UPCOMING EVENTS
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RECENT EVENTS
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On Thursday, August 28, 2025, the Cascade Institute Speaker Series presented Dr. Nate Hagens, Executive Director of The Institute for the Study of Energy & Our Future and host of The Great Simplification podcast, as he explored "The Price of Power: Navigating the Great Simplification" alongside Cascade Institute Executive Director Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon.
About the speaker: Dr. Nate Hagens is the Executive Director of The Institute for the Study of Energy & Our Future (ISEOF), an organization focused on educating and preparing society for the coming cultural transition.
Formerly in the finance industry at Lehman Brothers and Salomon Brothers, in 2003 Nate shifted his focus to the interrelationships between energy, ecology, economics & human behavior and their subsequent implications for human futures.
Nate also hosts the podcast The Great Simplification, in which he speaks with experts in energy, ecology, psychology, geopolitics, technology, and economics to provide a systems view of the world around us. As a backdrop for the podcast, ISEOF produced an animated film by the same title.
He has co-authored the books Reality Blind - Integrating the Systems Science Underpinning Our Collective Futures - Vol 1 and The Bottlenecks of the 21st Century and has appeared on PBS, BBC, ABC and NPR, and lectures around the world.
Nate holds a Master’s Degree in Finance with Honors from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. He lives on a small farm in Wisconsin with his pack of rescue dogs, as well as horses, chickens, and ducks.
You can access the recording here.
On Thursday, June 26, Dr. Edward A. (Ted) Parson, Distinguished Dan and Rae Emmett Professor of Environmental Law and Faculty Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the University of California, Los Angeles, offered an essential discussion on the prospect of adding solar geoengineering to set of responses to climate change.
Parson explored the science, risks, and governance challenges of solar geoengineering (also known as solar radiation modification or SRM). As climate risks escalate and conventional responses fall short, SRM is gaining attention for its potential to rapidly and temporarily cool the planet by reflecting a small portion of sunlight. Parson introduced key SRM methods, examined their likely effects, and discussed ethical and political concerns—especially around governance, control, and exit strategies—with a particular focus on implications for Canada and global climate policy.
You can view the video here.
UNESCO IGCP636's webinar series focuses on various aspects of education and sustainable development. One notable series is the UNESCO IGCP Project 63, featuring webinars focused on geothermal energy.
On Thursday, July 24 at 9:00 a.m. PDT, Cascade Institute Ultradeep Geothermal Fellow Emily Smejkal shared findings and recommendations from her recently published report, Groundwork: Regulatory Guidelines for Making Canada a Geothermal Powerhouse.
Stay tuned to our Event Videos page for the recording.
On May 2, 2025, Cascade Institute Ultradeep Geothermal Fellow Rebecca Pearce took the TEDx stage at Royal Roads University to share the Earth's hidden secrets that can avert our climate crisis. Our earth holds vast heat energy that can power our civilization indefinitely. With bold and determined research, we can unlock this resource today and transform our society into one with a secure, clean energy supply that will last thousands – if not billions – of years. Rebecca explored how we can harness the Earth's internal heat and overcome roadblocks to its adoption. Her message ignites excitement about both our planet's enormous energy potential and humanity's power to seize this transformative opportunity.
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