Catalyzing Conversations

network conversations in chat bubble.

In Spring 2023, RENEW launched a new sponsored speaker series: “Catalyzing Conversations.”  As suggested by the series name, RENEW’s aim is to bring to UB speakers whose research foci can catalyze cross-disciplinary research collaborations related to energy, environment, and water, and their socio-economic impacts. RENEW affiliated faculty across the university may nominate and host speakers, scheduling talks during regularly scheduled seminar series or at a different time if preferred by the hosting department or school. Convened across the UB campuses, “Catalyzing Conversations” are open to all.

To nominate a speaker for RENEW's Catalyzing Conversations series, please do so here.

Upcoming

March 19, 2025 - Richard Alley

National Academy of Sciences member and co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Alley is the Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State.  He studies the great ice sheets to help predict future changes in climate and sea level, and has been honored for research, including Foreign Membership in the Royal Society, teaching, and service.

Past Events

April 10, 2025 - Nancy Grimm

Nancy B. Gimm, National Academy of Sciences member and Regents Professor at Arizona State University, is an ecosystem ecologist who studies the interactions of climate change, human activities, resilience, and biogeochemical processes in urban and stream ecosystems.

March 10, 2025 - Lynn Katz

Lynn Katz has over thirty years of experience examining the application of aquatic surface chemistry to understanding the fate and transport of contaminants in the environment and toward the development of treatment technologies for contaminated water and soil. 

October 2, 2024 - Thalappil Pradeep

Thalappil Pradeep is an Institute Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Chennai, India whose interest focus is molecular and nanoscale materials. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

May 8, 2024 - James R. Elliott

James Elliott is the Chair of the Sociology Department at Rice University. He is a Faculty Affiliate of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research and former advisor to the National Science Foundation’s program in Sociology.

>>> See prior conversation events