All Past Events

This STEP Seminar features Emma Foehringer Merchant, contributing editor at newly launched Canary Media. Emma will talk about her journalism career and introduce Canary Media and the plan for the new publication. She also plans to discuss the Biden administration's moves on clean energy and climate change, and to highlight some of the stories she'll be following in the near future, including state-level clean energy policies.

This STEP Seminar features Subin DeVar. He's the director of the Initiative for Energy Justice, a national research center that provides law and policy resources to advocates and policymakers to advance state-level transitions to equitable renewable energy.

This STEP Seminar on transformation and liberation features Denise Abdul-Rahman, Regional Field Organizer of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program for Midwest and Plain States. This is a public event presented by the Center for Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy.

This STEP Seminar features Martha Larson, who has managed campus energy and sustainability at Carleton College for the last 10 years. She'll share insights on her career and reflect on how sustainability management work has changed in a decade.

In this lunchtime STEP Seminar, Jake McAlpine, Energy Equity Programs Supervisor, presents an overview of the federally funded Weatherization Assistance Program, and will cover how the program is structured, the services it provides, and the program's evolution since its inception in 1978. Michael Schmitz, Director of the Office of Energy Assistance Programs, gives an overview of the work their office does. 

Join us for a lunchtime conversation with Star Tribune reporter Mike Hughlett, who provides insight into how the Star Tribune covers climate and energy issues. Hughlett will discuss what he considers to be the primary energy issues and provide an oversight of the biggest opportunities and challenges in getting to a 100% clean energy grid as soon as possible.

This STEP Seminar features Julia Nerbonne, Executive Director of Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light. This is a public event presented by the Center for Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy.

This lunchtime seminar features Keith Parker, Executive Director of Great River Greening, as he discusses his career path and why it’s important to continually adapt, evolve, and stay open on the journey.

This lunchtime conversation features Leigh Currie, Special Assistant Attorney General of Minnesota, as she discusses their efforts to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable in court. 

Join us in welcoming Dr. Pete Wyckoff, Energy and Environment Policy Advisor in the Office of Minnesota Senator Tina Smith, who will talk about his transition from Professor to Policy Advisor. Dr. Wyckoff will also discuss the policy initiatives Senator Smith's office has worked on until now. 

This lunchtime seminar features Teddie Potter, Director of Planetary Health at the University of Minnesota. Her talk serves as an introduction to the emerging field of Planetary Health, and the careers that will be needed for the Great Transition. 

This STEP Seminar features Theresa M. Cira, Kathy Quick, and Robert C. Venette, authors of a new article for American Entomologist: "The Consequences of Linguistic Uncertainty for Insect Management," which they describe as "a call to entomologists to consider the uncertainty introduced into our works through the language we use." 

This STEP Seminar features Annie Levenson-Falk, Executive Director of the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota, in a discussion of what it's like to be a consumer advocate in the energy transition

In December, UMN faculty, staff, and graduate students traveled to Madrid, Spain, to attend the 25th annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP25), or international climate talks. In this STEP Seminar, they discuss how COP25 connected to the UMN delegation's varied expertise and interests, what they observed firsthand, and what successes and failures they saw at COP25. 

This STEP Seminar about food insecurity on campus features Dr. Michael Stebleton, CEHD Associate Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Higher Education, and Rebecca Leighton, Master of Public Health and founder of the on-campus Nutritious U Food Pantry.