Lear-Conant Environmental Symposium
Sea Level Rise: Measurement, Understanding, Adaptation
April 10th & 11th, 2026
Our 2026 Lear-Conant Environmental Symposium was held on April 10th & 11th. As always, thanks to the incredibly generous support from Linda Lear '62, the Lear-Conant Environmental Symposium was free and open to the public. For the first time ever we also live-streamed the event, allowing guests near and far to participate!
If you were unable to make it in-person or virtually, the full symposium videos are available on our YouTube Channel.
Friday, April 10, 2026
Chu Room, Shain Library
4:30 PM
2026 GNCE Alumni Environmental Achievement Award Presentation
The Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment presented the 2026 GNCE Alumni Environmental Achievement Award to Katherine Serafin ‘08.
4:45 P.M.
Jean Thomas Lambert '45 Keynote Opening Lecture
How Waves, Tides, and Rivers Combine to Shape Coastal Hazards and Why It Matters
Katy Serafin ‘08, University of Florida and the 2026 Goodwin-Niering Center Alumni Environmental Award recipient gave the opening keynote lecture, followed by a short Q&A.
5:45 P.M.
Opening Reception
Living Room, Shain Library at Connecticut College
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Our Saturday programming began with registration and a continental breakfast in the JTC Gallery in the Cummings Art Center, followed by a full day of interdisciplinary exploration.
9:00 - 9:30 A.M.
Continental Breakfast & Registration Check-In
JTC Gallery, Cummings Arts Center
9:30 A.M.
2026 Lear-Conant Environmental Symposium Welcome & Introductions
Evans Hall, Cummings Art Center
9:45 A.M.
Lecture I
Coastal Sea-Level Acceleration and High-Tide Flooding in the United States
Christopher Piecuch, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Evans Hall, Cummings Art Center
10:45 - 11:00 A.M.
Morning Break
JTC Gallery, Cummings Art Center
11:00 A.M.
Lecture II
Climate Disaster in NYC: Assessing Four Post-Sandy Public Investment Strategies
Tammy Lewis, CUNY-Brooklyn College
Evans Hall, Cummings Art Center
Noon - 1:30 P.M.
Lunch & Expo Tabeling
1941 Room, College Center at Crozier-Williams (Cro)
1:30 P.M.
Lecture III
The Fall & Rise of Sea Level Measurements: A Brief History & Its Philosophical Lessons
Alisa Bokulich, Boston University
Evans Hall, Cummings Art Center
2:30 P.M.
Lecture IV
Rising Seas, Rising Voices: Indigenous Adaptation, the WAMPUM Framework, and the
Women of Wampum
Kelsey Leonard, University of Waterloo
Evans Hall, Cummings Art Center
3:30 - 3:45 P.M.
Afternoon Break
JTC Gallery, Cummings Art Center
3:45 P.M.
Panel Discussion plus, Q&A with all speakers
Evans Hall, Cummings Art Center
4:30 P.M.
Closing Reception
JTC Gallery, Cummings Art Center