Climate scientists to lecture at Hamilton College in early April

A 1979 Hamilton graduate, Jonathan Overpeck, one of the nation’s leading experts on climate change, gives his “Climate Change 2023: Challenges and Opportunities” lecture Thursday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the college’s Kennedy Auditorium. Overpeck is the Samuel A. Graham Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan.

Overpeck has published more than 220 works in climate and the environmental sciences and was one of 33 lead authors on the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore. He has led active climate-research programs on five continents focused on understanding drought and megadrought dynamics. He earned a bachelor’s degree in geology from Hamilton and holds a master’s and Ph.D. in geological sciences from Brown University.

Julia Cole, a professor of Earth and environmental science at the University of Michigan, gives her “Coral Reefs in the Anthropocene – What’s Next?” lecture on Friday, April 7 at 6 p.m. in the Kennedy Auditorium.

Her research explores past environmental change and investigates ways to combine analysis of her paleodata with climate models to refine interpretations of both. Cole, co-author of more than 85 publications, regularly teaches about climate science, environmental change, oceanography, and science communication. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and her master’s and doctoral degrees from Columbia University.

The Robert S. Morris Class of 1976 Visiting Fellowship provides support to bring scholars in the field of math or science to Hamilton to provide emerging-topic expertise intended to complement the college’s academic offerings. The college’s math and science departments host a fellow of their choice on a rotating basis.