YSU speaker series to look at fossil fuel impact

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown State University lecture series on energy and the environment launches its fourth academic year with the impacts of fossil fuel as the focus.

Dr. Ray Beiersdorfer, professor of geology, organizes the sessions, which are free. The series is sponsored in part by The James Dale Ethics Center.

All the events, except Oct. 5 and 12 which are Thursdays, are Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in Cushwa B100. The series continues through Nov. 15. There is ample parking at street metered-parking spaces along Lincoln Avenue and nearby streets.

The series began Wednesday night with Dr. Paula Mouser of the University of New Hampshire. In September 2014, she was the first speaker in this lecture series. She spoke on the biodegradation of fracturing fluid additives.

This Wednesday, Dr. David W. Eaton of the University of Calgary will speak via Skype and discuss fault activation by hydraulic fracturing.

Sept. 20: Panel discussion, “The Unintended Consequences of Innovation: Shale Oil and Gas Waste.”

Sept. 27: Dr. Robert Steneck, University of Maine via Skype. “Climate impacts on lobster fisheries in Maine and coral reefs in the Caribbean.”

Oct. 4: Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson, Stanford University via Skype, “Road maps for transitioning all 50 states to wind, water and solar power for all purposes.”

Oct. 5: Merrily Mazza, Lafayette (Colo.) City Council. Lafayette’s Climate Bill of Rights and Protections.

Oct. 11: Dr. Ray’s Amazing Sideshow of Science: A Trip Through Geologic Time.

Oct. 12: (Thursday) “We The People 2.0” Film screening and discussion.

Oct. 18: Dr. Mike Brudzinski, Miami University via Skype, “Induced Seismicity in Ohio.”

Oct. 25: Bill Dale, founder of Beach Buddies, a volunteer beach cleaning charity, based in the Isle of Man.

Nov. 1: Dr. Kim Anderson, Oregon State University via Skype, “Mobile Device for Measuring Chemical Exposures, Location and Respiratory Health and Comparisons with Conventional Technologies,” with examples from Ohio, Oregon, New York, Africa and Peru.

Nov. 8: Open-panel discussion moderated by Beiersdorfer; “Implications of Yesterday’s Election for Energy and the Environment.”

Nov. 15: Dr. Andrew Barbour, U.S. Geological Survey, via Skype, “Connections between Wastewater Disposal and Induced Seismicity in Oklahoma.