All Past Events

Please join us to hear from Betsy Engelking, Vice President of Policy and Strategy for National Grid Renewables, who will be joining us in person to share lessons from her career journey, give insight into her day-to-day at National Grid Renewables, and a preview of what’s on the horizon for her work.

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Join us for the first installment of the Environmental Justice Speaker Series, co-hosted by The Institute on the Environment and The Center for Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (CSTEP) at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Throughout the year, we will host diverse speakers as part of the STEP Seminar Series to share experiences and insights from their work around environmental justice. In this Environmental Justice Speakers Series, we hope to create a space to spark conversations and connections, and explore ideas and solutions.

Register to Attend.

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 STEP Seminar features Dr. Jonathan Foley, Executive Director of Project Drawdown, a nonprofit organization that offers resources for climate solutions to help the world reach "Drawdown"—the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline.

This STEP Seminar features Sam Grant, Executive Director of environmental justice organization MN350.

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 focuses on civil rights at the Minnesota Department of Transportation, featuring MnDOT's Civil Rights Director, Kim Collins, J.D. 

This STEP Seminar features William Rom, MD, MPH. Dr. Rom is the Sol and Judith Bergstein Professor of Medicine and Environmental Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine.



Ned Brooks, Planning Director and Environmental Justice Coordinator, and Jose Luis Villasenor, Environmental Justice Outreach Coordinator, join this STEP Seminar to discuss how the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is addressing issues of environmental justice and equity.

This STEP Seminar features Patrick Hanlon, Director of Environmental Programs for the City of Minneapolis.

Join us for a virtual STEP Seminar with Robert Blake, CEO of Solar Bear, MN, and Director of Native Sun Community Power Development.

This STEP Seminar features Julia Nerbonne, Executive Director of Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light.

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