A Conversation on Sustainability

Dr. Katherine Richardson hails from a family of distinguished Mainers and is an eminent professor at the University of Copenhagen and leader of its Sustainability Science Center, whose work bridges the gap between marine science and global climate policy. She will discuss global sustainability with Dr. Deborah Bronk, CEO and President of Maine's Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. See detailed bios below. Ticket price $20 plus Eventbrite fee.

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Net proceeds from this event to benefit Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Lead Sponsors for this event are Gladys Cofrin and Dr. Dan Logan

Enjoy pre-lecture music for 30 minutes before the event

Katherine Richardson Christensen is a Professor in Biological Oceanography, leader of the Sustainability Science Centre and a researcher for the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the University of Copenhagen. Her research focuses on the importance of biological processes in the ocean for the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and how ocean biology, including diversity, contributes to ocean function in the Earth System. Richardon was Chairman of the Danish Commission on Climate Change Policy that presented a roadmap for how Denmark can become independent of fossil fuels by 2050. She was a member of the Danish Climate Council and was a member of the 15-person Independent Group of Scientists appointed by Ban Ki Moon to draft the 2019 UN Global Sustainable Development Report. She is or has been a member or chair of numerous national and international committees and organizations relating to science policy and/or sustainability. She also is a core researcher in an international research team focusing on identifying “Planetary Boundaries”, a group working to determine how much of specific Earth System Services can “safely” be appropriated by humans. She completed a B.A. at Harvard University in 1976 and completed a Ph.D. in Marine Science from University of North Wales, UK 1980. She is the sister of Heather Cox Richardson and grew up in Yarmouth, Maine.

Dr. Deborah Bronk is the president and CEO of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, a leading nonprofit research institute that is based in East Boothbay and conducts research around the world. Bronk earned a Ph.D. in marine-estuarine and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland, and she has more than two decades of experience as a professor and an oceanographer. As an oceanographer who has completed over 50 research expeditions, Bronk has served as president of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology & Oceanography, director of the Division of Ocean Sciences at the National Science Foundation, and chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. She currently serves as Chair of the UNOLS Council, which oversees the U.S. research fleet of ships and deep submersibles. Bronk currently serves on the Maine Space Corporation board and the Maine Innovation Economy Advisory Board. She is also the founder of the Maine Marine Science Consortium, which builds collaboration among leaders in marine and environmental science across the state.

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