Department of Earth and Environmental Science

Faculty Working Group: "Responses, Risks and Adaptation to Climate Change"

Action

This Faculty Working Group (FWG) strives to integrate knowledge of human and environmental responses to climate change from across the Schools of Arts and Sciences (SAS) and other schools, through the following activities:

1. Organizing climate-themed events and symposia of interest to the entire Penn community, and the public.
2. Creating a web-based clearinghouse that highlights climate-change related research and courses at Penn. The website will serve to raise Penn’s profile in this area through two specific aims: (1) to engage undergraduate and graduate students who are looking for course-work or research opportunities; and (2) to allow outside researchers and the media to easily identify and communicate with faculty having relevant expertise. 
3. The Group works to unify Faculty efforts in teaching climate-related courses, so that (1) students are steered toward relevant classes across the University, and (2) opportunities for guest lecturing and team teaching among diverse faculty can be used to highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the science.
4. The Group coordinates outreach activities among members. Several faculty already perform outreach work with local schools, and communicate regularly with the media. The FWG serves to bring these efforts under a common banner that will bring more recognition to the University of Pennsylvania as a whole.
5. We anticipate that the FWG will generate several interdisciplinary research proposals for submission to programs such as the NSF Coupled Human and Natural Systems. Such research is urgently needed, and this FWG will provide fertile ground for generating fresh approaches to emerging climate change challenges.
This Faculty Working Group helps to open a dialog among diverse faculty who are concerned about the threats of climate change, and committed to bringing their expertise to bear on society’s most pressing environmental issue. Through seminars, courses and this dedicated website we seek to integrate our collective knowledge of climate-change-related science, engage students to get involved in this field, and stimulate new interdisciplinary research at the University of Pennsylvania. The research and education agenda we advance here will add momentum to President Amy Gutmann’s signing of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.