Stevens Announces Spring 2020 Sustainability Seminar Series Speakers

Sustainability is key at Stevens Institute of Technology. From energy efficiency and conservation efforts to social, environmental and economic well-being, Stevens is equipping students to create a greener future.

This is the goal of Stevens’ popular sustainability seminar series.

The Spring 2020 Hugo Neu Corporation Sustainability Seminar Series begins Wednesday, January 29 at Stevens’ campus in Hoboken, New Jersey. It is the eighth series offered by the sustainability management master’s program in the department of Civil, Environmental, and Ocean engineering, and—thanks to sponsorship from Hugo Neu Corporation, BEM Systems, Brown and Caldwell, H2M Architects and Engineers, and Geosyntec Consultants—is expected to be the most popular yet.

"Our Spring 2020 seminar series continues our goal to engage people in discussions on sustainability issues critical to our social, environmental and economic well-being," says professor Dibyendu “Dibs” Sarkar, coordinator of the series and founding director of the program. "We are thankful to Hugo Neu Corporation, BEM Systems, Brown and Caldwell, H2M Architects and Engineers, and Geosyntec Consultants for sponsoring the Spring 2020 series. Their generous support will allow us to host twelve engaging speakers from industry, government, non-profit, and academia who will discuss their work in various areas of sustainability ranging from climate resilient water management in New York City to the future of sustainable energy to local sustainability and resilience planning in the state of New Jersey."

Sarkar adds, "We are live webcasting the seminars for any interested in learning how to make our world more sustainable. They will also be archived on the Schaefer School of Science YouTube channel. Students attending the seminars in person are encouraged to engage in a 'meet and greet' with the speakers before the seminars. The speakers are all local and regional leaders in sustainability and many of them are interested in working with our students in a mentorship capacity."

That kind of access to potential employers, as well as the breadth of topics covered, is what makes the series so popular.

Speakers scheduled for Spring 2020 are:

• January 29 – Mittul Patel, BEM Systems, Inc: "Evaluation of Climate Change Resiliency for Critical Assets "

• February 5 – Eric Olsen, The Nature Conservancy: "Conserving New Jersey’s Most Important Lands Before Build-Out"

• February 12 – Adam J. Zellner, Greener by Design: "Linear Development and Changing Face of Energy and Infrastructure"

• February 19 – Joshua DiFlorio, Port Authority of NJ: "Natural Hazard Risk Management: Toward a Physical and Financial Nexus"

• February 26 – Ray Hyland, Brown and Caldwell: "Green Infrastructure for Flood Control"

• March 4 – Karen W. Robison, H2M Architects + Engineers: "Green Infrastructure – Theoretical vs. Practical"

• March 11 – Kenneth Spahn, Dewberry: "The Hudson River Rebuild by Design Feasibility and Environmental Impact Statement Project"

• March 25 – Alan Blumberg, Jupiter Intelligence: "Changing the Game for Flood Risk Mitigation"

• April 1 – Jennifer S. Gonzalez, City of Hoboken: "Hoboken: An Urban Laboratory for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation"

• April 8 – Kendall Christiansen, Gaia Strategies: "30 Years on the Front-lines For Today’s Zero-Waste Circular Economy"

• April 15 – Nicholas D’Ambrosio, The Nomad Group: "A Day in the Life of an Environmental Consultant"

• April 22 - Lynn McGuire, Geosyntec Consultants: “How Industrial Businesses are Charting a Course to Carbon Reduction Goals"

• April 29 - Dominique Leuckenhoff, Hugo Neu Corporation: TBD

The seminars will be held every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00 pm at the Altorfer Academic Complex. Attendance is free but seating is limited to 30 people, so please RSVP to Dr. Sarkar at [email protected]. Refreshments will be provided.

The series is sponsored by Hugo Neu Corporation, BEM Systems, Brown and Caldwell, H2M Architects and Engineers., and Geosyntec Consultants. It is organized by the sustainability management master’s program within the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering & Science.

More information about these speakers and the series is available on the Sustainability Seminar Series page. For those unable to attend seminars in person, the seminars will also be a live webcast by Zoom and archived on the Schaefer School of Science YouTube channel.

For more information on the seminar series, or if you would like to give a talk or suggest a speaker, contact Dr. Sarkar at [email protected].

M.S. in Sustainability Management CEOE Department Schaefer School