Climate, Sustainability, Environment and Nature: 51 Lectures, Forums, Films and Classes for the 2025 Season! 

You’ve heard of the Chautauqua Lecture Series (CLS), the Interfaith Lecture Series, the Chautauqua Literary & Scientific Circle, and the incredible programs and speakers they bring to Chautauqua Institution each summer. But did you know that each summer we have an equally robust program focused on the environment, nature, sustainability and climate change?  

Our season kicks off on Week One with the annual Chautauqua Lake Conference, your opportunity to learn about the latest science and solutions for protecting lake water quality. Our season concludes on Week Nine with an exciting return to our 2024 CLS lecturer Rachael Miller, a National Geographic Explorer and founder of the Rozalia Project, which works to save our seas from ocean plastic pollution. Rachael loved Chautauqua so much on her last visit, she decided to launch her forthcoming book titled Decision-Making in the Age of Plastics, at Chautauqua during Week Nine! 

In between we have a remarkable line up of lectures, films, forums, and classes exploring a diversity of perspectives on our environment, from global climate change to your backyard garden. We’ve got a day-by-day schedule to help you navigate your busy days at Chautauqua and ensure you don’t miss a thing. 

There are multiple programs each week of the season, and I’ll highlight just one per week here (date, time, and locations details are in the schedule):

• Week One: Dr. Abel Gustafson, University of Cincinnati and Yale Program on Climate Communication, will present a lecture on “How to Sail in a Perfect Storm: Leveraging Social Science for Progress on Sustainability.”  
• Week Two: Environmental filmmaker Janice Overbeck returns to Chautauqua during our weeklong focus on comedy to give a talk on the role of comedy in addressing climate change, and to premier her new climate solution series with comedian Rob Riggle, “Capturing the Carbon.” 
• Week Three: Crystal Cavalier-Keck, indigenous nature rights advocate, and Brian Webb, a Christian climate leader and faculty member at College of Wooster, will talk about the concept of Earth Care in Native American and Christian faith traditions. 
• Week Four: In partnership with the Western NY Sustainable Business Roundtable and several member companies, we present a forum that explores how Western New York businesses are thriving while adopting practices that help protect and restore our waters. 
• Week Five: In partnership with Protect Our Winters, America’s leading organization of industries and athletes working to advance climate solutions, this forum will explore the impact of climate change on winter outdoor recreation nationally and in the Chautauqua region. 
• Week Six: During Chautauqua’s weeklong exploration of the global rise in authoritarianism, Micah Loewinger, co-host of NPR’s “On the Media,” will explore how the rise in climate-related natural disasters is helping fuel the rise in right wing militia groups in the U.S. 
• Week Seven: This week features two speakers who recently left federal service due in part to the current administration’s elimination of climate-related programs: Tom Di Liberto, former public affairs specialist and climate scientist at NOAA, and Shawn Norton, former coordinator of climate and sustainability programs for the National Park Service. 
• Week Eight: Caitlyn Kamminga, double bassist for the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, will present an interactive talk on how music can address climate change: “Metamorphosis: Thematic transformation of human systems to sustain life on Earth.” 
• Week Nine: In addition to Rachael Miller, Week Nine will feature environmental artist Hovey Brock speaking about “The Art of Invasive Species.” His work will be on exhibition at Smith Memorial Library. 

These are just a handful of the 51 programs you’ll find in our Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative Program Guide. I’m grateful to the many partnerships that make these programs possible, from my colleagues in Chautauqua’s departments of Education and Religion, to our friends at the Chautauqua Bird, Tree & Garden Club, Chautauqua Science Group, and regional environmental and business associations. 

I hope to see you at one or more of our incredible programs this summer!