{"id":61220,"date":"2026-04-15T17:48:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T21:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=61220"},"modified":"2026-04-15T17:58:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T21:58:55","slug":"climate-scientist-dr-deborah-lawrence-opens-ace-fest-with-keynote-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/climate-scientist-dr-deborah-lawrence-opens-ace-fest-with-keynote-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate scientist Dr. Deborah Lawrence opens ACE Fest with keynote address"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was in the rainforest of Borneo, alone for hours at a time and a day\u2019s boat ride from the nearest town, that Dr. Deborah Lawrence <\/strong>first felt a deep connection to nature. That connection, forged when she was a 20-year-old college student, has sustained her life\u2019s work ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As keynote speaker for the 2026 Academic and Creative Excellence (ACE) Festival, Lawrence told a crowd gathered at Lehman Auditorium on Wednesday morning about the year she spent researching plant-animal interactions on the tropical island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was tasked with walking a specific route through the forest, starting at dawn, recording every animal she observed and noting what it was doing and eating. She recalled listening to gibbons sing in the mornings, watching macaques leap from tree to tree in the evenings, and seeing her first orangutan in the wild. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawrence, who holds a BA in anthropology from Harvard University and a PhD in botany from Duke University, said she had arrived at college three years earlier \u201cpretending to be a pre-med major so I would have something to say when asked,\u201d but still unsure what she wanted to do. When she returned from that year in Borneo, she discovered a newfound sense of purpose: to save the rainforest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rainforest had held me for a year, giving me a place to learn about nature and about myself,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the years since, she has devoted much of her life to understanding the human connection to nature and the consequences of actions like deforestation. Her research has taken her around the world to forests in Cameroon, Costa Rica, Mexico, and East Africa, as well as North Carolina and Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s a tough time to be a scientist, Dr. Deborah Lawrence told students during a Q&A session following her talk, citing funding cuts. “But it’s a great time to be out there trying to do something about climate change,” she added.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Lawrence spent more than 25 years as a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, where she focused on global forest systems and climate dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her academic career, she served as a science advisor to the U.S. Department of State\u2019s Office of Global Change, supporting climate policy and international negotiations. She played a key role in establishing SilvaCarbon, a U.S. interagency program dedicated to forest carbon measurement and monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past four years, Lawrence has worked as chief scientist at Calyx Global, a carbon credit rating agency. At the startup, she leads efforts to ensure the scientific integrity of greenhouse gas ratings. She also directs research and analytics for nature-based solutions and engineered carbon dioxide removal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still do science every day, but my target is different,\u201d she said. \u201cI think of it as the flip side of academic research. I used to study nature\u2019s climate solutions\u2014how forests and land can alter the climate. Now I study how those solutions get put into action, bundled up, and sold as carbon credits. And my job is to make sure [corporations] are delivering the climate impact that they promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Students stroll into Lehman Auditorium during a warm Wednesday morning for the ACE Festival keynote.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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In her address, Lawrence spoke about the wonders of photosynthesis\u2014\u201cIt takes something you cannot see and turns it into something you can touch and eat\u201d\u2014and the glorious splendor of spring. \u201cLife is simply bursting out all around us, and it\u2019s an amazing thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She recognized her feelings of eco-grief, the sadness she feels about the loss of ecosystems and living beings, and the increasing rate of extinction. \u201c[T]he earth is more than just a place where we live,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a place we love. We would not feel sadness if we felt no love. So I just want you to remember that. If you are feeling sad about what\u2019s going on in the world, you\u2019re also feeling love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawrence said she had been encouraged to read Braiding Sweetgrass<\/em> by Robin Wall Kimmerer six years ago but hadn\u2019t found the time. Having recently read the book, which is EMU\u2019s Common Read for 2025-26, she expressed appreciation for its wisdom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrying to know something is a way to love it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I wish for all of you while you\u2019re here in college. Study something deeply. It will change the way you view the world, including yourself, including nature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EMU\u2019s ACE Festival continues Thursday with a full day of student presentations and performances, an authors\u2019 reception and award presentation, and the first-ever ACE Fest Career Fair. For a full schedule of events, visit emu.edu\/ace<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch a video recording of the address below!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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