Insights for a Sustainable Future: What Can We Learn from the Climate Crisis and COVID-19?

Join Provost Michael Bruno for the third webinar in the UH Community Conversations series featuring:

Dr. Makena Coffman
Director, UH Institute for Sustainability and Professor and Department Chair, UH Mānoa Urban & Regional Planning

Dr. Darren T. Lerner
Director, University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program, and University Consortium Director, Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center

Provost Bruno, Dr. Coffman and Dr. Lerner will discuss the intersection of COVID-19 with our local and global environments, with takeaways for sustainability post-pandemic.

Space is limited. Meeting ID and password will be emailed upon registration. Questions for the speakers can be submitted on the registration page.

Questions? Please contact the UH Office of Alumni Relations at [email protected].

About the speakers

Michael S. Bruno is the Provost at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Prior to his appointment, he was UH Mānoa’s Vice Chancellor for Research. Before joining UH, Dr. Bruno was the Dean of the School of Engineering and Science, and Professor of Ocean Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. He was also the Director of the Center for Maritime Security, a Department of Homeland Security National Center of Excellence. Dr. Bruno is a Visiting Professor in Mechanical Engineering at University College London.

His research and teaching interests include ocean observation systems, climate change, and community resilience. He is the author of more than 100 technical publications in various aspects of these fields, including the book, The Urban Ocean, published by Cambridge University Press in 2018.

Makena Coffman serves as the Director of the UH Institute for Sustainability and Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She teaches graduate courses in climate change, environmental planning and policy. Her research interests include greenhouse gas mitigation, energy policy and alternative transportation strategies. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She is a Research Fellow with the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization and is a member of the City & County of Honolulu Climate Change Commission.

Darren T. Lerner serves as Director for the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program (Hawaiʻi Sea Grant), which is at the forefront of sustainability and resilience that are of critical importance to the state and region. Dr. Lerner oversees all aspects of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant including developing goals, objectives, and policies for the program; hiring and managing faculty and staff; overseeing fundraising and budgets; writing proposals and serving as principal investigator; awarding grants and scholarships; speaking publicly; arranging donor development; coordinating legislative/congressional interactions; and leading/serving on state, regional, and national boards, task forces, committees, and other groups.

Dr. Lerner also serves as the Consortium Director for the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center, one of eight regional centers in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey across the U.S. His research activities are focused on the environmental physiology of fishes with more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in this area as well as water resources and education.