Wrigley Institute celebrates Earth Month 2024
Although sustainability touches all facets of the Trojan community year round, it becomes the focal point at USC every April in honor of Earth Month. Through the university-wide sustainability framework, Assignment: Earth, we come together all month long to shine an even brighter light on education, research, and operations that help bring about a healthier Earth.
At the Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability, we’re especially excited for Earth Month on campus because it gives us the opportunity to elevate institute-affiliated voices and their important work, as well as partner with other departments, centers, and institutes to engage in wider conversations about what it means to care for our planet.
This April, we collaborated with USC Dornsife College, USC Office of Sustainability, USC Center for the Political Future, the Environmental Student Assembly, and more. We also shared exciting news about institute achievements and future directions. Read on for highlights from our Earth Month 2024!
Climate policy and advocacy take center stage at Climate Forward 2024: Climate at the Crossroads
The fifth annual Climate Forward Conference, held at USC’s University Park Campus on April 4, kicked off our Earth Month celebrations. This year’s conference, hosted by the Wrigley Institute and USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future in collaboration with POLITICO, brought together leaders to discuss practical, policy- and activism-based solutions to climate change.
Speakers and panelists included Neera Tanden, domestic policy advisor to President Joe Biden and director of the U.S. Domestic Policy Council; comedian and former Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee, former California State Senator Fran Pavley, and more. If you missed the conference, you can watch the recordings here or read highlights from the event here.
Young leaders explore mental health issues and climate change
USC students and young environmental advocates came together to explore the intersection of mental health and the environment at Earth Month Dialogue: Coping and Hoping in a Changing World, hosted by the Environmental Student Assembly in collaboration with the Wrigley Institute, USC Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication, and USC’s Undergraduate Student Government. The idea for the event came from environmentally-minded students who recognized that coping with pressures typical for young people such as balancing school, interpersonal relationships, and work – on top of living through today’s climate crisis – can be tremendously difficult.
Designed to provide a space for building connections and uplifting diverse perspectives, the event welcomed young leaders to speak about how they advance environmental justice and sustainability while taking care of their own mental health. Students heard from environmental educator Isaias Hernandez, also known as Queer Brown Vegan; award-winning documentary filmmakers Lauren Tamayo and Tehya Jennett; climate journalist Shreya Agrawal; and more. Read event highlights here.
USC experts explore geoengineering as a climate solution
Is it a good idea to manipulate Earth’s environment to offset the impacts of climate change? This was one question addressed in April’s Dornsife Dialogue event, which brought together Paxson H. Offield Professor in Coastal and Marine Systems William Berelson; Wrigley Institute Director Joe Árvai; and Anu Khan, Carbon180 entrepreneur in residence, for a panel discussion about emerging climate technologies. The experts talked about techniques for the capturing and storing of carbon dioxide, as well as addressed common critiques and risks of carbon removal and other geoengineering practices. Watch a video recording of the Dornsife Dialogue below, or read more about carbon removal technology in USC Dornsife News.
The Wrigley Marine Science Center becomes part of new Mission Blue Hope Spot
On Earth Day, international ocean conservation nonprofit Mission Blue announced that Catalina Island’s Blue Cavern State Marine Conservation Area is now designated as a Hope Spot, a place that is critical to the health of our ocean. Big Fisherman Cove, where the Wrigley Marine Science Center (WMSC) is located, is part of this protected area and continues to serve as a laboratory and classroom for the hundreds of students and researchers who visit the campus each year. The Hope Spot designation both raises awareness of the collaborative environmental work happening to protect Catalina Island’s coasts, and also serves as a model for other marine protected areas worldwide. In turn, it will help pave the way for new opportunities for the Wrigley Institute to partner with other centers and organizations focused on solving environmental challenges. Watch the Hope Spot announcement video below or read about it here.
Ballmer Group gives $4 million to fund new Climate and Carbon Management Initiative
Earth Month also brought the exciting announcement that Ballmer Group, a philanthropic organization established by Connie Ballmer and her husband, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, has committed $4 million over five years to seed a cross-cutting Wrigley Institute initiative focused on climate and carbon management.
With the goal of accelerating solutions that help decarbonize our economy and our environment, this new initiative will incorporate original research, high-impact experiential learning for undergraduates, public events, and more. “Now more than ever, we need all hands on deck to address the biggest environmental and social challenge humanity has ever faced,” says Wrigley Institute Director Joe Árvai. “And thanks to support from the Ballmer Group, the Wrigley Institute’s talented scientists and innovators have a chance to play an ever larger role in creating a sustainable future for many generations to come.”
