with top management at Microsoft? It's one of a kind opportunity to meet some of Microsoft's senior technology influencers and next wave of leaders.
GET TO KNOW MICROSOFT
HackerX gives unrepresented and talented tech professional with a variety of skill. We especially seek, women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and many smart people who are driven to create change. We’ll wrap up the event with a free-form social hour where you can meet other professionals in the community and get to know like-minded visionaries looking for people to help take Microsoft to the next level.
GUEST SPEAKER
T.K. "Ranga" Rengarajan
Corporate Vice President, Technology & Research
T.K. “Ranga” Rengarajan, a Corporate Vice President within Technology and Research in Microsoft is responsible for global aspects of engineering. Among his responsibilities are all Microsoft Global Development Centers located in China, India, Israel, New England, Silicon Valley and Vancouver, the Garage program to drive grass root innovation and advanced technology projects in the areas of system and performance. Ranga and his teams are responsible to ensure Microsoft attracts, trains and retains the best talent in the world.
We live in an extraordinary time for data. In our mobile-first world, we have a multitude of devices -- phones, IoT sensors, computers -- capturing every step, touch, decision and action we take. In a cloud-first world, we have incredible data storage and processing capabilities to capture this torrent of data, analyze & combine them, share insights with others, and drive automated learning. The result is new productivity experiences where we are limited only by our data dreams and ability to imagine value from the data we possess.
AGENDA
6:00pm: Open networking, Food/drinks
7:00pm: Guest Speaker: Ranga Rengarajan + Demo, Raffle
8:00pm: Meet Microsoft Teams
9:00pm: Event ends
More at http://www.hackerx.org
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Science by the Pint: The Evolution of Individual Differences
Monday, April 11
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Somerville
The Evolution of Individual Differences: Personality, Politics, and Sex
Guest scientist Max Krasnow
Max Krasnow is an assistant professor Psychology at Harvard. He the leader of the Evolutionary Psychology Lab, and his research focuses on the mechanisms underlying human social behavior and how they evolved. One line of this research has explored how the fact that the future of any interaction is uncertain conspires with distinctive features of the hominin social niche to select for organisms that are more generous, trusting and cooperative than an otherwise rational analysis would predict. In related work, he has shown in a series of behavioral experiments how these and other fundamental components of human social behavior, like our concern for the treatment of others and our punitive sentiments towards bad actors, can help cultivate mutually beneficial cooperative relationships and improve their terms when they begin to function poorly.
Science by the Pint is a monthly science cafe free and open to the public, run by the Harvard non-profit outreach group Science In The News (SITN). Read more here: http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/science-by-the-pint/
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Tuesday, April 12
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Symposium: Beyond 2016 - MIT's frontiers of the future
Tuesday, April 12
All day
MIT, Building W-16, 48 Massachusetts Avenue (Rear), Cambridge
This symposium is part of MIT's Century in Cambridge celebration and will feature a campus-focused collection of innovative presentations by MIT faculty, researchers, and students, followed by panel discussions.
Program details will be added to the event website as soon as they become available.
Web site: http://mit2016.mit.edu/events/frontiers
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Institute Events
For more information, contact: MIT Institute Events
617-253-4795
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The Center for Health and the Global Environment: Re-Envisioning Health and Sustainability
WHEN Tue., Apr. 12, 2016, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health FXB G-12, 651 Huntington Avenue, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education, Environmental Sciences, Health Sciences, Lecture, Science, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
SPEAKER(S) John D. Spengler & Aaron Bernstein
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The paradox of the third tier: how do corals react to extreme environmental conditions?
Tuesday, April 12
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Harvard, Maxwell Dworkin, Room 125 G, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Dan Tchernov, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, Founder and Department Head, Department of Marine Biology, Leon Charney School of Marine Science, University of Haifa, Israel
Certain scleractinian (stony) coral species are capable of alternating between non- calcifying soft body solitary forms to the more familiar calcifying colonial forms. This ability supports the hypothesis that scleractinian corals have survived through the ions even during unfavorable conditions for calcification. This physiological and morphological trait may shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms that allows these calcifying organisms to survive the third tier of mass extinctions. We show that incubation of two coral species under acidifying conditions invokes tissue-specific apoptosis (programmed cell death) that leads to disassociation of polyps from coenosarc (connective tissue) and the breakdown of the latter, resulting in the loss of colonial form and of the calcareous skeleton. Following reintroduction of the remaining solitary polyps to a more basic pH (8.2), both coral species examined (Pocillopora damicornis and Oculina patagonica) reformed coenosarc and initiated calcification. Our data shows that apoptosis is initiated in the polyps, and once disassociation between polyp and coenosarc terminates, it subsides. We show that corals respond to severe and rapid environmental changes using a controlled pathway governed by programmed cell death mechanisms. These results may provide a mechanistic explanation for several key evolutionary phenomena: (i) repeated loss/gain of coloniality in corals over the ions (ii) reported “programmed release” of single polyps including or devoid of skeleton following environmental stress, and (iii) patterns of survival of mass extinctions events demonstrated by corals over the geological time scales, thus providing new insight into nature's discontinuities (i.e. the third tier of the paradox of the tiers) S J Gould (1985).
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2016 Norton Lecture 6 of 6: "The Foreigner's Home”
WHEN Tue., Apr. 12, 2016, 4 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Mahindra Humanities Center
SPEAKER(S) Toni Morrison
TICKET INFO Events are free, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available starting at noon on the day of each lecture. Tickets will be available in person at Sanders Theatre or online (handling fees apply). Limit of two tickets per person. Tickets valid until 3:45 p.m.
DETAILS
2016 Norton Lectures. "The Origin of Others: The Literature of Belonging"
Lecture One: Romancing Slavery
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Lecture Two: Being and Becoming the Stranger
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Lecture Three: The Color Fetish
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Lecture Four: Configurations of Blackness
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Lecture Five: Narrating the Other
Monday, April 11, 2016
Lecture Six: The Foreigner's Home
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Events are free, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available starting at noon on the day of each lecture. Tickets will be available in person at Sanders Theatre or online (handling fees apply). Limit of two tickets per person. Tickets valid until 3:45 p.m.
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Artificial Intelligence: Its Future and Ours
WHEN Tue., Apr. 12, 2016, 5 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, B1, William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education, Health Sciences, Humanities, Information Technology, Law, Lecture, Science, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Mind Brain Behavior Interfaculty Initiative
SPEAKER(S) Panelists:
David Cox, PhD
Julie Shah, PhD
Sendhil Mullainathan, PhD
Jonathan Zittrain, JD
Moderator: Stuart Shieber, PhD
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS Each speaker will give a brief presentation and then participate in a panel discussion moderated by Stuart Shieber. A reception will follow the event.
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xTalks - The University of the Future: Lessons from a 2600 Year History
Tuesday, April 12
5:00p–6:00p
MIT, Building 4-163, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge
Speaker: Dr. Shailendra Mehta
The 2600 year history of universities consists of three broad periods, of 1800 years, 700 years and 100 years, during which respectively, the Indian, the European and US universities have been dominant. During these three periods which have rarely been looked at together, the university form evolved gradually to its present form.
We will look at nearly 20 innovations that have taken place in the university form during this time, and highlight the remarkably similar sets of problems that were solved thereby in different regions of the world. The continuing dynamism of US universities will also be touched upon, as stemming from their unique governance forms. We will also look at the impact of new technologies such as MOOCs on the evolution of the university form.
Prof. Shailendra Raj Mehta, is Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Chairman of the Board of Management at Auro University.
This event is co-sponsored with MIT-India Program.
xTalks: Digital Discourses
The xTalks series provides a forum to facilitate awareness, deep understanding and transference of educational innovations at MIT and elsewhere. We hope to foster a community of educators, researchers, and technologists engaged in developing and supporting effective learning experiences through online learning environments and other digital technologies.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Office of Digital Learning, xTalks: Digital Discourses, MIT India Program
For more information, contact: Molly Ruggles
617-324-9185
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Poverty, Inc. (FREE admission!)
Tuesday, April 12
6:00p
MIT, Building 26-100, 60 Vassar Street, Cambridge
FREE admission! Poverty, Inc. will be followed by a panel discussion. Co-hosted with Energy for Human Development (e4Dev).
"I see multiple colonial governors," says Ghanaian software entrepreneur Herman Chinery-Hesse of the international development establishment in Africa. "We are held captive by the donor community."
The West has positioned itself as the protagonist of development, giving rise to a vast multi-billion dollar poverty industry ??? the business of doing good has never been better.
Yet the results have been mixed, in some cases even catastrophic, and leaders in the developing world are growing increasingly vocal in calling for change.
Drawing from over 200 interviews filmed in 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. unearths an uncomfortable side of charity we can no longer ignore.
From TOMs Shoes to international adoptions, from solar panels to U.S. agricultural subsidies, the film challenges each of us to ask the tough question: Could I be part of the problem?
Web site: http://lsc.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Tickets: Lobby 16
Sponsor(s): LSC, e4Dev
For more information, contact: LSC
617-253-3791
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Ignite Boston: Data
Tuesday, April 12
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM (EDT)
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
Enlighten us, but make it quick
Ignite is a series of events held in cities across the world and it's back in Boston. Presenters get 20 slides, which automatically advance every 15 seconds. The result is an evening of fast and fun presentations which each last just 5 minutes.
Join us at the District Hall to connect with the data community and hear from those who have survived, thrived, or died in a data-driven world. Then stay to network with a beer and wine reception.
Call for Participation
Do you have something interesting to share about data? A big idea to share? A story waiting to be heard? Submit your presentation to the call for participation.
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Movie Premiere: Sonic Sea
Tuesday, April 12
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Simons IMAX Theatre New England Aquarium, Aquarium Wharf, Boston
Followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with:
Michael Jasny, Director, Marine Mammal Protection, Natural Resources Defense Council
Brandon Southall, Senior Scientist, Southall Environmental Associates, Inc.
Scott Kraus, Vice President of Research, New England Aquarium
Chris Clark, Johnson Senior Scientist, Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell University
Patrick Ramage, Program Director, Whales, International Fund for Animal Welfare
Moderated by Leila Hatch, Ph.D., Marine Ecologist, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, NOAA
The ocean is not a silent world, but a dynamic, living symphony of sound. In water, sound travels five times faster and many times farther than it does in air. Whales, dolphins, porpoises and other marine mammals have evolved to take advantage of this perfect sonic medium. Just as we rely on sight to survive, they depend on sound to hunt for food, find mates, and detect predators.
Over the last 50 years, our increasing ocean presence has drastically transformed the acoustic environment of these majestic creatures. Undersea noise pollution is invisible but it is damaging the web of ocean life.
Sonic Sea is about understanding and protecting the vast symphony of life in our waters
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Opportunity
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CLIMATE SMART BOSTON
Climate Smart Boston is about getting public input on vulnerabilities and resources related to climate readiness and resilience in the City of Boston and surrounding region in order to more fully inform to the Climate Ready Boston and Imagine Boston 2030 planning processes.
SIGN UP at https://communityplanit.org/bostonclimate/
Boston is striving to advance climate preparedness planning to produce resiliency initiatives that work together to address physical, social and environmental vulnerabilities in our communities. You can participate in this process and help shape the preparedness of the city in adapting to climate change. Boston is recognized as a world-class leader in climate resilience planning by the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities initiative and was recognized at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference with an award for "Smart Cities and Smart Community Engagement" by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group in Paris. Boston officials want to make sure the distinct needs of all neighborhoods are well understood as they plan to meet the climate challenges that will face our city in 2030 and beyond. Participate in Climate Smart Boston to play your part!
Three missions
Climate Smart Boston challenges you over three time-sensitive missions:
Mission 1: March 25 - April 1
Mission 2: April 1 - April 8
Mission 3: April 8 - April 15
Miss a mission? Don't worry, there's still plenty more to play!
This game has launched!
Sign up now, and get ready to plan your community! If you share this page with your friends, we'll get even more bright ideas on the table.
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The Summer of 2016 there will be a special issue of the journal Socialism and Democracy (http://sdonline.org/) on Energy Transition, with an emphasis on renewable energy, including wind, solar, and biomass.
We are looking for reviewers of one or more articles. We are also seeking people who could send us reviews of relevant books, for this issue.
Weimin Tchen
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Solarize Somerville is a go!
Hello neighbors--
On this cold winter day, I'm delighted to share the sunny news that Somerville MA has been chosen by the MassCEC (Clean Energy Center) to be a Solarize Mass community! You can see the announcement here:
State energy officials today announced the selection of the first five communities to participate in Solarize Mass for 2016. The new municipalities participating in the community-based solar energy group-buying program that lowers overall costs of installing solar electric systems include Somerville and Natick, as well as Shelburne, Colrain and Conway, which have joined as a trio of partner communities....
You can learn more about the MassCEC and the SolarizeMass program at: www.solarizemass.com .
As the announcement has just been made, we don't have a lot of additional information at this time. But this selection means that we can now work with the city and the state to help residents of Somerville to decide if solar is a suitable option for them and their homes or businesses. We'll be developing and sharing educational materials, we'll have events to help people learn more and get questions answered, and we will help people to understand the processes associated with generating local, artisanal electrons.
Officially I'm the "Solar Coach" for Somerville. I am a point of contact to help people with basic solar PV issues and incentives. I'm working with folks from the city who will manage the overall project. This is a joint effort by the Office of Sustainability and Environment, with director Oliver Sellers-Garcia, and the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development with Russell Koty.
As a Coach, I am a volunteer organizer and am not authorized to speak as a spokesperson on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or MassCEC. My job is to help people to understand the program once it's in place, and to answer questions that my neighbors may have as they consider the options. Things outside of my wheelhouse will be directed to the folks who can answer them.
You can contact me here with questions, or soon we'll have some information resources with more details. If you might want to volunteer to be on the outreach team. let me know.
Mary Mangan
Solar Coach Volunteer
[vendors should not contact me, I'm not supposed to have contact with them prior to the proposal process]
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Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!
Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch. No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.
For more information checkout.
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Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images
Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera? With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more comfortable and less expensive to heat. However, at $200 or so, the cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.
HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer Cambridge residents free thermal scans.
Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras. They will scan every building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or buildings or on a private way). Building owners can view thermal images of their property and an analysis online. The information is password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.
Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.
The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.
Go to Sagewell.com. Type in your address at the bottom where it says "Find your home or building" and press return. Then click on "Here" to request the report.
That's it. When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to do about it.
With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money, not to mention comfort).
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Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
Solar map of Cambridge, MA
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HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to Cambridge residents.
During the assessment, the energy specialist will:
Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on your energy bills. You might as well use the service.
Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729. A Next Step Living Representative will call to schedule your assessment.
HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the services and rebates possible.
(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home Energy Assessment. We won’t keep the data or sell it.)
(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)
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Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide
SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!
To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha@sbnboston.org
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Boston Food System
"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."
The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas. Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.
Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.
It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs
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The Boston Network for International Development (BNID) maintains a website (BNID.org) that serves as a clearing-house for information on organizations, events, and jobs related to international development in the Boston area. BNID has played an important auxiliary role in fostering international development activities in the Boston area, as witnessed by the expanding content of the site and a significant growth in the number of users.
The website contains:
A calendar of Boston area events and volunteer opportunities related to International Development - http://www.bnid.org/events
A jobs board that includes both internships and full time positions related to International Development that is updated daily - http://www.bnid.org/jobs
A directory and descriptions of more than 250 Boston-area organizations - http://www.bnid.org/organizations
Also, please sign up for our weekly newsletter (we promise only one email per week) to get the most up-to-date information on new job and internship opportunities -www.bnid.org/sign-up
The website is completely free for students and our goal is to help connect students who are interested in international development with many of the worthwhile organizations in the area.
Please feel free to email our organization at info@bnid.org if you have any questions!
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Boston Maker Spaces - 27 and counting: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zGHnt9r2pQx8.kfw9evrHsKjA&hl=en
BASEN / Boston Solidarity Network Economy: http://ba-sen.tumblr.com
Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston: http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/
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Links to events at over 50 colleges and universities at Hubevents: http://hubevents.blogspot.com
Thanks to
Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area: http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com
MIT Events: http://events.mit.edu
MIT Energy Club: http://mitenergyclub.org/calendar
Harvard Events: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/harvard-events/events-calendar/
Harvard Environment: http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
Sustainability at Harvard: http://green.harvard.edu/events
Mass Climate Action: http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/
Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/
Microsoft NERD Center: http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/
Startup and Entrepreneurial Events: http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/
Cambridge Civic Journal: http://www.rwinters.com
Cambridge Happenings: http://cambridgehappenings.org
Cambridge Community Calendar: https://www.cctvcambridge.org/calendar
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