On Thursday, The Eastern Sociological Society (ESS) kicked off their annual conference at SIS, co-sponsored by CECE, American Institutes for Research, Deloitte, the MacArthur Foundation, Science Advances, AU’s School of International Service, The Department of Environment Development and Health, and the Hewlett Foundation. This was a significant landmark for ESS, because under the leadership of SIS Professor and CECE Director, Dr. Dana Fisher, 2024 was the first year that the topic of the climate crisis took center stage within the conference’s history. Academics, professionals, and activists filled the Founders room as it buzzed with the anticipation of discussing the importance of the social side of the climate crisis.
Dr. Fisher opened the event by presenting the first panel of speakers, including Dr. Marccus Hendricks, Associate Professor and Director of the Stormwater Infrastructure Resilience and Justice (SIRJ) Lab at the University of Maryland (UMD) and Former Senior Advisor at the White House CEQ, Allison Crimmins who is the Director of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, and moderator Andrew Jorgenson, Professor and Director of the Climate & Society Lab at the University of British Columbia. Both Hendricks and Crimmins emphasized the critical role of cross-sector collaboration in response to climate change, and the need to “take a social lens to what has largely been studied as a physical problem.” Read more.