Sparking Climate Connections: UW Lightning Talks on Climate Change recordings are now available!
Tackling the climate challenge
Both multifaceted and complex, climate change is the greatest challenge humankind has ever faced, and its impacts are distributed unequally. There exists immense expertise and interest in climate change-related work across the University of Washington. While specific disciplinary perspectives are vital, we also know that many of the questions we seek to answer are broader and require working at the intersections of different disciplines.
Understanding the landscape of expertise
Recognizing this, the EarthLab Advisory Board of Deans saw an opportunity to bring together faculty and staff researchers to better envision the full picture of climate expertise at the UW and facilitate connections across disciplines and practice areas.
In Fall Quarter of 2022, we sent out a call to gather UW faculty and researchers whose work was in some way related to climate change. We invited faculty and researchers to submit a one-minute video recording – a lightning talk – summarizing their work. This call was amplified by the event’s 18 co-sponsors. We received a total of 105 lightning talks covering 16 different themes representing over 55 departments across the UW tri-campus.
On December 1st, 2022, we hosted a virtual showcase of all the lightning talks, followed by an in-person reception at the Foster School of Business Douglas Forum. We’re grateful to Off the Rez – Seattle’s first Native food truck – for catering and Raymond Smith for capturing the night with his camera. If you have a UW NetID, you can click here to view other images from the evening.
Left to right: Dean Maya Tolstoy and Dean Frank Hodge speak to event attendee; Food catered by Off the Rez; A group of event attendees talking.
Below is a list of all faculty and researchers who submitted lightning talks. We share this information to not only recognize their participation, but to encourage continued sparks of connection going forward. If you were unable to attend or are curious to find collaborators, we invite you to watch the talks on our YouTube channel. They are organized by theme and are captioned.
Didier Yelognisse Alia | Research Assistant Professor, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance.
Celina Balderas Guzmán | Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, College of Built Environments.
Jackson Blalock | Community Engagement Specialist, Washington Sea Grant, College of the Environment.
Dan Brown | Director and Professor, School of Environment and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment.
Russell Callender | Director, Washington Sea Grant, College of the Environment.
Sharon L. Doty | Professor – Plant Microbiology Lab, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment. Adjunct Professor – Microbiology Department.
Dale Durran | Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Robert Freitag | Senior Lecturer/ Director, Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research, Department of Urban Design and Planning, College of Built Environments.
Heidi Gough | Associate Professor, Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment.
Cat Hartwell | Research Coordinator, Collaborative on Extreme Event Resilience, School of Public Health, DEOHS.
David Hendry | Associate Professor – The Information School, Co-Director – Value Sensitive Design Lab.
Scott Kalafatis | Deputy University Director, Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, Climate Impacts Group, EarthLab, College of the Environment.
Julie Kriegh | Research Scientist, Carbon Leadership Forum, College of Built Environments.
Meade Krosby | Senior Scientist – Climate Impacts Group, University Director – Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, EarthLab, College of the Environment.
Guillaume Mauger | Research Scientist, Climate Impacts Group, EarthLab, College of the Environment.
Ian Miller | Coastal Hazard Specialist – Olympic Peninsula, Washington Sea Grant, College of the Environment.
Margaret Redsteer | Assistant Professor, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences.
Nancy Rottle | Professor, Landscape Architecture, College of Built Environments.
Sameer H. Shah | Assistant Professor of Climate Adaptation – School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Affiliate – Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology.
Philip Bell | Professor of Education, Shauna C. Larson Chair of Learning Sciences, Director – UW Institute for Science + Math Education, College of Education.
Tim Billo | Lecturer, Program on the Environment, College of the Environment.
Patrick Christie | Professor – School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and Jackson School of International Studies, Faculty Director – UW Canadian Studies Center.
Gordon Holtgrieve | Associate Professor – Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Faculty Director – Future Rivers, College of the Environment.
Kerry-Ann Naish | Professor and Director, Marine Biology, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, College of the Environment.
Stuart Adler | Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, Clean Energy Institute, College of Engineering.
Milad Ashtiani | Building and Materials Researcher, Carbon Leadership Forum, College of Built Environments.
Jayadev Athreya | Professor of Mathematics – Victor Klee Faculty Fellow, Professor of the Comparative History of Ideas, Co-Director – International Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
Arbella Bet-Shlimon | Associate Professor, History, College of Arts & Sciences.
Heather Burpee | Research Associate Professor/Co-Director, Department of Architecture, Integrated Design Lab, College of Built Environments.
David Ginger | Chief Scientist, Clean Energy Institute.
James W. Murray | Professor Emeritus, School of Oceanography, College of the Environment.
Lilo Pozzo | Professor – Chemical Engineering, Interim Chair – Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering.
Daniel T. Schwartz | Boeing-Sutter Professor – Chemical Engineering, Adjunct Professor – Materials Science & Engineering, Director – Clean Energy Institute.
Kate Simonen | Professor/Chair, Carbon Leadership Forum, Architecture, College of Built Environments.
Kristie Ebi | Professor, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Department of Global Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.
Jeremy Hess | Professor – Departments of Global Health, Emergency Medicine, and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Director – Center for Health and the Global Environment.
Peter Rabinowitz | Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health.
Zack Wettstein | Instructor, Emergency Medicine, Center for Health and the Global Environment.
Stefan Wheat | Acting Instructor, Department of Emergency Medicine.
Lorenz Hauser | Richard C. and Lois M. Worthington Endowed Professor in Fisheries Management, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, College of the Environment.
Daniel Jaffe | Professor, Environmental Chemistry, School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.
Gundula Proksch | Associate Professor – Department of Architecture, Director – Circular City + Living Systems Lab, College of Built Environments.
Jennifer Ruesink | Professor, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences.
Mark Scheuerell | Associate Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, College of the Environment.
LuAnne Thompson | Lowell A. and Frankie L. Wakefield Endowed Professor of Oceanography, Adjunct Professor – Atmospheric Sciences, Interim Director – Program on Climate Change.
Joel Thornton | Professor and Chair, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Alexandra Anderson-Frey | Calvin Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Assistant Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Kyle Armour | Associate Professor, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
David Battisti | Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Tamaki Endowed Chair, Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Cecilia Bitz | Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Lauren Buckley | Professor, Department of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences.
Qiang Fu | Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Greg Hakim | Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Allison Hyatt | Researcher, Carbon Leadership Forum, College of Built Environments.
Debbie Kelley | Director Regional Cabled Array & Professor, School of Oceanography, College of the Environment.
Orest Kawka | Project Scientist, OOI Regional Cabled Array, School of Oceanography, College of the Environment.
Wendi Ruef | Research Scientist, OOI Regional Cabled Array, School of Oceanography, College of the Environment.
Michael Vardaro | Research Scientist, School of Oceanography, College of the Environment.
Roger Marchand | Research Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Jan Newton | Senior Principal Oceanography – Applied Physics Lab, Affiliate Professor – Oceanography and School of Marine & Environmental Affairs, Co-Director – Washington Ocean Acidification Center, College of the Environment.
Becca Neumann | Associate Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Alexander J.Turner | Calvin Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Assistant Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Muyin Wang | Research Scientist/ Deputy Director, Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean & Ecosystem Studies, College of the Environment.
Daniel Hoffman | Interim Director – Jackson School of International Studies, Professor – International Studies and Comparative History of Ideas, Bartley-Dobb Professor for the Study and Prevention of Violence.
Jesse Oak Taylor | Associate Professor, English, College of Arts & Sciences.
Michelle R. Montgomery | Associate Professor and Chair – Division of Social & Historical Studies, Assistant Director – Office of Undergraduate Education, UW Tacoma. Adjunct Associate Professor – School of Medicine, Department of Bioethics & Humanities, Interim Director – Undergraduate Studies, UW Seattle.
Vikramaditya Prakash | Professor of Architecture, Adjunct in Urban Design and Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Digital Arts and New Media, College of Built Environments.
Robert Wood | Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Karin Bumbaco | Assistant State Climatologist, Office of the WA State Climatologist, Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean & Ecosystem Studies, College of the Environment.
Brian J. Harvey | Jack Corkery and George Corkery Jr. Endowed Professor in Forest Sciences, Assistant Professor, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment.
Albert J. Hermann | Principal Research Scientist – Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean & Ecosystem Studies, Affiliate Professor – School of Oceanography, College of the Environment.
Terrie Klinger | Professor – School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, Co-Director – Washington Ocean Acidification Center.
Parker MacCready | Leo Maddox Endowed Professor in Oceanography, Research Professor, School of Oceanography, College of the Environment.
Cliff Mass | Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, College of the Environment.
Mark A. Pagano | Professor, School of Engineering & Technology.
Eric Salathé | Associate Professor, School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.
Narjes Abbasabadi | Assistant Professor – Department of Architecture, Director – Sustainable Intelligence Lab, College of Built Environments.
Renata Bura | Denman Professor of Pulp and Paper Science, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment.
Anthony B. Dichiara | Associate Professor, School of Environmental & Forest Sciences, Weyerhaeuser Endowment in Paper Science & Engineering, College of the Environment.
Rick Gustafson | Professor, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Denman Chair of Bio-Resource Science and Engineering, College of the Environment.
Tomás Méndez Echenagucia | Assistant Professor, Department for Architecture, College of Built Environments.
Bart Nijssen | Department Chair, Allan & Inger Osberg Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering.
Cody Schlenker | Washington Research Foundation Innovation Associate Professor of Chemistry and Clean Energy, Department of Chemistry, Clean Energy Institute, Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute.
Stuart E. Strand | Research Professor Emeritus, Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Briana Abrahms | Assistant Professor and Boersma Endowed Chair in Natural History and Conservation, Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, Department of Biology. (Impacts on Wildlife and Biodiversity)
Shuyi Chen | Professor – Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Associate Dean for Research, College of the Environment. (High-Impact Weather and Climate Extremes)
Catherine De Almeida | Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, College of Built Environments. (Waste Reuse and Circular Economies)
Nives Dolsak | Director, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, Stan and Alta Barer Professor in Sustainability Science, College of the Environment. (Climate Governance)
Tim Essington | Director/Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, College of the Environment. (Environmental Impacts of Climate Change on Natural Systems)
Jason Hodin | Senior Research Scientist, Friday Harbor Labs, College of the Environment. (Climate Change and Evolvability)
Maureen Kennedy | Associate Professor, Division of Sciences and Mathematics, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. (Wildfire and Forest Resource Management)
Dominic Muren | Associate Teaching Professor, School of Art + Art History + Design, College of Arts & Sciences. (Holistic Manufacturing and Ecosystems)
Elizabeth Stearns | Associate Teaching Professor, Marketing & International Business, MBA Net Impact Faculty Advisory, MBA C4C Faculty Advisor, Foster School of Business. (Systems Impacts of Business Decisions)
Abigail Swann | Associate Professor, Endowed Professor for the College of the Environment in Climate & Ecosystems, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Biology. (Understanding Climate Change and Impacts on Food and Impacts on Ecosystems)
Usha Varanasi | Distinguished Scholar in Residence – College of the Environment, Affiliate Professor – Department of Chemistry and School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. (Nature and Health)
