{"id":842,"date":"2025-02-05T21:42:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T02:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/school-of-climate-environment-and-society\/?p=842"},"modified":"2025-02-05T21:42:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T02:42:19","slug":"clark-university-launches-school-of-climate-environment-and-society-and-names-inaugural-dean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/climate-environment-society\/clark-university-launches-school-of-climate-environment-and-society-and-names-inaugural-dean\/","title":{"rendered":"Clark University launches school of climate, environment, and society and names inaugural dean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

School builds on decades of leadership and impact in addressing the world\u2019s most complex and intractable challenges<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WORCESTER, Mass. \u2014 In a vital effort to address our planet\u2019s most profound and urgent challenges through a distinctive lens, Clark University has announced the establishment of the School of Climate, Environment, and Society<\/a>, to open in Fall 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school elevates Clark\u2019s historic academic strengths and leading-edge research to embolden an urgently needed response to climate change and related ecological and social crises. To address these challenges, society needs a better way of understanding our world. Clark programs will advance critical systems thinking that integrates learning from across traditional disciplines like economics, political and social sciences, natural sciences, data sciences, the humanities, and business \u2014 empowering students and faculty to pursue innovative and human-focused approaches to global problems on a local, regional, and planetary scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe School of Climate, Environment, and Society will harness Clark\u2019s agile, integrative approach to research and our foundational expertise to offer something that is distinctive, compelling, and enduring,\u201d said Clark President David Fithian. \u201cThrough the creation of this school, we will be able to leverage our small size, world-class faculty experts, and strong interdisciplinary core to be a leading contributor and critical voice in the worldwide effort to address the relentless alterations to our climate, which trace through nearly every aspect of our shared human community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new school will be led by Lou Leonard, the newly appointed D.J.A. Spencer Dean of the School of Climate, Environment, and Society. Leonard comes to Clark from Chatham University, where he served as Dean of the Falk School of Sustainability and Environment. Prior to that, Leonard was Senior Vice President and leader of the Climate & Energy Program for the World Wildlife Fund, the global conservation organization. He earned his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and his JD in environmental law from Boston College Law School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThreats to human society from entwined ecological and social crises are undeniable, and growing,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cThe question is how \u2014 as individuals and institutions \u2014 we will respond. I am thrilled to join a university that is meeting this moment boldly and with the power to make a major impact.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a society, we have made strong progress on technologies and policies needed to address climate and related challenges, but we have struggled in the messy work of implementing and scaling solutions. The school is working to change this by focusing on the complex intersection of natural and human systems. Our work will be radically interdisciplinary and deeply rooted in places and communities, both in Massachusetts and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The School of Climate, Environment, and Society will generate new and expanded course offerings and degree programs related to climate science, environmental studies and policy, biodiversity, urban systems, and environmental sustainability, centered on five interconnected imperatives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n