The Unitarian Church of Lincoln is hosting a series of virtual lectures at 7 p.m. on Sunday evenings. The lectures are free via Zoom and will be posted on YouTube afterwards. For more information about receiving the Zoom link and viewing the lectures, visit the Virtual Winter Lecture Series website.

Governments around the world have responded with different degrees of commitment to carbon reduction, made at the annual climate-change summits. As individuals, we frequently perceive the urgent threat of climate change with a sense of helplessness, feeling that our individual actions may lack the capacity to effect meaningful change. This series seeks to transcend the conventional focus on carbon reduction by offering a vision of hope that emphasizes community-building solutions while addressing critical challenges related to shelter, food security, and sustainability. The activists and experts in the final panel will inform us on local issues and how we can each play a part in resolving them.

February 16 – Dr. Barb Mayes Boustead will provide an overview from her perspective as the Coordinator for NOAA’s new Climate-Ready Nation Program.

Barb Mayes Boustead is a meteorologist and climatologist, currently serving as the Coordinator for NOAA’s Climate-Ready Nation after 22 years in the National Weather Service. She received her Ph.D. in Natural Resources: Climate Assessment and Impacts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a dissertation titled, “The hard winter of 1880-1881: Climatological context and communication via a Laura Ingalls Wilder narrative,” and her forthcoming nonfiction book Wilder Weather draws further into what we can learn from the weather and climate of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books and life. She has served as an author for the 4th and 5th National Climate Assessments.

February 23 – Dr. Tim Crews will speak on regenerative agriculture.

Tim Crews is the Chief Scientist and directs the International Initiative at The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. He pursued a doctorate degree at Cornell, carried out a post-doc fellowship at Stanford, and developed an agroecology program at Prescott College in Northern Arizona. A significant amount of Tim’s research on perennial grains has focused on topics closely tied to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

March 2 – Dr. John Ikerd will speak briefly on sustainable economics and then hold a conversation with Prof. Charles Francis on the topic.

John Ikerd was raised on a small dairy farm in southwest Missouri and received his Ph.D. degree in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri. He worked in private industry for a time before moving to academia. He retired from the University of Missouri in early 2000 and has maintained an active writing and speaking schedule since retirement. He has published extensively on economic sustainability.

Charles A. Francis is Professor emeritus Agronomy & Horticulture, with expertise and teaching experience in agroecology, farming systems, and global food and equity issues.

March 9 – Dr. Elizabeth Sawin will speak on multisolving and engage with Peter Hind and Marc Shkolnick on Lincoln’s Low Income Energy Efficiency Rental Rehab Program.

Elizabeth Sawin is the Founder and Director of the Multisolving Institute. A biologist with a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she co-founded Climate Interactive in 2010 and led the scientific team that offered the first assessment of the sufficiency of country pledges to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Dr. Sawin is an expert on solutions that address climate change while also improving health, well-being, and economic vitality.

Peter Hind is the Director of Lincoln Urban Development.

Marc Shkolnick has served as Manager of Energy Services at Lincoln Electric System for more than 17 years. The department is charged with providing comprehensive and customized customer experience for the city of Lincoln’s industrial, commercial business and residential customers. His team is also responsible for administering the utility’s energy efficiency, demand response, customer-owned renewables and emerging technology programs.