{"id":26810,"date":"2025-04-08T10:08:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T14:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/metcalf\/?page_id=26810"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:13:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:13:23","slug":"2025-annualpublic-lecture-series","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/metcalf\/2025-annualpublic-lecture-series\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Annual Public Lecture Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

2025 Annual\nPublic Lecture Series<\/h1><\/div><\/div>
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Apply site-wide<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n

Metcalf Institute is celebrating over 25 years of bringing science to the conversation! Join us for an uplifting dose of inspiration and education as part of our Annual Public Lecture Series.<\/strong> Three times each year we bring you a free presentation or discussion with an inspired thought leader, grappling with real-world climate change and environmental issues. Together, we’ll explore the latest research and collaborative efforts to respond to our changing environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All lectures are free. All of our lectures are accessible <\/strong>for deaf and hard of hearing via live ASL interpreters, by request. Learn more below!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Metcalf Institute’s Fall 2025 Lecture <\/h1>

A Conversation with SciComm Identities Project Fellows on Climate Change, Public Health, and Food Equity\u00a0<\/p>

See the livestreamed panel online!<\/a><\/p><\/div>

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The October 23 event concluded the Institute\u2019s 2025 Annual Public Lecture Series, and will be moderated by Executive Director Fara Warner <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Between soaring food prices and public health crises, issues around health and food access are in the news almost daily. Engaging in these topics can be difficult as the issues continue to be fueled by both climate change and turbulent politics. \u201cEquity on the Table: A Conversation about Public Health, Food Access, and Climate Change” covered how we can create a healthier and more equitable food future for ourselves and our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This event featured a panel discussion with three fellows from the SciComm Identities Project<\/a> (SCIP): Dr. Ambarish Karmalkar<\/a>, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Rhode Island; Dr. Roger Figueroa<\/a>, Assistant Professor in Social and Behavioral Science in Nutrition in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, College of Human Ecology at Cornell University; and Dr. Christine Ekenga<\/a>, a Rollins Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Moderated by Fara Warner, Metcalf Institute\u2019s Executive Director, the conversation focused on the intersection of climate change, public health and food equity, and highlighted the fellows\u2019 research.

Launched by the Metcalf Institute, Michigan State University\u2019s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, and the URI Science and Story Lab, the SCIP fellowship was a one-year professional development opportunity for pre-tenure faculty at U.S. institutions who identify as underrepresented racial or ethnic minorities in STEM. The project, supported by a $2.8 million collaborative National Science Foundation grant and co-led by URI\u2019s Dr. Sunshine Menezes and Michigan State\u2019s Dr. Bruno Takahashi, addressed the significant gap in science communication research and training by centering the motivations, experiences, and priorities of underrepresented scientists. The fellowship offered three cohorts that each focused on a specific subtheme: energy, water, and food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Previous Lectures in the Series<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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The Language of Climate Politics: A conversation with climate activist and author Genevieve Guenther<\/h2>

Thursday, April 24, 2025, 5 PM
<\/strong>Higgins Welcome Center, URI

The Metcalf Institute, URI\u2019s Department of English, and the Harrington School of Communication and Media presented
an evening with Dr. Genevieve Guenther, climate activist and author of \u201cThe Language of Climate Politics: Fossil-Fuel Propaganda and How to Fight It.\u201d Moderated by Daniel Wolfe, climate reporter for the Washington Post and a 2024 alum of Metcalf\u2019s Annual Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists, Guenther will discuss her investigation into the propaganda that justifies the fossil-fuel economy and offer listeners new ways to talk about the climate crisis in an effort to create transformative change.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

View the Lecture on Youtube<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2025 Leeson Lecture with Dr. Julian Agyeman<\/h2>

Tuesday, June 10, 2025, 3:30 PM
<\/strong>Corless Auditorium, URI Bay Campus

Dr. Julian Agyeman, author and professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University, delivered this year\u2019s Leeson Lecture. Agyeman, a critical urban planning and environmental social science scholar, focuses his research on environmental and food justice as well as the nexus of food and immigration. With more than 175 publications, he is the author, co-author or co-editor of 13 books and is in the top 10 most highly cited urban planning academics in the USA and Canada.
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View the lecture on youtube<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\nGet caught up on previous lecture series and watch recorded videos here!<\/a>\n\n\n
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Metcalf Institute is celebrating over 25 years of bringing science to the conversation! Join us for an uplifting dose of inspiration and education as part of our Annual Public Lecture Series. Three times each year we bring you a free presentation or discussion with an inspired thought leader, grappling with real-world climate change and environmental […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5144,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-26810","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/metcalf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/metcalf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/metcalf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/metcalf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/metcalf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26810"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/metcalf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28019,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/metcalf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26810\/revisions\/28019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/metcalf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}