Rethinking the Green Revolution
On March 21 at 1PM ET, join journalist Dan Charles (NPR contributor), professor Prakash Kumar (Penn State), and author Marci Baranski for a panel discussion of Baranski’s book, The Globalization of Wheat: A Critical History of the Green Revolution and the legacy of the Green Revolution. Panelists will discuss both successes and shortcomings of the Green Revolution’s impact on wheat production as a rare convergence of biological and political forces. This model, however, may not be as widely applicable as many proponents have claimed. Rethinking the fundamental assumptions and policy learnings from the Green Revolution is necessary to create more inclusive and sustainable solutions for modern agricultural development efforts.
Date
March 21, 2023 1:00pm—2:00pm
Location Information
ASU Barrett & O’Connor Center
1800 I St NW
2nd floor
Washington, DC 20006Additional Information
Event Policies:
- Attendees are required to show proof of up to date COVID-19 vaccination with ID.
- Box lunches will be provided.
- Doors open at 12:30 PM ET.
- This event will also be livestreamed. Register here to attend virtually.
Science on the Offense
Science is at the heart and center of our current national renewal. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, and the 2022 CHIPs and Science Act, dramatically increase public funding for research and development, create new institutions and linkages, and explicitly call on science to address the most vexing policy challenges from reducing dependence on fossil fuels and creating a 21st century workforce, to combating climate change, to ending cancer as we know it, and winning global competitions on technological innovations. Join the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes on January 23 at 3pm for a discussion about what challenges and opportunities come with this new placement of science and how new policy tools for responsible and anticipatory governance could lead to a more inclusive, robust, and globally competitive innovation ecosystem.
Date
January 23, 2023 3:00pm—5:00pm
Location Information
ASU Barrett & O’Connor Center
1800 I St NW
8th Floor
Washington, DC 20006Additional Information
Event Policies:
- Attendees are required to show proof of up to date COVID-19 vaccination with ID.
- Doors open at 2:45PM ET.
Webinar: How Can the CHIPS and Science Act Deliver on its Promises?
The CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law in August, is one of the most significant pieces of science legislation in years. With $180 billion for research and development over the next five years, it aims to bolster the semiconductor industry as well as federal science agencies like the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy. But now comes what many observers view as the hardest part: not only must the money be appropriated, but the act must be implemented in a way that meets its many objectives. Writing in Issues in Science and Technology, a set of experts explored the ways the CHIPS and Science Act can deliver on its promises to spur innovation, strengthen regional economies and workforce, and promote US competitiveness.
On November 1 at 3:00 PM ET, join Yu Zhou (Vassar College), Steven C. Currall (University of South Florida), Venkatesh Naryanamurti (Harvard University), and Maryann Feldman (Arizona State University) in a discussion moderated by Will Thomas of the American Institute of Physics’ FYI on how implementation of this important legislation can best meet—and balance—its many goals.
Webinar: Is There Really a STEM Workforce Shortage?
Claims that there is a significant shortage of STEM talent have been a running feature of STEM workforce policy discussions since the 1950s. The outcomes of these discussions influence not only federal investment in education and training, but also labor and immigration policy, as well as efforts to diversify the STEM workforce. Yet, as Ron Hira writes in Issues in Science and Technology, the data to bolster such claims are often lacking, and some voices are louder than others. How can STEM workforce needs best be determined, and how should policymakers balance the many factors in play?
On October 24 at 1:30 PM ET, join Howard University’s Ron Hira, Trevor Wagener of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, Matt Sigelman of the Burning Glass Institute, and Iris Wagstaff of Wagstaff STEM Solutions in a discussion moderated by Lydia DePillis of the New York Times on how to make STEM workforce discussions more nuanced and inclusive.
An Experiment in Deliberative Democracy
What does the future look like? Who should decide it? Faced with threats like Brexit, the European Union (EU) institutions had a surprising answer: the people.
The Conference on the Future of Europe is an unprecedented experiment in transnational, large-scale deliberative democracy which led to 49 proposals for the future of the EU and more than 300 concrete measures for the European Institutions to implement. What can we learn from Europe, and how can we use deliberation to improve our democracy? On June 22 at 12PM ET, join Gaëtane Ricard-Nihoul (European Commission, remotely), Servane Metzger (French Ministry of European Affairs, remotely) and Yves Mathieu (Missions Publiques, in-person) to learn more about the unique process of the Conference on the Future of Europe and the experiences of citizens and decision makers.
Date
June 22, 2022 12:00pm—1:30pm
Location Information
1800 I St NW
Second Floor
Washington, DC 20006
Involving the Public in Participatory Scenario Planning in Maui, Hawai‘i
In this project, a participatory scenario planning process and modeling framework was used to demonstrate and communicate the consequences and tradeoffs of alternative land management strategies under a changing climate, and to serve as a tool for decision making under environmental and socioeconomic uncertainty on the island of Maui. An integrated land cover/hydrological modeling framework was developed using GIS data, stakeholder input, climate information and projections, and empirical data to estimate future groundwater recharge on Maui. Four future land-cover scenarios and two downscaled climate projections representing wet and dry climate futures were used to estimate average annual groundwater recharge at the end of the century. The future land-cover scenarios were codeveloped with over 100 diverse stakeholders to portray feasible development futures: Future 1 – ecological conservation-focused, Future 2 – status quo, Future 3 – development-focused, and Future 4 – balanced conservation and development. The estimated mean island-wide recharge rate increased under all future land-cover and climate combinations, although results varied by watershed. Results showed that urban expansion is currently slated for coastal areas that are already water-stressed and had low recharge projections. Through co-development of and participation in this research project, municipal water utilities, policy makers, and planners increased their familiarity with uncertainty and climate projections and are using results to choose watersheds to develop for new freshwater sources.
This completed project will demonstrate how the co-development of climate research through participatory scenario planning and modeling can accelerate the uptake of complex climate data and projections into local decision making by increasing familiarity with uncertain futures.
Date
May 26, 2022 12:00pm—1:00pm
Additional Information
COVID-19 Policies:
- Attendees are required to show proof of up to date vaccination with ID.
- Lunch will be provided.
- This event will also be livestreamed. Register here to attend virtually.
Links
Location Information
1800 I St NW
Washington, DC 20006
Webinar: What Is Biosecurity for the Twenty-First Century?
After September 11 and the anthrax attacks in 2001, the United States adopted a top-down governance structure for bioterrorism that famously employed “guns, gates, and guards” to prevent attacks, while keeping track of suspicious “insiders” who might cause harm. But today, after the emergence of the novel coronavirus and its variants, society’s idea of what constitutes biological security and safety is changing. Looking toward a future in which gene editing can be done by do-it-yourselfers, biological engineering is common, and environmental changes shape new biorealities, the old top-down model of biosecurity will not be up to the task.On May 23 at 3:00 PM ET, join Melissa Haendel (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus), David Gillum (Arizona State University), Sam Weiss Evans (Harvard Kennedy School), and Yong-Bee Lim (Council on Strategic Risks) to discuss how to reimagine biosecurity and biosafety—and even the relationship between biological research and society—for a new era.Imagining COP60: Scenarios, Sci-fi, and Policy Tools in Post-Normal Fiction
Last year’s COP26 was one of the most widely followed events in the history of climate politics. Though new, more ambitious agreements were reached, the world was left with big questions about whether nations would be able to limit global warming to 1.5°C—and how we will adapt to the changes and climate chaos coming.
In his debut book, Our Shared Storm: A Novel of Five Climate Futures, climate fiction author Andrew Dana Hudson imagines the five possible futures for the COP and climate politics. Inspired by the IPCC’s Shared Socioeconomic Pathways scenarios, which were used in the recent Sixth Assessment Report, the stories examine the cultures of climate policy making in futures that range from hopeful to harrowing. The book also includes non-fiction discussions of the opportunities and challenges of writing climate fiction and using stories to advance policy thinking.
Date
April 28, 2022 12:00pm—1:00pm
Location Information
ASU Barrett & O’Connor Center
1800 I St NW
8th Floor
Washington, DC 20006Links