SPER'2013: Sustainable Perspectives Symposium
Event Information
Description
SPER 2013: The Systems Approach
Sustainable Perspectives Symposium
Presented by
The Columbia University Sustainability Management Student Association
An affiliate of
&
Venue: Low Library, Columbia University, Morningside
Date: March 30, 2013
Program
9.30 Registration
10.00 Welcome
10.20 Keynote
10.45 Speaker Session
1.00 Panel discussion
1.30 Reception
2.30 Close
Description
In order to develop viable solutions to the problems facing our global society, we need to understand how to think sustainably -- and systematically. SPER'2013 is a half-day symposium of dynamic speakers across many industries, and a panel discussion dedicated to applied systems thinking.
Keynote speaker, Elizabeth Thompson of the Buckminster Fuller Institute, will unpack the core concepts of systems thinking and show how they're being implemented with new approaches to design. An interactive workshop will explore previous winners of the annual BFI Challenge.
Speakers
Elizabeth Thompson, Buckminster Fuller Institute, Keynote Speaker

Ms. Thompson currently serves as the Executive Director of The Buckminster Fuller Institute. Since her tenure began in 2004, she has led BFI through a critical organizational transition launched with the move of BFI to NYC after it's location in California of its first 20 years. Under her leadership BFI has reconstituted its mission, staff, board, and program focus. She has incubated a number of educational initiatives, led the preservation and restoration of several iconic large-scale Fuller artifacts, and served as advisor or curator to numerous contemporary art exhibitions, books, articles, films, digital media, etc. . In 2007 she developed and launched The Buckminster Fuller Challenge, recently recognized as socially-responsible design’s highest award. She is a frequent panelist and lecturer on the contemporary relevance of Bucky's work.
Neil Chambers, chambersdesign

In 2004, Chambers founded chambersdesign to continue his commitment and grow his passion for integrating cities, infrastructure and green buildings with the natural world. His projects tie together concerns such as endangered species and ecological services with renewable energy and net zero design. His work expresses a desire to interconnect ecosystematic intelligences with the needs of the built environment through in-depth research and contemporary sensibilities toward architecture, urban design, science and habitat restoration.
Chambers has spoken at colleges and universities throughout the United States as well as at numerous conferences throughout the world. He has taught at New York University, and developed the Green Design Entrepreneurs Certificate Program at the Fashion Institute of Technology, a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology, training hundreds of business owners within the design professions on how to go green with their companies.
David Turnbull, Atopia research
ATOPIA and ATOPIA_RESEARCH run on parallel paths, but knowledge migrates from one to the other. ATOPIA_RESEARCH, a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation founded in 2004 and supported by a major grant from The Annenberg Foundation, tends to work in some of the most ecologically challenging areas of the World, Sri Lanka (post Tsunami, Sudan (post Civil War), The Mississippi Delta (post Hurricane), The Ogalala Aquifer (ecological devastation caused by Agri-business), Sichuan, China and Haiti (post Earthquake).
Dr. Dickson Despommier, VerticalFarm
In 2010, he published his widely received book: "The Vertical Farm: feeding the world in the 21st Century", St. Martin's Press, New York. Two years ago vertical farms were regarded as a utopia, but one year ago the first prototypes were built. Among those prototypes are a three-story VF Suwon, South Korea, over 50 (plant factories that qualify as vertical farms) in Japan, a commercial vertical farm in Singapore that opened in 2012, and another in Chicago that was built in an old industrial building.
Dr. Serpil Guran, Rutgers Eco-Complex
Dr. Guran was formerly a Research Scientist at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for 13 years, most recently with the Office Economic Growth and Green Energy. Prior to that she was a Research Scientist at Princeton University in the Mechanical-Aerospace Engineering Dept. and at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO. Dr. Guran specializes in research, development and assessment of sustainable biofuel and recycling technologies, and life cycle analysis of alternative fuel production systems. She has authored more than 25 scientific articles and holds a U.S. patent and patent disclosure. Dr. Guran has a M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Anadolu University in Turkey and a PhD in Chemical Engineering, with a specialization in Fuel and Energy Technology, from the University of Leeds, UK
Chris Garvin, Terrapin Bright Green
Complementing his work at Terrapin, Chris lectures frequently on sustainable design and has taught at the Pratt Institute’s Center for Professional Practice since 2002. He also advises several organizations on sustainability issues, including the National Building Museum and the New York Academy of Sciences. He serves on the Board of Directors for the US Green Building Council – New York Chapter and on the Advisory Board for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. In addition, he is currently developing an exhibit on “Biomimicry and the Built Environment: Lessons Learned from Nature”.
Kubi Ackerman, Urban Design Lab
Travis Bradford, Prometheus Institute
Bradford is also currently the managing partner at Atlas Capital Investments, LP, a global hedge fund dedicated to investing in sustainable technology companies in energy, water, food, and materials. He consults with governments, NGOs, and corporations on strategy and execution. Bradford has lectured on finance, entrepreneurship, and alternative energy economics at many leading universities in the U.S, and has been a professor at the University of Chicago and Duke University MBA programs on Energy Innovation.
Stefan Al, University of Pennsylvania
Al is an EU-licensed architect and a LEED Accredited Professional. He serves as a founding member of the Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design, a co-opted member of Hong Kong's Harbourfront Commission, and as a task force member of Hong Kong's Environment Bureau.
Steve Sanderson, CASE
Steve received his Master of Engineering from the Product-Architecture Lab at Stevens Institute and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design from Virginia Tech. He has led numerous workshops and speaks internationally on technology and innovation at venues such as SIGGRAPH, SmartGeometry, Autodesk University, AIANY Tech, and LA Design Technology Forum. Since 2009 he has been a part-time lecturer in the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons The New School for Design, where he teaches programming and environmental technology.