Dear Human at Future’s Edge: Science, Creativity and Climate Futures Conference

Event flyer image. Shows a black and white photo of UCB campus in the background and dark blue blocks with white text in the foreground.

"Dear Human at Future’s Edge: Science, Creativity and Climate Futures" is a conference focused on the intersection of climate science, art and ecopoetry. The program will celebrate two recent companion publications: the Fifth National Climate Assessment report, the U.S. Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and responses, and Dear Human at the Edge of Time: Poems on Climate Change in the United States from (Paloma Press 2023).

View the full list of participant biographies.


Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Banatao Auditorium at 310 Sutardja Dai Hall, Berkeley, CA


PROGRAMMING

A light lunch will be served from Noon to 1 PM.

Introductions & Welcome to the Space
| 1 - 1:20 PM

Introduction by Tiff Dressen, Project Policy Analyst, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, and Bruce Riordan, Director of the Berkeley Climate Change Network (BCCN) at UC Berkeley.

Panel #1: Imagination of the Data, the Data in the Imagination | 1:20 - 2:05 PM

Anand Varma, Local artist and scientist, Founder of Wonderlab

Allyza Lustig, Senior Staff Manager of the U.S. Global Change Research Program's National Climate Assessment (NCA) team

David Hassler, Director of the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University and co-developer of the Dear Human at the Edge of Time microsite

Sarah Vaughn, Associate professor of anthropology at UC Berkeley

Moderator: Tiff Dressen, Project Policy Analyst, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research

Panel #2: Decolonial Voices and Knowledge at Future’s Edge | 2:10 - 3 PM

On indigenous and community science, art, ecological justice, care, and imagination.

Craig Santos Perez, Professor, English Department, Affiliate Faculty, Center for Pacific Islands Studies & The Indigenous Politics Program University of Hawai'i, Mānoa

Shreya Chaudhuri, UC Berkeley undergraduate in Environmental Science & Human Geography, and Decolonial Climate Education Advocate

Kim Shuck, Visual artist, poet and 7th Poet Laureate of San Francisco

Leke Hutchins, UC Berkeley PhD student in Environmental Science, Policy & Management

Moderator: Linda Haverty Rugg, Professor of Scandinavian studies and former Assistant Vice Chancellor of Research at UC Berkeley

Break | 3 - 3:15 PM

Panel #3: American Poets Imagine the Edge of Time | 3:15 - 3:45 PM

Luisa A. Igloria, Professor at Old Dominion University and co-editor of Dear Human at the Edge of Time

Aileen Cassinetto, Writer and co-editor of Dear Human at the Edge of Time

Karen Llagas, Lecturer in Filipino at UC Berkeley, poet, and contributor to Dear Human at the Edge of Time

Claire Wahmanholm, Poet and contributor to Dear Human at the Edge of Time

Kim Shuck, Visual artist, poet and 7th Poet Laureate of San Francisco

Poetry Readings: A Celebration of Dear Human at the Edge of Time | 3:45 - 4:30 PM

Via ZOOM: Brian Sonia-Wallace, Luisa A. Igloria, Claire Wahmanholm, Craig Santos Perez, and Alice Plane  

In Person:  C.S. Giscombe, Maw Shein Win, John Shoptaw, Aileen Cassinetto, Kim Shuck, Marisa Lin, Karen Llagas

A light reception to follow the poetry reading from 4:45 to 5:30 PM.

SPONSORS

Presented by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Environmental Arts and Humanities Initiative. Co-sponsored by the Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry and the Berkeley Climate Change Network (BCCN).

ADMISSION INFORMATION

Register in advance

Banatao Auditorium, 310 Sutardja Dai Hall is wheelchair accessible. Please view this website for more details about accessing the Banatao Auditorium. If you require an accommodation for effective communication or information about campus mobility access features to fully participate in this event, please contact Tiff Dressen at tddressen@berkeley.edu.