Academic conferences 2.0 | Ken Hiltner | TEDxUCSB

Faculty and staff air travel at the University of California, Santa Barbara accounts for 1/3 of its carbon footprint. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Professor Ken Hiltner suggests that online academic conferences may be the method of the future for scholarly collaboration.

Dr. Ken Hiltner received his PhD from Harvard University, where he garnered a number of distinctions as a researcher and Teaching Fellow, including the Bowdoin Prize. He has written a number of books and articles, mostly on Renaissance literature, ecocriticism, and the intersection of the two. He has served as Director of the Literature and the Environment Center, Director of the Early Modern Center, and Chair of the Graduate Program. Prior to becoming an English professor, he made his living as a furniture-maker. As a second-generation woodworker, he received commissions from five continents and had collections featured in major metropolitan galleries.

[boyizheng]

Look at what’s happening now. Ken is the man!

[DonLubach]

Hiltner seemed to be having a rough day with allergies and bad audio, but this is still a VERY interesting talk. The carbon footprint of academic travel is massive. Ken is finding a way to outsmart it. I hope I get a chance to help out with new forms of academic collaboration. I wonder if Ken is working with George Michaels on our campus. Also, my neighbor is a stenographer who travels the world captioning conferences. I will introduce Ken to Mark McClure, the fastest typist on the planet. :)