Fern Wickson, professor of ocean leadership at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, will join the Notre Dame community for the first in a series titled Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability. Professor Wickson will share key findings from the Transformative Change Assessment (IPBES), including what transformative change means and requires, what challenges and barriers currently block it, and the strategies and actions necessary to achieve it. She will invite attendees to explore how inner personal transformation connects to global transformation and the fundamental systems-wide changes necessary to achieve social justice and sustainability. Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series is a signature lecture series organized by the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative that brings global sustainability leaders and world-class scholars to campus for knowledge sharing and engagement with the Notre Dame community. About Just Transformations to Sustainability As sustainability challenges intensify, their cascading effects on food, energy, water, and infrastructure increasingly threaten the well-being and dignity of people worldwide. Notre Dame’s Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative is the University’s far-reaching response to these urgent threats. Inspired by Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical Laudato si’ (On Care for Our Common Home), the Initiative brings together interdisciplinary scholars, dedicated students, and action partners from around the world to advance transformative solutions for a more just and sustainable future.Originally published at strategicframework.nd.edu.

The newest solar energy investment for the University has been installed near WNDU Studios, and is capable of avoiding nearly 700 tons of carbon annually. Take a stroll with a representative from Crossroads Solar, our panel supplier, and a Utilities & Maintenance staff member from campus. During the tour, you'll learn about how Crossroads is cultivating hope and creating a more just society by employing returned citizens, and how solar energy is supporting the energy needs for our campus.  Registration is required. This event is open to the public. Register today

In a world where hope is often in short supply, Notre Dame continues to be committed to creating a more sustainable and prosperous future for all of us. Join students, faculty, and staff for an engaging panel discussion to learn about the operational and academic projects happening on and around campus that will cultivate hope for our future and inspire action in each of us to care for our common home. Are you teaching a course related to sustainability? We can offer extra credit sign-in sheets for your students to join the discussion. Email green@nd.edu to request a sign-in sheet today. Registration is not required, but is requested for planning purposes. This event is open to the public. Meet the panelists:Elsa Barron, PhD student in Peace Studies & Political Science at the Kroc Institute. Elsa is an environmental peacebuilding and climate justice researcher, writer, poet, and activist. Through her research, she is interested in understanding political processes of truth and reconciliation and the political influence of liberation theology movements. She is exploring opportunities to apply these concepts and processes to international climate diplomacy and climate justice movements. Elsa collaborates on related topics as a program associate with the Institute for Climate and Peace, a climate justice organization based in Hawai’i. She has previously worked at the Center for Climate and Security, Faith in Place, the Payne Institute for Public Policy, the Wilson Center Environmental Change and Security Program, and the NGO Committee on Financing for Development. Her faith and climate advocacy have been featured in CBS News, Rolling Stone, and the Christian Science Monitor, among others. She has attended COP26, 27, and 28 through the Christian Climate Observers Program, and she is now one of three co-directors of that initiative, which is a partnership of twelve faith-based environmental NGOs.Theri Niemier, adjunct faculty in the College of Science and Farm Director & Regenerative Farming Education Specialist at Good Shepherd Montessori School. Theri's history includes over 25 years of regenerative farming design and education. Theri has partnered with the University of Notre Dame for many years and serves as an adjunct in the minor of Sustainability. Her Notre Dame students work on the urban farm while learning about the ecological benefits of sustainable farming. Theri founded Bertrand Farm Inc., an educational farm in Niles, Michigan, in 1996, and in 2020 moved to the city in partnership with Good Shepherd Montessori School to create an urban agriculture learning center for GSMS and the greater community. Theri is a certified permaculture designer, a master canner, and the recipient of the 2019 Conservation Educator of the Year in St. Joseph County, Indiana.    Brett Peters, Assistant Director of the Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility (ND-LEEF), a program of the Environmental Change Initiative (ECI). Brett manages the day-to-day operations at ND-LEEF including the coordination of research, maintenance and construction activities. Additionally, Brett develops and administers much of the outreach programming at ND-LEEF, which includes educational programs for k-12 students and presentations and tours for internal and external partners and organizations. Brett Received his M.S. in Biology from the University of Notre Dame and a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Michigan State. University.  Karim Tinoco, Sustainable Foods & Kitchen Program Manager at the University of Notre Dame. With over 10 years of experience in the food & beverage industry and a Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems, Karim combines industry expertise with academic insight to develop innovative, resilient, and environmentally responsible food programs.He leads initiatives in strategic collaborations, sustainable procurement, food waste reduction, and community engagement through Notre Dame’s operations and purchasing. Karim is passionate about leveraging data and research to provide economically viable solutions to environmental and social challenges. Through his work, Notre Dame has strengthened its commitment to sustainability by reducing waste, celebrating supplier partnerships, and advancing initiatives that balance environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and operational excellence.  Danielle Wood (moderator), Danielle Wood serves as the Director of the Global Adaptation Initiative and an associate professor of the practice at the Environmental Change Initiative. She has concurrent faculty appointments with the Keough School of Public Affairs, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences in the College of Engineering, and is a faculty affiliate with the Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society. Wood received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Urban and Regional Planning with an additional focus in evaluation from the LaFollette School of Public Affairs. Prior to her doctoral studies, she held consulting, nonprofit, and government positions in the U.S. and abroad focused on land use, environmental impact assessment, and conservation and sustainability planning. As a transdisciplinary, mixed-methods researcher, Wood has research interests in climate resilience and adaptation decision-support and planning, research translation processes, asset-based and sustainable development, community engagement and collective impact strategies, and evaluation in complex environments.

Join us for a welcoming reception at 6:00 PM in the Jordan Galleria. At 6:30 PM, we enter the DVT--the Digital Visualization Theater--to hear theologian and civil/environmental engineer Sr. Damien Marie Savino, F.S.E., introduce her forthcoming book, Learning the Language of Creation. In it, she invites us to learn the language of creation through a journey of inner conversion that can lead us to ways of using technology in concert with creation rather than against it. We then embark upon another journey, through the entire known universe, in the planetarium program All Creation Gives Praise, during which we witness the vastness of the Creator’s language as it has been written in the cosmos and continues to speak to us today. Due to limited seating capacity in the DVT, please pre-register at https://bit.ly/LearningReg by September 21 to reserve a seat. Each person planning to attend must pre-register individually. Originally published at susminor.nd.edu.

Michael Cramer, the assistant director of the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC) will share more about how deer mice are an essential, but often overlooked, wildlife species in Northwoods forests. He will explain how mice are the ideal candidates to track seasonal and climatic changes.  The event will be live-streamed, or can be attended in-person at Rocky Reef Brewing Company, a brewery in Woodruff, WI. View information on both options here About Science on Tap Minocqua Forget the lecture, at Science on Tap-Minocqua, you won’t find jargon or a PowerPoint presentation – we search for scientists who are good at well, not sounding like a scientist. Our topics are wide ranging, spanning issues from bacteria to bees and from a search for life on other planets to a search for the perfect pint.The series provides a forum where the public engages experts in an informal, two-way conversation about important issues of the day. Speakers provide 15 or 20-minutes of opening remarks, then the floor is opened for questions, letting the audience join the conversation. The result is a dynamic, engaging community gathering.Events are held at Rocky Reef Brewing Company, a brewery in Woodruff, on the first Thursday of each month. This relaxed setting, combined with the accessible format, fosters public engagement. But you don't have to make your way to the brewery to join the discussion — you can also watch a live stream from your home over your own internet connection or watch archived programs online. Originally published at underc.nd.edu.

In observing the global use of fossil fuels and the transition to renewables, a complex web of social, political, and economic factors influences how the world uses energy. Energy humanities is a new field that examines how culture and society influence energy decisions. Throughout history, energy transitions (e.g., from fire to coal to renewables) have always brought cultural and economic changes. Laudato Si urges us to consider the human and environmental impacts of these transitions—not just the technical challenges. To unravel the history and future of energy transitions and their effects, Ryan Juskus, assistant professor of the practice with the Institute for Social Concerns, will lead a discussion of energy humanities and where we fit in. Ryan Juskus is the faculty director of NDBridge at the Institute for Social Concerns at Notre Dame. He teaches courses on justice, social thought, and environmental issues, with a focus on the moral, religious, and social dimensions of climate and environmental challenges. His research explores grassroots environmental movements, especially among American Christian communities. Juskus has also taught at Princeton, Wake Forest, and Duke, where he earned his Ph.D. in religion, focusing on Christian theology, environmental studies, and political economy. This event is part of the Sustainability Cup competition sponsored by the Student Government’s Department of Sustainability. Originally published at energy.nd.edu.