NYU's Educating for Sustainability Lecture Series is pleased to present Dr. Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, on the topic of "The Changing Climate for Development".

Today's enormous development challenges are complicated by the reality of climate change – the two are inextricably linked and together demand immediate attention. Climate change threatens all countries, but particularly developing ones. Estimates are that developing countries would bear some 75-80% of the costs of anticipated damage caused by the changing climate. Developing countries simply cannot afford to ignore climate change, nor can they focus on adaptation alone. But developed countries must make financing and technologies available. Action to reduce vulnerability and lay the groundwork for a transition to low-carbon growth paths is imperative for both developed and developing countries.

This talk will explore how to better help people cope with new or worsened risks. Land and water management must be adapted to better protect a threatened natural environment, while at the same time meeting the need to feed an expanding and more prosperous population. Energy systems must be transformed to meet increasing demand while drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The World Development Report 2010 is an urgent call for action: a climate-smart world is within reach if we act now, act together, and act differently.

The "Educating for Sustainability" lecture series is co-sponsored by NYU Sustainability and the NYU Environmental Studies Program. Dr. Bierbaum's lecture will take place on Tuesday, September 28 from 6:00-7:30 PM in NYU's Gould Welcome Center, 50 West 4th St., 1st Floor Barash Theater. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Regina Drew, or to RSVP to the event please click here.
 

ABOUT ROSINA M. BIERBAUM

Dean, School of Natural Resources and Environment Professor, Natural Resources and Environmental Policy University of Michigan.

In October 2001, Rosina Bierbaum became Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. Previously, she served in environmental science policy leadership positions in both the legislative and executive branches of United States government, culminating as director of the Environment Division of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, a Senate-confirmed position. In April 2008, Dr. Bierbaum was selected by the World Bank to co-direct the World Development Report 2010, an annual publication that focuses on a different topic each year and aims both to consolidate existing knowledge on a particular aspect of development and to stimulate debate on new directions for development policy. Dr. Bierbaum has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was named by President Barack Obama to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. She currently is on the boards of the Federation of American Scientists; the Environmental and Energy Study Institute; the Energy Foundation; and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. She is also a member of the Executive Committee for the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.  Dr. Bierbaum received her B.S. in Biology and B.A. in English from Boston College, and earned her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.