Water – Spring 2014

Concerns about a coming water crisis are gaining the attention of scholars, not just in countries where water is scarce, but globally. Water scarcity and water quality are interrelated problems that are both likely to deteriorate in the face of climate change. The Clarke Forum’s theme for the spring 2014 semester will explore how water impacts all of us in ways we are often unaware. Topics will range from the global to the local, from the impact of climate change on regional water scarcity, to the prevention of conflict about water resources and the implications of drinking bottled water.

John Englander ’72

Englander PosterOceanographer

Melting Ice, Rising Seas, Shifting Shorelines…The New Reality

Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Sea level rise is now unstoppable. Englander will explain the latest science, put sea level rise into historic perspective, and explain what we can expect and how we should plan for the future.

A book sale and signing will follow the presentation.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Churchill Fund, the Center for Sustainability Education and the departments of earth sciences, biology, international business and management, international studies and policy studies. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

John Englander PhotoBiography (provided by the speaker)

John Englander is an oceanographer, consultant and leading expert on sea level rise. He brings the diverse points of view of an industry scientist, entrepreneur and CEO to this critical issue. For over 30 years, he has been a leader in both the private sector and the non-profit arena, serving as CEO for such noteworthy organizations as The Cousteau Society and The International SeaKeepers Society.

Englander graduated Dickinson College with a double major in geology and economics. His bestselling book, Read more

James Salzman

Salzman poster finalProfessor, Duke University

Drinking Water

Tuesday, April 8, 2014     
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

By explaining how drinking water highlights the most pressing issues of our time, from globalization and social justice to terrorism and climate change, and how humans have been wrestling with these problems for centuries, Salzman shows us how complex a simple glass of water can be.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Departments of Economics, Chemistry, Mathematics  and Computer Science, Environmental Studies and Environmental Science.  It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Water.

Salzman preferred SeptBiography (provided by the speaker)

James Salzman holds joint appointments at Duke University as the Samuel Fox Mordecai Professor of Law at the Law School and as the Nicholas Institute Professor of Environmental Policy at the Nicholas School of the Environment. In more than eight books and seventy articles and book chapters, his broad-ranging scholarship has addressed topics spanning trade and environment conflicts, drinking water, environmental protection in the service economy, wetlands mitigation banking, and the legal and institutional issues in creating markets for ecosystem services.

A dedicated classroom teacher and colleague, Salzman has twice been voted Professor of the Read more

Steven Solomon

Solomon Final PosterAuthor and Commentator

Brave New World of Water

Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Freshwater, civilization’s most indispensable resource, is growing increasingly scarce. Solomon will explore how global water resource scarcity is transforming our economies, politics, environment, national security, basic human health and what we can do about these trends.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Water.

Steven SolomonBiography (provided by the speaker)

Steven Solomon has written for The New York Times, BusinessWeek, The Economist, Forbes, and Esquire. He has been a regular commentator on NPR’s Marketplace, and has appeared as a featured guest on the late the “CBS Evening News,” BBC-TV, “Morning Joe“ (MSNBC), “Tavis Smiley,” Tim Russert’s CNBC show, Al Jazeera, Fox News, “The Diane Rehm Show,” NPR’s Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered and The World, Larry Mantle’s “AirTalk,” “The Jim Bohannon Show,” Bloomberg TV, and various other news programs.

Solomon has addressed the Carnegie Council, Wilson Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Department of Defense, Read more

Carl Bruch

Bruch PosterSenior Attorney, Environmental Law Institute

Water, Conflict, and Peacebuilding

Wednesday, March 5, 2014        
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Sorting myth from reality by drawing upon an emerging body of research on water and peacebuilding, Bruch will survey what we have learned about water, conflict, and peacebuilding over the past twenty years.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Water.

Bruch portraitBiography (provided by the speaker)

Carl Bruch is a senior attorney and co-director of international programs at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI).  He has helped countries and organizations throughout Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe develop and strengthen their environmental laws, improve institutions, and build capacity.  He has worked on a range of issues related to natural resources, conflict, and post-conflict peacebuilding, including in East Timor, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liberia, Montenegro, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan, among other countries. He is currently coordinating a global initiative with UNEP, the University of Tokyo, and McGill University to examine experiences in managing natural resources to support post-conflict peacebuilding.  This initiative is generating six edited books with 150 case studies by 225 authors in 50 countries (Earthscan 2012-2014), Read more

Catherine O’Reilly

OReilly PosterFinalProfessor, Illinois State University

Global Consequences of Current Lake Warming

Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Current climate change significantly affects water quality and fish production in freshwater ecosystems with potentially dire consequences for developing countries. This talk explores global patterns in recent lake warming, and describes how these changes are related to climate, geography, and lake shape.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues.  This program is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Water.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

OReilly picCatherine O’Reilly is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography-Geology at Illinois State University. Her research focuses on nutrient cycles and freshwater biogeochemistry, with an interest in human impacts and climate change. Much of her initial work focused on Lake Tanganyika, East Africa, where her research was among the first to show ecosystem-scale impacts of current climate change. Dr. O’Reilly is involved in the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) and the Global Lake Temperature Collaboration (GLTC). She has been the recipient of several National Science Foundation awards and given scientific presentations around the world. Dr. O’Reilly has a B.A. from Carleton College and a Ph.D. from the University Read more