Sunday, June 18, 2017

Energy (and Other) Events - June 18, 2017

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) EventsGeo

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Details of these events are available when you scroll past the index


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Index
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Monday, June 19
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6pm  Mothers Out Front Community Meeting Featuring Cambridge Community Electricity
6:30pm  From egg to insect: The evolution of development and reproduction
7pm  The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.:  A Novel

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Tuesday, June 20
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12pm  Understanding Biodiversity, Environment & Disease Dynamics Using Latest Technologies
1pm  Hearing on Carbon Pricing Legislation
2:30pm  Wearable Sensors and Wearable Robots in Rehabilitation Medicine
4pm  Tree Mob: Bee Hospitable
4:15pm  Wave Piloting in the Marshall Islands
5pm  Seminar on Global Refugee Health
5:30pm  Cass Sunstein, #Republic
6pm  Boston Entrepreneur’s Network Open Mic Night and Entrepreneur Stories
7pm  Skip the Small Talk: About Purpose - The Picnic Edition

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Wednesday, June 21
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7:30am  Boston Sustainability Breakfast
8:30am  The Future of SREC: Come learn about SMART!
12pm  Reality Bytes - Utilizing VR and AR in the Library Space- a Brownbag with Matt Bernhardt
12pm  Ecological Forecasting
2pm  Climate Change Resiliency and Preparedness Public Comment Meeting
3pm  Evolving Neural Programs for Continuous Learning
5pm  Summer Solstice Celebration 2017: Night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture

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Thursday, June 22, 5:00 PM – Saturday, June 24, 1:00 PM
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Frontiers of Democracy Conference 2017

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Thursday, June 22
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8:30am  City of Boston E+ & Net-Positive Development Seminar
9am  #ScreenTimeBU: Fake News, Real Emotion, & The Mediated Self
1pm  Consumer Protection for Community Solar 
6pm  The 21st Century Quant
6:30pm  Energy for Intelligent Environments
7pm  Dorchester and the Threat of Climate Change

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Friday, June 23
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11am  PSFC Seminar: Reconstruction of R&D for HTS in Japan toward radical innovations of industry

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Saturday, June 24 - Sunday, June 25
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Boston Stupid Shit No One Needs & Terrible Ideas Hackathon

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Monday, June 26
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1st Workshop on Mechanism Design for Social Good
6pm  Cambridge Clean Energy Municipal Aggregation Program Information Session
6pm  Machine, Platform, Crowd:  Harnessing Our Digital Future
6pm  Health and Sport – insights after the Race Across America

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Tuesday, June 27
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8am  Data Science Projects – Lessons from the Digital Trenches
6:30pm  Boston Innovators Group: Voice Computing (#BIGVoice)

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My rough notes on some of the events I go to and notes on books I’ve read are at:

City Agriculture - June 13, 2017

Geometry Links - June 17, 2017

Samantha Bee Explains the Substitute Amendment for Mitch McConnell

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Monday, June 19
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Mothers Out Front Community Meeting Featuring Cambridge Community Electricity
Monday, June 19
6:00-8:00 PM
Democracy Center, 45 Mount Auburn Street, Nelson Mandela Room, Cambridge

With every setback in Washington, the hope, optimism, and sense of responsibility and power within our team just seem to grow. We can do so much right here in Cambridge.  So, it feels like such a timely gift that our city has announced their new negotiated renewable energy purchase opportunity. Come, bring your friends, your neighbors, and your questions!

We will be joined by Meghan Shaw from the Community Development Department and a representative from the city’s consultant, Peregrine Energy Group, to ensure that any and all questions can be addressed! For example:
What is municipal aggregation
What are the differences between Standard Green and 100% Green?
What is a Class 1 REC?
Why is it important to focus on local renewable energy sources?
How can I reduce my energy usage?
If I signed up for Switch the Source through Mass Energy, should I make a change now?

 ALSO, if you came to our recent community meetings you are probably as excited as we are about how well this opportunity fits with the campaign we have been developing to help households move to 100% Renewable. Help us figure out the details as we get ready to launch and bring your ideas about how to spread the word that: We can all make a personal commitment to the Paris Agreement; we can all lead the way to a livable climate for our children.

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From egg to insect: The evolution of development and reproduction
Monday, June 19
6:30-8:30pm
The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Somerville

Dr. Cassandra Extavour, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University
All multicellular organisms, from trees to honeybees, start off as a single cell. That cell divides again and again, and the resulting cells gradually take on different fates, making all of the different shapes and parts of the organism. Biologists refer to this process as “development.” Eventually we end up with the final organism, which is a collection of millions of connected cells, all with the same DNA, yet all doing very different things. Why do leaves grow off the branches of the tree and not the trunk? Why are the honeybee’s wings on its back and not on its face? Are the tree and the bee so different because they have totally different genes, or because they are using the same genes in different ways?

Dr. Extavour and her lab seek to understand which genes control development, how similar these genes are across different organisms, and ultimately, how these genes evolved in the first place. The lab uses a number of closely related insect and crustacean species to investigate these fundamental questions, with a special focus on the processes that control the earliest cell divisions and cell decisions in embryos.

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The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.:  A Novel
Monday, June 19
7:00 PM (Doors at 6:30)
First Parish Church, 1446 Massachusetts Avenue, CambridgeCost:  $5.00 - $34.75

Harvard Book Store welcomes award-winning sci-fi author NEAL STEPHENSON—author of Cryptonomicon, The Baroque Cycle trilogy, Reamde, and Seveneves—and acclaimed historical fiction novelist NICOLE GALLAND—author of The Fool’s Tale, Revenge of the Rose, and I, Iago—for a discussion of their co-written book, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.: A Novel.

About The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.
From bestselling author Neal Stephenson and critically acclaimed historical and contemporary commercial novelist Nicole Galland comes a captivating and complex near-future thriller combining history, science, magic, mystery, intrigue, and adventure that questions the very foundations of the modern world.

When Melisande Stokes, an expert in linguistics and languages, accidently meets military intelligence operator Tristan Lyons in a hallway at Harvard University, it is the beginning of a chain of events that will alter their lives and human history itself. The young man from a shadowy government entity approaches Mel, a low-level faculty member, with an incredible offer. The only condition: she must sign a nondisclosure agreement in return for the rather large sum of money.

Tristan needs Mel to translate some very old documents, which, if authentic, are earth-shattering. They prove that magic actually existed and was practiced for centuries. But the arrival of the scientific revolution and the Age of Enlightenment weakened its power and endangered its practitioners. Magic stopped working altogether in 1851, at the time of the Great Exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace—the world’s fair celebrating the rise of industrial technology and commerce. Something about the modern world "jams" the "frequencies" used by magic, and it’s up to Tristan to find out why.

And so the Department of Diachronic Operations—D.O.D.O. —gets cracking on its real mission: to develop a device that can bring magic back, and send Diachronic Operatives back in time to keep it alive . . . and meddle with a little history at the same time. But while Tristan and his expanding operation master the science and build the technology, they overlook the mercurial—and treacherous—nature of the human heart.

Written with the genius, complexity, and innovation that characterize all of Neal Stephenson’s work and steeped with the down-to-earth warmth and humor of Nicole Galland’s storytelling style, this exciting and vividly realized work of science fiction will make you believe in the impossible, and take you to places—and times—beyond imagining.

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Tuesday, June 20
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Understanding Biodiversity, Environment & Disease Dynamics Using Latest Technologies
Tuesday, June 20
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
Tufts, Cabot Center, Room 703, 170 Packard Avenue, Medford

Dibesh Karmacharya has a conservation biology degree from Wayne State College (US). He worked extensively in the US for Caliper Lifesciences in New Jersey as a research scientist (transgenic animal models). He promoted Genomics and Proteomics technology platforms for GE Healthcare Lifesciences in the US and Canada. He co-founded the Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal (CMDN), a wildlife genetics and clinical epidemiology research centre and is the Chairman and Executive Director of the CMDN. He also co-founded Intrepid Nepal Pvt. Ltd, a molecular, diagnostics-based Biotechnology Company and Intrepid Cancer Diagnostics. He leads several innovative researches in Nepal including: building Nepal’s first genetic database of wild Bengal tigers through Nepal Tiger Genome Project (NTGP); and, several conservation genetics projects. He is the Principal Investigator of PREDICT Nepal Project-an emerging pandemic threat project. He has published several papers on conservation genetics, HIV/AIDS, molecular diagnosis and wildlife and human infectious diseases.

The Tufts Institute of the Environment (TIE) hosts visiting scholar, Dibesh Karmacharya, to speak about
Understanding Biodiversity, Environment & Disease Dynamics Using Latest Technologies: Developing Research Culture in Nepal

Contact Jill.Parlee@tufts.edu with any questions.

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Hearing on Carbon Pricing Legislation
Tuesday, June 20
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
State House, Gardner Auditorium, 24 Beacon Street, Boston

After months of building support for carbon pricing bills S.1821 and H.1726, it all comes down to this. On June 20th, the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy (TUE) will hold a hearing to consider the two pending bills.

The bills cannot move forward until they are voted favorably out of the TUE committee, so we need to demonstrate strong support for the legislation. Help us pack the room to support the all-star lineup of experts who will testify on behalf of the bills. Bring signs and friends. RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/a/cabaus.org/forms/d/1s5G7naPCNRRAZ62fAWsIebC0VAq02wKwhzOcAMZJwOY/edit

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Wearable Sensors and Wearable Robots in Rehabilitation Medicine
WHEN  Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
WHERE  Wyss Institute, Room 330, 60 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
SPEAKER(S)  Paolo Bonato, Ph.D. 
Director, Motion Analysis Laboratory, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston;
Associate Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School; Adjunct Professor, Biomedical Engineering, MGH Institute of Health Professions; Associate Faculty, Wyss Institute at Harvard University
DETAILS  Wearable sensors and wearable robots have played an important but independent role in rehabilitation medicine. Dr. Paolo Bonato will discuss the relevance of wearable sensors and provide examples of application of this technology in the field of rehabilitation medicine.

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Tree Mob: Bee Hospitable
Tuesday, June 20
4:00pm
Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building, Lecture Hall or Staff Patio, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain

Brendan Keegan, Gardener, Arnold Arboretum
The industrious honeybee, supporting its busy hive, is a classic example of a hardworking summer pollinator and of bees in general. However over 85% of bee species do not live in hives at all. For example, solitary bees make or inhabit burrows in wood, rock walls, or soil. There, they lay eggs and store food, creating a safe home for their offspring until they emerge the following year. Attend this Tree Mob with Arboretum Gardener Brendan Keegan on Tuesday, June 20 at 4:00pm to learn more about solitary bees and how you can create habitat for them in your backyard or on your balcony. We’ll meet at the Hunnewell Building, either in the lecture hall or on the staff patio, depending on weather. Signs will indicate meeting location.

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Wave Piloting in the Marshall Islands
WHEN  Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 4:15 – 5:15 p.m.
WHERE  Radcliffe, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Research study, Science, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S)  John Huth, Co-director of the science program at the Radcliffe Institute and Donner Professor of Science in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University
Joseph Genz, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawai'i
Gerbrant van Vledder, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Alson Kelen, Director, Canoes of the Marshall Islands, Marjuro, RMI
Isao Eknilang, Navigator, Majuro, RMI
COST  Free and open to the public
DETAILS  For generations, traditional navigators in the Marshall Islands have relied upon the techniques of wave piloting — the subtle perception of wave and swell patterns along with the sighting of atolls and islands — to safely guide their outrigger canoes across the oceans. In 2015, researchers replicated these voyages as they journeyed between the atolls of Majuro and Aur in an outrigger canoe without instrumentation. In this discussion, these researchers will discuss their experience of wave piloting and explore possible links between modern science and this almost forgotten form of traditional Marshallese knowledge.

Editorial Comment:  Pacific Islander navigation science and practice is fascinating.  Their “stick and string” maps are amazing works of art and technical knowledge.

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Seminar on Global Refugee Health
Tuesday, June 20
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM EDT
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 651 Huntington Avenue, FXB G10, Boston

World Refugee Day on June 20
The seminar will feature short-talks by Dr. Danilo Mandic, College Fellow in the Sociology Department at Harvard University, Dr. Richard Mollica, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Dr. Syed Mahmood, Instructor at Harvard Medical School.

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Cass Sunstein, #Republic
Tuesday, June 20
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM EDT
The MIT Press Bookstore, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

The MIT Press Bookstore authors@MIT series presents Cass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School and former Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, discussing his new book #Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media, Tuesday, June 20, at 5:30 pm at the Bookstore.

In #Republic, Sunstein, coauthor of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness and author of The World According to Star Wars, describes the ways that the Internet drives political fragmentation, polarization, and even extremism—and what we can do about it.

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Boston Entrepreneur’s Network Open Mic Night and Entrepreneur Stories
Tuesday, June 20
6:00 PM - 8:45 PM
Pivotal Labs, 255 Main Street, 6th FL, Cambridge
Cost:  $0 - $10

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Skip the Small Talk: About Purpose - The Picnic Edition
Tuesday, June 20
7:00 PM – 9:00
MIT, Building 32, 32 Vassar Street, 3rd floor terrace, Cambridge
Cost:  $10

Do you care about the impact you’re having on the world around you? Do you want to make sure your actions and your career remain consistent with your values, even when there’s pressure to do otherwise? How do you want your professional life to fit into the rest of your life? 

Whether you’re pretty sure you already know what’s important to you and how to make choices that optimize for those, or whether this is the first time you’ve asked yourself those questions, join us for a picnic dinner where we’ll talk about the ethical questions that float around in your head in the middle of the night (whatever those happen to be for you).

The evening will be structured and facilitated by Skip the Small Talk, an organization that designs interactions where you get to talk about the stuff that actually matters. This event is a collaboration with Engineering Activism: Activist Training for Technical People.

We will guide your conversations about your personal priorities and values, your fears and concerns, and your hopes for the future. We’re not here to tell you what your values or priorities should be or how you should go about pursuing them; we’re here to help you talk and think that through, yourself. Once you’ve triangulated on what’s important to you, we’ll lead a research-based goal-setting exercise, complete with strategies for what to do when things don’t go according to plan.

We’ll have sandwiches with gluten-free, veggie, and vegan options, so let us know if you have any other dietary restrictions! You are also welcome to bring your own food if you prefer.

Please arrive a little early so we can check you in and start our conversations on time!
Get tickets in advance because we tend to sell out quickly, and if we hit capacity, we unfortunately won’t be able to sell tickets at the event. If $10 is not feasible for you, please send an e-mail to albert.r.carter@gmail.com. 


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Wednesday, June 21
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Boston Sustainability Breakfast
Wednesday, June 21
7:30 AM – 8:30 AM EDT
Pret A Manger, 101 Arch Street, Boston

Join us every month for Net Impact Boston's informal breakfast meetup of sustainability professionals for networking, discussion and moral support. It's important to remind ourselves that we are not the only ones out there in the business world trying to do good! Feel free to drop by any time between 7:30 and 8:30 am.
For our June sustainability breakfast, we'll be co-hosting with WISE (Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy) as we continue the discussion from our May 24th event - No Food to Waste.

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The Future of SREC: Come learn about SMART!
Wednesday, June 21
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EDT
50 Milk Street, 16th Floor, Edison Room, Boston
Cost:  $50 – $65

Massachusetts is in the third cycle of solar incentive development. What we have known as the SREC program is developing into a block incentive program with a flat rate incentive, named SMART (Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target).
The switch is expected to cut the annual cost of solar installations to electricity ratepayers in half, from $400 million to $500 million under previous versions of the program to $200 million to $250 million under the new program.
State energy officials say the new structure will also provide more certainty to the market by ensuring that developers know how much of an incentive they will get for their projects over a 10- or 20-year time frame, depending on the type of project.
Breakfast and coffee will be provided.
"It provides a tremendous reduction in cost to every ratepayer but provides more financial stability that the program has lacked in the past," said Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Matt Beaton.
The switch was prompted by a solar energy bill that Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law in April 2016, directing the Department of Energy Resources to develop a new version of the solar incentive program. Utilities had said the old program was too generous to solar developers and resulted in unnecessarily high costs to ratepayers. The solar industry had stressed the importance of helping an industry that is expanding in Massachusetts, creating jobs and generating renewable energy.
There has been a release of the final program design but there are still many questions to be answered. Come join us for a presentation on what has been released on the incentive program and engage with the group conversation directly following.

Presenters:
Haley Belofsky, Solar Design Consultant
Haley is a native to the Boston area, raised in Arlington, currently residing in South Boston. Her passion for sustainability began with an eighth birthday party themed, “Save the Rainforest.” After graduating from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont she accepted a position as an Americorps volunteer working for the Hawaii Department of Education.

The Americorps contract came to conclusion but Haley was not ready to leave the islands. Her first position in solar was at a local Hawaiian company, Sunetric, working as an inside sales consultant and later moving to a project coordinator role. She started in the solar industry in 2009 and has since held roles in permitting, inspections, and sales at SolarCity, RGS Energy, and SunRun.

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Reality Bytes - Utilizing VR and AR in the Library Space- a Brownbag with Matt Bernhardt
Wednesday, June 21
12:00a–1:00a
MIT, Building E25-401, 45 Carleton, Cambridge

Speaker: Matt Bernhardt
Terms like "virtual reality" and "augmented reality" have existed for a long time. In recent years, thanks to products like Google Cardboard and games like Pokemon Go, an increasing number of people have gained first-hand experience with these once-exotic technologies. The MIT Libraries are no exception to this trend. The Program on Information Science has conducted enough experimentation that we would like to share what we have learned, and solicit ideas for further investigation. 

This discussion will present participants with a first-hand opportunity to not only to hear about the ongoing learning in the VR and AR space in the MIT Libraries, but to also witness some of these technologies in action ??? both for viewing and creating relevant content. A variety of data will be shared and collected during the discussion.

Open to: the general public
Cost: Free 
Sponsor(s): MIT Libraries
For more information, contact:  Kelly Hopkins
6172533044

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Ecological Forecasting
Wednesday, June 21
12:00 – 1:30 pm (lunch will be provided beginning at 11:30 am)
BU, Pardee Center, 67 Bay State Road, Boston

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future invites you to attend its upcoming seminar with Prof. Michael Dietze, an associate professor in the Department of Earth & Environment, where he will discuss his new book, “Ecological Forecasting” from Princeton University Press.

“Ecological Forecasting” presents a new way of doing ecology. Prof. Dietze brings together the concepts and tools needed to make ecology a more predictive science, and to make ecologists more able to respond to environmental challenges. He aims to establish a closer connection between data and models to help us project our current understanding of ecological processes into new places and times.

Speaker Biography
Michael Dietze is an associate professor of Earth & Environment at Boston University and author of the book, “Ecological Forecasting” from Princeton University Press. Prof. Dietze’s lab uses a combination of field research, novel statistical methods, numerical models, and ecoinformatics tools to gain a quantitative understanding of ecological dynamics across scales from the individual to the globe. He received his B.S. and PhD from Duke University and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois. Dietze moved his lab to Boston University in 2012.

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Climate Change Resiliency and Preparedness Public Comment Meeting
Wednesday, June 21
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Boston City Hall, 9th Floor, Room 900, One City Hall Square, Boston

The City of Boston and the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) are proposing to update the current Climate Change Resiliency and Preparedness policy and related Checklist to incorporate the research and recommendations of the Boston Research Advisory Group Report and the Climate Ready Boston Report. The Climate Change Resiliency and Preparedness policy was first enacted in 2013.

The Policy and Checklist establish the BPDA’s procedures for large projects, planned development area, and institutional master planreview ensuring future climate conditions are consider in project impact analysis and that appropriate measures to avoid, eliminate, or mitigate those impacts are incorporated in project planning, design, and construction.

The BPDA is seeking your feedback on the proposed updates including comments on the Climate Change Resiliency and Preparedness Guidelines and Review Policy, Climate Change Resiliency and Preparedness Checklist, and the Climate Change Resiliency and Preparedness Guidance, all of which are available on the BPDA website for review:  http://www.bostonplans.org/

Please provide public comments by Thursday, June 29th.

Contact Name:  John Dalzell
Contact Phone:  617.918.4334

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Evolving Neural Programs for Continuous Learning
Wednesday, June 21
3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
MIT, Building 32-D507, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Dennis Wilson , Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse, Toulouse France 
Abstract:   Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have recently made large advances in the field of continuous control tasks. Both on-policy and off-policy reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms which train ANNs have shown impressive results in tasks such as classic RL control tasks, robotic control, and video game playing with pixel input. However, these training methods are limited by their inability to generalize to different tasks after learning a specific task, termed catastrophic forgetting, and their need for a large set of training examples. These key features of continuous learning, the ability to learn new skills while retaining previous knowledge and the ability to learn on a small set of examples, are found in biologic neural networks and contemporary neuroscience has greatly advanced understanding of some of their underlying mechanisms. In this talk, I will examine existing artificial neural models, ranging from deep learning to evolutionary and developmental methods, as they relate to continuous learning. I will then discuss an evolutionary model, currently under development, which explores existing neural models and discovers new models for competition in an open continuous learning environment that assesses the catastrophic forgetting and learning rate of each model.

Bio:  Dennis G Wilson '14 is currently a PhD candidate at the Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse studying artificial neural development. During their time at MIT, they worked for three years as a UROP in the Anyscale Learning For All group in CSAIL, applying evolutionary strategies and developmental models to the complex problem of wind farm layout optimization. Their current work and more can be found at http://d9w.xyz.

Contact: Nicole Hoffman, nicolem@csail.mit.edu

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Summer Solstice Celebration 2017: Night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture
WHEN  Wednesday, June 21, 2017, 5 – 9 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard Museums of Science & Culture, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education, Exhibitions, Music, Science, Special Events
COST  Free and open to the public.
CONTACT INFO  617-496-1638; hmsc@hmsc.harvard.edu
DETAILS  Free Public Special
Event Kick off summer at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture's annual Summer Solstice celebration.  
Enjoy a fun evening with circus performers, music, dance, food trucks, and hands-on activities for all ages, with free evening admission to the Harvard Semitic Museum, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, and Harvard Museum of Natural History.
You won't want to miss this special summer night featuring a special performance by the Revels Singers directed by George Emlen. Create your own summer crown with seasonal flowers and garden greens, turn yourself into royalty by making and wearing an Egyptian-inspired ornament, or craft your own sun streamer with powerful Aztec sun symbols.
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Bon Me’s pan-Asian delights will be available for purchase.

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Thursday, June 22, 5:00 PM – Saturday, June 24, 1:00 PM
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Frontiers of Democracy Conference 2017
Thursday, June 22, 5:00 PM – Saturday, June 24, 1:00 PM EDT
Tufts, Boston Campus, Sackler Building, 145 Harrison Avenue, Boston
Cost: $0 – $240

Tickets to the Frontiers of Democracy conference will be available through June 9, 2017, at 8PM.
We will honor your email request for a full refund through June 9, 2017, after this date we will be unable to refund any registrations. 
You are responsible for you own lodging and transportation.
145 Harrison Ave., Boston MA 02111 can be used as a point of reference when looking for lodging.

Thursday, June 22, there will be an evening reception with appitizers and drinks starting at 5PM.
Friday, June 23, breakfast and lunch will be offered.
Saturday, June 24, breakfast will be offered.
Check back for the full agenda, session descriptions and list of speakers at http://activecitizen.tufts.edu/civic-studies/frontiers/. This informaiton will be posted as the conference develops.
Preconference: June 22, 2017, from 9 am to 4 pm - Symposium on Deliberative Democracy in an Era of Rising Authoritarianism. (Tickets for the preconference cost $50; registrants must also have tickets for the conference.)
We look forward to seeing you there!

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Thursday, June 22
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City of Boston E+ & Net-Positive Development Seminar
Thursday, June 22
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EDT
USGBC Massachusetts Chapter, 50 Milk Street, 12th Floor, Hummingbird Room, Boston
Cost:  $40 – $65

Join John Dalzell - Senior Architect at the Boston Planning and Development Agency - for a morning introduction presentation on Boston's energy positive deep green affordable housing developments. This will be an in-depth conversation on net-positive building design and development and the measures we can take to advance our net zero energy and net positive goals.
Boston, a national leader in green building, is promoting the next generation of high performance deep green buildings. The E+ Green Building Program demonstrates the feasibility of regenerative multi-unit residential buildings and brings energy and environmentally positive homes to Boston’s neighborhoods.
Breakfast and coffee will be provided.
Learning Objectives:
Get inspired to go Net-Positive.
Learn basic concepts net zero / net positive building design.
Learn about the tools for assessing a design and the resource for getting to net zero / net positive.
Articulate challenges and opportunities of getting an existing design to net zero and beyond.

More on the presenter:
John has a long and deep involvement with the USGBC and LEED, as evidenced by his award of LEED Fellow. He is a Massachusetts registered architect, an Accredited Professional in BD+C and Neighborhood Development, a founding member of the USGBC Massachusetts chapter, and currently serves as Vice Chair of Board. John is Senior Architect for Sustainable Development at the Boston Planning and Development Agency where he champions green building and sustainable development initiatives.

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#ScreenTimeBU: Fake News, Real Emotion, & The Mediated Self
Thursday, June 22
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
BU Student Village, 10 Buick Street, Boston

Our keynote speaker will be S. SHYAM SUNDAR!

#ScreenTimeBU is a graduate student conference put on by Boston University's Emerging Media Studies program.

This conference aims to explore the civic, social, and psychological implications of today’s media landscape and is an opportunity to bridge diverse perspectives on the roles of users and technology in new media.

We would like to welcome presenters and attendees to this free conference on June 22nd, 2017!

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Consumer Protection for Community Solar 
Thursday, June 22
1:00pm — 2:00pm ET
Webinar

Community solar is a rapidly expanding model for increasing solar access and solar deployment. Like all consumer products, however, community solar can raise consumer protection issues. This webinar will discuss consumer protection issues that may arise in community solar projects for residential consumers, and the role states play in ensuring appropriate consumer protections. The webinar will be based on a CESA guide on the subject authored by Diana Chace and Nate Hausman. 

Panelists:
Warren Leon, Executive Director, CESA
Nate Hausman, Project Director, CESA
Diana Chace, Program Associate, CESA  
This webinar is presented by the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) for the Sustainable Solar Education Project. The Sustainable Solar Education Project, funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative, is helping state and municipal officials to ensure distributed solar electricity is equitable and consumer friendly. 

Consumer Protection for Community Solar: A Guide for States is the sixth and final guidebook in a series that CESA is producing as part of its Sustainable Solar Education Project. The project aims to provide information and educational resources to help states and municipalities ensure that distributed solar electricity remains consumer friendly and benefits low- and moderate-income households. The other five guidebooks in this series are:
Solar Information for Consumers
Publicly Supported Solar Loan Programs
Standards and Regulations for Solar Equipment, Installation, and Licensing & Certification
Solar+Storage for Low- and Moderate-Income Communities
Bringing the Benefits of Solar Energy to Low-Income Consumers

For more information and resources about solar consumer protection and equitability, and for a link to sign up for our free monthly newsletter, visit the Sustainable Solar Education Project website at http://www.cesa.org/projects/sustainable-solar

Editorial Comment:  Perhaps all the states and cities which have decided to ratify the Paris Accords on their own will acquaint themselves with Clean Energy States Alliance.

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The 21st Century Quant
Thursday, June 22
6:00 PM
CIC, 50 Milk Street, Boston

Summary: The last decade has been pretty devastating for the financial industry. The 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath hit the financial industry hard. The financial industry is facing the new normalcy with meager margins, fewer opportunities with restrictions on high frequency trading and more scrutiny with a barrage of risk initiatives and regulations. Quants, the pioneers of the financial industry, are therefore seeking ways in which they can leverage their strengths and adapt to the new reality. On the other hand, the last decade has been great in terms of technology advances. The cloud is maturing, big data is no longer a buzz word, open source has caused tectonic shifts in the software landscape, AI and machine learning is finally seeing the day of light and fintech is changing the decades old status quo in the banking sector. There have been many new players and products in this space and financial industry has shown eagerness to learn and adopt many of the technology innovations in the quest of opportunities. In this talk, we will discuss the key innovations and discuss the landscape of 6 areas that the financial industry, and in particular, quants are looking into. We will discuss key tools, technologies, opportunities, challenges and the movers and shakers in these areas. This talk is targeted towards quants and data scientists who are intrigued and fascinated by various developments and would like to learn and adapt to the new realities of the 21st century.

Topics:
Big Data : Opportunities for the financial industry
Cloud computing : Are we there yet?
Retooling the Quant: The Programming Language Wars
Machine learning, AI, Deep Learning: Sifting the hype from reality
Fintech: Bringing Silicon Valley to Wall Street
Regulation and Risk : Accept, Optimize, Innovate 

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Energy for Intelligent Environments
Thursday, June 22
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM 
Pivotal Labs, 255 Main Street, 6th Floor, Cambridge

Agenda:  
6:30 - Doors open. Networking. Pizza, drinks. Members meet each other. 
7:00 - Welcome. Members to share topics of interests for future meetings. 
7:05 - When Physical Meets Digital: Unlocking Intelligent Environments by Suresh Rangarajan CIO of GE Current
8:00 - Q&A break & wrap-up.

Today, physical and digital are merging in powerful ways—driving productivity, valuable insights, and new revenue. Join Current, powered by GE, to see how we’re transforming physical structures from idle to intelligent through digital infrastructure.
Suresh Rangarajan - Chief Information Officer, Current Powered by GE & GE Lighting.
Suresh Rangarajan is the CIO for two inter-related GE businesses: Current Powered by GE and GE Lighting. Suresh has been in this role since March 2017. 

Suresh joined GE in 2015 as CIO – Enterprise Applications with GE Power. Prior to joining GE, Suresh led Data Technology and Architecture at Dun & Bradstreet Inc., a leading business credit risk assessment provider. 
Suresh received his B.S. in Electronics Engineering from BITS, Pilani – a leading Engineering University in India.

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Dorchester and the Threat of Climate Change
Thursday, June 22
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
home.stead bakery & cafe, 1448 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester

Please join us at home.stead cafe Thursday, June 22, to hang out with Dorchester neighbors and:
Learn what UMass scientists think rising sea levels and extreme weather will do to our neighborhood and our neighbors
Pool our ideas -- what would a resilient, green Dorchester look like?
Hear what we can do to slow climate change now

The evening will bring together updates from Climate Ready Boston, Plan:Dorchester, and the Community Choice Energycampaign.

7:00pm Drink, snack and connect with neighbors
7:30-9:00pm Lively, interactive exploration

For info email Alice at actilton@gmail.com

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Friday, June 23
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PSFC Seminar: Reconstruction of R&D for HTS in Japan toward radical innovations of industry
Friday, June 23
11:00a–12:00p
MIT, Building NW17-218, 175 Albany Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Michiya Okada, AIST
The major Research and Development (R&D) projects relating to superconducting technology in Japan will be reviewed. At the moment, three major projects are in progress, and a new R&D consortium in private funds has been started.

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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Saturday, June 24 - Sunday, June 25
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Boston Stupid Shit No One Needs & Terrible Ideas Hackathon
Saturday, June 24 - Sunday, June 25
Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, 5th floor, Cambridge

Come Make Something We'll All Regret
An excuse to make stupid things

What is a "Stupid Hackathon"?
A Stupid Hackathon is a weekend event where people gather to make things with no value whatsoever, such as: 

Screamy Bird by Glen Chiacchieri
A version of the game Flappy Bird that is controlled by screaming.
Zippable Banana by Will Doenlen
A banana peel that you can zip back up for later.
TMI Machine by Heidi Harman & Emma Koszinowski
A social toilet app that tweets how long you've done your business.

“Prize” “Categories” 
Small-batch bespoke data
Dogmented reality
Compostable infrastructure
Fire means it’s working
Psychological projection mapping
Infrastructure as a disservice
Artificial counter-intellgience
"Horizontal applications"
Peter Thiel traps
Slacktivism
Shallow learning
Dubious body mods
Fireside chat bots
Covert dev ops
Interdimensional printing
Mindlessness apps
Web 2.N0

Schedule
Saturday June 24
1pm — doors open
2pm — kickoff
2pm - 11pm — hacking
Sunday June 25
9am - 5pm — hacking continues
5:30pm - 8pm — presentations

More information at https://bostonstupidhackathon.com

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Monday, June 26
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1st Workshop on Mechanism Design for Social Good
Monday, June 26
MIT in Cambridge

The first workshop on Mechanism Design for Social Good (MD4SG '17) will be held in conjunction with the 18th ACM Conference on Economics and Computation (EC '17) at MIT in Cambridge, MA on June 26, 2017, and will feature invited speakers, paper presentations, and a panel discussion with researchers in the EconCS community.

Synopsis: The EC community has made great contributions both to the development of theoretical foundations and applications of mechanism design. Key application domains have so far included ad auctions and electronic commerce, cloud computing, fair division, kidney donation, and school choice. In this workshop, we will focus on a set of promising applications of mechanism design that deal with access to opportunity including low-income housing, refugee resettlement, healthcare, and education. In each of these domains, the government and citizens design allocation policies, impose tax structures, create laws, and regulate activities. These are all mechanism design problems with the unifying property that progress has the potential to significantly improve societal welfare.

The workshop will have three main components: 
Invited talks from domain experts in fields such as public policy and economics.
Presentations of submitted papers by members of the EC community.
A panel of researchers with experience applying theoretical insights to areas with social good objectives.
The goal of this workshop is fourfold: 
Expose the EC community to new research directions through invited talks.
Engage the workshop attendees with domain experts to foster future learning and collaboration opportunities.
Jointly brainstorm and formalize research problems that the community can work on.
Highlight existing work in the community that falls under this theme.
More generally, we see this workshop as part of a broader goal to create and raise interest in different mechanism design problems with a social good objective.

Organizers: Rediet Abebe and Kira Goldner 

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Cambridge Clean Energy Municipal Aggregation Program Information Session
Monday, June 26
6pm
City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, Cambridge


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Machine, Platform, Crowd:  Harnessing Our Digital Future
Monday, June 26
6:00 PM (Doors at 5:30)
Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge
Cost:  $5

Harvard Book Store welcomes MIT's ANDREW MCAFEE and ERIK BRYNJOLFSSON, co-founders of the Initiative on the Digital Economy and authors of The Second Machine Age, for a discussion of their latest book, Machine, Platform, Crowd. This event will be moderated by TOM ASHBROOK, the award-winning host of WBUR's On Point. 
About Machine, Platform, Crowd

The best-selling authors of the The Second Machine Age are back with Machine, Platform, Crowd—a leader’s guide to success in a rapidly changing economy.
We live in strange times. A machine plays the strategy game Go better than any human; upstarts like Apple and Google destroy industry stalwarts such as Nokia; ideas from the crowd are repeatedly more innovative than corporate research labs.
MIT’s Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson know what it takes to master this digital-powered shift: we must rethink the integration of minds and machines, of products and platforms, and of the core and the crowd. In all three cases, the balance now favors the second element of the pair, with massive implications for how we run our companies and live our lives.

In the tradition of agenda-setting classics like Clay Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma, McAfee and Brynjolfsson deliver both a penetrating analysis of a new world and a toolkit for thriving in it. For startups and established businesses, or for anyone interested in what the future holds, Machine, Platform, Crowd is essential reading.

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Health and Sport – insights after the Race Across America
Monday, June 26
6:00 pm to 9:30 pm 
Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, Cambridge

3000 miles, 12 states, and three mountain ranges – a team from HESAV (Haute Ecole de Santé Vaud) is participating in one of the world’s most challenging bike races. The Race Across America (RAAM) starts in Oceanside California, from where ultracyclist from around the globe push their physical and mental limits all the way to Annapolis, Maryland. HESAV’s Team Pulse, taking on the journey with 8 cyclists, will share their experience in Boston on June 26, only days after completing their race.

After debriefing with the team on their participation in the continental ultramarathon bicycle race, Professor Kenny Guex of HESAV will deliver a brief presentation on the scientific experiments conducted during the race, followed by a panel discussion where experts from the fields of health, physical therapy and sports will discuss the intersection of sports and health both in extreme situations such as the RAAM, as well as in normal everyday situations.

Program
6.00pm Doors open
6.30pm Debrief on the RAAM with Andréa Marcellini, HESAV TeamPulse crew chief, and the TEAMPULSE racers
7.00pm Presentation by Kenny Guex, Associate professor to HESAV and responsible scientist of the race
7.20pm Panel discussion
8.15pm  Networking reception at swissnex Boston (420 Broadway)
9.30pm  Doors close

Panel Discussion
Kenny Guex, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at HESAV.
Andréa Marcellini, HESAV Team Pulse Crew Chief
David Nolan, Associate Clinical Professor, Director – Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program, Northeastern University – Bouve College of Health Sciences
Sean Clarke, RN, PhD, FAAN Profesor and Associate Dean, Undergraduate Program, Connell School of Nursing, Boston College.


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Tuesday, June 27
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Data Science Projects – Lessons from the Digital Trenches
Tuesday, June 27
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM EDT
CIC, 1 Broadway, Cambridge

In my 25 years of being involved with biomedical projects as first an academic biostatistician and later an entrepreneur, I have seen projects that change the face of medicine and others that ruin careers. One theme has shown up across the board- if you don't consider data and data analysis a priority it can sink your project. 

In this talk I will describe the typical ‘data science’ project in biotechnology. Using stories and examples from my career working on projects from a huge array of biomedical disciplines, I will show how successful projects develop strong and robust data pipelines, while those that fail tend to think of the data as a secondary concern. For the biotech start-ups, and more mature biotech firms, these examples might help you avoid failing to achieve your milestones and improve your R&D to be more efficient and save you money.

Note this is an academic talk and NOT a sales promotion. 

Bill Shannon, PhD, MBA, Founder and Managing Partner (Analytics), BioRankings, Professor Emeritus of Biostatistics in Medicine, Washington Univ. in St Louis
Bill is a biostatistician whose initial training was in the field of zoology and the use of rigorous mathematical analysis of biological data using clustering and classification methods. As President of BioRankings and the former Director of the Washington University Dept. of Medicine’s Biostatistical Consulting Center, he has significant experience supervising MS and PhD level staff members on statistical methods research and who provide statistical consulting support to investigators from many areas of medicine (e.g., pediatrics, oncology, pulmonology, infectious disease, neurology, and cardiology) and basic science (e.g., genetics, immunology, pathology). In addition Bill has been funded to develop novel methods for analysis of Big Data in metagenomics, connectomics, graphical data objects, and wearable devices. Bill has led big data projects for 20 years as a tenured professor at Washington Univ. School of Medicine and President of BioRankings, and has authored and co-authored 140+ peer-reviewed papers, has led data analysis R&D on both big data and small data projects in clinical and pre-clinical research, and has repeatedly been able to solve data analysis problems his clients could not solve. Bill received an MBA in 2012 to help develop data analysis solutions for business clients. As of June 2016, Bill retired from Washington University as a Professor Emeritus and is now full time at BioRankings.

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Boston Innovators Group: Voice Computing (#BIGVoice)
Tuesday, June 27
6:30 PM (EDT)
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
Cost:  $0 - $29.69

With over 10M Amazon Echo devices sold, the introduction of Google Home, and a myriad of Voice Computing devices and services on the horizon, we are potentially on the verge of a new shift in technology platforms.  Join the startup/tech community for an evening of startup demos, panel discussions, and networking conversations dedicated to the next frontier of voice.

Agenda:
6:30pm: Arrival, Cash Bar, and General Mingling
7pm: "Main Dish" Demos will present on stage.
Dave Balter, CEO at Mylestone
Stu Patterson, CEO at Artemis / LifePod
7:30pm: Special Panel, "The Next Platform: Voice Computing" featuring panelists:
Moderator: Joel Evans, co-Founder of Mobiquity
Chris Lamb, Mobile Products at InterContinental Hotels Group (overseeing Alexa virtual concierge project)
TBD


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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, June 28
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A Conversation with His Excellency Ban Ki-moon
Wednesday, June 28
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Columbia Point, Boston

Ban Ki Moon
His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, Eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations and Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, discusses key global issues and reflects on his distinguished diplomatic career.

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CondeMBTA:  A Conversation/Exhibit about Transportation Infrastructure
Wednesday, June 28 
6 PM - 8 PM
Workbar Cambridge, 45 Prospect Street, Cambridge

Featuring the photography of Derek Kouyoumjian and a panel discussion with leading transit experts and activists

Produced by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (binjonline.org)

In partnership with INVESTNOW (investnowma.org)

Light hors d’oeuvres and beer and wine served

ABOUT THE PROJECT
CONDEMBTA is a feature photojournalism project highlighting deteriorating MBTA infrastructure in Greater Boston. Produced by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and photographer Derek Kouyoumjian, the project will include print and online features, as well as a public photography exhibit and panel discussion to move the conversation about transit priorities forward. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP
We obviously want you to come to the event on June 28, but in the meantime please share all your pics of crumbling MBTA bridges and dilapidated trains on social media using the hashtag #CONDEMBTA. The more horrifying, the better.

ABOUT THE SHOW
To bring Kouyoumjian’s work past the page, BINJ and project sponsor INVESTNOW will host an event at Workbar Cambridge (45 Prospect St., Central Square) on Wednesday, June 28 at 6pm. Members of the public will have a chance to see projected images and prints up close, and to commiserate with fellow T riders about the utterly dilapidated state of many Massachusetts tracks, stations, and trains. The event will feature a short interview with Kouyoumjian, followed by a panel discussion with leading transit experts and activists. Complimentary food and beer will be served. 

ABOUT THE ARTIST
A native of Dorchester living in Somerville, Derek Kouyoumjian is one of the most active and creatively agile photographers in Greater Boston. Having shot everything from breaking news, to portraits, to food and nightlife for publications including the Boston Phoenix, Boston Business Journal, Boston Magazine, and the Boston Metro, for which he regularly snaps cover photos, Derek’s versatile eye is complemented by his immense knowledge of the cityscapes and people of Mass. He also shoots abroad, including recent trips to the United Arab Emirates and Cuba, and has worked with private clients including the Gardner Museum and Huntington Theatre Company. 

ABOUT BINJ 
The Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism produces bold reporting on issues related to social justice, and cultivates writers and multimedia producers to assist in that role. BINJ supports independent publications in various reportorial and organizational capacities, collaborates with partners on sustainable journalism and civic engagement initiatives, and aims to empower promising muckrakers with training and professional compensation.

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MassChallenge Startup Showcase 2017
Wednesday, June 28
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
Innovation and Design Building, 21 Drydock Avenue,Promenade, Boston

Ready to meet the highest-impact, most disruptive businesses in the world? Don't miss Startup Showcase 2017!

#MCShowcase17
The MassChallenge Startup Showcase features the 128 highest-impact startup companies participating in the MassChallenge Boston accelerator. It is the first major opportunity for the startup community to meet the 2017 MassChallenge finalist startups and experience their new developments in an open-floor exposition.

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Canopy Social Impact Series: The Role of Innovation in Addressing Algorithmic Discrimination
Wednesday, June 28
6:00 PM – 9:30 PM EDT
Microsoft NERD, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Cost:  $0 – $15

With the increasing influence that Big Data exert on us, the issue of algorithmic discrimination arises more and more often.

Today, Artificial Intelligence is responsible for determining the results we get on Google, the ads we see on websites, the interest rate that is provided to us by banks and the characteristics of insurance we can get. It might seem as if algorithms that can solve such complex problems must have no shortcomings.

In fact, there is a widespread belief that software and algorithms that rely on data are objective. But software is not free from human influence. Algorithms are written and maintained by people, and machine learning algorithms adjust what they do based on people’s behavior. As a result, researchers in computer science, ethics and law, are increasingly calling attention to the fact that algorithms can reinforce human prejudices.

The main questions this panel will be exploring are: What is algorithmic fairness and why is it important? Can we expect more from algorithms than we expect from people? And if so, what can be done now to address algorithmic discrimination?

These questions and much more will be discussed at Canopy Social Impact Series: The Role of Innovation in Addressing Algorithmic Discrimination.

Join the discussion on Wednesday, June 28, from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM at Microsoft NERD, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142.

Moderator
Matt Hoey - Co-Founder, Canopy City 
Matthew Hoey is the Co-founder & Managing Director of Canopy City. Prior to cofounding Canopy City he served an emerging technology & international security analyst to private sector, governmental and NGO based clients. Additionally, and most recently, Hoey was the Partnership Manager at the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge (MIT EF) and the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL).

Panelists
Panelist 1 - Kade Crockford, Director, Technology for Liberty Program, American Civil Liberities Union of Massachusetts (ACLU) where she serves as the Director of the Technology for Liberty Program of the ACLU of Massachusetts. Kade works to protect and expand the First and Fouth Amendment rights and civil liberties in the digital 21st century focusing on how systems of surveillance and control impact not just for the society in general but their primary targets - people of color, Muslims, immigrants, and dissidents.
Panelist 2 - Caitriona Fitzgerald, Chief Technology Officer and EPIC Policy Director. In her capacity as EPIC Policy Director she provides expertise to shape strong privacy and open government laws at both the state and federal level. Her work as CTO focuses on improving EPIC's web presence. Based in Somerville, Massachusetts, Caitriona is building a Boston-area presence for EPIC. She recently co-authored The Secret Ballot at Risk: Recommendations for Protecting Democracy, a report highlighting the right to a secret ballot and how Internet voting threatens voter privacy. 
Panelist 3 - Brian Olson has been a professional software engineer on everything from tiny embedded computers to server farms, at tiny startups to giants of tech. His passion project for over ten years has been to maintain open source software around redistricting and elections. He has been working on Gerrymandering for a number of years and focusing on using algorithms to be perfectly fair and impartial, this work has been cited in the Washington Post, journaled articles, and presented at TEDx Cambridge. http://bdistricting.com/
Panelist 4 - Winston Henderson is Co-Founder of an early stage venture, Sankofa, Inc., that sits at the intersection of culture and technology, developing data-driven products that better reach, understand, and serve the diverse and multicultural population. Winston frequently presents on the value of diverse and inclusive teams in developing algorithms and data science. http://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/mining-data-all-its-worth
Panelist 5 - Sara Cable, Director, Data Privacy & Security and Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General. Ms. Cable investigates and prosecutes violations of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act and the Massachusetts data breach notification laws and data security regulations. She has reviewed thousands of data breach notices submitted under Massachusetts law, regularly reviews and investigates data security incidents, works with businesses to improve their data security and breach reporting practices, and is a frequent presenter on Massachusetts data security/breach laws. She is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US). Previously, Ms. Cable was a litigation associate at Bingham McCutchen LLP, where she litigated commercial disputes featuring unfair trade practice, antitrust, and intellectual property claims.
Panelist 6 - Sheila A. Hubbard, Commissioner for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) Commissioner Hubbard is an experienced public and non-profit sector attorney, and concurrently serves as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission. Commissioner Hubbard was also Associate Director of the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising at her alma mater of Harvard Law School and Senior Program Director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. After serving under City of Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn as an attorney, policy analyst and the Director of the Minority and Women Business Office, Hubbard joined the Weld Administration as Deputy Legal Counsel, and was later appointed Chair of the Massachusetts Parole Board. A member of the Massachusetts Bar, Commissioner Hubbard graduated from Yale with a B.S. in Sociology and Political Science before attending Harvard Law School.

Agenda
6:00 - Doors open
6:30 - An overview of the Canopy mission & community services provided
6:35 - Presentation
7:30 - Moderated group discussion begins
8:30 - Panel Q&A begins
9:00 - EPIC.org is introduced and a 30-minute networking session begins
9:30 - Our second Canopy Social Impact Series event concludes

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How to Be a Muslim:  An American Story
Wednesday, June 28
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Harvard Book Store and the Harvard Islamic Society welcome the Shalom Hartman Institute's HAROON MOGHUL for a discussion of his book, How to Be a Muslim: An American Story—a memoir of his struggles to forge an American Muslim identity.
About How to Be a Muslim

Haroon Moghul was thrust into the spotlight after 9/11, becoming an undergraduate leader at New York University’s Islamic Center forced into appearances everywhere: on TV, before interfaith audiences, in print. Moghul was becoming a prominent voice for American Muslims even as he struggled with his relationship to Islam. In high school he was barely a believer and entirely convinced he was going to hell. He sometimes drank. He didn’t pray regularly. All he wanted was a girlfriend.

But as he discovered, it wasn’t so easy to leave religion behind. To be true to himself, he needed to forge a unique American Muslim identity that reflected his beliefs and personality. How to Be a Muslim reveals a young man coping with the crushing pressure of a world that fears Muslims, struggling with his faith and searching for intellectual forebears, and suffering the onset of bipolar disorder. This is the story of the second-generation immigrant, of what it’s like to lose yourself between cultures and how to pick up the pieces.

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Personal Control of Digital Data
Wednesday, June 28
7:00p–9:00p
MIT, Building 32-123, Kirsch Auditorium in the Stata Center at MIT, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Butler Lampson
People around the world are concerned that more and more of their personal data is on the Internet, where it's easy to find, copy, and link up with other data. Data about people's presence and actions in the physical world (from cameras, microphones, and other sensors) soon will be just as important as data that is born digital. What people most often want is a sense of control over their data (even if they don't exercise this control very often). Control means that you can tell who has your data, limit what they can do with it, and change your mind about the limits. Many people feel that this control is a fundamental human right (thinking of personal data as an extension of the self), or an essential part of your property rights to your data. 

Regulators are starting to respond to these concerns. Because societies around the world have different cultural norms and governments have different priorities, there will not be a single worldwide regulatory regime. However, it does seem possible to have a single set of basic technical mechanisms that support regulation. 

Butler Lampson is a Technical Fellow at Microsoft Corporation and an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at MIT. He holds a number of patents on networks, security, raster printing, and transaction processing. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

IEEE/ACM Joint Seminar Series 
Exploring the edge of computing technology.

Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Tickets: N/A
Sponsor(s): ACM & IEEE/CS, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
For more information, contact:  Dorothy Curtis
617-253-0541

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Thursday, June 29
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Cambridge and a Net Zero Plan
Thursday, June 29
8:30 AM – 10:30 AM EDT
USGBC MA 16th Floor, Edison Room, 50 Milk Street, Boston
Cost:  $30 – $65

Learn more about the City of Cambridge's 25-year Net-Zero Action Plan from presenter Henrietta Davis (former Mayor of Cambridge).

Join us for our Green Breakfast series with Henrietta Davis, former Mayor of Cambridge, and Seth Federspiel, the Net-Zero Energy Planner for the City of Cambridge, as they speak to the USGBC Massachusetts about Cambridge’s Net Zero Action Plan. We will also discuss the idea of creating a "handbook" for smaller municipalities in Massachusetts to achieve net-zero.

Breakfast and coffee will be provided.

Net-Zero in Cambridge
In December 2013, the City of Cambridge created the “Getting to Net Zero Task Force” charged with advancing the goal of setting Cambridge on the trajectory towards becoming a “net zero community”, with focus on carbon emissions from building operations. This includes reducing energy use intensity of buildings and taking advantage of opportunities to harvest energy from renewable sources. To guide this process, a committee comprised of residents, community advocates, business and property owners, developers and representatives of local universities was assembled. This committee worked collaboratively with a team of technical consultants and City staff to examine strategies and develop recommendations that reduce carbon emissions through efficient design and retrofits, improved operations and renewable energy generation. The Task Force developed comprehensive, actionable, long and short term recommendations. In June 2015, a 25-year Net Zero Action Plan, endorsed by stakeholders across the Cambridge community, was adopted by City Council.

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Democracy Meet and Greet
Thursday, June 29
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Cambridge Innovation Center, One Broadway (5th Floor, Venture Cafe), Cambridge

Dear Daring Democracy Members:
Our democracy is under attack. We all know this. But fewer are aware that gutsy citizens, many for the first time, are jumping in to fix our broken democracy. They’re pushing state legislators to pass real reforms and succeeding. In this exciting work, Massachusetts could become a leader. 

So we’re excited to announce our next Meetup: a “Meet and Greet” with the leaders of two Massachusetts’ democracy campaigns. While they might sound wonky, both are game changers. Automatic Voter Registration and Ranked Choice Voting.

 On June 29th, please join us at the Cambridge Innovation Center to meet Pam Wilmot, master strategist of the fight for Automatic Voter Registration (and executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts) and Adam Friedman, executive director of Voter Choice Massachusetts. Pam and Adam will tell us about the difference their campaigns can make and how we can plug in. Frances Moore Lappé and Adam Eichen, authors of the forthcoming Daring Democracy: Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want will explain why these efforts matter so much.

We’ll have plenty of time for questions, discussion, and opportunities to learn more about encouraging action to get to the system-roots of our democracy crisis. On the 29th, together we can focus on solutions!  

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Is Boston Prepared for Climate Change?
Thursday, June 29
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Boston Public Library, Commonwealth Salon, 700 Boylston Street, Boston

Bud Ris, long time climate expert and member of Boston’s Green Ribbon Commission, explains how our climate is changing, who will be affected, and what can be done to make the City of Boston as resilient as possible. After the talk, audience members are invited to view the Leventhal Map Center’s exhibition, Regions and Seasons: Mapping Climate through History.

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Green Cambridge 2017 Annual Meeting
Thursday, June 29
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Hurley Street Neighborhood Farm, 213 Hurley Street, Cambridge

Look on the fence for the banner!
Come and join Green Cambridge for our monthly meeting -- this month will be our ANNUAL MEETING! You are invited!


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Friday, June 30
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20th annual Cambridge Dance Party
Friday, June 30
7 to 11 p.m. June 30
Cambridge City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

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Tuesday, July 4
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Drawing Party: Find Out Who Will Win a Tesla
Tuesday, July 4
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM EDT
Old West Church, 131 Cambridge Street, Boston

After months of waiting, it all comes down to this. Join us for a summer barbecue as we draw the six lucky winners of our Carbon Pricing Awareness Tesla Raffle!

There will be great food and live music, and one lucky person will walk away with the funds for a brand new built-to-order Tesla - a $160,000 value.
Raffle tickets are currently on sale - ticket sales will officially end on July 4th. Buy yours before it's too late!

Winners will be drawn at 7:30pm. Once it gets dark, we'll walk down to the river together for fireworks.

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Opportunity
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New Climate CoLab Contests:
Adaptation
Buildings
Carbon Pricing
Energy Supply
Land Use Change
Shifting Attitudes & Behaviors
Transportation

More information at https://www.climatecolab.org/

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Discounted Solar for Somerville

As part of the State’s Solarize Mass program, local volunteers and the City of Somerville recently launched the Solarize Somerville campaign to make it easier and cheaper for residents and small businesses to install solar panels.

The program, which is offering information and guidance, free site consultations, and solar panel discounts through November, has set an ambitious goal to inspire at least 200 property owners to sign up for solar —and each of those private solar installations will also benefit the community directly. For every 400 kW in signed private contracts through the program, the program’s solar vendor SolarFlair will donate a system of up to 5 kW for a public or community purpose. All are invited to the program kickoff at a Meet the Installer event on Tuesday, July 26 at 6-7:30 p.m., 167 Holland St. Additional events on topics such as solar basics, financing, and solar for multifamily homes will be announced.

Unique to the program is its neighbor-to-neighbor approach: trained resident volunteers and a designated volunteer Solar Coach are available essentially as mentors. They can, for example, walk anyone through the process, provide general loan program and tax incentive information, and share their own solar experiences. The campaign’s webpage and blog offers useful information, tips, and a link to websites where you can estimate the solar potential of your home and roughly calculate how much solar could save you on your energy bills at www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize.

Somerville is one of the most urban communities ever to participate in Solarize Mass, which makes the neighbor-to-neighbor approach especially helpful due to some of the unique challenges here such as multi-family houses with more than one owner. Winter Hill resident Mary Mangan, the program’s volunteer Solar Coach, went through that process and is ready to share helpful tips.

"I'm excited to work with our eager volunteers to help our neighbors understand the benefits of solar power. As a co-owner of a two-family home with solar, I can also offer some insights about how that process went for us," said Mangan.

Also key to the program is the selection of a designated vendor, which allows the program to offer reduced cost installation through bulk purchasing. Through a competitive process, SolarFlair, based in Ashland, MA, was selected. They were also the selected installer for the communities of Arlington, Hopkinton, Mendon, Brookline, Carlisle-Chelmsford, Newton, and Quincy.

"We're excited to be the selected installer for Solarize Somerville, and look forward to speaking with any home or business owners that are interested in reducing their electric bills while also making a great investment," said Matt Arner, the owner and President of SolarFlair.

Quick facts:
Solar systems can be purchased outright (with a payback of about 4-5 years). The Mass Solar Loan program offers rates of 3.25% or less. 
Or, for no money down owners can choose a power purchase agreement (PPA), where the system is owned and maintained by a third party, and residents buy back the electricity at a discounted price.   
More on-site renewable energy is critical to reducing carbon emissions.  It also saves money for residents.

Tax incentives for solar installations include:
Federal Tax Credit: A 30 percent federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is available for qualified residential and commercial projects
Massachusetts Personal Income Tax Credit: The lesser of 15% of the total cost of the solar electric system or $1,000, for qualified clean energy projects
Five-year Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS): Business owners can depreciate solar electric systems over a five-year schedule

For more information or to sign up for a free site consultation:

Visit the Solarize Somerville webpage at www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize for
Helpful information and FAQs
To contact a volunteer or Solar Coach Mary Mangan to discuss solar options and incentives
To set up an appointment for a free site consultation directly with SolarFlair
To find out about events
To volunteer for Solarize Somerville

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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. 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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Hey Cambridge residents!

Did you know the City of Cambridge is trying to win the $5 million Georgetown University Energy Prize? It was created to develop a cleaner and more efficient energy future. Energy efficiency and conservation are the best ways to save energy and minimize environmental impact. In that effort, Cambridge is hoping all residents will get a no-cost energy assessment in order to make their homes more efficient and comfortable. Let us know you're interested here: http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/sign-up-for-an-assessment

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

Again, let us know you're interested here: http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/sign-up-for-an-assessment and someone will be in contact with you shortly to give you personally tailored contact information on how you can get your no-cost home energy assessment. Renters are also eligible!

Any action to save energy in the home will help Cambridge win this competition while protecting the environment. For additional ideas on how to save energy, please see the Cambridge Energy Alliance website at http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/interactivehome

Please share with your Cambridge friends and family and ask them to get a free energy assessment!

Want to be more involved? Become a neighborhood Block Captain! Block Captains help their community members sign up for and complete no-cost home energy assessments through the MassSave program. Our team will give you the tools and guidance needed to recruit neighbors to get an assessment and improve the efficiency of their homes. Participation is welcome at whatever level you are able to commit to.
If you are interested in becoming a Block Captain, please fill out the form at http://tinyurl.com/blockcaptainsurvey and someone from the Cambridge Energy Alliance will be in contact with you shortly. If you know someone who might be interested, please let them know about this opportunity!

Questions? Contact jnahigian@cambridgema.gov

Cambridge Energy Alliance
@cambenergy 

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Sunny Cambridge has just launched! Sunny Cambridge is the city-wide initiative that makes it easy for all types of residents to get solar power for their homes. Cambridge has lined up local solar installers through the EnergySage Solar Marketplace, which helps you request, receive, and compare solar quotes 100% online with support available every step of the way.

The City of Cambridge is working on many levels to reduce energy use and GHG emissions to make the city more sustainable. As a semifinalist in the nationwide competition for the $5 million Georgetown University Energy Prize, Cambridge Energy Alliance is encouraging residents to take actions to save energy, save money, and protect the environment. Get involved by signing up for a no-cost home energy assessment at the Cambridge Energy Alliance home page (www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org/winit)
and going solar at http://www.sunnycambridge.org 

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Cambridge Coalition Solar Access Campaign is part of the DOE SunShot Solar in Your Community Challenge with a goal of 40 new solar electric systems installed in Cambridge, with a focus on serving low-to-moderate income communities.

Coalition partners include Green Cambridge, which works to create a more sustainable city and to protect the environment for the health and safety of all, Resonant Energy, a community-based solar developer, Solstice, helping every single household in America go solar, and Sunwealth, a solar investment firm.


hat tip Cambridge Civic Journal 

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"Greening Our Grid" Report Released April 24, 2017

MAPC is excited to announce the release of “Greening Our Grid,” a fact sheet and a case study detailing MAPC’s strategy to use municipal aggregation to help build new renewable energy in New England. 

“Greening Our Grid” highlights MAPC's work with the City of Melrose as a case study for MAPC's innovative green municipal aggregation strategy. Melrose recently completed its first year of implementation. The city’s results demonstrate that economic and environmental goals can be met simultaneously, and provide a compelling example for others to follow. 

The case study and fact sheet further describe the renewable energy strategy overall, why it can have a real impact on our electricity grid, and MAPC’s program to help other municipalities follow Melrose's lead. Arlington, Brookline, Gloucester, Hamilton, Millis, Somerville, Sudbury, and Winchester are poised to roll out their green aggregations within the year. 

MAPC believes that municipal aggregation offers an opportunity for communities to leverage the collective buying power of their residents and businesses to transform our electric grid to cleaner sources of energy, while also providing cost savings and price stability for electricity. The fact sheet and case study will be useful tools for cities and towns that are exploring green municipal aggregation, as well as for those that already have active aggregation programs.

Check out “Greening Our Grid” today at http://www.mapc.org/greening-our-grid, and contact Patrick Roche, MAPC Clean Energy Coordinator, at proche@mapc.org for more information about MAPC's program.

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Cambridge Climate Change Game

Extending our work on face-to-face games, the MIT Science Impact Collaborative has developed a digital game on the health impacts of climate change that you can play alone on your computer or on your mobile phone. The game should take about 10-20 minutes. We would appreciate it if you could play the game at your convenience.


Any and all feedback on the game should be directed to Ella Kim at ella@mit.edu.  

Thank you for your time and consideration!

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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 - 41 (up from 27 in 2016) and counting:  https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zGHnt9r2pQx8.kfw9evrHsKjA&hl=en
Solidarity Network Economy:  https://ussolidarityeconomy.wordpress.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/
Sustainability at Harvard:  http://green.harvard.edu/events
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
Take Action MA:  http://takeactionma.com


If you have an event you would like to see here, the submission deadline is 12 PM on Sundays, as Energy (and Other) Events is sent out Sunday afternoons.
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