Can We Heal our Warming Planet? 2023 Capstone Seminar Explores Possibilities

Students in Lawrenceville’s 2023 Capstone course will explore an issue that literally affects every living thing on Earth: climate change. Steve Laubach, Lawrenceville’s director of sustainability, said the course will examine:

● How can climate change be understood through the lenses of science, communications, policy, urban design, and equity?

● How do we use science to understand climate change and related environmental topics?

● What effects do we have on the environment?

● As citizens and future leaders, what responsibilities do we have to the environment and to each other?

Lawrentians enrolled in the spring term class, which will feature talks from eight outside experts, will study the issue from an interdisciplinary perspective.

March 27: Bernadette Woods Placky (Chief Meteorologist and Director of Climate Matters Program at Climate Central). Topic: Climate Change Overview and Connecting weather and climate through climate attribution science.

April 3: Craig McLean (retired Director of Research at NOAA). Topic: The importance of the ocean to weather, climate and planetary health.

April 10: Shahzeen Attari (Associate Professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Bloomington). Topic: Decisions about resource use and how to motivate action on climate change.

April 17: Elizabeth Bagley (Project Drawdown Managing Director) Topic: Climate solutions and supporting sustainability leaders..

April 24: Jen Kretser (Director of Programs, Youth Climate Initiative for The Wild Center) and Elodie Link (Communications Fellow, The Wild Center). Topic: Communicating with the public on climate change.

May 1: Anu Ramaswami (Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University Institute for International and Regional Studies and the High Meadows Environmental Institute). Topic: Sustainable urban infrastructure systems.

May 8: Hannah-Marie Garcia ’15 (Indigenous Sentinels Network Coordinator, Aleut Community of St. Paul Island). Topic: Partnerships among Nonprofit, Government, and Tribal Organizations to Address Climate Change in Alaska.

Since 1990, the Culbertson Capstone Program has educated Lawrentians in contemporary issues, providing an opportunity for Fifth Formers to synthesize the intellectual skills they’ve developed over the course of their Lawrenceville careers. The course is highlighted by lectures from nationally known experts who present diverse points of view on topics of contemporary relevance — from global warming, to post-Katrina New Orleans, to religion and politics. Every four years, the course examines the U.S. presidential election.

For additional information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.