A Webcast with Michael Crow, Billy Parish and Dave Newport, moderated by James Gorman.

Webcast Details
December 12, 2007
2–3:30 PM, Eastern Time
CD available for puchase

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Webcast Description
The most pressing environmental issue for our society is our ability to address the threat of runaway climate change. Colleges and universities have assumed an extraordinary leadership role to research and implement the necessary solutions to achieve climate neutrality.

To date, more than 350 presidents and chancellors have signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), a unique collective action that is the first by a large sector to set climate neutrality as the ultimate goal. The ACUPCC provides a common framework for institutions to contextualize and benefit most from related initiatives on campuses across the country, such as the Campus Climate Challenge, Focus the Nation, and hundreds of institutional projects. Through these activities, higher education is leading by example, sending strong signals to the markets and policy makers with their actions and enabling the rest of society follow suit through research and education. More information including a list of signatories is available at www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org.

Moderated by the editor of The New York Times' Science Times, this program will cover the highlights of what is happening in higher education around climate change, as well as the basics of the ACUPCC and what it means for specific activities around climate change, both now and in the future. It will provide models which are transferable to other higher education institutions, corporations, and communities. Participants will learn best practices, national trends and resources they can utilize.

About the Moderator

James Gorman is the editor of Science Times and deputy science editor for The New York Times since September 2004. Previously, he was a science reporter for The Times.

Mr. Gorman launched The Times's Circuits section in 1997 and was then the editor of Circuits. He has also held positions at The Times such as story editor for The New York Times Magazine and an outdoors columnist.

Previous to joining The Times in 1993 he was a freelance writer and author of several books, including "The Man With No Endorphins," "Ocean Enough and Time," "First Aid for Hypochondriacs," and "The Total Penguin." He has been to Antarctica twice, set foot on Cape Horn, and written about almost every sort of science. He also has written humor for The New Yorker and other magazines.

About the Participants

Michael Crow—educator, knowledge enterprise architect, and science and technology policy scholar—became the sixteenth president of Arizona State University on July 1, 2002. He is guiding the transformation of ASU into one of the nation's leading public metropolitan research universities, one that is directly engaged in the economic, social, and cultural vitality of its region. Under his direction, the university pursues teaching, research and creative excellence focused on the major challenges and questions of our time, as well as those central to the building of a sustainable environment and economy for Arizona. He has committed the university to global engagement and to setting a new standard for public service.

Since he took office, ASU has marked a number of important milestones, including the establishment of major interdisciplinary research initiatives such as the Biodesign Institute; the Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS); and MacroTechnology Works, a program integrating science and technology for large-scale applications, including the Flexible Display Center, a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army. Under his direction, ASU has initiated a dramatic research infrastructure expansion to create more than one million square feet of new research space, and has announced naming gifts endowing the W. P. Carey School of Business, the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing.

Prior to joining ASU, he was executive vice provost of Columbia University, where he also was professor of science and technology policy in the School of International and Public Affairs. As chief strategist of Columbia's research enterprise, he led technology and innovation transfer operations, establishing Columbia Innovation Enterprises (now Science and Technology Ventures), the Strategic Initiative Program and the Columbia Digital Media Initiative, as well as advancing interdisciplinary program development.

He played the lead role in the creation of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and helped found the Center for Science, Policy, and Outcomes (CSPO) in Washington, D.C., a think tank dedicated to linking science and technology to optimal social, economic, and environmental outcomes. In 2003 CSPO was reestablished at ASU as the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes.

Dr. Crow has been a senior adviser to the US Department of State and Department of Commerce on matters of science and technology policy in areas related to intelligence and national security. A fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, he is the author of books and articles relating to the analysis of research organizations, technology transfer, science and technology policy, and the theory and practice of public policy.

Billy Parish, co-founder and coordinator of the Energy Action Coalition, maintains that "global warming is a call to arms" for his generation because "We are the ones who will have to deal with its growing consequences." In his efforts to develop sustainable energy policies for the United States and Canada, Billy has brought together over 40 youth-led organizations into a joint campaign called The Campus Climate Challenge. "The Challenge" is focused on making schools models of sustainability for the rest of society and empowering young people to be at the forefront of the growing movement to end our reliance on fossil fuels and address global warming. With student groups at over 540 schools participating, The Challenge has already helped pass more than 350 campus climate policies and engage two million students in climate-focused events and activities on their campus.

Billy was a 2005 Rolling Stone magazine "Climate Hero," Mother Jones magazine's 2006 "Student Activist of the Year," and was recently named a Ashoka Fellow, the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs. A co-author of the report "New Energy for Campuses," a guide for colleges and universities on how to cost-effectively cut their greenhouse gas emissions, Billy works to train students and equip them with the tools they need to implement local climate solutions. Billy has taken four years off from Yale, where he was co-chair of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition and was majoring in Ethics, Politics & Economics.

Dave Newport is director of the University of Colorado at Boulder Environmental Center —the nation’s oldest, largest, and most accomplished student-funded center of its kind. Founded on Earth Day 1970, the Environmental Center’s 70+ staff operate one of higher education’s original recycling programs, alternative transportation programs, energy and climate conservation programs, sustainable food, environmental justice, environmentally preferred purchasing, and numerous student-led operational, educational and research initiatives.

Dave is also chair of the university’s Carbon Neutrality Working Group, a member of the board of directors of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), a member of the steering committee for AASHE’s forthcoming campus sustainability ratings system (STARS), and will next semester be teaching an online course in Carbon Neutrality Planning for Higher Education. Dave was formerly sustainability director at the University of Florida, project manager of Florida’s first climate neutrality assessment project, and co-author of the first comprehensive sustainability assessment of a college campus performed to international business standards.

Who Should Attend
This program is designed for anyone on or near campus who wants to do something about climate change, needs to understand more about climate change, or is facing professional challenges due to institutional desire to become carbon neutral and more sustainable.

What Is Needed to Participate in the Webcast
This program will be delivered by live streaming video with accompanying audio. You will need a computer with an Internet connection and speakers from your computer to project the sound to your audience. A data projector can also be used to share the presentation to a larger group at your location under that single connection. There is no limit to the number of participants at a single listening site.

One low fee purchases a single link to the broadcast. After you register, you will be forwarded an email with preliminary information about the broadcast and how to access it. Four days before the live broadcast you will receive an e-mail titled "NYT/SCUP Webcast Instructions." It will contain information about how to test your computer and provides a password to access the program.

AIA Continuing Education Units
SCUP is a registered provider of continuing education units from The American Institute of Architects (AIA). This webcast offers 1.5 learning units. Report forms will be sent to registered sites with webcast log-in instructions.

More Information
For questions about registration, please contact: webcast.registration@scup.org
For all other questions, please contact: kathy.benton@scup.org or 734.998.6966