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Past Conferences

Our climate change conferences are always the highlight of our academic year. Below, you can find information about conferences from over the years.

2024: Feeding a Changing World-Climate Change and Global Food Systems

Loyola University Chicago’s 2024 Climate Change Conference convened experts from multiple disciplines to explore how climate change impacts global food security. Speakers discussed strategies for developing equitable, resilient, and sustainable food systems.

Learn more and view a video recording of the presentations.

2023: Climate Refugees--Human Migration in the Era of Climate Change

From floods to wildfires to droughts, the changing climate increasingly impacts human migration, adding to the growing number of displaced people worldwide. The 2023 Climate Change Conference featured a keynote speaker and a panel of experts who discussed issues confronting the international community.

Learn more and view a video recording of the presentations.

2022: The Intersection of Climate Change, Human Health, and Justice

  • March 14 – 18, 2022 virtual conference 
  • Participants heard from climate scientists, public health experts, social justice advocates, policymakers, entrepreneurs, architects, engineers, and leaders of nonprofit environmental organizations.
  • Speakers discussed the global and local impacts of climate change and the disproportionate harm done to the most vulnerable members of society.
  • Learn more and view video recordings of the online sessions here. 

2021: Accompanying Youth to a Hope-filled Future

  • March 15 – 18, 2021 virtual conference 
  • The 2021 conference featured the voices of young activists on the ground where real work is happening, including keynote conversations with Dejah Powell, Midwest lead organizer of the Sunrise Movement, and Vic Barrett, fellow with the Alliance for Climate Education, along with other notable youth climate activists. The youth-centric keynote conversation was moderated by WBEZ Chicago’s Jerome McDonnell. 
  • 2021 Poster Session videos
  • NPR Interview featuring our panelists

2018: Climate Change and Human Health: 21st Century Challenges

  • March 15-16, 2018 
  • SES co-hosted this 5th annual conference with the Gannon Center for Women and Leadership and included panelists who are leaders in the U.S. and abroad in climate change and public health advocacy. Gina McCarthy, senior leadership fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and former U.S. EPA administrator under President Barack Obama, delivered the keynote address, highlighting the need to protect public health to ensure a robust economy, as well as the direct effects environmental degradation imparts on humanity’s health and well-being. 
  • 2018 Conference video highlights  

2017: Climate Justice: The Struggle for Our Common Home

  • March 16-17, 2017 
  • The 2017 Climnate Change Conference featured speakers with direct experience on the front lines of environmental justice initiatives, including keynote speaker Mary Robinson, past president of Ireland and internationally known human rights activist, and Tokata Iron Eyes, a Lakota Sioux youth leader credited with initiating the recent grassroots movement opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 
  • 2017 Keynote speaker address

2016: Global Climate Change: Economic Challenges and Solutions

  • March 17-19, 2016 
  • Our 2016 conference examined issues through presentations on climate justice, the feasibility of switching to a green economy, international policy after COP21, and the social dimensions of climate change. The keynote speaker was Naomi Klein, an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the New York Times and #1 international bestseller, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.