Ruth DeFries

What Would Nature Do?

Ruth DeFries is the Denning Family Professor of Sustainable Development in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology at Columbia University. She uses images from satellites and field surveys to examine how the world’s demands for food and other resources are changing land use throughout the tropics. Her research quantifies how these land use changes affect climate, biodiversity and other ecosystem services, as well as human development.

Working within the entanglements of science, technology, and politics, she is committed to linking science with policy - for example through her involvement with the Environmental Defense Fund, Science for Nature and People, World Wildlife Fund, and reconciling conservation and development in central India.

For this talk, Ruth DeFries discussed her new book What Would Nature Do?: A Guide for Our Uncertain Times.

Organized by the M.S. Advanced Architectural Design program as part its Techno-Critical Assemblies lecture series.