2013 Philomathia Symposium
Water, Climate, and Society: Challenges and Strategies in a Rapidly Changing World
Date: November 1, 2013
Time: 8:00am - 5:30pm
Venue: David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley
Water plays a critical role at the intersection of physical, biological, and social systems. Its scarcity and excess pose multifaceted challenges as reliable water supplies are essential for food production, national security, industry, energy generation, and residential use.
The symposium will connect people, and advance pioneering science as academics, decision-makers, and stakeholders, including authors of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) participate in detailed panel discussions on two interdisciplinary themes: 1) the future of urban water, and strategies for water management and infrastructure; and 2) the impact of changing water supplies on food supplies, security, population, and the natural environment.
Keynote speakers include:
- Lisa Jackson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, 2009-2013.
- Ma Jun, Director, Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, Beijing, China.
- Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, 2005-2013.
Background information:
The global environment and its life support systems for human society are undergoing profound change. Rapid shifts in climate, together with human population growth, urbanization and economic development, will have far-reaching impacts on ecosystems and human society in the coming century. Water plays a critical role at the intersection of the physical, biological and social systems experiencing these impacts. Water shapes virtually all aspects of human societies, and reliable water supplies are essential for agriculture, industry, energy generation, and residential use. Both scarcity and excess of water can present major crises, posing economic, political, and social challenges. Conflicts over water are expected to become more common, especially in ecologically and socially precarious regions of the world.
UC Berkeley’s 2013 Philomathia Forum will address Water, Climate and Society: Challenges and Strategies in a Rapidly Changing World. Water is a critical and relatively poorly understood component of the global climate system, and changing climate will reshape the global distribution of water resources in ways that are unprecedented in recorded human history. A warmer atmosphere generates more intense storm events, while changing circulation patterns will bring extreme droughts to regions that currently have ample water supplies. Water availability shapes the distribution and productivity of natural and agricultural ecosystems across the earth's surface, with critical feedbacks to the climate system. The development of water infrastructure, through dams, diversions and irrigation, has altered terrestrial water flows with profound impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem function, agricultural productivity, and urban growth. As society’s water demand continues to grow, new approaches to urban and agricultural water management will be needed.
The Philomathia Forum will bring together academics, decision-makers, and stakeholders, with a focus on two themes: 1) the future of urban water, and strategies for water management and infrastructure; and 2) the impact of changing water supplies on food supplies, security, population, and the natural environment, and the feedbacks between the land surface and the climate system.
Conference program:
8:00am - 10:45am | Morning Plenary | |
| Nicholas Dirks, Chancellor, University of California, Berkeley Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles (2005-2013) Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2009-2013) Bill Collins, Head, Climate Sciences Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Professor in Earth and Planetary Science, UC Berkeley; Lead Author of IPCC Working Group 1 Chris Field, Director, Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology; Professor of Biology and Environmental Earth System Science; Stanford University; Co-chair of IPCC Working Group 2 | ||
Panel 1: Water, Cities, and Infrastructure | Panel 2: Water, Climate, Food, and Population | |
11:15am - 12:45pm | Panel 1A: Innovations in Technology and Affordability | Panel 2A: Drought, Climate, and Thresholds |
Moderator: Richard Luthy, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security David Sedlak, Co-Director, Berkeley Water Center. Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering. UC Berkeley David Sunding, Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics. UC Berkeley | Moderator: Greg Dalton, Founder, Climate One at The Commonwealth Club Dustin Garrick, Philomathia Foundation Professor of Water Research and Policy. McMaster University Todd Dawson, Professor, Integrative Biology. UC Berkeley Max Auffhammer, Associate Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics. UC Berkeley Sally Thompson, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering. UC Berkeley | |
1:30pm - 3:00pm | Panel 1B: Physical Design Innovations | Panel 2B: Food, Population, and Security |
Moderator: Jennifer Wolch, Dean, College of Environmental Design. UC Berkeley Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy, Professor and Dean, Patel College of Global Sustainability, University of South Florida Kristina Hill, Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning. UC Berkeley Nicholas de Monchaux, Associate Professor, Architecture and Urban Design. UC Berkeley | Moderator: Greg Dalton, Founder, Climate One at The Commonwealth Club Claire Kremen, Director, Berkeley Food Institute. Professor, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. UC Berkeley Solomon Hsiang, Assistant Professor, Goldman School of Public Policy. UC Berkeley Malcolm Potts, Director, Bixby Center for Population, Health, and Sustainability. Professor, School of Public Health. UC Berkeley | |
3:15pm - 5:30pm | Afternoon Plenary | |
Ma Jun, Director, Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, Beijing, China Orville Schell, Director, Center on U.S.-China Relations, Asia Society; Senior Fellow, School for Communication, University of Southern California Students from the UCB School of Journalism reporting on the stories of the day Closing remarks by David Ackerly and David Sedlak |
Leadership
Steering Committee:
David Ackerly (chair), Dept. of Integrative Biology, Berkeley Initiative on Global Change Biology
David Sedlak (co-chair), Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Berkeley Water Center
Bill Collins, Lawrence Berkeley Lab, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Kristina Hill, Dept. of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
Max Auffhammer, Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Dan Farber, School of Law
Mark Schapiro, Graduate School of Journalism, Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism
Advisory Committee:
Eric Brewer, Computer Science Division
Edwin Dobb, Graduate School of Journalism
Graham Fleming, Vice Chancellor for Research
Paul Gerler, Haas School of Business
John Harte, Energy Resources Group, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Dan Kammen, Energy Resources Group, Goldman School of Public Policy
Claire Kremen, Berkeley Food Institute, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Amy Kyle, School of Public Health
Temina Madon, Center for Effective Global Action
Edward Miguel, Department of Economics, Center for Effective Global Action
Braden Penhoet, Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute
Malcolm Potts, Bixby Center for Population, Health, and Sustainability. School of Public Health.
Carolyn Remick, Berkeley Water Center
Martyn Smith, Berkeley Institute for the Environment. School of Public Health