The 2026 ACE Festival Welcomes
Dr. Deborah Lawrence
Keynote Address "Our Connection to Nature: Gift, Joy, Grief and a Life's Work"
10:15 - 11:15 am, Wednesday, April 15
Lehman Auditorium
"Sustainability means so many things. Our shared reading of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us that recognizing our connection with the earth underpins all sustainability. The recognition inspires knowledge, gratitude, and obligation. It gives us meaning and purpose while it may also take us all in many different directions. I look forward to sharing my reflections on our connections to nature and how they have changed over the course of my life, informing my scholarship, my work, and my daily life." - Dr. Deborah Lawrence
Who is Deborah Lawrence?
Dr. Deborah Lawrence ensures the scientific integrity of Calyx Global’s greenhouse
gas ratings, and is the director of research and analytics for nature-based solutions
and engineered carbon dioxide removals. She spent 25 years as an environmental sciences
professor at the University of Virginia, where she conducted global forest and climate
research. During that period, she was a science advisor to the US Department of State,
Office of Global Change (the international climate change policy and negotiations
unit). She later helped establish SilvaCarbon, a US federal interagency program for
forest carbon measurement and monitoring, serving on the steering committee and as
chair of the technical team. Deborah also served on the Technical Committee on Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use at the American Carbon Registry. She received a BA in
Anthropology from Harvard University and a PhD in Botany from Duke University. Deborah’s
favorite activities include tending her climate-forward backyard and hosting family
and friends for dinner in it.
ACE Festival Keynotes
The ACE Festival invites keynote speakers to engage the community in conversations around values that are important to us at EMU. The speaker is typically selected with the themes of the year's Common Read in mind. We invite engagement and response from diverse perspectives, and encourage continued conversation around these themes.
