'Climate Action and U' is theme of Sustainability Month

April will mark the second annual Sustainability Month on campus, with more than 30 public campus and community events related to sustainability activities at Cornell.

This year's theme for the month is "Climate Action and U," building on President David Skorton's commitment that Cornell will be climate neutral by 2050 and that Cornell will stop burning coal in 2011.

Featured speakers include:

  • Max Zhang, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, on energy, the environment and lessons from recent history; April 1;
  • Adrian Heymer of the Strategic Programs Nuclear Energy Institute on the commercial nuclear energy outlook; April 6;
  • Richard Trumka, president of AFL-CIO, on labor and the environment April 9;
  • Steven Koonin of the U.S. Department of Energy on big ideas in energy research and development; April 15;
  • James Hanson of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies on global climate change; April 19;
  • Daniel M. Hancock of General Motors on GM's advanced propulsion technology; April 22; and
  • Patrick Hale of Chevron Energy Solutions on wind energy and opportunities; April 29.

Also on the schedule: The 10th annual Systems Engineering Forum, April 7-8, which will include discussions by experts from industry, government and academia on sustainability, health care, energy and food systems, including Raffaello D'Andrea, former Cornell professor and now at ETH Zurich, on autonomous systems; and the ILR School's "Union Days -- Building a Green Collar Movement: Labor and the Environment," April 8-9, which will feature events focusing on creating green jobs and building alliances between labor unions and the environmental movement.

Cornell's Sustainability Hub will sponsor Earth Day Celebration, April 11, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., on Ho Plaza.

For more information, visit http://www.sustainablefuture.cornell.edu/index.php