The Rob and Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health at Arizona State University

School of Sustainability Research Seminars

The School of Sustainability hosts a regular seminar series that brings together faculty and students engaged in sustainability research to present and discuss their work.

Please join us for some or all of these great seminars this year, and feel free to review our previous events.

For those interested in giving a presentation, please email Bryan Leonard at [email protected] and Jennifer Vanos at [email protected].

Sign up for SOS seminar notifications

Join the School of Sustainability Research Seminar email list.

Fall 2023

Data Humanization Collective

September 6th, 2023

12:00pm Arizona timeWCPH 107

“Data Humanization” is a performance-based practice that plays against and with the increasing importance of “data” or “information” in modern lives. It was developed over the past decade by a member of our collective and recently evolved through the Indigenous Sustainability Solutions course in fall 2022 as a group practice. In countries with easy access to money and comfort, we daily encounter profound tragedy and loss in reports: numbers of victims of diverse types of violence; percentages of native languages lost; hectares of burned forest, etc. The effect of this can be apathy and a feeling of overwhelming hopelessness also known as compassion fatigue. Data Humanization Collective has found that forging a physical relationship with a representative number can inspire new ways of knowing, renew our sense of agency, and connect us to one another and the world. When performed with a spirit of humility, it is also a powerful tool of atonement and reconciliation. They brought this methodological and epistemological offering to the Autonomies in Practice Gathering in San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, México in March 2023 and hope to share reflections of this praxis with you.

Taylor Davis
Purdue University

September 13th, 2023
12:00pm Arizona time
WCPH 107

Oscar Melo
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

October 4th, 2023
12:00pm Arizona time
WCPH 107

The WEF nexus approach is an integrated framework that can be used for analyzing development options in the context of climate change. Integrated nexus modelling toolkits for evaluating adaptation actions will be presented using examples from South America that emphasize different elements of the nexus. These examples will also discuss how adding the environmental and socioeconomic dimensions to this framework can help build more robust adaptation strategies.

Effie Kesidou
University of Leeds

October 25th, 2023
12:00pm Arizona time
WCPH 107

Nathan Parker
Arizona State University

November 1st, 2023
12:00pm Arizona time
WCPH 107

Spring 2023

Chris Jones
Arizona State University

January 25th, 2023
12:00pm Arizona time
WCPH 107

Taina Diaz-Reyes
School of Sustainability PhD student

February 8th, 2023
12:00pm Arizona time
WCPH 190

Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science
Arizona State University

February 22nd, 2023
12:00pm Arizona time
WCPH 107

Michael Mendez
University of California Irvine

March 15th, 2023
12:00pm Arizona time
WCPH 107

Diane Pataki
Arizona State University

April 5th, 2023
12:00pm Arizona time
WCPH 107

Janna Goebel
Arizona State University

April 26th, 2023
12:00pm Arizona time
WCPH 107

Fall 2022

Andreas De Block
Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven

September 22nd, 2022

Zachary VanTol
Arizona State University

October 5th, 2022

Kathleen Merrigan
Arizona State University

November 9th, 2022

Dr. Harsh
World Bank

November 30th, 2023

Fall 2021

Bryan Leonard

September 29th, 2021

Various Faculty and Grad Students

November 10th, 2021

Nicole Darnall

December 1st, 2021

Spring 2021

Various Faculty and Grad Students

February 10th, 2021

Various Faculty and Grad Students

February 24th, 2021

Various Faculty and Grad Students

November 10th, 2021