Lecture Recap and Video: Richard Johnson on the Age of Climate Action

March 30, 2021
Who
Richard Johnson, CAPLA Futures Council Chair
What
CAPLA Lecture Series Event
When
March 17, 2021
Image

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 "lighting 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 for CAPLA.


Watch the Lecture


About Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson holds a B.S. 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 for 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 twenty-five classes 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, music junkie, and has served as a volunteer public radio deejay for 30 years. His motto is “serve the future.”

  

Subscribe to The Studio

Sign up for CAPLA's monthly e-newsletter to get the latest news and events, insights from faculty and leadership, profiles of students and alumni and more.

Subscribe Now

Latest CAPLA News, Projects and Profiles

Image
Water flows rapidly over rocks and past riparian vegetation in Aravaipa Canyon while red rock cliffs tower in the background.

Indigenous Nations and the Right to Water: Relationships, Resources and Futures | Lecture by Heather Whiteman Runs Him

Heather Whiteman Runs Him is a citizen of the Apsaalooke/Crow Nation. She is the Director of the Tribal Justice Clinic and Associate Clinical Professor at University of Arizona Rogers College of Law where she also teaches courses on tribal water rights, tribal courts, and tribal law.

Image
A woman and two men pose for a group photo.

Extreme Heat Planning Works: Building on a Proven Platform at the Second Annual Southern Arizona Heat Summit

Held at the University of Arizona’s ENR2 building, the 2nd Annual Southern Arizona Heat Summit brought together experts and community leaders to discuss strategies for extreme heat preparedness, featuring presentations from City of Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and other officials.