SEPTEMBER 2025

NEWS FROM THE SCHILLER INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATED SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

WELCOME FROM LAURA J. STEINBERG

Welcome to another edition of SchillerNow. In addition to exploring our updates—including an NSF grant awarded to Schiller Core faculty member Jier Huang—and upcoming events below, I encourage you to visit our reports page and scroll down to view our newly released academic year 2024–25 annual report.

Along with the first few falling leaves and changing colors, the season also brings the beginning of multiple engaging series emerging from cross-campus collaborations.

We’ve already had a number of exciting events to start the semester, including last week’s Environmental Ethics in Dialogue conference, co-sponsored with the Philosophy Department, and featuring BC faculty including Schiller Core faculty member Yi Ming and Schiller Faculty Affiliate Avneet Hira. We also hosted the first talk in our Intellectual Property series co-hosted by the Office of Technology Transfer and Licensing.

Our upcoming four-part Climate is Every Story series will bring BC faculty and students together with leading climate journalists, starting with a discussion on public health and the common good on October 1. Later in the month, we’ll host the inaugural Casper Augustus Ferguson seminar, showcasing the work of STEM researchers from underrepresented backgrounds, as well as the kickoff of a series co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence that invites faculty to reflect on how their teaching prepares students to be agents of change. 

I hope this beautiful early fall weather continues and that I see you at one of our many upcoming events.

Professor Laura J. Steinberg

Seidner Family Executive Director, Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society

Climate Is Every Story »

On October 1, we’re kicking off a four-part event series that puts BC faculty members and students in conversation with climate journalists. The first event will focus on Public Health, Common Good and feature journalists Patrick McGroarty ’06, economy editor, The New York Times, and Jason Beaubien, NPR correspondent; and School of Social Work professors Summer Hawkins and Praveen Kumar. Please register and learn more about future events in the series.  »

Hear from a Climate Negotiator »

Catherine Goldberg ’16, former senior climate policy advisor in the U.S. Department of State, will speak about the COP process and her experience as a climate negotiator on October 2. Please register.

Faculty Social Hour »

Our first faculty social hour of the year will take place on October 9 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., providing attendees a space to connect with faculty with shared research interests in energy, environment, and health. Register here.

Seminar Series to Enhance Diversity in STEM »

Whitney Henry, professor of biology at MIT, will give a public lecture on October 20 at 12 p.m. Her lecture is the first in a series showcasing prominent STEM researchers from underrepresented backgrounds. All are welcome. Register here.

Intercultural Trip to Chile Opens Doors and Eyes for Students »

The Schiller-led class, Working for and with Communities, brought students to Chile to collaboratively design the outdoor space of a community facility for people with intellectual disabilities and treated schizophrenia. Read more.

BC Alum and Former U.S. Climate Negotiator to Give Insights Through Campus-Wide Lecture »

Catherine Goldberg ’16 has attended the last six COPs negotiating on behalf of the United States. She will be lecturing on campus on October 2 about her past as a delegate and climate action and COPs moving forward. Read more.

Re-writing the River: Schiller Funds an Interactive Project—Built Largely By Students—That Explores the Complex History of the Neponset River »

To help people learn more about this significant body of water, Boston College History Professor Conevery Valencius and her student collaborators partnered with the Neponset River Watershed Association to build an interactive historical map of the river. Read more.

CB Bhattacharya Lecture

Join us and the Carroll School of Management for “Creating a Sustainable Future: A Stakeholder-centric Approach.” On October 3, University of Pittsburgh Professor CB Bhattacharya will discuss why treating sustainability as an investment—not a cost—is key to achieving a better balance of people, planet, and profit.

Teaching to Inspire Changemakers 

In collaboration with the Center for Teaching Excellence, we are launching a new series that invites faculty to reflect on how they prepare students to be agents of meaningful change in society, industry, and scholarship. The series kicks off on October 23 with a talk by Schiller Core faculty member Edson Severnini. Register here. 

Jier Huang awarded a National Science Foundation grant

Schiller Core faculty member Jier Huang has secured a grant from the NSF for her research aimed at efficient solar energy conversion. The project, using single atom catalysts, advances the fundamental understanding of photocatalytic materials on semiconductors and will be conducted with collaborators at the University of New Hampshire.

Behind the Research Series Highlighting Student Accomplishments

This series in our student newsletter, The Scoop, highlights students and postdocs working with our Schiller Core faculty. Read about PhD student Xinyi Yang, who was selected for NASA’s prestigious FINESST program, and Chanil Park, who is starting a tenure-track position at University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

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