Finding Earth: A Quest for What Makes Nature Natural in a Changing World

121 Atkinson Hall and livestream via eCornell Keynote

Abstract: For more than four decades, environmental photographer and filmmaker James Balog has documented the profound ways human activity is reshaping Earth’s landscapes and climate. In this talk, Balog will share striking images and film clips from his global expeditions, revealing the visible signs of climate change — from receding glaciers and rising seas to floods and raging wildfires. Drawing on his experience at the intersection of art and science, Balog invites us to confront the human story within the Anthropocene and consider how creativity can illuminate paths toward environmental sustainability.

Bio: For 40 years, as a photographer, James Balog has broken new conceptual and artistic ground on one of the most important issues of our era: human modification of nature. An avid mountaineer with a graduate degree in geography and geomorphology, Balog is equally at home on a Himalayan peak or a whitewater river, the African savannah, or polar icecaps. His 2018 film The Human Element  is an innovative look at the intersection of humanity and the rest of nature. It has received numerous awards and been screened worldwide.

To reveal the impact of climate change, Balog founded the Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) in 2007. It is the most wide-ranging, ground-based, photographic study of glaciers ever conducted. The project was featured in the internationally acclaimed documentary Chasing Ice  and in the 2009 PBS/NOVA special Extreme Ice. One YouTube video clip from Chasing Ice has received more than 58 million views. Chasing Ice  won an Emmy in 2014 and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards. It has been screened at the White House, U.S. Congress, Great Britain’s House of Commons, the United Nations, and major international science and policy conferences, including COP-15 in Copenhagen and COP-21 in Paris. 

Balog is the author of eight books. His images have been collected in dozens of public and private art collections—and extensively published in the world’s magazines, particularly National Geographic. 

Many organizations have given Balog their highest accolades, including The Heinz Foundation, American Geophysical Union, Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, the Crown Prince of Dubai, Duke University, and the universities of Alberta, Missouri, and Colorado. 

This event is part of an A.D. White Professors-at-Large visit. James Balog currently serves as an A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell and visits campus October 27-31.

Registration Required: In Person | Livestream

This event is hosted by the Cornell Climate Impact Speaker Series and sponsored by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and The 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative.