Farnsworth Forum Thursdays: Ecotones and Tipping Points—New Impacts through New Thinking

Thursday, April 28, 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Zoom

In this Earth Day talk, meet Dr. Soren Brothers, Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change at the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto), as he discusses the relationship between art and the environment. Many recognize that the arts and sciences are closely intertwined, but find it difficult to define the actual substance of that connection, or its practical value. As a professional limnologist, Dr. Brothers will share insights into how engaging actively at the interface of arts and environmental sciences can promote new ways of perceiving (and maybe even tackling) large-scale problems.

Dr. Soren Brothers is the Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. He is also an Assistant Professor at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. Soren’s research examines the effects of climate change on lakes, and how changes in aquatic systems can influence their greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. More broadly, he is interested in understanding how feedback loops and the transdisciplinary study of lakes can help us better understand and predict global tipping points that may accelerate anthropogenic climate change.

Born in Mississauga and raised in Toronto, Soren has worked on lakes in a diverse array of environments around the world, including the Nunavut tundra, Quebec’s boreal forests, and the Great Lakes. He is leading a Global Lakes Ecological Observatory Network initiative to improve understanding of the widespread greenhouse gas impacts of desiccation. He is also passionate about science communication and community outreach and organized a climate change workshop at 

the United Nations Civil Society Conference in 2019. Before beginning at the ROM in 2021 he was an Assistant Professor of Limnology at Utah State University, and a CREATE program manager and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Guelph, focusing on multiple stressors and cumulative effects in the Great Lakes.

Cost: $15; $5 for Farnsworth members