Penn State Focus the Nation

Note: This is an archive, dated 2 June 2014. The original version was at http://pennstatefocusthenation.org.

Thursday, January 31, 2008, 9:00-5:00, HUB Auditorium.
One of 1,600 simultaneous events across the nation.

Focus the Nation 2 has already been scheduled for Thursday, February 5th, 2009. If you were not involved in Penn State's 2008 Focus the Nation planning but would like to get involved for 2009, please contact me. Note that I have not yet decided what level of involvment I will have in this event, but in the meantime I'm happy to maintain a list of who's interested.
- Seth Baum, sbaum [at] psu.edu


Watch the 2008 event online:

The entire Penn State event is available online courtesy of Education Technology Services. If you do not have a Penn State User ID, please obtain a Friends of Penn State account.
* 900-945: Opening Remarks
* 945-1100: Climate Science
* 1115-1230: Climate Impacts
* 1230-1: Water: past & present
* 1-215: IPCC Panel
* 230-345: Global Solutions
* 400-500: Local Solutions

Other Focus the Nation content available for viewing online:
* FtN's YouTube page
* Granger Morgan: "Climate Change 101", courtesy of FtN-Pittsburgh. Click here to watch.
* Stephen Schneider, Hunter Lovins, and Van Jones, and many more: "The 2% Solution", courtesy of FtN-National. Click here to watch.

See also the February 19, 2008 Nobel Knowledge on Climate Change forum featuring Richard Alley, William Easterling, Michael Mann, Klaus Keller, and Anne Thompson. Click here to watch.


Media coverage:


AccuWeather.com's Global Warming Center had extensive coverage of Penn State Focus the Nation. Headline: Earth with Katie Fehlinger featured FtN in four segments (1-4). Direct links to these segments are on the Global Warming Blog with Bret Anderson. The Global Warming Blog also featured two independent stories (5-6).
1) "Focus on the Issue" discusses the FtN event. Link: A Climate Change Teach-In, February 22, 2008.
2) "Feeding a Warming World" with William Easterling. Link: Food For a Warming World, March 19, 2008.
3) "Personal Reflections on the IPCC" with William Easterling. Link: IPCC Lead Author on Headline Earth, March 24, 2008.
4) "Are Biofuels a Smart Move?" with William Easterling. Link: Are Biofuels a Smart Move?, March 30, 2008.
5) Critical Thresholds on Klaus Keller's work, February 5, 2008.
6) A Regional Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Brent Yarnal's work, February 3, 2008.

Other coverage:
* Students 'focus' on climate concerns by Elizabeth Murphy, The Daily Collegian, February 1, 2008, pages 1-2. See also PDF of front page.
* PSU to host climate change teach-in, The Daily Collegian, January 31, 2008, page 2.
* Penn State joins largest teach-in in U.S. history, Penn State Live, January 24, 2008.

See also FtN-National's Media Room for coverage from around the country and beyond.


2008 event schedule:

900-945: Opening Remarks Click here to watch
Jeremy Cohen, Professor of Media Studies, Associate Vice President, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, founder of the Penn State Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy: Civic engagement
Adam Rome, Associate Professor of History: History of environmental movements

945-1100: Climate Science Click here to watch
Elizabeth Crisfield, Presenter in Al Gore's The Climate Project: Climate change fundamentals
Robert Crane, Professor of Geography, Director of AESEDA: Multi-scale climate modeling
Lee Kump, Professor of Geosiences: Climate change in Earth history

1115-1230: Climate Impacts Click here to watch
Brent Yarnal, Professor of Geography, Director of CIRA: Natural hazards and vulnerability assessment
Petra Tschakert, Assistant Professor of Geography: Rural livelihoods and sustainability
Denice Wardrop, Associate Director of Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center: Ecosystem fitness

1230-1: Intermission/Film Screening Click here to watch
Water: past & present. A documentary by the children of the Himalayas. Produced by The Mountain Project: Christopher Hoadley, Associate Professor of Instructional Systems and Information Sciences & Technology; Sameer Honwad; and Ken Tamminga, Professor of Landscape Architecture.

1-215: IPCC Panel Click here to watch
William Easterling, Professor of Geography, Dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Coordinating Lead Author of IPCC AR4 WGII (Chapter 5): Climate change impacts on agriculture
Klaus Keller, Assistant Professor of Geosciences, Contributing Author of IPCC AR4 WGII (Chapter 19): Abrupt climate change and climate-economy modelling
Anne Thompson, Professor of Meteorology, Contributing Author of IPCC AR1 WGI: Atmospheric chemistry and global change

230-345: Global Solutions Click here to watch
Fan Zhang, Assistant Professor of Energy Policy and Economics: Market-based climate policy
James McCarthy, Associate Professor of Geography: Political ecology and environmental governance
Nancy Tuana, Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Rock Ethics Institute: Ethical dimensions of climate change

400-500: Local Solutions Click here to watch
Andy Lau, Associate Professor of Engineering: Sustainable design
Dorothy Blair, Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Science, Technology, and Society: Sustainable food choices

For more information contact Seth Baum at sbaum [at] psu.edu.

Created 29 Nov 2007 * Updated 4 Apr 2008