Earth Day: "Has the Economy Outgrown the Planet?"

Join us for a panel and conversation (with a reception to follow) as we celebrate Earth Day 2025. Registration is free.

This event will feature a panel of global voices grappling with the ecological and social realities of economic growth on a finite planet. The panel and conversation will occur from 11 AM to noon in the Kendeda building, the first building in Georgia to earn the Living Building Challenge certification. A reception and poster showcase will follow from 12:00 to 12:30 PM. Students will present their work inspired by this year's Earth Day theme.

Meet our panelists and moderator:

Neha Kumar is an Associate Professor at the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. Her research lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction and global development, with a focus on health and sustainability. Dr. Kumar has been serving as the President of ACM SIGCHI since 2021. She earned her Ph.D. in Information Management Systems from UC Berkeley, Master’s degrees in Computer Science and Education from Stanford University, and Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Applied Math from UC Berkeley.

Joe Bozeman originally hails from Dayton, Ohio. His research began in sustainable energy development. After serving as an energy and environmental practitioner for several years, he shifted his research to matters of climate change adaptation/mitigation. Dr. Bozeman's current research focuses on developing equitable solutions for socioecological, urban carbon management, and food-energy-water nexus challenges. His award-winning work has been featured in major media outlets such as Popular Science, the Geographical Magazine, and NPR. He really enjoys transdisciplinary collaboration and believes that addressing research questions in this way is essential for addressing the complex, 'wicked challenges of our time. 

Logan Strenchock has been an organic gardener for more than a decade at Zsámboki Biokert, a family-scale farm practicing agroecology in Hungary. He is a Co-Founder of Cargonomia, a community cargo bike center and local food distribution point in Budapest, and the Environmental and Sustainability Officer at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest and Vienna. He is the president of the Open Garden Foundation and helps coordinate educational outreach programs in coordination with Cargonomia and Zsamboki Biokert team members. He is a member of the Hungarian Agroecology Network and enjoys getting his hands dirty in mixing research and practice in degrowth-inspired experimentation with a diverse team of collaborators living in Hungary, and across Europe. 
 

John Mulrow is a degrowth researcher and activist based in Chicago, Illinois. He is a cofounder of DegrowUS, Director of the Degrowth Institute, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. He holds a BS in Environmental Science and Policy from Stanford University and completed his Masters and PhD in Civil Engineering at University of Illinois Chicago. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech from 2020-2022 and received the Georgia Humanitarian Service Award for his work on the State’s COVID-19 response.

This event is presented by the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact in collaboration with the School of Interactive Computing, School of Modern Languages, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Scheller Women in Business, and CHARGE Fellows.