Convocation connects climate change with national security
Penn State professor David Titley will discuss how the U.S. military might play a role in combating climate change
David Titley, professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University and a former naval officer, will present Carleton’s weekly convocation address on Friday, January 25 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel. His presentation, titled “Climate Change and National Security: People not Polar Bears,” will discuss how the U.S. military might play a role in combating climate change.
Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. They are also recorded and archived for online viewing on the convocations website.
In the last decade, both the United Nations and the U.S. Department of Defense have begun to identify climate change as a threat to national security. Titley specializes in climate change as it relates to matters of security, having initiated and led the U.S. Navy’s Task Force on Climate Change while serving in the Pentagon. Now at Penn State, Titley is the founding director of its Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk.
Titley served as a naval officer for 32 years and achieved the rank of Rear Admiral. His naval career included duties as commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, oceanographer and navigator of the Navy, and deputy assistant chief of naval operations for information dominance. After retiring from the Navy, Titley served as the Chief Operating Officer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Titley received his PhD in meteorology from the Naval Postgraduate School. Along with his position at Penn State as both a professor of meteorology and a professor of international affairs, he sits on the Board of Directors of the Council on Strategic Risks and currently chairs the National Academy of Science’s “Climate Communication Initiative.” He is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
This event is sponsored by Carleton College Convocations. For more information, including disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4308. The Skinner Memorial Chapel is located at First and College Streets in Northfield.