HRI Seminar Series: Dr. Wil Burns

In the ensuing years after the entry into force of the Paris Agreement, it has become increasingly apparent that achievement of its temperature objectives will require aggressive emissions reduction initiatives and large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal/negative emissions technologies to either avoid passing critical climatic thresholds or address temperature “overshoot” scenarios.

While much of the early research on carbon dioxide removal methods focused on terrestrial approaches, there has been increasing attention to the potential role of the world’s oceans, given both sustainability considerations and the fact that oceans already serve as a huge carbon sink, with much additional potential for storing carbon. These “marine carbon dioxide removal” (mCDR) options include ocean iron fertilization, ocean alkalinity enhancement, ocean upwelling/downwelling, and ocean biomass sinking.

Dr. Wil Burns is Co-Director of the Institute for Carbon Dioxide Removal at American University and a Professor in the School of International Studies. He previously served as the Associate Director of the Environmental Policy & Culture Program at Northwestern University and Founding Director of the Energy Policy & Climate Program at Johns Hopkins University. He also has taught at the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford University, and the University of Chicago. He is the 2018 recipient of the Freudenberg Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Environmental Studies & Sciences and is the previous President of the Association.