New Faculty Seminar Series Kicks Off with an Eye on the Arctic

“The situation is severe,” said Joanna Carey, Babson assistant professor of environmental science, speaking about how humans influence the movement of carbon.

“Academics are usually pretty tame in the way we talk about our data, (but) there is an urgency to this issue that is really unprecedented in human history. It also presents us with an opportunity to unite and solve a pending crisis.”

Carey, who was the first to share her research at a brand new faculty seminar series, said her findings affect every sector.

“Even if you teach marketing or accounting, this area will touch your research and it will certainly touch your life,” she said.

Come One. Come All.

Starting Oct. 23, renowned experts, both Babson and external speakers, took center stage in front of their peers and the College community to share their knowledge and insights as part of this seminar series.

The concept came to life this semester thanks to Dean of Faculty Ken Matsuno and Professors Marjorie Feld, Vikki Rodgers, Sid Vedula, Danna Greenberg, and Steve Gordon. They call themselves “the instigator team.”

“Many of our peer schools are doing this kind of seminar series all the time, if not every week,” Matsuno said. “We don’t see that at Babson as often as we should. Why not? We are a vigorous intellectual community.”

To encourage a wide range of seminars, there will be no predetermined, underlying themes to the series, which also feature faculty members’ network of external colleagues and scholars—friends of Babson.

“No topic is better than others,” said Matsuno. “Any knowledge is of interest to the audience.”

“We are all scholars in different shapes and forms,” Matsuno added. “We want to learn new things all the time … it’s a great reminder that there are a number of things we don’t know and we can learn.”

Carey has been researching in the Arctic for five years, driven by the fact that temperatures in the region are rising about three times faster than they are on the rest of the planet.

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