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Science-Based Optimism
At Earth Day 2023: Species on the Move, experts from across campus and the country came together to share their takes on the future.
By Chelsea Rademacher
If you’re like most people, the topic of climate change doesn’t fill you with the warm and fuzzies. But at the Nelson Institute’s Earth Day 2023: Species on the Move, the message surrounding climate change was one of hope. “I am an optimist,” said plenary speaker Patrick Gonzalez, “and it’s a science-based optimism.” The two-day event brought together learners from across the globe to hear from leading experts, including dozens of UW–Madison faculty and staff.
Gonzalez, executive director of UC–Berkeley’s Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity, opened the event with a discussion on human-caused climate change, highlighting recent changes in global surface temperature, biodiversity, and wildfire patterns, to name a few, as well as proven solutions. After learning about the human-caused effects of climate change from Gonzalez, Ryan Phelan — cofounder and executive director of Revive & Restore — took the stage to discuss innovative solutions of those effects: using genetics as a key tool in wildlife conservation. Rounding out the plenary sessions, Erica Bower, a climate displacement researcher at Human Rights Watch, focused on the theme of Species on the Move by discussing the challenges and opportunities of human mobility in our warming world.
Between talks, attendees networked and visited tables hosted by the event’s campus and community partners, including Nelson Institute’s Environmental Professional Programs, the Wisconsin Energy Institute, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Foundation, and more.
After an invigorating day of in-person learning, Earth Day 2023 went online for its Wednesday programming, featuring a collection of virtual breakout sessions led by UW–Madison faculty, staff, and affiliates on areas of expertise from forest dynamics to pandemic preparedness to naming processes and binary systems.
Andrea Akall’eq Burgess, the Nature Conservancy’s global director of conservation in partnership with Indigenous peoples and local communities, closed out the event with a well-rounded discussion on humans on the move and how we can reset our relationships with nature by indigenizing conservation efforts. Her vision? “In 2030, critical lands and waters around the world are sustainably managed by the communities who depend on them for their spiritual and subsistence needs, according to their self-determined visions,” said Burgess.
Catch up on this year’s plenary and breakout sessions, and be the first to hear about Earth Day 2024 by joining our email list! (Check the “I would like to hear about upcoming Nelson Institute events” box.)
2,224 TOTAL DAY-OF PAGE VIEWS 2-DAY EVENT
PARTICIPANTS FROM 14 COUNTRIES
7,028 TOTAL PAGE VIEWS
22,267 SOCIAL IMPRESSIONS
