Project Drawdown executive director Jonathan Foley. (Photo provided)
Environmental scientist and sustainability expert Jonathan Foley, PhD, will deliver this year’s Campus Sustainability Lecture on Thursday, October 23, at 4 p.m. in Newton Hall 202 on the SUNY Geneseo campus.
Foley will deliver a lecture titled “Drawdown—A Science-Based, Hopeful Plan to Address Climate Change.” The event is free and open to the public.
Foley is the executive director of Project Drawdown, a leading source on climate solutions. He is an internationally known environmental scientist, sustainability expert, author, and public speaker, whose work focuses on understanding our changing planet and finding new solutions to sustain the climate, ecosystems, and natural resources we all depend on.
Foley first served as a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Minnesota, where he established and led environment-related organizations. He also served as director of the California Academy of Sciences from 2014 to 2018 before moving to Project Drawdown.
Over the years, Foley’s work has been featured in numerous media outlets, and he has been interviewed on National Public Radio, CNN, and the BBC. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles in Science, Nature, and other publications and written articles for National Geographic, the New York Times, the Guardian, and Scientific American, among others. Foley has used his skills as a science communicator to give presentations at the World Bank and the National Geographic Society, and for TED. He has received many accolades and awards for his work, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, awarded by former President Bill Clinton.
The Campus Sustainability Lecture is part of the college’s Ideas That Matter initiative, which unites the campus in examining critical issues that affect everyone. The 2025–26 topic is Climate Change and the Individual. The lecture is sponsored by the college’s Office of the Provost and the Department of Geography and Sustainability Studies.