Events
Seminar title: Macroevolutionary models for understanding diversification over deep time scales.
Hosted by Corrie Moreau
Globally, 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services, 3.5 billion lack access to safely managed sanitation services, and 1 billion people still practice open defecation. At the same time, climate change is threatening communities’ water supplies and the integrity of existing infrastructure. These realities converge to create a pressing need for new thinking about the planning, design, and financing of the next generation of water and sanitation infrastructure. This talk will examine the global challenge of providing universal access to resilient water and sanitation services with particular attention to Sub-Saharan Africa and how the global community can finance this transition.
Recent assessments of climate change impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa indicate that the continent is already experiencing impacts from rising temperatures, including water shortages, reduced food production, loss of lives and biodiversity loss. There are an increased number of extreme events, from drought, floods and tropical storms, and these events will worsen if global greenhouse gases are not significantly reduced. At the same time, Africa is one of the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and many countries struggle to manage with the cost of climate change adaptation, while also paying high levels of debt. Alongside these climate challenges are ongoing extractive industries looking to Africa as a new or ongoing source of resources – including mining precious minerals to support renewable alternatives to fossil fuels. Despite this bleak picture, alternative models that are transformative and reparative are emerging as ways to imagine just climate futures in Africa. These alternatives include attention to multiple types of social inequities and building development strategies through dialogue and careful attention to power dynamics. Adaptation approaches that support decent livelihoods alongside biodiversity, ecosystems and indigenous knowledge are being tested and expanded. Recognition of power inequities at multiple scales and reparation of these inequities is part of such approaches.
Seminar title: An Ecologist looks at the Economics and Evolution of Emerging Diseases.
Hosted by GSA
Seminar title: Bio-resources in circular agriculture: impacts of antibiotics on the soil-microbial-plant nexus.
Seminar title: Accelerating methane growth rates in recent years.
Hosted by Xiangtao Xu
Vladimir Nabokov's legacy at Cornell is not limited to the world-famous literary works he produced here. The university's natural and built environments also provided powerful material for his lifelong pursuit of butterflies within their geo- and biodiverse ecosystems.
Our one-day event will offer hands-on ways to discover Nabokov through his butterfly collection, his writing and other relics of his time at Cornell contained in the university’s Rare and Manuscript Collection and the Cornell University Insect Collection. We’ll discuss his scientific, literary and artistic pursuits.
This event is a collaboration between the College of Arts & Sciences (A&S), the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Mann Library and is part of the A&S Arts Unplugged series, which brings research and creative works into the public sphere for discussion and inspiration.
During the event, you can:
- Take a close look at Nabokov’s butterfly collection;
- Watch a video exploring the many ways that Nabokov’s legacy is alive today, both on campus and throughout the country, through such policies as the Endangered Species Act;
- Visit a new Mann Library exhibit on Nabokov;
- Discover new information about Nabokov the professor, uncovered by Cornell students involved in the “Nabokov, Naturally” class;
- See Nabokov manuscripts and poems;
- Talk with faculty, students and Nabokov experts from across the country;
- Stretch your creative wings by contributing to a giant multimedia art piece. Create your own butterfly with the help of entomologist/artist Annika Salzberg using both traditional and non-traditional materials.
- Visit a new exhibit in the Mann Lobby, No Mere Curios, featuring images from historical butterfly books from Mann Library’s special collections, which were also part of Nabokov's childhood library.
Schedule:
1-2 p.m.: Student project exhibit and bio-art workshop in CALS Zone next to Mann Library entrance
2-3:30 p.m.: Panel, discussion, and public dialogue in Mann 102, "The Butterfly Effect: Vladimir Nabokov as Scientist and Artist," featuring
Anindita Banerjee, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and the Environment and Sustainability Program
Corrie Moreau, Martha N. & John C. Moser Professor of Arthropod Biosystematics and Biodiversity and Director & Curator of the Cornell University Insect Collection
Jose Manuel Prieto, Novelist and Associate Professor of Spanish, Seton Hall University
Katherine Reagan, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Cornell Libraries
Jenny Leijonhufvud, Exhibits Curator, Albert R. Mann Library
Anurag Agrawal, James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Jenifer Presto, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Oregon
With introductory remarks by Rachel Bean, interim dean of The College of Arts & Sciences
1-4 p.m.: Book sale and signing in Mann Lobby/ CALS Zone
All day: Mann Library 2nd floor exhibit, “From Nabokov’s Net,” open for viewing
All day: eCornell film "Nabokov, Naturally" showing in CALS Zone
Vladimir Nabokov was not only a celebrated novelist but also an impassioned and dedicated lepidopterist. His scientific contributions were not always recognized during his lifetime, but recent efforts have proven many of his classifications and insights to be valid. In particular, Nabokov's theory of the evolution and movements of Polyommatus Blue butterflies illustrates his true scientific prowess.
In conjunction with the opening celebration of our new exhibit, From Nabokov's Net, please join us for a special talk with guest speaker Naomi E Pierce, Hessel Professor of Biology & Curator of Lepidoptera in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, as she discusses the exciting decade-long effort she and her team engaged in to ultimately prove the validity of Nabokov's scientific theories of the migration and evolution of the Blues
Their analysis of the evolutionary history, biogeography and paleoecology of the Blues shows that climatic conditions across the Bering Straits served as a filter that determined which taxa were able to migrate to the New World from Asia, with cooling conditions during the mid-Miocene leading to only increasingly cold-adapted species being able to migrate across. Remarkably the findings were completely in-line with Nabokov's theories, which he had developed without access to high-tech scientific tools some sixty years earlier.
Naomi E. Pierce studies species interactions, particularly symbioses between ants and other organisms. The author of almost 200 papers and an edited book, Pierce is a member the National Academy of Sciences and has received honors such as a MacArthur Fellowship and the International Prize for Biology. Since 1991, she has been Hessel Professor of Biology and Curator of Lepidoptera at the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) at Harvard, the very place where Vladimir Nabokov was Assistant Curator of Lepidoptera during the 1940’s.
Dr. Pierce's talk is being presented in conjunction with two new exhibits at Mann Library: From Nabokov's Net: Nabokov's Contributions to Butterfly Science & the Cornell University Insection Collection (Mann Gallery) and No Mere Curios: Finding Nabokov's Lepidopterist Inspiration in the Rare Books of Entomology (Mann Lobby).
Immediately following the presentation, an exhibit opening reception will take place in the Mann Gallery from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. All are welcome.
This program is co-hosted by Mann Library and the Cornell University Insect Collection with the support of the Elizabeth (Betty) E. Rowley Fund for Mann Library.
Seminar title: The 'Deep Time' Fossil Fish Record Helps Predict Future Impacts of Climate Change.
Hosted by Irby Lovette
Seminar title: Green infrastructure solutions for stormwater management: insights into biogeochemical function and other ecosystem services.
The Amit Bhatia ’01 Global PhD Research Awards fund international fieldwork to help Cornell students complete their dissertations. Through a generous gift from Amit Bhatia, this funding opportunity annually supports at least six PhD students who have passed the A exam. Recipients hold the title of Amit Bhatia ’01 Global PhD Research Scholars. All disciplines and research topics are welcome. The award provides $10,000 to be used by the end of the sixth PhD year for international travel, living expenses, and research expenses.
Register for the information session. Can’t attend? Contact programs@einaudi.cornell.edu.
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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students. To learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships, view the full calendar for spring semester sessions.