Sunday, December 09, 2018

Energy (and Other) Events - December 9, 2018

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, December 10
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Sunrise Movement Action Registration Form
11:30am  Program on Misinformation
12pm  The Psychology of Ritual
4pm  Streaming Analytics for the Smart Grid
5pm  Open Newsroom 
5:30pm  Civic XR: Using XR in the Public Interest
6pm  ACT Fall 2018 Lecture Series:  Untranslatable: Conceptual Art since the 90s
6:30pm  Are Humans Evolved to Run:  Why (and how much) exercise is good for our health
7pm  Questioning U.S.-Saudi Alliance: Yemen and the Politics of Famine
7:30pm  Who cares if classical music dies?

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Tuesday, December 11
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12pm  Analyzing the Present to Design the Future: Experiences and Reflections from a Visiting Librarian
5:15pm  A Nice History of Bird Migration: Ethology, Expertise, and Conservation in 20th Century North America
5:30pm  Launch Clinic: eCommerce Startups
6pm  Ben Franklin Circle in Boston - December Meeting
6pm  Mass Innovation Nights 117
6pm  Boston New Technology Cloud, Security and AI Startup Showcase #BNT96 (21+)
7pm  #MeToo and Worker Power: Building Solidarity at Google and Beyond
7:30pm  Successfully addressing climate change with zero and negative emissions

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Wednesday, December 12
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4pm  Plutocrats with Pitchforks: The Peculiar Politics of Right-Wing Populism in the United States
4pm  The Biology of Complex Social Behavior
6pm  MIT Clean Energy Prize Kickoff
7pm  Art and Science Embodied:  Julia Buntaine Hoel and Deborah Davidson in Conversation 

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Thursday, December 13
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8am  MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine Inaugural Symposium:  The Future of Precision Medicine 
12:15pm  The Wartime Roots of Military Obedience and Defiance in Insurgent-Ruled States
12:30pm  How Utilities Can Drive Transformation Towards the Digital Utility: The Avangrid, Smarter Grid Solutions, and Simple Energy Case Studies
2pm  Rocky Mountain Institute on The Future Is Now
2pm  Machine-Learning Enhanced Energy-Product Design
6pm  Felice Frankel: Picturing Science and Engineering
6pm  Innovate@BU Idea Cup Celebration
6pm  Science Diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:  How Scientific Collaboration Contributes to the Advancement of Peace and Trust
7pm  Understanding the Climate Picture: Lessons from the IPPC & National Climate Assessment
7:30pm  Film Screening: Kumaré - The True Story of a False Prophet

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Friday, December 14 
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9am  NE Restructuring Roundtable:  Forging Sustainable Solar (and Storage) Incentives for New England
3pm  State of the Humanitarian System

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Saturday, December 15
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2pm  Comics in Color - Volume 10

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Sunday, December 16
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1pm  Protecting Boston's Waterways

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Monday, December 17
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8am  Solar Roundtable
6pm  Across the Aisle: Finding Common Ground in Congress
7pm  The Anthropocene: How humans have pushed the planet into a new geological epoch

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Tuesday, December 18
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12pm  Innovation Ecosystems: Leveraging their Power for Organizational Success and Strategic Change
6pm  The Energy Blockchain: A Festive Technology Tour

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

Zero Net Energy - December 8, 2018

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Monday, December 10
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Sunrise Movement Action Registration Form
Join us in Washington, DC on Dec. 10th to demand Congress make a real plan to address climate change. 
Fill out this form to confirm your attendance!


Representative Ocasio-Cortez has proposed a Select Committee on a Green New Deal (https://ocasio2018.com/green-new-deal) in what is expected to be part of the resuscitated House Committee on Climate Change that existed from 

The Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall be developed in order to achieve the following goals, in each case in no longer than 10 years from the start of execution of the Plan:
100% of national power generation from renewable sources;
building a national, energy-efficient, “smart” grid;
upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety;
decarbonizing the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries;
decarbonizing, repairing and improving transportation and other infrastructure;
funding massive investment in the drawdown and capture of greenhouse gases;
making “green” technology, industry, expertise, products and services a major export of the United States, with the aim of becoming the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely carbon neutral economies and bringing about a global Green New Deal.

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Program on Misinformation
December 10
11:30 AM- 1:00 PM 
Harvard, Adams House, 26 Plympton Street, Room TBA, Cambridge

Will Stevens, U.S. Department of State, Director of the Public Diplomacy Division, Foreign Service Institute

Bio. Will Stevens began work as the Director of the Foreign Service Institute’s Public Diplomacy (PD) Training Division in June 2017. Mr. Stevens is an experienced PD-coned Foreign Service Officer with overseas experience in Russia, Turkmenistan, Israel, and Belarus, as well as experience in Washington in the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs and the Bureau of African Affairs. He received the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy in 2014 for his work leading the U.S. Government’s Interagency Task Force on countering Russian propaganda during the Ukraine crisis. Mr. Stevens joined FSI from the Bureau of African Affairs, where he was a Senior Advisor on countering violent extremism. He previously worked in the Africa Bureau as Bureau Spokesperson, where he directed the public affairs planning and messaging for the 2014 U.S.-Africa Heads of State Summit, which brought together 50 African leaders in Washington for the first time. Mr. Stevens was the Spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 2014-2016, where his team’s work was recognized in the Public Diplomacy Council’s annual “Ten Best” for the “Best Use of Social Media by an Embassy.” He has also served as Chief of Staff at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, chief of public affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan, and in the press and cultural affairs offices at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

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The Psychology of Ritual
Monday, December 10
12-1 PM (EST)

Professor Michael Norton
Rituals are ubiquitous in our personal lives – enacted before performances or during family holidays – and in our interactions with firms – from sports fans doing the “wave” to customers being served wine after an elaborate uncorking. Our research has documented the benefits of rituals in domains ranging from grief recovery to chocolate consumption to team performance to singing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” And, we have identified the psychological underpinnings of rituals, demonstrating how they can lead to increased immersion in experiences, greater feelings of control, reduced anxiety, and increased liking for teammates.

Michael I. Norton is the Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He has studied human behavior in domains such as love and inequality, time and money, and happiness and grief. He is the co-author – with Elizabeth Dunn – of the book, Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending. In 2012, he was selected for Wired Magazine’s Smart List as one of “50 People Who Will Change the World” and his TEDx talk, How to Buy Happiness, has been viewed more than 3 million times.

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Streaming Analytics for the Smart Grid
Monday, December 10
4:00pm to 5:00pm
MIT, Building 32-155 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Le Xie, Texas A&M University
Abstract: How to conduct real-time analytics of streaming measurement data in the power grid? This talk offers a dynamic systems approach to utilizing data of different time scale for improved monitoring of the grid cyber and physical security. The first example of the talk presents how to leverage synchrophasor data dimensionality reduction and Robust Principal Component Analysis for early anomaly detection, visualization, and localization. The second example presents an online framework to detect cyber-attacks on automatic generation control (AGC). A cyber-attack detection algorithm is designed based on the approach of Dynamic Watermarking. The detection algorithm provides a theoretical guarantee of detection of cyber-attacks launched by sophisticated attackers possessing extensive knowledge of the physical and statistical models of targeted power systems. The underlying theme of the work suggests the importance of integrating data with dynamic context-aware models in the smart grid.

Bio: Dr. Le Xie is a Professor and Eugene Webb Faculty Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University. He received B.E. in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University, S.M. in Engineering Sciences from Harvard, and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon in 2009. His industry experience includes ISO-New England and Edison Mission Energy Marketing and Trading. His research interest includes modeling and control in data-rich large-scale systems, grid integration of clean energy resources, and electricity markets.

Dr. Xie received the U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and DOE Oak Ridge Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. He was awarded the 2017 IEEE PES Outstanding Young Engineer Award. He was the recipient of Texas A&M Dean of Engineering Excellence Award, ECE Outstanding Professor Award, and TEES Select Young Fellow. He is an Editor of IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, and the founding chair of IEEE PES Subcommittee on Big Data & Analytics for Grid Operations. He and his students received the Best Paper awards at North American Power Symposium and IEEE SmartGridComm. He recently chaired the 2018 NSF Workshop on Real-time Learning and Decision Making in Dynamical Systems.

The LIDS Seminar Series features distinguished speakers who provide an overview of a research area, as well as exciting recent progress in that area. Intended for a broad audience, seminar topics span the areas of communications, computation, control, learning, networks, probability and statistics, optimization, and signal processing. 

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Open Newsroom 
Monday, December 10
5pm - 8pm
encuentro 5, 9 Hamiliton Place, Boston

Are you interested in doing serious journalism?  Want to work with our team?  Come join BINJ, MuckRock, and the Emerson Engagement Lab at this open newsroom to help us dig through public records related to police militarization and gun sales in MA.

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Civic XR: Using XR in the Public Interest
Monday, December 10
5:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST
Brookline Interactive Group, 46 Tappan Street, 3rd Floor, Brookline
Cost:  $6

Join Boston VR & The Public VR Lab on Monday, December 10th from, 5:30-9:00 pm to demo and hear about ways civic-focused technologists are using VR/XR in the public interest space. 
Pizza and soft drinks will be served.
CivicXR Presenters
Dave Maass, Senior Investigative Researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), from San Francisco, CA who will present on how EFF is protecting our digital rights and demoing Spot the Surveillance, a virtual reality experience that teaches people how to identify the various spying technologies that police may deploy in communities. www.eff.org
Dave Maass is a senior investigative researcher for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where he covers issues related to police surveillance, criminal justice, free speech, transparency, and government accountability. In addition to deep-dive investigations, Dave coordinates large-scale public records campaigns, advocates on state legislation, and masterminds special projects, such as a science fiction collection and EFF's first VR project, Spot the Surveillance. Prior to joining EFF, he worked as a reporter for alternative newsweeklies in every state along the U.S.-Mexico border. He is also one of RollingStone.com's correspondents for San Diego Comic-Con. 
Kathy Bisbee, founder of the Public VR Lab, will present on how the Lab isbuilding a new field for Community XR, developing a global network of training programs, accessibility, and digital inclusion. The Lab's facility will host the Meetup, share how users can become members to use free and low-cost VR equipment, and will offer demos of the Lab's Hubweek-featured immersive installation, Arrival: Immigration in Full Frame, the first national virtual reality (VR) filmmaking project gathering and curating immigration/migration stories of Americans from pre-1620 through 2018 and incorporating them into a visual XR/VR timeline and a curriculum for facilitating community dialogue about immigration/migration at community hubs such as museums, libraries and arts centers across the country. www.publicvrlab.com
Other presenters include researchers Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curryfrom Northeastern University who created the Crowdsourced Intelligence Agency project designed to engage the public around surveillance and national security issues; Jeff Jacobson from BostonVR and Boston Children's Hospital; a representative and demos from Planned Parenthood's VR team, and other interactive audio, 360, and VR/AR developers who are using XR for civic-minded projects and solving public interest problems. 

BIG, the Public VR Lab, BostonVR and HTC VIVE are hosting a Dev Jam on the Saturday before the meetup and special advanced Unity classes. Sign up here! 

Contact Erin at brooklineinteractive.org if you have a civic XR project you'd like to demo at the Meetup!

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ACT Fall 2018 Lecture Series:  Untranslatable: Conceptual Art since the 90s
Monday, December 10
6:00pm to 7:30pm
MIT, Building E15-001, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge

David Joselit 
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. Each spring and fall semester brings a different thematic focus and the format for each event shifts depending on the visitor(s) and the nature of their presentations and performances.

ACT Fall 2018 Lecture Series: Vibrant Signs and Indeterminant Matter(s)
ACT’s Fall 2018 series is conceived by Judith Barry, ACT Director.

This series is made possible with the generous support of our partners and collaborators: The Council for the Arts at MIT (CAMIT) 

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Are Humans Evolved to Run:  Why (and how much) exercise is good for our health
Monday, December 10
6:30pm - 8pm
The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Somerville


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Questioning U.S.-Saudi Alliance: Yemen and the Politics of Famine
Monday, December 10
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EST
BU, College of Communication, 640 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 209, Boston

In this panel discussion, we will be joined by experts on U.S.-Saudi relations, our questionable alliance, the terrible consequences the war has had on civilians in Yemen, our own impact by creating weapons and selling them to Saudi Arabia, and how we should stop this and other disastrous human rights abuses in the future.

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Who cares if classical music dies?
WHEN  Monday, Dec. 10, 2018, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard, Science Center B, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Music
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Physics
SPEAKER(S)  Robert D. Levin, Emeritus Dwight B. Robinson Professor of Humanities
COST  Free
DETAILS  "Who cares if classical music dies?" Robert D. Levin is Emeritus Dwight B. Robinson Professor of the Humanities at Harvard. His reputation both as a remarkable performer, as an inspirational teacher, and as a Mozart expert abound. This public lecture is held in connection with a conference: “Current Developments in Mathematical Physics” at Harvard.

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Tuesday, December 11
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Analyzing the Present to Design the Future: Experiences and Reflections from a Visiting Librarian
WHEN  Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, 12 – 1 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard, Common Room (First Floor), Harvard-Yenching Library, 2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Information Technology, Lecture, Research study, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard-Yenching Library
SPEAKER(S)  Jing Guo, Visiting Librarian of the Harvard-Yenching Library; Shanghai Jiao Tong University Library
CONTACT INFO Sharon Yang
DETAILS  Jing Guo will give a talk on her experience over the last year as a visiting librarian of the Harvard-Yenching Library. The presentation will be in English. All are welcome.

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A Nice History of Bird Migration: Ethology, Expertise, and Conservation in 20th Century North America
Tuesday, December 11
5:15PM
Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston

The Massachusetts Historical Society hosts "A Nice History of Bird Migration: Ethology, Expertise, and Conservation in 20th Century North America" with Kristoffer Whitney, Rochester Institute of Technology. Comment by Marilyn Ogilvie, University of Oklahoma.

Attendance is free, but you can subscribe online ($25) for the convenience of advance online access to the papers in FOUR series: this, our new Boston African American History Seminar, the Boston Area Early American History Seminar, and the Boston Seminar on Modern American Society and Culture.

Boston Seminar on Environmental History

Contact Name:  Alex Buckley

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Launch Clinic: eCommerce Startups
Tuesday, December 11
5:30pm to 8:30pm
Cambridge Innovation Center, 5th Floor Havana Room, One Broadway, Cambridge
Cost:  $5 - $30

At the eCommerce Themed Launch Clinic,  3 startups present a 15-minute pitch for feedback from our panel of experts + the audience.

Launch 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.

Are you a startup interested in presenting at an upcoming Launch Clinic?  Apply here

Presenter
Jeff Popper, CEO, MyCollegeTown
MyCollegeTown is a marketplace that creates trusted student communities around local specials, housing and goods. Our College Trading Post is the best way for students to buy and sell stuff on campus because it is students only and we curate everything for ease of use. Collegetown Specials allow students to save money whenever they're out, with all the local specials in one convenient app. And Student Subleases help them save money or find a place to live.

Presenter
Allegra McNeally, CEO,  Apricart
Apricart is a smart shopping cart that will bring the joy back into the grocery store shopping experience eliminating friction points and giving personalized content and deals to shoppers. Apricart benefits the grocery shoppers, fast-moving consumer goods marketers and brick-and-mortar grocery stores. Founded April 2017, the Company is creating novel propriety technology that collects path-to-purchase shopper behavior data in grocery stores, provides an in-store platform with measurable ROI to influence shopper choice, and eliminates the checkout lane by allowing shoppers to pay on the cart.

Presenter
Chaz Tanase, CEO, GoNation
GoNation is a technology platform that helps local business manage their web presence through their website, a geo-located consumer app, and other mediums. To date, with our MVP, we have 300+ customers and will soon hit $1+ million in total revenues.  GoNation is raising at $2M seed round with 20% committed. We are looking for successful entrepreneur advisors and investors who have been where we are, know the challenges involved and can help scale.

Experts
Andy Frawley, CEO & Board Member, V12 Data
Erik Bullen, Startup Mentor, Board Advisor & Investor,  Walnut Ventures
Sanjeev Jain, Entrepreneur & Investor
Moderators
Terri Mock,  COO, Cybba Inc.
Ameeta Soni, Chief Revenue Officer, Gram Labs, Inc.

Schedule
5:30-6:00 pm – Networking + Pizza
6:00-6:15 pm – Introductions
6:15-6:30 pm – Startup 1 Presents
6:30-6:45 pm – Small Breakouts: Audience + Experts
6:45-7:00 pm –  Experts Share Consolidated Feedback From Breakouts
7:00-7:15pm –  Startup 2 Presents
7:15-7:30 pm –  Small Breakouts: Audience + Experts
7:30-7:45 pm –  Experts Share Consolidated Feedback From Breakouts
7:45-8:00 pm – Startup 3 Presents
8:00-8:15 pm –  Small Breakouts: Audience + Experts
8:15-8:30 pm –  Experts Share Consolidated Feedback From Breakouts
8:30 pm – Wrap-up

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Ben Franklin Circle in Boston - December Meeting
Tuesday, December 11
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
Impact Hub Boston, 50 Milk Street, 15th Floor, Boston

Impact Hub Boston is joining a 21st-century community-building initiative inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s “club for mutual improvement,” launched more than 200 years ago. Ben Franklin Circles gather people in conversation about shared values and common goals. Participants discuss 13 civic virtues championed by Ben Franklin—qualities like justice, humility, moderation and order—as a lens into self-improvement and civic engagement.

Impact Hub Boston will hold its third Ben Franklin Circle meeting on Tuesday, December 11 at 6:00pm, and we continue to welcome any who are interested in exploring this format for conversation and self-improvement as we get our local circle's rhythm going in our second meeting. We're a small, intentional groups of 8-12 people looking to improve themselves and the world around them. Feel free to bring your along own dinner and ideas to our casual gathering to contribute to this circle's conversation.

On December 11th, for our third meeting, we’ll discuss "Order,"which Franklin explained as: “Let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time.”

“Keep your physical possessions organized so that you can always find what you need. Do the same with your time, so that you always have time for the things that are important to you; if that’s a struggle, adopt some form of time management or a smarter approach to one’s possessions. If you have too many things that it becomes very difficult to keep them all straight, then this is a call to start downsizing the less important things.”https://www.thesimpledollar.com/ben-franklins-thirteen-virtues-using-one-week-to-change-your-life/

Watch your registration email for reading resources on this topic ahead of our meeting.

The Circles are moderated by Mette Kreutzmann, of the MA Office of Public Collaboration at UMass Boston. Mette heads-up their public dialogue initiative focused on introducing "deliberative dialogue” as a tool to help people address difficult issues affecting their community and move toward collective action.

How Ben Franklin Circles Work
Ben Franklin Circles meetings are dedicated to exploring the 13 virtues identified by Franklin: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity and Humility. The suggested size for a group is 5-12 individuals. Together, they engage in conversations on what each of these virtues means today on both a personal and societal level. Circles meet regularly, often on a monthly basis, and use toolkits and guidelines developed by 92Y, Hoover Institution and Citizen University.

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Mass Innovation Nights 117
Tuesday, December 11
6:00pm
WeWork - 200 Portland, 200 Portland Street, Boston

December's Mass Innovation Nights #117 will feature all sports and sports tech products! WeWork - 200 Portland is the host and sponsor for the night. You can expect a night of sports innovation with 9 products being showcased! Be sure to join us TUESDAY December 11th at 6pm. 

Check out the new PRODUCTS and
VOTE for your favorites - click on the words VOTE HERE (found on this page to the immediate left) and once on the product voting page, click LOVE IT to vote for your favorite product!     
RSVP to attend the event on TUESDAY, December 11th (free to attend and open to all)    
See who else is planning on attending (click the ATTENDEES tab)   
Help spread the word - blog, tweet (using the #MIN117 hashtag), like and post!  
Support local innovation -- network and have fun at the same time! 
Don't miss it -- Tuesday, December 11th 6pm-8:30pm for Mass Innovation Nights #117!  

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Boston New Technology Cloud, Security and AI Startup Showcase #BNT96 (21+)
Tuesday, December 11
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM EST
Foley Hoag, LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, Boston
Cost:  $0 – $79

21+. Join Boston New Technology at law firm Foley Hoag to:
See 7 innovative and exciting local Cloud, Security & AI technology demos, presented by startup founders
Network with 200 attendees from the Boston-area startup/tech community
Enjoy dinner with beer, wine and more

Each company presents an overview and demonstration of their product within 5 minutes and discusses questions with the audience.

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#MeToo and Worker Power: Building Solidarity at Google and Beyond
Tuesday, December 11
7:00pm
MIT, Building 6-120, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Speakers: 
Kristen Sheets, Tech Workers Coalition Coordinator 
Vicki Tardif, Google employee; organizer of recent walkout in Kendall Square

On November 1st, Google workers demonstrated that collective action works. Join the Boston Tech Workers Coalition for an open forum for tech workers and community members to discuss and learn from Google workers efforts for an equitable and ethical workplace.

Come to hear perspectives from Tech Workers Coalition and come to share your thoughts and stories!

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Successfully addressing climate change with zero and negative emissions
Tuesday, December 11
7:30 pm
MIT, Building 3-133, 33 Massachusetts Avenue (Rear), Cambridge

MIT alumnus Dr. William Moomaw, emeritus professor from Tufts and member of the International Panel on Climate Change

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Wednesday, December 12
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Plutocrats with Pitchforks: The Peculiar Politics of Right-Wing Populism in the United States
Wednesday, December 12
4 p.m. 
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge

Lecture by Jacob S. Hacker, 2018–2019 Perrin Moorhead Grayson and Bruns Grayson Fellow
Jacob S. Hacker is the Stanley B. Resor Professor of Political Science and director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University. His work examines how the dynamics of American politics affect ordinary Americans. His most recent book, written with Paul Pierson, is American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper (Simon & Schuster, 2016).

As a fellow, Hacker is completing another coauthored book, “Fault Lines: How the New Geography of Prosperity and Partisanship Is Remaking American Politics.” In it, Hacker and Pierson argue that, in today’s knowledge economy, the dominant fissure in American politics is between high-growth urban areas and the rest of the nation. Populous metro areas are becoming richer and more Democratic; small towns and rural areas, relatively poorer and more Republican. These two coalitions—“blue” and “red”—are linked to different economic models and electoral strategies. Increasingly, they exercise unified control in states where they’re strongest, further embedding these models and strategies. What makes this clash particularly explosive is that our political institutions penalize urban places: Blue America may be economically strong, but for a variety of reasons, it is politically weak. Thus, America’s economic future depends on the degree to which the urban knowledge economy can be made compatible with America’s distinctive political order.

Hacker received his PhD from Yale University and was a junior fellow of the Harvard University Society of Fellows. He was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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The Biology of Complex Social Behavior
Wednesday, December 12
4:00pm to 5:00pm
Harvard, BioLabs Building, Room 1080, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
(or William James Hall 1, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge

Michael Platt, UPENN

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MIT Clean Energy Prize Kickoff
Wednesday, December 12
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
Greentown Labs, 444 Somerville Avenue, Somerville

Join us on December 12th to formally kick off the 2019 MIT Clean Energy Prize!
Hosted at Greentown Labs in Somerville, the event will consist of:
A welcome address given by Greentown Labs representative;
A blitz pitch session for up to 10 potential participants;
Networking with entrepreneurs, investors, startups, and members of the cleantech community;
Details about the CEP application and main events that occur in the Spring.
You do NOT need a business plan to attend this event. Come, meet, and learn!
Dave's Pasta will be catering a casual dinner. Guests must have a valid government ID to consume alcohol.

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Art and Science Embodied:  Julia Buntaine Hoel and Deborah Davidson in Conversation 
Wednesday, December 12
7pm
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Yellowstone Room, Kendall Square, Cambridge

Julia Buntaine Hoel, artist, founder and director of SciArt Center and editor of SciArt Magazine and Deborah Davidson, artist, founder and director of Catalyst Conversations will sit down to share their experiences, challenges and thoughts for the future. For each of them, their particular interest in creating something which embodies the relationship between art and science has coincided with a broader interest in the two fields coalescing.

“Artists and scientists seek answers to the same fundamental questions: who are we, why are we here, and where are we going? Both art and science build models of human experience in order to extend the boundaries of human capacity. Despite this common ground, artists and scientists are too often separate in their endeavors.” SciArt Center mission statement

"Catalyst Conversations presents intimate and provocative conversations between artists, scientists, and the public. Sparking collaborations, synergy and the development of future projects with these communities and beyond." Catalyst Conversations mission statement

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Thursday, December 13
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MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine Inaugural Symposium:  The Future of Precision Medicine 
Thursday, December 13
8:00 AM – 6:00 PM EST
MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Cost:  $10 – $100

Over the past decade, there have been major advancements in the field of precision medicine, leading to exciting new treatments for some cancer patients. Much attention has been focused on genomic profiling of tumors to identify genomic alterations that might guide selection of specific therapies for individual patients. Beyond genomics, however, there is a variety of other precision approaches that can identify and exploit cancer-specific biological mechanisms including proteomics, metabolomics, and computational modeling, resulting in the more effective use of existing cancer medicines. On Thursday, December 13, 2018, the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine will hold its inaugural annual symposium in the Samberg Conference Center at MIT. This full-day event will feature leading researchers and clinicians, who will highlight recent advances in precision cancer medicine and share perspectives on the future. An industry panel will also discuss the barriers to moving precision medicine forward into current and future clinical trials.
Speakers:
Andrea Califano, Columbia University
J. Christopher Love, MIT's Koch Institute
Richard Marais, CRUK Manchester Institute
Kenna Mills Shaw, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Charles Sawyers, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Alice Shaw, Massachusetts General Hospital
Matthew Vander Heiden, MIT's Koch Institute
Michael B. Yaffe, MIT's Koch Institute
Jean Zhao, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Panelists:
Peter Hammerman, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research
Steffan Ho, Pfizer
Shiva Malek, Genentech, Inc
Kevin Marks, Agios Pharmaceuticals
S. Michael Rothenberg, Loxo Oncology, Inc
Moderated by Angela Koehler, MIT's Koch Institute
Breakfast and lunch are included with registration.
Registration or other questions? Please contact Leny Gocheva, gochevav@mit.edu

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The Wartime Roots of Military Obedience and Defiance in Insurgent-Ruled States
WHEN  Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, 12:15 – 2 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard, One Brattle Square, Room 350, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR International Security Program
SPEAKER(S)  Philip Andrew Martin, Research Fellow, International Security Program
DETAILS  Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come, first served basis.

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How Utilities Can Drive Transformation Towards the Digital Utility: The Avangrid, Smarter Grid Solutions, and Simple Energy Case Studies
Thursday, December 13
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM EST
Webinar

This webinar will discuss how Avangrid is embracing innovation and collaborating with startups to continuously adapt and implement impactful changes to drive decisions across its businesses and ultimately move towards the digital utility. During the discussion, we will learn more about the relationship with its venture arm located in Europe - Iberdrola Perseo Venture Capital Fund, how they are engaging with innovators located in the US, and their impact in the US market. Then we will examine two case studies to illustrate the different kinds of relationship Avangrid and Iberdrola can intiate with startups: Smarter Grid Solutions and Simple Energy.
Attendees will learn
The different ways an utility such as Avangrid and its venture arm can engage with early stage startups
The formats a strategic partnership can take
The importance of aligning strategies, customer value, sponsorship and patience
How a partnership can help leverage resources

Speakers
Drury Mackenzie, Smart Grids Innovation, Avangrid
Oscar Cantalejo, Investment Analyst, Iberdrola Perseo Venture Capital Fund
Zach Pollock, Business Development & Product Strategy Executive, Smarter Grid Solutions
Steve Mannhard, Director of Client Solutions, Simple Energy
Moderator: Kristin Barbato, Innovation Advisor, NYSERDA
Presenter: Alistair Pim, VP Innovation and Partnerships, NECEC

Agenda
12:30pm-12:35pm: Welcome
12:35pm-12:50pm: Speaker Presentations
12:50pm-1:10pm: Discussion
1:10pm-1:25pm: Audience Q&A
1:25pm-1:30pm: Wrap Up and Closing Remarks

NECEC's Investor and Corporate Partner Readiness Webinar Series aims to provide the cleantech innovation community with practical strategies to help strengthen the capacity of early-stage entrepreneurs, investors, corporations and incubators. The series will provide entrepreneurs with increased knowledge about investment models, sources and strategies, and the roles and expectations of large corporations and organizations. challenges in corporate partnerships, and how to successfully bring products to market.

Check out our playlist of all webinars in the series at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJrbjmAlXVxfuTfw_J90fjZdqFRd5SJAH

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Rocky Mountain Institute on The Future Is Now
Thursday, December 13
2-3 p.m
Webinar

Why RMI believes that the tools and solutions exist to tackle the climate challenge, why now is the time to act, and how recent developments from the IPCC, COP24, and more influence our trajectory.

Electricity expert Leia Guccione and others will discuss the urgency facing today's energy decisions, what solutions exist to address the climate challenge, and where we need to invest our innovation, capital, and collective efforts to drive a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon future. This conversation comes just as COP24 wraps up in Poland, so it's sure to be timely and focus on the energy issues that matter most to you.

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Machine-Learning Enhanced Energy-Product Design
Thursday, December 13
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
MIT, Building 32-124, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

David Tew   (ARPA-E)
ABSTRACT:  Engineering design processes are generally characterized by iterative attempts at the solution of a well-defined market problem.  Each iteration is frequently characterized by a hypothesis generation/conceptual design phase where low-fidelity/reduced order models are used to refine a high-level solution concept.  In the next phase, the winning solution concept is then subjected to a high-fidelity (i.e. expensive) detailed design and evaluation process that ideally culminates in the demonstration of a successful solution to the problem.  If not, the initial hypothesis is updated using lessons learned in the evaluation phase, and iteration continues until the solution is obtained or the effort is abandoned.

Recognizing that high-risk and high-cost design processes are frequently significant barriers to entry for energy-efficient products and that emerging machine learning/artificial intelligence techniques have the potential to lower the cost and risk of certain aspects of the above-described energy-product design process, ARPA-E is seeking to accelerate the application of these techniques in the engineering design process to help engineers--
1)  to develop better & more novel product concepts,
2)  to more efficiently execute the high-fidelity optimization of these concepts, and
3)  to execute "inverse design" (i.e. no iteration) process for "simple" energy products components.

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Felice Frankel: Picturing Science and Engineering
Thursday, December 13
6:00pm to 7:00pm
MIT, Building N50, MIT Press Bookstore, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Please join the MIT Bookstore in welcoming Felice Frankel to discuss her new book, Picturing Science and Engineering.

One of the most powerful ways for scientists to document and communicate their work is through photography. Unfortunately, most scientists have little or no training in that craft. In this book, celebrated science photographer Felice Frankel offers a guide for creating science images that are both accurate and visually stunning.

Felice C. Frankel is a research scientist in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT and an award-winning science photographer whose photos have appeared in many publications, including National Geographic, Nature, Science, and Scientific American.

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Innovate@BU Idea Cup Celebration
Thursday, December 13
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
BUild Lab IDG Capital Student Innovation Center, 730 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston

Celebrate the Most Innovative Ideas of the Semester!
$1,000 is up for grabs - help us select BU's most innovative student idea of fall 2018!
Be inspired by creative apps, cutting-edge research, one-of-a-kind programs, unique events, entrepreneurial business ideas and more! Finalists will showcase their idea and have 1min to pitch and impress the crowd. Dozens of teams will apply, only one will win and the audience decides the champion in this best-of-the-best campus competition!
Light food and beverages will be served.
Interested in presenting your idea at the event? Learn more and apply here by Nov 30th!
Agenda:
6:00-6:30 - Showcase Tables and Networking
6:30-7:15 - Welcome and 1min Team Pitches
7:15 - 7:50 - Showcases Tables and Voting
7:50 - Announce winners!

Meet the fall 2018 finalists!
Amal Radhakrishnan (MET)
Jonathan Allen (LAW)
Casey Chon (Wheelock)
Randy Bursch (Dental)
Andrew Vallejo (MED)
Daylin Frantin (Questrom)
Karen Rodriguez (Questrom)
Patrick DeMarle (Questrom MBA)
Kruti Kanojia (Questrom MBA)
Lisa Vu (CAS)
Narain Reddy (CAS)
Sydney Gullett (CAS)
Rishab Nayak (CAS)
Deniz Hallik (CAS)
Aaron Halford (COM)
Fiona Whittington (COM)
Crystal Ling (COM)
Vishal Menda (COM)
Connor Malbeuf (COM)
Rachel Wolfe (COM)
Neelu Mohaghegh (COM)
Uroosa Peermohamed (COM)
Shuangyuan Cao (COM)
Paul Shaw (COM)

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Science Diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:  How Scientific Collaboration Contributes to the Advancement of Peace and Trust
Thursday, December 13
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM EST
Harvard, Malkin Penthouse, 4th Floor, Littauer Building, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge

This conference will highlight the role of Science Diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and give insights into a number of such initiatives.

Scientific collaboration between Israelis and Palestinians has continued for decades through a number of small and large-scale projects, overcoming the political divide.

Science could serve as a positive force in this conflict for two main reasons:
1.  It could help prevent environmentally-caused conflicts: Climate change and mismanagement of natural resources increases the likelihood of food, water or energy shortages and a public health crisis in the region. This in turn may threaten the survival conditions of groups of people and consequently lead to tensions or violent conflict. These global challenges do not know any borders and have to be solved through international collaboration, relying on political exchange and scientific knowledge.
2.  Science Diplomacy could be used to foster peace and trust: Due to the universal character of science, science and research have been used as tools to promote collaboration in international relations through multinational projects or international infrastructures, even in extreme cases when the usual routes of communication are blocked.

We are glad to host the following speakers at our event, which will be moderated by Dr. Yoran Beldengrün (see below):
Arava Institute, presented by the Friends of Arava Institute
Dr. Theodore Golfinopoulos - Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow (MEET) Program / MIT Researcher
Prof. Hillel Levine – President International Center for Conciliation (involved in DeadSeaNet project) / Professor of Sociology and Religion at Boston University
Ronit Prawer – East Coast Regional Director, UK Science & Innovation Network British Council (launched Israel-UK-Palestine programs as Science and Innovation Attaché at British Embassy in Tel Aviv)
Prof. Allen Taylor – Director Science Training Encouraging Peace (STEP Program) / Professor of Nutrition, Development, Molecular and Chemical Biology, and Ophthalmology at Tufts University

Context of Conference:
Yoran Beldengrün is currently working on the Potential of Science Diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, as part of the Mercator Fellowship on International Affairs 18/19. He is based in Boston, working with the Swiss science outpost swissnex Boston, to get first insight into the work of science diplomacy and do research on science diplomacy projects in Israel-Palestine. Before moving in January 2019 to the Middle East to work locally with Science Diplomacy projects, he wanted to bring key regional actors from the field for a knowledge exchange together and to discuss the main upcoming challenges and opportunities of science diplomacy in Israel-Palestine.
Yoran Beldengrün has a PhD in the field of Drug Delivery from the University of Barcelona, has researched, worked and studied in Zürich, Paris and Nancy, was the lead organizer of the March for Science Barcelona, and is founder of the organization Scientists Dating Forum, which aims at getting scientists engaged at the interfaces between science with politics, society and economics.

Schedule:
6.00-6.10pm: Registration
6.10-6.15pm: Welcoming Words and Introduction
Science Diplomacy Club of Fletcher School, Engaging Scientists & Engineers in Policy and Dr. Yoran Beldengrün
6.15-7.05pm: Presentation of 5 Science Diplomacy Initiatives in the region
Arava Institute, presented by the Friends of Arava Institute
Dr. Theodore Golfinopoulos - Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow (MEET) Program / MIT Researcher
Prof. Hillel Levine – President International Center for Conciliation (involved in DeadSeaNet project) / Professor of Sociology and Religion at Boston University
Ronit Prawer – East Coast Regional Director, UK Science & Innovation Network British Council (launched Israel-UK-Palestine programs as Science and Innovation Attaché at British Embassy in Tel Aviv)
Prof. Allen Taylor – Director Science Training Encouraging Peace (STEP Program) / Professor of Nutrition, Development, Molecular and Chemical Biology, and Ophthalmology at Tufts University
7.05-7.20pm: Short Break with food/drinks
7.20-7.40pm: Moderated Round Table discussion: Challenges and Opportunities of Science Diplomacy in the Region
Moderator: Dr. Yoran Beldengrün
7.40-8.00pm:  Q&A
after 8.00pm: Networking in John Harvard's Brewery and Ale House

Bios of speakers:
Arava Institute:
The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies is a leading environmental studies and research program in the Middle East. It houses accredited academic programs, research centers, and international cooperation initiatives focusing on a range of environmental concerns and challenges.
With a student body comprised of Jordanians, Palestinians, Israelis, and students from around the world, the Arava Institute offers students an exceptional opportunity to learn from leading professionals while forming friendships and developing skills that enable them to lead the region and the world in solving today’s most pressing environmental challenges.

Theodore Golfinopoulos:
Theodore Golfinopoulos is a research scientist in the field of fusion energy. He works at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, where he also completed his doctorate. He started teaching for Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow (MEET) in 2007 as a graduate student, and has participated in 12 consecutive summers, as well as a five-month fellowship during the academic year. In that time, he has worked with hundreds of excelling Palestinian and Israeli high school students. His principal role has been to help design and deliver a computer science curriculum with a focus on web development. With his colleagues, he has also recruited and trained around 200 instructors, most of whom are also from MIT, and he has supported MEET's part- and full-time staff, who are mainly based in Jerusalem and Nazareth.

Hilel Levine:
Hillel Levine researches social, psychological, cultural and organizational spurs and inhibitors to entrepreneurialism, to civil rights, to inter-ethnic and inter-faith cooperation; the roots of empathy, historical conciliation, all in the efforts to reduce violence and create productive interdependencies. The frameworks for his activities include undergraduate, graduate, professional, and adult non‐professional education at Harvard, Yale, Boston University and foreign universities, think tanks. He consult to Governments and international agencies. With the International Center for Conciliationm, which he presides, he is leading the DeadSeaNet project, which utilizes community based disaster preparedness to encourage cross border cooperation in the Dead Sea Region. The network is a product of partnerships between seismologists, seismic engineers, and environmentalists in Jordan, Palestine, and Israel.

Ronit Prawer:
Ronit Prawer is the former Science and Innovation Attaché at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel and current East Coast Director of the UK Science & Innovation Network at the British Consulate-General in Boston. She will be presenting her experience in setting up Israel-Palestine Science Diplomacy programs.

Allen Taylor:
Science Training Encouraging Peace (STEP) Director, Allen Taylor, PhD, has been directing the Laboratories for Nutrition and Vision Research at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University for 35 years. He has extensive success building and managing international, interdisciplinary, collaborative scientific programs. Recent projects involve multiple research teams working in Israel, China, Australia, Holland and India. The objective of these programs is to prolong vision by preventing or delaying age related eye diseases including age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. He has published over 230 scientific articles and monographs, and 2 books.

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Understanding the Climate Picture: Lessons from the IPPC & National Climate Assessment
Wednesday, December 13
7 PM – 9 PM
First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, 6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain

Join us, alongside scientists and activists, to dissect the report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) https://www.ipcc.chAND the National Climate Assessment https://nca2014.globalchange.gov, compiled by hundreds of scientists from around the world. These reports warn that these dangers are no longer remote or hypothetical.

Both reports call for urgent action. How do we respond to a crisis larger than any we as a species have ever faced? 

We will hear from a panel of experts who have been involved with the climate issue and how to address it. This critical discussion will leave ample time for speakers to answer questions from our audience. 

Panelists include:
Dr. Nathan Phillips, Professor of Earth and Environment, Boston University
Alan Palm, Director of Organizing for 350 Mass for a Better Future.
Carolina Santamaria, Organizer with Corporate Accountability
Richard Rosen, Senior Fellow and founder of the Tellus Institute
Anny Martinez, (Moderator) Jamaica Plain Forum and Institute for Policy Studies

Free & Open to All.

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Film Screening: Kumaré - The True Story of a False Prophet
Thursday, December 13
7:30pm to 9:30pm
MIT, Building 4-237, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge

To record this 2011 documentary, American filmmaker Vikram Gandhi transformed himself into Sri Kumaré, an enlightened guru from a fictional village in India, donning sagely robes, adopting a fake accent, and growing out his hair and beard. In the film, Kumaré travels to Arizona to spread his made-up philosophy and gain sincere followers. The film offers a fresh perspective on "belief in belief", cult psychology, and the ethics of deception towards ostensibly positive ends.

Please feel welcome to stay after the screening for an informal discussion of these issues.

Film running time: 84 minutes
Film website: http://kumaremovie.com/

Free entry. Free concessions.
The event will be photographed and recorded.


Event funded by the MIT ASA

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Friday, December 14
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NE Restructuring Roundtable:  Forging Sustainable Solar (and Storage) Incentives for New England
Friday, December 14
9:00 am-12:30 pm
Foley Hoag LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, Boston

Solar installations in New England have risen dramatically, from under 100 MW in 2010, to nearly 3,000 MW this year (and growing rapidly). This growth has been largely due to falling solar prices and very supportive state-sponsored solar incentive programs and policies, such as net metering, solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), and community solar. Significant debate is taking place throughout New England (and nationally) about the sustainability of such solar incentives and policies.

The recent launch of the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program is one attempt to create a more sustainable long-term solar incentive program, and the Green Bank in Connecticut is another. All states in New England are currently exploring ways to make solar incentives more sustainable, and to create the right incentives for storage, making this another timely and important Roundtable topic!

Please join us as we explore these and other questions:
How does the way we incentivize solar in New England need to evolve over time to become sustainable?
How should we structure incentives to balance tradeoffs between cheaper, larger scale solar projects on the one hand, and costlier, but potentially more valuable, distributed solar on the other?
How can state policies and rate designs be reformed to appropriately value solar resources and avoid inefficient expenditures or costs shifts between customers?
What can we learn from the solar experience as we consider how to jumpstart and incentivize the storage sector?

Forging Sustainable Solar (and Storage) Incentives for New England
Keynotes: Recent State Actions
Commissioner Judith Judson, MA Dept. of Energy Resources
Deputy Commissioner Mary Sotos, CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection

Panel: Stakeholder and Academic Perspectives
Evan Dube, Senior Director of Policy, SunRun
Ilan Gutherz, Senior Director Strategy & Policy, Borrego Solar
Juliana Mandell, Dir. of Market Development & Policy, ENGIE Storage
Dr. Jesse Jenkins, Fellow, Harvard (Coauthor, MIT Utility of Future Study)
Mark LeBel, Attorney, Acadia Center

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State of the Humanitarian System
Friday, December 14
3 to 5pm 
Tufts, ASEAN auditorium, iCabot Hall (on the mezzanine level above the “Hall of Flags”), 160 Packard Avenue, Medford

About every three years, the Action Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP) issues a “State of the Humanitarian System” report, which is the closest thing we have to a global report card on how the humanitarian system as a whole is doing, how it is adapting to a rapidly changing context and set of demands, and where the major performance gaps are. The last report was in 2015. ALNAP will launch its 2018 report in December in London, Washington DC, New York, and Boston.

Please join us for the Boston launch on Friday, December 14, 2018 from 3 to 5pm at ASEAN auditorium at The Fletcher School at Tufts, in Cabot Hall (on the mezzanine level above the “Hall of Flags”), 160 Packard Avenue, Medford, MA.

The program will include a presentation of the report by ALNAP authors, responses to the report by members of the Boston humanitarian community (academic and practitioner), and Q & A.  The event will be followed by a networking reception with light refreshments.

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Saturday, December 15
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Comics in Color - Volume 10
Saturday, December 15
2 PM – 4:30 PM
Grove Hall Branch of the Boston Public Library, 41 Geneva Avenue, Dorchester

Comics In Color is a safe space where you can come and just nerd out about illustrated stories by and about people of color.

Grove Hall Library Holiday Party!
Featured Guest: Michelle Abreu
Michelle Abreu is an Illustrator and comic book artist that loves to design characters and creatures. Michelle is currently working on two comic series, Novengard and TheLamb of the Altar, which can be found on AbreuIllustration.com.

Discussion: INTO THE SPIDERVERSE!
All-levels comics making activity
Samples of Black Comics
SNACKS!

If you would like to present a project you are working on just hit us up and we will get you on the agenda.

All are welcome but this is an event focused on comics by and about people of color.

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Sunday, December 16
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Protecting Boston's Waterways
Sunday, December 16
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Boston Nature Center, Mattapan
Cost:  $5 - $7
Nonmembers can join today during checkout and take immediate advantage of member prices.

Instructor:  Adriana Cillo
Come and learn about the history of Boston’s municipal waterways and how to protect them and keep them clean.  Join Adriana Cillo, Educational Programs Coordinator at Boston Water and Sewer Commission, as she discusses ways to reduce sewer backups by properly disposing of FOG (fats, oils, and grease).  This talk will encompass a variety of details on our drinking water, wastewater, storm water and what we can do to help and prevent backups and clogging our pipes.  Let’s protect our waterways!  Small changes in our everyday life really can make a big difference for our environment.

Registration is required.

For more information, contact:
Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street, Mattapan, MA 02126

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Monday, December 17
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Solar Roundtable
Monday, December 17
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM EST
Edison, Floor 16, 50 Milk Street, Boston
Cost:  $0 – $50

USGBC MA’s mission is to drive sustainable and regenerative design, construction, and operation of the built environment. The only way to accomplish our mission is to collaborate with community members. To that end, we are kicking off a series of practice (architects, engineers, contractors….) and topic (health & wellness, net zero, living buildings…) roundtables.
The Solar Roundtable will enable like-minded professionals to gather and explore specific issues, define actions, develop strategies and explore solutions related to solar in the green building industry. Join us in moving the needle towards a net positive environment, society, and economy.

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Across the Aisle: Finding Common Ground in Congress
Monday, December 17
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EST
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, 210 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston

A bipartisan panel of Members of Congress will gather at the Kennedy Institute to discuss the state of affairs in Washington, opportunities for common ground in the 116th Congress, the political challenges they face, and how to foster a vibrant civic dialogue. This program is hosted in partnership with the United States Association of Former Members of Congress.

Moderated by Paul Kane, Senior Congressional Correspondent and Columnist for The Washington Post, the panel will include:
Congressman Rodney Davis (R-IL-15)
Congressman Joe Kennedy III (D-MA-4)
Congressman Markwayne Mullin (R-OK-2)
Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE-At Large)

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The Anthropocene: How humans have pushed the planet into a new geological epoch
Monday, December 17
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Mr. Crepe, 51 Davis Square, Somerville

The effects that humans have on the planet is so large that it has pushed us in a new geological era called 'the Anthropocene'. Our influence on nature equals the power normally unleashed by an asteroid striking the earth or the shift in tectonic plates. When did the 'Anthropocene' start and how long will it last?

The fact that we now know how much human activity influences the planet should allow us to be proactive and develop strategies to shape our world the way we wish it to be.

Professor Will Steffen talks about 'planetary boundaries' behind which we should not push the planet without risking an irreversible, abrupt shift. Others say that it is already too late to reverse course.

We can no longer speak of 'nature' as something separate from human influence. In the future, we have to think of nature as something we have to sustain, like tending to a garden. This is part of the new 'rewilding' movement, an effort to combat species extinction. A good example of this is the 'Oostvaarderplassen' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1GCkMrHc8I) in the Netherlands and the European Green Belt (http://www.europeangreenbelt.org/), formerly known as the Iron Curtain.

For further reading and viewing, please go to:
The Anthropocene: A man-made world (http://www.economist.com/node/18741749)
Will Steffen - The Anthropocene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABZjlfhN0EQ)
Wildlife in the Anthropocene: Conservation Without Nature (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhd3hJEcvEo)

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Tuesday, December 18
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Innovation Ecosystems: Leveraging their Power for Organizational Success and Strategic Change
Tuesday, December 18
12:00pm to 1:00pm
 Webinar

Innovation is a critical component to success in today’s ever-changing business landscape. It flourishes in an environment in which key stakeholders can connect, contribute, and share re-sources—in other words, when they are part of an innovation ecosystem. 

Join us for a complimentary webinar: December 18, 2018 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. EST

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The Energy Blockchain: A Festive Technology Tour
Tuesday, December 18
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
WeWork, 625 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

The energy industry is buzzing about the potential for blockchain technology to revolutionize grid efficiency. Solar panels can now be integrated within a decentralized blockchain network, allowing users to buy and sell energy without any central party validation. With solar markets growing each year and tech capability progressing in leaps and bounds, now is an exciting time to invest in the energy blockchain.

Solar expert and Power2Peer founder Dr. Nish Sonwalkar (ScD, MIT) invites you to join him for an open discussion as he reviews the technology that makes it possible: blockchain, photonic solar microgrids, software-defined network controllers (SDNC), peer-to-peer transactions and more. Dr. Sonwalkar will also provide an update on the progress of Power2Peer initiatives. Join us as we celebrate the festive season with what promises to be a spirited discussion on the future of blockchain and renewable energy!

Learn more about Power2Peer at https://power2peer.com

Brief Bio of Presenter/Host
Dr. Nish Sonwalkar (ScD., MIT), Founder, Power2Peer.com
Dr. Nish Sonwalkar is an inventor and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in the development of innovative technologies related to solar thermal applications, open-cycle ocean thermal energy conversion (OC-OTEC) evaporators and molecular dynamics of energy materials and nano-interfaces, such as Si and copper interfaces and optical coatings. As the former Principal Research Scientist and faculty at MIT, he developed the combined molecular dynamics (MD) and laser Raman spectroscopy methodology for the design of new material interfaces. With Power2Peer, Inc., Dr. Sonwalkar has created a blockchain-enabled adaptive solar microgrid platform for peer-to-peer power trading.

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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, December 19
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Data Science for Good Webinar
Wednesday, December 19
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Webinar

We want to invite you to participate in ODSC Data Science for Good Webinar!
We will discuss how can we leverage data science and its versatile tools to solve real-life problems. Technologies progress and develop, data becomes more prolific and useful. How can we, as data scientists benefiting from this momentum, help the rest of the world catch up?

To access this webinar, please register using the link below:

We are bringing 4 speakers to present 30 minutes sessions.
Date: Dec 19th
Time: 2 - 4 pm EST

Agenda Detail:
Session 1 - Data wrangling to provide solar energy access across Africa (30 Minutes)
Speaker:  Brianna Schuyler, Ph.D.
Abstract:  More than 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity, and no documented financial history. A family can light their home and keep necessary electronics (such as a cell phone) charged using a small solar panel and battery, but most solar devices are not affordable to a vast number of people making $2 a day or less.

One solution to this problem is offering solar energy kits on a Pay As You Go basis, providing financial loans to families until they are able to pay off the cost of their device. However, people with severely restricted income oftentimes exhibit sporadic payment behavior which poses an interesting prediction problem. This rich and unique dataset can be used to develop credit profiles for individuals, allowing them access to credit for other life-changing loans or utilities.

In addition to financial information, the solar devices themselves send millions of bits of information regularly using a GSM chip. Information transferred through GSM, along with the financial data amassed through loan repayment, provide a fascinating dataset on which to model and explore. Data analysis and machine learning techniques allow increased energy access to those for whom the costs of solar were previously prohibitive, as well as increased adoption of renewable energy sources in a rapidly growing population.

Session 2 - Detecting semantic bias through interpretability (30 Minutes)
Speaker: Eric Schles
Abstract:  In this session, we will juxtapose classical statistical interpretability techniques against cutting-edge techniques. We will show how these newer techniques allow us to interpret models like neural networks, ensembles and support vector machines. The two main new tools we will use are SHAP and LIME.

We will apply this to data synthetic datasets, showing how one could detect semantic bias (non-statistical bias).

More speakers to be announced soon!

ODSC Links:
Get free access to more talks like this at LearnAI:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/odsc & @odsc
East Conference Apr 30 - May 3: https://odsc.com/boston

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Thursday, December 20
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Taking the Bizarre Seriously in Diplomatic History
WHEN  Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, 12:15 – 2 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard, One Brattle Square, Room 350, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR International Security Program
SPEAKER(S)  Ben Rhode, Ernest May Fellow in History & Policy, International Security Program
DETAILS  An International Security Program Brown Bag Seminar. Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come, first served basis.



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Opportunity
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Announcing Destination 2040: The next long-range transportation plan for the Boston region

How would you improve the Boston region’s transportation system? That’s the question at the heart of the MPO’s preparations for Destination 2040, which the MPO expects to adopt in the spring of 2019.

Every four years, the MPO identifies the system’s strengths and weaknesses; forecasts changes in population, employment, and land use; and creates a plan to address existing and future mobility needs. The resulting long-range transportation plan (LRTP) allocates funding for major projects in the Boston region and guides the MPO’s funding of capital investment programs and studies.

Use the new Destination 2040 website at http://ctps.org/lrtp-dev to explore the state of the system; learn how the MPO will identify needs, revisit its vision and goals, and prioritize its investments; and share your own interests, concerns, and ideas.

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Resource
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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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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
Sustainability at Harvard:  http://green.harvard.edu/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

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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