Earth Day Lecture | College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences

The climate crisis has inspired a new generation of thinkers and advocates. The CEOAS Earth Day lecture was launched in 2022 to celebrate the voices of those on the front lines of creating climate solutions, imagining hope, and strengthening our resiliency in the face of enormous planetary and societal change.

2025 Earth Day Lecture: Bold Solutions, Better Planet

April 22, 2025, 5:30 p.m. (Pacific time)

As rising sea levels and extreme weather reshape our coasts, scientists, communities, and industries are coming together to build resilience. Our panelists will share how innovative research, forecasting tools, and sustainable practices are helping us adapt. In the face of these challenges, we can find hope by taking action—whether through science, policy, sustainable industry, or community engagement—we all have a role to play. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of coastal resilience and how each of us can make a difference in protecting our shores and communities.

Moderated by Tuba Özkan-Haller, dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.

Brought to you by the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and the OSU Alumni Association. For questions or accommodations, please contact Des Anderson.

Featured Speakers

Laura Anderson ‘00 M.S. Marine Resource Management, is from a multi-generational commercial fishing family, the founder of Local Ocean Seafoods Restaurant, an Independent Systems Seafood Consultant, and at the forefront in Oregon’s sustainable fishery movement. Laura and her husband purchased the Yaquina Lab in 2020 and began developing the facilities to provide critical infrastructure to local food producers. Laura serves on the Board of Directors for Local Ocean Seafoods, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Oregon Ocean Science Trust and the Nature Conservancy of Oregon.

Katy Serafin ’18 Ph.D. and ‘14 M.S. OEAS, is a coastal scientist and Assistant Professor at University of Florida, who researches extreme sea levels and coastal hazards to better understand how our coastlines are changing and the resultant consequences for people and places. She combines observational datasets with statistical and numerical models to understand the frequency, drivers, and impacts of coastal flooding and erosion events. Some of her interests include compound flooding hazards, extreme value analysis, coastal processes, human-natural coupled systems, flood risk management in a changing climate, and climate adaptation and resilience. The dynamic and broad nature of coastal science demands a highly interdisciplinary approach and she works with collaborators in different fields, institutions, and government agencies to enhance the resilience of communities to the impacts of coastal hazards.

Hilary Stockdon ‘06 Ph.D. and ‘98 M.S. Oceanography, is Program Coordinator, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program with the U.S. Geological Survey. Her work is aimed at improving our understanding of coastal change processes, developing innovative methods for forecasting coastal change, applying these methods to identify potential hazards along our Nation’s coastlines, and then sharing the information with coastal stakeholders. For almost 20 years, she has been part of a multifaceted project that quantifies how sea level rise, storms and long-term erosion are shaping our shorelines. Her work is both fundamental and applied: rigorous science on coastal processes is used to create tools for decision makers who are responsible for preparedness, response, and resilience along our coastlines. Her work on the effects of storms on the coastal communities of our Nation has raised public awareness about the value of scientific information on coastal vulnerability, helping residents prepare for future events.

Greg Wilson ‘13, Ph.D. and ‘09 M.S. Oceanography, is an Associate Professor at Oregon State University. His research involves the physics of the nearshore coastal ocean including waves, currents, and sediment transport. He is interested in using new observational and modeling tools to understand and make predictions of these processes. Using technology that is inspiring the next generation of innovators, he is instrumenting beaches to measure shoaling and breaking waves, using beach cameras with model-data assimilation to improve forecasts of nearshore currents such as rip currents. He collaborates with coastal engineers and practitioners to put his research into practice, helping to predict and understand coastal change and hazards.

Past Earth Day Events

2024: Bold Solutions, Better Planet

Speakers challenge the notion that disasters are "natural” and address how deeply divided societies understand, prepare for, and cope with environmental change and disasters. Viewers will learn how humans’ relationship with their communities and natural environments affect how they experience climate change, and how engaging and empowering vulnerable communities in decision-making can address health inequalities and prevent disasters. The discussion by Oregon State University alumni Arwen Bird (M.S. '13), Laura E. R. Peters (Ph.D. '20), and Melva Treviño Peña (Ph.D. ‘18) was moderated by Tuba Özkan-Haller, dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Watch the 2024 recording of Bold Solutions Better Planet.

Arwen Bird has worked to support community health, resilience, and adaptation throughout her career. After completing her Marine Resource Management degree at OSU, Arwen worked through Affiliated Tribes of NW Indians and NW Climate Science Center (now NW Climate Adaptation Science Center) to provide training coordination and evaluation for graduate students, communities, tribes, and municipalities as they honed research, and built climate plans and programs. As she listened to people all over the world talk about climate related health impacts, such as increased respiratory diseases due to wildfire smoke inhalation, she realized she wanted to return to direct service to help people survive climate change. Arwen is now working toward her career goal of providing primary healthcare as a physician assistant.
Laura E. R. Peters is an Assistant Professor of Geography at Oregon State University (OSU) researching how deeply divided societies build knowledge about and act upon contemporary social-environmental changes and challenges, including those related to climate change, disasters, and health. Peters leads the Disasters in Divided Societies Lab, and she is the Research Director of Stema, a disruptive research group pioneering new approaches to global health challenges. Her applied research on disaster risk reduction and environmental peacebuilding seeks not just to reduce and mitigate risks but also to co-develop explicit strategies that strengthen social-environmental sustainability and justice, support community and planetary health and wellbeing, and build durable peace.
Melva Treviño Peña is a human geographer and an Assistant Professor at the University of Rhode Island whose research examines various changes in the environment and how they affect people — the intersection of human and natural relationships. She is particularly interested in how different aspects of people’s identities impact their ability to navigate nature and environmental change, as well as how humans develop cultural, emotional, and spiritual relationships to coastal and marine environments, and identifying how losing access to these natural spaces can impact different groups of people.

2023: Bold Solutions, Better Planet

Panel discussion by Oregon State University alumni Julie Pullen (Ph.D. '00), Margaret Leinen (M.S. ’75), and Rick Spinrad (M.S. ’78, Ph.D. '82) moderated by Tuba Özkan-Haller, dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Watch the 2023 recording of Bold Solutions, Better Planet.

Julie Pullen (Partner and Chief Scientist at Propeller, a climate technology investor) works at the intersection of climate resilience and climate solutions to enhance the life-support and human security of our planet. Her unique perspective has enabled her to spearhead the boldest, most unique solutions to planetary change.
Margaret Leinen (Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego) is an award-winning oceanographer and distinguished national and international leader in ocean science, global climate and environmental issues. Her research in paleo-oceanography and paleo-climatology focuses on ocean sediments and their relationship to Earth's history.
Rick Spinrad (U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator) is an oceanographer who served as NOAA’s Chief Scientist under President Barack Obama, and was Senior Adviser to the Vice President of Research at Oregon State University. Prior to joining NOAA, Dr. Spinrad held leadership positions at the U.S. Office of Naval Research and Oceanographer of the Navy, where he was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Award — the highest award given by the U.S. Navy to a civilian.

2022: Climate crisis, climate hope: Alumni on the cutting edge

Panel discussion by Oregon State University alumni Guido Corno (Ph.D. '06), Jeremy Hoffman (Ph.D. '16), and Julia Rosen (Ph.D. '14) moderated by Tuba Özkan-Haller, now of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Watch the 2022 recording of Climate crisis, climate hope: Alumni on the cutting edge.