The dynamics around U.S. climate and energy policy are more interesting than at any time in nearly a decade. The Green New Deal, an idea linking climate and economic goals championed by some prominent freshman Democrats, has become a centerpiece of the Democratic climate agenda heading into the 2020 elections. Others have expressed skepticism at the proposal’s top-down strategy, instead focusing more on a market-driven approach. And, despite Republicans’ historical opposition to most climate policies, nascent support for a carbon tax by several members in the Climate Solutions Caucus was one of the few bright spots in U.S. climate policy in 2018. Meanwhile, renewable energy technology is improving as prices continue to fall.

Join EPIC for a conversation with Congressman Sean Casten (D-Ill.) to unpack the legislative agenda for energy and climate policy during this Congress and the broader prospects for renewable energy in the United States.

Register by clicking here.

Friday, May 24, 2019 @ 12:00pm

John Crerar Library, Room 390

Lunch Provided

The estimation of the "Tree of Life" -- a phylogeny encompassing all life on earth--is one of the big Scientific Grand Challenges. Maximum likelihood (ML) is a standard approach for phylogeny estimation, but estimating ML trees for large heterogeneous datasets is challenging for two reasons: (1) ML tree estimation is NP-hard (and the best current heuristics can use hundreds of CPU years on relatively small datasets, just to find local optima), and (2) the statistical models used in ML tree estimation methods are much too simple, failing to acknowledge heterogeneity across genomes or across the Tree of Life. These two "big data" issues -- dataset size and heterogeneity -- impact the accuracy of phylogenetic methods and have consequences for downstream analyses.

In this talk, I will describe a new "divide-and-conquer" approach to phylogeny estimation that addresses both types of heterogeneity. Our protocol operates as follows: (1) we divide the set of species into disjoint subsets, (2) we construct trees on the subsets (using appropriate statistical methods), and (3) we combine the trees together using auxiliary information, such as a matrix of pairwise distances. I will present three such strategies (all published in the last year) that operate in this fashion, and that improve the theoretical and empirical performance of phylogeny estimation methods. One of the main applications of this work is species tree estimation from multi-locus data sets when gene trees can differ from the species tree due to incomplete lineage sorting. This talk is largely based on joint work with my PhD student, Erin Molloy (Illinois).

Bio: Tandy Warnow is the Founder Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she is also an affiliate in Mathematics, Statistics, Bioengineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Animal Biology, Entomology, and Plant Biology. Tandy received her PhD in Mathematics at UC Berkeley under the direction of Gene Lawler, and did postdoctoral training with Simon Tavaré and Michael Waterman at USC. Her research combines computer science, statistics, and discrete mathematics, focusing on developing improved models and algorithms for reconstructing complex and large-scale evolutionary histories in biology and historical linguistics. She has published more than 160 papers and one textbook, graduated 11 PhD students, and has 5 current PhD students. She has been a visiting faculty member at many universities, including Princeton University, the University of Maryland, Yale University, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and Harvard University. Her awards include the NSF Young Investigator Award (1994), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation Award (1996), a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship (2006), and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (2011). She was elected a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in 2015 and of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) in 2017. Her national service includes being the lead NSF program officer for BigData (2012-2013), chairing the BioData Management and Analysis (BDMA) study section at NIH (2010-2012). Tandy was also a member of the Big Data Senior Steering Group of NITRD subcommittee of the National Technology Council (coordinating federal agencies), 2012-2013.

At this Environmental Data Science Lunch, we're looking forward to welcoming Daniel Sanz-Alonso, Assistant Professor at UChicago's Department of Statistics and the College. He will do a Chalk Talk on Uncertainty Quantification and Data Assimilation.

Logistics:

Thursday, May 23, 2019

12-1:30pm

(12-12:15 lunch; 12:15-1:15: presentation; 1:15-1:30 Q+A and networking)

Searle Chemistry Lab

5735 S. Ellis Ave, Room 240A

Chicago, IL 60637

Take the elevator to the 2nd floor. When you exit, take two right turns and walk to the end of the hallway.

Lunch wil be provided.

More info about the Environmental Data Science Lunch:

https://spatial.uchicago.edu/content/environmental-data-science-lunch

2019 winter and spring schedule:

https://spatial.uchicago.edu/content/environmental-data-science-lunch-2019-schedule

At this spatial study group we're looking forward to welcoming Julio Postigo, Senior Research Scientist at NORC at UChicago.

He is looking for spatial feedback on the following projects:

Understanding the generation and spatial distribution of local knowledge in the Andes

Agrarian societies have been generating and adjusting, over thousands of years, knowledge about their landscape and climate. Knowledge is dynamic; it persists, changes or disappears. Currently, local knowledge (indigenous, traditional, and ecological) is considered a key factor of resilience and an enabler of adaptive responses to climatic change and variability. Foundational research on local knowledge was ethnobotanical, focusing on taxonomy of local vegetation. Later, the interest broadened to the farming practices of agrarian societies, which were considered less harmful to the environment and less dependent on oil-based inputs. More recently, there is increasing interest in local indicators for weather forecasting; however, we know little about how this knowledge is generated and how has it change over time.

In this study group I will present two linked ongoing projects. The first examines how knowledge is generated among Aymara expert farmers (yapuchiris) in the Bolivian Altiplano. The second explores the spatial patterns of local knowledge in Peru. The purpose is to start a dialogue about ways to analyze the data and present results, and hopefully, stimulate potential collaborations about these less explore aspects of local knowledge

Logistics:

Tuesday,May 21, 2019

9-11am (30-45 min presentation, 15-30min Q+A, remaining time: networking/close early)

Searle Chemistry Lab

5735 S. Ellis Ave, Room 240A

Chicago, IL 60637

Take the elevator to the 2nd floor. When you exit, take two right turns and walk to the end of the hallway.

We'll have breakfast (croissants and muffins), with tea and coffee.

2019 winter and spring schedule:

https://spatial.uchicago.edu/content/2019

For this lunch and learn talk we will hear from Robert Suits, a PhD candidate in the history department. His current research focuses on climate, culture, and empire in the American West.

Time: Monday, May 20 12:30 pm

Place: Hinds 176

Abstract: How was our energy economy built? Is it possible to build a clean energy economy? This talk details ongoing research exploring historical energy transitions in the United States. It discusses the causes and effects of transitions between fuel types, from wood to coal, coal to oil, and the electrification of the American economy, and what this historical evolution means for our current efforts to transition away from fossil fuels. It will also look at the relationship between energy and the rest of the economy, answering questions such as whether economic growth can be achieved without energy consumption.

Energy and Climate Lunch & Learn Series

To present, contact Sunny (ysun9@uchicago.edu) or Osamu (miyawaki@uchicago.edu)

Directory (feel free to add yourself or find someone you met or want to collaborate with!): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ItLmTjBLyEiDGlzIflS47DgVLZ5KfncS4tNh3l3qwKU/edit?usp=sharing

List host sign-up / unsubscribe: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/subscribe/energy-climate-lunch

The Department of Ecology and Evolution has coordinated a seminar with guest speaker Daniel Pimentel-Alarcón, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Georgia State University.

The seminar will be held Monday, May 20, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. in the Gordon Center for Integrative Science (GCIS) Room W301, 929 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL.

The seminar title is “Robust Learning from Big and Messy Data."

Abstract: Big data is only getting bigger. For example, the upcoming Square Kilometre Array alone will daily generate twice the amount of data sent around the Internet per day, and 100 times more than the CERN Large Hadron Collider, which already generates so much data that scientists must discard the overwhelming majority of it, hoping they didn’t throw away anything useful. Big data is also getting messier: incomplete, sparse, noisy, biased, and with outliers. Exploitation of these big and messy data increasingly depends on our ability to identify patterns that summarize these datasets.

In this talk I will present our recent theoretical findings to learn linear and non-linear patterns from big and messy data. I will also discuss the main ideas behind our practical algorithms that are guaranteed to succeed even in cases where traditional methods are guaranteed to fail. Finally, I will discuss applications of our findings in areas as diverse as astronomy, computer vision, metagenomics, and more.

Title: Predictability and uncertainty: two temperature tales

Karen McKinnon

UCLA, Dept. of Statistics and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/person/karen-aline-mckinnon/

UChicago Dept. of the Geophysical Sciences seminar

Date: Friday, May 17, 2019

Time: 2:00PM

Place: Hinds Geophysical Laboratory 101

5734 S. Ellis Ave.

Abstract: As the climate changes, it is imperative that we improve our understanding - and, ideally, prediction - of regional temperature variability. To do so, it is necessary to merge insights from observations, dynamical models, and statistical models. In this talk, I will take this combined approach to discuss questions about predictability and uncertainty. First, I will present work on predicting high-impact summer heat waves from climatic boundary conditions. Both the land and the sea surfaces can be used to provide skillful predictions of Eastern US heat waves up to seven weeks in advance. The results raise additional, open questions about inferring physical causality within the observations. Second, I will move from subseasonal to multidecadal timescales to illustrate the oft-large contribution of internal variability to observed or modeled regional temperature (and precipitation) trends. The importance of internal variability in multidecadal regional climate trends was first clearly demonstrated with initial condition ensembles; however, these ensembles can suffer from biases that limit their use for regional climate studies. As a complementary tool, I will present the Observational Large Ensemble (Obs-LE), a statistical model that can generate internal variability consistent with the observations at a regional scale. The Obs-LE can be used to quantify the contribution of internal variability to our uncertainty in the climate system's responses to forcing, and allows for new approaches to climate model evaluation.

Environmental Data Science announcements list

To subscribe: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/subscribe/environmental_data_science

To unsubscribe: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/signoff/environmental_data_science

Join EPIC for a tour of Testa Produce, a 106-year-old family-owned and -operated produce distributor that serve restaurants, hotels, schools, country clubs, sporting arenas and hospitals from Wisconsin to central Illinois. Situated on a former brownfield site, Testa’s LEED-Platinum refrigerated food service facility is the first of its kind in the U.S. and features sustainable technologies including a 50-kilowatt wind turbine and solar panels that together produce an average of 35 percent of the building’s energy needs, among other technologies. In addition to learning about the facility's green features, attendees will get to talk with Testa Produce President Peter Testa. Free transportation will be provided by EPIC, but RSVP as space is limited.

Please gather in front of University Ave. entrance of the Saieh Hall for Economics (5757 S. University Ave.) between 12:45 p.m. and 12:55 p.m. The shuttle will leave campus promptly at 1 p.m. and will return to campus plant for campus by no later than 3:30 p.m. Travel time is approximately 20 minutes each way.

Note the following requirements for the tour, which is open only to University of Chicago students:

• No jewelry and no gum.

• Tourees’ heads must also be covered by either a hat or hood, or a hairnet will be provided.

• No open-toed shoes (flip flops, sandals, etc.)

• Participants should also plan to bring a jacket because much of the plant is kept at freezing temperatures to store perishable food.

To learn more about the facility's green features, visit http://www.testaproduce.com/warehouse2.html

Event Date: 

May 17, 2019 12:45 PM to 3:15 PM

contact: Joe Popely popely@uchicago.edu

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/student-event-testa-produce-tour-tickets-60776138065

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-can-the-green-new-deal-learn-from-environmental-law-tickets-60890015676

Join the Frizzell Speaker and Learning Series, UChicago Program on the Global Environment, and the The University of Chicago Law School for:

What Can the Green New Deal Learn From Environmental Law?
A Conversation with Professor Ann E. Carlson

Ann Carlson is the Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law and the Faculty Co-Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law. She is a leading scholar of climate change and air pollution law and policy, the co-author of a top casebook on Environmental Law (with Dan Farber and William Boyd), and the co-editor, with Dallas Burtraw, of a forthcoming book from Cambridge University Press, Lessons from the Clean Air Act: Building Durability and Flexibility into U.S. Climate and Energy Policy. She has published numerous articles in leading law reviews, including California, Harvard, Michigan, Northwestern, and UCLA. Carlson is currently serving as the Speaker of the California Assembly’s representative to the Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee. She is a frequent media commentator and blogs at Legal Planet. She is the recipient of the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award, the Eby Award for the Art of Teaching and the Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching, and is the 2017 University of California Sustainability Champion. Carlson is a magna cum laude graduate of both UC Santa Barbara and Harvard Law School.

After her talk, Ann will be joined by Professor Mark Templeton, Clinical Professor of Law, Director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago, to field questions from the audience.

The Phoenix Sustainability Initiative (PSI) Speaker Series presents Chris Wheat, Strategy Director American Cities Climate Change Challenge at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and former chief sustainability officer for Chicago. Chris will discuss the efforts of cities, states, businesses and other organizations in the U.S. to mitigate climate change in the absence of federal action. Amir Jina, assistant professor at the Harris school, will moderate the discussion, which will be followed by a screening of the documentary "Paris to Pittsburg." (watch the tailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFznn8FNRbU).

Chipotle (including a vegetarian option) will be served! For drinks, please bring your own mug/tumbler.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/psi-speaker-series-presents-chris-wheat-nrdc-tickets-60580272225

Agenda

5:45 p.m. ... Doors open/check-in

6:00-6:55 p.m. ... Discussion with Chris Wheat moderated by Amir Jina

7:00-8:15 p.m. ... Screening of "Paris to Pittsburg"

Event Date:

May 8, 2019 5:45 PM to 8:15 PM

Location

Saieh Hall for Economics

Room 021

5757 S. University Ave.

Chicago, IL 60637

Environmental Studies Workshop: Climate Change, Water, and the Anthropocene with Christina Zenner

May 3, 3:30 PM

Tea Room, Social Science Bldg, Second Floor

Join Christina Zenner, associate professor, department of Theology at Fordham University as she discusses her publication"Valuing Fresh Waters." This event is open to University of Chicago students and faculty. For dinner, please RSVP to acoombs@uchicago.edu.

Come and join Public Policy students in a conversation with Dr. González Estrada, former Colombian Minister of Energy and Mines

HEEA and Colombians at UChicago will be hosting Dr. González Estrada, former Colombian Minister of Energy and Mines, for a discussion about Colombia’s energy sector and his efforts to expand and improve the provision of energy service in a developing nation.

Dr. Estrada will also be joined by Dr. Anant Sudarshan, South Asia Director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), for a fascinating discussion on energy policy in developing countries.

What: Managing Energy Crisis in Developing Countries: A Case Study from Colombia

When: May 1st, 5:00 pm

Where: Keller Center, room 1022

Do not forget to register in our Eventbrite page.

Join the Environmental Law Society for a conversation on climate literacy. Professor Elisabeth Moyer, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Chicago, will lead a discussion on the science behind climate change, the implications of the most recent IPCC report, and how the law deals with climate change. Vegan lunch provided.

Where: University of Chicago Law School 1111 E 60th St, Room D

When: Wednesday, May 1, 12:15 PM

Navigating ArcGIS Online

Friday, April 26, 2:00-4:00 p.m. Crerar Library, GIS Hub

Need to make a web map? Find some spatial data? Come learn how to use ArcGIS Online in this hand-on workshop. No experience is needed – we’ll start with logging in and finish by creating you’re first web map. Register Now

Navigating QGIS
Thursday, April 25, 2:00–4:00 p.m. Crerar Library, GIS Hub
In this workshop will introduce you to digital mapping and geoprocessing using QGIS. You will key learn: QGIS software navigation, fundamentals for spatial data visualization and manipulation, and how to create a map. Register now.

Student Lunch Talk—The Story of the Century: Covering Climate and Energy Policy
Apr. 25, 12:30 PM
Saieh 146
Over the course of more than a decade in journalism, Axios reporter Amy Harder has written widely about climate and energy policy. From oil fields to solar arrays, carbon taxes to climate agreements, Harder has thought deeply about not only how to get the big stories, but also how to navigate the nuanced political challenges of her chosen beat. At this EPIC lunch talk, get an insider’s look at the most important stories in climate and energy policy, and at what it takes to cover some of the country’s most complicated and controversial topics. Learn more...