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Hard Earth Speaker Series

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Speaker giving presentation at a Hard Earth talk

One of the main elements of the Roble Living Laboratory for Sustainability at Stanford (ROLLSS) is Hard Earth, a series in which, every other week, a Stanford graduate student whose research points up a vexing dilemma about environmental sustainability gives a talk about this dilemma and how his or her work illuminates it. On the alternate weeks, students who have enrolled to take the full Hard Earth series as a one-unit course (CEE 126XYZ | EARTH 126XYZ) meet for a deeper discussion about the prior week’s presentation.

Hard Earth aims to connect the Stanford community, including undergraduates, with graduate students who are at the forefront of research relating to sustainability. Each quarter, the series features four talks by graduate students and one culminating talk by a recognized non-student sustainability expert. The series has gained widespread notice across campus among students, faculty, and staff who are interested in sustainability. The talks are open to the general campus community.

The graduate-student speakers represent a wide range of academic disciplines and research areas. Most talks are available for viewing on Roble Hall’s YouTube channel and reactions to these talks can be found on the Hard Earth blog.