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, September 11
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7:30am 2017 Energy Storage & Microgrid Conference
11:30am Science is Shaped by Wikipedia: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial
12pm PAOC Colloquium: David McGee (MIT): The Patterns, Pace and Magnitude of Past Hydroclimate Changes
12:15pm Nuclear Cultural Heritage in Russia: Politics, Community, Materiality
12:30pm Towards More Effective Building Energy Simulation
1pm Towards a “Foresightful Innovation”
5:30pm Boston Area Group for Informatics and Modeling Event: Panel on Cloud Computing for Molecular Modeling
5:30pm Residential Green Building Committee Meeting with Peter Lawrence from Biomimicry New England
6pm The Digital Threat to Democracy
6pm Star Trek Bridge Crew: Artificial Intelligence in Virtual Reality with IBM Watson AND Chef Watson Inspired Cocktails & Appetizers!
6:30pm Can you see what I hear? Using high-speed video technology to improve voice health
7pm Welcome to the Revolution
7pm Trevor Paglen | The Planet is a Sensor
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Tuesday, September 12
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8:30am Sustainability Is Beautiful - Roxbury E+ Housing by ISA
12pm Technology for the Social Good featuring Jonathan Zittrain
12:30pm Native American Speakers Series: On Wampanoag Ground
4:30pm Ford Day 2017: Autonomous Vehicle Lecture
5pm Comix, Jews ’n Art? Dun’t Esk!!
5pm Machine learning applied to fusion research: Predicting and avoiding disruption
5pm Reimagining Longevity Ideathon Pitches, Awards Ceremony and Reception
5:30pm Emerging Applications of Blockchain for Supply Chains
6pm Being Mortal: Medicine & What Matters in the End
6pm Gatekeepers: White House Chiefs of Staff
6pm "Croissants vs. Bagels" Book Launch & SoJust Closing Celebration
6pm Boston New Technology September 2017 Startup Showcase #BNT81 (21+)
7pm Forum with State Senator Pat Jehlen on “Stop the Pipeline Tax” Bill
7pm Clouds, Chemistry, and Climate Change: Why Our Current Climate Is What It Is
7pm Deadly Double Helix - Danielle Allen
7:30pm Driving Sustainability II : Business dependency on eco-friendly practices
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Wednesday, September 13
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3rd Annual Tata Center Symposium: Does the developing world need a different
12pm MTL Seminar Series: “Forging Intelligent Systems in the Digital Era”
12pm Can you find it in your heart to forgive?: Race, Requests, and Repair
12pm Perspectives on the U.S. Defense Budget
3pm xTalk: Lou Guenier on "An Educational Revolution for a Digital World”
4pm The Neurolaw Revolution: A lecture by Francis X. Shen
4pm The Mad Cartoonists of Cairo: The Dangerous World of Middle East Censorship and the Emergence of Arab Comix
4pm Exploring the Climate Impacts of Solar Geoengineering on Land-Atmosphere Interactions
4pm Healing the Mind: Writing Takes the Ache Away
4:15pm The Impact of Consumer Subsidies on Innovation in Solar Panel Manufacturing (Todd Gerarden)
6pm A Conversation with Dr. Harry Edwards
6pm New England Offshore Wind: Inaugural meeting
6pm Mass Innovation Nights #102!
7pm Matter of Degrees: Demystifying the science and clarifying the possibilities of climate change
7pm The Wisdom of Finance
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Thursday, September 14
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8am 2017 Tata Center Conference
10am Exoskeletal-Assisted Walking for Persons with Paralysis from Spinal Cord Injury
11am The 27th First Annual Ig® Nobel Prize Ceremony & Lectures
11am 0th Annual BU Bike Safety & Sustainability Festival
12pm Arctic Lab: an artist's trip to the North
12pm Carr Center Book Talk: I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad
2:30pm Bearing Witness to Trauma: Innovative Tools to Assist First Responder and Victim Services Agencies
4pm Synthesis and Application of Metal Nanostructures
4pm Cleantech Open NE - Boston Business Clinic: Tell Your Story Day
4:15pm One Belt/One Road in Historical and Global Context
5pm Race, Class and #BlackLivesMatter in the Trump Era
5pm Starr Forum: The Trump-Putin Phenomenon
5pm Engineering Virality: BuzzFeed's Scientific Approach To Creating Content
5pm FROM THE ASHES: Film Screening & Discussion
6pm Darwin’s Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory
7pm Extreme Events & Climate Change: What We Know and What We Can Do
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Friday, September 15
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Park(ing) Day
8:30am Building Urban Environment Across Disciplines
9:30am Time to Walk the Walk: BU’s Climate Action Plan (Alumni Weekend Event)
10am Wettability and Adhesion of Real Surfaces
12pm ME(DIA) RESPONSE: SELF-AWARENESS AND ACTIVISM THROUGH ART-MAKING | PART 2: BUILDING AN UNDERSTANDING
1pm Depends What State You’re In: Policies and Politics of the US Health Care System
3:30pm Being Mortal and What Matters in the End
5pm Shannon Mattern, Mapping's Intelligent Agents
5:30pm Thomistic Institute Talk - Tolkien's Perilous Beauties: Philosophy and Aesthetic Danger
7pm A Reno Family Foundation Symposium – Life 3.0
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Saturday, September 16 - Sunday, September 17
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Hack MIT
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Saturday, September 16
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8am The Future We’re Building
9am Somerville Garden Club Annual Plant Sale
10am RIM - ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PRESENTATION
11am Sun for All Celebration
11:30am Dance Mile Boston
1pm The Ig Informal Lectures
6pm Living in the Future
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Sunday, September 17
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11am Boston Local Food Festival: New England's largets One-Day Farmer's Market
1:30pm E.O. Wilson: The Meaning of Human Existence
6pm Sharon McGregor: From Turf to Paradise - In your own backyard (or window box)!
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Monday, September 18
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12pm PAOC Colloquium: Dan Cziczo (MIT)
12pm Investigating ARPA-E as a Model for Energy Innovation Funding
12pm Identity Politics and Organized Crime
12:15pm Molecular Government, Toxicological Information, and Environmental Protection
1:15pm From Genetics to CRISPR Gene Editing with Machine Learning
4pm Organometallic and Radical Mechanisms of Nickel Enzymes Involved in Methane and CO2 Metabolism
4pm Starting an Energy and Clean Tech Company in Boston
6pm Two Ways of Knowing: Creating Ancient Maya History through Inscriptions and Archaeology
6:15pm The Interactions of Buildings
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Tuesday, September 19 - Wednesday, September 20
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5:30pm Gills Club Symposium: Shark Tales – Women Making Waves
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Tuesday, September 19
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10am Reprogramming biological form and function: the dark matter of biology
12pm Vann R. Newkirk II: Race, Identity, and Media
1pm Will we adapt? Extreme heat, labor production, and adaptation to climate change
1pm State House Hearing on Renewable Portfolio Standard
4pm ESI PEOPLE & THE PLANET LECTURE: Johan Rockström
4:15pm Space, Time, and Reality: A Lecture by Brian Greene
4:30pm The Stupid Terrorist: Lessons from History and the Social Sciences
4:30pm Fascist in the White House? Steve Bannon’s Rage Against the Enlightenment
5:30pm Careers in Sustainability Panel
5:30pm Safety First: Towards Safe Consumption Facilities in Massachusetts
A Community Forum
6pm authors@mit - Mitch Resnick - Lifelong Kindergarten
6pm Cracking Bones, Gnawing Flesh, and Pondering Hearts: Body, Mind, and Medicine in Ancient Mesopotamia
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My rough notes on some of the events I go to and notes on books I’ve read are at:
Summary of Systems Principles
Is it Time to Talk About Solar Civil Defense?
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Monday, September 11
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2017 Energy Storage & Microgrid Conference
Monday, September 11
7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Boston Newton Marriott, 2345 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton
Cost: $175 - $250
Innovation Northeast in collaboration with the Northeast Electrochemical Energy Storage Cluster and the Hydrogen Energy Center is pleased to host the 2017 Energy Storage and Microgrid Conference, taking place at the Boston Marriot Newton on Monday, September 11, 2017. This unique conference is bringing together leaders in the energy storage and microgrid industries to the innovation epicenter: Boston, Massachusetts. Benefit from panel discussions with industry experts; Connect with early stage companies, investors, and strategic partners; Gain insight into industry leading technologies; Understand potential applications for energy storage technologies; and Network with government and leading industry stakeholders.
Website: http://www.innovationnortheast.org/
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Science is Shaped by Wikipedia: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial
Monday, September 11
11:30am to 1:00pm
Harvard, Maxwell Dworkin 119, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Neil Thompson, MIT Sloan School of Management
“I sometimes think that general and popular treatises are almost as important for the progress of science as original work.” - Charles Darwin, 1865
As the largest encyclopedia in the world, it is not surprising that Wikipedia reflects the state of scientific knowledge. However, Wikipedia is also one of the most accessed websites in the world, including by scientists, which suggests that it also has the potential to shape science. This paper shows that it does.
Incorporating ideas into a Wikipedia article leads to those ideas being used more in the scientific literature. This paper documents this in two ways: correlationally across thousands of articles in Wikipedia and causally through a randomized experiment where we added new scientific content to Wikipedia. We find that fully a third of the correlational relationship is causal, implying that Wikipedia has a strong shaping effect on science.
Our findings speak not only to the influence of Wikipedia, but more broadly to the influence of repositories of scientific knowledge. The results suggest that increased provision of information in accessible repositories is a very cost-effective way to advance science. We also find that such gains are equity-improving, disproportionately benefitting those without traditional access to scientific information.
Speaker Bio:
Professor Thompson is the Assistant Professor of Innovation and Strategy at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-director of the Experimental Innovation Lab (X-Lab). He also an associate member of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. His PhD was in Business and Public Policy at Berkeley, where he also did Masters degrees in Computer Science and Statistics. Professor Thompson has a masters in economics from the London School of Economics, and undergraduate degrees in Physics and International Development. Prior to academia, he worked at organizations such as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, Bain and Company, The United Nations, the World Bank, and the Canadian Parliament.
Center for Research on Computation and Society
Contact: Gabriella Fee
Email: gfee@g.harvard.edu
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PAOC Colloquium: David McGee (MIT): The Patterns, Pace and Magnitude of Past Hydroclimate Changes
Monday, September 11
12:00pm to 1:00pm
MIT, Building 54-923, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
About the Speaker
David McGee’s research focuses on understanding the atmosphere’s response to past climate changes. By documenting past changes in precipitation and winds using geochemical measurements of stalagmites, lake deposits and marine sediments and interpreting these records in the light of models and theory, he aims to offer data-based insights into the patterns, pace and magnitude of past hydroclimate changes. His primary tool is measurements of uranium-series isotopes, which provide precise uranium-thorium dates for stalagmites and lake deposits and allow reconstructions of windblown dust emission and transport using marine sediments.
About this Series
The PAOC Colloquium is a weekly interdisciplinary seminar series that brings together the whole PAOC community. Seminar topics include all research concerning the physics, chemistry, and biology of the atmospheres, oceans and climate, but also talks about e.g. societal impacts of climatic processes. The seminars generally take place on Monday from 12-1pm. Lunch is provided to encourage students and post-docs to meet with the speaker. Besides the seminar and lunch, individual meetings with professors, post-docs, and students are arranged.
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Nuclear Cultural Heritage in Russia: Politics, Community, Materiality
Monday, September 11
12:15PM TO 2:00PM
Harvard, 100F Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Please RSVP to sts@hks.harvard.edu by Wednesday at 5PM the week before.
with Egle Rindzeviciute, (Kingston University, Sociology).
The STS Circle at Harvard is a group of doctoral students and recent PhDs who are interested in creating a space for interdisciplinary conversations about contemporary issues in science and technology that are relevant to people in fields such as anthropology, history of science, sociology, STS, law, government, public policy, and the natural sciences. We want to engage not only those who are working on intersections of science, politics, and public policy, but also those in the natural sciences, engineering, and architecture who have serious interest in exploring these areas together with social scientists and humanists.
There has been growing interest among graduate students and postdocs at Harvard in more systematic discussions related to STS. More and more dissertation writers and recent graduates find themselves working on exciting topics that intersect with STS at the edges of their respective home disciplines, and they are asking questions that often require new analytic tools that the conventional disciplines don’t necessarily offer. They would also like wider exposure to emerging STS scholarship that is not well-represented or organized at most universities, including Harvard. Our aim is to try to serve those interests through a series of activities throughout the academic year.
Sandwich lunch is provided. RSVP required.
STS Circle at Harvard
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Towards More Effective Building Energy Simulation
Monday, September 11
12:30pm to 2:00pm
MIT, Building 7-408/Long Lounge, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Holly Samuelson
Energy simulation may be a key to unlocking the energy conservation potential of new and existing buildings. However, a number of barriers hinder the efficacy of this tool. This talk highlights research aimed at chipping away these barriers. Solutions range from improving its integration into an early design workflow to unearthing and improving sources of model inaccuracy, such as occupant behavior and urban context.
Holly W. Samuelson is an Assistant Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She teaches technical courses in architecture, specializing in the energy and environmental performance of buildings. Dr. Samuelson's research focuses on improving energy conservation and health by leveraging cutting-edge applications of computerized simulation of buildings. She came to this field as a licensed architect with almost a decade of professional experience, and she uses her knowledge of the building industry to find solutions that bridge the gap between academia and practice.
MIT Department of Architecture / Fall 2017 Lecture Series
Hosted by Assistant Professor Caitlin Mueller and the Building Technology Group
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Towards a “Foresightful Innovation”
Monday, September 11
1:00pm — 2:00pm
MIT Media Lab, Building E15 - Bartos theater, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
Foresight is the Art and Science of inventing and designing the future. It is the first and key step of innovation in a fast changing world. This presentation will involve a thrilling journey from the distant past into the long term future, and will discuss how Foresight has changed the world, and how its practice has evolved over time. The presentation will provide methodological frameworks and tools for exploring and shaping futures by combining ‘creativity’, ‘expertise’, ‘evidence’ and ‘networking’ for the purposes of:
Identifying and monitoring trends, weak signals of emerging developments and wild cards
Exploring alternative futures under complexity and uncertainty
Enabling creativity and innovation with out-of-the-box thinking
Building future visions and determining priorities
Identifying key scientific and technological areas
Developing new products, services and markets, and
Recommending policies and strategies for R&D
Topics covered are ‘anti-disciplinary’ in nature and are relevant for innovators in all scientific disciplines and at all levels of governance (international, national, corporate or individual).
Speaker Bio: Dr. Ozcan Saritas is a Professor of Innovation and Strategy at the National Research University, Higher School of Economics (HSE), Moscow; and editor-in-chief of “Foresight” - the journal of future studies, strategic thinking and policy. He worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, The University of Manchester, UK. His research focuses upon innovation and policy research with particular emphasis on socio-economic and technological Foresight. With a PhD from the “Foresight and Prospective Studies Program,” he introduced the “Systemic Foresight Methodology”, and has produced a number of publications on the topic. He has extensive work experience with the international organizations including United Nations (UNIDO and UNCTAD), OECD, and the European Commission. He has been involved in large scale national, multinational and corporate research and consultancy projects on sectors including Energy, Climate Change and Renewables, Agriculture and Food, Water Resources and Sustainability, Transportation and Automotive, Information and Communication Technologies among the others; published a number of articles in respected journals; and have delivered keynote speeches in more than 50 countries across the world. Besides his research and publication activities, he designs and delivers academic and executive education courses on Foresight, Innovation Management and Strategic Planning. He has recently co-authored a book, entitled “Foresight for Science, Technology and Innovation” published by Springer, which has become one of the key readings in the field.
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Boston Area Group for Informatics and Modeling Event: Panel on Cloud Computing for Molecular Modeling
Monday, September 11
5:30 PM
Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, 250 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
A panel of industry experts will present a panel on Cloud Computing for Molecular Modeling in the auditorium at NIBR at 250 Mass Avenue in Cambridge, starting at 6pm, following refreshments at 5:30pm. Further networking time with refreshments will follow the discussion. Panel members include:
Lucas Nivon, Ph.D. (discussion leader), Co-founder and CEO, Cyrus Biotechnology
Pat Lorton, Ph.D. (panelist), Chief Technology Officer, Schrodinger
Essam Metwally, Ph.D. (panelist), Senior Scientist, Chemical Computing Group
TBD representative from OpenEye
Molecular Modeling on the Cloud: Implementing complex workflows for all users
Many major advances have been made in the last 10 years in small molecule and protein modeling and design, including the design of novel protein folds and protein-binding activity into inert scaffolds. All of these have required very large amounts of computing and complex workflows with sensitive benchmarking and expert configuration. This complexity, sensitivity and large infrastructure requirements have in many cases limited these tools to very few use cases in an academic environment with access to very large shared compute resources. We propose that the public cloud provides an opportunity to circumvent infrastructure limitations while simultaneously reducing complexity and increasing accessibility.
Here we examine the previously existing infrastructure used to run these types of calculations. We consider the design requirements for a value-focused research organization in a cloud implementation of molecular modeling and design, such as maintenance cost/time, reliability, speed to answers, and correctness of answers. Then we propose various architectural instantiations of a “cloud” modeling suite of software while considering best practices in software-as-a-service tools from other fields (such as email). Finally, we outline one general solution to a cloud architecture that emphasizes these requirements and reduces user complexity. Simplification to users requires shifting complexity to cloud infrastructure and increased software development time.
We focus on one case study of a scientific workflow implementation, detailing architectural/workflow aspects and the scientific benchmarking required.
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Residential Green Building Committee Meeting with Peter Lawrence from Biomimicry New England
Monday, September 11
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM EDT
50 Milk Street, 18th Floor "Hemingway" Conf Room, Boston
The Residential Green Building Committee is focused on improving the housing stock of the Commonwealth by championing green building practices in our communities. Join us on the second Monday of each month to be a part of the movement.
This meeting's guest speaker will be Peter Lawrence of Biomimicry New England.
Residential Green Building Committee
The committee’s objectives are to work to raise the awareness of the benefits of residential green building and remodeling and to increase the quantity of projects registering for LEED for Homes. The committee, through education and outreach, will focus on the following:
Hold across MA, Lunch and LEED, education sessions and tours on topics such as Zero Net Energy, Deep Energy Retrofits and REGREEN
Help the community understand and implement LEED for Homes and residential green building, remodeling and retrofits
Ensure that our target markets are aware of available green building tools and resources
Partner with other Green Building Programs
Establish a collaborative relationship with a professional and/or community organizations
Develop case studies and green residential building content for the USGBC MA website
Committee Meetings
Please contact Kimberly Le (le.kimberly.c@gmail.com) if you are interested in joining this committee or plan on attending an upcoming meeting.
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The Digital Threat to Democracy
Speaker(s): Heather Adkins, Molly McKew, Robby Mook, Debbie Plunkett, Matt Rhoades, Clint Watts
Moderator(s): Eric Rosenbach
Date: Monday, September 11, 2017 - 6:00pm
Where: Harvard, JFK Jr Forum, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Co-Sponsors: Defending Digital Democracy, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy
Heather Adkins, Manager Information Security, Google
Molly McKew, Foreign Policy and Strategy Consultant, Information Warfare Expert and Writer
Robby Mook, Senior Fellow, Defending Digital Democracy Project, Campaign Manager, Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign
Debbie Plunkett, Principal, Plunkett Associates LLC, Former Director National Security Agency's Information Assurance Directorate
Matt Rhoades, Senior Fellow, Defending Digital Democracy Project, Campaign Manager, Romney-Ryan 2012 presidential campaign
Clint Watts, Senior Fellow, Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, George Washington University, Foreign Policy Research Institute Fellow
Eric Rosenbach (moderator), Co-Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Co-Director, Defending Digital Democracy Project, Chief of Staff, United States Department of Defense (2015-2017), Assistant Secretary of Defense, United States Department of Defense (2014-2015)
Cyber and digital attacks on campaigns and elections are a threat to our democracy and affect people of all political stripes. Over the past two years, nearly every election on both sides of the Atlantic has been affected by cyber-attacks. Foreign actors could target any political party at any time, and deterrence starts with strong cyber defense and public education. This discussion brings together leading voices from politics, national security and technology to examine threats and strategies for safeguarding our democratic institutions. The bipartisan initiative Defending Digital Democracy is co-sponsored by The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Institute of Politics and the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School
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Star Trek Bridge Crew: Artificial Intelligence in Virtual Reality with IBM Watson AND Chef Watson Inspired Cocktails & Appetizers!
Monday, September 11
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EDT)
MassChallenge, 21 Drydock Avenue, Boston
Discover how with IBM Watson, you can virtually explore strange new worlds,
seek out new life and new civilizations,
and to boldly go where no one has gone before...
AND enjoy Chef Watson inspired cocktails & appetizers!
During the meetup, John Cutter (Director of Product IBM Watson Developer Labs & AR/VR Labs) will discuss how by utilizing IBM Watson, the Star Trek: Bridge Crew virtual reality game applies an artificial intelligence platform with enabled voice commands.
IBM’s new “VR Speech Sandbox" (the software used to build the Star Trek: Bridge Crew feature,) is now available for all developers to adapt for their own VR applications and services. The Sandbox combines IBM’s Watson Unity software development kit with two services, Watson Speech to Text and Watson Conversation. Developers now have the opportunity to build new and innovative user interfaces, leveraging the power of voice interaction in virtual reality.
With IBM Watson’s interactive speech and cognitive capabilities, Star Trek: Bridge Crew will provide players the opportunity to use their voice and natural-language commands to interact with their virtual Starfleet crew members. This feature is part of a strategic partnership between IBM and Ubisoft.
Prior to the Star Trek discussion, Chef Doug Pollard (IBM Watson Health) and his team will be preparing the food and beverage for this event using Chef Watson technology.
Chef Watson takes a user’s inputs (ingredients to use or avoid, style of cooking, and desired dish), and creates never-before seen recipes. The ingredients it selects are based on what it has learned might pair well based on the recipes it has read, as well as what it knows about the underlying food chemistry – specifically the flavor compounds of each ingredient.
An event not to be missed!
Agenda:
6:00 pm - Registration & networking
6:30 pm - Kickoff and intros
6:35 pm - Chef Doug presents Chef Watson Inspired Cuisine
6:55 pm - Star Trek Bridge Crew: Artificial Intelligence in Virtual Reality
7:45 pm - Open Q&A
8:00 pm - Event conclusion
About the Speakers:
John Cutter is a Product Manager for IBM’s AR/VR Labs and works with AR/VR developers to create developer tools powered by Watson. John believes immersive technology like virtual reality, augmented reality & mixed reality is the next major computing platform that will change everything about how humans perceive the world (and hopefully bring humanity a bit closer). John has worked at Google and recently partnered with Ubisoft to launch voice command & control in their VR game, Star Trek: Bridge Crew. He attended the University of San Diego and currently lives in Silicon Valley.
Anamita Guha is currently the Product Manger for IBM Watson’s Developer Labs, focused on developer incentivization efforts. She holds a degree in Cognitive Science from UC Berkeley and has spent most of her career prior to IBM at early-mid stage startups. In her free time, she promotes positive psychology, pets puppies, and practices yoga.
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Can you see what I hear? Using high-speed video technology to improve voice health
Monday, September 11
6:30pm - 8:30pm
The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Somerville
Dr Daryush Mehta
More information at http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/science-by-the-pint/
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Welcome to the Revolution
Monday, September 11
7pm
Harvard Coop, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Charles Berber
When the Women's March gathered millions just one day after Trump's inauguration, a new era of progressive action was born. Organizing on the far Right led to Trump's election, bringing authoritarianism and the specter of neo-fascism, and intensifying corporate capitalism's growing crises of inequality and injustices. Yet now we see a new universalizing resistance among progressive and left movements for truth, dignity, and a world based on democracy, equality, and sustainability.
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Trevor Paglen | The Planet is a Sensor
Monday, September 11
7:00pm to 9:00pm
MIT, Building E15-001, ACT Cube, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
Trevor Paglen is an artist whose work spans image-making, sculpture, investigative journalism, writing, engineering, and numerous other disciplines. Among his chief concerns are learning how to see the historical moment we live in and developing the means to imagine alternative futures.
Paglen’s work has had one-person exhibitions at Vienna Secession, Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum, Van Abbe Museum, Frankfurter Kunstverein, and Protocinema Istanbul, and participated in group exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, and numerous other venues. He has launched an artwork into distant orbit around Earth in collaboration with Creative Time and MIT, contributed research and cinematography to the Academy Award-winning film Citizenfour, and created a radioactive public sculpture for the exclusion zone in Fukushima, Japan.
This lecture is part of the Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT)'s Fall 2017 Lecture Series: The Edge of Knowing and Un-Knowing
September 11, 2017 through December 4, 2017
The fall 2017 ACT Lecture Series invites renowned artists and philosophers to help us challenge our habits of perception and expand our margins of thought. Artistic intelligence is drawn to the fertile edges of knowledge, engaging radically anticipatory modes of being, thinking, creating, and acting without certainty. The series will offer models for un-knowing science and technology as a way to dislocate and re-articulate knowledge production in proximity to technologies of planetary threat: how to navigate the camouflaged, the unknown, the deceptive, the trumped.
Sep 11 | Trevor Paglen | The Planet is a Sensor
Sep 25 | Cristina Ricupero | Don’t Believe A Word I Say
Oct 20 | David Reinfurt | A Post-Industrial Postscript
Nov 13 | Postcommodity | The Repellent Fence and Beyond
Dec 4 | Judith Barry | A Discussion of Several Research-Based Projects
About the ACT Lecture Series
ACT’s lecture series draws together artists, scholars, and other cultural practitioners from different disciplines to discuss artistic methodologies and forms of inquiry at the intersection of art, architecture, science, and technology.
ACT’s Fall 2017 series is conceived by Gediminas Urbonas, ACT Director, and coordinated with Marissa Friedman, Senior Communications and Public Programs Assistant, and Laura Knott, Consulting Curator.
More information on the series at http://act.mit.edu/projects-and-events/lectures-series/about-pages/fall-2017-about-series/
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Tuesday, September 12
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Sustainability Is Beautiful - Roxbury E+ Housing by ISA
Tuesday, September 12
8:30 AM – 10:30 AM EDT
Boston Society of Architects, 290 Congress Street, Boston
Please join Deb Katz and Brian Phillips from ISA - Interface Studio Architects LLC for an exciting discussion about the Roxbury E+ project. This AIA award winning design has been able to successful incorporate the City of Boston's Energy Plus (E+) Green Building Program into the design for four 3-story wood framed houses. The Jury noted that "The design is a nice contemporary translation of the historic fabric or neighborhood."
Attendees will be able to learn the following:
Methodologies for designing urban infill housing which minimizes environmental impact using both design and technical principals (right sizing layouts, product selections, construction techniques, uses of energy renewables).
Considerations for the design of very high performance affordable buildings.
Understanding ways to incorporate Net Positive elements into market-rate housing.
Information about the Boston Energy Plus Green Building Program and how this could affect your design.
ISA-Interface Studio Architects is an architecture office engaged in design and research projects in cities across the U.S. The studio works closely with project stakeholders to produce buildings, master plans, installations, and conversations that provide innovative solutions for clients while productively addressing changing climates, lifestyles, technologies, and urban environments. The firm is led by principals Brian Phillips and Deb Katz from offices in Philadelphia, PA and Cambridge, MA.
This presentation has been submitted for 1.5 LU's.
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Technology for the Social Good featuring Jonathan Zittrain
Tuesday, September 12
12:00 pm
Harvard, Austin Hall, Austin West, Classroom 111, 1515 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
RSVP required to attend in person at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2017/luncheon/09/Zittrain#RSVP
Event will be live webcast at 12:00 pm at https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2017/luncheon/09/Zittrain
Join us for our first Tuesday Luncheon Series of the academic year to learn more about the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University -- and its network of researchers, activists, faculty, students, technologists, entrepreneurs, artists, policy makers, lawyers, and more -- in an interactive conversation lead by Berkman Klein Center Faculty Chair Jonathan Zittrain. If you’re curious about connecting with our research, our community, or our events, or are just generally interested in digital technologies and their impact on society and the social good, please join us!
About Berkman Klein
We bring together the sharpest, most thoughtful people from around the globe to tackle the biggest challenges presented by the Internet. As an interdisciplinary, University-wide center with a global scope, we have an unparalleled track record of leveraging exceptional academic rigor to produce real- world impact. We pride ourselves on pushing the edges of scholarly research, building tools and platforms that break new ground, and fostering active networks across diverse communities. United by our commitment to the public interest, our vibrant, collaborative community of independent thinkers represents a wide range of philosophies and disciplines, making us a unique home for open-minded inquiry, debate, and experimentation.
Berkman Klein's 2017-2018 Community
Our research including the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence
Our publications including Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election
About Jonathan Zittrain
Jonathan Zittrain is the George Bemis Professor of International Law at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at the Harvard Law School Library, and co-founder of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. His research interests include battles for control of digital property and content, cryptography, electronic privacy, the roles of intermediaries within Internet architecture, human computing, and the useful and unobtrusive deployment of technology in education.
He performed the first large-scale tests of Internet filtering in China and Saudi Arabia, and as part of the OpenNet Initiative co-edited a series of studies of Internet filtering by national governments: Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering; Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace; and Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Board of Advisors for Scientific American. He has served as a Trustee of the Internet Society and as a Forum Fellow of the World Economic Forum, which named him a Young Global Leader. He was a Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the Federal Communications Commission, and previously chaired the FCC’s Open Internet Advisory Committee. His book The Future of the Internet -- And How to Stop Itpredicted the end of general purpose client computing and the corresponding rise of new gatekeepers. That and other works may be found at <http://www.jz.org>.
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Native American Speakers Series: On Wampanoag Ground
WHEN Tuesday, Sep. 12, 2017, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Divinity School, Rockefeller Room 117, 47 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Religion
SPONSOR Harvard Divinity School; Harvard University Native American Program; and Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights
CONTACT Tracy Wall: tracy_wall@harvard.edu or 617.495.5705
DETAILS The first speaker for the Native American Speakers Series—Language, Environment and Indigenous Rights, Ramona Peters (Wampanoag/Mashpee) sees herself as a visual historian of her culture, fulfilling this role as a teacher, spokesperson, curator, sculptor, interpreter, consultant, and activist. She serves as NAGPRA Director and Director of Historic Preservation for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.
The Speakers’ Series is being held in conjunction with HDS 2345: Issues in the Study of Native American Religion.
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Ford Day 2017: Autonomous Vehicle Lecture
Tuesday, September 12
4:30pm to 5:30pm
MIT, Building W20: Stratton Student Center, Twenty Chimneys (W20-306), 84 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Ford VP of Research & Advanced Engineering and Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Ken Washington, will be giving the Ford Day 2017 Autonomous Vehicle Lecture.
Light refreshments will be provided
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Comix, Jews ’n Art? Dun’t Esk!!
WHEN Tuesday, Sep. 12, 2017, 5 p.m.
WHERE Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Center for Jewish Studies
SPEAKER(S) Art Spiegelman
COST Tickets are free if you pick up from the Box Office/You may also *purchase tickets by phone, 617-496-2222 or online www.boxoffice.harvard.edu for a small fee.
TICKET WEB LINK http://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu
TICKET INFO *Limit 4 per person/FREE PICK-UP at the Harvard Box Office, Farkas Hall, 10 Holyoke St. starting on Tuesday, August 29 until September12. Tickets will be also be available at the door at 3:00PM pending availability
CONTACT INFO Center for Jewish Studies
617-495-4326
DETAILS Art Spiegelman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Artist/Illustrator and author of "Maus," "In the Shadow of No Towers," and "Breakdowns." Art Spiegelman has almost singlehandedly brought comic books out of the toy closet and onto the literature shelves. In 1992, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his masterful Holocaust narrative Maus— which portrayed Jews as mice and Nazis as cats. His comics are best known for their shifting graphic styles, their formal complexity, and controversial content. Spiegelman takes his audience on a chronological tour of the evolution of comics, all the while explaining the value of this medium and why it should not be ignored. He believes that in our post-literate culture the importance of the comic is on the rise, for “comics echo the way the brain works.
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Machine learning applied to fusion research: Predicting and avoiding disruption
Tuesday, September 12
5:00pm to 6:00pm
MIT, Building 66-110, 25 Ames Street Cambridge
In order to obtain net power from controlled thermonuclear fusion, matter (in the form of plasma) must be confined at temperatures hotter than the sun's core. Using a system of strong magnetic fields arranged in particular configurations, the conditions for net fusion energy production have just about been achieved, albeit over short timescales. While the state of this plasma system is too complicated to understand completely from first principles, machine learning can now be used to elucidate some of its integral processes, such as energy flow, state transitions, and other processes.
Magnetically-confined, high-energy density plasmas also tend to be close to stability limits. A particularly virulent instability is the ‘disruption,’ which can have catastrophic consequences. This talk will concentrate on efforts to apply machine learning to develop a real-time warning of impending disruptions, which could possibly be used to avoid them, or at least mitigate their consequences.
Speaker Bio
Robert Granetz has been working on the Alcator tokamak fusion experiments at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center for more than forty years. His principal areas of research encompass magnetohydrodynamic instabilities and disruptions, including their prediction and mitigation. Granetz is an active contributor to the ITER Project, a multinational collaborative aiming to build the first fusion device that will produce net energy. He spent several years in Europe as a visiting scientist at the Joint European Torus, the world's largest tokamak. Granetz has also taught graduate student courses in plasma physics and fusion at MIT.
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Reimagining Longevity Ideathon Pitches, Awards Ceremony and Reception
Tuesday, September 12
5:00 PM – 9:30 PM
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
RSVP at
FOR REIMAGINING LONGEVITY IDEATHON AWARDS CEREMONY ATTENDEES AND ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN REIMAGINING LONGEVITY
5 - 5:30 PM - Team check-ins & attendee registration
5:30 - 6 PM - Keynote presentation - Mikio Okumura, Director & Managing Executive Officer, SOMPO Nursing Care & Healthcare
6 - 7:30 PM- Team pitches w/ Q&A time
7:30 - 8:00 PM- Reception and judges pick the winners
8 - 8:15 PM Awards announcement
8:15 Reception continues
Caring for our seniors is a growing concern for governments and economies worldwide as people live longer lives.
Longevity – along with its many blessings - can be fraught with medical, financial, psychological and social burdens that are as complex for aging individuals as for the people who love and care for them.
Yet, we believe, the longevity crisis is also a crucible from which the most creative innovations in elder care can emerge.
Entrepreneurs and innovators have a staggering opportunity to make an outsized impact for 50+ million consumers in an $8 trillion dollar senior care market in the U.S. and Japan combined.
SOMPO, one of the largest insurers and assisted living facility operators in Japan, sees first-hand the widening gap where demand for quality, dignified care at a reasonable cost far outpaces the supply. They’ve been working with innovators in Japan to deploy new technology-enabled solutions, and compassionate business models, to transform elder care.
SOMPO is now teaming up with Venture Cafe to leverage the wisdom of crowds on a global scale -- with a special focus on reimagining care for people with dementia. The prizes for the Ideathon are:
Grand Prize $10,000
Runner Up $5,000
Third Place $2,500
In addition, SOMPO will work with the winner on a Proof of Concept in Japan (including airfare and accommodations for two people for a week). We’re eager to share what we experience daily on the frontlines of our 300 care facilities in Japan.
The ten Ideathon company finalists will also receive up to two seats to work out of a new Global Aging Innovation Hub co-working location at CIC for twelve months.
From September 9 thru 12, we’re convening entrepreneurs, business executives, academics and thought leaders in a global “ideathon” with the Venture Cafe to spark collaboration, far out ideas and new insights on how to care for people with the debilitating illness.
Your help is critical: seven million people in Japan, or twenty percent of 65+ year olds, are expected to suffer from dementia within the next 10 years. The number of people worldwide living with dementia is currently estimated at 47 million, and is projected to increase to 75 million by 2030.
We want to encourage you to look at dementia from all angles, including preventive care, home care, remote care, accessibility, financial management, and long term care in healthcare facilities.
Bring your team, or join one at the event, and work on your boldest ideas for scalable technology-enabled solutions:
How might we detect signs of dementia early and prevent rapid degeneration?
How might we ease the burden of care on home caregivers?
How might we increase social engagement among the elderly?
How will people be able to afford the care they need for a long healthy life?
How can we improve the built environment, remote services, and monitoring to ensure elders can age with grace?
We’re seeking thoughtful businesses and prototypes designed with elders at the center; and meaningful plans to accelerate the solutions from incubators into living rooms, board rooms, health care facilities, and public spaces.
The timeline for our Ideathon is as follows:
Tuesday July 20 - SOMPO announces Ideathon at Venture Cafe
Saturday & Sunday Sept. 9-10 - Ideathon kicks-off at Venture Cafe at CIC Cambridge
Monday Sept. 11 - SOMPO and Venture Cafe announce ten finalists to present at the final on Sept. 12th
Tuesday Sept. 12 - Finalists present & winners announced at Venture Cafe’s District Hall event
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Emerging Applications of Blockchain for Supply Chains
Tuesday, September 12
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
MIT, Building 32-123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Cost: $25 Members; $45 Non-members: $10 for Students; $5 for Student memberes
As consumers, we want to know that the food we eat is safe and (in some cases, such as fine wines) that it’s provenance is authentic. We want to know with certainty that the gold, diamonds, and electronics we buy are not funding conflicts. And that the products we buy are not counterfeits. Supply chain managers want to track condition, location, and remove friction from global supply chains. Blockchain/ distributed ledger technology holds promise in solving these problems, with applications in socially responsible supply chains, traceability/provenance/chain-of-custody tracking, anticounterfeiting, condition monitoring, customs and compliance, trade finance, and other areas that can benefit from a shared, immutable ledger.
Some of these have already been implemented, tracking millions of products; but most are still in development or pilot phase. However, the level of activity and investment is becoming intense and we expect rapid developments in this arena. In this session, we will hear from CEOs, founders, and technology experts at the companies on the forefront of this ongoing digital transformation of supply chain. You will learn:
What are the various opportunities of using blockchain in the supply chain, which hold the most potential, and what implementations are providing value right now?
How is or can blockchain be combined with other technologies, such as IoT, to tackle supply chain challenges in new ways?
What are the hurdles for widespread adoption?
You won’t want to miss this provocative and engaging session (including ample audience Q&A) with the leaders on the forefronts of these new developments.
Speakers
Samantha Radocchia, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, Chronicled
Brigid McDermott, Vice President, Blockchain, IBM
Dan Harple, Founder and CEO, Context Labs
Dan Doles, CEO, Mojix
Bill McBeath, Chief Research Officer, ChainLink Research
Moderator
Michael Casey, Senior Advisor - Blockchain Research, MIT Media Lab
Event Schedule
5:30 - 6:00pm - Registration and Networking
6:00 - 8:00pm - Welcome & Panel Discussion
8:00 - 9:00pm - Networking
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Being Mortal: Medicine & What Matters in the End
Tuesday, September 12
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM EDT
Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline
Cost: $20
Atul Gawande
Named a "Best Book of the Year" by The Washington Post, The New York Times Book Review, NPR, and the Chicago Tribune, Being Mortal is finally in paperback after two full years on the NYT-bestseller list.
Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming the dangers of childbirth, injury, and disease from harrowing to manageable. But when it comes to the inescapable realities of aging and death, what medicine can do often runs counter to what it should. Through eye-opening research and gripping stories of his own patients and family, Gawande reveals the suffering this dynamic has produced. Nursing homes, devoted above all to safety, battle with residents over the food they are allowed to eat and the choices they are allowed to make. Doctors, uncomfortable discussing patients' anxieties about death, fall back on false hopes and treatments that are actually shortening lives instead of improving them.
Atul will appear in conversation with novelist Jennifer Haigh.
Event Guidelines:
Tickets may be purchased online or in-store.
Price includes: 1 ticket to Atul Gawande's reading + 1 copy of Being Mortal.
You may pick up your copy of Being Mortal at Brookline Booksmith on 9/12 or before the end of September 2017.
The reading will take place
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Gatekeepers: White House Chiefs of Staff
Speaker(s): Denis McDonough, Andy Card, Mack McLarty
Moderator(s): Chris Whipple
Date: Tuesday, September 12, 2017 - 6:00pm
Where: Harvrd, JFk Jr Forum, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Denis McDonough, Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama (2013 – 2017)
Andy Card, President Franklin Pierce University (2014-2016), Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush (2001-2006)
Mack McLarty, President, McLarty Associates, Chief of Staff to President William Clinton (1993 -1994)
Chris Whipple (moderator), Documentary Filmmaker and writer, Author, The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency
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"Croissants vs. Bagels" Book Launch & SoJust Closing Celebration
Tuesday, September 12
6-8pm
Lir, 903 Boylston Street, Boston
You are invited! On Tuesday, September 12, we will gather to celebrate two major events: the close of Socializing for Justice after 11 years and the launch of "Croissants vs. Bagels: Strategic, Effective, and Inclusive Networking at Conferences”
These are both major milestones for Robbie Samuels, the founder of Socializing for Justice and the visionary behind this grassroots, cross-cultural, cross-issue progressive community and network in Boston. Over the last 11 years, SoJust has grown to over 3,100 members, hosted over 230 events, and facilitated countless connections.
SoJust also was the inspiration that led Robbie to create Art of the Schmooze, his signature session about inclusive networking - and a key component to the friendly and welcoming culture everyone experiences at SoJust events. If you've been meaning to attend this session you have one more opportunity to do so: Art of the Schmooze will be offered on Tuesday, September 19 as part of the SoJust ProfDev Series.
This will be the final SoJust event.
[If you'd like to read more about the decision to close SoJust and a bit of the history of how we got started, please read the email I shared announcing that Socializing for Justice is coming to a close this September.]
For nearly a decade Robbie has been speaking about inclusive networking and he finally wrote a book about it! In late July, his book was released to great acclaim as a Kindle book, reaching #1 in 3 categories and remaining a bestseller ever since - receiving 10 endorsements from experts and business authors, plus over 160 reviews worldwide.
On Tuesday, September 12 "Croissants vs. Bagels" will be available for the first time as a paperback, which includes a free audiobook.
Please join us to celebrate Robbie Samuels reaching these milestones and meet all the people who have been supporting his work over the last 15 years he's been in Boston. That's right, you'll have a chance to practice your schmoozing skills while enjoying a tasty spread of food and cash bar.
Since this is a book launch party, Robbie will, of course, be doing a reading, where he'll share some of the best networking tips and techniques in the book. He will also be doing a book signing (books will be available for sale at the venue). We will also have an opportunity for a few people to share their 2-minute "Because of SoJust..." story.
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Boston New Technology September 2017 Startup Showcase #BNT81 (21+)
Tuesday, September 12
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Foley Hoag, 155 Seaport Bouelvard, Boston
Cost: $12.00 /per person
his event is 21+. Find our check-in table in the lobby and present your valid photo identification to pick up your name tag.
Come learn about 7 innovative and exciting technology products and network with 150 attendees from the Boston/Cambridge startup community! Dinner, beer, wine and more are included.
This event is 21+, due to alcohol being served. Valid photo identification is required. Buy your ticket now and save 50% - price rises on September 5th.
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Forum with State Senator Pat Jehlen on “Stop the Pipeline Tax” Bill
Tuesday, September 12
7:00 p.m.
First Church in Cambridge, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge
Cambridge 350 Massachusetts is holding a public forum with Senator Pat Jehlen and we invite the Cambridge City Council to attend.
Senator Jehlen will be speaking about her bill to ban utilities from forcing electricity customers to pay the costs of new gas pipeline construction, as well as other environmental legislation. There will be a Q&A session after her remarks. The event is free and open to the public, sponsored by 350 Massachusetts for a Better Future.
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Clouds, Chemistry, and Climate Change: Why Our Current Climate Is What It Is
Tuesday September 12
7:00 PM
Belmont Public Library, 336 Concord Avenue, Belmont
Cziczo-Dan_120x120.jpgDaniel Cziczo, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The excess CO2 in our atmosphere will affect Earth's climate for centuries to come, and we need to understand why. Professor Cziczo is an atmospheric scientist at MIT who is an expert on the crucial role of clouds in the dynamics of climate. In this presentation, he explains the vital relationship between clouds and climate. He also discusses present options for reducing atmospheric CO2. And.. he's bringing his small cloud chamber to demonstrate cloud formation. Dr. Cziczo will show also how atmospheric conditions that lead to cloud formation are studied in his lab, at mountaintop sites, and from research aircraft. You'll never think of clouds in the same old way again! There will be plenty of time for discussion.
Science for the Public Lecture Series
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Driving Sustainability II : Business dependency on eco-friendly practices
Tuesday, September 12
7:30 PM
Foundry on Elm Street, 255 Elm Street , Somerville
Ask for Ashwath's table
In the second part of our sustainability discussion, we look at what extent businesses today are dependent on eco-friendly practices. We examine how this dependency can be increased, in order to push corporations to do more towards improving their sustainability initiatives.
We examine lessons from different parts of the world and see how they can be applied in business. China, Taiwan and Hong Kong are great examples of the effects of unsustainable industrialization.
A few relevant articles are below
PS: There's no need to read anything in advance! We learn at the table.
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Wednesday, September 13
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3rd Annual Tata Center Symposium: Does the developing world need a different model for entreprenuership?
Wednesday, September 13
8:00am to 5:45pm
MIT, Building E52S, Chang Building, Samberg Conference Center, Floor 7, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Please join us on Wednesday the 13th for candid discussions on entrepreneurship in the developing world with keynote speaker Nandan Nilekani and 4 distinguished panels led by MIT faculty and staff.
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MTL Seminar Series: “Forging Intelligent Systems in the Digital Era”
Wednesday, September 13
12:00pm to 1:00pm
MIT, Building 34-401, Grier Room, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Gary Patton, GlobalFoundries
The pace of technological change is evolving faster than businesses can adapt, setting the stage for a new era of innovation in the electronics industry. This pace is accelerating as we enter an era of ubiquitous computing, with sensors on our bodies, in our homes and offices, and all over our cities. For the semiconductor industry, digitization, connectivity, and the Internet of Things now promise to be the enablers for the next phase of growth. However, the industry has reached a new level of maturity that demands new innovations in computing, connectivity, integration and ultra-low power applications. One technology doesn't fit all. Although traditional Moore's Law scaling is still important for semiconductor technology progress, the complexity of technology development requires a new paradigm of silicon scaling and changing market needs require innovation in differentiated silicon technology as well as system-level integration.
The industry is pursuing numerous technologies that will continue conventional scaling as well as expand beyond it. This presentation will examine the economic trends reshaping the industry, explore opportunities and approaches that can extend scaling, highlight the role of collaborative innovation to meet technical challenges and provide insight into GLOBALFOUNDRIES' vision to enable the technology for a new digital era.
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Can you find it in your heart to forgive?: Race, Requests, and Repair
WHEN Wednesday, Sep. 13, 2017, 12 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research
SPEAKER(S) Myisha Cherry, Doctoral Candidate, Philosophy, University of Illinois at Chicago
COST Free and open to the public
DETAILS A Q+A will follow the lecture.
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Perspectives on the U.S. Defense Budget
Wednesday, September 13
12:00pm to 1:30pm
MIT, Building E40-496 Pye Room, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Todd Harrison is the director of the Aerospace Security Project and the director of Defense Budget Analysis at CSIS. As a senior fellow in the International Security Program, he leads the Center's efforts to provide in-depth, nonpartisan research and analysis of space security, air power, and defense funding issues. He has authored publications on trends in the overall defense budget, military space systems, civil space exploration, defense acquisitions, military compensation, military readiness, nuclear forces, and the coast of overseas military operations.
Mr Harrison served as a captain inthe U.S. Air Force Reserves. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with both a B.S. and an M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics.
This event is part of the Security Studies Program Wednesday Seminar Series.
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xTalk: Lou Guenier on "An Educational Revolution for a Digital World"
Wednesday, September 13
3:00pm to 4:15pm
MIT, Building 3-370, 33 Massachusetts Avenue (Rear), Cambridge
The education structure and the way we teach are among the rare fields that haven’t gone through a major innovation for the last couple of hundred years. As the world is undergoing a digital revolution, we still teach the same way we used to in the past millennium. The educational system we have now is only at the first stage of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge where it should be at the fourth.
Recently some effort has been made towards modernizing the education system, but even though the education system is a step further, it still has major limitations. 42 is an example of an innovative and disruptive educational system based on Bloom’s revised taxonomy that is entirely project-based, uses peer-to-peer learning and correcting, and changes the teacher-student relationship. This kind of novel approach is a first step, but still has limitations.
Working towards the goal of innovating education, a seemingly upside-down education model could be applied to MIT’s education structures and programs, including residential education, open education, and strategic education initiatives. With a scalable educational model, global impact becomes a possibility.
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The Neurolaw Revolution: A lecture by Francis X. Shen
Wednesday, September 13
4:00 PM
Harvard, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East A, Room 2036, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Rapid advances in the brain sciences offer both promise and peril for the law. In light of these developments, Dr. Francis Shen will explore how neuroscientific analysis of law may revolutionize legal doctrine and practice.
Dr. Shen is the third Senior Fellow in Law and Neuroscience in the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Petrie-Flom Center. Dr. Shen directs the Shen Neurolaw Lab at the University of Minnesota, is co-author of the first Law and Neuroscience casebook, and serves as Executive Director of Education and Outreach for the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience.
This lecture will be followed at 5:30pm by the Petrie-Flom Center's 2017 Open House reception.
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The Mad Cartoonists of Cairo: The Dangerous World of Middle East Censorship and the Emergence of Arab Comix
Wednesday, September 13
4:00 pm
Radcliffe, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
Part of the 2017–2018 Fellows' Presentation Series
Lecture by Jonathan Guyer RI '18
Free and open to the public.
At the Radcliffe Institute, Jonathan Guyer is writing a book on the new wave of comic art that has electrified the Middle East and North Africa over the past decade. Through close examination of graphic narratives and conversations with artists, his project aims to address long-standing questions around the limits of free speech, the role of satire as a form of dissent, and the politics of art in authoritarian states.
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Exploring the Climate Impacts of Solar Geoengineering on Land-Atmosphere Interactions
Wednesday, September 13
4:00pm to 5:00pm
Harvard, Haller Hall, Geological Museum Room 102, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Dissertation defense: Katie Dagon
Refreshments to follow in the Student Lounge, Hoffman 4th floor
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Healing the Mind: Writing Takes the Ache Away
WHEN Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 4 – 6pm
WHERE Harvard, Joseph B. Martin Conference Center Amphitheater, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston
TOPICS Medicine, Psychiatry, Public Health
EVENT TYPES Lecture, Special Event
DEPARTMENT/OFFICE Global Health and Social Medicine
LOCATION Joseph B. Martin Conference Center
RSVP REQUIRED Yes
DETAILS The Harvard Medical School Department of Global Health and Social Medicine hosts this annual lecture, which was established in 1992 as a bequest of Roger Allan Moore. Roger Allan Moore was a lawyer who represented colleges, universities, and other charitable organizations. He served as board member of the Winsor School, Boston, a trustee of Donations for Education in Liberia, and as a director of the Salzburg Seminar in American Studies, Austria. Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, The Danio Family Professor in Mood Disorders and
Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
has made substantial contributions not just to the understanding of bipolar disorder, but also to efforts to educate the public about mental illness, to destigmatize these disorders, and to the lives of the many people who suffer from mental illness.
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The Impact of Consumer Subsidies on Innovation in Solar Panel Manufacturing (Todd Gerarden)
WHEN Wednesday, Sep. 13, 2017, 4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Room Littauer-382, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy;
Harvard Environmental Economics Program
SPEAKER(S) Todd Gerarden, Harvard University
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A Conversation with Dr. Harry Edwards
WHEN Wednesday, Sep. 13, 2017, 6 – 7:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, JFK Jr. Forum, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR JFK Jr. Forum
Institute of Politics
Harvard Men's Basketball
SPEAKER(S) Dr. Harry Edwards, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley; Author, The Revolt of the Black Athlete
James Brown, Host, The NFL Today on CBS Sports & Thursday Night Football, CBS Sports and NFL Network, Special Correspondent, CBS News, Harvard College ‘73
CONTACT INFO JFK Jr. Forum Office
Institute of Politics
617-495-1380
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New England Offshore Wind: Inaugural meeting
Wednesday, September 13
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
This location is shown only to members
In this inaugural meeting,
1) Arne Hessenbruch and Anne-Lise Wang from Muninsight (http://muninsight.com) will give an overview of the Danish offshore wind supply chain,
2) we will discuss where the opportunities for New England based companies may be, and what kinds of partnerships will be productive,
3) canvas members' opinions for the best possible role of this meetup group.
Editorial Comment: Arne Hessenbruch goes to many of the same events I go to. He knows what he is talking about and offshore wind development is a great potential resource here in NE.
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Mass Innovation Nights #102!
Wednesday, September 13
6pm-8:30pm
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
We cannot wait for the September Mass Innovation Nights, MIN #102 -- we are bringing you all Fintech and Financial Literacy products on September 13th at District Hall! We have 13 Fintech/Financial Literacy products ready to showcase and our State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg will be in attendance, ready to welcome everyone! MIN #102 is part of Boston's Fintech Week, a week filled with events and activities only focused on the Fintech sector in Boston!
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Matter of Degrees: Demystifying the science and clarifying the possibilities of climate change
Wednesday, September 13
7:00pm
Trident Bookseller, 338 Newbury Street, Boston
Join us for a book talk with a focus on the science, communication, advocacy, and opportunity of climate change. The talk will focus on both today's climate crisis and climate visionaries, their inspiring work, and the promising solutions that could bring us to 100% wind, water and solar power by 2050.
Protecting the Planet: Environmental Champions from Conservation to Climate Change
About the book:
Climate change is often associated with predictions of dire calamities. But, in the past, heroic individuals have stepped forward to meet even the most ominous ecological challenges. This book tells an inspirational story--a story both of pioneering environmentalists who raised our collective consciousness regarding nature's value and heroes of today who are working to secure a sustainable future.
One of our book's features is describing the past environmental champions who contributed mightily to our nation's conservation history. We believe the book’s message is especially important in this current White House Administration. Many of the environmental protections that our featured environmentalists worked for are under threat; we hope that getting to know the “heroes” in our book and the background on their initiatives will energize support.
Turning to the present, we recount the activities of people currently pursuing remedies for climate change--scientists, researchers, activists, artists, and celebrities. We base much of our information on recent personal interviews. We conclude with a set of actionable strategies, demonstrating that there are good reasons to hope that we can achieve a sustainable lifestyle, protect our planet as our home, and ensure the future for our children.
About the Authors:
Mariah Tinger has been devoted to nature ever since she could say “out(side).” Her first environmental hero was her father; as adults, they have conspired together to celebrate national environmental heroes. Mariah began her in-depth studies of climate change while pursuing a master’s degree in environmental management at Harvard University’s Extension School. When she is not researching or writing about climate issues, she is chasing her children or a faster marathon time in the Boston Marathon.
Budd Titlow is spending his retirement doing what he always dreamed of doing for a living. He writes natural history books, teaches ecology workshops, gives PowerPoint presentations and—ever so often—just drops everything and takes off in pursuit of wild bird photos. In his past life—as a professional wildlife biologist and wetland scientist—he protected natural resources and fostered sustainable land development practices.
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The Wisdom of Finance
Wednesday, September 13
7pm
Harvard Coop, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Mihir Desai
Harvard Business School professor Mihir Desai, in his "last lecture" to the graduating Harvard MBA class of 2015, took up the cause of restoring humanity to finance. With incisive wit and a rich knowledge of literature, film, history, and philosophy to explain the inner workings finance in a manner that has never been seen before.
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Thursday, September 14
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2017 Tata Center Conference
Thursday, September 14
8:00am to 5:45pm
MIT, Building E52, Chang Building, Samberg Conference Center, Floor 7, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Join us on Thursday the 14th for a showcase of special Tata Center partnerships as well as exciting lightning presentations by MIT Faculty on the newest Tata Center projects. Learn about some of the most pressing issues in the developing world, and how MIT can work together with organizations in India to solve them.
The conference will be followed by a reception (RSVP).
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Exoskeletal-Assisted Walking for Persons with Paralysis from Spinal Cord Injury
WHEN Thursday, Sep. 14, 2017, 10 – 11 a.m.
WHERE Wyss Institute, 60 Oxford Street, Room 330, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Wyss Institute at Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Ann M. Spungen, ED.D.
DETAILS Paralysis from spinal cord injury (SCI) results in a cascade of mobility, functional, medical, emotional, and social problems. Once inpatient rehabilitation has been completed, people with SCI who are non-ambulators receive a wheelchair as standard of care. Since 2010, powered exoskeletons have become available to allow people with partial to complete motor paralyses to stand and walk over ground.
Dr. Spungen has been investigating the effects of using an exoskeleton on the medical consequences of SCI since 2010. During this presentation, she will briefly review the secondary complications from SCI, appropriate candidates for use of these devices, the training regimes needed, and the results of adding walking to the life of a person who would otherwise be a wheelchair user and at the lowest end of the activity spectrum.
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The 27th First Annual Ig® Nobel Prize Ceremony & Lectures
WHEN Thursday, Sep. 14, 2017, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
WHERE Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Award Ceremonies
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Improbable Research
COST Ig Glorious: $150*; Full Price: $75, $65, $55, $35; Discounts: $5 off for students
TICKET WEB LINk https://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu/Online/mapSelect.asp
TICKET INFO *Ig Glorious tickets included the following: an Ig Nobel poster, signed by at least one Ig Nobel winner. A vintage issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. A photo taken at the Ig Nobel lectern on stage (before or after the ceremony, at the discretion of the Stage Manager). Access to our Ig Glorious Liaison, a staff member assigned to the “Ig Glorious” group for the entirety of the event. A hearty handshake!
DETAILS The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology.
Winners travel to the ceremony, at their own expense, from around the world to receive their prize from a group of genuine, genuinely bemused Nobel Laureates, in Harvard's historic and largest theater.
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10th Annual BU Bike Safety & Sustainability Festival
Thursday, September 14
11:00 am to 2:30 pm
BU, Marsh Plaza, 735 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Please join us for our 2017 event! By now, an annual rite of
autumn on the BU campus, our focus, as always, is a continued commitment to bicycle and pedestrian safety education. We will key on awareness, knowledge, safety, confidence and fostering a shared sense of respect for our streets. Over 60 local bikes shops and bike and pedestrian advocacy groups have been invited to this year's event. The past five years have welcomed over 5000 participants from the BU community and beyond, making this one of the largest single-day events at BU.
More information at http://www.bu.edu/sustainability/what-you-can-do/events/sustainability-festival/
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Arctic Lab: an artist's trip to the North
Thursday, September 14
12:00-1:00pm
Tufts, Rabb Room, Lincoln Filene Center, 10 Upper Campus Road, Medford
Isabel Beavers, Master of Fine Arts program, Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts University
Arctic Lab will explore environmental science in the Arctic through the eyes of an artist. Through personal observations, notes, paintings and drawings she charted her journey to the far north. Her experience in the long dark night inspired a year-long artistic research project to understand through art how subtle shifts in light drives life in the Arctic Ocean. Isabel Beavers uses drawing, sculpture, sound and animation as starting points from which to unpack the relationship between sea ice melt and the structure of the Arctic marine ecosystem, as well as implications for the future.
Isabel Beavers lives and works in Boston, MA. She visualizes scientific research through immersive installations that utilize a range of media. Isabel is interested in the philosophy of science, the intersecting histories of art and science, and how both are implicated in conceptions of nature and current cultural responses to climate change. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston’s William Morris Hunt Memorial Library, Emerson Media Arts Center, the Waterworks Museum, Boston Convention and Exhibition
Center and Mountain Time Arts in Bozeman, MT. She is the recipient of the National Service Corps MLK Drum Major for Service Award and a TIE Graduate Environmental Research Fellowship.
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Carr Center Book Talk: I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad
WHEN Thursday, Sep. 14, 2017, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Nye A, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education, Ethics, Humanities, Law, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S) The Washington Post’s Souad Mehkennet
DETAILS The Carr Center is delighted to host The Washington Post’s Souad Mehkennet to discuss her new book, “I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad.”
Souad will discuss her quest to shed light on the radicalization of young Muslims, starting in the German neighborhoods from which the 9/11 plotters emerged, to the Iraqi neighborhoods where Sunnis and Shia turned against one another.
In writing the book, she gained unprecedented access to the world’s most dangerous terrorist operates, including members of ISIS, Al Qaaeda, and the Taliban.
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Bearing Witness to Trauma: Innovative Tools to Assist First Responder and Victim Services Agencies
Thursday, September 14
2:30pm to 4:00pm
Northeastern, Cabral Center, 40 Leon Street, Boston
The Domestic Violence Institute and Northeastern University’s Institute on Urban Health Research and Practice invite local first responders, victim service providers, public health professionals and the Northeastern community to join us for a panel discussion about vicarious trauma and the health and wellbeing of employees. We will also introduce the newly launched Vicarious Trauma Toolkit (https://vtt.ovc.ojp.gov), a first-of-its-kind online resource funded by the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice.
Keynote Speaker: Kurt Schwartz
Director, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA)
Kurt Schwartz’s strategic leadership guides and oversees the state’s preparedness, response and recovery from natural and intentional disasters, including the terrorist attack on the Boston Marathon. He previously served as the MA Undersecretary of both Homeland Security and Law Enforcement, and as a state criminal prosecutor, police officer, and EMT. He will illuminate the personal and professional impact of vicarious trauma from his broad and extensive background.
Discussants will include MA first responders and members of the national Vicarious Trauma Toolkit Team.
Light refreshments will be served.
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Synthesis and Application of Metal Nanostructures
Thursday, September 14
4:00pm to 5:00pm
MIT, Building 6-104, Chipman Room, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge
Prof. Sara Skrabalak, Indiana University
The importance of molecular structure to molecular function is a central tenet in chemistry, with the lock-and-key model of enzyme activation representing a classic example. Likewise, the function of inorganic nanomaterials depends on structural parameters that include crystallite size and shape as well as architecture. To realize the function of such materials, these structural parameters must be precisely controlled and the Skrabalak group is developing the synthetic toolkit to achieve advanced nanostructures. This seminar will highlight seed-mediated co-reduction as a route to structurally defined bi- and trimetallic nanomaterials, hierarchical materials, and intermetallic compositions. These synthetic advances are enabling previously unimagined nanostructures to be accessed with new function for applications in chemical sensing and catalysis. Ultimately, understanding the relationship between nanostructure form and function will allow this relationship to be inverted to achieve materials by design. Still, the synthetic toolkit must exist to realize this vision and achieve nanomaterials on demand.
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Cleantech Open NE - Boston Business Clinic: Tell Your Story Day
Thursday, September 14
4:00 PM – 8:30 PM EDT
Continuum, 21 Drydock Ave #410w, 19th Floor, Boston
This interactive business clinic will get participant teams ready to pitch their companies. Get ready to actively engage! Participant teams attending should come prepared with your elevator pitch, 10 slide deck, and executive summary.
The first portion of the evening is a private event for Cleantech Open teams, mentors, and experts only! Teams will rotate through 3 workshops: Pitch Deck, Elevator Pitch, and Executive Summary. We welcome to public to join us at for an evening of networking with the cleantech community starting at 6:30pm.
If you have any questions about the event, please reach out to Gina Bellato at gbellato@cleantechopen.org.
Schedule:
4:00 - 4:30 Teams, Mentors, & Experts Registration
4:30 - 5:20 CTO Workshop #1
5:20 - 6:10 CTO Workshop #2
6:10 -7:00 CTO Workshop #3
6:30 -7:00 Public Registration
7:15 -7:25 Welcome from Continuum
7:25 -7:45 Alumni pitching; Q & A
7:45 - 8:30 Networking
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One Belt/One Road in Historical and Global Context
WHEN Thursday, Sep. 14, 2017, 4:15 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, S020, Japan Friends of Harvard Concourse, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Asia Beyond the Headlines Seminar Series, Harvard University Asia Center; co-sponsored by the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
SPEAKER(S) Chair: Professor Elizabeth Perry, Henry Rosovksy Professor of Government; Director, Harvard-Yenching Institute
Professor Mark Elliott, Vice Provost of International Affairs; Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History, Harvard University
Professor Michael Szonyi, Professor of Chinese History; Director, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University
Dr. William Overholt, Senior Fellow, Harvard University Asia Center
DETAILS Inaugural Asia Beyond the Headlines Seminar Series
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Race, Class and #BlackLivesMatter in the Trump Era
Thursday, September 14
5:00pm to 6:30pm
MIT, Building 4-237, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, published by Haymarket Books in January 2016. The book surveys the historical and contemporary ravages of racism and persistent structural inequality, including mass incarceration, housing discrimination, police violence, and unemployment.Taylor is currently an Assistant Professor in African American Studies at Princeton University.
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Starr Forum: The Trump-Putin Phenomenon
Thursday, September 14
5:00pm to 6:30pm
MIT, Building 26-100, 60 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speakers:
Julia Ioffe, Moscow born American journalist who covers national security and foreign policy topics for The Atlantic
Garry Kasparov, Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, and political activist. Kasparov’s books Winter is coming and Deep Thinking will be signed and sold at the event
A session of the Focus on Russia Lecture Series
Co-chairs, Carol Saivetz and Elizabeth Wood
Co-sponsors: MIT Center for International Studies, MIT Security Studies Program, MIT-Russia Program
For more info, contact 253-1965; starrforum@mit.edu
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Engineering Virality: BuzzFeed's Scientific Approach To Creating Content
Thursday, September 14
5:00pm to 6:30pm
MIT,Building 56-114, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
If you’ve heard of BuzzFeed, you probably think about our famous articles and quizzes, such as The Dress and Which State Are You Actually From?, as well as our video escapades, such as The Try Guys Try Sexy Halloween Costumes and our famous Watermelon Explosion experiment on Facebook Live. The success of our content might seem accidental, but as a result of BuzzFeed’s experimental approach to producing content, the virality of these posts is actually a very scientific and calculated effort. This talk will detail how BuzzFeed thinks about and creates content, highlighting our paradigms for the function and role of our content. We’ll also discuss the software stack that supports this experimental loop, as BuzzFeed also employs a variety of technologies to build an analytics layer. Included in that tech discussion will also be an overview of the metrics and signals BuzzFeed is interested in once content is live. Along the way, we’ll highlight some of the Comparative Media Studies learnings Walter employs on a daily basis to thrive in the BuzzFeed content ecosystem.
Walter Menendez is a Senior Data Infrastructure Engineer at BuzzFeed, based in New York. He is an MIT alum of the class of 2015, having majored in Computer Science and Engineering (Course 6-3). While at MIT, he concentrated in Comparative Media Studies, as well as having done undergraduate research in various Media Lab groups (Fluid Interfaces, Laboratory for Social Machines). At BuzzFeed, he is responsible for the development and maintanence of all of BuzzFeed’s data collection, from on-site impression collection to data warehousing solutions, empowering the analytical approach that BuzzFeed uses for the content creation cycle.
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FROM THE ASHES: Film Screening & Discussion
Thursday, September 14
5:00PM
Harvard, Tsai Auditorium (S010), CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
The Harvard University Center for the Environment and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School invite you to a special screening of From the Ashes, a new documentary about the true cost of coal from director Michael Bonfiglio. Presented by National Geographic, the film is a compelling and often heartbreaking look about what’s at stake for our economy, health, and climate. Discussion to follow featuring:
DANIEL SCHRAG
Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology; Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering; Director, Harvard University Center for the Environment; Co-Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School
RAND WENTWORTH
Louis Bacon Senior Fellow in Environmental Leadership, Harvard University; President Emeritus, Land Trust Alliance
Free and open to the public.
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Darwin’s Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory
Thursday, September 14
6:00pm
Harvard, Museum of Natural History, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
James T. Costa, Professor, Department of Biology, Western Carolina University Executive Director, Highlands Biological Station, University of North Carolina
Charles Darwin, iconic evolutionary biologist, was a naturalist with a passion for experiments. Sometimes quirky, always illuminating, Darwin’s experiments were an ever-present part of his home life, taking over his house, garden, and greenhouse, as well as surrounding meadows and woodlands, while often involving family, friends, and neighbors as research assistants. James Costa will discuss this inventive side of Darwin, detailed in his new book, Darwin’s Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory. Following the lecture, visit the museum galleries, where Harvard students and museum educators will demonstrate a selection of Darwin’s experiments.
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Extreme Events & Climate Change: What We Know and What We Can Do
Thursday, September 14
7:00 pm
New England Aquarium Simons IMAX Theatre, Aquarium Wharf, Boston
Speaker: Ellen Douglas, PE, PhD, Associate Professor of Hydrology, School for the Environment, UMass Boston
There are three truths that climate science tells us about what we can expect from climate change. The first is small changes in an average value, such as average global temperatures, will have bigger effects on the extremes. We have seen this play out in the extreme weather events that have wrought havoc across New England and the nation over the last decade or longer. Record-breaking events will always occur, but the time between these events should increase. Under climate change, records are getting broken in record time! The second truth is that our history of carbon dioxide emissions has embedded a certain amount of change into the climate system, to which we will need to adapt. The third truth is that if we don’t account for our changing climate in planning and designing, our plans and designs will be wrong. In this presentation, Ellen Marie Douglas will discuss observations of our changing climate, what changes may be in Boston’s future, and some plans for how to adapt to these changes.
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Friday, September 15
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Park(ing) Day
Friday, September 15
The international event when people take over car parking spaces for a day.
More information at http://parkingday.org
Parking Day Cambridge http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/Transportation/parkingday
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Building Urban Environment Across Disciplines
Friday, September 15
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EDT
Northeastern University Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex, 805 Columbus Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/building-urban-environment-across-disciplines-tickets-37318118497
Cost: $0 – $10
Design Museum Mornings with Dan Adams of Landing Studio
Traditionally, object-based architecture has engaged with trades, crafts, and engineers. What are the new disciplinary relationships of an ecologic architecture? September's Design Museum Morning will explore this transition in architecture and how it requires interdisciplinary study and practice.\
The more we are aware of our collective environmental impacts, the more we are challenged to change architectural practice from designing discrete buildings or cities to designing one interconnected environment. This ecologic conception of architecture adds connections and flows to the existing palette of architecture: space, form, and material – and new questions emerge- Where does architecture come from and where does it go? What systems are we shaping when we build a city?
Join us along with Dan Adams of Landing Studio for an in-depth exploration of ecological architecture and its cause for connection between disciplines. This presentation kicks off at 9:00 am on the morning of September 15th at Northeastern University’s ISEC building, and will feature audience Q&A, coffee, breakfast, and plenty of great design discussion.
Doors open at 8:30 am; Presentation begins at 9:00 am.
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Time to Walk the Walk: BU’s Climate Action Plan (Alumni Weekend Event)
Friday, September 15
9:30 am to 11:00 am
BU, George Sherman Union, Terrace Lounge, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Last fall, the BU Board of Trustees authorized the development of a Climate Action Plan to address the University’s carbon emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change on BU’s campuses. The Climate Action Plan Task Force invites alumni to attend its upcoming public forum during Alumni Weekend to learn about the development of the University's Climate Action Plan and share their input.
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Wettability and Adhesion of Real Surfaces
Friday, September 15
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
BU, Boston
For more information please contact:
Scott Allan Phone: +1201273 4184
E-mail: Scott.Allan@biolinscientific.com
Join us for a 2 hour seminar about Wettability and Adhesion, where we will go through the common ways of measuring these properties. We will also address the theory behind them and emphasize strategies how to apply these measurements to real, non-ideal surfaces which may be heterogeneous in both surface chemistry and surface roughness.
Wettability and adhesion are key parameters in numerous industries such as coatings, biotechnology and electronics. The seminar will include lecture and a demonstration of how to account for the surface roughness and wettability determination for advanced research.
You can also download our White Paper on Surface roughness and wettability:
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ME(DIA) RESPONSE: SELF-AWARENESS AND ACTIVISM THROUGH ART-MAKING | PART 2: BUILDING AN UNDERSTANDING
September 15
12:00PM - 2:00PM
MIT List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
Join artist Kate Gilbert in a participatory workshop series infusing tools of meditation with media awareness to adorn and personalize 3D artifacts in a method representative of their response to violent imagery. This workshop, the second of a three-part series will begin with guided meditation focused on finding stillness or beauty in turmoil. Once centered, participants will personalize 3D objects/sculptures/artifacts created from accumulations of mass media images. This workshop will conclude with a discussion on how cultural tactics and creative strategies can be used to incorporate these artifacts into creative activism. Participants will leave their artifact for the next workshop participants to use and are encouraged to attend each workshop to deepen their practice of defining self and activism in a media-saturated world.
This workshop series will lead participants through the acceptance of violent imagery in media as a necessary catalyst for change, defining one’s response to violence and will culminate in a civically-engaged creative action. Participants are encouraged to attend each workshop to deepen their practice of defining self and activism in a media-saturated world.
About the Artist:
Kate Gilbert is an artist deeply committed to developing catalytic artistic practices for transformation — of our cities, our relationships, and ourselves. In her artwork, curatorial projects and public art organization Now + There she strives to facilitate joy, spontaneity and an intersectional approach to creating shared cultural experiences.
Lunch will be served.
This event is free and open to the general public. RSVP required. RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/media-response-self-awareness-and-activism-through-art-making-part-2-building-an-understanding-tickets-35433206675
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It Depends What State You’re In: Policies and Politics of the US Health Care System
WHEN Friday, Sep. 15, 2017, 1 – 5 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Conferences, Health Sciences, Law, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
COST Free
CONTACT INFO http://events@radcliffe.harvard.edu
DETAILS Health care and political systems are deeply intertwined, with implications for the quality and equality of access to health care. This half-day symposium will explore the political dynamics of health care laws and the way they affect not only people as patients but also people as citizens. Health professionals, policy and public health experts, economists, sociologists, and political scientists, will draw on comparative politics and policies of the U.S. state—alone and as part of a federalist system—and on international perspectives to explore the relationships between citizens and their health care. Please register online.
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Being Mortal and What Matters in the End
Friday September 15
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Tuftsl School of Medicine, DeBlois Auditorium | Arthur M. Sackler Center for Medical Education, 145 Harrison Avenue, Boston
Segal Lecture: Dr. Atul Gawande
Dr. Gawande will give his lecture from the Tufts University School of Medicine, with opportunities to watch it live from the Boston campus and live streamed to the Medford campus at The Fletcher School, Mugar Hall, Room 200. He will take questions live from the viewing audience.
More information at https://rsvp.tufts.edu/2017commonbook_segal
CONTACT INFORMATION
Shelli Corcoran
6176270576
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Shannon Mattern, Mapping's Intelligent Agents
Friday, September 15
5:00pm to 6:30pm
MIT, Building 7-408 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Mapping for machines, by machines is big business. Yet mapping’s artificial intelligences also have the potential to transform myriad design and research areas, to influence policy-making and governance, to support environmental preservation and public health – and, in the process, to pose critical questions about how our cartographic technologies conceptualize and operationalize space. And in order to fully exploit the methodological promise of cartography, those artificial intelligences – all the digital sensors and deep learning models – have to be supplemented with other cartographic intelligences and subjectivities, particularly those that extend beyond the computational “Other.” Marginalized and indigenous populations and non-human environmental actors belong on the map, too – and not merely as cartographic subjects, but as active mapping agents with spatial intelligences and worldviews quite unlike our own, and with an equal investment in the environments we share.
Speaker: Shannon Mattern is an Associate Professor of Media Studies at The New School. Her writing and teaching focus on archives, libraries, and other media spaces; media infrastructures; spatial epistemologies; and mediated sensation and exhibition. She is the author of The New Downtown Library: Designing with Communities, Deep Mapping the Media City, and Code and Clay, Data and Dirt: Five Thousand Years of Urban Media (forthcoming), all published by University of Minnesota Press, and she contributes a regular long-form column about urban data and mediated infrastructures to Places Journal. You can find her at wordsinspace.net.
Organized by Moa Carlsson, PhD Candidate, Design & Computation Group at MIT, MIT Department of Architecture
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Thomistic Institute Talk - Tolkien's Perilous Beauties: Philosophy and Aesthetic Danger
Friday, September 15
5:30pm
MIT, Building 3-270, 33 Massachusetts Avenue (Rear), Cambridge
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and related works present the beauties of the Elven realms as equally inspiration and temptation for humans. Why this fusion and confusion between what inspires and what corrupts? Because Tolkien is following out a central problem of philosophy from Plato to the present, a problem he inherits especially from the culture of Romanticism and its fraught relationship with Roman Catholicism.
Speaker Bio:
David O’Connor is a faculty member in the departments of Philosophy and of Classics at the University of Notre Dame. His teaching and writing focus on ancient philosophy, aesthetics, ethics and politics, and philosophy of religion. Dr. O’Connor is an acclaimed teacher and lecturer. His online lectures on love and sexuality have reached a wide international audience, and are the basis of his two recent books, Love is Barefoot Philosophy (in Chinese translation, 2014) and Plato’s Bedroom: Ancient Wisdom and Modern Love (2015). He has also published extensively on the relation between philosophy, art, and literature, in both the ancient and the modern world.
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A Reno Family Foundation Symposium – Life 3.0
Friday, September 15
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Museum of Science, Museum Of Science Driveway, Boston
The story of AI is the story is the story of intelligence: of life processes as they evolve from bacteria (1.0) to humans (2.0) — where life processes define their own software, to technology (3.0) — where life processes design both their hardware and software. How will artificial intelligence transform work, weapons, and the dark side of computing, such as hacking and viral sabotage? Can we ensure that AI remains beneficial and should ethics be built in? Will superhuman intelligence emerge and will it be possible to control?
More information at https://mos.org/public-events/life-3-0
Join us for a special conversation between two leading experts of AI evolution as they explore the future of science, technology, and business. Book signing and light reception to follow.
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Saturday, September 16 - Sunday, September 17
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Hack MIT
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Saturday, September 16
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The Future We’re Building
Saturday, September 16
8am - 5pm
Harvard Business School, Spangler Center, 117 Western Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://www.techconferencehbs.com
Cost: $32.64 - $43.19
Welcome to the 23rd Annual Technology Conference by Tech Club, a student club of HBS
How can we use advanced sensor technology to reduce food waste? What new business models will be enabled by blockchain? How will commercial space flight become a reality? Why will virtual reality enhance our self-expression and improve our productivity? What is the future we're building, and why?
Our speakers not only see the future. They are actively building it.
On September 16th, 2017, 1,200+ founders, investors, engineers, and MBA and undergraduate students from the Boston area and beyond will converge on the Harvard Business School campus to discuss and debate the future of technology. Join us as we learn how leaders are building the future of cryptocurrency, space, fintech, insurtech, food tech, healthcare, AR/VR, retail, and more! See our full agenda here.
The goal of this year’s conference is to continue the tradition of bringing industry leaders to HBS not only whose past stories would inspire and educate, but who are leading organizations that will likely dominate the next decade in technology.
If you would like to participate or host a panel, demonstrate your product in our Demo Room, or have questions, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact Karan Ahuja (kahuja@mba2018.hbs.edu) and Elyse Kim (ekim@mba2018.hbs.edu).
Keynote Speakers
Bozoma Saint John, Chief Brand Officer, Uber
Frances Frei, SVP Leadership & Strategy, Uber
Carolyn Everson, VP - Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook
Sue Siegel, CEO, GE Ventures
Deep Nishar, Managing Director, SoftBank
Eric Paley, Managing Partner, Founder Collective
Marvin Ammori, Chief Counsel, Hyperloop One
Panel Discussions, Tech Talks & Fireside Chats
AR/VR
Dr. Pattie Maes (MIT Media Lab)
Victor Luo (NASA JPL)
John Werner (Meta)
David Askaryan (Bridgewater)CRYPTOCURRENCY AND PAYMENTS
Anders Brownworth (Circle.com)
P. Bart Stephens (Blockchain Capital)
Ryan Zurrer (Polychain Capital)
FINTECH
Omer Ismail (COO, Marcus)
Adam Broun (COO, Kensho)
Blair Baldwin (CEO, Quilt)
James Hobson (CEO, Attune Insurance)
Andre Bliznyuk (Partner, Runa Capital)FOOD / AGTECH
Steve Fredette (President & Co-Founder, Toast)
Julia Cohen (Biz Ops, Bowery)
Jan Schnorr (CEO, C2Sense)
Jennifer Cheung (Principal, Amazon)
Usma Cheema (Sr. Manager - Business & Corporate, DoorDash)
GAMING
Jason Robins (CEO, DraftKings)
HEALTHCARE TECH
Umair Khan (VP of Product, Accolade)
Gina Nebesar (Co-Founder & CPO, Ovia Health)
Jessica Alston (Associate, F-Prime Capital Partners)
Andrew DiMichele (Head of Product, Onduo)
RETAIL TECH / E-COMMERCE
Chieh Huang (CEO, Boxed.com)
Brendan Wallace (Fifth Wall Ventures, Managing Partner/Co-Founder)
Susan Tynan (Framebridge, CEO/Founder)
Nick Rellas (Drizly, CEO/Founder)
Pano Anthos (Founder & Managing Director, XRC Labs)
TRANSPORTATION TECH
Karl Iagnemma (CEO, NuTonomy)
Sid Misra (CEO, Perceptiva Automata)
Tim Higgins (Reporter, Wall Street Journal)
Steve Hafner (CEO, Kayak)SPACE TECH
Louis Perna (Co-Founder, Accion)
Karl Hoose (CEO, VALT Enterprises LLC)
David Potere (Co-Founder & CEO, Telluslab)
Dan Nevius (Co-Founder & COO, Analytical Space)
Matthew Weinzierl (Professor, HBS)WOMEN IN TECHs
Natalie Villalobos (Global Lead for Women Techmakers Program, Google)
Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, HubSpot)
Tauseef Salma (Global Head for Chemicals & Industrial Services, Baker Hughes)
Caroline Ghosn (Founder & CEO, Levo)
Demos
In our Demo Room, Tech Conference 23 attendees will be able to get hands-on with the latest Virtual Reality hardware.
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Somerville Garden Club Annual Plant Sale
Saturday, September 16
9 to 1pm
Davis Square, Somerville
Great stuff, at good prices, and lots of advice. Plus books, pots, etc. Always fun, bigger and better every year.
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RIM - ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PRESENTATION
Saturday, September 16
10am - 12pm
Church of the Holy Spirit, 525 River Street, Mattapan
Join the Refugee Immigration Ministry for a presentation of the City's Climate Ready Boston Materials! RIM will be partnering with Greenovate to speak on Climate Ready Boston and how critical ecological responsibility is in relation to forced immigration and social justice. This event is FREE and open to the public!
More information at http://www.r-i-m.net/Resources%20Files/Mattapan%20flier.pdf
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Sun for All Celebration
Saturday, September 16
11am - 2pm
Codman Square Park, 44 Moultrie Street, Dorchester
Resonant Energy will be celebrating our one year anniversary as a company with our community partners and local leaders on Saturday, Sept. 16th from 11-2 pm in Codman Park! Join us for a day of music, food, celebration, and activism on the lawn -- and see the magic driving this community forward towards a just and local transition to clean energy. Speakers will include faith leaders, policy organizers, and local solar champions leading the way in the fight for an energy system that works for our communities. This will be a family-friendly event.
Facebook Event
Eventbridge Link
Final Schedule of Events:
11 AM - 11:30: Sign in & Welcome
11:30 - 12:30: Potluck Lunch in the Park
12:30 - 1:00: Speakers, including Rev. Mariama White-Hammond.
1:00 - 2:00: Music!
Things to Bring
Potluck: A food dish to share
Picnic: Chairs or a blanket
Solar Design Lab: Your Electric Bill or a Rooftop Recommendation! Learn more about what solar could look like for your home, business, or nonprofit. Bring an address to explore in <10 engineering="" minutes="" nbsp="" resonant="" s="" span="" team.="" with="">
Event Sponsors
Clean Water Action
Co-op Power
Codman Square Neighborhood Council
Contact: Please reach out to the event organizer, Isaac Baker, with any questions relating to the Affordable Solar Celebration: Isaac@resonant.energy
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Dance Mile Boston
Saturday, September 16
11:30am - 3pm
City Hall Plaza, City Hall Square, Boston
Cost: $0 - $10
Experience the newest form of Social Fitness – Dance Mile!
Dance Mile is an INTERACTIVE FESTIVAL capped by a one hour dance parade through town.
Participants are led through the city by a custom sound truck, amazing MC’s, & your favorite DJ’s!
Dance Mile combines exercise & entertainment resulting in an extraordinary fitness experience.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Dance through one of the most iconic areas in BOSTON!
ZUMBA warm up, professional dance acts
Bib number & bedazzling station for the whole family
Access to vendor village & festival
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
11:30 – 1:00 – Registration
1:00 – 1:30 PM – Warm Up & Dance Acts
1:30 – 2:30 PM – The Boston Dance Mile
2:30 – 3:00 PM – Cool Down
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The Ig Informal Lectures
Saturday, September 16
1:00 pm
MIT, Building 10-250, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
A half-afternoon of improbably funny, informative, informal, brief public lectures and demonstrations:
The new Ig Nobel Prize winners will attempt to explain what they did, and why they did it.
Several past winners will return, to share their adventures:
Thomas Thwaites (2016 Biology Prize — living as a goat)
John Culvenor (2003 Physics Prize — Analysis of the forces required to drag sheep across various surfaces)
Everyone will be available for you to talk with, both before and after the lectures.
The Ig informal Lectures are a free event, organized in cooperation with the MIT Press Bookstore.
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Living in the Future
Saturday, September 16
6:00pm to 8:00pm
MIT, Building N51: MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
How do today's technologies reflect what we've seen on the big screen? Sit back, grab some pizza and popcorn, and hear from scientists and inventors about how close we are to realizing Hollywood's hopes. Learn about the real-life technology that may or may not take us back to the future.
Pizza, popcorn, and soda included! This event has sold out in the past, so register now! $10 in advance/limited tickets available at the door for $15.
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Sunday, September 17
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Boston Local Food Festival: New England's largets One-Day Farmer's Market
Sunday, September 17
11:00am to 5:00pm
Rose Kennedy Greenway, 185 Kneeland Street, Boston
For one spectacular day each year, Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts transforms the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway and the City of Boston into the nation's largest local & sustainable food hub! The Boston Local Food Festival is a FREE outdoor festival that showcases farmers, local restaurants, food trucks, specialty food producers, fisher folks, and organizations focusing on healthy food and fitness from New England. The festival also features lively chef & DIY demos, a seafood throwdown competition, diverse music and performances, family fun zone and more.
The 8th Annual Boston Local Food Festival is sponsored by Food Solutions New England, Boston Public Market, The Trustees - Boston Region, & Clarke Kitchens
Festival goers learn about the benefits of sustainably grown and produced food, shop the market, eat delicious local food, participate in fun, educational activities and exhibits, engage with top local chefs and enjoy local music. Themed “Healthy Local Food for All”, the festival connects Massachusetts and New England eaters of all backgrounds with the abundance of fresh, nutritious local food choices available close to home.
The festival is a zero-waste event, meaning we divert over 91% of our waste each year and we offset 100% of our energy use! All perishable items sold are made from locally sourced products. Best of all, we bring this annual event to the community free of charge. So grab your reusable water bottles and bags and enjoy New England’s largest one day farmers market, while celebrating “Healthy Local Food for All”
More information at https://www.facebook.com/events/1761165614213781/
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E.O. Wilson: The Meaning of Human Existence
Sunday, September 17
1:30 PM
Humanist Hub, 30 JFK Street, 4th Floor, Harvard Square, Cambridge
What makes human beings supremely different from all other species? Does humanity holds a special position in the known universe?
In The Meaning of Human Existence, Pulitzer Prize–winning biologist Edward O. Wilson grapples with these and other existential questions, bridging science and philosophy to create a twenty-first-century treatise on human existence -- from our earliest inception to a provocative look at what the future of mankind.
Join us for a conversation with world-renowned author, secular humanist, and scientist E.O. Wilson about his book, the purpose of life, and what it all means for humanists and humanist communities in the 21st century.
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Sharon McGregor: From Turf to Paradise - In your own backyard (or window box)!
Sunday, September 17
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
One Fayette Park, Cambridge
Potuck 6:00-7:00 p.m. followed by discussion 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Helen Snively's place near Central Square.
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate has a profound, even gripping, story to tell. It is a story people want to hear because it is positive, hopeful, inspirational! The story’s overriding message is that humans can turn the climate crisis around if we join together, roll up our sleeves, and get right to ecological restoration at the local, regional, and continental scales.
Sharon McGregor is a Board Member with Biodiversity for a Livable Climate and a former administrator with Mass. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) who initiated the Community Preservation Act and the Department of Ecological Restoration - and also gave us the whale tail on our license plates!
Sharon will show a PowerPoint presentation telling this story as she interprets it. She will briefly present the climate urgency most of us know well as a backdrop to the nature solutions we all need to understand and participate in. She will highlight how she implemented a nature solution benefiting climate in her own back yard, by transforming it from a monoculture monotone lawn to the vibrant colorful and biodiverse ecosystem it once was. Sharon will introduce a new approach to decision making, which she says everyone should apply to their own decision-making in the home and workplace, and in general daily living. This decision-making approach places biodiversity and ecosystem health at the forefront of our decisions.
Sharon will lead us in discussion to get everyone thinking about: What is our story? What should the “I want to read that” title be? Are the main chapters identified and are they included in our story, or are we missing something? What are the most important parts of the story we want our varied audiences to hear? How do we best tell the most important parts of the story in a way that people understand and are motivated to act? How do we tell the story to the press, so that they want to report on it and do so in a way that will inspire new, aggressive actions on the nature part of the solution to the climate crisis, while maintaining (and inspiring even greater) momentum on the emissions side.
Come hear the story and help complete it.
Biodiversity for a LIvable Climate is a small non-profit so a $10 donation is requested.
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Monday, September 18
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PAOC Colloquium: Dan Cziczo (MIT)
Monday, September 18
12:00pm to 1:00pm
MIT, Building 54-923, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
About the Speaker
It has been known for over a century that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane warm the planet by trapping heat. What is not as well known is that particles can cool the planet by reflecting sunlight into space and by acting as the seeds on which clouds form. Particles and clouds are also of contemporary interest because it has been suggested they might affect climate by interacting with cosmic rays or be used to manipulate the Earth’s temperature.
Cziczo's research group is interested in the interrelationship of particulate matter and cloud formation. His team utilizes laboratory and field studies to elucidate how small particles interact with water vapor to form droplets and ice crystals, which are important players in the Earth’s climate system. Experiments include using small cloud chambers in the laboratory to mimic atmospheric conditions that lead to cloud formation and observing clouds in situ from remote mountaintop sites or through the use of research aircraft.
About this Series
The PAOC Colloquium is a weekly interdisciplinary seminar series that brings together the whole PAOC community. Seminar topics include all research concerning the physics, chemistry, and biology of the atmospheres, oceans and climate, but also talks about e.g. societal impacts of climatic processes. The seminars generally take place on Monday from 12-1pm. Lunch is provided to encourage students and post-docs to meet with the speaker. Besides the seminar and lunch, individual meetings with professors, post-docs, and students are arranged.
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Investigating ARPA-E as a Model for Energy Innovation Funding
Monday, September 18
12:00PM TO 1:30PM
Harvard, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
with Anna Goldstein, Postdoctoral Researcher, Stanford University and the Carnegie Institution for Science
Lunch provided.
Energy Policy Seminar
Contact Name:
Louisa Lund
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Identity Politics and Organized Crime
WHEN Monday, Sep. 18, 2017, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, The Morgan Courtroom, Austin Hall, Room 308, 1515 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Law, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR EALS, the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, the Reischauer Institute
SPEAKER(S) J. Mark Ramseyer, ’82, Mitsubishi Professor of Japanese Legal Studies
DETAILS EALS Lunchtime Talk
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Molecular Government, Toxicological Information, and Environmental Protection
Monday, September 18
12:15PM TO 2:00PM
Harvard, 100F Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Please RSVP to sts@hks.harvard.edu by Wednesday at 5PM the week before.
with Evan Hepler-Smith (Harvard University Center for the Environment).
Sandwich lunch is provided. RSVP required.
STS Circle at Harvard
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From Genetics to CRISPR Gene Editing with Machine Learning
Monday, September 18
1:15-2:15 PM
Harvard Medical School, Minot Room, 5th Floor, Countway Library, 10 Shattuck Street #3, Boston
Jennifer Listgarten, Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research New England
Molecular biology, healthcare and medicine have been slowly morphing into large-scale, data driven sciences dependent on machine learning and applied statistics. In this talk I will start by explaining some of the modelling challenges in finding the genetic underpinnings of disease, which is important for screening, treatment, drug development, and basic biological insight. Genome and epigenome-wide associations, wherein individual or sets of (epi)genetic markers are systematically scanned for association with disease are one window into disease processes. Naively, these associations can be found by use of a simple statistical test. However, a wide variety of structure and confounders lie hidden in the data, leading to both spurious and missed associations if not properly addressed. Much of this talk will focus on how to model these types of data. Once we uncover genetic causes, genome editing—which is about deleting or changing parts of the genetic code—will one day let us fix the genome in a bespoke manner. Editing will also help us to understand mechanisms of disease, enable precision medicine and drug development, to name just a few more important applications. I will close by discussing how we developed machine learning approaches to enable more effective CRISPR gene editing.
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Organometallic and Radical Mechanisms of Nickel Enzymes Involved in Methane and CO2 Metabolism
Monday, September 18
4:00pm to 5:00pm
MIT, Building 4-270, 182 Memorial Dr (Rear), Cambridge
Stephen Ragsdale, University of Michigan
Biological Chemistry Seminar Series
For more information: Betty Lou McClanahan, blm@mit.edu
Editorial Comment: Methane management is exceedingly important in climate change, especially if the Arctic permafrost or the oceanic clathrates start bubbling up into the atmosphere.
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Starting an Energy and Clean Tech Company in Boston
Monday, September 18
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM EDT
CIC Boston, 50 Milk Street, Lighthouse East Room, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/starting-an-energy-and-clean-tech-company-in-boston-tickets-37368653649
Cleantech and energy technologies have been the subject of national attention in recent years, and Boston is a hub of innovation in this industry. From software for better energy efficiency, to connected devices for better power insights & management, to new alternative power technology, this industry has been a magnet for entrepreneurs wanting to improve the world and build successful businesses by riding the wave of market attention.
Join our panel discussion for insights on what that latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in this industry are. Whether you're a startup founder looking to navigate this space, an investor looking to stay on top of the market, or an executive looking for the latest innovations, this panel will have highlights for you.
This event is part of the Hot Industries Track at Boston Startup Week.
PANELISTS
Wanda Reindorf | Managing Director, Clean Energy Venture Group
Wanda Reindorf is a member of the Clean Energy Venture Group and is an experienced executive who has been a CFO and business consultant with VC backed start-ups through public companies. She has worked with energy companies in the areas of energy efficiency, utilities, renewable energy, smart grid, demand response and energy services, and was involved in developing early solar power plants. She brings 20 plus years of expertise in strategy, operations and finance with extensive global experience.
Sandhya Murali | CFO, Solstice Initiative
Responsible for finances, product development, solar developer relationships, and financial inclusion. Sandhya began her career in Barclays’ investment banking division in New York and London, advising on and executing public equity transactions for Technology, Media and Telecom companies, and was also deeply involved in Barclays Philanthropy. Her volunteer work included Endeavor, Women’s World Banking, and Barclays’ Social Innovation Fund. During graduate school, Sandhya worked at Buen Power Peru, a for-profit social enterprise that distributes solar lamps and water heaters to off-grid communities in Peru. She holds a BBA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she received the Sustainability Certificate.
YOUR HOST
Emily Reichert | CEO, Greentown Labs
Dr. Emily Reichert serves as Chief Executive Officer of Greentown Labs, the largest clean technology startup incubator in the United States. As the organization's first employee, Emily has spearheaded the rapid growth of Greentown Labs into a global center for clean technology innovation, attracting visitors and partners from around the world.
Emily started her career at Arthur D. Little as a Ph.D. scientist and progressed into R&D, business development and general management roles. Prior to Greentown Labs, she was the Director of Business Operations at the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry where she helped grow the angel-funded startup into a sustainable contract R&D business with a mission to minimize environmental impact of chemical products. Emily also served as a MIT Sloan Fellow in Innovation and Global Leadership as well as a Venture Labs Fellow at Flagship Ventures, a Boston-based Venture Capital firm.
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Where The Animals Go: Big data and design
Monday, September 18
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Harvard, Belfer Case Study Room, CGIS South S020, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
For thousands of years, tracking animals has meant following their physical traces – footprints, fallen feathers and nests. But cutting-edge geospatial technology is revolutionising our ability to map their movements and behaviour.
GIScientist James Cheshire and designer Oliver Uberti discuss the creative and technical processes behind their efforts with scientists and wildlife experts around the world to collate billions of data points, from tracking elephants to counting penguins, and bring them to life visually in their new book entitled Where the Animals Go.
Presenter Bios
Dr. James Cheshire is a geographer with a passion for mapping data. He is an Associate Professor at University College London, and recently received the Royal Geographical Society’s Cuthbert Peek award for ‘advancing geographical knowledge through the use of mappable Big Data’.
Oliver Uberti is a visual journalist, designer, and the recipient of many awards for his information graphics and art direction. From 2003 to 2012 he worked in the design department of National Geographic, most recently as Senior Design Editor.
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Two Ways of Knowing: Creating Ancient Maya History through Inscriptions and Archaeology
Wednesday, September 18
6:00 pm
Harvard, Museum of Natural History, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
2017 Tatiana Proskouriakoff Lecture and Reception
Free and open to the public
Simon Martin, Associate Curator and Keeper of Collections, American Section, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Scholars have made signifcant advances in the interpretation of ancient Maya hieroglyphs in the past forty years. The deep understanding of these inscriptions makes the study of the ancient Maya as complex and layered as that of Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, or Roman civilizations—each of which combines the reading of texts with the physical remains of archaeological excavations. This important development, however, also raises issues about how the integration of textual and material evidence is best achieved. Simon Martin will explore this challenge within the context of Maya studies and review the academic debate over the ways in which history is both discovered and created.
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The Interactions of Buildings
Monday, September 18
6:15 pm to 7:15 pm
BU, College of Arts & Sciences, Room 315, 685-725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Professor Leslie Norford is the George Macomber (1948) Professor in Construction Management in the Department of Architecture at MIT. Professor Norford’s current research focuses on interactions of buildings with the natural and built urban environment. His group studies the contributions of buildings to the urban heat island effect, the impact of urban heating on building performance, the transport of urban pollutants and control of building electrical systems to provide services to electricity distribution systems.
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Tuesday, September 19 - Wednesday, September 20
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Gills Club Symposium: Shark Tales – Women Making Waves
Tuesday, September 19
Doors open 5:30 pm
Lectures begin 6:00 pm
IMAX Theater at the New England Aquarium, Aquarium Wharf, Boston
Susan Goldberg, Editorial Director, National Geographic Partners and Editor in Chief, National Geographic Magazine
Ten female shark experts from around the work share their stories and science.
September 19 participants:
Michelle Heupel, Australian Institute of Marine Science
Lisa Whitenack, Allegheny College
Cindy Tribuzio, National Marine Fisheries Service
Lisa Natanson, Apex Predator Program
Jodie Rummer, James Cook University
September 20 participants:
Wendy Benchley, renowned global voice for protecting sharks and safeguarding our seas
Alison Kock, South African National Parks
Brooke Flammang, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Kara Yopak, UNC Wilmington
Megan Winton, UMass Dartmouth
Vicky Vasquez, Pacific Shark Research Center
This two-day symposium is co-hosted by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, Gills Club, Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, and New England Aquarium.
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Tuesday, September 19
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Reprogramming biological form and function: the dark matter of biology
Tuesday, September 19
10am - 7pm
Tufts, Allen Discovery Center, 200 College Avenue, Medford
Schedule for the day:
Morning session (10:00am-12:40pm; Distler Performance Hall): Don Ingber, Nadia Rosenthal, Laurie Boyer, & James Collins
Lunch (provided)
Afternoon session (1:30-4:00pm; Distler Performance Hall): Leonard Zon, Adam Cohen, Ed Boyden, & Mike Levin
Panel discussion (4:15-5:15pm; auditorium, Robinson Hall): Mike Levin, David Kaplan, and Jessica Whited
Reception (5:15-7:00pm; atrium, Science & Engineering Complex)
More information at http://allencenter.tufts.edu/events/grand-opening/
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Vann R. Newkirk II: Race, Identity, and Media
WHEN Tuesday, Sep. 19, 2017, 12 – 1 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Belfer Building, Bell Hall, 5th floor, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy
SPEAKER(S) Vann R. Newkirk II, staff writer at The Atlantic
COST Free
DETAILS Vann R. Newkirk II is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers politics and policy. He has covered health policy, civil rights, voting rights, environmental justice, race and class in American politics, and the evolution of black identity. Newkirk is also a co-founder of and contributing editor for Seven Scribes, a website and community dedicated to promoting writers and artists of color.
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Will we adapt? Extreme heat, labor production, and adaptation to climate change
Tuesday, September 19
1 pm
Harvard Global Health Institute, 42 Church Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://globalhealth.harvard.edu/event/climate-change-and-global-health-seminar-jisung-park-phd
Please join the Harvard Global Health Institute for their Climate Change and Global Health Seminar with Jisung Park, PhD.
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State House Hearing on Renewable Portfolio Standard
Tuesday, September 19
1 - 3 PM
Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon Street, Room A-2 (may change - the guard at the metal detector will know the room #), Boston
The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is a policy to support renewable energy development. The Massachusetts RPS requires that utility companies provide a specific percentage of renewable energy. Currently at 12%, it increases by 1% per year.
Raising the Renewable Portfolio Standard by 3% a year in Massachusetts will push the demand for local renewable sources of energy and get us to 50% renewable energy by 2030. Let's pack the hearing with Mothers Out Front members and supporters!
If you would like to meet with your legislator please contact gingerryan11@gmail.com.
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ESI PEOPLE & THE PLANET LECTURE: Johan Rockström
Tuesday, September 19
4:00pm to 6:00pm
MIT, Building 10-250, Huntington Hall, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
The Environmental Solutions Initiative People & the Planet Lecture Series presents individuals and organizations working to advance understanding and action toward a humane and sustainable future.
For more information, contact:
Hannah Loomis
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Space, Time, and Reality: A Lecture by Brian Greene
WHEN Tuesday, Sep. 19, 2017, 4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Brian Greene, Professor of Physics and Mathematics, Cofounder of Columbia University’s Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics, Columbia University; Cofounder of The World Science Festival; Author
COST Free
CONTACT INFO events@radcliffe.harvard.edu
DETAILS One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein revolutionized our understanding of space and time, elevating them to dynamic participants in the evolution of the cosmos. Research in our era has pushed this revolution far further, suggesting that there may be additional dimensions of space and possibly even other universes. In this talk, Greene will explore these ideas visually as this lecture dives into the changes conceptions of space, time, and reality.
Professor Greene has had many media appearances, from Charlie Rose to Stephen Colbert. He is widely known to the public through his general-level lectures and writings. Register online and join us.
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The Stupid Terrorist: Lessons from History and the Social Sciences
Tuesday, September 19
4:30pm to 6:00pm
Northeastern, Renaissance Park, 909, 1135 Tremont Street, Boston
Please join us for a presentation by Max Abrahms, Assistant Professor of Political Science, for the first Fall semester event in the Controversial Issues in Security and Resilience Studies speaker series.
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Fascist in the White House? Steve Bannon’s Rage Against the Enlightenment
Tuesday, September 19
4:30 – 7PM
Tufts, Alumnae Hall, 419 Boston Avenue, Medford
Stephen K. Bannon has been called “Trump’s brain.” At the core of Bannon’s ideology is a series of simplistic binaries of dangerous “others” who threaten the good folks of “real America” which he weaves into an apocalyptic narrative of good against evil. Join Jeffrey Alexander, Professor of Sociology at Yale University, for a talk about Bannon and how he’s become a flag bearer for the American right. Cosponsored by the Departments of Sociology, Political Science, Tisch College, and CHAT.
Event Contact jessica.byrnes@tufts.edu
RSVP Information tischcollege.tufts.edu/events
Admission Free
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Careers in Sustainability Panel
Tuesday, September 19
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM EDT
Northeastern University, Curry Student Center, room 333 (Senate Chambers), 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Interested in a career related to sustainability? We can help!
On September 19th, Northeastern University’s Energy Systems Society, in collaboration with our Emerging Professionals Committee and our Greenbuild Volunteer Committee, will be hosting a panel discussion featuring a diverse group of sustainability professionals.
Join us to hear our panelists share stories and lessons learned from their career experiences. Get your questions answered and hear how Greenbuild can help launch you into your dream job.
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Safety First: Towards Safe Consumption Facilities in Massachusetts
A Community Forum
Tuesday, September 19
5:30pm to 7:30pm
Northeastern University School of Law, 400 Huntington Avenue, Boston
The devastating toll of the opioid crisis creates an imperative for decisive, evidence-driven, and cost-effective solutions. Safe consumption facilities (SCF) reduce drug overdose, while connecting drug users to treatment and other services. Amidst mounting calls for the creation of SCFs in Massachusetts, this forum will provide stakeholders with an opportunity to review the available evidence and voice diverse perspectives on this timely and salient issue.
Coffee and refreshments will be served
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authors@mit - Mitch Resnick - Lifelong Kindergarten
Tuesday, September 19
6:00pm to 7:00pm
The MIT Press Bookstore 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
The MIT Press Bookstore presents Mitch Resnick, Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, discussing his book Lifelong Kindergarten on Tuesday, September 19, at 6:00 pm at the Bookstore. This event includes a book signing. Books will be on sale at the event for 20% off, or you can purchase an event ticket that includes a discounted book.
Kindergarten is becoming more like the rest of school, with with more time spent on math worksheets and phonics flashcards than building blocks and finger paint. Resnick, an expert in educational technologies who has worked closely with the LEGO toy company for thirty years, argues for exactly the opposite: the rest of school (even the rest of life) should be more like kindergarten.
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Cracking Bones, Gnawing Flesh, and Pondering Hearts: Body, Mind, and Medicine in Ancient Mesopotamia
Tuesday, September 19
6:00 pm
Harvard, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Ulrike Steinert, Research Associate, Babylonian Medicine, Department of History and Cultural Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
The human body has not changed significantly during recorded history—we share sensory faculties, metabolism, sexuality, aging, and mortality with even our distant ancestors. Concepts of body and self, on the other hand, evolve as cultural and historical constructs that vary widely between time and place. Drawing upon ancient texts and visual representations, Ulrike Steinert will discuss how categories of “body” and “mind” were construed in Mesopotamia more than three thousand years ago and will consider social aspects of the body at the intersection of cultural norms, ideals, and gender.
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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, September 20
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Covert Regime Change: Lessons from U.S.-backed Interventions During the Cold War
Wednesday, September 20
12:00-1:30pm
MIT, Building E40-496 Pye Room, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Lindsey O'Rourke, Boston College
Analyzing an original dataset of 66 covert regime change attempts by the United States during the Cold War, this project asks three questions: first, what motivates states to attempt foreign-imposed regime changes? Second, when do states prefer to conduct these operations covertly, as opposed to overtly? Third, how successful are these missions in achieving their foreign policy goals?
Lindsey A. O'Rourke is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Boston College. Her current research project focuses on the causes and consequences of covert regime change. Broader research interests include International Relations theory, U.S. Foreign policy, military strategy, and the Cold War.
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Debbie Plunkett: On the Outside Looking In - Perspectives Post-Government on Information Security
Wednesday, Sep. 20
12:15pm - 1:30pm
1 Brattle Square - Suite 470, Cambridge
Please join us for a conversation with former Director of the National Security Agency's Information Assurance Directorate, Ms. Debbie Plunkett. Lunch will be served.*
*This event is open to the public, but seating and lunch will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
More information at http://www.belfercenter.org/index.php/events
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What is Urban Science and What Does It Have To Do with Planning?
Wednesday, September 20
12:30pm to 2:30am
MIT, Building 9-255, 105 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Part of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning's Planning Ideas that Matter: Urban Science: Regression to Technocracy or Pathway to Progressive Planning?
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The Retail Energy Supply Association's 2017 Energy Symposium
Wednesday, September 20
1:00 PM – 5:30 PM EDT
Courtyard by Marriott Boston Downtown, 275 Tremont Street, Boston
Leading issues affecting today’s competitive retail energy markets will be explored September 20 at the Retail Energy Supply Association’s 2017 Energy Competition Symposium in Boston.
Among the key issues to be discussed at the half-day event is the positive impact of competitive retail energy markets over the past two decades in terms of innovation and environmental improvement. Another panel, Women of Power, will highlight the accomplishments of women in the Energy Industry. The panel will focus on the challenges facing the energy business and the expertise and influence women have brought to the Industry.
Distinguished speakers include Patrick Woodcock, Assistant Secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Judith Judson, former Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Nora Mead Brownell, Greg Cunningham, Vice President and Director of the Conservation Law Foundation’s Clean Energy and Climate Change program, Tami Wilson, Chief Finance and Risk Officer, IGS Energy, President, Executive Vice President of Power Options, Meg Lusardi, Dan Dolan, President of the New England Power Generators Association and Dr. Philip O’Conner, Former Chair of the Illinois Commerce Commission, Principle at PROactive Strategies and author of Restructuring Recharged: The Superior Performance of Competitive Electricity Markets 2008-2016
Join us for the afternoon symposium addressing the leading issues affecting competitive retail energy markets today.
2017 Energy Symposium Agenda
12:30 - 1:00 Registration
1:00 - 1:05 Welcome Darrin Pfannenstiel, Sr. Vice President, Chief Regulatory Counsel
Stream Energy (President, RESA)
1:05 - 1:10 Introduction Marc Hanks, Senior Manager, Corporate & Regulatory Affairs,
Direct Energy (New England State Chair, RESA)
1:10 – 1:30 Keynote Speaker Patrick Woodcock, Assistant Secretary
Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
1:30 – 1:45 Break
1:45 - 2:30 Panel Discussions – Women of Power – Industry Leaders and Challenges Facing the Industry
Moderator: Lindsay Cervenak, Regulatory Analyst
NRG Energy, Inc. (RESA Member)
Panelists: Judith Judson, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER)
Mary Sotos, Deputy Commissioner for Energy,
CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (invited)
Nora Brownell, ESPY Energy Solutions
Tami Wilson, Chief Finance and Risk Officer, IGS Energy
2:30 – 2:45 Networking Break
2:45 – 3:15 Guest Speaker Dr. Philip O’Connor – Restructuring Recharged
3:15 – 4:00 Restructuring Recharged: Markets, Innovation and the Environment
Moderator: Dan Allegretti, Vice President of Governmental Affairs - East
Constellation (RESA Member)
Panelists: Dan Dolan, New England Power Generators Association
Meg Lusardi, Power Options
Greg Cunningham, Conservation Law Foundation
Philip O’Connor, PROactive Strategies
4:00 Concluding Remarks – Tracy McCormick, Executive Director, RESA
4:00 – 5:30 Reception
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Shaping a Shared Narrative in a Fractured World
WHEN Wednesday, Sep. 20, 2017, 4:15 – 5:25 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, JFK Jr. Forum, Institute of Politics, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Center for Public Leadership, Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy
SPEAKER(S) The 2017 Malcolm H. Wiener Lecture on International Political Economy
Klaus Schwab MPA 1967
Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum
David Gergen (Moderator)
Public Service Professor of Public Leadership
Director, Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School
CONTACT INFO JFK Jr. Forum Office
617-495-1380
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Climate Change Investor Roundtable
Wednesday, September 20,
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM EDT
Unitarian Universalist Association, 24 Farnsworth Street, Boston
Climate change is widely recognized as a systemic challenge with short and long-term implications for the way we do business and the way we live our lives. This may leave some feeling powerless, while others may feel empowered and hopeful for progress.
Our role as sustainable, responsible and impact investors - who value risks and opportunities, who research complex trends, and who engage with companies on ESG issues - is crucial in addressing the impacts of climate change. Please join us for our September event at the UUA for an open discussion about what SRI investors can do NOW to fight climate change. Who should attend:
Those who are looking to be inspired during a time of great uncertainty
Those who are hoping to brainstorm strategies to keep pushing the needle forward
Those who work with existing or new tools for mitigation and adaptation to climate change
Those who are excited to enjoy provided snacks and beverages with colleagues
We hope you can join us for this important discussion!
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Women In Technology Int'l Boston Event: How "Smart" Can a City Be?
Wednesday, September 20
5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
TRUEMOTION, 186 Lincoln Street, 6th floor, Boston
Cost: $25
It's likely you don't think too much about your city's operations and infrastructure, except maybe when you are sitting in Boston traffic... Still, cities today - like many businesses - are mobilizing to transform their systems and processes to more effectively reach their goals and prepare for the future. "Smart City" initiatives focus on using emerging technologies and disruptive service models to meet citizens' rising expectations, attract new business, improve services delivery, and develop sustainably.
Join WITI and IDC Government Insights analyst, Ruthbea Yesner, as we explore how cities across the globe are embracing systemic strategies to transform their operations. Ruthbea will first provide an overview of smart city strategies, and then will delve more deeply into initiatives around public safety, transportation, and urban mobility. She'll highlight new programs and interesting innovation globally, including how the city of Boston is leveraging smart technologies for its own development.
Featured Speakers
Ruthbea Yesner is a Vice President with IDC Government Insights (http://www.idc.com/prodserv/insights/#government) and the "Smart Cities Strategies" research and consulting practice at IDC. In this role, Ms. Yesner coordinates the global government and Smart City research team worldwide. Ms. Yesner's research discusses the strategies and execution of relevant Smart City technologies and non-technology best practice areas, such as governance, innovation, partnerships, and business models essential for Smart City development.
Ms. Yesner's research includes the Internet of Things, Big Data analytics, cloud computing, mobility and social media in public works, transportation, public safety, smart water, community engagement and Open Data initiatives. Ms. Yesner contributes to consulting engagements to support state and local governments' Smart City strategies and IT vendors' overall Smart City market strategies. Ms. Yesner also contributes content to the IDC Community and to publications such as Government Technology, Government Computer News, CivSource, M2M Evolution, CIO magazine, SmartGrid News, Connected World and FedTech magazine. She has contributed to U.S. publications such as American City & County, StateTech, and .Gov magazine, covering technology in the Middle East, and iThome, a Taiwanese IT magazine.
Ms. Yesner's publications include a chapter with PTI and the Global Institute on the first developmental model for smart cities in "Smart Cities for a Bright Sustainable Future: A Global Perspective," which is available on Amazon. Her latest publication is on smart city measurements and assessments, published in February 2017 in "Managing for Social Impact: Innovations in Responsible Enterprise," by Springer. She is a frequent speaker and panelist at industry events.
Schedule of Events
5:30 pm - Registration, Networking, and Appetizers
6:30 pm - WITI Overview and Speaker Introduction
6:45 pm - Program and Discussion
8:15 pm - Raffle Prizes and Wrap Up
8:30 pm - Adjourn
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“Changing the Pipeline into Politics” – Lives in Law and Policy Speaker Series
Wednesday, September 20
6:00pm to 8:00pm
Northeastern, Renaissance Park, 909, 1135 Tremont Street, Boston
Join the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs for a discussion on law and policy in a time of polarization with Emily Cherniack, with a focus on how to change the pipeline into politics.
This event is part of the School’s Lives in Law and Policy Speaker Series, which aims to provide opportunities for students, alumni, and members of the Northeastern community to hear and learn from leading figures in law and policy.
About Emily Cherniack:
Cherniack is steeped in the traditions of servant leadership. From her service in AmeriCorps and employment with City Year AmeriCorps, to being part of the founding team of Be the Change—where she led a coalition of over 200 organizations to engage 250,000 people for a Day of Action in support of the $6 billion Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009—Emily has worked tirelessly to serve our country and support others who serve.
Emily’s path to politics came when her boss and mentor, Alan Khazei, decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 2009. Khazei asked Emily to become his Deputy Campaign Manager and, although he was defeated, Emily learned a great deal from his campaign and the power of political leaders who chose to serve country before self. This experience led Emily to conclude that our current system for recruiting political talent is broken. The current talent pipeline is intentionally exclusive, and has significant barriers that prevent transformational leaders from successfully running for office; the only way to change that is to change the pipeline. New Politics was founded in 2013 to address exactly that.
Emily graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology and a Masters Degree in Education Policy. She lives in Boston.
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Boston Medical Center Rooftop Farm Tour
Wednesday, September 20
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
Boston Medical Center Place, Boston
Cost: $10 – $15
Join us for a tour of Boston Medical Center’s rooftop farm! The once barren roof of the hospital’s power plant building is now the largest rooftop farm in the city. The 7,000-square-foot farm’s produce helps stock the center’s food pantry and supplements food served to the hospital’s patients. The garden is expected to produce 15,000 pounds of food this growing season!
The rooftop farm reduces BMC’s carbon footprint by increasing green space, adding carbon-breathing plants, reducing the building’s energy use and absorbing and slowing the flow of rainwater. In addition, by producing food onsite, BMC is decreasing the energy required to transport food.
Lindsay Allen, BMC farm manager will lead our tour.
We will gather for food and drinks at a local cafe in the South End after this tour.
If you have a building that you would like to suggest for a tour, please email this event through the contact link. We look forward to hearing more about how your site would be an interesting project for our community.
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Deadly Double Helix - Danielle Allen
WHEN Wednesday, Sep. 20, 2017, 7 – 9 p.m.
WHERE Cambridge Forum, First Parish Church, 1446 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Cambridge Forum, Harvard Bookstore, the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Mass Cultural Council, and The Lowell Institute
SPEAKER(S) Danielle Allen
COST Free
CONTACT INFO director@cambridgeforum.org
DETAILS Cambridge Forum is pleased to present Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor and Director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard, to discuss her new memoir “CUZ”. The book documents the events which conspired to cause the untimely death of her young cousin, Michael, on the streets of Los Angeles in 2009. The book looks at how a “deadly double helix” of narcotics and street gangs ultimately entrapped her cousin, as with countless others, leading to his incarceration and death. Allen asks if the current justice system only perpetuates the injustices it is meant to address?
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Beyond Test Scores
Wednesday, September 20
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM EDT
Harvard Coop, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Jack Schneider, author
Beyond Test Scores reframes current debates over school quality by offering new approaches to educational data that can push us past our unproductive fixation on test scores. Using the highly diverse urban school district of Somerville, Massachusetts, as a case study, Schneider and his research team developed a new framework to more fairly and comprehensively assess educational effectiveness. And by adopting a wide range of measures aligned with that framework, they were able to more accurately capture a broader array of school strengths and weaknesses. Their new data not only provided parents, educators, and administrators with a clearer picture of school performance, but also challenged misconceptions about what makes a good school.
About the Author
Jack Schneider is Assistant Professor of Education at the College of the Holy Cross and Director of Research for the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment
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How EDF's legal team is protecting the Clean Power Plan and other climate victories
Wednesday, September 20
8:00 PM EDT
Webinar
Featuring:
Martha Roberts, Attorney, U.S. Climate Legal and Regulatory Program
Tomás Carbonell, Director of Regulatory Policy and Lead Attorney
President Trump can’t wipe away all our climate initiatives without a legal fight, and we plan to oppose him at every step.
Join EDF's legal experts for an insider look at what we're doing to defend the Clean Power Plan and other climate victories in court.
Following a brief presentation, our speakers will remain available to answer your questions live on the air.
The event has limited capacity, so please RSVP to reserve your spot and receive instructions for joining.
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Thursday, September 21
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Public Webinar: Concrete Sustainability Hub (Pavements)
Thursday, September 21
11:00am to 12:00pm
Life cycle assessment (LCA) considers environmental impact across all life-cycle phases. For pavements, this includes operation, maintenance, and end of life phases, as well as factors such as traffic delay, lighting demand, and future maintenance. This webinar will present MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) models that quantify the environmental impact of pavements from manufacturing to disposal, and also offer a detailed analysis of the use phase.
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Risks and regulation of fracking: A brief history
Thursday, September 21
12:00-1:00pm
Tufts, Rabb Room, Lincoln Filene Center, 10 Upper Campus Road, Medford
Kate Konschnik, Executive Director, Harvard Environmental Law Program
The United States has been the world's top producer of oil and natural gas for five straight years. The increased scale and intensity of oil and gas development in modern America ahead of a regulatory framework has raised concerns about a number of environmental and public health issues. This talk will touch on three areas of concern: the lack of transparency about the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process; spills of chemicals and wastewater from oil and gas production sites; and earthquakes induced by production and wastewater disposal.
Kate Konschnik is the Executive Director of the Harvard Environmental Law Program, where she manages Harvard Law School's applied research and decision-maker outreach, in the areas of climate, clean energy, and environmental law. Previously, Kate was the founding Director of the Program's Environmental
Policy Initiative, an independent policy shop delivering real-world legal analysis and policy-relevant talks, white papers, and evaluation tools. Kate is also a lecturer at Harvard Law School. Prior to joining Harvard, Kate served as Chief Environmental Counsel to U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and directed his staff on the Oversight Subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. From 2002 to 2009, Kate also served as a Trial Attorney in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice. Kate holds a B.A. in political science from Tufts University and a J.D. with honors from UC Hastings College of the Law.
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Reducing Emissions by Pricing Carbon: How Microsoft and Yale are leading the charge
Thursday, September 21
4:00pm – 5:30pm
BU, 1 Silber Way, Boston
RSVP at http://www.bit.ly/BU-GRC
Please join the Boston Green Ribbon Commission and Boston University for a panel discussion on Internal Carbon Funds on Thursday, September 21, from 4:00-5:30 pm at the Metcalf Trustee Center on the 9th floor of 1 Silber Way. This event was originally scheduled to take place last March, but was postponed due to inclement weather.
From college campuses to Davos, carbon pricing is a policy instrument regarded by climate scientists, economists, and political and business leaders as an important part of efforts to mitigate global climate change.
We have an exciting panel:
Microsoft's Liz Willmott will explain how in its first five years the company's carbon pricing program changed the company's culture, reduced carbon emissions by 9.5 million metric tons, purchased more than 14M MWh of renewable energy, helped reduce energy consumption more than 10% across the Redmond campus, and impacted more than 7 million peoples' lives in emerging nations. Liz is Microsoft's environmental sustainability program manager.
Yale's Casey Pickett will present the experience of implementing Yale’s carbon charge program following the leadership decision to use the campus as a test bed for carbon pricing. Casey is Director of the Carbon Charge at Yale.
BU's Kenneth Pucker will discuss effective carbon pricing and organizational behavior based on accurate measurement of climate impacts. Ken is the former COO of Timberland and Lecturer, Organizational Behavior, at the Questrom School of Business.
ProPublica's Andrew Revkin will moderate. Andy is Senior Reporter on Climate Change at ProPublica and former environmental reporter at The New York Times, where he wrote the Dot Earth Blog.
This event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. We apologize for the scheduling conflict with Rosh Hashanah, but, unfortunately, this was the only date in the fall that could accommodate all four speakers.
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A Brief History of Neoliberal Problems
WHEN Thursday, Sep. 21, 2017, 4:15 – 6:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland Street, Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way, Hoffmann Room
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR New Directions in European History Study Group
SPEAKER(S) Quinn Slobodian, Associate Professor of History, Wellesley College; Visiting Scholar, CES, Harvard University
CONTACT INFO James McSpadden
DETAILS The intellectual history of neoliberalism is often told as one of conviction, consistency and coherence with notes of inevitability. As neoliberalism shows its cracks, it is a good time to revisit the problems that have dogged the leading thinkers of the circle around F. A. Hayek for the last seven decades. Some problems are predictable: securing legitimacy in the face of economic inequality and evading the danger of democracy undoing the encasement of the market. Less well known are those covered by my talk: the problems of culture and race (is market rationality the monopoly of certain populations?), design (can markets be made or must they grow?), intellectual property (can owning knowledge stifle new ideas?) and scale (is multilevel economic governance possible or is secession to self-governed zones the only path to security?). A history of neoliberal problems from the inside places the current crisis of world order in a new light and brings us closer to the thinking of those who claim their first allegiance to the superior wisdom of the market.
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Future of Surgery
Thursday, September 21
5:00 PM - 6:30 PMVenture Cafe at Cambridge Innovation Center, 5th floor, 1 Broadway, Cambridge
Do you have a novel surgical product or process? Join B. Braun at Venture Cafe for this pitch competition on the Future of Surgery!
For over 175 years, B. Braun Medical Inc., has been a leader in infusion therapy and pain management, develops, manufactures, and markets innovative medical products and services to the healthcare industry. They are looking to connect with startup partners who are developing the technology for the future of surgery.
If you would like to pitch please sign up here!
Introduction by: Caroll H. Neubauer, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, B. Braun will give a short introduction to B. Braun and open the pitch competition. Medical device startups can apply beforehand to pitch to a panel of investors, including B. Braun as a strategic investor and local Angel and VC investors. The winning team will be invited to the B. Braun North America headquarters in Pennsylvania where senior executives will provide coaching and mentoring. B. Braun will cover travel expenses.
Caroll H. Neubauer, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, B. Braun
Caroll Heinz Neubauer is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of B. Braun of America and B. Braun Medical Inc. (B. Braun), a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management and a pioneer in passive safety devices and PVC-free and DEHP-free products Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. Mr. Neubauer oversees the company’s North American operations and serves on the B. Braun Global Board in Germany.
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Platforms in the Public Interest: Lessons from Minitel
Thursday, September 21
5:00pm to 6:30pm
MIT, Building 56-114, 21 Ames Sreet, Cambridge
Platforms such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook dominate the internet today, providing private infrastructures for public culture. These systems are so massive that it’s easy to forget that the digital world was not always like this. More than two decades before widespread Internet access, millions of people in France were already online, chatting, gaming, buying, selling, searching, and flirting. This explosion of digital culture came via Minitel, a simple video terminal provided for free to anyone with a telephone line. After thirty years in service, Minitel offers a wealth of data for thinking about internet policy and an alternative model for the internet’s future: a public platform for private innovation.
Julien Mailland studies telecommunications networks design, law, and policy through the lens of history. He is an assistant professor of telecommunications at Indiana University’s Media School, a research associate with the Computer History Museum Internet History Program, and a lawyer with the fintech industry.
Kevin Driscoll studies popular culture and computing. His research builds alternative models for platform governance and online community from the internet of the 1980s and 1990s. Recent projects examine dial-up BBSs in the US and Minitel in France. Kevin is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia.
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Tech and Education
Thursday, 21 September
6:30 – 8:30 pm EDT
GA Boston, 125 Summer Street 13th Floor, Boston
TECH AND...is a monthly event series where we host thought-leaders from a specific industry and explore new intersections between their field and technology.
TECH AND EDUCATION
In September we are partnering with LearnLaunch to explore the intersection of Education and Technology.
Speaker: Anne Bosman, Regional Director (Boston), General Assembly
Why It Matters:
Around the world and here at home, entrepreneurs and educators are redefining education with democratized learning models, custom education pathways, and innovative methods for students to learn 21st-century skills. We are entering a new education paradigm - one that is hyper-focused on learning by doing, skill building for a new economy, and accessibility via online and offline community platforms.
With the pace in which technology is changing, education is no longer reserved for k-12 and university students. We are quickly becoming the generation of lifelong learning and the way we absorb information and train and skill up our workforce is continuously evolving. Meet local startups and influencers focused on upskilling and workforce development programs for students of all ages, and hear how they predict education will impact our economic future.
What You’ll Take Away:
Hear about trends and innovations in the education space
Learn how the education paradigm has shifted
Understand how education is linked to economic development
Hear what Boston-based startups are doing to improve the local workforce through education and training
LearnLaunch
LearnLaunch Institute catalyzes a community that drives innovation to transform learning and increase achievement. Our education innovation ecosystem mobilizes educators, entrepreneurs, learners, investors, and industry affiliates. As a nonprofit, the Institute offers learning opportunities, supports services, and a school pilot network. We believe in expanding access to learning that is engaging, personalized, and effective. Edtech is a critical component of achieving this vision at scale. For more information, visit www.learnlaunch.org.
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UNITE • Resilient Cities: Action for Readiness
Thursday, September 21
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM EDT
Shepley Bulfinch, 2 Seaport Lane, 12th floor, Seaport East, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unite-resilient-cities-action-for-readiness-tickets-36401368473
Cost: $0 – $20
Who is responsible for taking action?
The concept of urban resilience is the ability of residents, institutions, neighborhoods, businesses, and infrastructure within a city to survive, adapt, and thrive especially when faced with incredible stress, sudden spikes in activity, severe weather conditions, or population growth. Long term planning, research, and engaged leadership are required for a successful resiliency plan, but social equity and responsibility are also major factors in the urban resiliency equation.
Our Fall UNITE panel will feature ideas around the following questions:
How are economic sectors, landowners, industries, and society members held accountable for actions that impact the resilience of the entire city?
Does the proposed action plan consider a variety of social statuses and income levels?
Are marginalized groups being included in the resilience decision making process?
In the city of Boston, we are fortunate to have several organizations, community leaders, and trailblazing institutions dedicated to ensuring the city’s resiliency facing the climate and social challenges that may lie on the road ahead. With these thoughts in mind, who should take action next?
Our diverse panel discussion is hosted by Shepley Bulfinch and is set to take place on Thursday evening September 21st.
Doors open at 6:30pm; Discussion begins at 7:00pm.
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Friday, September 22- Sunday, September 24
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The 4th Annual JuggleMIT is the largest juggling festival in Massachusetts, offering a weekend of workshops, activities, shows, and fun for the entire MIT community (and general public)! The festival kicks off on Friday with open juggling, introductory classes, and a stage show. A full-day workshop and activity schedule on Saturday culminates in the JuggleMIT Circus Show, featuring 10 world-renowned jugglers and circus performers. Sunday features more workshops, MIT-themed juggling games, and prizes! So whether you want to learn a new skill or just unwind with friends, come check out JuggleMIT and experience a one-of-a-kind weekend of crazy good fun!
Ticketing:
Full Festival Pass (includes access to all festival activities and a ticket to the Circus Show):
General Admission: $30
Non-MIT student with ID: $20
MIT student with ID: $10
Children (12 & up) and Seniors (62 & better): $15
JuggleMIT Circus Show (included in Full Festival Pass):
General Admission: $15
Student with ID: $10
Children (12 & up) and Seniors (62 & better): $8
Event Schedule:
Friday (5pm - 1am, Morss Hall):
5 PM: Doors open for JuggleMIT!
5 PM - 1 AM: Check-in, registration, and open juggling
6-8 PM: Introductory workshops
8:30 PM: Friday Night Stage Show
Saturday (9 AM - 1 AM, Morss Hall & Kresge Auditorium):
9 AM: Doors open!
10 AM - 6 PM: Workshops, events, & open juggling
7-9 PM: JuggleMIT Circus Show
9 PM - 1 AM: Open juggling, glow juggling out on the McDermott Dot lawn ("The Dot")
Sunday (9 AM - 4 PM, Lobby 10 and Lobby 13):
9 AM: Doors open!
10 AM - 4 PM: Workshops & open juggling
1-2:30 PM: Juggling games & prizes
4 PM: JuggleMIT closes. See you next year!
Check back here for the full Workshop Schedule shortly!
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HACKtheMACHINE | US Navy Digital Experience
Friday, September 22 through Sunday, September 24
MIT Building 32, MIT CSAIL, Ray and Maria Stata Center, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
You are invited to attend a unique U.S. Navy Digital Experience hosted at MIT CSAIL on September 22-24.
HACKtheMACHINE Boston, is a weekend digital experience on board the USS Constitution and at MIT CSAIL that aims to engage a new generation of innovators and help support the U.S. Navy in its mission to maintain, train and equip combat ready naval forces. Participants will take on some of the greatest maritime security challenges of our time through real-life scenarios, from hacking a ship in a game of maritime capture the flag, using data science to increase fleet efficiency to applying AR/VR technology to create human to machine teaming tools that aid in disaster relief efforts.
HACKtheMACHINE will give you access to equipment and data that has never been seen in public, as well as connect you with leading mentors and subject matter experts. You’ll also be joining a growing community helping to innovate, create maritime security and have a positive effect in a changing world through your ideas, innovations and critical thinking about cybersecurity, machine learning and rapid prototyping.
Questions? Contact Jessica Gibson at gibsonj@mit.edu.
Register: http://bit.ly/2wJoDti
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Friday, September 22
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Emerging Technologies (HKS Conference)
Friday, September 22
8:30 AM
Harvard Kennedy School (Starr Auditorium), 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Second Conference on Emerging Technologies and Global Development
Economic transformation, meeting human needs, and protecting the environment have emerged as global grand challenges. One way to address these challenges is to harness the world’s abundant scientific, technological, and engineering knowledge to meet specific human needs. While some of the technologies offer solutions to global challenges, they also threaten to disrupt incumbent industries and social organization. Technological anxiety and outright opposition to disruptive technologies, however, may undermine such efforts.
The aim of this conference is to map emerging technologies that could address global grand challenges, review their disruptive characteristics, identify potential sources of social concern, and outline business models and public policies on how to address the social concerns. The conference builds on the findings of the newly published book, Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies (Oxford University Press, 2016).
The conference will address emerging technologies in fields such agriculture, head, manufacturing and infrastructure. It will incorporate demonstrations from entrepreneurs who are using innovative technologies to address these challenges.
The keynote speaker is Professor Mark Zachary Taylor at the Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy of the Georgia Institute of Technology. He speaks on his highly-acclaimed book, The Politics of Innovation, which explores why some nations are better than others in harnessing emerging technologies for development.
Contact: - TG Coordinator - 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Mailbox 53 Cambridge, MA 02138
Harvard Kennedy School - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
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The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought
Friday, September 22
3:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store welcomes Tufts University's DENNIS C. RASMUSSEN for a discussion of his latest book, The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought.
About The Infidel and the Professor
David Hume is widely regarded as the most important philosopher ever to write in English, but during his lifetime he was attacked as “the Great Infidel” for his skeptical religious views and deemed unfit to teach the young. In contrast, Adam Smith was a revered professor of moral philosophy, and is now often hailed as the founding father of capitalism. Remarkably, the two were best friends for most of their adult lives, sharing what Dennis Rasmussen calls the greatest of all philosophical friendships. The Infidel and the Professor is the first book to tell the fascinating story of the friendship of these towering Enlightenment thinkers―and how it influenced their world-changing ideas.
The book follows Hume and Smith’s relationship from their first meeting in 1749 until Hume’s death in 1776. It describes how they commented on each other’s writings, supported each other’s careers and literary ambitions, and advised each other on personal matters, most notably after Hume’s quarrel with Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Members of a vibrant intellectual scene in Enlightenment Scotland, Hume and Smith made many of the same friends (and enemies), joined the same clubs, and were interested in many of the same subjects well beyond philosophy and economics―from psychology and history to politics and Britain’s conflict with the American colonies. The book reveals that Smith’s private religious views were considerably closer to Hume’s public ones than is usually believed. It also shows that Hume contributed more to economics―and Smith contributed more to philosophy―than is generally recognized.
Vividly written, The Infidel and the Professor is a compelling account of a great friendship that had great consequences for modern thought.
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The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others
Friday, September 22
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store welcomes cognative neuroscientist TALI SHAROT—founder and director of the Affective Brain Lab at University College London—and Harvard Law School's CASS R. SUNSTEIN for a discussion of Sharot's latest book, The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others.
About The Influential Mind
In The Influential Mind, neuroscientist Tali Sharot takes us on a thrilling exploration of the nature of influence. We all have a duty to affect others―from the classroom to the boardroom to social media. But how skilled are we at this role, and can we become better? It turns out that many of our instincts―from relying on facts and figures to shape opinions, to insisting others are wrong or attempting to exert control―are ineffective, because they are incompatible with how people’s minds operate. Sharot shows us how to avoid these pitfalls, and how an attempt to change beliefs and actions is successful when it is well-matched with the core elements that govern the human brain.
Sharot reveals the critical role of emotion in influence, the weakness of data and the power of curiosity. Relying on the latest research in neuroscience, behavioral economics and psychology, the book provides fascinating insight into the complex power of influence, good and bad.
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Saturday, September 23
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Cycle to the Source
Saturday, September 23
8:30am-4:00pm
Meeting location: Walter J. Sullivan Purification Facility, 250 Fresh Pond Pkwy, Cambridge
Come explore the Cambridge Watershed with the Cambridge Water Department staff and guides from Urban Adventours to learn about where your water comes from! This is a guided, 33 mile bike ride that explores the lands in Lincoln, Lexington, Weston, and Waltham that make up the watershed. It will include stops at the reservoirs, dams, gatehouses, and Cambridge Water Department field office. Registration is REQUIRED: http://bit.do/cycletothesource2017 or contact Michelle O’Donnell at modennell@cambridgema.gov 617-349-7712. Registration closes Sept 19.
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PEACE of MIND - World Record Attempt LARGEST HUMAN PEACE SIGN!
Saturday, September 23
10:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT
Parade Grounds, Boston Common, Corner of Charles and Beacon Street, Boston
On Saturday, September 23rd join thousands from across the Commonwealth in support of Children’s Services of Roxbury (CSR) as we look to establish a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™title with our “Peace of Mind” campaign. CSR believes that peace begins and ends with building strong and nurturing family environments. To reinforce this message, we are assembling over 6,000 people to form the WORLD’S LARGEST HUMAN PEACE SIGN on the Boston Common!
Join us amidst a celebratory atmosphere of music, entertainment and food! A Guinness World Records Representative will be on site to officially proclaim the establishment of the record for the world’s largest human peace sign. Our TV and radio sponsors will publicize the event and be on site to capture our collective effort from the sky.
Schedule of Events:
10:00am - GATES OPEN Boston Common Parade Grounds, Festival Area Open: Music and kids activities
10:00-11:30am - REGISTRATION OPEN Participants receive bib numbers
10:45am - PEACE of MIND Program. Hear from: Masters of Ceremonies; Musical Entertainment; Keynote Speakers; Guinness World Record Judge
11:15am - PARTICIPANTS FORM HUMAN PEACE SIGN!
11:30-11:35am - STAND IN PLACE (5 minutes) to be declared world record holder by Guinness World Records™ Judge.
11:35am - Official Photograph Taken
11:35am - Judge DECLARES WORLD RECORD!
11:35-12:30pm - PEACE OF MIND World Record Celebration!
Don't miss this exciting opportunity to PERSONALLY HELP SET A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD!
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What The Fluff Festival
Saturday, September 23
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Union Square, Somerville
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC POLICY
Saturday, September 23
4-6 PM, followed by reception
Harvard Malkin Penthouse (4th floor), Littauer Building 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artificial-intelligence-the-future-of-public-policy-tickets-37582809194
Speakers:
ROBIN J. LEWIS, President, International Development and Public Policy Alliance (IDPPA) and former dean, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA)
JORRIT DE JONG, Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Faculty Director, Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative
LIANGANG SUN, Artificial Intelligence Strategist
* * PLEASE REGISTER WITH THE NAME ON YOUR ID, AND YOU HAVE TO BRING THE ID WITH YOU FOR THE EVENT.
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Sunday, September 24
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Special event: Food Evolution Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Sunday, September 24
2:00 PM
Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline
Cost: $14 general / $10 Coolidge members. They can be pre-ordered online or purchased in advance at the box office. http://www.coolidge.org/films/food-evolution
Food Evolution is a new documentary film about the science of, and controversies around, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), in the tradition of An Inconvenient Truth. The film is narrated by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and follows scientists and opponents of GMOs as they confront policy issues and each other. Farmers explain their experiences with the technology, and with lack of technology. We need to think about the future of food on a planet with many challenges.
With only 37% of U.S. adults believing GMOs are safe compared to 88% of scientists, there is clearly a misinformation problem. But who is misinformed and why? [Pew Survey]. Food Evolution seeks to explore this topic by challenging popular beliefs about GMOs, and asking viewers to think about how they evaluate the information and the sources they rely on.
This is the first Boston-area theater viewing opportunity. A post-film discussion panel, moderated by Christopher Lydon of WBUR's Radio Open Source program, will allow attendees to further discuss the issues of science, the role of filmmaking and media in shaping beliefs, and more, with local scientists and food activists.
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Monday, September 25
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PAOC Colloquium: Allison Wing (FSU)
Monday, September 25
12:00pm to 1:00pm
MIT, Building 54-923, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
About the Speaker
Dr. Wing is an atmospheric scientist who studies tropical convection, tropical cyclones, and climate. Her research interests include the organization of tropical convection and how this modulates tropical and global climate and climate sensitivity, the process of tropical cyclone formation, variability of tropical cyclone intensity, and extreme weather and climate. Dr. Wing uses theory, idealized numerical modeling, and analysis of observations and comprehensive climate models to tackle these problems.
About this Series
The PAOC Colloquium is a weekly interdisciplinary seminar series that brings together the whole PAOC community. Seminar topics include all research concerning the physics, chemistry, and biology of the atmospheres, oceans and climate, but also talks about e.g. societal impacts of climatic processes. The seminars generally take place on Monday from 12-1pm. Lunch is provided to encourage students and post-docs to meet with the speaker. Besides the seminar and lunch, individual meetings with professors, post-docs, and students are arranged.
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The Political Economy of Carbon Taxes
Monday, September 25
12:00PM TO 1:15PM
Harvard, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
with Jerry Taylor, President, Niskanen Center
Lunch is provided.
Energy Policy Research
Contact Name: Louisa Lund
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Health – Equitable Urban Development Across Contexts
Monday, September 25
12:30pm to 2:00pm
MIT, Building 9-255, City Arena, 105 Mass Avenue, Cambridge
The SPURS/Humphrey program is delighted to invite you to our fall seminar series: North American Planning Experience: Is It Relevant for the Developing World?
Our goal is to explore to what extent, and under what conditions, planning ideas generated from practice in the U.S. can travel to cities in the developing world and be implemented effectively. We’ll also consider whether planning ideas, practices and programs are traveling from the rest of the world back to the United States.
The second seminar is Monday, September 25, in City Arena, 12:30 to 2 pm, with lunch available at 12:15 pm: Health – Equitable Urban Development Across Contexts, with Marianna Arcaya and Erica C. James, respondent.
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The Museum, the City, and the University: Boston Art Museum Directors in Discussion
WHEN Monday, Sep. 25, 2017, 4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Moderator, Yukio Lippit, Johnson-Kulukundis Family Director of the Arts, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and Professor of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University
Peggy Fogelman, Norma Jean Calderwood Director, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Paul Ha, Director, MIT List Visual Arts Center
Jill Medvedow, Ellen Matilda Poss Director, The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
Martha Tedeschi, Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director, Harvard Art Museums
Matthew Teitelbaum, Ann and Graham Gund Director, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
COST Free
CONTACT INFO events@radcliffe.harvard.edu
DETAILS This panel brings together distinguished museum directors to discuss their leadership of major cultural institutions in urban and university settings and to share personal perspectives on their work.
The panel will address questions about the role of museums in debates about public and private support for the humanities and the arts; in research and learning endeavors, including creative efforts by living artists; and in conversations about citizenship, identity, and diversity. Please register and join us.
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Launch Smart Clinic – Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Monday, September 25
5:30pm to 8:30pm
MIT Tang Center 70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Cost: $5 - $30
At the Artificial Intelligence Themed Launch Smart Clinic, startups present a 20-minute pitch for feedback from our panel of experts + the audience.
Launch Smart Clinics are a great place for startups to get constructive feedback on their pitch from a board-of-directors-level panel of experts and thoughtful audience members. The focus on early stage ventures encourages a sympathetic and supportive atmosphere. Audience and panel feedback often helps presenters understand their problems and offers useful tips and solutions.
Even if you’re not quite ready to present, we encourage entrepreneurs to attend the clinics to see what our panel of experts (investors and others) are looking for in a pitch, what kind of questions they ask and their suggestions for refining the business plan.
AI Startups: Apply to Present
Get feedback on what people look for when they hear pitches
Prepare yourself for the critical questions savvy investors, strategic partners and potential employees will ask you
Get tips on how to refine your business plan (it’s the business plan, not the tech, that’s under review)
The committee will consider a balance of the following criteria when evaluating applications to present:
Company stage
Relevance to the clinic’s industry theme
Level of funding to date
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The State of Electric Vehicle Deployment and Where It’s Going
Monday, September 25
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
BU, CAS, Room 315, 685-725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Speaker: Chris Vournakis, Senior Director, Automotive Strategy
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cristina ricupero | don’t believe a word i say
Monday, September 25
6:00pm - 8:00pm
MIT, Building E15-001, Wiesner Building, 20 Ames Street, Lower Level, Cambridgedate
Following Cristina Ricupero’s special interest in the mechanisms of contemporary secrecy, she will focus this two-part program on espionage, a topic she has been currently developing for an exhibition project with Alexandra Midal (independent curator and professor at the design program at HEAD-Haute Ecole d’Art et Design Geneva).
With examples from contemporary art and design, sociology, philosophy, the spy novel, film and pop culture, Ricupero will show how espionage has evolved throughout time and played a major role in the political sphere of every country. If in the past, national governments spied on individuals, today with Wikileaks this trend seems to have been reversed as private individuals are in the capacity of revealing hidden governmental secrets. The world of espionage seems thus to be a golden mine where artists can dig into.
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Tuesday, September 26
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Thesis Defense - Jimmy Gasore (EAPS): Quantifying Emissions of Carbon Dioxide and Methane in Central and Eastern Africa Through High Frequency Measurements and Inverse Modeling
Tuesday, September 26
10:00am to 11:00am
MIT, Building 54-915, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
A public presentation of the thesis will be given by the candidate.
CHAIR OF DEFENSE:
Prof. Shuhei Ono, MIT, EAPS
THESIS COMMITTEE:
Prof. Ronald G. Prinn, MIT, EAPS, CGCS, JPSPGC, Advisor
Prof. Susan Solomon, MIT, EAPS
Dr. Matthew Rigby, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK
Copies of the thesis may be obtained from the EAPS Education Office (54-912). All interested faculty, staff and students are invited to attend.
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Sustainability/Bike Safety/Light Fair
Tuesday, September 26
11:00am to 2:00pm
Northeastern, Snell Library Quad, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Please stop by this fall's Sustainability/Bike Safety/Light Fair (heavily discounted LED lamps and fixtures)! Minor bike repairs and bicycle registration thanks to Northeastern University Police Department. BBQ. Bike safety giveaways, raffles. Information tables: NU Sustainability-related groups, multiple student groups, MassRides & Boston Cyclists' Union & MassBikes!
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Nancy Youssef – Foreign Policy, Politics, and Media Coverage
Tuesday, September 26
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Nancy Youssef is a national security correspondent with The Wall Street Journal. She was previously a national security correspondent for BuzzFeed News, The Daily Beast and McClatchy Newspapers.
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Tour the Most Sustainable Building in Boston: 888 Boylston Street
Tuesday, September 26
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Cost: $10 for Members; $30 Non-members: $5 for Student Members; $10 for Student Non-members
“Boston Properties reduced energy intensity by 19.8%, water intensity by 21.8% and greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 31.5% below the 2008 base year, far exceeding its 2020 targets. In 2017 the company will consider new goals in each of these areas.” Bisnow June 2017
888 Boylston, completed in 2016, is one of the most sustainable buildings in Boston. It has been designed to optimize energy efficiency, and is expected to operate 47% more efficiently than buildings of the same type in a similar climate zone.
Sustainability features include a dedicated outside air system with active chilled beams, heat recovery, LED lighting, and rainwater harvesting. The roof and crown of the building accommodate solar photovoltaic panels and fourteen vertical axis wind turbines, which together produce enough power for 15 homes. Other technologies include Boston-based EnerNOC’s Energy Intelligence System, an IP based network for the building management system, sensors for temperature, humidity and CO2, and a Security Robot called PRU2D2.
Learn how Boston Properties conceived, decided which clean technology to use and delivered this state of the art property.
Register early – this tour is limited to 40 people!
Meet at Prudential Center Plaza on Boylston Street in front of the building.
Join us directly after to grab a brew and conversation at Lir, 903 Boylston. First round is on us!
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Human Rights and Violent Internal Conflict
Tuesday, September 26
5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
BU, George Sherman Union, Conference Auditorium, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Professor David Cingranelli examines sources of conflict in developing societies, with particular attention to government violations of human rights such as torture and political imprisonment and discrimination against women. Those practices violate internationally recognized human rights and create grievances among citizens, which in turn can lead to violent protests, acts of terrorism and even civil war.
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Seeing Color: Exploring Whiteness in a Racialized World
Tuesday, September 26
6:00pm to 8:00pm
Northeastern, Curry Student Center, Ballroom, 346 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Keynote Speaker Franchesca Ramsey
Franchesca Ramsey is an actress, writer and video blogger based out of New York City. With over 200k subscribers on her two YouTube channels, she produces original videos which include song parodies, impersonations and original characters along with socially conscious and topical comedy sketches. In 2012 her viral video "Sh*t White Girls Say... to Black Girls" was viewed over 5 millions times in just 5 days, garnering coverage on MSNBC, ABC, Ebony Magazine, The Daily Mail and the Anderson Cooper talk show to name a few. Most recently she was a writer and contributor for the Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on Comedy Central. Today she's the host and head writer for the award winning web series, "MTV Decoded."
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The Future of Travel &Transportation Industry
Tuesday, Sept. 26th 2017
6:00PM – 8:30PM CAMBRIDGE
WeWork Mass Avenue, 625 Massachussetts Avenue, 2nd Floor, Cambridge
Cost: $11.54 - $32.64
During this TechMeeting we will hear from leading research labs, innovative startups and large corporations on the future of Travel &Transportation Industry.
AGENDA
06:00 pm Registration
06:30 pm Introduction - Open Innovation Club
06:40 pm Panel on the Future of Travel &Transportation Industry
07:15 pm 6+ Startups Pitches (3 min pitch and 1 min Q&A)
07:45 pm Networking cocktail
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MIT Energy Club Launch!
Tuesday, September 26
6:30pm 8:30pm
Walker Memorial, 142 Memorial Drive Cambridge
You are cordially invited to the MIT Energy Club Launch!
Admission is free. Delicious non-pizza dinner will be served.
Interested in energy technology and business?
Curious about exciting energy events happening around MIT?
Want to explore taking on a leadership role for yourself within the Energy Club?
Then come to the Launch on September 26th, and meet MIT peers immersed in energy fields that you care about: batteries, solar, oil & gas, self-driving cars,
electricity access in the developing world...you name it we got it.
From 6:30-7:30pm, you can talk 1-on-1 with representatives from the Energy Club's many communities and events, including: Energy Night, Energy Hackathon, Energy Conference, Sloan Business School Energy Club, Joules: Women in Energy, Energy4Development, and many more!
From 7:30-8:15pm, a panel of experts will debate recent exciting developments in renewable energy. (More details to come.)
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Climate Forum with Cambridge City Council Candidates
Tuesday, September 26
6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Citywide Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Climate resilience begins with people. It is the collective response by the residents and government of Cambridge that is paramount in creating a resilient community today and ensuring a place, space, and sustenance for all in the future.
Green Cambridge, in collaboration with Cambridge Mothers Out Front, the Cambridge Residents Alliance, A Better Cambridge, and Cambridge Bicycle Safety, invites you to participate in our Candidates’ Night Climate Resilience Forum on Tuesday, September 26th 6:30-9 PM at the Citywide Senior Center. Our groups have a shared vision of a connected, affordable, sustainable city that prioritizes the health and well-being of current and future Cantabrigians.
Moderated by Cantabrigian Derrick Jackson, an award-winning journalist , former Boston Globe columnist, author, and fellow with the Union of Concerned Scientists, this event offers the candidates running for Cambridge City Council an opportunity to to reflect on and to share with voters ways in which they would bring bring greater resilience to our community.
The evening will open with an overview of the issues from Green Cambridge and co-sponsors, community building with the audience followed by questions to candidates. Candidates will be asked share their priorities for Cambridge on how they propose to address equity and affordability while grappling with a rapidly changing environment of increased food and household energy costs: hotter, drier days: shifting rain patterns sea level rise; and unstable resource supply chains that are beyond our control.
CHILDCARE PROVIDED.
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Daring Democracy Book Launch
Tuesday, September 26
7:00 PM
Harvard Coop, 1400 Mass Avenue, Cambridge
You are invited to the official launch of Frances Moore Lappé and Adam Eichen's new book, Daring Democracy, at the Harvard Coop!
The event will start at 7pm on September 26th (1400 Mass Avenue, Cambridge, MA). Frances and Adam will give a talk about democracy in America and will then sign copies of the book.
Hope to see you there!!
Here is the description as it appears on the back cover:
Americans are distraught as tightly held economic and political power drowns out their voices and values. Legendary Diet for a Small Planet author Frances Moore Lappé and organizer-scholar Adam Eichen offer a fresh, surprising response to this core crisis. This intergenerational duo opens with an essential truth: It’s not the magnitude of a challenge that crushes the human spirit. It’s feeling powerless—in this case, fearing that to stand up for democracy is futile. It’s not, Lappé and Eichen argue. With riveting stories and little-known evidence, they demystify how we got here, exposing the well-orchestrated effort that has robbed Americans of their rightful power. But the heart of this unique book is solutions. Even in this divisive time, Americans are uniting across causes and ideologies to create a “canopy of hope” the authors call the Democracy Movement. In this invigorating “movement of movements” millions of Americans are leaving despair behind as they push for and achieve historic change. The Movement and democracy itself are vital to us as citizens and fulfill human needs—for power, meaning, and connection—essential to our thriving. In this timely and necessary book, Lappé and Eichen offer proof that courage is contagious in the daring fight for democracy.
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One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps
Tuesday, September 26
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store and the Nieman Foundation welcome Nieman Storyboard founder ANDREA PITZER—author of The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov—for a discussion of her latest book, One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps.
About One Long Night
For over 100 years, at least one concentration camp has existed somewhere on Earth. First used as battlefield strategy, camps have evolved with each passing decade, in the scope of their effects and the savage practicality with which governments have employed them. Even in the twenty-first century, as we continue to reckon with the magnitude and horror of the Holocaust, history tells us we have broken our own solemn promise of "never again."
In this harrowing work based on archival records and interviews during travel to four continents, Andrea Pitzer reveals for the first time the chronological and geopolitical history of concentration camps. Beginning with 1890s Cuba, she pinpoints concentration camps around the world and across decades. From the Philippines and Southern Africa in the early twentieth century to the Soviet Gulag and detention camps in China and North Korea during the Cold War, camp systems have been used as tools for civilian relocation and political repression. Often justified as a measure to protect a nation, or even the interned groups themselves, camps have instead served as brutal and dehumanizing sites that have claimed the lives of millions.
Drawing from exclusive testimony, landmark historical scholarship, and stunning research, Andrea Pitzer unearths the roots of this appalling phenomenon, exploring and exposing the staggering toll of the camps: our greatest atrocities, the extraordinary survivors, and even the intimate, quiet moments that have also been part of camp life during the past century.
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Opportunity
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Greenfest Looking for Volunteers
10th Annual Boston GreenFest will be at Boston City Hall Plaza, August 11-13, 2017. It is the largest multicultural environmental music festival in the region featuring lots of local and international exhibits, performances, films, food, fashion and forums. Our goal is to educate and empower people to create a more sustainable, healthier world. We are actively building an interconnected, ever expanding network throughout our neighborhoods, city and region. From business to nonprofit, neighborhood association to academic institution, Boston GreenFest spans age, culture and industry. Celebrating our 10th anniversary, Boston GreenFest is excited to bring this wonderful free three-day festival to Boston City Hall Plaza as it is transformed into a fun interactive community classroom.
We are looking for volunteers to help throughout the weekend.
Please visit: http://www.bostongreenfest.org/
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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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Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
Solar map of Cambridge, MA
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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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"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.
Play the game at http://www.doublecoconut.com/climate/
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://calendar.mit.edu
MIT Energy Club: http://mitenergyclub.org/
Harvard Events: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/harvard-events/events-calendar/
Harvard Environment: http://environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
Sustainability at Harvard: http://green.harvard.edu/events
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
Take Action MA: http://takeactionma.com
If you have an event you would like to see here, the submission deadline is 11 AM on Sundays, as Energy (and Other) Events is sent out Sunday afternoons.
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