By Peter Schlosser “You must live life with the full knowledge that your actions will remain. We are creatures of consequence.”― Zadie Smith We talk about climate change as an existential threat to humankind, and it is. Unchecked, it may place at risk life as we know it, and at…

By Peter Schlosser Our world is on a trajectory toward a planetary emergency. Governments and global organizations have set targets for action, including detailed time horizons for change, which is a positive reaction to a critical situation; however, humankind has placed our planet onto a course that will miss many…

By Peter Schlosser “You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming.” Pablo Neruda It seems there is always a “season” upon us. Some are good, some are less so. Graduation season. Tax season. Fire season. Monsoon season. Sometimes seasons shift, oftentimes they overlap. …

By Ayrel Clark-Proffitt Happy Earth Day. The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory is closing out its Earth Week series of events. Andrew Maynard, associate dean for student success in the College of Global Futures, again kicked off the day with a provocation, a “fire starter,” which Maynard says with…

By Ayrel Clark-Proffitt It’s Day 4 of Earth Week, and the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory again ignited the day with its welcome provocation. Today, Andrew Maynard, associate dean for student success in the College of Global Futures, gathered ocean and space experts to ask: Why go to space…

By Ayrel Clark-Proffitt What comes first, people or planet? No, this isn’t a chicken vs. egg philosophical riddle. (Or is it?) The query was part of a series of events surrounding provocative questions, led by Andrew Maynard, associate dean for student success in the College of Global Futures. In reality…

By Peter Schlosser “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger — something better, pushing right back.” Albert Camus Imagine a…

By Ayrel Clark-Proffitt It’s the beginning of Earth Week at the soon to be renamed ISTB7, home of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. The week is full of dozens of engaging events, but it started with a somber recognition that the war in Ukraine is an immediate global…

By Peter Schlosser, Ayrel Clark-Proffitt and Manfred Laubichler This month, total known deaths from the pandemic topped 6 million. The true figure is certainly higher–estimates put the excess deaths between 14–24 million. No disease, terrorist attack or natural disaster has led to such a staggering death toll on a global…