Tackling Climate Change: Mitigation or Adaptation?

Past

Mar 17, 2021

4:30 - 6:00 p.m.

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Video

Annual Bicknell Lecture

The global climate has changed profoundly over the last century and now threatens the health and wellbeing of families and communities around the world. With continued climate change we can expect to see more severe and more frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, and floods. The global community must move quickly to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, but there are multiple ways to do so with no clear “one size fits all” solution. This program will ask, should future efforts focus on facilitating large scale mitigation efforts, helping communities and individuals adapt to a changing climate, or do we simply need more research? This year’s Bicknell Lecture will highlight the threats to human health posed by climate change and host a vibrant dialogue with leading experts on how to most productively move forward to address this global challenge.

Bicknell endowed this annual lectureship to provide “a periodic but regular infusion of iconoclasts and original thinkers who will bring ideas to students and faculty that stretch, upset, stimulate, and leave us with renewed energy and commitment to make a real difference in the lives of the poor and the underserved.”

Videos

Speakers

Rachel Kyte

@rkyte365

Dean, Fletcher School at Tufts University

Marshall Shepherd

@DrShepherd2013

Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Georgia

Anne Simpson

@AnneSimpsonUSA

Managing Investment Director, Board Governance & Sustainability, CalPERS

Madeleine Thomson

@madthomson

Head, Our Planet, Our Health program at Wellcome Trust

MODERATOR

Gregory Wellenius

@gwellenius

Professor, Boston University School of Public Health

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Biography

Gregory Wellenius, ScD leverages his training in epidemiology, environmental health, and human physiology to lead research focused on assessing the human health impacts of the built environment in the context of a rapidly changing climate. His team has made a number of notable contributions to our understanding of the health risks associated with air pollution, noise pollution, other features of our physical environment, and those posed by a changing climate. A key goal of his team’s research is to provide the actionable scientific evidence needed to ensure that our communities are as resilient, sustainable, and healthy as possible, emphasizing the benefits to human health of climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Before coming to Boston University, Dr. Wellenius served as faculty and Director of Brown University’s Center for Environmental Health and Technology and Elected Councilor of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE). He has previously taught courses on epidemiology methods, climate change and human health, and methods in environmental epidemiology. He has a strong track record of mentoring undergraduate students, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Wellenius is the 2019 recipient of the ISEE Tony McMichael Mid-Term Career Award and the 2018 recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Brown University School of Public Health.