With a network of 160,000, Duke’s alumni population has the potential to serve as a strong community of advocates for climate awareness and sustainability, driving positive change in society. The Duke Forever Learning Institute, operated through the Office of Alumni Engagement and Development (AED), provides a webinar-based platform for alumni to engage with Duke experts for lifelong learning opportunities along thematic tracks. In Spring 2023, AED offered the first Forever Learning Institute series on Duke’s Climate Changemakers, with the goal of providing a broad overview of the multidisciplinary nature of climate change and its impacts, and to introduce alumni learners to topics of interest related to climate across a variety of sectors. This series featured four seminars on the following topics:

  • The Science of Climate Change, moderated by Prasad Kasibhatla, Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Research and Doctoral Programs, Nicholas School of the Environment, and featuring presenters Brian Mcadoo (’91), Associate Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment; Emily Ury (Ph.D. ’21), postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Waterloo; and Drew Shindell, Nicholas Distinguished Professor of Earth Science, Nicholas School of the Environment;
  • The Impacts of Climate Change, moderated by Norman Wirzba, Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Christian Theology, Divinity School, and featuring presenters Sara Blodgett Bermeo, Associate Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy; Lee Miller (’09, MEM ’12), Lecturing Fellow, Law School; and AnnMarie Walton, Associate Professor, School of Nursing;
  • Turn the Tide of Climate Change, moderated by Toddi Steelman (Ph.D. ’96), then Stanback Dean, Nicholas School of the Environment, and featuring presenters Anjali Boyd (’25), Ph.D. candidate, Nicholas School of the Environment; Charlotte Gray Hudson (MEM ’99), Director, Lenfest Ocean Program, Pew Charitable Trusts; Sandunie Liyanagamage (’23), Master of Environmental Management student, Nicholas School of the Environment; and Shannon Switzer Sanson (MEM ’15), Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, California State University San Marcos. This panel presentation was conducted as a hybrid event as part of Duke Women’s Weekend in March 2023.
  • The Economy of Climate Change, moderated by Brian Murray (M.S. ’87, Ph.D. ’92), Interim Director, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, and featured presenters Emma Rasiel (Ph.D. ’03), Richard Y. Li Professor of the Practice, Economics, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Sara Sutherland, Lecturer, Sanford School of Public Policy; and Adriano Rampini, Douglas and Josie Breeden Distinguished Professor of Financial Economics, Fuqua School of Business.

Future Forever Learning Institute series will delve into thematic focal areas of the Duke Climate Commitment.