University of California, Berkeley
IN-26: Innovation C

More than ever, California needs to play a proactive role in understanding our global impact and in finding solutions to ensure a vibrant future. In fact, the state leads the nation — and the world — in developing a clean-energy economy, ameliorating the effects of global change, and promoting green businesses for the future. UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Lab have long been leaders in the research needed to understand and respond effectively to humanity's global environmental impact, such as developing energy efficiency standards that are now used around the world, developing technologies for making our cities more resilient to droughts and floods, converting sunlight into modern fuels, assessing the impact of the sixth mass extinction, to forecasting future change. To highlight the latest research findings emerging from UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Lab, the campus present Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World, an unusual opportunity to learn directly from leading researchers who are developing solutions to the environmental challenges we face. In May 2017 over a dozen prominent Berkeley researchers provided a synopsis of the state of the planet, a better understanding of the challenges we face and the solutions being developed at UC Berkeley – and being implemented globally. This rare gathering of leading Berkeley scientists, engineers, scholars and policy experts was moderated by prominent radio host, Michael Krasny. The speakers in the series include incoming College of Natural Resources Dean, David Ackerly, who asks "Can plants and animals adapt to a changing climate or will we require new approaches to biodiversity conservation?" Agricultural and Resource Economics Professor Max Aufhammer addresses "What is the economic cost of one more ton of CO2 emissions?" And Mary Anne Piette, director of the Building Technology and Urban Systems Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, asks: "How can building loads help us achieve a low carbon electric grid?" In total, the video series features 17 top UC Berkeley climate and environment experts who have helped make Berkeley the top-ranked university in the world in environmental sciences. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/environment-ecology