SPEAKER: Riley Duren Chief Systems Engineer & Engineering Fellow Earth Science Directorate, Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA DATE: Wednesday, April 25, 2018 TIME: 4:00-5:30pm PLACE: 126 Barrows TITLE: Measuring and Mitigating California’s Methane Emissions DESCRIPTION: Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, a precursor for tropospheric ozone and strongly linked with co-emitted reactive trace gases and hence is a priority for climate and air-quality mitigation policies in California. Recent advances in measurement science and technology offer the potential to inform and dramatically enhance the effectiveness of mitigation efforts by identifying super-emitting point sources and quantifying variability and trends in key regions. Riley Duren will present progress, challenges and opportunities for measuring and mitigating methane emissions in California including case studies at the intersection of natural science, engineering, big data, public policy and private enterprise. He will also discuss the future prospects for applying these capabilities globally. BIO: Riley Duren is an Engineering Fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Chief Systems Engineer for the Earth Science and Technology Directorate. He has worked at the intersection of engineering and science including seven space missions ranging from earth science to astrophysics. His current research includes anthropogenic carbon emissions and working with diverse stakeholders to develop policy-relevant monitoring systems. He is Principal Investigator for five projects involving carbon dioxide and methane emissions including the Megacities Carbon Project and California Methane Survey. He also studies monitoring systems to support decision-making and risk assessment for emerging challenges such as geoengineering.