The New Mexico State University Climate Change Education Seminar Series, or NMSUCCESS, is an interdisciplinary series bringing a range of experts to NMSU and venues in Las Cruces to promote informed discussion of the causes and consequence of climate change.
All are free and open to the public. Audience participation encouraged
Thursday September 12, 2019 7pm
DACC East Mesa Campus Auditorium
2800 N. Sonoma Ranch Blvd.
Chihuahuan Desert Landscapes in an Uncertain Future
Dr. Debra Peters
Lead Research Scientist, Jornada Experimental Range
Adjunct Faculty, Plant & Environmental Sciences Department, New Mexico State University
Chihuahuan Desert landscapes are among the most dynamic and heterogeneous ecosystems on Earth. This talk will discuss how these landscapes have changed over the past several centuries, and how these landscapes might be expected to look in the future with a focus on southern New Mexico. Predicting future dynamics is challenging because landscape dynamics are complex and spatially heterogeneous, and the climatic drivers themselves are difficult to predict with extreme events becoming increasingly important. Long-term research conducted within the region since the early 1900s provides unique opportunities to bring insight to the future of the Chihuahuan Desert under a changing climate.
Wednesday October 2, 2019 6pm
Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum
4100 Dripping Springs Rd. Las Cruces
New Mexico at the Crossroads: How the State, Its Biggest City, and NMSU are Addressing Climate Change
Sarah Cottrell Propst – Secretary of the State Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department
Kelsey Rader – Sustainability Officer of Albuquerque
Chancellor Arvizu – Chancellor of New Mexico State University
The panel discussion will be the second event in the New Mexico State Unviersity Climate Change Education Seminar Series (NMSUCCESS) that runs through the spring semester. The panel discussion will be moderated by Melina Burnside, Vice President of Associated Students of New Mexico State University, and founder of the student group Defend our Future. Secretary Propst is expected to discuss a statewide climate strategy produced by a task force that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham assigned her to co-chair in late January. Rader, the city’s first-ever sustainability officer, will discuss steps Albuquerque is taking to achieve 100 percent use of renewable resources by city operations by 2022. Chancellor Arvizu will discuss plans, such as a partnership with El Paso Electric to establish a 3 MW solar array on the south side of the main campus that will provide research and educational opportunities in addition to generating renewable energy.
Wednesday November 6, 2019 7pm
HSS Annex
The Human Dimension of Disaster Preparedness, Vulnerability, and Resilience: The Role of Colleges and Universities
Dr. Jorge Vanegas
Dean of the College of Architecture, Texas A&M University
Research Professor of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, Texas A&M University
There is increasing level of awareness that human activity is causing current and future serious impacts on humans, particularly in poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged communities, regions, and countries. This presentation offers an overview of four actions that colleges and universities can take in their role to address these topics from this perspective: Within all aspects of their academic mission of education, research, and engagement, colleges and universities need to effectively address disaster preparedness, vulnerability, and resilience.
Wednesday November 20, 2019 7pm
Rio Grande Theater
211 N. Main St. Las Cruces
Multispecies Justice in the Age of Biological Annihilation & Climate Breakdown
Subhankar Banerjee
Join artist, public scholar, and conservationist, Subhankar Banerjee for a talk about his role and goals as a co-curator of the exhibition Species in Peril Along the Rio Grande and his ongoing engagement with New Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska’s Arctic. In all three places he has witnessed extreme impacts of climate breakdown and biological annihilation. He will speak about campaigns for multispecies justice and his most recent body of research which sits at the intersection of art, ecocultural activism and environmental humanities. Banerjee, an NMSU Alumnus, serves at Lannan Chair and Professor of Art & Ecology at the University of New Mexico. Presented by New Mexico State University, and Senator Tom Udall.
NMSUCCESS 