Climate Refugees Panel Discussion to Feature Film’s Director and Colorado State Faculty

Note to Reporters: All tickets to the test screening have been distributed. However, people without tickets will be admitted once all ticketholders in attendance have been seated. Reporters interested in attending the test screening must contact Kimberly Sorensen no later than 5 p.m. today.

Colorado State University and School of Global Environmental Sustainability faculty will discuss environmental issues and climate change with Michael Nash, director of “Climate Refugees,” following an exclusive test screening of the documentary on Nov. 15.

Diana Wall, director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, will moderate the panel discussion, which will feature Michele Betsill, associate professor of political science; Scott Denning, professor of atmospheric science; and Lori Peek, assistant professor of sociology.

All tickets to the test screening of “Climate Refugees” have been distributed. Ticket holders are advised to arrive early and line up in the hallway north of the Curfman Gallery prior to doors opening at 5:15 p.m. Ticket holders will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis in the Lory Student Center Theatre. Additional seating will be available in a designated overflow space for ticket holders that do not secure seating in the theatre.

For those without tickets, a first-come, first-served line will form in the Lory Student Center east atrium near First National Bank and RAMtech. Those without tickets will be admitted as space allows once all ticket holders have been seated.

Nash is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of L.A. Think Tank. Nash’s “Climate Refugees” documentary illuminates the human face of climate change and how the changing climate is a national security issue. Nash’s last film, “Fuel,” received numerous awards around the world. Nash has television deals with Fremantle, Grosso/Jacobson and CAA. He has also created a digital-video exploration montage for the Getty Museum, has been involved in several development deals, music videos, and commercial.

Other panelists:

Betsill, associate professor in the Department of Political Science and director of the Environmental Governance Working Group at CSU, takes an all encompassing approach to studying the ebb and flow of climate change politics. Her research focuses on the politics of global climate change, from the local to the global level. Betsill is particularly interested in the various policy approaches to controlling greenhouse gas emissions, and has been a long-time observer of international climate change negotiations and is currently working on a project that traces the evolution of emissions trading markets as a policy instrument for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

Denning is a CSU Monfort Professor, director for Education and Diversity of the Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes and professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at CSU. His research includes interactions between the atmosphere and terrestrial biosphere and their effects on exchange of energy, water and carbon dioxide. He also investigates the interface between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere, with particular emphasis on using atmospheric observations to understand the global carbon cycle.

Peek, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, focuses her research on the intersection of social inequality, vulnerability and disasters. Her most recent research projects include an exploration of identity formation processes among second-generation Muslim Americans after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a study of children’s experiences in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina, and an examination of the relocation experiences of parents and children displaced to the state of Colorado in the aftermath of Katrina.

Wall, a University Distinguished Professor and director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, studies soil biodiversity and carbon cycling. Her research includes global investigations from agriculture to arid grasslands and 18 seasons in the Antarctic Dry Valleys examining global change impacts on soil biodiversity and ecosystems.

“Climate Refugees” will be shown at United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Copenhagen later this year and Colorado State is the only university to test screen this film.

For more information on “Climate Refugees,” visit www.climaterefugees.com.

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