Brooks School to host author Abrahm Lustgarten ‘95 for lecture on climate migration

The Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy will host author, Cornell alumnus, and ProPublica climate reporter Abrahm Lustgarten for "On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America," in the next installment of the Koen-Horowitz Lecture Series at Call Auditorium in Kennedy Hall from 7:30pm to 9:00pm on Friday, November 8.

Jennifer Koen-Horowitz '93 and Mark Horowitz established the endowed lecture series to create an open forum for the discussion of public policy topics salient to the times. Each year, Rosemary Avery, Weiss Presidential Fellow and Professor in the Brooks School, works with a group of undergraduate policy students to select the topic and organize the event.

This year's lecture focuses on the topic of climate migration in the U.S., which Lustgarten explores in his book, and features a panel discussion with Cornell Associate Professor of Sociology Kendra Bischoff moderated by Cornell Associate Professor of Public and Ecosystem Health Kathryn Fiorella.

Cella Kamarga '26 a member of the undergraduate organizing committee and junior public policy major in the Brooks School, said the topic of climate migration was a throughline between experiences in her home country of Indonesia and her life in Ithaca.

"Seeing the scale at which climate change impacts migration, both back home in Indonesia and now here where I study in the U.S. has been both alarming and saddening. It is alarming because seeing some people have boats in their backyards as a precaution for flash floods shouldn't be normal. It is saddening because those forced to flee often have little power to prevent it," Kamarga said. "I think that's why this event is crucial, because this policy issue literally hits homes."

In addition to Kamarga, Brooks School undergraduate policy students Carson Appel '27, Ava Boris '27, Nathaniel Cain '27, and Diana Michaelson '27 helped to organize this year's Koen-Horowitz Lecture.

The keynote speaker, Abrahm Lustgarten, explores how "the United States will be rendered unrecognizable by four unstoppable forces: wildfires in the West; frequent flooding in coastal regions; extreme heat and humidity in the South; and droughts that will make farming all but impossible across much of the nation" in his recent book.

"Humanity is on the precipice of a great climate migration, and Americans will not be spared. Tens of millions of people are likely to be driven from the places they call home," Lustgarten writes. "Poorer communities will be left behind, while growth will surge in the cities and regions most attractive to climate refugees. America will be changed utterly."

"These types of leadership opportunities provide invaluable experience for our Cornell students in convening events like this and interacting on the largest scale with actors in the policy arena," Avery said. "Climate change is a defining issue of our time, and understanding it is critical, because it impacts nearly every aspect of our lives."

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