Welcome to the Age of Climate Action: Lightning Talk and Discussion by Richard Johnson

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While 2020 will be remembered as one of the most difficult years ever, it did have an unexpected silver lining: the acceleration of action to address climate change.

Join CAPLA Futures Council Chair Richard Johnson as he leads a "lightning talk" about this unprecedented surge in climate action, followed by a facilitated conversation about what this means for the future of the built environment and CAPLA.

Richard Johnson holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Rice University and a Master of Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia. While his professional experience includes parks planning, transit planning, economic development and more, he found his calling working in sustainability in higher education. He currently serves as the director of the Administrative Center for Sustainability and Energy Management at Rice University, where he leads Rice’s campus sustainability program and oversees a team of energy managers and analysts.

Richard serves as the co-director of Rice’s Environmental Studies Program, and played an integral role in creating the university’s Environmental Studies minor and overhauling its Environmental Science major. He holds appointments as a professor in the practice of environmental studies in sociology and as an adjunct lecturer in civil and environmental engineering. Richard has taught over 25 courses at Rice, and frequently partners with faculty across the university and at other universities to support their courses. His passion is to use Rice’s physical campus as a “living laboratory” for student project-based learning, which regularly leads to the implementation of real solutions to campus environmental problems.

Beyond Rice, Richard co-chairs the Texas Regional Alliance for Campus Sustainability (TRACS), an organization whose mission is to advance sustainability in Texas higher education. He is also honored to serve with an inspired group of luminaries on the CAPLA Futures Council, helping to guide the college’s leadership role in the university’s “Building a Changing World” initiative and beyond. In 2020, he was elevated to the role of chair of the Futures Council.

Richard is a husband, father, foodie, traveler and music junkie, and has served as a volunteer public radio deejay for 30 years. His motto is Serve the future.

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