Part of a United Nations University research initiative, the Clark-based Project on Critical Environmental Zones publishes Regions at Risk: Comparisons of Threatened Environments, an international, interdisciplinary report exploring nine regions facing large-scale, human-induced environmental changes. Editors are Jeanne X. Kasperson, research associate professor and research librarian for the George Perkins..Read More

Three days before the U.N. Climate Summit, Clark students join a march to downtown Worcester to demand action around climate change. The march was part of worldwide protests by an estimated 4 million people, inspired by Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg.

To further its sustainability practices, Clark opens the cogeneration plant, one of the first grid-connected such plants in the country. The plant’s engine converts natural gas into steam for heat and electricity for lighting. Waste heat produced when generating electricity is captured and reused, while surplus energy in the form..Read More

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases a groundbreaking report about the urgency of the world’s taking dramatic steps to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. If not, the world could see even more extreme weather, rising sea levels, and diminishing Arctic sea ice.

Clark marks 20 years since opening the Cathy ’83 and Marc ’81 Lasry Center for Bioscience, the first building in Worcester to receive nationally recognized Gold Certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The 50,000-square-foot building  houses laboratories, conference rooms, lounge spaces, faculty..Read More

Clark first enters the arena of polar and climate studies via Paul Siple, who has accompanied Admiral Richard E. Byrd on two expeditions to Antarctica. Siple defends his Clark geography dissertation, “Adaptations of the Explorer to the Climate of Antarctica,” in which he develops the theory of the wind chill..Read More

Robert Kates begins his tenure on the geography faculty at Clark, where he lays the groundwork for research in global and climate change. An internationally recognized expert in human ecology, Kates later is appointed executive editor of Environment magazine, and to the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts..Read More

In its “Restoring the Quality of Our Environment” report presented to to President Lyndon B. Johnson, the U.S. President’s Science Advisory Committee raises concerns about the “greenhouse effect.”

Alumnus Roger Kasperson returns to Clark Geography, this time as a faculty member. An academic leader and world-renowned expert in risk assessment and the human dimensions of global change, Kasperson will join Robert Kates in building Clark’s environmental research programs. Kasperson will be appointed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency..Read More

On April 22, the world — and Clark University — celebrates the first Earth Day, now an annual event that draws attention to environmental issues, most notably climate change. The first event sees pro-environment demonstrations in Washington, New York, and other cities, and litter cleanup throughout the country.