Environmental Science and Policy

Past seminars

Oct 15, 2003       Michael Tillman, Head of NOAA Southwest Fisheries
Nov 6, 2003         David Younkman
Nov 10, 2003       Martha Campbell
Jan 15, 2004       Raphael Sagarin, UCLA
Jan 30, 2004       Rob Wilder, The Nature Conservancy
Mar 2, 2004         Gene Rosow, Common Ground Media, Inc
Mar 19, 2004       Panel of Science Journalists - Photos!
Mar 31, 2004       Carolyn Chase, The Sierra Club
Apr 13, 2004       Heidi Gjertsen, Southwest Fisheries
Apr 22, 2004       Dave Hill, USGS
May 13, 2004       Donna Frye, San Diego City Councilmember
Oct 5, 2004         US-Mexico Cross-borders ecology management
Oct 19, 2004       Bruce Reznik, San Diego Baykeeper
Nov 4, 2004         Gary Davis, National Parks Service
Nov 18, 2004       Gerardo Toledo, Diversa
Jan 25, 2005       Terry Rodgers, San Diego Union-Tribune
Feb 18, 2005       Dan Biller, World Bank
Feb 23, 2005       Scott Peters, San Diego City Council
Feb 24, 2005       Keely Donovan, SCA
Apr 12, 2005       Dr. Tim Barnett
May 12, 2005       Professor Wolf Berger
May 25, 2005       Judith Seid, financial consultant
Oct 20, 2005       Nigella Hillgarth, Director of Birch Aquarium
Nov 3, 2005         Dr. Rob Wilder, CEO and Founder of Wildershares
Jan 25, 2006       Alison Whitelaw FAIA, Platt/Whitelaw Architects, Inc.
Feb 15, 2006       Dr. Russell L. Chapman, Executive Director, CMBC
Mar 8, 2006         Dr. Meenakshi Chakraverti, Public Conversations Project
Nov 21, 2006       Dr. Dan Biller, The World Bank
Feb 1, 2007         Dr. David Hazlebeck, General Atomics
Jun 14, 2007       Dan Yankelovich
Nov 24, 2008       Stephen Bennett, Director of Business Development, SIO



Wednesday, October 15,2003
The International Whaling Commission: Problems, Policies and Politics
Michael Tillman
Head of NOAA Southwest Fisheries, very active in indigenous issues in the International Whaling Commission.
Biography: Fisheries Service for 31 years, currently director of SWFSC. Involved in whaling issues for 30 years, deputy commissioner to IWC for 9 years (this is an appointment post by the Clinton administration).Makak tribe NW US,10, 000 individuals, block and tackle to pull whale by tail onto ice, processing.


Thursday, November 6, 2003
The Nature Conservancy's entry into the international world and lessons learned
David Younkman
Worked with Nature Conservancy for 20 years (including time with the international division in South America), with American Wildlife Foundation for 2 years, etc. How the Nature Conservancy expanded into the international arena from being a domestic non-profit, initial and evolution.


Monday, November 10, 2003
Population and the environment
Martha Campbell


Thursday, January 15, 2004
From Tidepools to Congress and Back: Field Notes from Washington, DC
Rafe Sagarin, Ph.D.
The Environmental Policy Seminar Series will host Dr. Raphael D. Sagarin of UCLA. Dr. Sagarin recently finished a GSA/USGS Congressional Science Fellowship in Washington D.C. working with Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.). He will speak on the interface between science and conservation.


Friday, January 30, 2004
Some Lessons Learned in the Practice and Policy of Marine Biodiversity Conservation
Rob Wilder, The Nature Conservancy
This talk will address three major-albeit very different trends in conservation of marine biodiversity. Each of the three trends opens an exceptional range of potential new strategies for marine biodiversity, and potential roles for academics, governments, NGOs, activitists and others. These global and international trends include: 1) Getting to Better Integration of Science & Policy; 2) The Adoption of Marine Protected Areas; 3) Improving What We Do About the Land-Based Sources of Pollution.

At the outset, there's growing consensus that "second generation" marine conservation really will demand genuine integration of science & policy. But this won't be an easy task. On the policy side, *governmental actions are often highly fragmented; *crucial natural linkages between land and sea are usually overlooked; and *governance is permissive-rather than precautionary. Marine sciences for their part, also face some real obstacles in helping inform policymakers. Confounding factors often produce uncertainty-like naturally chaotic population dynamics. And science is only beginning to fathom extant biodiversity at levels of genome, species, and habitat.

One result is that in recent U.S. laws, and international agreements ('conventions'), a new Precautionary aproach is just starting to encourage fresh emphasis on holistic and conservative thinking. This principle seeks to manage according to whole ecosystems, with an eye to maintaining structure & function. This also led me to look upstream in my personal conservationist work to address land-based sources of marine harm, and create clean energy systems and a "green home" demonstration project here in Olivenhain (Encinitas) that shows how we can prevent marine pollution in the first place. Such systems can have tremendous impacts on point and non-point contaminants. Ultimately, preserving marine biodiversity may demand a multi-faceted approach that crosses disciplines.


Tuesday, March 2, 2004
DIRT Getting the stories out: Media in the Age of Environment
Gene Rosow, Ph.D. of Common Ground Media, Inc
Einstein is often quoted for saying "We cannot solve the problems of today at the level of thinking at which they were first created." What role can media play in developing another level of thinking about the environment? Gene Rosow, PhD, of Common Ground Media, Inc will discuss DIRT, an innovative comprehensive environmental media project in development. The project which is based on the book "Dirt: the Ecstatic Skin of the Earth" by William Bryant Logan, is comprised of: a multipart documentary series; a national public engagement campaign to promote biodiversity, bioremediation and sustainability; and, an environmental media web portal. Dr. Rosow will also tell how his experiences as a science student, (grad and undergrad), historian (UC Berkeley faculty), feature film producer and documentary film maker got him into this Dirty business.


Friday, March 19, 2004 - Photos!
Today's Science, Tomorrow's Headlines: A Discussion with
Andy Revkin (New York Times)
John Fialka (Wall Street Journal)
Jeff Burnside (WTVJ NBC-6 News)
Bruce Lieberman (San Diego Union Tribune)
Dale Willman (Field Notes Productions)
with additional speakers from Nature, Time, and the BBC


Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Introduction to Sierra Club Internal Politics
Carolyn Chase
Chair of the Political Committee of the San Diego Sierra Club and member of the Executive Committee


Tuesday, April 13, 2004
The Promise and Pitfalls of Marine Protected Areas: Evidence from the Philippines
Heidi Gjertsen

Heidi Gjertsen is an economist at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center,where she has just begun a project on the economics of sea turtleconservation in the Pacific. She received a Ph.D. from Cornell Universityin August 2003 in the department of Applied Economics and Management. Herdissertation included empirical work on the design and performance ofmarine protected areas in the Philippines.

Hundreds of marine protected areas (MPAs) have been implemented aroundthe world to manage fisheries and protect habitat, among otherobjectives. While MPAs can be an effective tool for dealing with theseissues, it is estimated that 80-90% of MPAs worldwide are not meetingtheir management objectives. Marine protected areas vary considerably intheir design and implementation and the sites in which they are located.Data collected from 42 community-based coral reef MPAs in the Philippinesdemonstrates the effect of some of these factors on MPA performance andsuggests how appropriate design can improve the use of MPAs as a tool forecosystem management. This study also suggests the limitations of themarine protected area approach as a tool for improving marginalfishermen's livelihoods.


Thursday, April 22, 2004
A Brew of Volcanic Hazards, the Public, and Science in Long Valley Caldera
Dr. Dave Hill
US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA


Thursday, May 13, 2004
An informal discussion on the use of science in local policy decisions
Donna Frye
San Diego City Councilmember


Tuesday, Oct 5, 2004
US-Mexico Cross-borders ecology management roundtable
Moderator: Professor Vincent (IR/PS)
Panel:Jeff Crooks (chief scientist, Tijuana reserve)
Professor Rick van Schoik (SDSU, studies US-Mex interactions)
Professor Richard Carson (UCSD Economics Prof)
Professor Ruben Lara (Mexican scientist from Ensenada)


Tuesday, Oct 19, 2004
Putting Advocacy into Action to Protect San Diego's Bays, Beaches and Watersheds - An open discussion on environmental issues in San Diego Bay and the role of science in addressing these issues
Bruce Reznik
San Diego Baykeeper


Thursday, Nov 4, 2004
A 40 Year Science Odyssey in Ocean Parks
Gary Davis
National Parks Service


Thursday, Nov 18, 2004
Biotechnology: an alternative for career development and environmental sustainability
Gerardo Toledo
Diversa


Tuesday, Jan 25, 2005
History of the La Jolla seals
Terry Rodgers
Staff Writer, San Diego Union-Tribune
Terry has been following and reporting on the the story of the seals at Seal Cove or Children's Pool in La Jolla for 10 years. He plans to address the role science has played in these decisions as well as the history of the debate.


Friday, Feb 18, 2005
Harnessing Markets for Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use
Dan Biller
World Bank
Dan is the Lead Economist for Environmental, Natural Resource and Social Issues in the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank. His visit included a discussion with students on sustainability as viewed from multilateral organizations and a surfing trip!


Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005
Integrating science with local government policy
Scott Peters
San Diego City Councilman
Scott Peters was elected to the San Diego City Council in November of 2000. Scott represents the City's First Council District, covering the northwest part of the city including La Jolla. As a Councilmember, Scott serves on the City's Committee on Rules, Finance and Intergovernmental Relations, and as Chair of the Land Use and Housing Committee. Scott is co-chair of the City's Clean Water Task Force, a collaboration of elected officials, regulators, environmental activists, academics and industry representatives developing strategies to contain and control polluted stormwater runoff. He is also a member of the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority, which will construct a 55-mile park through four ecosystems, from the ocean to the mountains


Thursday, Feb 24, 2005
Working with the SCA
Keely Donovan
Student Conservation Association
SCA is an NGO with the goal of natural resource conservation in the U.S. Some examples of SCA projects include funding modes of alternative transport in several National Parks and involvement in the California Wildfire Recovery Project. Keely Donovan will come speak with us about their conservation efforts, how the organization works, and some of their impacts/interactions with policymakers.


Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005
Dr. Tim Barnett
Tim will discuss his recent results in ocean warming, then give some information about funding sources and organizations of climate skeptics. Tim has provided a copy of a 1997 memo outlining an anti-Kyoto public relations campaign, which you can download here. You can contrast this with the more recent Pentagon report on security issues related to abrupt climate change, here. For the science part of the talk, here is the Scripps news brief about Tim's recent ocean warming results


Thursday, May 12, 2005
Impacts of Global Warming: Lessons from the Ice Ages
Professor Wolf Berger


Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Socially Responsible Investing
Judith Seid, financial consultant
Socially responsible investing (SRI) is the wave of the future financially, environmentally, and socially. Learn what it is, how it gives shareholders the power to impact the behavior of corporations (e.g. getting Home Depot to buy only sustainable wood products, stopping unnecessary animal testing, decreasing unfair labor practices), and why SRI actually outcompetes other forms of traditional investing.


Thursday, Oct 20, 2005
Personal experiences with scientific outreach
Nigella Hillgarth, Director of Birch Aquarium


Thursday, Nov 3, 2005
Creating the first clean energy fund
Dr. Rob Wilder, CEO and Founder of Wildershares
Dr. Rob Wilder is CEO of WilderShares, LLC, and Manager of the WilderHill Clean Energy Index (ECO), the first fund on Wall Street for low-carbon 'solutions'. Dr. Wilder's background is in policy for marine biodiversity conservation, activism for protecting coasts and oceans, and applied means to prevent pollution in the first place. This clean energy fund started in March of 2005, and now has roughly $170 million under management.

Dr. Wilder will speak about origins of the WilderHill Clean Energy Index (ECO) and its tracking Fund on Wall Street (PBW), and how these were developed. Notably, Index (ECO) antecedents are found in his Ph.D. dissertation research in marine conservation funded by Institute of Marine Resources at the Scripps Inst. of Oceanography, and a California Sea Grant Fellowship in offshore oil and energy policy.


Wednesday, Jan 25, 2006
Sustainable Building
Alison Whitelaw FAIA, Platt/Whitelaw Architects, Inc.
www.plattwhitelaw.com
Alison will provide an overview of some of the environmental problems contributed by the construction and operation of buildings and the design strategies that provide more sustainable solutions.


Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The CMBC, the Third Global Conference On Oceans, Coasts, and Islands, and Environmental Science and Policy: Quo Vadis?
Dr. Russell L. Chapman, Executive Director
Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation
cmbc.ucsd.edu


Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Dr. Meenakshi Chakraverti, Associate, Public Conversations Project
www.publicconversations.org
Meenakshi Chakraverti will present an introduction to the work of the Public Conversations Project (PCP) on fostering constructive conversations on public issues. She will discuss some of the core principles and practices that underly PCP's approach to dialogue, briefly describe some of the work they have done on scientific and environmental issues, and then open the floor for a discussion on the potential and limitations of dialogue for addressing controversial issues of relevance to the SIO community.

Meenakshi Chakraverti is an Associate of the Public Conversations Project, through which she offers dialogue training, facilitation, and consultation to U.S.-based and international groups that are embroiled in polarized conflict on public issues.


Tuesday, Nov 21, 2006
Dr. Dan Biller, The World Bank
"How can environmental issues be integrated into development?"
Dan is the Lead Economist for Environmental, Natural Resource and Social issues in the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank.


Thursday, Feb 1, 2007
Dr. David A. Hazlebeck, General Atomics
"Biofuels from Algae"
Dr. Hazlebeck is the program manager for the biofuels projects, the Commercial Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) projects, hazardous waste destruction and waste energy projects (hydrolysis plants and vitrification systems). He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware in 1984 and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego, in 1989.

Dr. Hazlebeck has over 18 years of industrial experience in chemical process research and development and is the inventor of General Atomics microalgae biodiesel process. He is also the inventor of several other chemical processes for biofuels and has developed a biochemical model to predict cellular composition based on growth conditions. In addition to the many patents he holds, he invented and developed a low-cost supercritical water oxidation process for commercial systems.


Thursday, June 14, 2007
Dan Yankelovich
Mr. Yankelovich will be speaking about about his work with public opinion and its potential for effecting public policy on issues such as energy sustainability.

In 1958, Dan Yankelovich founded the research firm of Yankelovich, Skelly and White and in the 1970s initiated the New York Times/Yankelovich poll. He was a founding President of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was educated at Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard and the Sorbonne. He is the recipient of The Parlin Award for his pioneering work in marketing research, the Dinerman Award of the World Association of Public Opinion Research and the Outstanding Achievement Award from the New York Chapter of the American Association of Public Opinion Research. He has authored ten books and currently serves as chairman of three organizations.


Monday, November 24th, 2008
The Research Nexus between Industry, Investing and Intellect
Stephen Bennett, Director of Business Development, SIO

The Environmental Science and Policy student group is proud to present this opportunity for graduate students to interact with the recently appointed Director of Business Development at SIO. Stephen Bennett has rare professional expertise at the interface of academia and business, and has a fascinating non-traditional interdisciplinary career path (read more about his bio here). Here's what Stephen will be discussing:

This presentation begins with a chronology of my career beginning as a freshly minted media meteorologist and continuing through a colossal corporate collapse in the financial sector then across the Bar (exam) and most recently landing at Scripps. I will reflect on the types of research questions that challenge scientists in the private sector. I use these reflections to frame certain general characteristics of the private sector and private sector science. Challenges for private sector scientists demonstrate what I believe to be a chasm within the scientific community itself. I argue that attention to the nexus between basic science and scientific application can lead to significant advancement for both the research community and for the corporate sector. I conclude by offering some recommendations for today's students who are considering their own intellectual and professional futures. I hope this presentation finally evolves into an open a forum discussion because your observations and input are essential in improving the pathway from basic science to societal solutions.