Climate change rock stars coming to Corvallis

by Shelby Wood, The Oregonian

Wednesday January 07, 2009, 8:32 AM

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It's not often that I think, man, I wish I lived in Corvallis. If I did, I'd definitely swing by Oregon State University to listen to the climate change rock stars about to arrive for a winter seminar series.

The line-up includes two MacArthur (genius) fellows and lead authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The speakers begin Jan. 13 and run through March 11. Most talks are on Tuesdays at 4 p.m. in OSU's Cordley Hall, Room 1109, with the exception of the final three sessions.

Granted, the organizers need a catchier title. But the lectures that make up the "Global Climate Change: Detection, Attribution, Impacts, Adaptation, Mitigation and Litigation" series are free, designed for a general, non-scientific audience and open to the public.

The schedule:

Tues., Jan. 13: Ben Santer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, "How Do We Know that Human Activities Have Influenced Global Climate?"

Tues., Jan. 20: David Battisti, University of Washington, "Global Warming and Global Food Production"

Tues., Jan. 27: Dan Schrag, Harvard University, "Confronting the Climate-Energy Challenge"

Tues., Feb. 3: Heather Holsinger, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, "U.S. Climate Policy: A Brave New World?"

Tues., Feb. 10: Bette Otto-Bliesner, National Center for Atmospheric Research, "Polar Warmth, Ice Sheet Stability and Sea-Level Rise: Past Perspectives"

Tues., Feb. 17: Roger Pielke, Jr., University of Colorado, "Uncomfortable Knowledge about Climate Policy"

Fri., Feb. 27: Eric Rignot, NASA and University of California/Irvine, "Satellite Studies of the Contribution to Sea Level Rise from Greenland and Antarctica Ice Dynamics"

Mon., March 2: Steve Susman, Susman Godfrey LLP, "Climate Change Litigation: The Courthouse Effect" (Gilfillan Auditorium)

Wed., March 11: Brian Fagan, University of California/Santa Barbara, "The Great Warming, or the Story of the Silent Elephant in the Room" (Gilfillan Auditorium)

For more event details, check out OSU's Department of Geosciences Web site.

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